Spain, 2006

It is indeed a great pleasure to address this

General Assembly on the International Day of Peace,

in my capacity as Minister for Foreign Affairs and

Cooperation. The Government of Spain calls for a

vigorous United Nations system that can guarantee

international peace and security in a world that is

global, complex and full of uncertainty.

I should like to congratulate our President on her

election as the first Arab woman to lead the

Assembly — a task in which, I predict, she will have

great success. She can count on the full commitment

and cooperation of Spain. I also wish to express my

gratitude and congratulations to Mr. Jan Eliasson,

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden and President

of the General Assembly at its most recent session. His

leadership and negotiating skills contributed to the

adoption of far-reaching political agreements aimed at

the implementation of the 2005 World Summit

Outcome (resolution 60/1).

Understanding and cooperation among countries

will clear up the unanswered questions of the twenty-

first century — a century characterized by

globalization, which has spread throughout the world,

pervading areas of daily life and causing

transformations in the power of States and the system

of international relations.

In their analysis of that complex and uncertain

reality, political theoreticians sometimes turn to

scientific knowledge, but its formulations fail to

provide concrete measures to deal effectively with the

political and institutional challenges of the twenty-first

century. New times call for new politics that cannot be

influenced in any way by fear, distrust or suspicion in

the international community. The factors and events

that shape today’s international relations must not

distract or hold back the innovative spirit of political

action.

Today, we know that technology alone does not

lead to progress with regard to security and social and

economic growth. Globalization has great individual

and collective benefits. It is a mixture of contradictory

trends — hope and despair, humanism and barbarity —

in which we find serious imbalances that must be

addressed with political courage and confidence.

This new era has not resolved old conflicts that

are eroding international peace and security. The

situation in the Middle East is the present-day version

of a historical conflict that has challenged the

international community. The adoption of Security

Council resolution 1701 (2006) and the cessation of

hostilities open the way for hope that the necessary

conditions will be created for a lasting peace. We have

already endured more than five decades of suffering

and despair. We have already endured five decades of

appealing in this forum for a definitive solution. We

have endured five decades of the international

community’s impotence.

From this rostrum, I call for a coalition for peace.

This is not about rediscovering the Mediterranean; it is

about commitment. We must say “yes” to the creation

of a democratic, viable and peaceful Palestinian State

that lives in peace and security with the State of Israel;

“yes” to full support for President Mahmoud Abbas;

“yes” to ending the violence and terror against Israel;

“yes” to reactivating the Madrid Process, which began

15 years ago; “yes” to a global peace that includes

Syria and Lebanon; and, finally, “yes” to an end to this

tragedy.

The only possible way to find a solution is

political and diplomatic action, not military action. We

must rebuild a dynamic of negotiation to permanently

eradicate violence from this region, which is bleeding

to death as a result of misunderstanding and pain.

39 06-53005

My Government hopes that all actors involved in

the region commit themselves to implementing

resolution 1701 (2006) and to the tasks in southern

Lebanon that have been entrusted to the United Nations

Interim Force in Lebanon, in which Spanish troops are

participating. We must give peace and dialogue another

chance.

From the eastern Mediterranean, I now turn to the

western Mediterranean. Spain pays particular attention

to its neighbourly relations with the Maghreb, a region

with regard to which we maintain an active and

comprehensive policy that strengthens our friendship

and cooperation. That is why we attach importance to

the relaunching of the process of building a united

Maghreb.

To accelerate the pace of that project, we will

need to find a negotiated and effective solution to the

conflict in Western Sahara, which has lasted for more

than 30 years and urgently calls for an atmosphere

conducive to breaking the current deadlock. The

international community must create such an

atmosphere to ensure a just and lasting political

agreement that respects the principle of self-

determination, within the United Nations framework.

The will to engage in dialogue and compromise

could clear up this old conflict, as was the case with

Gibraltar. I am pleased to inform the Assembly that the

Tripartite Forum of Dialogue on Gibraltar, which met

last Monday in Cordoba, has already adopted its first

agreements, which reflect the spirit of the relevant

United Nations resolutions. Those agreements in no

way mean that my Government renounces its

sovereignty over Gibraltar.

Relations with Ibero-America are a constant

priority of the Government of Spain in its foreign

policy. We are committed to promoting the cohesion,

growth and visibility of the Ibero-American

community, with which we maintain historic ties and

share new strategies and objectives. The Ibero-

American Secretariat, which is participating here for

the first time as an observer, strengthens our

community through dialogue and coordination. The

forthcoming summit to be held in Uruguay will assess

ongoing activities and propose measures to begin anew

the social, economic, cultural and political progress

demanded by the civil societies of the Ibero-American

community.

The President returned to the Chair.

Cooperation and understanding also guide our

trans-Atlantic relations and, in a very special way, our

relations with the United States. In a constructive

spirit, we discuss concerns and long-term projects that

strengthen the international community.

As multilateral actors, we know that many of our

difficulties and problems will not be resolved through

voluntarism or national action. Our action must be on a

global scale if we are to effectively address them in all

their complexity — particularly the new challenges

facing the international community that hinder the

promotion of a more just and equitable globalization.

A sense of political responsibility leads us to

resolve urgent global problems such as security and

terrorism, to fight hunger and poverty and to manage

migratory flows. Through the coordination of the

United Nations, the world must promote the causes of

sustainable development, security and human rights.

We cannot have security without development, there

can be no development without security, and we will

not attain those objectives if human rights are not

respected.

We cannot accept terrorism, regardless of its

origin. Our acceptance would transform it into terror

and would unleash a spiral of fear in which freedoms

would suffer. We must not let down our guard against

terrorism; neither must we let down our guard against

the erosion of freedoms. The Government of Spain

welcomes the adoption of the Global Counter-

Terrorism Strategy, which does not overlook victims

and their families.

Situations of extreme poverty and humanitarian

catastrophes are inconceivable at the beginning of the

twenty-first century. We must deepen our sincere

commitment to the Millennium Development Goals

and to the fight against hunger and poverty in order to

alleviate the uncertainty, hardship and despair that

affect millions of citizens throughout the world.

The traditional areas of Spanish action have been

broadened and reinforced through the progressive

consolidation of an advanced cooperation policy. Spain

has increased the quality and quantity of its Official

Development Assistance (ODA), which will reach 0.5

per cent of our gross domestic product (GDP) in 2008.

Spain’s contribution to international organizations and

trust funds has increased this year by more than 400

per cent.

06-53005 40

Spain’s development aid has been expanded in

the Mediterranean countries and the African continent,

where planning has played an important role. The plan

for Africa has required a major effort of cooperation

and commitment to deal with dramatic situations of

poverty and sickness, which jeopardize the well-being

of African societies.

Future programs, such as the one proposed by

President Wade of Senegal, merit all our consideration

and support. Poverty has brought us a new global

challenge, namely, the management of migration flows,

since hunger and need know no borders. Inequalities in

the distribution of wealth, unemployment, the lack of

future prospects, political instability, inadequate

respect for human rights and intolerable life conditions

push more than 200 million people in the whole world

to migrate. The demographic impacts of these flows are

perceived not just in countries of origin, but also those

of transit and destination. Therefore, immigration is

one of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first

century and Spain is on the frontline. We must confront

it in all its aspects, both internal and external, with

measures for development assistance and border

controls.

Migrations, exchanges and communications

technologies have given birth to a multicultural society

that is not without tensions. This emerging reality

stimulates the appearance of challenges that demand a

critical analysis in order to build solid bridges between

East and West.

The initiative of the Alliance of Civilizations,

sponsored by Spain and Turkey, belongs today to the

international community and the United Nations and

seeks to provide answers to these challenges. The

management of cultural relations can only be achieved

from the perspective of security, education, promotion

of culture and interreligious dialogue. This respect

amongst the different cultures and creeds must

encourage the reduction of frictions that could inspire

violence and terror. The cartoon crisis and the effects

and wrong interpretations of the words of His Holiness

the Pope urgently demand the implementation of the

Alliance of Civilizations.

The twenty-first century will be the time when we

are called upon to resolve old conflicts and confront

new global challenges effectively. For that, a reform is

needed in the United Nations. The Government of

Spain is satisfied with the reform process in the areas

of peace and security, development and human rights.

The Peacebuilding Commission, the Human Rights

Council, the United Nations Democracy Fund, the

Global Strategy against Terrorism and the Central

Emergency Relief Fund are new instruments that have

a bearing on the challenges facing the international

community.

Allow me to conclude with a few verses of the

universal Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca, from his

book “Poet in New York”,

“If hope is extinguished and the Babel of

incomprehension begins, what torch will light the

paths of the Earth?”

Let us not give up the dream of peace. Let us work

together to achieve it.