Germany, 1982

I convey to the President Mr. Schmidt's and the

Federal Government's congratulations on his

election. At the same time, I should like to

thank the President of the thirty-sixth session

of the General Assembly for his good work during

that session.

100. The Federal Government also conveys its best

wishes to the Secretary-General. He is faced with

great and difficult tasks. As we have seen, he

tackles those tasks with great skill and

resolution and with a sense of reality which also

embraces an awareness of the great influence that

an international organization like the United

Nations and the Secretary-General are able to

exercise on political events. During the first

year of his term of office, he has already

rendered great services through his exemplary

dedication to the cause of strengthening the

image of the United Nations and preserving peace

worldwide.

101. The conflicts throughout the world have not

become fewer but have increased. They have become

fiercer and more Moody and a greater threat to

world peace. Thousands of people have become the

victims of military and internal confrontation in

Lebanon, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf, southern

Africa, South Asia, the South Atlantic and

Central America.

102. Hunger and want are growing in a word in

which nation’s economies are feeling the impact

of a con-tinuing recession—to the limits of their

capacity and no small number of them—even more

seriously. Every day people lose their jobs;

people in North and south, in East and West

alike, are increasingly concerned at how things

are to continue. This, too, poses a great threat

to international co-operation, not only to

domestic harmony but also ultimately to

international peace.

103. At the same time, armories are

overflowing with deadly weapons of an

inconceivable destructive power. The arms spiral

appears to be never ending, and many people fear

that it could turn faster and faster and finally

get completely out of control. In 1981 world-wide

spending on arms and other military equip¬ment

fbr the first time exceeded $600 billion. This

corresponds to 6 per cent of the world's total

gross national product. It amounts, per capita of

world population, to expenditure of over $100 per

annum, yet many people in the world do not even

possess $100.

104. In 1980 expenditure on arms production

world¬wide was many times greater than the total

value of all official development aid provided by

the indus¬trialized nations, and, according to

estimates by the International Institute of

Strategic Studies in London and the Development

Assistance Committee of the Organization for

Economic Co operation and Develop¬ment, the

members of the latter spend about 10 times as

much on armaments as on development aid and the

Council for Mutual Economic Assistance countries

even 100 times as much. These facts prompt one to

question the sanity of the international

community. Through our conduct we are all

involved in this collective insanity; we must all

try to master it.

105. The second special session of the General

As¬sembly devoted to disarmament became the

mouth¬piece of the fears of our nations. Its

voice was heard, but it has still not carried far

enough.

106. Governments must indeed face up to the

question of whether they have until now lived up

to their responsibility for world peace. They

have to accept the urgent and very anxious

question of whether the weapons systems that are

accumulating can ultimately be controlled by man;

they must also face up to the question of how

they intend to justify annually increasing

investment in arms in view of the hunger and want

existing in the world, and in view of the growing

hardship caused 6y the economic crisis.

107. As Chancellor Schmidt said at the 10th

meeting of the twelfth special session, the

second special session devoted to disarmament

the driving force that has become apparent in the

unrest of many of our fellow citizens must be

regarded as a motivation and a moral obligation

for us.

108. It is not sufficient to ascertain the causes

of the threat to peace, nor is it sufficient to

develop mere ideas on how to eliminate them. What

is also needed is a firm and resolute will and

ability to reach agree¬ment on better ways and

means of safeguarding peace.

109. As Pope John Paul II said in his peace

message at the beginning of 1980: Without the

readiness for a sincere and lasting dialogue

there can be no peace. The safeguarding of peace

is a never-ending task. It is an illusion to

believe that peace is a condition that can be

arrived at once and for all and then preserved

and to believe that the causes of threats to

peace can be eliminated permanently everywhere.

These causes become more numerous every year. Our

constant and unflagging efforts are needed to

limit them, to try to defuse them, to establish

effective rules for co-operation and hence

prevent the interna¬tional community from

relapsing into self-destructive anarchy.

110. People speak of crisis management. By

this they mean the attempts to detect as early as

possible individual major or minor crises, to

curb them resolutely and effectively and, if

possible, eliminate them completely. This is

indeed a necessary, sincere and undoubtedly

highly difficult task, serving the purpose of

safeguarding peace.

111. We must not content ourselves with this,

how¬ever. We do not need just crisis management;

what we need is a realistic peace strategy. For

this we require a return to the principles of the

Charter, to the norms of international relations

which the United Nations has established and to

which we have all committed ourselves.

112. We must take seriously the precept of the

renunciation of force or the threat of force in

interna¬tional relations. This comprehensive

proscription of force, enshrined in the Charter,

outlaws any form of attack and applies to the use

of all types of weapons. Our aim must be to

prevent all conflicts and to renounce the use of

all weapons. In its declaration at the summit

meeting on 10 June 1982, the North Atlantic

Treaty Organization [M4 TO] reaffirmed that none

of its weapons world ever be used except in

response to an attack.

113. We must create peace through respect for

the independence of all countries, respect for

genuine non-alignment and respect for the right

of all nations to self-determination.

114. We must create peace by establishing

greater security for all countries. If we see

security policy as a policy for world-wide peace,

as indeed we must, we must also realize that

security cannot be established through rivalry,

by constantly satisfying exaggerated security

needs through further arms build-up, by aspiring

to supremacy, or by provocative and ulti¬mately

dangerous gestures to indicate one's strength. AH

this simply results in an expansion of the

armories on all sides.

115. Greater security for all countries will

exist only if we, by collaborating across

alliance frontiers and ideological barriers,

strive for agreed security, for codified

equilibrium at the lowest possible level.

116. An arms race cannot lead to equilibrium

and stability; only agreed arms control and

disarmament are conducive to that goal. They must

be supple¬mented by a policy of dialogue and

co-operation among States, both regionally and

worldwide. For precisely that reason, existing

links and contacts must not be disrupted but must

be maintained, particularly in difficult times. A

lack of communication leads to

mis¬interpretations of the other side's

intentions and hence to wrong action being taken.

117. But peace can be lasting and dialogue and

co¬operation have substance only if our own

interests are defended with moderation and

restraint, if the other side's interests are

perceived and acknowledged as well and if

calculability and reliability prevail.

Further¬more, peace in the world can be

safeguarded in the long run only if the gap

between the rich and the poor does not become

even greater and we try to eliminate it through

genuine partnership between North and South. To

this end, one of our most important tasks is to

prevent the world economy from falling apart,

which would not only result in the poor becoming

even poorer but also constitutea threat to peace,

perhaps even as great as the accumulation of

weapons threatening human life.

118. When the then Federal Chancellor, Mr.

Willy Brandt, addressed the General Assembly, at

the twenty-eighth session, as the first

representative of the Federal Republic of Germany

he said we have come to assume our share in the

responsibility for world affairs on the basis of

our convictions and within the framework of our

possibilities . We have honored that commitment

over the years.

119. Located in the heart of Europe, we have

many neighbors, in East and West, in southern

Europe and in Scandinavia, and we want to be a

good neighbor to all of them. As a member of the

European Community and as a partner in NATO we

are helping to preserve and strengthen peace and

stability, par¬ticularly in Europe.

120. We declare our full support for what the

Danish representative, speaking as its President,

stated at the 8th meeting, on behalf of the

European Community. The European Community and

the way its member States live and work together

will always provide con¬vincing proof that a

lasting peaceful order based on the closest

co-operation and partnership is indeed feasible,

even in a region where for centuries there have

time and again been rivalry, confrontation and

war.

121. The European Community and NATO are based

on firm, shared interests and on identical

concepts of democracy and freedom. A policy of

good-neighborliness, however, must be effective

also beyond ideo¬logical, military and strategic

frontiers.

122. Germany is a divided country at the

interface between East and West. Confrontation

between East and West harms us Germans most of

all. Co-operation with the Soviet Union, Poland,

Czechoslovakia and the German Democratic Republic

and the treaties concluded with them have been

beneficial to us and others. They have created a

modus Vivendi that has rendered the situation in

Europe stable and made peace there more secure.

This policy was made possible only by the

existence of NATO and its defense capability and

by the Federal Republic of Germany's contributing

fully to NATO.

123. We intend to adhere to that policy of

co¬operation, but we have to admit that East-West

tension has increased. The reasons for this are

the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the events in

Poland and in particular the Soviet arms

build-up. In particular, the Soviet build-up of

intermediate-range nuclear weapons poses a deadly

threat to us.

124. Afghanistan, a small nation, has now been

holding out for three years against a highly

armed invading army. The continuing fighting has

exacted a high toll of lives. Over 20 per cent of

the Afghan population has now fled its home

country. The situa¬tion in Kampuchea is similar.

We demand an end to the use of force and an end

to the suffering; we demand peace and

self-determination tor the Afghan and Kampuchean

peoples.

125. The Federal Government has been following

the developments in Poland with very deep

concern. We expect Poland to settle its internal

affairs on its own without external interference

and to return—as pledged by the Polish leaders

themselves—to a situation without martial law and

without internees and par¬ticularly to a dialogue

with the trade unions. There can be no

stabilization in Poland while the present

deadlock continues.

126. I should like to add this. Germans and

Poles have both endured much suffering in the

past. They have not always treated each other

justly, and we Germans know that the Second World

War started on 1 September 1939 with the invasion

of Poland. Both sides have nevertheless—or

perhaps precisely for that reason—shown courage

and a readiness for under¬standing. The Warsaw

Treaty in particular and the agreements of 1975

are testimony to this. I am both pleased and

proud that this readiness for understanding is

quite clearly not confined to the Governments,

for millions of Germans has expressed in a

tangible manner and on a very large scales their

heartfelt readi¬ness to help. Although the

treaties were initially an important act between

Governments, I feel that now especially the

Polish people, in the oppression they are

suffering, have become conscious of our desire

for reconciliation.

127. Precisely at this time when East-West

rela¬tions have become more difficult we want to

do every¬thing possible to ensure that there will

not be a policy of confrontation. For us Germans

in particular there can be no such confrontation.

Our purpose is, as the Bonn Declaration of NATO

of June 1982, states, to develop substantial and

balanced East-West rela¬tions aimed at genuine

detente .

128. Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and General

Secre¬tary Erich Honecker, at their meeting at

Lake Werbellin on 13 December 1981, reaffirmed

their conviction that war must never again

originate on German soil. But Germany also must

never again be devastated by war. All Germans

are, therefore, particularly aware of the

obligation to help preserve peace in Europe. At a

time when East-West relations have become

difficult, German-German relations must not give

rise to addi¬tional strains. We shall therefore

endeavor to keep these relations in as good a

condition as possible and to improve them

wherever feasible.

129. The Federal Republic of Germany, which

urges respect for the right to self-determination

everywhere in the world, demands this right for

the German people as well. It therefore remains

our political aim to work for a state of peace in

Europe in which the German nation will regain its

unity through free self- determination. We

realize that this goal cannot be attained in the

short term. It is therefore all the more

important to seek improvements in our relations

through dialogue and negotiation.

130. The policy of concluding agreements has

also proved valuable for Berlin. Detente and

conflict management have had a positive effect in

this context in particular. Strict observance and

full application of the Quadripartite Agreement

of 2 September 197 P remain the most reliable

guarantee for a continuance of its stabilizing

effects.

131. The Federal Government continues to

regard economic co-operation with all countries

of the world as a major factor of international

stability, also and in particular in relations

with the East. A continuous trade war waged to

achieve political goals would be both unwise and

ineffective. It is of special concern to us in

this context to be and to remain a reliable party

to agreements. Existing agreements must be

honored also in difficult times for which they

are intended as well.

132. In about a month's time the deliberations

of the follow-up meeting in Madrid to the

Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe

will be resumed. We attach particular importance

to that meeting. For us, the process of that

Conference remains an essential facto: for

shaping East-West relations and for pro¬moting

disarmament and security in Europe. The people in

Europe have derived tangible benefits from the

Helsinki Final Act/ although their hopes have by

no means been fully met. Setbacks can occur in a

long-term policy for safeguarding peace. They are

a bitter experience for those affected. But

precisely then it is essential to use the

instruments available and try to return to a

policy of reason. Implementation of all parts of

the Final Act, as we demand, can make a major

contribution towards improving East-West

relations and stabilizing peace in Europe. In

Madrid we are aiming at a precise mandate for a

conference on disarmament in Europe as part of a

balanced final document.

133. A decisive step for safeguarding peace in

Europe was taken last November when the dialogue

between the two super-Powers was resumed and

talks on intermediate-range nuclear forces

commenced at Geneva. Let me add a remark in this

context. In the present difficult phase of

East-West relations, it would be good—of this

Chancellor Schmidt is con¬vinced—if the two

leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union

could have direct talks with each other.

134. The Bonn Declaration of NATO reaffirmed

the central elements of our security policy,

namely, deterrence and defense capability, on the

one hand, and disarmament and arms control, on

the other. Disarmament and arms control are vital

issues and an integral part of our security

policy serving the cause of peace. It is

essential to give our peoples the con¬fidence

that our security policy can indeed safeguard

peace. It is not sufficient to talk about

disarmament. People in East and West alike want

to see tangible results at last.

135. In his recent state of the nation

address, Chancellor Schmidt quoted General

Rogers, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe,

who said: I am convinced that the only pathway

to a future for the kind of world we want leads

to the negotiating table. We must negotiate on

disarmament and arms control, on all kinds of

forces and weapons. This is the only way to stop

the arms race on both sides.

136. On the basis of the comprehensive

proposals on arms control and disarmament

negotiations made to the Soviet Union by the

United States of America at the NATO meeting in

Bonn, we support the idea of purposive,

persevering and intensive talks aimed at

achieving concrete results. First, we want a

genuine reduction in strategic nuclear weapons in

East and West. The American proposals for

substantial reductions in the Soviet and American

arsenals of strategic weapons by means of

strategic arms reduction talks have aroused new

expectations worldwide of a turning-point in

disarma¬ment policy. We welcome the fact that

those two coun¬tries are endeavoring at Geneva to

negotiate not only on limitations but also on

substantial reductions of their intercontinental

weapons.

137. Secondly, we want land-based

intermediate- range nuclear missiles to be

eliminated. The proposal made to the Soviet Union

by the United States at the Geneva talks that

both sides completely renounce a category of

weapons regarded as a particular threat by them

holds out the prospect of a major first step

towards disarmament and hence of eliminating the

threat felt by us in Europe owing to the build-up

of Soviet intermediate-range missiles. These

negotiations which are being resumed in Geneva

today are especially important to us.

138. By ratifying the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons resolution

2373, we Germans have undertaken never to possess

nuclear weapons. The Federal Government therefore

feels all the more justified in demanding time

and again that the nuclear Powers, too, honor

their commitments under the Treaty.

139. Thirdly, we want a codified comprehensive

ban on all chemical weapons. My country, which

for years now has committed itself to this

question with particular dedication, recently

submitted realistic and acceptable proposals for

reaching agreement on reliable means of verifying

compliance with a treaty banning chemical

weapons. I appeal to all Members of the United

Nations to examine those proposals carefully.

140. Fourthly, we want the force levels in

Central Europe to be reduced. Europe has the

world's largest concentration of mutually opposed

conventional armed forces. Progress at the Vienna

Talks on Mutual Reduc¬tion of Forces, Armaments

and Associated Measures in Central Europe is

therefore of particular impor¬tance to us, living

as we do at the centre of this region.

141. Furthermore, a conference on disarmament

in Europe must agree on confidence-building

measures for the whole of Europe, from the

Atlantic to the Urals, which serve to make

military potentials and activities in Europe more

transparent and help to reduce in the long term

not only mutual fear but also the danger of

unintentional military escalation.

142. Our special responsibility in Europe, in

the European Community and in NATO does not mean

that the Federal Republic of Germany can remain

indifferent to crises in other parts of the

world. On the contrary, we know that, just as

developments in Europe would quickly have effects

on other regions of the world, problems in other

parts of the world, how¬ever distant, can also

have direct repercussions for us. We not only

witness these repercussions but we also feel them

physically, especially in view of the fate of the

people directly affected.

143. The Federal Government is following the

developments in the Middle East with particular

concern. The assassination of the Lebanese

President-¬elect, Bashir Gemayel, and the

horrifying massacre in the Palestinian refugee

camps have once again rendered the achievement of

peace in the Middle East more difficult. The

Federal Government, like its

European allies, strongly condemns these criminal

acts, ft demands effective measures to protect

the civilian population, as well as an

independent inquiry. It hopes that the renewed

deployment of a multina¬tional force will help to

put an end to the violence and murders. The

sovereignty and territorial integrity of the

country must be restored as quickly as possible,

along with its constitutional institutions. This

requires the swift withdrawal of all troops

stationed in the country against the will of the

Lebanese Government. The Federal Government also

hopes that all political forces in Lebanon will

unite to reconstruct the country and that, by

exercising restraint; further acts of violence

can be prevented.

144. Peace and stability in the Middle East

can be ensured only through a comprehensive, just

and lasting peace settlement. Such a settlement

requires the participation of all parties in the

region, including the PLO. It must be based on

the principle of security for all States in the

region, including Israel. It must be based on

justice for all peoples, including the

Pal¬estinians, who are entitled to

self-determination. Finally, it must be based on

mutual recognition of all the parties concerned.

145. The Federal Government therefore welcomes

the new initiative by President Reagan as an

important step to reconcile the rights of the

parties concerned. The Federal Government has

also noted with satisfac¬tion that at the Twelfth

Arab Summit Conference, at Fez, almost all Arab

countries for the first time agreed on a policy

founded on peace between all countries in the

region. The Federal Government appeals to

every¬one concerned to seize the opportunity for

a new start and make every effort for a

comprehensive peace settlement.

146. The policy of suppressing the black

population in South Africa and of racial

discrimination is not only a grave violation of

human rights. It could also lead to internal

confrontation with destructive effects for the

country and the entire region.

147. Namibia must at last acquire its

independence in 1983 through free elections on

the basis of Security Council resolution 435

(1978). Lasting peace in Africa can only be

expected if the countries of this continent are

able to determine their lot on their own and free

from pressure by alien Powers. The presence of

foreign troops impairs any efforts to resolve

conflicts by peace¬ful means.

148. The Federal Government welcomes the

pro¬posals by the President of the Republic of

Korea to reduce the tension h his divided country

through dialogue and negotiation and to bring

about the peaceful reunification of North and

South Korea.

149. The Federal Government urged a peaceful

settlement of the conflict in the South Atlantic

from the very outset. We welcome the first

constructive steps aimed at normalizing relations

between the United Kingdom and Argentina. A

permanent solution to this dispute can be found

only through political dialogue and political

negotiations.

150. One of the prime goals of the Federal

Govern¬ment continues to be to maintain its

long-standing, close and good relations with

Latin American coun¬tries. The Federal Government

feels that the forth¬coming admission to the

European Community of Portugal and Spain can help

strengthen the Com¬munity's relations with Latin

America even further.

151. We strongly support efforts to ensure

that all countries respect the principle of

non-alignment. We seek to promote and safeguard

non-alignment through our development policy

based on partnership. The Federal Republic of

Germany encourages regional co-operation in the

third world which serves to strengthen stability,

independence and peace.

152. The Federal Government also fully supports efforts designed to secure

world-wide implementation of the principle of the

renunciation of force and of curbing the arms

race, as well as agreements on

confidence-building measures. It also directly

backs up such efforts with initiatives of its

own. We hope that the United Nations will take up

and develop further our proposals for a code of

conduct on confidence-building measures, which we

submitted at the second special session devoted

to disarmaments We expect the international

symposium on confidence- building measures

scheduled to be held in the Federal Republic of

Germany next year to provide further impulses for

the development of such measures, which

constitute an instrument of peace policy of

world¬wide importance.

153. Since the beginning of the last session

of the General Assembly many thousands of people

have had to flee their home countries or have

been expelled from them. We must not permit a

situation in which millions have to leave their

countries temporarily or even permanently to seek

refuge elsewhere. The basic consensus on the need

for suitable preventive meas¬ures achieved at the

last session represents i first step towards

improving co-operation between coun¬tries and

international institutions to avert new flows of

refugees. We should preserve this consensus. The

Group of Governmental Experts on International

Co¬operation to Avert New Flows of Refugees

should take up its work as soon ac possible.

154. In view of the numerous violations of

human rights throughout the world, it is not

sufficient to profess good intentions. We must

continue to work seriously and with perseverance

to improve the international protection of human

rights. The Govern¬ment of the Federal Republic

of Germany deems it necessary to establish an

international court of human rights for this

purpose, and we attach particular importance to

our initiative on the world-wide abolition of

capital punishment. We know that, owing to

dif¬ferent legal traditions and religious

convictions, many countries may view this

question different^. We advocate, however, that

countries which desire the abolition of capital

Punishment should say so, also internationally,

and they should say it clearly and in a way that

binds them.

155. The world economy is in poor health. This

poses a grave threat to stability and peace. At

the same time, the prospects of eliminating

hunger and want are more unfavorable than ever.

Against the background of high interest rates

there is a continuing recession in industrial

countries. Unemployment rates are rising as a

result. We are also witnessing a decline in

interna¬tional trade and growing protectionist

pressure. These developments are detrimental to

us all, particularly the countries of the third

world.

156. As a result of lower commodity prices, a

con¬tinually high burden caused by the cost of

oil imports and high, fluctuating interest rates,

developing coun¬tries' opportunities for

borrowing are limited. High debt-servicing

charges are a strain on their economies,

stretching them to the limits of their capacity,

or even beyond in some cases. Industrial and

developing coun¬tries must co-operate in a spirit

of partnership in order to restore stable growth

and development in the world economy. The

existing international organizations, such as the

International Monetary Fund [IMF] and the Word

Bank must be kept effective.

157. Another major task will be to preserve

free trade and capital flows. No country should

ignore the commitments it has assumed under GATT.

Anyone who jeopardizes GATT aggravates the

world's eco¬nomic depression.

158. Furthermore, in view of falling commodity

prices we need a world-wide system to stabilize

export earnings.

159. We shall of course seek to increase our

official aid further within the limits of

available funds. Despite the difficult economic

situation, considerable bud¬getary problems, a

decline of 0.3 per cent in its gross national

product and a high deficit on current account,

the Federal Republic of Germany provided official

aid worth 7.2 billion deutsche marks in 1981, or

0.46 per cent of our gross national product—its

biggest amount yet.

160. However, in this situation the developing

coun¬tries will themselves have to make even

greater efforts. Economy, a prudent use of

available capital and a cautious debt policy are

called for. Develop¬ment policy will have to be

focused on particular fields, above all the

promotion of agriculture in the third world,

since this is the sector that determines the

economic growth and the food supply of many third

world countries.

161. Emphasis must also be placed on the

energy sector. For many developing countries the

costs of energy supplies have become an almost

intolerable burden. Consequently, this is a

priority area of develop¬ment aid afforded by the

Federal Republic of Germany. It is in our view

also a contribution to the Nairobi Programme of

Action for the Development and uti¬lization of

New and Renewable Sources of Energy, adopted by

the United Nations Conference on New and

Renewable Sources of Energy.

162. Environmental protection must also be

seen as an important area of co-operation and we

must prevent man from destroying the basis of his

own existence by recklessly polluting the

environment and exhausting valuable resources.

Much important work has to be done in this

respect.

163. Finally, we must not forget that the

growth of the world population can overtake and

nullify all our efforts to ensure greater

international economic stability.

164. The Third United Nations Conference on

the Law of the Sea has made an historic attempt

to develop an international regime for the use of

the world's oceans. The Federal Government played

an active and constructive part in this.

Admittedly, the results have not lived up to our

expectations in every respect. In addition to

certain satisfactory provisions, there are

arrangements on future deep-sea mining which make

it hard Mr us to decide in favor of signing the

Con¬vention. We find it most regrettable that the

Con¬ference was not able to produce results

capable of commanding a consensus. The Federal

Government will take a decision on whether to

sign the Convention after careful consideration

and close consultation with other participants in

the Conference.

166. It is of decisive importance for

co-operation in good faith between industrial and

developing countries that the dialogue between

North and South should not be disrupted. We have

unanimously decided to conduct global

negotiations on the subjects of raw materials,

energy, trade, development, monetary matters and

finance. Together with its partners in the

European Community, the Federal Republic of

Germany urges that these negotiations be started

now. At the economic summit in Versailles a

constructive position on a resolution on the

commencement of global negotiations was

formulated and has since been endorsed by all the

member countries of the Organ¬ization for

Economic Co-operation and Development. Agreement

must now be reached on the early com¬mencement of

global negotiations

167. All too often in past decades the hopes

placed in the United Nations have not been

fulfilled. But we must not overlook the fact that

the United Nations can be no stronger than the

political will of all its Members to work

together responsibly in the spirit of the

Charter. Those that prefer voting on short-term

goals and one-sided resolutions instead of

endeavoring to achieve compromise and consensus

are blocking the way to genuine negotiations in

this forum

168. I welcome the spirit of bold candor and

realism with which the Secretary-General

described the state of the Organization in his

report. I also welcome his constructive proposals

for improving the work of the United Nations and

the part played by the Security Council. My

Government will actively support efforts to that

end.

169. One of the central tasks of the United

Nations is, as before, to make an effective

contribution towards safeguarding world peace.

Its capacity to do so must be enhanced, and

better use must be made of the existing

instruments for this purpose.

170. The foreign policy pursued by the Federal Republic of Germany is and will

always be a policy for peace. We follow this

policy in collaboration with our partners in the

European Community, which is an outward-looking

association alive to its responsi¬bility in the

world, as well as in the alliance with the United

States and Canada.

171. Our peace policy is one of continuity,

based on the conclusions we have drawn from our

own history and conditioned by our situation as a

divided country at the interface between East and

West. This peace policy enjoys wide and broad

support in all sectors of our population. It

cannot be discarded at will. Our paramount task

is to preserve peace. It is not enough to dispel

fear. We must also counter the dangers

threatening us worldwide. As the German

philosopher Immanuel Kant said Peace is not a

natural state; it has to be established and

worked on continuously. To do so, we must make

full use of our powers of reason, of our

political and moral responsibility and of our

determination. We must not believe that what is

true is on one side of the mountain and what is

false is on the other, as Pascal put it. Since

the threats are global, global rules of conduct

must apply. This is the spirit that imbues the

Charter of the United Nations. Only by acting in

this spirit will we be able to pursue an

effective strategy for the safeguarding of peace.