Finland, 1995

Let me begin by

congratulating Mr. Freitas do Amaral of Portugal on his

election to the presidency of this fiftieth session of the

General Assembly. I am confident that under his wise

leadership we shall come to a successful conclusion of this

historic session.

My Spanish colleague, Minister Javier Solana, has

already spoken on behalf of the European Union. I fully

associate Finland with his statement.

Fifty years ago the founders of the United Nations

established the maintenance of international peace and

security as the primary purpose of their new Organization.

They also undertook to take effective collective measures

to that end. Fifty years later the condition of the world is

dramatically different, but the United Nations is as

indispensable now as it was then. Its role under Chapter VII

of the Charter continues to be a vital bulwark of world

security, but its mission of peace now ranges much wider:

the United Nations focuses on prevention of conflicts, it

sustains development, it seeks to ensure the human rights

and dignity of every individual.

The world needs a strong United Nations. Certainly

the small, the weak and the underprivileged among us need

the United Nations the most. But the United Nations, in

turn, needs the full support of all its Member States.

It is intolerable that while all of us here will once

again reaffirm our faith in the United Nations, the

Organization is once more experiencing extreme financial

difficulties. In this context I should like to draw the

attention of the Assembly to a statement adopted

yesterday by the Foreign Ministers of the Nordic

countries — Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and

Finland — on the financial situation of the United

Nations. The text of this statement will be made available

later.

We all agree that the United Nations needs to

streamline its work, set clear priorities and cut out

activities that have become obsolete. Yet the main reason

for the difficulties is that the majority of the Member

States, permanent members of the Security Council

among them, do not pay their assessed contributions on

time, in full or without conditions.

As a consequence, those who pay on time, in full

and without conditions — such as Finland — are in fact

penalized for their behaviour. It is high time for all

Member States to acknowledge that to pay one’s dues is

not an option, but an obligation, and that this obligation

must be fulfilled, and fulfilled punctually. When payments

are not made on time, it is normal to charge interest. This

should be done also in the United Nations.

It is also clear that the present scale of assessments

needs to be revised rapidly to take into account the real

capacity to pay of each Member State. Finland is

prepared to support adjustments in cases where the pains

of transition, natural disasters or other circumstances truly

beyond the control of the Government concerned justify

such exceptional treatment. On the other hand, upward

adjustments should be the rule when economic

development justifies them.

A strong United Nations needs an effective Security

Council, capable of acting on behalf of the entire

membership. Finland is pleased that the Security Council

has assumed its role under the Charter after the paralysis

of the cold-war years. We also welcome the steps the

Council has taken to improve its working methods and

the transparency of its deliberations.

To remain effective in the long run, the Security

Council must be representative. There can be no

effectiveness without legitimacy. Legitimacy grows from

a true reflection of the increase in United Nations

membership as well as from a frank recognition of

changing realities. Finland therefore supports an increase

in Council membership by five to eight new members.

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The groundwork for the reform of the Council has

been laid after two years of intensive debate in the Working

Group of the General Assembly. Now it is time to move

from discussion to true negotiation between Member States.

A strong United Nations does not mean that our

Organization should do what we, as Member States, should

in the first instance do ourselves. Under the Charter,

Member States themselves have an obligation to seek

peaceful solutions to disputes and to make every effort to

prevent conflicts in advance. The United Nations assists,

but cannot replace, the Member States, nor should it be

expected to do so.

The permanence of, and unfailing respect for,

universal norms is the basis of human security, whether in

relations between nations or within the nations themselves.

The historic decision by the parties to the Nuclear

Non-Proliferation Treaty to make that Treaty permanent

meant that a cornerstone of international security was kept

in place and that the prospect of the eventual elimination of

nuclear weapons became more attainable. The next step

should be the conclusion of a comprehensive nuclear-test-

ban treaty by the summer of 1996. The negotiations in

Geneva are proceeding well. Under these circumstances,

any testing is therefore a cause for concern. Finland has

expressed its disapproval of the recent tests by France and

China.

The breakthrough achieved in the Middle East peace

process two years ago will be followed by a new important

agreement, to be signed this week. I should like to

congratulate the negotiators on their courage and

persistence. The international community should continue

to support the reconstruction that peace has made possible.

Finland is encouraged by the recent turn towards a

peaceful solution in the former Yugoslavia. The

international community has shown resolve in defending

Sarajevo from persistent and cruel attacks on innocent

civilians. The international community must show equal

resolve once the peace agreement is reached. It must help

to maintain peace on the ground and to reconstruct what

has been shattered by war. But, above all, it is necessary

that all parties to the conflict now finally commit

themselves to peace.

Some of the lessons from the conflicts in former

Yugoslavia and elsewhere are clear. The capacity of the

United Nations and the international community to

coordinate an international response is still inadequate and

not integrated enough, as so many speakers before me

have already mentioned here. The United Nations bears

the main responsibility to prevent, to react rapidly to and

to manage often very complex emergencies. It is the

central actor in peace-keeping operations. We must not

allow the lack of financial resources and organizational

difficulties to stand in the way.

A continuum of ideas based on a broad concept of

security — from respect for the rule of law and human

rights to support for sustainable economic and social

development — is already available in the Secretary-

General’s twin Agendas for Peace and for Development.

It is now for the Member States to put the best of those

ideas into practice. Finland, together with its European

Union partners, will do its share.

True international security begins with the security

of the individual, sometimes in relation to his or her own

Government. Violations of human rights, including

women’s rights, are not justifiable on any grounds. There

are no cultural exceptions to universal human rights.

The importance of mechanisms for the effective

protection of human rights is now widely recognized. This

is manifested, inter alia, in the efforts to establish

systematic and organized judicial inquiry into, and

penalties against, violations of international humanitarian

law and human rights. Finland supports the early

establishment of a permanent international criminal court.

In addition to judicial mechanisms open mainly to

States, the question of the right of individuals to rely on

international human rights instruments is worthy of

serious study and development. The very positive

experiences gained during the 45 years that the European

Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe has

been functioning illustrate the merits of this approach to

human rights. I can speak to that.

The Beijing Conference and other recent United

Nations Conferences — Vienna, Cairo, Copenhagen —

need active and integrated follow-up throughout the

United Nations system. The platforms are there. They

have established beyond doubt that sustainable human

development and human security can be realized only

through the empowerment of individuals and a strong

civic society under law. In the international follow-up of

the Beijing Conference, the roles of the General

Assembly and of the Economic and Social Council are

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crucial, not only for the efficient implementation of the

Platform for Action, but also for strengthening the

Organization in the social and economic fields. At the same

time, action at the grass-roots level — not new bureaucratic

superstructures — is what is now required.

The follow-up to the Rio Conference offers some

encouragement. Environmental concerns are now part of

mainstream thinking on development. As a major forestry

nation, Finland wants in particular to make sure that

progress on forest issues is made in a solid and balanced

manner and on a global scale.

The past five decades have demonstrated to the world

that the United Nations is a vital centre for harmonizing

actions for the common good. The future will bring new

challenges. Let us provide the United Nations with the

political support and the financial means that it desperately

needs to serve us for the future.