Germany, 1999

First of all, I would like

to warmly congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the

presidency of the fifty-fourth session of the General

Assembly and to wish you every success in this difficult

office.

I should also like to thank Foreign Minister Opertti for

his tireless dedication in successfully presiding over the

fifty-third session of the General Assembly.

I welcome Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga, with which

Germany has long enjoyed friendly ties, as new Members

of the world Organization.

I endorse the statement of my Finnish colleague, Tarja

Halonen, on behalf of the European Union.

This session of the General Assembly is the last in

this “century of extremes”, as the British historian Eric

Hobsbawm called the century now drawing to a close. That

is reason enough to take stock. Since its foundation, the

United Nations has greatly enhanced relations between

peoples. The development of international law, protection

of human rights, decolonization, worldwide humanitarian

and disaster aid, arousing awareness of the great problems

facing mankind, such as population growth, poverty and the

global environmental crisis — all of this would be

inconceivable without the United Nations.

There is no alternative to the United Nations

objectives and values — peace, human rights, freedom,

justice and development — and they have gained

worldwide recognition, even if, unfortunately, they are not

always respected everywhere. Nevertheless, even after more

than 50 years, there is still a long way to go before they are

universally respected and implemented. Despite all its

efforts, the international community has not yet succeeded

in ridding our planet of war, oppression, tyranny, expulsion

and grave human rights violations, including genocide. At

the close of this century, the United Nations and its

Member States are unable to fully master their core task,

namely, safeguarding peace and security. The great hope

that following the end of the East-West conflict the era of

multilateral cooperation and worldwide rule of law would

dawn has not yet come to fruition.

Today the question of peacekeeping must be

considered under conditions very different to those during

the United Nations early years. First, most conflicts today

are internal rather than international, as in earlier times.

Secondly, the role of the nation State has been

considerably relativized by the increased importance of

human rights and the globalization of the economy and

society. Against this background, the question of

peacekeeping arises more and more in an area of tension

between traditional State sovereignty and protection of

human rights.

What is to be done when entire States collapse and

the civilian population is massacred in never-ending civil

wars from all sides? What if ethnic tensions in a State are

partly provoked by criminal Governments, which then

respond with pogroms, mass expulsions and mass

murders, even genocide? Should the United Nations then

regard State sovereignty as more important than

protection of individuals and their rights? Rwanda,

Kosovo and East Timor are dramatic examples of this.

In many ways, therefore, the Kosovo conflict

represents a turning point. The international community

could no longer tolerate a State waging war against its

own people and using terror and expulsion as a political

instrument. As Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in his

brilliant and trail-blazing speech to the fifty-fifth session

of the Commission on Human Rights, no Government has

the right to use the cover of the principle of State

sovereignty to violate human rights. Non-interference in

internal affairs must no longer be misused as a shield for

dictators and murderers. The World Conference on

Human Rights in Vienna reaffirmed this in 1993, with the

approval of all United Nations Members States, with the

words:

“the promotion and protection of all human rights is

a legitimate concern of the international

community”. (Vienna Declaration and Programme

of Action, I, para. 4)

However, the Kosovo conflict also marks a change

of direction in the development of international relations.

How will the international community decide in the

future — this question has just been raised once more in

East Timor — when it comes to preventing massive

human rights violations against an entire people? Two

developments are conceivable.

A practice of humanitarian interventions could evolve

outside the United Nations system. This would be a very

problematic development. The intervention in Kosovo,

which took place in a situation where the Security Council

had tied its own hands after all efforts to find a peaceful

solution had failed, was intended to provide emergency

assistance and, ultimately, to protect the displaced Kosovo

Albanians. The unity of the European States and the

Western Alliance, as well as various Security Council

resolutions, were of crucial significance here. However, this

step, which is only justified in this special situation, must

not set a precedent for weakening the United Nations

Security Council's monopoly on authorizing the use of legal

international force. Nor must it become a licence to use

external force under the pretext of humanitarian assistance.

This would open the door to the arbitrary use of power and

anarchy and throw the world back to the nineteenth century.

The only solution to this dilemma, therefore, is to

further develop the existing United Nations system in such

a way that in the future it is able to intervene in good time

in cases of very grave human rights violations, but not until

all means of settling conflicts peacefully have been

exhausted and — this is a crucial point — within a strictly

limited legal and controlled framework.

In the twenty-first century the individual and his rights

must take a more prominent place alongside the rights of

States in the concept of security as defined by the

international community. The reform of the Security

Council, the central body for safeguarding world peace,

must be oriented towards this principle. The Security

Council is, in fact, authorized to act, and able to do so,

where peace or security are at risk due to internal

developments. This has been demonstrated by a long chain

of decisions, from the apartheid resolution to the

interventions in Iraq, Bosnia and Haiti. However, in

Rwanda, Kosovo and the Congo, decision making in the

Security Council was blocked, thus rendering it unable to

live up to its responsibilities enshrined in the United

Nations Charter, with disastrous results for the peoples in

question.

These conflicts are a pressing reason, particularly in

view of the important Millennium General Assembly, to

finally carry out the long-overdue substantial reform of the

Security Council. The Security Council must be adapted to

the new realities of the global political situation. It must

have a more representative composition and, above all, it

must be equipped to react to the crises and conflicts of

today. Reform must involve enlargement to include both

more permanent and non-permanent members, as well as a

strengthening of its decision-making powers. As the

Assembly knows, Germany has for some time now

expressed its willingness to assume more and lasting

responsibility in this connection. We stand by this

unreservedly.

In the debate on reform we must not avoid the issue

of the permanent members' right of veto, a question of

key importance for the Security Council's capability to

act. The right of veto is regarded by many as outdated in

its current form. However, it is a situation with which we

have to reckon internationally for a long time to come.

How then can decision-making in the Security Council be

made more efficient?

According to the Charter, the Security Council acts

with the mandate, and on behalf, of all United Nations

Member States. But hitherto they have not been entitled

to learn why a State has exercised its right of veto. This

is not only neither democratic nor transparent, but also

makes it easier for States to veto a draft resolution

unilaterally for national rather than international interests.

The introduction of an obligation for a State to explain to

the General Assembly why it is vetoing a draft resolution

would make it more difficult to do so and thus bring

about substantial progress towards using the right of veto

more responsibly. Why should not the General Assembly

assume more responsibility in the future, too?

A second approach to making the international

peacekeeping system more efficient would be via Chapter

VIII of the United Nations Charter, namely by

strengthening the regional security systems and

redistributing tasks and areas of responsibility among

them and the United Nations. It is becoming clear that the

regional organizations could be allocated an even greater

implementation role. This would also foster the

capabilities of regional organizations to engage in security

cooperation, as well as their collaboration with the United

Nations. However, the primacy of the Security Council

remains absolutely essential.

Without reforms in the area of peacekeeping, the

Security Council will be circumvented more and more

frequently, resulting in the erosion of the Security Council

and, ultimately, of the entire United Nations system. The

United Nations, one of civilization's greatest achievements

this century, as well as the values and principles it

represents, would thus be at risk of subsiding into

insignificance. We must prevent that.

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The disaster in East Timor is currently demonstrating

how necessary close cooperation is between a Security

Council capable of taking action and the countries in the

region. The Security Council's mandate to send a

multilateral peacekeeping force must be fully implemented.

Indonesia must now cooperate closely with the United

Nations Mission and do everything in its power to

guarantee its success. The bloodshed must end. The victims

must be helped. Those displaced must be able to return

home safely. Germany has already provided humanitarian

and food aid. We will send a medical corps to assist the

peacekeeping troops and make further contributions towards

rebuilding the destroyed country. I am confident that our

Parliament will lend this plan its full backing.

In Africa, the Great Lakes region, the Congo and

Sierra Leone have for many years been the scene of terrible

wars, mass murders, destruction and much suffering on the

part of refugees. The Organization of African Unity (OAU)

and the Economic Community of West African States

(ECOWAS) and its Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) have

done much to contain and resolve these conflicts. However,

these organizations also need the support of the United

Nations, in Sierra Leone, in the Congo and, in particular, in

the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Both parties to

the conflict must observe the agreements concluded and

work closely together with the United Nations and the OAU

so that the peace process now begun can be brought to a

successful conclusion.

The international community must focus on the causes

rather than merely the symptoms of wars and conflicts in

the context of multilateral peacekeeping. Secretary-General

Kofi Annan rightly called for a “culture of prevention” to

be developed in order to prevent the outbreak of wars and

avert natural disasters more effectively in future.

Everyone knows how difficult the transition from the

“culture of reaction” to the “culture of prevention” will be.

It takes a lot of persuading to summon up the political and

economic will for measures intended to prevent something

which we hope will never happen. However, on financial

grounds and, above all, on humanitarian grounds, it is our

duty and responsibility to revise our thinking here. Progress

is urgently required in four areas.

First, we must move on from early warning to early

response. The United Nations has considerable resources at

its disposal for preventive diplomacy, which must be used

even more. There is also a great potential for synergy in

cooperation with non-governmental organizations.

Secondly, peacekeeping operations must be carried

out before conflicts erupt. The United Nations mission in

Macedonia has set a standard in this respect.

Thirdly, disarmament and the non-proliferation of

means of mass destruction are in need of fresh political

impetus. It is essential that the Geneva negotiations gain

momentum, particularly in the fields of global nuclear

disarmament and the verification of biological weapons,

and in the implementation of the Chemical Weapons

Convention. Furthermore, Germany advocates the

adoption of a convention on preventing the illegal transfer

of small arms worldwide.

Fourthly, peace-building is a prevention task of

growing importance. With the United Nations Interim

Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), the United

Nations is facing one of the most comprehensive tests in

its history. Building public order by creating an efficient

judicial system and quickly sending the pledged

international police units is now crucial. Since the United

Nations began incorporating national police units in the

international standby system, they have been able to act

more swiftly. We must continue along this path.

Protection of human rights and the growing

democratization of States form the basis for a preventive

peace policy and civil conflict management. It is a

historical fact that democracies with a well-developed

civil society hardly ever wage war against each other.

Lasting economic success cannot be achieved in the

globalized information society of tomorrow without good

governance founded on human rights, the separation of

powers and a functioning legal and constitutional

framework.

In the field of human rights, welcome progress has

been made towards broadening the legal basis for

international relations, particularly during the last year.

The detention of Pinochet and the indictment of Milosevic

by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former

Yugoslavia are milestones along the path towards creating

a world in which the rule of law prevails. In future,

dictators and perpetrators of human rights violations will

no longer be able to rely on not being called to account

for their actions. This must also apply to the murderers of

Dili and those who issued the orders. Just like everywhere

else in the world, internal peace is contingent upon

justice.

The adoption of the Statute of the International

Criminal Court represented a quantum leap in the

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development of international law. I call upon all States to

respect the integrity of the Rome Statute, to sign it and to

swiftly ratify it, so that the Court can commence work next

year.

Germany is doing all it can to bring about progress in

the following fields of human rights. The heinous crimes of

child trafficking and child prostitution must be banned

throughout the world, as must the use of child soldiers. In

the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of

the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflicts,

the age limit must be raised to 18.

In many countries women are still largely without

rights and protection and subjected to discrimination and

violence. This is an unacceptable injustice. Unfortunately,

our world is still a long way from genuine equality, even

with regard to fundamental rights. We must therefore aim

to adopt the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the

Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women.

In our view, the death penalty cannot be justified

either ethically or legally. Together with its European

partners, Germany will therefore continue to vigorously

work towards ensuring the implementation of the joint

resolution on abolishing the death penalty.

Protection of press freedom must be improved. The

freedom to inform is a reliable gauge of respect for human

rights. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights guarantees the right to freedom of opinion.

However, censorship, intimidation and reprisals are the

order of the day in many countries. It is particularly

shocking that year after year dozens of journalists are killed

while on assignment. The United Nations should take a

closer look at this issue and consider practical solutions as

well as enhance legal protection for journalists. To this end

we will shortly be extending invitations to a conference to

be held in Germany.

The United Nations third major task alongside

peacekeeping and promoting human rights in the coming

century will be to bring about a reconciliation between rich

and poor countries.

The tenth Human Development Report of the United

Nations Development Programme came to the sad

conclusion that globalization has further widened the gap

between rich and poor countries. The international

community must endeavour to counter this trend. The

development of the poorer and the poorest countries must

not be left to the invisible hand of the global market. The

individual, not the market, must be the focus of the

globalization debate. This will also require greater

steering at the political level.

The rich countries have a responsibility to help poor

countries take advantage of globalization and enable them

to have a fairer share of the world economy by assisting

them with internal reforms and by opening up markets.

Within the framework of its European Union and Group

of 8 presidencies, Germany launched substantial

initiatives, which must be further developed in the form

of the 1999 Köln Debt Initiative and the commencement

of negotiations on a follow-up arrangement for the Lomé

Convention.

Development cooperation in the broadest sense must

become one of the United Nations core tasks to a greater

degree than hitherto. Science and technology are geared

far too much to the problems of rich countries. Why do

we not make greater use of the United Nations framework

to build bridges here? The economist Jeffrey Sachs made

the interesting suggestion, for example, that a millennium

vaccine fund could be established, with guaranteed

markets in the future for vaccines against tropical viruses

such as tuberculosis, malaria and, above all, AIDS.

Furthermore, in the context of the emergence of a global

knowledge society, the international regime for the

protection of intellectual property must be revised in order

to ensure that the world’s poor do not lose a large part of

their rights and freedoms in the near future. Rich and

poor countries should get together with one another more

frequently to discuss such proposals. During its

presidency of the Group of Eight, Germany made a start

by meeting the non-aligned countries and the Group of

77.

The destruction of the environment has long since

ceased to be a soft issue, but, rather, has become a very

hard question which will have an increasingly strong

impact on international security. According to the new

study by the United Nations Environment Programme

(UNEP), global warming and water shortages will be the

biggest problems facing humanity in the coming century.

UNEP also rightly draws attention to the close connection

between environmental destruction, poverty and excessive

consumption. The deadlock in the climate protection

negotiations must finally be overcome and the Kyoto

Protocol implemented. The destruction of the rain forest

must be stopped and further desertification prevented, and

we must halt the squandering of our planet’s natural

resources and switch to renewable energy as quickly as

possible. The world does not have much time left to

14

remap a course towards sustainability. This will also require

a much more active population policy, including a

long-term strategy to deal with the ageing of our world’s

population. The International Plan of Action on Ageing,

adopted in 1982, is in need of urgent revision. We intend

to hold a ministerial conference in Germany on this issue

under the auspices of the Economic Commission for

Europe.

With the leap into the next millennium, the nation

State principle will continue to diminish in importance. It

will no longer be possible to find answers to major global

problems within the framework of the traditional nation

state. Rather, this will take place in a strengthened

international structure and with a transfer of power to

international organizations, with the United Nations at their

head. This will entail a transformation of traditional power

into justice, the reconciliation of interests and a greater role

for civil society in the international political system, with

the ever-greater involvement of representatives of civil

society and industry. Reaching agreement on minimum

standards with regard to social issues — on the issue of

child labour, for example — will be possible in many cases

only in a global context. I support the proposal put forward

by Secretary-General Kofi Annan that a global pact on

common values and principles be concluded within the

framework of a public/private partnership, between the

United Nations and major companies, in order to lend the

law of the market a human face.

The United Nations must become the core of effective

global governance. Strengthening the United Nations, which

must begin by guaranteeing its financial basis, is therefore

one of Germany’s most important foreign policy objectives.

During the past 50 years, and for the first time in its

history, Germany has been opting wholeheartedly for

integration into multilateral structures, thereby achieving

democracy, freedom and reunification. Today, out of a

sense of deep conviction and historical responsibility, our

country is committed to peaceful reconciliation of interests

and to multilateralism. We are taking this conviction with

us to our old and new capital, Berlin. In the international

State system of tomorrow the answer to the challenges of

globalization will come from multilateralism alone. Our

world will always be plural, and no form of unilateralism

can therefore work in the long run. For that reason, the

twenty-first century, with its more than 6 billion people and

their States, will need a United Nations that is capable of

taking action. The United Nations and its Members can

therefore be certain that we Germans will be their

staunchest allies in the efforts to strengthen the United

Nations.