Belarus, 2003

To

begin, I would sincerely like to congratulate you on

your election to this very important and difficult

position as President of the Assembly and I wish you

every success.

This year, the United Nations has come close to

the most dangerous brink in its more than a half-

century of history. This is not only and not so much the

Iraqi crisis per se. That crisis has become but a

manifestation of what has really threatened the entire

system of world order created after World War II. The

basis of this world order is the unconditional primacy

of international law over the aspirations of individual

States.

Take that away, and the world will again, as in

centuries past, become hostage to the power of the

mighty. This will not merely throw us backward. The

beginning of the twenty-first century differs from past

decades and centuries in that the existence of a single

global super-Power will make the rule of the mighty

global in both scale and consequence.

“We all have to recognize — no matter how

great our strength — that we must deny ourselves

the license to do always as we please. ... Unless

we are all willing to pay that price, no

organization for world peace can accomplish its

purpose”.

These words, spoken by United States President Harry

Truman, are as urgent today as they were back in 1945.

We call upon everyone to be guided by them today as

they were when our Organization was being set up.

Belarus’ contribution to the creation of the United

Nations and a new system of international security was

one-third of our population, who gave their lives for

the victory of peace over war and the victory of the

coalition of the future over the coalition of the past.

That is exactly why we in Belarus today sense with

special urgency the danger of the erosion of a just and

stable world order.

Let us preserve the coalition of the entire world

for global peace. Let us not allow the Security Council,

as the main body for maintaining peace and security, to

be replaced by “coalitions of the willing” that use force

without Council authorization. Let us not forget that

only a just peace can prove to be a stable peace.

Belarus welcomes the emerging effort to return to

the United Nations its legitimate role in settling the

Iraq issue. This reflects the recognition that a military

force or an occupying force cannot solve the problem

of nation-building. We hope that this will also become

recognition of the fact that a preventive war makes a

poor foundation for security.

We hope that a new Security Council resolution

on Iraq being worked out now will strengthen the

central role of the United Nations in the earliest and

urgent return to the people of Iraq of its sovereignty, its

right to independently determine its political future and

its right to natural resources, so that constitutional

processes and later election processes can be

implemented by Iraqis in the interest of Iraqis.

At the same time, Belarus is worried by the

pattern that is dangerous both for the future of the

United Nations and for international peace and is

taking shape on the most urgent issues: the Security

Council and the United Nations are ignored when

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unauthorized military action is taken, and are then

invited back only in the aftermath, when their

authority, experience and resources are seen as

essential for rebuilding a peaceful life. That is what

happened in Kosovo and what is happening in Iraq

today.

Belarus believes in the United Nations. We

believe that it has a central role to play in the most

urgent issues of today and that it cannot be replaced.

We believe in the constant values and justice of the

supremacy of international law and the fundamental

principles of its Charter. New global challenges and

threats merely reaffirm that these values are

indispensable.

As a founding Member of the United Nations,

Belarus sees the need to modernize and adapt the

United Nations mechanisms and structures to the

realities of this new century.

Of special importance is the reform of the United

Nations Security Council. As has been correctly noted

by the Secretary-General, it is not only a question of

enlarging the Council’s membership. Life itself has put

on the agenda of the reform process many other

aspects, including the Council’s capacity to react to

threats to peace and security.

It is essential to achieve a reasonable balance in

the interrelationship between the main United Nations

bodies, inherent in its Charter. A stronger role of the

General Assembly is an important direction for

increasing the Organization’s efficiency.

The potential of the presidency of the General

Assembly is underused. As an officer elected by the

entire United Nations, the President of the General

Assembly can and should be called upon to serve as a

catalyst and organizer in searching for solutions to the

problems the world and the Organization are facing.

It is necessary to reform and improve the

activities of the Economic and Social Council as the

coordinator of United Nations efforts in economic,

social and related areas. Having accumulated

considerable experience working in the Bureau of the

Council, the Republic of Belarus is ready to make a

constructive contribution to these efforts. Those were

exactly the considerations that guided Belarus when it

proposed its candidature to Council membership for

2004-2006.

The United Nations should pay priority attention

to developing international law: new realities in

international politics as well as new universal world

problems have to be taken into consideration. Belarus

is a party to all key multilateral treaties regulating

various spheres of international life. This year we have

acceded to a further number of such treaties, including

the United Nations Convention against Transnational

Organized Crime and its protocols.

The international fight against terrorism that

unfolded after the tragic events of 11 September 2001

rightly placed the United Nations in the centre of

antiterrorist efforts. The work of the Security Council’s

Counter-Terrorism Committee has helped in the

forming of a global coalition under the aegis of the

United Nations to counter terrorism in all its forms and

manifestations.

We must, however, be realistic: force alone can

never eradicate the abominable phenomenon of

terrorism, at least, not forever. Injustice, inequality and

indifference will bring it forth again and again, just like

the accumulation of electricity in the atmosphere

produces a lightning bolt. The Secretary-General is

right when he states that in order to maintain a

genuinely global coalition for fighting terrorism the

world must also see progress on other fronts of the

struggle for a humane and just world order. Herein lies

an important challenge for the United Nations, for

permanent members of the Security Council and for all

Members of the Organization.

The principal contribution of Belarus to the non-

proliferation of nuclear weapons and to conventional

disarmament has been universally recognized. Our

concern is therefore all the greater with regard to the

gradual erosion of multilateral norms in disarmament

and the stagnation of the international bodies, above all

the negotiation mechanisms, in charge of international

security and disarmament.

From this rostrum, we join in the appeal not to

allow the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

This is a most important task. It should be noted, that

for many years, Belarus has initiated efforts to prevent

the development of new types of such weapons.

However, has everything possible been done in recent

years, including by the most militarily powerful States,

to strengthen the multilateral non-proliferation regime

in all its most important aspects? Is everything being

done to that end today? An appropriate answer to that

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question would be the ratification by all permanent

members of the Security Council of the Comprehensive

Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

The activities of multilateral bodies in the area of

disarmament should be adapted to new realities. We

proceed from the assumption that the United Nations

should draw up a clear-cut list of priority directions in

ensuring international security and generate

programmes to overcome real threats to mankind. The

resolutions we adopt should contain clear directives to

existing forums and structures in the areas of

international security, arms control, non-proliferation

and disarmament. Only with this approach will we be

able to stop the devaluation of such notions as peace,

security and stability.

I wish to inform delegations that Belarus has

recently taken another responsible step to strengthen

these values. While possessing the world’s seventh

largest arsenal of anti-personnel landmines, the

Republic of Belarus has joined the Ottawa Convention

on their prohibition. We count on international

assistance in their elimination.

The norms of international law play a principled

role in shaping a just international economic order. The

objective of providing equal access to world markets

and to the benefits of the process of globalization for

all States, particularly developing countries and

countries with economies in transition, has

unfortunately not been achieved. That is why we urge

Member States to pay unabated attention to the process

of developing the norms and rules of international trade

and commercial activities in the interests of common

well-being.

After the recent failure of the Ministerial

Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in

Cancún, the leading economic Powers should

understand the risks of delaying the negotiations within

the WTO both on the issue of new rules as well as on

the problem of new membership. One should not forget

that providing an opportunity to all States to use the

benefits of the multilateral trading system is in the

long-term interests of peace, security and stability.

I wish to inform the General Assembly that, as its

contribution to ensuring access for developing

countries and least developed countries to the world

market, Belarus has made a decision to extend

unilateral trade preferences to a large number of such

States. Our country’s National Centre of Technology

Transfer has a high potential for innovation and is

ready for extensive cooperation with all interested

States. Its institutional capacities are intended to meet

not only our requirements, but the interests of

developing countries as well.

Let me touch upon the problem of the

consequences of the largest technogenic catastrophe of

the twentieth century, the disaster at the Chernobyl

nuclear power plant. We are grateful to the leadership

of the Secretariat for its ongoing activities to mobilize

international support in that direction. This year has

been marked by the establishment of the International

Chernobyl Research and Information Network and of

the international Chernobyl Forum by the International

Atomic Energy Agency.

Jointly with the delegations of other affected

States, we have prepared for this session a draft

resolution on strengthening international cooperation

and coordination of efforts in studying, mitigating and

minimizing the consequences of the Chernobyl

disaster. The document seeks to ensure the

implementation of a new United Nations strategy on

Chernobyl. We hope that it will be supported by all

delegations.

The Republic of Belarus also proposes an

initiative to hold in Minsk in 2006 an international

conference timed to coincide with the twentieth

anniversary of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear

power plant. The main objectives of the conference

will be the search for ways to provide normal living

conditions to people living in affected areas and an

exchange of experiences in solving the problems of

sustainable development in those regions. We invite all

interested Member States and international

organizations to take part in preparing and holding this

event.

In the area of counteracting international crime,

the fight against human trafficking and illegal drug

trafficking should become one of the United Nations

priorities. Our country has been actively participating

in international efforts to stop the modern slave and

drug trades. Located at the crossroads of the most

important transportation corridors between Asia and

Europe, Belarus offers efficient interaction in solving

these problems with all our neighbours and, especially,

with the European Union. Common efforts are needed

to fight common problems; that way, everybody wins.

The global scope of problems demands a global

scale of interaction involving all States without

exception. Mankind made itself the master of the world

after having become homo sapiens — sentient man. In

order to become the master of its destiny, and not a

hostage to challenges and threats, humanity should

become humanitas sapiens — sentient humanity.