Belarus, 1995

First of all I wish to

congratulate Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral on his election

to the distinguished post of President of the General

Assembly at its fiftieth, jubilee session. I am sure that his

personal and professional qualities will serve as a solid

guarantee that during this particularly important session the

United Nations will achieve new concrete steps in its search

for ways to meet the complicated challenges facing

humanity.

I wish to express our gratitude to his predecessor,

Mr. Amara Essy, and to the Secretary-General of the

Organization, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

We are proud that Belarus was at the origin of the

creation of the United Nations and became one of the

founding Members of the Organization, having signed the

Charter of the United Nations at San Francisco. That

honourable right was a testimony to the international

recognition of the contribution made by the people of

Belarus to the defeat of fascism during the Second World

War, the homage paid to the millions of Belarusians who

gave their lives in the struggle for liberty and of the right

of the Belarusian people to exist as a nation with its own

history, culture and future.

Emerging from the ashes of the Second World War,

the United Nations has experienced the most serious

crises and conflicts, the cold war and détente,

considerable changes in the political map of the world

and the break-up and formation of unions and blocs of

States. The Organization has coped creditably with these

challenges. Thanks to the United Nations humankind, for

the first time in its history, has acquired the opportunity

to live for half a century in peace. The contribution of the

United Nations to the process of the peaceful settlement

of many conflicts is well known. One of the most

important achievements of the United Nations is that the

world has rid itself of such odious phenomena as

apartheid and is close to a complete eradication of

colonialism, another no less odious remnant of the past.

It is also appropriate to note the role of the United

Nations in elaborating and adopting universal documents

in the sphere of human rights, as well as in establishing

the supremacy of international law.

The hopes and expectations of the peoples associated

with the United Nations are convincing evidence of the

important role of the Organization at this stage. The tasks

that the United Nations is facing today seem to be much

more complicated than those of the past, when they were

dictated by the pernicious but understandable logic of

confrontation. Today it is necessary to solve the

challenges of the future world order; and this implies the

necessity to reform the United Nations system. Reform of

the United Nations, including that of the Security Council,

one of its principal organs responsible for the

maintenance of international peace and security, is the

watchword of the day, and is in many respects an

extremely complicated matter. But each State can and

should make its own contribution to the formation of the

renewed United Nations. This will enable the

6

Organization to reflect the diversity of the contemporary

world, the interdependence of States, the equality of great

and small and the security and development of all. The

reform of the United Nations should result in a more

effective Organization as a whole. The reform of the

Security Council may be carried out only on the basis of a

reasonable increase in the membership of the Council, with

strict respect for the principle of the equitable geographical

distribution of additional seats among all the regions of the

world. The Belarusian delegation is convinced that the

allocation of an additional seat for a non-permanent

member of the Council to the Eastern European regional

group is fully justified and will ensure a new, emerging

balance of interests.

I am sure that the United Nations will be able to adapt

itself fully to the present realities, as well as duly to

respond to the demands and foreseeable global challenges

of the twenty-first century.

Among the most serious problems the world

community is facing nowadays are regional conflicts. Such

conflicts are not a new problem, but in their present

dimensions they represent a new challenge for the United

Nations. We are fully convinced that, in striving for their

settlement, the United Nations should not yield to the

temptation to use military force to accelerate the process.

Peace-keeping and peace enforcement are two different and

in many respects exactly opposite methods, and not links in

the same continuing chain of crisis resolution. We consider

it very important not to go beyond the limits to violence

and ruthlessness that are incompatible with the nature of the

Organization.

Our delegation notes with satisfaction the progress

made in the settlement of the Middle East conflict. We

believe that the continuation of the direct dialogue between

Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) will

finally lead to a comprehensive solution providing for

respect for the right of all States of the region to live in

peace within internationally recognized borders. We deeply

regret the terrorist acts that are periodically carried out in

the region and which considerably hamper the peace

process. Such acts must be severely condemned.

The Balkan conflict is of special concern to us. The

present developments in this region are fraught with the

risk of large-scale military activities in Europe.

The unresolved conflicts within the post-Soviet

territories are still acute.

From this lofty rostrum I should like once again to

emphasize the unequivocal renunciation by Belarus of

force to solve existing problems and the need to search

for ways to settle conflicts peacefully by political means.

This leads me to the conviction for the necessity of

further strengthening cooperation between the United

Nations and European regional and subregional

organizations and agreements, especially the Organization

on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Belarus

stands for the broadening of interaction between the

United Nations and the Commonwealth of Independent

States (CIS) not only in the sphere of conflict settlement

on the territory of the former Union of Soviet Socialist

Republics (USSR), but also in the fields of disarmament,

protection of the environment and the eradication of

terrorism and organized crime.

Against a background of heightened confrontation in

some regions of the world, one cannot but rejoice at

significant achievements in the consolidation of

international security. We welcome the adoption by the

1995 Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of the historic

decision on the indefinite extension of the Treaty. Belarus

has been and remains a supporter of the strengthening of

the non-proliferation regime. That is why our country,

having clearly determined its position at an early stage,

became a sponsor of that draft decision.

At the same time, it is necessary to remember that

the decision on the indefinite extension of the Treaty was

adopted as a package. It envisions the strengthening of

control over the implementation of its provisions and the

realization of the approved principles and aims of nuclear

non-proliferation and disarmament. It is a duty of the

nuclear-weapon States to confirm in practice their

adherence to their obligations. The most important criteria

of such adherence, in our view, are further progress

towards nuclear disarmament, a comprehensive ban on

nuclear tests and the inclusion of positive and negative

security assurances to the non-nuclear-weapon States in

an instrument of international law of binding character.

Belarus confirms its non-nuclear-weapon status and is

determined to implement the provisions of the Agreement

on the withdrawal of nuclear weapons from its territory in

full and on time.

I am pleased to inform delegations that at the

beginning of this year the Belarusian Parliament ratified

the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development,

Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons

7

and on their Destruction. We call upon all signatory

countries to the Convention to ratify it as soon as possible,

and we again declare our support for the comprehensive

ban on chemical weapons.

Belarus has always believed that, next to nuclear

disarmament, the limitation of conventional weapons is of

enormous importance for the consolidation of international

peace and security. In this connection, I should like to

touch upon the problems concerning the fulfilment of our

obligations under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces

in Europe.

Having assumed obligations under a Treaty in whose

elaboration it did not participate, Belarus has been guided

by the wish to assist in the consolidation of European and

international security. From the very first days of the

implementation of the Treaty we spent a considerable

amount of resources on its implementation and on the

creation of appropriate structures and industrial capacities

for the elimination of huge stockpiles of armaments and

equipment produced not for Belarus, but for the then super-

Power, the Soviet Union. But as time passed it has become

clear that for the young Belarusian State the elimination of

those weapons was a burden beyond its strength. Therefore,

we appealed to our Western European partners for

assistance.

For a long time our appeals were unanswered, which

led us to suspend the elimination process temporarily. That

decision was made due to a lack of financial resources, and

had nothing to do with issues of global and regional policy.

I am glad to say today that an understanding of our

problems has recently begun to emerge. Our reaction has

been immediate and fully adequate. As is known, the

President of Belarus has declared that our country is

resuming the elimination of conventional weapons in

accordance with its obligations under the Treaty.

I would also like to point out that, by special

Presidential Decree, Belarus has declared a moratorium on

the export of anti-personnel land-mines for the period from

September 1995 until the end of 1997.

Our Republic attaches paramount importance to the

development of international cooperation in the economic,

social and environmental spheres in the interests of the

sustainable development of all countries. In this context, we

attribute special significance to the series of world forums

held under the auspices of the United Nations in Rio de

Janeiro, Vienna, Cairo, Copenhagen and Beijing to consider

problems in such spheres as those of the environment,

social issues, population and human rights, and to search

for ways to solve them. It is important that the decisions

and recommendations of these forums be duly taken into

account and efficiently utilized in elaborating “An Agenda

for Development”, which is to determine the avenues and

the programme of human development for years to come.

We stand for the inclusion in this document of

substantive issues related to economies in transition, a

notion which would fully reflect present realities. Belarus

takes a profound interest in supporting United Nations

system-wide activities to promote the integration of these

countries into the world economy. We are sure that, in

today’s world, such an integration is advantageous to all

and in the interests of all.

In this connection, I should like once again to recall

the Belarusian proposal — supported by the Commission

on Sustainable Development at its third session and

approved by a decision of the Economic and Social

Council at its substantive session — to convene in 1997

an international conference on the sustainable

development of countries with economies in transition.

This proposal, once realized, would be an important

contribution to the preparation of the special session of

the General Assembly in 1997 to review the

implementation of the agenda for the twenty-first century.

Belarus places ardent hopes in cooperation and interaction

to implement this initiative, first of all with the European

Union, the European Commission, the European Bank for

Reconstruction and Development and other European

regional and subregional organizations, as well as with

interested partners. We also hope that the United Nations

Development Programme and the Economic Commission

for Europe will provide their competent assistance in

preparing and convening the conference.

One of the most important directions of the activities

of the reformed Organization is, in our opinion, the

development of economic dialogue within the framework

of the United Nations aimed at the exchange of

experience, the strengthening of the multilateral trade

system and facilitating non-discriminatory access to world

markets. In this connection, we consider that the speedy

granting of membership in the World Trade Organization

to our country would testify to a fair attitude towards a

founding Member of the United Nations with an economy

in transition.

One cannot but note that, in countries with

economies in transition, the effectiveness of tackling

8

social problems is directly linked with the fate of

democratic reforms. The new economic and political

conditions in which these countries find themselves require

large-scale economic transformations and the social

adaptation of all population groups. Without effective

international support, the achievement of this goal would be

delayed for an indefinite period. It is for this reason that

Belarus is interested in continuing all programmes initiated

by the Organization in the social sphere.

The promotion of universal respect for, and the

protection of, human rights and fundamental freedoms is

one of the goals stipulated in the United Nations Charter as

well as an important component of international security. At

this jubilee session, it is appropriate to note that significant

success has been attained in this field since the inception of

the Organization half a century ago. The undisputed

achievement of the international community is the adoption

of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, the

consistent implementation of which will be conducive to

securing universal respect for justice, the supremacy of law

and human rights. Unfortunately, the path to full

implementation of human rights is strewn with many

obstacles which, in our opinion, are raised by imperfect

social relations rather than by a lack of will to exercise

these rights.

We are convinced that it is high time today to think

of, and act for, the benefit of tomorrow not only by

strengthening in every possible way the mechanisms of

protection of human rights, but by taking concrete measures

to study and expand the list of fundamental universal and

categorical human rights.

For more than nine years now, the Belarusians have

been living under the conditions of an ecological disaster —

that of the Chernobyl nuclear-power plant catastrophe. The

Republic spends annually more than 20 per cent of its

national budget to mitigate the economic, ecological and

medical after-effects of the Chernobyl accident. But most

horrible is what is happening to the health and psyche of

the people. The incidence of thyroid cancer in children has

increased manifold. The birth rate has fallen 50 per cent

since the period preceding the accident. Genetic diseases

are conspicuously on the rise in the most contaminated

areas. As time goes by, it becomes more and more evident

that the Chernobyl catastrophe has infringed the most

sacred of human rights — the right to life.

We are glad to note the important catalysing role

played by the General Assembly and its specialized

agencies in drawing the attention of the donor countries and

of the international organizations to the Chernobyl

problems. As the day of the catastrophe recedes into the

past, the nature of the after-effects of Chernobyl also

changes, requiring a strengthened role on the part of the

United Nations in the development of Chernobyl-related

bilateral cooperation. On its part, Belarus is ready to sign

bilateral memoranda on Chernobyl cooperation with the

World Health Organization, the International Atomic

Energy Agency, the United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the

United Nations Industrial Development Organization and

other agencies of the United Nations system.

In March 1996, an international conference will be

convened in Minsk, with the active participation of

UNESCO and the European Commission, to

commemorate the lamentable tenth anniversary of the

Chernobyl accident. We express our hope that this

representative forum will help to step up joint efforts to

study the after-effects of the radioactive fallout and make

more effective the efforts aimed at mitigating the fatal

consequences of the catastrophe, on the basis of the

experience accumulated by Belarus.

Finally, the manifold and unfair increase in the

Belarus rate of assessments to the United Nations regular

budget and to peace-keeping operations — caused by the

fact that Belarus, along with the economically most

advanced countries, was related to group B — has

resulted in the rapid growth of our arrears.

We note with deep satisfaction the special decision

to relocate the Republic of Belarus to group C for the

apportionment of peace-keeping expenses which was

taken during the resumed forty-ninth session of the

General Assembly. On behalf of the Government of

Belarus, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to

the delegations of all countries that displayed a spirit of

understanding and cooperation during the consideration of

this issue. I address my special words of gratitude to the

Government of Portugal, whose consent voluntarily to

relocate to group B opened the way for the adoption of

the aforementioned decision. I am confident that such

actions are an important contribution to the governance of

principles of justice in the work of the Organization,

which in itself is very significant on the eve of its golden

jubilee. For its part, the Government of Belarus, in spite

of the utmost economic difficulties, fully aware of the

depth of the United Nations financial crisis and sincerely

striving to fulfil its financial obligations to the

Organization, has decided to transfer about $2 million

dollars to the United Nations budget.

9

In his fifties, a person is no longer at the peak of his

physical capacities, but acquires considerable life

experience and wisdom. I would like to express a wish that

the United Nations, once its 50-year threshold has been

crossed, will remain full of strength and health and

unsurpassed in wisdom in all its deeds.