Hungary, 1996

May I, at the outset, extend

the congratulations of my delegation to you, Sir, upon your

election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty-

first session. In your endeavours, based on your rich

diplomatic experience, you may count on the assistance and

support of the Hungarian delegation.

Let me also pay tribute to your predecessor,

Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral, for his extremely able

leadership throughout our historic fiftieth session.

The diversity of challenges facing the community of

nations, the difficulties associated with finding proper

responses and the importance of building up supportive

national and international constituencies are hardly likely to

send multilateralism into oblivion. Yet, in this time of

change, and despite the forceful tendencies of globalization,

interdependence and integration, no single applicable

approach is at hand for political leaders. Given its unique

role and capacities, the United Nations can be the

principal vehicle by which the international community

selects and addresses problems requiring a universal

response.

This Organization, however, cannot and should not

micro-manage the solution to all the urgent problems of

our contemporary world. Times have changed and so

must the United Nations. In several instances, the

international community may act much more efficiently

through regional organizations or specialized agencies.

What is essential, however, is that the nations forming

this Organization stand up with one strong voice when the

purposes and principles of the Charter are put to the test.

Violations of international law, human rights and

fundamental freedoms should be matched with legitimate

and adequate responses by the international community,

acting through the United Nations.

The issue of multilateral disarmament and non-

proliferation remains a legitimate concern for the United

Nations. Last year, we were pleased by the indefinite

extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons. This important step not only

constituted a major building block in the complex web of

our non-proliferation and disarmament efforts, but served

as a catalyst to forge consensus around the future

direction and dynamics of this process. As a result of

sustained and responsible work in the Conference on

Disarmament, it became possible to finalize the text of

the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

Hungary stood fully behind this compromise text, which

captures the diversity of views and approaches while still

constituting a coherent and forward-looking document.

Opening the Treaty for signature was, indeed, a

landmark. Hungary was among the first countries to

sponsor resolution 50/245. I signed the Treaty on the day

after it was opened for signature. This Treaty is not the

end of the process. There is a need for further systematic

and progressive efforts towards nuclear disarmament and

non-proliferation, and the CTBT must be given its due

place in that process. In this context, we join those who

call for its smooth entry into force, thereby allowing the

disarmament process to proceed.

Hungary also consistently seeks to contribute to the

strengthening of stability and security through cooperative

efforts at both regional and bilateral levels. Building upon

our intensified relations with the European Union, we

look forward to the early beginning of negotiations on our

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accession to the European Union. We hold the firm view

that the enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization (NATO) will expand stability and security in

Europe and will strengthen trans-Atlantic partnership and

solidarity. Hungary, in its bilateral relations with

neighbouring countries, is striving to contribute to the

establishment of conditions enabling them all to be full

partners in the institutions of Euro-Atlantic integration. We

remain convinced that, with an enlarged NATO and an

expanded European Union, the United Nations will have

even more efficient and helpful regional partners.

The crisis in the Balkans has proved to be a painful

and dramatic litmus test of the resolve of the international

community. The United Nations has also had to draw its

own conclusions from the tragedy. The mission of the

United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern

Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium is currently making

progress on the road to the peaceful reintegration of the

region into Croatia, while securing respect for the human

rights of all its inhabitants and the rights of national

minorities in the region. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the

role and determination of the Implementation Force (IFOR)

is indispensable for guaranteeing the implementation of the

Dayton Agreement. The cooperation, through IFOR,

between NATO, the United Nations, the Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of

Europe in responding to the different facets of this major

challenge is an innovative paradigm for future conflict

resolution and crisis-management efforts.

We strongly believe that a solid international presence

is required to allow democracy and stability to take firm

root in the region. Hungary continues to provide the

necessary logistical and transit facilities to IFOR forces and

United Nations peace-keepers and is contributing to the

strength of both IFOR and the United Nations International

Police Task Force. The return and reintegration of refugees

and displaced persons — including those who found shelter

in Hungary — pose a continuing challenge to the

international community. The establishment of democracy

and the rule of law should be accompanied by

reconstruction and rehabilitation, thereby facilitating the

conditions of safe and orderly return. Citizens should be

assisted by the international community in their efforts to

create and activate democratic institutions in which good

governance and accountability will force war criminals out

of the political mainstream. We see the work of the

Tribunal in The Hague as an essential component of the

Dayton peace process and the cooperation extended to it as

an important indicator of the willingness of the parties to

follow through on both their Dayton commitments and

their obligations under the Charter.

Experience of the recently held elections in Bosnia

and Herzegovina suggests that keeping to the schedule

agreed at Dayton was a sound decision. We remain

concerned, however, at the ethnically divided voting

results. This only highlights the urgency of proceeding

without undue delay to the building-up of a unique

institutional infrastructure for the country and of

facilitating the holding of municipal elections in a more

stable political environment.

We are now in a period of reflection with regard to

United Nations conflict-prevention and crisis-management

capabilities. In our view, the United Nations, as it

continues to live up to its responsibilities under the

Charter, ought to craft its response strategies more

carefully. The preventive capacity of the United Nations

should be further strengthened. A sound early warning

system, combining political, military, humanitarian,

human rights and economic areas, would broaden the base

of options and enhance the chances for success in the

early detection of conflict situations. An early

international monitoring presence in itself has a major

deterrent effect. In-depth information on a given situation

would catalyse diplomatic efforts and help trigger a broad

consensus on the course of action.

Specialized agencies and regional organizations, such

as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in

Europe, are of primary importance in defusing sources of

tension through creating appropriate and efficient response

mechanisms. The United Nations, while fully discharging

its responsibilities under the Charter for the maintenance

of international peace and security, can authorize and thus

give legitimacy to these endeavours as well as to actions

to be taken by ad hoc coalitions of the able and willing.

The building-up of regional peacekeeping and peace-

building capacities, as well as the increase of the

operational character of some key activities of specialized

agencies, are among the avenues that have to be more

fully explored.

The reform agenda of the United Nations has been

put in motion against the background of these new

challenges and opportunities. Despite considerable

progress in identifying the main areas of change within

the different negotiating structures, we are seriously

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concerned that the overall reform process has lost most of

its dynamics. While we should not allow that individual

consensual elements of the reform process be held hostage

to progress in unrelated issues, there seems to be an evident

need to reach a political agreement, at least on the basic

philosophy of the major premises of the reform agenda.

Hungary is aware of the difficulties that make real progress

so hard to achieve. It stands ready to help reinvigorate the

momentum for change and to make genuine United Nations

reform an early reality.

Promotion of the international protection of human

rights is a fundamental component of my Government’s

foreign policy and one of the essential tasks conferred upon

the United Nations by its founders. Despite the remarkable

results achieved in the standard establishment and building-

up of implementation machinery, there is still much to do

in maintaining our determination to act in defence of human

rights, wherever abuses may occur. Chronic underfunding,

lack of efficient coordination and the sometimes evasive or

uncooperative attitude of several Governments only

underline this urgency, which was finally recognized when

human rights were made one of the programme priorities of

the United Nations. In our view, the United Nations, despite

the important advances made, such as the establishment of

the post of High Commissioner for Human Rights, is still

not sufficiently equipped to deal with the latest and gravest

of human-rights challenges: those emanating from ethnic

conflict, civil strife, government breakdown and the

collapse of the rule of law.

The importance of safeguarding and monitoring the

observance of the rights of national or ethnic minorities is

still too often disregarded and put in the context of political

expediency. Lack of full respect for the rights of minorities,

together with the absence of necessary political, legal,

institutional and administrative guarantees, are among the

root causes of many of the conflicts on our agenda.

Today, as we witness the growing importance of

human-rights operational activities, the timeliness of the

concept of preventive peace-building comes to mind. This

implies not only an enhanced human-rights preventive and

monitoring capacity of the United Nations, but also the

right combination and use of the assets at our disposal,

from early warning to preventive protection. The practice

of financing some United Nations human-rights field

operations from the peace-keeping budget and a greater

coordinating role for the High Commissioner for Human

Rights may be two of the avenues which deserve our full

attention.

I wish to underline the fact that the way in which

the United Nations tackles the crucial global problems

mankind is facing will greatly determine the quality of the

imminent next century. Let me refer, in this context, to

the importance of some of the problems on the agenda of

this session. Sustained efforts to combat international

terrorism, transnational crime or illicit drug trafficking are

required from all of us in order to preserve the

international legal order, the present achievements and

further potential of democracy and development. The

United Nations has an important role in coordinating

efforts to ensure that those involved in terrorist activities

find no safe haven and expect a vigorous response from

the international community. Transboundary criminal

activity and drug-related money-laundering require the

strict application of the law by strong, independent

judiciaries. Our task is to make use of the advantages of

multilateral cooperation in this field.

The Republic of Hungary stands ready to work in

partnership with Member States to promote efficient

multilateral action and to translate into deeds the noble

ideals set forth in the Charter of the United Nations.