Czech Republic, 2012

I would like to congratulate

President Jeremić on his election to serve as the highest

representative of the General Assembly at its sixty-

seventh session. In recent decades, his country has gone

through a difficult period. I am sure his experience as

the Serbian Minister for Foreign Affairs who saw the

consequences of one kind of peacefully negotiated

settlement and armed international intervention will

benefit this year’s General Assembly and contribute

to making our deliberations less formal and more

practical.

Mr. Tanin (Afghanistan), Vice-President, took the

Chair.

The Czech Republic firmly believes that

international disputes and conflicts can and should

be settled by peaceful, not military, means. We have

been systematically demonstrating that for a long time.

When the division of Czechoslovakia was taking place

20 years ago and the situation was emotionally strained

and painful for us, it never crossed the mind of any of our

politicians that the problem should be addressed by any

other than peaceful means. The difficult negotiations,

undertaken solely by our own representatives, resulted

in achieving a settlement that political representatives

and, especially, citizens in both the newly established

States considered then and still consider to be a positive

solution.

Our experience affirms that it is the domestic

politicians, in particular, who should be the driving force of negotiations rather than international teams

or former political figures from abroad. The mandate

of the negotiating parties must be rooted as firmly as

possible in domestic conditions and local traditions.

External observers must not succumb to the temptation

of imposing the settlement that they themselves regard

as the right one, but which is not in line with long-

term natural developments in the country or region

in question. For a number of reasons, those inevitable

preconditions are often not met in attempts at peaceful

conflict resolution. It is therefore no wonder that we

often see the opposite results to those that the architects

of a particular settlement would have wished.

We must ask ourselves what successful peace

talks and international missions are. Do external

interventions improve the situation or do they make it

worse by hindering spontaneous processes that could

reintroduce stability in the region, possibly with smaller

sacrifices compared to the price paid through external

intervention? For instance, are the developments in

Iraq, the unresolved Cyprus issue or the independence

of Kosovo a success of the United Nations or not?

Let me say a few words about Syria. As a country

that has recent historical experience of a transition

to democracy, the Czech Republic wishes Syria to be

able to take the same path. However, we do not see

a feasible solution now. Our immediate effort must

focus on helping the people affected by the current

tragic situation in the country. The Czech Republic has

already sent humanitarian aid to Syria and to Syrians

f leeing into neighbouring countries. We have set up a

medical evacuation programme for wounded Syrian

refugees. Czech experts took part in the United Nations

observer mission in Syria. Our Embassy in Damascus

is also providing assistance. Two months ago, the Czech

Republic accepted the request of the United States for

representation in diplomatic and consular matters in

Syria.

There is no doubt that we must look at the situation

in Syria from a broader and longer-term perspective.

We should know what needs to be done tomorrow and

the day after tomorrow. I am afraid that that is the most

important lesson learned from other similar issues,

such as the recent military intervention in Libya.

Allow me to affirm that the Czech Republic will

continue to be an active United Nations Member. The

Czech Republic observes and applies the principles

and standards of international law in its foreign policy and promotes their international application. We

will support United Nations activities in the fields

of disarmament and the non-proliferation of nuclear

weapons. Those issues are among our security policy

priorities. The Czech Republic will continue to take

part in United Nations peacekeeping operations, as

well as in humanitarian and development programmes.

It also supports efforts to reform the United Nations,

including the Security Council, which in 2005 began to

work towards responding to our changed international

environment and promoting a more balanced

representation of individual regions and States.