Kazakhstan, 1995

Please accept my

congratulations, Sir, on your election as President of the

General Assembly at its fiftieth session. This attests to

your excellent qualities, which will undoubtedly

contribute to the successful discussion of all the items on

the agenda.

I would like to take this opportunity to express

special appreciation to the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros

Boutros-Ghali, for his great contribution to the solution of

international problems of the world community and his

efficient management aimed at the establishment of new

relations between nations in the twenty-first century.

We have to note that this anniversary session of the

General Assembly is taking place at a time of increased

tension and continued armed conflicts in different parts of

the globe. One of the most dangerous and complicated is

the Bosnian conflict. Events in Bosnia defy

straightforward interpretation. At the same time, the

readiness recently displayed by the parties in conflict to

settle existing problems on the basis of adherence to the

principles of State sovereignty inspires optimism and hope

that long-awaited peace will be established in the Balkans.

In Kazakstan’s opinion one of the most important

conditions for achieving peace is that respective countries

in the territory of the former Yugoslavia continue to exist

as sovereign States within the borders recognized by the

world community.

We highly appreciate the role of the United Nations

peace-keeping forces, which in differing situations have

done their best to contain conflicts and alleviate the

consequences of hostilities for the civilian population. We

have no doubt that the Organization has to exercise all its

authority in such situations. The world community should

provide more effective assistance to the United Nations so

that it can use its peace-keeping forces in areas of conflict

in a more efficient and timely manner.

Creation of regional and global structures designed

to promote long-lasting peace is an important aspect of

international security. The balance of forces, upset after

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the end of the cold war, should be restored not through the

establishment of new military and political alliances but

through international treaties and agreements promoting

security and stability and through the establishment and use

of effective mechanisms of preventive diplomacy.

We view as quite successful the activities of the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

(OSCE), whose sphere of responsibility includes not only

Europe but Central Asia as well. A high degree of

efficiency in security matters concerning the Asian and

Pacific region is being displayed by the Association of

South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) forum.

Kazakstan, for its part, continues its work towards the

convening of a conference on interaction and confidence-

building measures in Asia. The forum’s mandate is being

drawn up by the Special Working Group. We believe that

all the countries of the Asian continent, despite their

heterogeneity, have an equal interest in durable peace and

stability, which is an important guarantee for their

progressive movement towards economic prosperity and

internal stability. Taking this opportunity, I urge all Asian

countries to contribute to the realization of this idea,

expressed by President Nazarbayev from the rostrum of this

lofty Organization at the forty-seventh session of the

General Assembly.

We firmly believe that no matter how strong and

effective the United Nations may be, no matter how

comprehensive its activities are, security and peace should

be the backbone of the policy of all countries, irrespective

of their capabilities and regional affiliation. We see that in

the new geopolitical reality more emphasis is being placed

on meeting the various needs of the individual. There is a

general understanding that quick solutions of security and

stability issues cannot and should not take the place of a

long-term strategy of sustainable development. In other

words, in today’s world there is an emerging tendency

towards a gradual transition from national security to

human security.

The Republic of Kazakstan, which used to be a

de facto nuclear-weapon State and now is a nuclear-free

State, is making its contribution to these global

transformations. The elimination of all existing nuclear

warheads in Kazakstan’s territory and of the last nuclear

charge at the already-closed Semipalatinsk nuclear-test site

has been a highly important step in the fulfilment of

Kazakstan’s international obligations.

Kazakstan is a consistent advocate of a moratorium

on nuclear tests and of a comprehensive test-ban treaty,

which should be concluded as soon as possible but not

later than next year.

Addressing the United Nations Conference on

Disarmament in June 1995 in Geneva, Kazakstan’s

President reaffirmed its commitment to the consistent

policy of the strengthening of international security in its

new interpretation. The President of Kazakstan stressed

that various needs of the individual must be met. Indeed,

the success of the disarmament process is measured today

not only by the percentage of warheads and delivery

systems cut but also by the increase in the production of

goods for the people.

In the light of the outcome of the Copenhagen

Summit, emerging models of human development should

include new concepts for solving educational,

employment, environmental and health-care problems.

Urgent and effective measures are needed to address a

dangerous growth in unemployment — an especially

pressing problem for the economies in transition. We

believe that these countries can legitimately expect from

the United Nations the adoption of special measures

promoting their sustainable development. The priority that

this matter should be given by the United Nations can be

explained by a number of factors.

Indeed, modern geo-economic trends reflect the fact

that in the near future world economic centres in North

America, South-East Asia and Europe will emerge or be

strengthened. The stability and effectiveness of these

centres cannot be imagined without their involvement in

trade and economic relations with the countries of the

Commonwealth of Independent States, which, even taken

separately, represent significant economic and political

entities capable of filling existing gaps in relations

between Europe and Asia, North and South. It is relevant,

first of all, in the case of Kazakstan — a major Central

Asian State.

Speaking of the need to adapt the United Nations

system to the new geo-political realities, we think that the

potential of the countries of Central Asia should be taken

into account. Their capabilities in the formulation of the

strategies of sustainable development and peace-making

are becoming stronger. Close attention should be paid to

the impetus for cooperation with the United Nations, in

the interest of a secure world, that is being served by

these countries.

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In this context, I would like to draw attention to

President Nazarbayev’s initiative regarding the

establishment, under the auspices of the United Nations, of

a unit of the armed forces of three Central Asian

republics — Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. In our

opinion, this would contribute to the strengthening of

security and peace in Central Asia — a region which also

has its areas of conflict.

In the opinion of Kazakstan, priority attention in

cooperation between the United Nations and the economies

in transition should be paid to the protection of the

environment, which is one of the five main dimensions of

development. In the Central Asian region, the ecological

threat is one of the most dangerous threats to human

security.

We think that the world community should pay special

attention to the tragedy of the Aral Sea region. According

to the World Bank, in the next 25 years, the efforts to

restore an ecological balance in the region will require $50

billion. Such a project is not feasible without financial

assistance from international organizations. Thus, we are

interested in the search for new international sources of

financing, and support the idea of devising a system of

international taxes on arms transfers and transactions,

involving currency flows, to achieve global human,

including ecological, security.

I would like to say a few words about United Nations

reforms. The position of Kazakstan on this issue is as

follows. Reforms are necessary, but they should be carried

out with the utmost care, in order to avoid upsetting the

balance of the whole system of international relations. The

Charter of the United Nations should largely remain as the

basis and the reference point for the work of the

Organization, to which there is no alternative in the modern

world.

Major changes that have taken place in the world since

the creation of the United Nations should be reflected in the

composition of the Security Council. Kazakstan believes

that the number of Council members, including the number

of permanent members, could, in principle, be increased.

We welcome measures taken by the Secretary-General

to reduce expenses related to the activities of the

Secretariat. It is important, in our opinion, that such an

essential body as the International Court of Justice should

also be adapted to present-day requirements. The idea of

having important decisions adopted in an economic security

council appears to be worthy of attention, considering the

need, in the view of many countries, to reorganize and

revitalize the Economic and Social Council.

Debates on fundamental United Nations

documents — the reports by the United Nations

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, “An Agenda for

Peace” and “An Agenda for Development” — reveal the

need for a more detailed analysis of ways to develop

society by meeting the social, economic, political and

cultural needs of the individual. We are especially aware

of this now as we celebrate, under the auspices of

UNESCO, the 150th anniversary of Abai, a great Kazak

poet, educator and philosopher, who devoted his life to

the mutual spiritual and cultural enrichment of nations.

The desire to jointly solve the issues of “peace and

development” also lies at the heart of our proposal to set

up a United Nations commission for central Asia — a

joint body of the Economic Commission for Europe

(ECE) and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia

and the Pacific (ESCAP). This idea was initially proposed

by the President of the Republic of Kazakstan, Mr. N.

Nazarbaev, at the Summit of the member States of the

Economic Cooperation Organization in 1993 in Istanbul.

The common nature of the social, economic and political

objectives of the countries in the region, on the threshold

of the twenty-first century, determines the need to

establish regional mechanisms for their attainment and to

create appropriate structures. The progress achieved by

the countries of Central Asia in this regard is reflected by

the rather effective activities of the OECD, as well as

those of the economic union between Kazakstan,

Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Speaking about the importance of this problem for

the Central Asian States, I would like to note that,

judging by past experience, the efforts of two important

regional Commissions — ESCAP and ECE — are not

adequately coordinated with regard to this group of

countries. As a result, the republics of Central Asia are

not sufficiently involved in their programmes.

As the United Nations Organization approaches its

fiftieth anniversary, it has great accomplishments to its

credit in peacemaking and in the strengthening of

international security. As a well-known Japanese writer

once said: only life filled with a workaday routine might

be worse and more dreadful than a war. Least of all

would we like to see the United Nations as a structure

which mechanically services the demands of mankind on

a day-by-day basis. In other words, we do not want to see

the

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United Nations as a rigid structure, insensitive to the

profound changes of our rapidly changing times. The world

continues to pin its hopes on the United Nations as a

concentrated source of wisdom, justice and responsiveness

to the sufferings of mankind. The world appeals to the

United Nations to rise above immediate plans and

programmes in order to appreciate fully the mosaic of

modern international relations in all their variety and

diversity. And we firmly believe that the United Nations

should adequately respond to the aspirations of all peoples

yearning for peace and tranquillity, aspirations born out of

their very existence.