Croatia, 1992

It was exactly four months ago that for the first time I had the

honour of addressing you, the representatives of sovereign States members of

the global community, in our common House, the General Assembly of the United

Nations. Membership in the United Nations is the crowning international

confirmation of the sovereign statehood of a State,

(spoke in English)

To the Republic of Croatia it meant the final realization of the just

aspiration of the Croatian people to self-determination and freedom, which

that people although one of the oldest European nations succeeded in

regaining only after nine centuries of life in multinational state communities

in which, to be sure, they preserved their national identity and the identity

of their state but did not enjoy internationally recognized sovereignty.

The creation of our independent State was the outcome of the

indestructible moral strength of the Croatian people, based on a firm national

awareness that has burned for centuries as an eternal fire in our hearts. A

nation may have existed from time immemorial, but if it lacks the moral

strength and an awareness of its unique individual being, of its nationhood

and statehood, it will disappear from the stage of world history. The

Croatian people yearned for their State and rallied to achieve it.

In their relatively long history from the seventh century to this very

day the Croatian people have taken pride in authentic testimony in stone and

in the written word to their existence and to their unquenchable yearning for

freedom and for their own place among the nations of the world. It was in

that very spirit that the great seventeenth-century Croatian poet

Ivan Gundulid wrote in his city of Dubrovnik, that jewel of the heritage of

Croatia and the world which in our time has suffered barbaric destruction

his ode to freedom, which starts with the following lines:

"O liiepa, o draoa. o slatka slobodo,.

Par u kom sva blaga vis'n-ii nam Bog je do ..."

Those verses express the eternal faith in freedom that has been granted

us as a supreme gift by the Almighty, a gift man has cherished, lived for and

died for since time immemorial, as an independent, cultured and civilized

being not only as an individual, but also as a member of his people and of

mankind as a whole. Just as the individual wants to live as a free, rational

and unique being, a people can be recognized and appreciated only if it is

aware of itself and of its uniqueness in the world.

The Croatian people had their own independent kingdom in the Middle

Ages. Today they have again achieved full State sovereignty, demonstrating to

the world their deep faith in and allegiance to freedom, their respect for

justice, and their wish for peace and the development of their State within

the international community of peace-loving, equal and independent States.

When it joined the United Nations the Republic of Croatia solemnly

committed itself to respect the principles embodied in the Charter of the

United Nations and the system of values and undertakings on which the global

community is based. On this occasion, let me once again solemnly reiterate

our profound allegiance to the principles of the United Nations.

We are faced with the historical responsibility to establish a new

international order, an order of equality and the protection of the rights of

all States and nations, national minorities and individuals. At the same

time, this poses the challenge of building a world without war, a world with a

healthy environment, a world of progress for all the inhabitants of the Earth.

For the first time in the history of mankind, the conditions have been

created for achieving those noble goals. After the disintegration of the

colonial empires following the Second World War, and after the appearance of

new nations capable of forming States but also of so-called ahistorical

nations on the global scene, we have finally seen the end of division into

blocs and the collapse of numerous despotic regimes throughout the world.

Obviously and by no means accidentally the collapse of such regimes has

been associated and has coincided with the collapse of some multinational

States in which nations were held together through repression by totalitarian

regimes or through domination by single nations.

Human society has entered a period in its historical development of the

overall integration of civilizations, but also of national individualization.

In other words, the world has become immeasurably interdependent in terms of

development, technology, transport, ecology, culture and the exchange of

information, but the number of independent international entities has been

increasing continuously. Reconciling this contradiction imposes the necessity

to seek mediation, and even the firm involvement of the entire international

community, to resolve outstanding and new local and regional crises.

Over the past two-year period, in which Croatia gained its sovereignty,

the United Nations has reaffirmed its fundamental principles and tenets:

peace and democracy as the foundations of international relations. This

Organization has resolutely and efficiently opposed attempts to resolve

international disputes by force or to infringe, through aggressive wars and

the provocation of regional crises, on the right of nations to

self-determination and on the territorial integrity of sovereign members of

the international community. The determined military action in the Gulf war

and the peace operations in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cambodia are

effective proof that the United Nations, with its active role, is becoming

increasingly capable of countering aggression and of bringing about peace.

However, the experience acquired by the United Nations through peacemaking and

peace-keeping operations and in controlling aggression indicates that the

process of international agreement and the achievement of consensus in the

initiation of peace operations is still slow and is not efficient enough.

The Republic of Croatia welcomes and fully supports the activities so far

undertaken by the United Nations to extinguish crises throughout the world,

aware of the fact that a passive attitude or compromise towards the exponents

of aggression and a new deterioration in international relations would be much

more costly and involve substantially greater loss of human life and

suffering. Nevertheless, it is the view of the Republic of Croatia that the

future international peace-keeping activity of the United Nations will have to

be expanded to include adequate preventive diplomacy, peacemaking efforts and

post-war confidence building, precisely in order to keep human suffering and

the danger of the spread of aggression to a minimum.

Moreover, the Republic of Croatia perceives the need to channel the

immediate future involvement of the international community, and thereby the

programmes of the United Nations, along the following main lines of activity.

First, the global economy must pull itself out of the deepening

recession, and then an accelerated development cycle should be promoted,

involving a higher degree of coordination and economic cooperation between the

developed North and the developing countries. Our generation and the global

community would bear a heavy responsibility to posterity if they permitted the

recently ended opposition of East and West to be replaced by new barriers and

a lack of trust between the industrially developed West and North and the

third world.

Secondly, an equally important task of the United Nations concerns the

persistent and firm promotion of democratic freedoms and human rights

throughout the world. This is a necessity because economic and overall

development can no longer even be imagined, much less realized, merely on the

basis of economic categories and criteria; it can be brought about only with

the parallel establishment of human rights and a democratic order encompassing

political liberties and social rights alike.

In this respect, Croatia welcomes the decision to convene the World

Conference on Human Rights in September next year. Croatia will actively

contribute to the preparations for this important - I should say "historic"

meeting, first by resolutely strengthening democratic institutions in our own

country, which has only recently got rid of its totalitarian regime and alien

domination. Moreover, within the scope of the Conference on Security and

Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), Croatia has offered to host the CSCE seminar on

minority problems which, we hope, will be held in the historic setting of

Brijuni Island next May.

The Republic of Croatia resolutely endorses the conclusions of the Rio

Summit, convinced that sustainable development is the proper answer to the

requirements of the global community and to the environmental balance of our

planet. The protection of the environment is an important strategic issue in

Croatia's long-term development. The Gulf war and the war operations in the

former Yugoslavia have posed major threats to ecological systems. Because of

this, the protection of the environment is not only a developmental issue, but

also a major political and security issue.

Last but not least, the future activity of the international community

and of the United Nations should also be focused on in addition to the

effective prevention of aggression as a means to settle international

differences eliminating all sources of crises world-wide in order to

establish a permanent and just peace. This complex task will involve a

painstaking process of agreement and reconciliation of objectively differing

views and interests, taking due account of the limited resources of the

international community. However, the stakes and anticipated results for the

entire international community are so great and historically far-reaching that

they deserve every possible effort and the use of all resources in order to

achieve humanity's supreme goal: permanent peace and general welfare in a

stable international order.

The role of the United Nations has been, and will remain, irreplaceable

in ensuring the rights of nations to self-determination and the civil and

human rights of ethnic communities and minorities. The United Nations can and

must play an important role in controlling changes in societies that are

ridding themselves of totalitarian systems on their way to democratic

political and economic transformation.

In line with such ideas, Croatia has already enacted - in wartime

conditions, and in spite of the aggression waged by the Yugo-communist army

and Serbia and Montenegro and of the externally incited revolt of part of the

Serbian population in its territory a constitutional law on the protection

of minorities that is more liberal than many similar pieces of legislation

anywhere in the world. Croatia is prepared to contribute actively to the

development of an international code and standard for the protection of the

rights of ethnic communities and national minorities, to be used as guidelines

in the development of national legislation and rules for the settlement of

future controversies.

We support enhancement of the role of the General Assembly as a global

advisory parliament and of the Security Council as the body most responsible

for international peace and security. This implies a higher responsibility

for the members of the Security Council, and the permanent members in

particular. We therefore support the initiative to expand the Security

Council with new permanent members, because this would reflect the new global

reality and allow for more harmonious regional representation. We also

believe that the role of the Economic and Social Council in the solution of

problems within its sphere of competence should be strengthened.

Let me take this opportunity to stress in particular that Croatia fully

agrees with the statement of the Secretary-General on regional conflicts as o

threat to global peace and progress, made at the Department of Public

Information's Annual Conference for Non-governmental Organizations, on

9 September. The regional conflicts of our time are no longer comparable to

those of the cold war, when the warring sides represented conflicting

ideologies. Present-day regional conflicts are the expression of purely

imperialist or conquest-minded policies. They are not only the cause of

terrible tragedy - because of the casualties suffered predominantly by the

civilian population, the destruction of property and the displacement of

people from their homes but also a threat to peace in a wider area, and even

globally.

Although one of the main principles of the United Nations Charter entails

non-interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign States, many current

conflicts occurring within the borders of particular States have shown that

such developments should become the concern of the United Nations when general

human principles are violated and international peace is threatened. As the

Secretary-General has stated with a profound feeling of moral responsibility,

it is the duty of the United Nations to support the dignity of human beings

and to ensure the safety of their lives, regardless of the type of conflict,

be it general, regional or confined to a specific country.

When chaos within a State threatens to bring down civilized and

democratic order, when tyranny crosses the boundaries set by moral standards

accepted by humankind, and when a regional conflict may jeopardize the

foundations of international order, peace and security, the United Nations

must be able to take action. Most States, if not the entire international

community, are also threatened when the existence of a single United Nations

Member is placed in jeopardy. The examples of Cambodia, Somalia and,

unfortunately, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina suffice to confirm the

correctness of this view.

Let me remind the Assembly of the contribution of the struggle of the

Croatian people for freedom to the establishment of the rights of small

nations, to the collapse of totalitarian regimes and to a new democratic

atmosphere in international relations in central and south-eastern Europe.

The awakened-national awareness of east and central European nations made the

major contribution to the dissolution of the totalitarian communist system.

Their struggle against communist socialism, particularly in multinational

State communities, was a struggle for national emancipation and for civil

rights. Initially it was mistakenly understood, and, in some cases even today

it is mistakenly understood, as retrograde nationalism or autarchic

separatism, or has simply been put down as ethnic conflict and struggle for

power.

The processes of regional and worldwide integration on the one hand and

the disintegration of multinational States on the other are only seemingly at

odds. The newly emerged States in the area of the former Yugoslavia or the

former Soviet Union do not aspire to autarchy. It is precisely such countries

that most require purposeful integration and openness to cooperation.

However, within the new post-communist democratic atmosphere small nations

want to preserve their own identity and the right to their own States so that

they may be subjects, and not objects, within the scope of the epoch-making

changes taking place in the modern world.

At the very beginning of the national and political emancipation of the

Croatian people we were aware of the complexities and possible risks

underlying the collapse of the past regime within a multinational State

community. Therefore, we patiently tried to resolve the crisis of the former

Yugoslav federation by political negotiation and by proposing a confederal

agreement in order to avoid war. From the very" beginning we supported the

internationalization of the crisis, and by such an approach we have succeeded

in turning international democratic public opinion to our advantage.

Today, having achieved military and moral victory in the war that was

forced upon our country, we are still ready for a political solution of all

internal and international problems in order that the conditions necessary for

permanent internal and regional stability and cooperation between the newly

emerged States may be created.

The recent just struggle of the Croatian and other peoples for their

sovereignty has contributed to the development of a different attitude towards

the rights of small nations to independence and to their own States. This

unequal struggle has, in fact, affirmed the superiority of the democratically

manifested right to self-determination of nations over the principle of the

integrity of existing multinational States, and in this connection it has also

brought about new changes in international law and international relations.

The position of small or less developed nations and States within the

international order is the key to regional and international stability and

cooperation and to just international relations. Without the confirmation of

their right to State individuality the United Nations would now consist of

about 50, and not 179, Member States. Our recent experience has shown that

stable peace and a firm international order are not possible in the

post-cold-war world without the security and sovereignty of small nations. It

is for these reasons that we believe that the international community is

entitled to interfere in the internal affairs of countries in cases involving

the control of aggression, humanitarian intervention, the protection of the

rights of individuals and of national minorities and the preservation of the

environment, in accordance with the principles of, and through mechanisms

endorsed by, the international community.

Accordingly, we would welcome such a new role for the United Nations, as

well as for such regional organizations as the Conference on Security and

Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), which would guarantee the protection of the

security of all Member States in a process ranging from peace mediation to the

imposition of peace. Without such a role the United Nations could not handle

such crises as the one affecting the former Yugoslavia. The chief

responsibility for international security rests with the Security Council, but

the regional organizations should assume the main burden of implementing

policy, based on United Nations principles. For this reason we support the

establishment of permanent regional military forces capable of rapid peace

mediation and action to prevent conflict or repel aggression.

Furthermore, Croatia firmly supports the Secretary-General's "Agenda for

Peace" and the process of establishing permanent United Nations military

forces. In the post-cold-war world, when regional conflicts present the major

threat to world security, international peace-keeping and peace-making forces

are emerging as the watershed between chaos and stability. Croatia is ready

to participate in these forces and to help to bring peace to troubled areas

around the world.

Had such mechanisms existed, the disastrous Yugo-communist and

Serbo-Montenegrin aggression against Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina might

have been averted. This crisis has obviously reaffirmed the equal right of

all nations, particularly young or small nations, to security and has enhanced

the need to create such mechanisms.

In view of what I have said, we would support the development of a

regional security system in our area, a system that could also serve as a

model for other crisis areas. Because of their geopolitical importance,

ethnic mix and painful historical experience, it is precisely the Balkans and

south-eastern Europe that would necessarily require the development of such a

model of international regional security congruent with the general system of

common security in order that the stability of the global order might be

achieved.

This implies consideration of all steps to bring about

confidence-building and mutual guarantees, the establishment and maintenance

of the balance of power and the creation of security zones and protected

areas, along with the adjustment and supervision of defensive and other armed

forces and doctrines.

In order to achieve stability in this part of Europe, in which the

processes of both stabilization in the Eastern Mediterranean and in

south-eastern Europe and the establishment of stable relations among the newly

emerged States are still to be completed, Croatia is prepared to take the

initiative in convening an international conference of the countries in the

area in order to consider the future model of regional security and

cooperation based on common interests and principles embodied in the United

Nations Charter and CSCE documents.

The Republic of Croatia endorses the coordinated process of regional and

general disarmament and welcomes the results already achieved in

heavy-armament reduction by the big Powers. Croatia is prepared to cooperate

with other countries in reallocating military expenditures to the

reconstruction of war-ravaged areas and to peacetime development.

This concerns in particular the new States which require international

cooperation in the implementation of their democratic and market reforms in

order to bolster their domestic stability. The role and the responsibility of

the international community are to be seen in the light of the fact that these

societies are not strong enough to be able rapidly to become part of the

integration processes. Because of this the speedy integration of new States

into financial and other institutions should be promoted.

We endorse automatic international intervention and other punitive

measures when the territorial integrity of other countries is seriously

threatened. The United Nations should also envisage a way to prevent the use

of military force against the peaceful expression of political will in the

solution of domestic political issues. The brutal use of military force

against one's own people should not in our time be regarded as merely an

internal political problem.

We endorse the establishment of a permanent international court for the

punishment of war crimes and all actions involving the deliberate violation of

peace and international conventions and endangering the lives of the civilian

population.

In support of an open economy and market principles we propose, within

the scope of international development strategies, identifying ways and means

to favour and facilitate the transfer of technology, knowledge and the

necessary resources to less developed countries or countries destroyed by

war. To our mind, it is precisely the United Nations and its agencies that

ought to play an important role in this process. The United Nations and its

agencies ought to take the lead in handling the return of refugees and the

reconstruction of their homes, destroyed cultural monuments, industrial plants

and infrastructural facilities processes that are of particular importance

to our country.

The earliest solution of all issues regarding the succession of States in

accordance with international law is of the highest importance for Croatia and

other States that have emerged in the area of the former Yugoslavia and the

former Soviet Union. In supporting the solution of these issues we are

prepared, especially for economic reasons, to make an additional effort in

order to codify the experience and norms of international law in this sphere.

On this occasion I cannot but add a few words of criticism concerning the

inadequate action by international factors to solve the crisis in the

territory of the former Yugoslavia, more precisely in preventing the brutal

aggression waged by Serbia and Montenegro against Croatia and Bosnia and

Herzegovina. Croatia appreciates the efforts of the international community -

from the United Nations, the European Community and the CSCE to all those

international factors that have helped us to stop a mindless and most brutal

war waged at the expense of the civilian population before the eyes of the

civilized world. We express our deepest sympathy for the human losses the

United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) has suffered in the Republic of

Croatia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the performance of its

noblest task.

What is really happening there is the sustained aggression of Serbia and

Montenegro, now acting under the new name of the Federal Republic of

Yugoslavia, against two sovereign and independent States Members of the United

Nations - Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Unless stopped, this aggression

may mushroom into a conflict on a much broader scale which could spread the

disaster of war to the entire European continent, maybe even to the rest of

the world. Unfortunately, in spite of that situation the global community has

not yet identified a sufficiently efficient mechanism to stop aggression or an

effective way to stop brutal destruction, such as Europe has hardly ever

experienced, associated with the most barbaric form of "ethnic cleansing".

The implementation of the Vance plan, created with the authority of the United

Nations, is also falling behind schedule because of constant Serbian and

Montenegrin sabotage.

The mission of UNPROFOR must be seriously speeded up and fully

implemented within the mandate of the peace-keeping force. Otherwise it will

become meaningless and produce the justified indignation and frustration of

the Croatian people who continue to suffer the consequences of aggression.

Croatian authorities find it increasingly difficult to control the justified

discontent of people displaced from their homes in their own homeland, people

who have accepted the role and the intentions of the United Nations and the

European Community with optimism and the firm conviction that the wrongs they

have suffered would be redressed. These people find it difficult to

understand why the international community cannot show, in this particular

case, the necessary determination that was shown in the instance of an

identical aggression against another sovereign and independent State. The

United Nations must summon the will and the power to use all the resources at

its disposal in order to bring the war in Croatia to a close and to stop the

aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the opposite case, if the

aggressor is permitted to continue to implement his plan of conquest, the

reputation of the United Nations will suffer badly.

Finally, let me express my conviction that the United Nations will fulfil

its historical task. For its part the Republic of Croatia is prepared to

contribute its share in every respect as a full member of the global community.

With the holding of multi-party parliamentary elections for the second

time in the past two years, in spite of the war forced upon the country,

Croatia has severed all links with its communist past and strengthened its

democratic order and international position.

Having committed itself in its Constitution - in political and economic

terms and in all spheres of spiritual and material development - to those

principles of democracy and pluralism which also underlie the United Nations,

Croatia has declared its openness to cooperation with all its neighbours and

other countries in Europe and world wide. Croatia wants to be a factor of

peace and stability in the international order in its part of the world.