Germany, 2013

Exactly

40 years ago, the two German States joined the United

Nations. For Germans, that marked our full return to the

community of nations. Germany supports the United

Nations as the beating heart of a global order rooted

in cooperation, peaceful compromise and cooperative

solutions.

The world has changed dramatically since then.

New centres of economic and political power are

emerging. In recent years, Germany has established

new strategic partnerships with the new global players

in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

The setting of our meeting today is different

from the usual one. The United Nations is undergoing

renovation, which must not be restricted merely to the

buildings. The United Nations must reflect the world

as it is, not as it used to be. Only then will it be fit for

the challenges of our age. A Security Council without

permanent seats for Africa and Latin America does

not reflect the realities of today’s world. A Council in

which the emerging and highly populous region of Asia

is represented by only one permanent seat does not

reflect the realities of today’s world. Nor does it reflect

the reality of tomorrow. Germany, with its partners

Japan, India and Brazil, is prepared to assume greater

responsibility. In essence, it is a matter of strengthening

the United Nations. The authority of the United Nations

depends on its being representative.

We are seeking reform of the United Nations so that

its power to build consensus, establish global rules and

act effectively in response to crises and conflicts can

be demonstrably strengthened. This is a call not only

to the United Nations itself, but also to each and every

individual Member State. Only if we are prepared to

compromise and are willing to act together will we

be able to make the United Nations strong. Germany

remains committed to the United Nations. A strong

United Nations is in Germany’s interests.

Our cultural differences and diverse traditions are

not going to vanish in the age of globalization, but it

is not only the world’s markets that are becoming ever

more closely interconnected: people’s expectations,

hopes and ideas are globalizing too. The developments

in the Arab world have shown us that a country’s

stability depends primarily not on the stability of

the Government but on social stability. The best

guarantees for a society’s internal cohesion are respect

for individual human rights, the triumph of the rule

of law over the arbitrary, and broad economic, social

and political participation on the part of the people.

Germany is committed to democratic change and to

respect for human and civil rights, not because we want

to take the moral high ground but because we have

learned from experience — from the painful experience

of our own history.

In Syria the people took to the streets to protest

against a repressive regime. For more than two years

now, the regime’s response has been brutal violence,

which has brought countless deaths, immeasurable

suffering and terrible destruction on the Syrian

people and is now jeopardizing stability in the entire

region. The use of chemical weapons, ascertained by

the United Nations, is a crime against civilization. Its

terrible dimensions have consequences that extend far

beyond Syria. All the facts available to us show that the

regime is responsible for the use of chemical weapons.

The use of chemical weapons cannot be allowed to

go unpunished. That we owe not only to the victims in

Syria, but also to future generations. Those responsible

for using such weapons must be called to account

before the International Criminal Court, which must at

last be able to begin its independent investigations. We

welcome the agreement reached in the Security Council

yesterday. The chemical weapons in Syria must be

completely destroyed in accordance with a firmly

agreed timetable. Germany is prepared to provide

financial and technical help to destroy those chemical

weapons. A world without weapons of mass destruction

would be a better world.

We must take advantage of the opportunity for a

political process offered by the agreement on destroying

the chemical weapons. After all, people in Syria are

still being killed every day by conventional weapons.

But there will be no military solution in Syria. Only a

political solution can bring lasting peace to Syria. That

would include an immediate ceasefire. I am pleased

that there is at last a timetable for a possible peace

conference, details of which still have to be clarified

even after yesterday’s decision in the Security Council.

Only with a substantive political process can we counter

the destabilization of the entire region.

To date, Germany has made available more than

€420 million to ease the worst of the suffering of the

Syrian people. But despite all of the outside help,

millions of Syrians are fleeing. Ever more people are

at acute risk of starvation, and very soon they will also

be at the mercy of the cold weather. They do not have

even the most basic medical care. We must seize every

opportunity to provide humanitarian access to the

suffering population as quickly as possible. Amid all

the devastation and hatred, the United Nations and its

staff are the face of compassion and, for many Syrians,

the only hope. I would like expressly to pay tribute to

their work and commitment.

The tragedy in Syria underlines the extraordinary

and growing importance attached to disarmament

aimed at eliminating weapons of mass destruction and

the strengthening of the non-proliferation regimes.

Attaining a world free of weapons of mass destruction is

our generation’s prime task for the future. Disarmament

is a crucial issue for the future of humankind.

Iran must allay the international community’s

doubts about the exclusively peaceful nature of its

nuclear programme. We welcome Iran’s announcement

this week that it is prepared to do so. The talks with the

Iranian Government were encouraging. They open up

a window of opportunity. Now it is imperative that we

rebuild trust. Germany is ready to conduct negotiations

in a constructive manner. However, the new words

coming out of Tehran must be followed by deeds, and

not at some unspecified time in the future, but right

now. But, I repeat: a fresh start has been made.

We welcome the great commitment shown by

President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry

in giving fresh impetus to the negotiations between

Israel and the Palestinian leadership. Prime Minister

Netanyahu and President Abbas deserve our respect

for their courage in embarking together on that course.

They have our full support as they pursue that course

towards a negotiated agreement. Only a negotiated two-

State solution can reconcile the legitimate interests of

the two sides.

This week in New York has been an encouraging

one for the world. I am gratified that it was not military

solutions but the struggle for political and diplomatic

solutions that came to the fore. The international

community must continue to follow such an approach.

Beyond crisis diplomacy, the United Nations is

the central forum for setting binding objectives for

the international community. Just a few days ago, the

General Assembly agreed on the next steps for drawing

up a new post-2015 sustainable development agenda.

Germany wants to make a contribution in that regard

with its experience of combining economic prosperity

and promoting political participation and sustainable

management.

Sustainability and combating poverty are not only

key social issues; they are also key foreign policy issues.

In formulating the future agenda, greater attention

needs to be paid to human rights protection and good

governance than has been the case in the past. The

new agenda must incorporate all three dimensions of

sustainability and take account of economic, social and

environmental aspects. With such a comprehensive

approach we can also strengthen the fragile statehood

in many countries and eradicate safe havens for

terrorists. Social stability is the best protection against

radicalization and extremism.

German foreign policy is a policy for peace. It

focuses on crisis prevention. We Germans accept our

responsibility for international peacekeeping. We

focus on personal and social development. We focus on

strengthening civil society. We want to contribute to

a global process in which we — in the North, South,

East and West learn from each other and develop joint

solutions by working together. Germany will continue

in future to use its economic clout and full political

strength to promote peace and the balancing of interests.

The digital age brings with it entirely new

opportunities and challenges. We need an Internet in

which freedom, security and the protection of privacy

are appropriately reconciled. Just as we have to regulate

international financial flows in order to prevent global

crises, so we need binding rules and standards for

global data flows. That is why Germany has submitted

to the Human Rights Council an initiative regarding

the protection of the right to privacy in the digital

age. Everyone using the Internet should be able to be

sure that their rights are being respected worldwide

vis-à-vis private companies as well as vis-à-vis States.

Not everything that is technically possible must be

allowed to happen, nor is everything technically

possible legitimate.

Germany remains firmly anchored in Europe.

Europe is a community of shared cultures, bound

together by a common destiny. Close union among

the nations of Europe is and will remain the response

to our history and to our future in a world of change.

German foreign policy is firmly embedded in European

foreign policy. Europe will continue to use its clout,

its influence and its resources to uphold peace and

justice, to encourage development and cooperation

and to promote climate protection and disarmament

throughout the world.

That is Germany’s twin obligation: a strong united

Europe in the world and a strong, effective United

Nations for the world.