Bulgaria, 2011

Let me begin by

praising His Excellency Mr. Nassir Abdelaziz

Al-Nasser for his steady stewardship as the President

of the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly. In

his work he can count on the constructive engagement

of the Bulgarian delegation. Allow me also personally

to praise him for the theme he has chosen for this

session. I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to his

predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Joseph Deiss, for his

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outstanding leadership of the previous session’s busy

agenda. Last but not least, let me congratulate the

Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, on his

reappointment to the helm of the United Nations. He

has proven himself to be a diligent, hard-working

leader who believes strongly in consensus and

harmony, qualities that the United Nations needs now

in its top administrator and will undoubtedly need even

more in years to come.

I begin by welcoming the work of delegations at the

United Nations High-level Meeting on non-communicable

diseases. Cancer, cardiovascular diseases, chronic

respiratory diseases and diabetes are now responsible

for more deaths than all other causes combined.

Bulgaria welcomes the negotiated final document.

More than 80 per cent of cardiovascular and diabetes

deaths, almost 90 per cent of deaths from chronic

obstructive pulmonary disease and more than two

thirds of all cancer deaths occur in low- and middle-

income countries. Bulgaria also particularly welcomes

the High-level Meeting on nuclear safety and security.

The effects of nuclear accidents have no respect for

national borders. To adequately safeguard our people

we must have firm international consensus and action,

as well as agreement on stringent international safety

standards.

Today we stand on the doorstep of historic

change in the Middle East, the scale of which can only

be compared to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the

sweeping transformation of Central and Eastern Europe

after the end of communism. Both processes are quite

different but share a fundamental similarity — people

have come out of the bondage of fear. Although the

circumstances in each country are different, the root

causes for what is happening in the Middle East are

quite similar. Corrupt leadership breeds dissent, and

with no democratic process in place, that dissent pours

out on to the streets. Young people want to be engaged

in the future of their countries, not forced into a world

of virtual reality by frowning aging dictators. Millions

of people who live on the brink of poverty and see a

privileged few reap the benefits of economic freedom

will demand fair economic opportunities for all.

Add to that the feeling of revival and the demand

of millions of young Arabs to be respected, and you

have the makings of a revolution of Arab dignity and

self-respect, an historic revolution indeed. As change

swept across the Middle East and North Africa, some

leaders cringed in fear, others embraced it. Those who

opposed their people are no longer in positions of

power, and their countries are moving on and looking

to democratic elections. Those who embraced change

have initiated far-reaching reforms and responded to

the legitimate demands of their people. His Majesty

King Abdullah II of Jordan and His Majesty King

Mohammed VI of Morocco should to be commended

for their vision and willingness to reform. They have

shown the way forward.

At the same time, the international community

has been appalled by the developments in Syria.

Instead of responding to the legitimate demands of the

Syrian people for the fulfilment of promised reforms,

the Government cracked down violently on protesters.

The protesters did not have unrealistic demands. They

did not ask for anything out of the ordinary. According

to the United Nations more than 2,600 people have

been killed since March. The Government in Damascus

questions those numbers. Even if only one person had

been killed, it would have been one person too many.

The responsibility for repression lies squarely

with the authorities and no one else. I use this

opportunity to call on President Al-Assad, who has

made many promises to his people and the

international community, to come out from the

shadows, change the Constitution, dismantle the

machinery of repression and immediately call for

internationally supervised elections. The people of

Syria have the right to elect their own Government and

hold it accountable. The time for transition has come.

At this session we welcomed the 193rd Member

of the United Nations. Our hearts go out to the people

of South Sudan, who have struggled for independence,

and we commend the visionary leadership of their

Government for paving the way for their independence

in a peaceful manner. We also welcomed the new

representatives of a free Libya, free from the

oppression of the Al-Qadhafi dictatorship. It was at the

gates of Benghazi in February that the international

community, acting on a mandate of the United Nations

Security Council, acted swiftly to prevent a massacre

and protect civilians against attacks from their own

Government.

The people of Libya proved that they could stand

up and defend their right to freedom. Our thoughts go

out to the families of all those who lost their lives in

this struggle and fell victim to the crazed ambitions of

a deluded dictator. Bulgaria stands ready to assist the

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people of Libya in rebuilding their country. Our

friendship is strong and has been tested through the

years.

We know at first hand the brutality that

Al-Qadhafi was capable of. The five Bulgarian nurses

and a doctor who spent eight years of their lives in a

Libyan jail, much of it on death row, are still haunted

by their tortures. Let me quote one of them who

recently said in an interview, “We died every time the

cell door opened.” Now safely back home, they need to

be able to close that chapter of their nightmares. Like

the nurses, innocent victims of a brutal dictatorship,

the Libyan people do want to see justice, not revenge.

Such justice will be sought when the dictator and his

cronies are brought before a court of law.

No matter how successful we are individually we

cannot truly enjoy the fruits of our own development if

we live in an insecure environment. Regional

cooperation and good-neighbourly relations are vital

for the well-being of our countries and our societies.

Let me turn briefly to the Balkans.

The European Union was created to make war

impossible in a continent that has seen at least a

century of conflicts. Europe will not be whole and

complete until our neighbours in the Balkans are part

of our Union. It falls to us to say it loud and clear: to

make war impossible in the Balkans we must see all

countries that have emerged from the former

Yugoslavia as part of the European Union. That is our

historic mission. It is our destiny. That is why we will

continue to work tirelessly to remove the obstacles to

European Union enlargement in the Balkans, to

strengthen regional cooperation and develop good-

neighbourly relations in a region that has seen too

much division and violence.

With particular vigour, we will continue to

encourage the European Union-facilitated dialogue

between Belgrade and Pristina. Bulgaria welcomes the

pragmatic approach taken by both Kosovo and Serbia

during their first meetings. It is important that they

build on this momentum and continue to engage in a

constructive and pragmatic manner. All must show

restraint and prevent the build-up of tension. That is

vital for the security, prosperity and, ultimately, the

European perspective of the region.

Bulgaria is a country that has a proud and

turbulent history. Our history teaches us that nations

are strong when their civic spirit is strong. It teaches us

that you must find pride not only in great historic

battles and ancient legends but in great feats of civic

activism, in standing up for your values and protecting

your neighbours. One such inspiring example is the

fact that the Jews of Bulgaria survived the Second

World War because hundreds of religious and

community leaders, politicians, ordinary men and

women, stood up and refused to be part of Hitler’s

madness. My country today is the product of the

traditions of Christians, Jews and Muslims, who all

form the fabric of the Bulgarian nation. That is our

richness and makes us quite unique in the Balkans.

That is why we cannot remain uninterested in

developments in the Middle East, particularly with

regard to the elusive prospects for peace between the

people of Israel and the people of Palestine.

Over the course of the past year, we have seen the

tireless efforts of the United States Administration and

the European Union High Representative for Foreign

Affairs and Security Policy, Mrs. Catherine Ashton,

trying to find a way to resume direct negotiations.

Those efforts, including the agreed Quartet statement

of today, need to be applauded, encouraged and

supported by all. It was in the United Nations in 1947

that the State of Israel was born. It was born as a home

for the Jewish people, a beacon of hope for a

community that had been persecuted and oppressed for

thousands of years. Today, the landscape is changing.

Slowly but surely the region is moving towards

democracy. Democracy, accountable government and

the rule of law are ultimately in the long-term interests

of all, Jews and Muslims, Arabs and Israelis.

The Palestinian people have a right to a State of

their own. Indeed we, the international community,

have an obligation to support the establishment of a

viable and democratic Palestinian State in the West

Bank and Gaza: a Palestine that lives side-by-side with

the State of Israel, a Palestine that lives in security and

mutual recognition with the State of Israel, a Palestine

that has secure borders based on the 1967 lines with

mutually agreed land swaps.

Both Palestine, as the home of the Palestinian

people, and Israel, as the home of the Jewish people,

must guarantee that all ethnic and religious groups

have full rights and protection under law. Let me also

make one point very clear. To refuse the right of Israel

to exist means to refuse the right of the Palestinian

people to have a State of their own. I can accept

criticism of the policies of any Government but I

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cannot stand idly by when the right of existence is

denied to anyone, no matter what their religion or

ethnicity is. To dismiss the importance of such policies

would mean to fail the very values of our civilization.

Bulgaria will never accept that, nor should any other

nation in the global community.

Bulgaria believes very strongly that the definitive

solution to peace can only come through direct

negotiations, but direct negotiations can resume only

on the basis of trust and a real understanding of the

security concerns and legitimate aspirations of both

sides. Rebuilding trust between both parties is a

prerequisite to resuming negotiations. Unilateral

action, changing the realities on the ground cannot be a

substitute for negotiations.

Obstacles should be overcome, and preconditions

should be removed. If the leaders of Palestine believe

that the settlement policy is an obstacle to peace, the

leaders of Israel must refrain from such activities in

order to give peace a chance. If the leaders of Israel

believe that no preconditions to a final settlement

should be put in place, then the Palestinian leaders

must refrain from such actions to give peace a chance.

Bulgaria recognized the Palestinian State in 1988.

We hold our friendship with both Israel and the

Palestinian people dear. That is why we urge the

immediate resumption of negotiations as the only road

to peace. Bringing both sides to the negotiating table

remains our top priority. I am sure that the United

States, working in concert with the European Union,

can facilitate this process based on a vision outlined by

President Obama.

Allow me to turn briefly to my delegation’s

vision for the kind of leadership, the kind of United

Nations we need for the next decade. An Organization

created by 51 Member States functions today with

193 Members.

In order for the United Nations to be adequate to

the challenges facing it today its institutions need to be

reformed, first and foremost in the composition of the

United Nations main body that guarantees international

peace and security. We must build on the progress

achieved so far in the negotiations on Security Council

reform and move the process to a more results-oriented

phase. Bulgaria considers that enlargement of the Council’s

two categories of permanent and non-permanent members

is one option that enjoys the support of a considerable

number of delegations. The increase in the number of

non-permanent seats should provide for a just

representation of the Eastern European Group, whose

membership has more than doubled over the past two

decades.

Transparency is impossible without

accountability. First, the United Nations must be

accountable to its Member States through a continued

striving to improve management and the enforcement

of strict budgetary discipline, especially in the current

period of economic turmoil. We, the Member States,

must also be accountable to the United Nations by

fulfilling all our commitments, including by paying our

financial contributions to the Organization fully,

unconditionally and on time — a principle that

Bulgaria upholds and adheres to closely.

We all also need to be accountable to future

generations for our actions. It is easy to speak of

sustainable development, but at the moment we are not

even remotely close to making it a reality. On the

contrary, the damage we have done to the planet’s

geology, climate and ecosystems for most of the last

century is so significant that scientists are increasingly

asserting that the human race has actually managed to

push the Earth much faster than usual into a new,

possibly more unstable and dangerous geological

period.

We need both wise and courageous leadership

from the United Nations in our efforts to guarantee

peace and security — wise, so as to avoid the

temptation to use force when it seems to get results

faster than mediation and negotiation, and courageous,

to take responsibility when the use of force is a must.

The United Nations will benefit much from

strengthening its cooperation with regional security

organizations. The cooperation with the North Atlantic

Treaty Organization in Afghanistan is an excellent

example. International support has to continue beyond

2014 for Afghanistan. We were all saddened by the

brutal murder of a great Afghan leader, former

President Rabbani. His work must inspire us to

continue supporting the Afghan Government’s efforts

to achieve reconciliation and reintegration.

It is high time for bold and decisive actions in the

field of disarmament and non-proliferation as well. It is

the legal and moral obligation of all of us to honour the

commitments undertaken under the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the

outcome document of the 2010 Review Conference. A

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strengthened and robust NPT regime is in the interest

of all States, especially with the growing risk of

non-State actors getting access to weapons of mass

destruction. All States Parties, including the

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are bound by

the NPT regime. Leaving the NPT should not be

without consequences. Cooperation with the

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is also

essential. As long as Iran continues not to provide

greater transparency with regard to of its nuclear

activities, the concerns of the international community

will remain valid. Full compliance with Security

Council resolutions and with the provisions of the

IAEA safeguards agreement is crucial for a diplomatic

solution of this case.

The sad anniversary of the 11 September 2001

attacks in New York, which we commemorated this

year, the more recent tragic events in Oslo, the terrorist

attacks in Mumbai and other cities of the world prove

that terrorism is a global cancer that does not

discriminate against developed or developing countries

and societies. Its eradication requires decisive action.

The successful conclusion of the negotiations on the

comprehensive convention on international terrorism

has Bulgaria’s full support.

I began my statement by focusing on the

challenge of tackling non-communicable diseases.

Human suffering caused by various illnesses is further

exacerbated owing to the effects of the series of global

crises in food, finance and energy and the threats

associated with climate change. Taken together, these

and other new challenges impede progress towards the

achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

We must be twice as vigilant as we have been until

now. Our world today faces challenges that will shape

its tomorrow. We need to be able to meet these

challenges in a bold manner, with a clear vision for the

future, and tackle them together as a global community

of nations.