France, 1969

40. The last time, a long time ago, that I had the honour of

speaking from this rostrum [445th meeting], it was a

distinguished woman, Mrs. Pandit, who gave me the floor.

It is a privilege to be here again and to tell you, Madam

President, while paying a tribute to your great predecessor,

Emilio Arenales, how delighted the French delegation is to

see you elected to the high office of the presidency by the

almost unanimous trust of the members of this Assembly.

The emancipation of women, the emancipation of Africa

—France believes it had done good service to both these

causes which you, Madam, symbolize in the eyes of the

world.

41. As we consider together the problems with which our

Organization has been concerned since the twenty-third

session, I should like to express to the Secretary-General,

who is responsible for the continuity of our work, the

friendly confidence that my Government and my fellow-countrymen

place in his action.

42. We have recently had occasion to appreciate his

judgement and his attitude in political affairs. But we have

also been appreciative of his efforts to solve certain

problems of an administrative nature, in particular that of

the use of languages in the Secretariat.

43. It is true that there is still a great deal of progress to be

made if the management of our Organization is to be based

on more modern and more efficient methods and if its

structure is to be adapted to the priorities of the modern

world. We are therefore following with great interest the

work of your new Joint Inspection Unit, which will

facilitate the essential task of co-ordination among the

agencies of the United Nations.

44. Before reviewing with you the particularly serious

events of the year that has just elapsed, I should like to

summarize for you the main outlines of France’s basic

policy.

45. France has an overwhelming desire for peace, and this

desire has led it for many years, and continues to lead it, to

pursue three basic aims: first, we think that the balance of

world power must be consolidated, and this rules out the

development of new power structures, confrontations

between blocs and all manifestations of the spirit of

conquest, domination or intolerance. Secondly, reconciliation

between peoples must be sought tirelessly; it is this aim

which has led us to seek our rapprochement with Germany

and which in our view demands that East and West should

, continue to draw closer to one another without allowing

themselves to be embroiled in local conflicts. Finally,

justice and the general interest demand, in our opinion, that

aid from the most developed countries to the less developed,

far from dwindling as it seems to be doing, should be

continued, diversified and reinforced, and we believe that

we have always set an example in this matter. These three

aims are exemplified in the policy that France is pursuing

with regard to the building of Europe.

46. The slow process of European reconstruction was not,

as you know, achieved without difficulty or effort.

47. First, countries which had been dreadfully weakened

and in some cases ruined, physically and morally, by five

years of fratricidal war had to be put back on their feet.

48. Their independence and their individuality had to be

preserved at a time when the world was dividing into two

blocs which seemed irrevocably opposed to one another.

49. A climate of peace had to be restored between nations

which for generations had viewed each other as enemies,

reconciliation effected, ties of esteem and friendship

established and the younger generations drawn closer

together. Was there any more constructive step in this

direction than the Franco-German Treaty of Co-operation,

of which General de Gaulle and Chancellor Adenauer were

the architects?

50. Legislation and economic and social systems forged by

centuries of different customs and traditions had, and still

have, to be brought into harmony.

51. We are now at the end of what has been called the

“transitional phase” of the Common Market. The stage to

be completed by 31 December 1969 is, basically, the one

which Aristide Briand, one of the most distinguished of my

predecessors, already considered 40 years ago to be “the

most pressing need”: the economic stage.

52. But it is obvious that the achievement of the Common

Market is a phenomenon which has not only economic but

political significance. Europe's economic strength should

enable it to regain its proper place in the world, and the

impulse which has led the nations to unite in a search for

economic progress could then lead them to seek together

the conditions of a new political balance.

53. It seems to me that the whole world needs this new

political balance and that it will help to promote peace and

to relax tension between nations.

54. “France”, President Pompidou declared recently, “is

resolutely opposed to the policy of blocs and sees its

national independence, and what will one day, I hope, be a

European Europe—in other words an independent

Europe—as an essential condition for the security of this

part of the world.”

55. This close-knit community constructed by six countries

creates a pole of attraction for the other countries of

Western Europe, whose traditions as well as interests

compel them to draw closer to it.

56. There are numerous applications for associate and

even full membership, and it is not only conceivable but

eminently desirable that they may succeed.

57. Moreover, it is not impossible that this community,

which is free to determine its future, will enter into ever

closer contact with the countries of Eastern Europe—for

each of which we feel the same interest and the same

regard—and gradually overcome the distressing gulf that

separates one part of Europe from the other, in defiance of

20 centuries of history.

58. I should like on this point to recall the words spoken

by my predecessor, Michel Debré, from this same rostrum a

year ago:

“Europe is in need of détente, of deep and lasting

détente, which is the straight but necessary gate to

co-operation and understanding. We hope that each

European country which is aware of the responsibilities it

shares will help to build our common future. I repeat, the

task is not to alter social structures or principles of

economic organization; those are matters for each nation

to decide for itself. Nor is there any question of altering,

in the absence of a freely contracted general agreement,

the political balance set up after the war. What must be

done is to establish the conditions necessary for that

peace to which the men and women of the old world, in

the East and in the. West, thinking first of the tragedies

their fathers and they themselves have experienced and

then of the different future they. want for their sons and

daughters, believe they are fully entitled, France, for one,

has done a great deal in that direction in recent years and

is determined to continue along the same path.” [1683rd

meeting, para, 86.]

59. I shall add a few words to what Mr. Debré said last

year, It is not only on a continental scale but on a world

scale that the community which is being created is destined

to play a major role. For, amidst the ambitions and rivalries

that set the great territorial Powers against one another, a

group true to its alliances but conceived without any

ulterior motives, above all without any motives of domination,

can do useful service to the cause of peace.

60. Furthermore, in the great struggle, which should be

that of the entire human race, against poverty and

underdevelopment, where better can our eyes turn than to

this new, prosperous and independent Europe?

61. Truly, the stakes in the enterprise are such that no

man of feeling and intelligence could resign himself to

seeing it fail.

62. In fact, it is the economic unity of Europe that is

being established today which will determine the political

unity of the Europe of tomorrow.

63. As the Assembly is aware, the Heads of State and

Government of the six European countries, realizing the

seriousness of the choices confronting them, have decided

to meet at The Hague in November for discussions. It is my

firm hope that they will clear this hurdle, the last which

separates the Common Market from passage to the “final

period” for the greater good not only of Europe but of the

international community.

64. I will add that Europe is not the only part of the

world in which an effort of co-operation and understanding

among the nations can develop successfully. The United

Nations can only hope for the creation of regional groups

inspired by the same spirit of co-operation. France, for its

part, having welcomed and encouraged the efforts of some

African States, is interested in what may be attempted in

the same direction. by the States of Latin America, to which

France is, moreover, attached by so many bonds of

friendship. Listening to Mr. Carrillo Flores a few minutes

ago, I remembered the desire recently expressed in Latin

America, at Viña del Mar, that the countries which are

members of the Special Commission on Latin American

Co-ordination should affirm their economic and political

independence.

65. But, however encouraging these attempts may be, they

are only a small consolation in the face of the international

situation of this autumn of 1969, Everything that the

Charter was intended to eliminate remains, be it war or

incitement to violence, refusal to enter into discussion,

contempt for human rights, or the fundamental injustice

that we call underdevelopment.

66. Faced with this state of affairs, nations which, like

mine and many others represented in this hall, are the

trustees of a long peaceful and civilizing tradition are

conscious of a special responsibility.

67. France has always done its utmost to discharge this

responsibility, and during the past 11 years it has had the

good fortune to have in the person of General de Gaulle a

President whose actions, views of history, ideals of national

independence, co-operation, international détente, equality

of all peoples and of understanding between all nations,

have found, notably in this Assembly, a warm response.

You may be assured that General de Gaulle’s voluntary

departure does not change the line of policy that France

has followed in the international field and, in particular, its

devotion to the rules that govern our Organization and to

the great principles of which it is the defender.

68. More than ever, France is determined to support the

efforts that the United Nations, in the name of these

principles, could or should deploy in the world.

69. Having willingly renounced all forms of domination,

having established and developed for many years relations

of friendship and co-operation with the peoples formerly

belonging to its empire, in absolute respect for the

sovereignty of all, France is eager to see the disappearance

everywhere of all traces of policies of supremacy, always

based on force or manipulation, masked with false ideals,

and in reality profoundly anachronistic.

70. It is this form of political hegemony which today is

still causing discouragement and anxiety, the more so since

the nations that are still tempted to practise it are endowed,

through the unbelievable progress of science and technology,

with means of destruction and repression that cannot

be compared with those of preceding centuries. While

witnessing, thanks to television, man’s first steps on the

moon—the first steps of the American cosmonauts whom

my country is preparing to welcome—how much we should

like to hope that the immense admiration and exaltation

that we, like millions of others, felt will not be darkened by

the disturbing shadow of our earthly conflicts!

71. In Biafra, on African soil, where everything points to

the urgent need for cease-fire followed by talks without

prior conditions, the massacres are continuing, as is the

martyrdom of a population whose heroic spirit has been

affirmed by two years of suffering and whose annihilation

could only tarnish the image of Africa as well as the image

which, throughout the world, man has of man.

72. In southern Africa the régime of apartheid, so rightly

denounced in this Assembly, is being perpetuated and even

extended to a territory of international status.

73. In Southern Rhodesia, the policy of sanctions adopted

by the United Nations and scrupulously applied by my

Government has not led to the recognition of the rights of

the majority.

74. Even dear Ireland—towards which European civilization

owes a debt that is more than a thousand years old—is

being rent by new and cruel factions.

75. In Asia, our vigilant and active hope—albeit a slight

one—is still that of seeing the tragedy of the Viet-Nam war

brought to an end and we are, you may be sure, on the

watch for everything we can do to further that objective.

The friendship that has bound us for so long to these

peoples, on whom history has imposed such terrible

sufferings, the friendship which binds us to the United

States and which in a sense goes back to before its birth as a

nation, gives us the right to deplore all the delays and

complications which are postponing the time when the

rising toll of death and ruin will finally cease and the

immense task of reconstruction can begin, in independence

and in the guaranteed neutrality of all the peoples of the

peninsula.

76. In Czechoslovakia our disappointment and anxiety

would be profound if the hopes of liberalization—bold

indeed in their expression but so reasonable in their

substance, so consistent with the essential needs of man—were

stifled once and for all. Here too the best hopes still

lie in repudiation of the policy of blocs and in a determined

effort to attain mutual understanding.

77. However, it is especially in the Middle East that the

establishment of a just and lasting peace, taking account of

the legitimate interests of all parties, would appear beyond

our reach if we were not determined to overcome our fears

and despondency.

78. France’s policy there, as elsewhere, is based on the

principles that my predecessors have already affirmed from

this rostrum: the right of peoples to self-determination;

respect for international law; balance of power; and

maintenance or restoration of peace. The strict application

of these principles is the only way to end the rapid

worsening of the situation in the area.

79. Nearly two years have elapsed since the adoption of

Security Council resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November

1967, which is our law.

80. My Government, having learnt from events that only

through concerted international action can a satisfactory

solution be formulated and implemented, proposed last

January that the four permanent members of the Security

Council, in view of their special responsibilities, should

meet to study ways of facilitating the implementation of

resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, and should

examine at the same time the measures necessary to prevent

the situation from deteriorating.

81. When that proposal was accepted by our three

partners, we became able to examine together in detail the

different aspects of the conflict and the possibilities of

settlement consistent with the spirit of the Charter and the

resolutions adopted by the United Nations.

82. I thank the Secretary-General for the recent valuable

lead which has enabled the four to resume their task. This

must now be pursued unremittingly; to dispute or hinder it

would be to assume the heavy responsibility of obstructing

the only means of reaching a general, equitable and lasting

settlement respecting “the inalienable right to exist as

independent and sovereign States” of all the States of the

Middle East, in the words of our joint communiqué of last

Saturday, 20 September. Need I add that this settlement

must include international measures for the preservation

and protection of all the holy places and for free access to

them by all? All mankind is awaiting this essential prelude

to a new era of reconciliation and co-operation.

83. Once again, in this field as in all others that concern

peace and progress we expect the most successful results

from consultation between the leaders of the major Powers,

itself the consequence of a policy of détente and dialogue.

We recalled a short white ago that it was encouraging to

note how far the European nations had gone in that

direction after centuries of fierce conflict. Could not a

similar trend influence much larger nations, which still

prefer reciprocal denunciation to co-operation and peaceful

competition? I am thinking, of course, of China, shut out

of our Organization, and of the two great space Powers,

whose willingness to enter into dialogue we welcome

though it perhaps still shrinks from that exercise on equal

terms with their other partners which we should like to see.

84. However, are not all efforts for peace condemned to

remain incomplete and illusory until we tackle that most

important and difficult of world problems—disarmament?

85. My country has for many years attempted to define

the true conditions for solution of this problem.

86. We do not consider that world security can or should

be confused with the fragile equilibrium between a few

nuclear States. Hence disarmament cannot, in our view, be

limited to certain partial measures which only strengthen

the monopoly of the nuclear Powers. Nor can it be limited

to bilateral agreements, which, though useful in relaxing

tension, aim essentially at slowing the growth of the

armaments of already over-armed Powers.

87. The security of mankind—that is, the safeguard against

any form of war, and first of all, quite obviously, against

the worst form of annihilation, atomic war—depends on a

set of strict conditions which have for a long time

determined the shape that we wish to give to disarmament.

88. We want disarmament to begin with the Powers

possessing nuclear weapons; and we want it to lead, under

strict and effective control, to elimination of these weapons’

vehicles and arsenals.

89. We want nuclear disarmament to be accompanied by

disarmament in conventional weapons, in such a way that

no imbalance of power may result from the completion of

its successive stages.

90. We want these measures of prohibition and control to

be extended to biological and chemical weapons, whose

fearsome effects were recently described by the group of

experts appointed by the Secretary-General of our

Organization. France, which, it should be remembered, is the

depositary of the Geneva Protocol which prohibits this type

Of weapon, would like to see this instrument applied

universally.

91. Lastly, we must also prevent the militarization of a

new field open to human activity: the sea-bed and the

ocean floor.

92. These are the conditions for a genuine disarmament.

To embark on this undertaking with the desire to bring it to

a successful conclusion requires that the nuclear Powers

should first agree and co-operate; and that implies a

determined search for a lasting détente. France wishes to be

among the first to reaffirm that it is ready for this test of its

co-operation and sincerity.

93. The coming decade will only deserve the fine title that

our Organization is bestowing on it for the second time if

all the Member nations learn to esteem one another more

highly, to aid one another more effectively, and to cease

denouncing and fighting one another.

94. Allow me to express first of all the hope that this

Second Development Decade may be marked by a real

effort of imagination and concerted action. The difficulties

to be combated are better known than they were ten years

ago; the measures to be taken are already clearer.

95. For its part France, to which many African States and

the Malagasy Republic have given proof of their confidence

and friendship by instituting and maintaining with it a

system of relations of a kind that is new and fruitful

because based on free choice, has had experience of every

form of aid and co-operation: the bilateral form, the

regional form—of which the recent renewal of the Yaoundé

Convention is an interesting example—and the multilateral

form, by its contribution to the United Nations Conference

on Trade and Development and to the United Nations

Development Programme.

96. The network of institutions which the Organization

has created and which now needs to be made to function

more effectively rather than to be extended, the experience

accumulated by thousands of experts, by tens of thousands

of young people associated with these programmes, and

particularly by all those whom France sends as technical

assistants—these are encouraging factors, or at any rate

factors that should prevent discouragement.

97. It is, however, obvious that in this field also immense

efforts have still to be exerted. The points that my

predecessor made before the Assembly last year are still

timely. The percentage of the gross national product that

the developed countries have agreed to devote to development

aid remains insufficient. How many of them respect,

as France does, the minimum of 1 per cent that we have

allocated ourselves? After all, what is 1 per cent in view of

the ever-growing disparity between the poverty of some and

the prosperity of others? Moreover, what progress has been

made with the project of organizing the markets of the

main primary products, of which I spoke here many years

ago and to which Mr. Debré drew the Assembly’s attention

last year at the 1683rd meeting? That is one specific and

highly important instance in which our Organization could

have given better proof of its practical effectiveness.

France is ready to support any move in this direction.

98. Yet, just as I am not unaware of the extent of the

efforts being made to promote development, I should not

like to remain silent about the major role played by the

United Nations in promoting human rights; and on this

encouraging note I should like to conclude.

99. Since the Charter signed in San Francisco and the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the

General Assembly in Paris in 1948, the United Nations has

been progressively erecting a monumental work, to which

France—predictably, since it is faithful to the traditions of

1789—attaches particular importance.

100. Our representatives are still participating actively in

this work of codification; and I am happy to announce to

the Assembly that the French Government has decided to

request Parliament to authorize France’s accession to the

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms

of Racial Discrimination [resolution 2106 A (XX)] an

instrument which should be one of the pillars of the new

international law. For many years we have striven to

respect both its letter and its spirit.

101. We consider that this gesture by France manifests the

importance that we attach to the studies and efforts

undertaken by the United Nations. We know full well,

however, that in the promotion of human rights and the

fundamental freedoms, in the struggle against intolerance

and discrimination, to create the appropriate international

instruments is not enough. We must still be, at all times,

determined to apply them to their fullest extent.

102. If we celebrate principles and anniversaries too much

without clear evidence of progress, we risk disappointing a

generation which is not content with words but expects our

Organization to help to mobilize the century’s resources on

behalf of more liberty for each and more justice for all.

103. The resources at our disposal are far from negligible:

immense progress in the exact and natural sciences, in

technology, in communications; less spectacular but no less

important progress in the sciences of man and society.

There is a growing awareness—shown excellently in the

recent African Festival at Algiers—of the great human

communities’ spiritual resources which will restore the ideal

of a peaceful and creative society. There is a vast movement

among the young people of all countries who are noisy and

sometimes provoking but essentially generous and impatient

to give mankind a new page, a new chapter, to write.

104. Why do men and women come from all over the

world to New York, to this annual Assembly? Because,

despite all the tragic events that have occurred—and perhaps

because of them—they remain deeply convinced that true

solidarity can be created and strengthened.

105. In this speech, my first from this rostrum as Foreign

Minister of France, I have desired to tell the Assembly that

France will use all its energy and its faith to promote that

solidarity.