Greece, 2008

Sophocles said that all mankind is subject to error. We

are gathered here in this Assembly in order to limit the

scope of those errors and to ensure respect for the

mandate of the United Nations. My Government fully

agrees with the objectives and ideas expressed by

President Nicolas Sarkozy as President of the European

Union (see ).

There is much that remains to be done and many

obstacles to be overcome: armed conflict, hunger,

poverty, environmental degradation, terrorism,

organized crime, human trafficking, lack of respect for

human rights and the abuse of power. All these things

threaten what we wish to build in the United Nations: a

community of States that enjoys progress, peace and

prosperity.

Add the economic crisis the world faces now to

those scourges, and it becomes difficult not to see the

future as dark and menacing. As the poet Yeats

described, we live in a world where

(spoke in English)

“The best lack all conviction, while the worst are

full of passionate intensity.”

(spoke in French)

During this critical period, every country must

make a choice: either to focus solely on its own limited

interests and promote nationalistic ends in order to

distract people’s attention from danger throughout the

world, or to look outwards, to open its mind and

borders and to commit to warning people that the only

way to face threats successfully is to do so together.

The history of Greece and the character of the Greek

people are such that we have chosen the second path. It

was in ancient Greece that society for the first time

developed those ideals that are cherished today by free

people throughout the world: democracy, equality and

individual rights. More recently, we have lived through

several wars, poverty and deprivation. Nevertheless, we

endured, and we have been able once again to grab hold

of the ideas that we were the first to profess.

We have not forgotten, however, what it is like to

feel fear and need. This is why we will continue to

work closely with all States, organizations and

institutions to ensure that all people can live in security

and can prosper and thrive.

The United Nations must be at the helm of this

effort. In order to play its role efficiently, the United

Nations needs increased support from us all,

particularly in its efforts to develop and improve.

Discussions about Security Council reforms and the

need to breathe new life into the General Assembly

have been going on for far too long. We hope that,

starting at this session, today, concrete measures will

be adopted to reach our objective.

(spoke in English)

This year we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Unfortunately, gross violations of human rights persist

throughout the world, and we Member States need to

redouble our efforts to reduce them. The Human Rights

Council could be a powerful force in that struggle, and

Greece has decided to become a candidate for

membership for the term beginning in 2012. We ask for

the Assembly’s support and trust.

Along with protecting human rights, the United

Nations must strengthen its efforts to alleviate the bitter

poverty that still grips many parts of the world. We need to

increase trade for development, and we regret the lack

of progress in the Doha Round. In 2000, we agreed on

the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), probably

the most ambitious development project ever

undertaken by man. In terms of time, we are halfway

there. Yet a lot remains to be done. The progress

achieved so far is jeopardized by higher prices,

particularly for food and oil, and the global economic

slowdown. Our success will be judged primarily in

Africa.

We believe that one way to help jumpstart

development in Africa is to involve women in the

economy more extensively. Providing entrepreneurial

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opportunities to women at local, national and regional

levels will allow them to strengthen their role in

society, increase their involvement in education and

ultimately allow them to play a more active part in

decision-making. As the French social theorist Charles

Fourier said more than 200 years ago, “The extension

of women’s rights is the basic principle of all social

progress.”

The challenge of climate change, if not addressed,

threatens not only the MDGs but also the economic and

social stability of our world. We have to achieve, in

2009, a new, truly global agreement with ambitious,

binding mitigation targets. We also need a much

stronger effort on adaptation, where there is a huge

deficit between the needs and the actual financing

provided. That deficit is exacerbated by the fact that no

matter what we do, we are locked in for significant

climate change in the next three to four decades, which is

going to especially affect the less developed countries. It is

an unjust reality that those that are least to blame for the

creation of the problem are to suffer most.

Greece is moving to face this challenge. We have

signed, this week in New York, agreements with the

African Union and the Caribbean Community for

the funding of adaptation projects, and we plan to do

the same with the Alliance of Small Island States,

providing a total of €20 million for the next four years.

One might argue that this is just a drop in the adaptation

bucket. It is, however, a drop in an empty bucket.

Migration is a critical element in the development

of neglected regions, and the United Nations High-

level Dialogue on International Migration and

Development has taken the lead in dramatizing the

link. By hosting the third Global Forum on Migration

and Development in the fall of 2009, Greece aims to

provide a platform on which to explore solutions and

initiatives for the benefit of all countries and especially

for the immigrants themselves.

As heartbreaking as the suffering of immigrants

and refugees often is, nothing can compare to the

misery involved in human trafficking. Young women

who leave their homes in search of a better livelihood

are exploited, brutalized and forced into a life of

unspeakable depravity by the traffickers in human

misery who are involved in the international sex trade.

I say it is time for the international community to say

“Enough!” I urge all the members of the United

Nations to begin working together forcefully to put an

end to this blight on human dignity.

Along with protecting the weak and vulnerable,

the United Nations has the responsibility to act

forcefully and to protect the world from the kind of

fanaticism and extremism that cripples any social

programme. Terrorism poses a major threat to the

security of our countries, to the stability of our

democratic societies and to the rights and freedoms of

our citizens. Around the world, whether in Afghanistan

or Pakistan, Iraq or Yemen, the international

community must show its strong commitment to

combating terrorism while protecting human rights and

the rule of law.

On regional security, Greece is preparing to

assume the chairmanship of the Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) next

January. The OSCE — the world’s largest regional

security organization — can be a forum for frank and

fruitful talks on security issues and can contribute

effectively to such crucial concerns as early warning,

conflict prevention, crisis management and post-

conflict rehabilitation. Finland, the current Chair, has

made a major effort to promote positive discussions

among the OSCE States, and Greece intends to

continue that policy and try to resolve outstanding

issues.

The crisis in South Ossetia has created a volatile

situation that affects stability in all the South Caucasus

and has exacerbated international tension. Greece’s

position on that crisis is rooted in the principles that

have always guided our foreign policy — peaceful

settlement of disputes and respect for the sovereignty,

independence and territorial integrity of States. In both

the European Union (EU) and NATO, we supported the

six-point agreement that helped end conflict in the

area, but we are anxious to see measures that will

alleviate the anger and mistrust that now pervade the

region.

In the broader Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian

conflict is at the root of most of the problems, and the

region requires a comprehensive and lasting solution.

I think that we all agree that the peace process

relaunched last year at the Annapolis conference has

the potential to achieve tangible results and merits the

strong support of all of us.

In Lebanon, we welcome the presidential

election, the formation of the National Unity

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Government and the resumption of the national

dialogue. Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial

integrity should be respected, in conformity with the

relevant Security Council resolutions.

Turning to our immediate neighbourhood, Greece

is committed to a South-Eastern Europe where all

countries belong to the European and Euro-Atlantic

families. We were as pleased to welcome Croatia and

Albania to NATO a few months ago as we were to

welcome Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union

last year. We have been encouraged also by the recent

developments in Serbia, a country which grows closer

to Europe every day.

In the same spirit, we agree with our NATO allies

and European Union partners that invitations to the

former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia should be

extended when a mutually acceptable solution is

reached on the name issue. Greece will continue to be

guided by the letter and the spirit of Security Council

resolutions 817 (1993) and 845 (1993) on that issue,

and I want to take this opportunity to express our

appreciation to the Secretary-General and his Personal

Envoy, Mr. Matthew Nimetz, for their commitment and

their tireless efforts to settle the dispute.

The new reality of Kosovo requires continued

attention from the international community. The United

Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo has

done a good job providing security for Kosovo’s

population, and its successor, the European Union Rule

of Law Mission Kosovo, should assume its

responsibilities as soon as possible.

Beyond the Western Balkans, Greece continues

taking fruitful initiatives in the spirit of international

law and the United Nations Charter to broaden and

strengthen cooperation with Turkey. We are convinced

that modern Turkey, with a clear European orientation,

will add to the stability of our region. We therefore

support the European aspirations of Turkey as it moves

to meet the prerequisites set out in the negotiating

framework of the European Union. But words must be

matched with deeds. The principles of good-

neighbourly relations and peaceful settlement of

disputes with other nations are essential preconditions.

Yet 34 years after the 1974 invasion of Cyprus, a

sovereign United Nations and European Union member

State, Turkey continues to occupy over one third of the

island’s territory with nearly 40,000 troops. That

unacceptable situation is a flagrant violation of

international law, a threat to the security and welfare of

Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots alike, and a

serious obstacle to the stabilization of the region.

Greece has consistently supported Cyprus in its

natural and justified desire to see the withdrawal of all

occupation forces as part of a settlement for its

reunification as a bizonal, bicommunal federation with

intercommunal equality, a single sovereignty, a single

citizenship and a single international persona. Relevant

United Nations resolutions and principles exist to

provide the framework for a mutually acceptable

solution.

We thus welcomed the recent decision by Cypriot

President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot

leader Mehmet Ali Talat to resume negotiations under

the auspices of the Secretary-General. We believe that

a viable solution can be achieved by the Cypriots

themselves through negotiations between the two

communities without artificial deadlines and

arbitration. We shall continue to do everything possible

to facilitate a settlement, and we hope that Turkey will

also demonstrate flexibility and goodwill towards that

end.

As is obvious to all of us, the United Nations is

once again beset by a host of troubles that will require

the patience of Job to endure and the strength of

Hercules to confront. As individual States, we have no

hope of marshalling the strength to contemplate, let

alone battle, the dangers facing us. But together,

through the United Nations, we can find the resolve not

only to confront those awesome challenges but to

subdue the threat that they pose for humankind.