Estonia, 2005

Allow me to begin by

congratulating Mr. Jan Eliasson, upon his election as

President of the General Assembly at its sixtieth

session. We have full confidence in him and in his

team. I would also like to commend Mr. Jean Ping for

the pivotal role that he played during the fifty-ninth

session.

The leaders of the world gathered in this very

Hall last week at the largest summit meeting in history.

The outcome document adopted by the heads of State

or Government has given us very concrete tasks for the

future. The reform continues; we will have to maintain

focus and take important decisions during the sixtieth

session.

My remarks today will be confined to a few main

topics, with a specific emphasis on Estonia’s

contribution to our common goals.

Development, security and human rights are

interconnected issues. It is inconceivable that global

progress in those areas can be made without an

effective multilateral system, fully in line with the

principles of the United Nations Charter. As we

pointed out a week ago in the outcome document, no

country can tackle today’s intricate challenges alone.

Estonia is fully committed to strengthening the United

Nations.

We live in a global and interdependent world and

we thus need to combine our efforts. There has to be

cooperation among different organizations that have

the capacity for conflict prevention and peacekeeping

operations, as well as for providing for such

requirements as logistical support and training.

The United Nations cannot hope to find a United

Nations solution for all problems. Estonia is pleased to

see that the United Nations is actively forging a deeper

partnership with various organizations. Estonia is

actively participating in the common efforts of both the

European Union and NATO. We feel that the United

Nations, the European Union and NATO should all

continue working towards mutually fruitful

cooperation and towards greater predictability in terms

of the allocation of resources. The more we coordinate

our activities, the better will be the results we can

achieve in dealing with conflict, poverty and human

suffering. The European Union has made great

headway in developing battle groups, thus increasing

our ability to react swiftly in crisis situations.

Estonia will continue to contribute through

various organizations to the stability of Afghanistan,

Iraq, Sudan, Kosovo and the Middle East. Our long-

term contribution to United Nations monitoring on the

Israeli-Lebanese border, our explosives-detecting

teams in Afghanistan, our substantive presence —

considering the size of Estonia — in Kosovo, our

assistance in training the new Iraqi police force and our

participation in stabilizing Iraq are just a few examples

of my country’s contribution to common efforts.

Estonia also acknowledges the need to develop

African peacekeeping and to provide better training for

United Nations peacekeepers. We hosted a United

Nations peacekeeping “train the trainers” course in

Estonia just a few months ago, attended by

peacekeepers from some 30 countries.

Over the years, we have shown our continued

commitment to United Nations activities, including

peacekeeping, in a very simple and unequivocal

way — by paying regularly and on time the full

amount of our assessed contributions.

The role of the international community does not

end at the point where we manage to stop an ongoing

conflict. As we all know, without adequate State

structures, a country faces the risk of relapsing into

conflict. Therefore, Estonia welcomes the

establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission, and

we hope to see the first results of its work fairly soon.

The next issue I would like to address is

terrorism. Here, our position is unequivocal: terrorism

is unacceptable in all circumstances, and we should be

united against it. We regret that the summit document

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does not condemn the deliberate killing of civilians and

non-combatants.

Estonia believes that the anti-terrorism strategy

put forward by Secretary-General Kofi Annan should

be adopted and implemented. We consider the

conclusion of the comprehensive convention against

international terrorism an utmost priority during the

current session of the General Assembly. Estonia fully

implements all relevant United Nations Security

Council resolutions and supports the initiatives of the

United Nations and other international organizations in

preventing and combating terrorism. A few days ago,

Estonia signed the International Convention for the

Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.

The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction

is another pressing security concern. We regret that no

agreement was reached on non-proliferation and

disarmament during the summit.

There is a serious concern over slow progress in

the sphere of poverty eradication and the realization of

other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Estonia, together with other European Union member

States, is increasing resources devoted to development

cooperation. Despite our status as a new donor,

Estonia’s official development assistance in 2004 was

already 0.08 per cent of gross national income. We are

steadily increasing our input, and this will also raise

our voluntary contribution to United Nations

development-related activities.

No State will be able to achieve the MDGs as

long as it does not respect fundamental human rights.

The second International Decade of the World’s

Indigenous People coincides with the targeted time

frame for the accomplishment of the MDGs — 2015. If

we truly want to achieve the MDGs, we must focus on

the issues that matter most to people, including

indigenous peoples. The implementation of the MDGs

in connection with the indigenous peoples has to be

viewed within the broader context of the Millennium

Declaration, which brings together the three basic aims

of the United Nations Charter — peace and security,

economic and social development, and human rights.

One cannot, of course, fail to mention the matter

of climate change, the relevance of which has become

especially clear after recent natural disasters. Indeed,

we have to step up global long-term cooperation so that

we can produce real change.

I would like to stress the significance of the

Human Rights Council. We see the Council as a

standing Charter body, well-connected with other

United Nations structures, including the Security

Council. Human rights violators should not have a seat

at the Council.

Estonia is committed to promoting human rights

as universal values that should be guaranteed for all.

We are pleased that the summit agreed to double the

regular budget for the Office of the United Nations

High Commissioner for Human Rights within the next

five years.

I would like to stress Estonia’s firm belief in the

extraordinary importance of democracy, good

governance and the rule of law. Estonia supports the

creation of the Democracy Fund, to which we will

make a financial contribution.

Estonia applauds the agreement that we reached

on the responsibility to protect. We should all fulfil

commitments nationally, but we should also be

prepared to deal with cases of genocide, war crimes,

ethnic cleansing and all other crimes against humanity

urgently requiring outside intervention, even if it has

not been requested. In such cases, the international

community has to take action.

As a founding member of the International

Criminal Court, we are disappointed not to see any

reference to this Court in the outcome document. We

deem the Court, as well as other instruments of

international justice, vital to counter impunity for

international crimes.

Sixty years ago, world leaders made a promise to

prevent war, to defend human rights and to help the

peoples of the world to achieve safety, prosperity and

freedom. Let us be bold and try harder than ever to

achieve these goals.