Luxembourg, 1993

First of all, I should like to

extend to the President of the General Assembly at this

forty-eighth session my sincere congratulations on his

election. He was unanimously supported for this position

because of his excellent qualities; and his election is also a

tribute to his country, Guyana.

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, our Secretary-General, also

deserves our wholehearted thanks and appreciation for his

constant and resolute efforts in implementing the decisions

of our Organization and applying the principles of our

Charter.

The already very broad universality of the United

Nations has been further strengthened - and I welcome this -

with the admission of six new countries: the Czech

Republic, the Slovak Republic, Eritrea, The Former

Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Monaco and Andorra.

Mr. Willy Claes, the Belgian Minister for Foreign

Affairs, yesterday expressed the views of the European

Community and its member States. I shall therefore be able

in this statement to focus on a few matters of particular

concern to my Government.

Three years ago, from this very rostrum, we welcomed

the end of the East-West confrontation and its corollary, the

end of the threat of nuclear annihilation. Throughout the

world, democracy and respect for the state of law were

progressing in a most encouraging way. But given

developments in the last few years, it would seem that we

should somehow dampen our enthusiasm.

Changes in the balance of forces between the Powers

that dominated the old order have allowed nationalism and

regionalism to develop. In some cases, this has led to the

destabilization of entire regions following upon rivalries

between neighbors, ethnic tension and religious fanaticism.

Nationalism is of course not in and of itself evil. It is

in some sense a logical manifestation of feelings of pride

and self-confidence which can finally express themselves

after long years of oppression during which free speech was

forcibly repressed.

But once the legitimate expression of this regained

pride of a people is transformed into open hostility towards

everything that is different, then nationalism carries within

itself the seeds of grave danger.

Extreme nationalism can be seen in many places,

whether it be in the territory of the former Soviet Union or

the former Yugoslavia, where it has found its most

intolerable expression. It leads to explosions of violence,

armed aggression, acts of terrorism and unspeakable

suffering for the civilian populations.

Forty-eighth session - 29 September l993 31

Ethnic conflicts are proliferating in all regions of the

world. In Western Europe itself, it can be seen in the

resurgence of racist and xenophobic incidents.

As a challenge to the primacy of law and to respect for

human rights, extreme nationalism constitutes a threat to the

international order.

A clear and coherent strategy is necessary to respond to

this challenge.

First of all, education with regard to tolerance should be

renewed; and, secondly, legal protection for minorities must

be ensured.

The principles and rules drawn up in this area by the

Council of Europe and the Conference on Security and

Cooperation in Europe might suggest some solutions. New

instruments are to be defined next week at the summit of the

Council of Europe. The plan for stability in Europe is part

of this same approach.

Thirdly - and this is the most important action to be

taken - we must do everything possible at the national,

regional and international levels to strengthen

democratization and to promote protection for human rights.

It is on the basis of these principles, focused on the free

expression of peoples and the development of democratic

structures, that the United Nations has proposed solutions

and agreements to resolve the conflicts which are being

submitted to it in ever-increasing numbers.

The Government of Luxembourg expresses its deep

satisfaction over the agreement on mutual recognition and

the agreement on the autonomy of occupied territories

concluded between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation

Organization.

We should like to pay tribute to those who forged the

agreements, in particular Prime Minister Rabin, his Foreign

Minister Peres and President Arafat. They have given the

world a lesson in courage and clarity of vision and in

political realism as well.

The developments we have witnessed are of a historic

significance comparable to that of the collapse of the Berlin

Wall. They fundamentally change the facts of the Middle

East; they have launched a process of reconciliation in order

to put an end to an explosive, untenable and unjust situation.

In a region devastated by more than 40 years of war,

violence and hatred, a window is now opening on a more

peaceful and democratic future. The still fragile dynamic

that has been created must be strengthened without delay.

This can first be achieved by the conclusion of peace

agreements between Israel and its neighbours: Lebanon,

Jordan and Syria. The Government of Luxembourg

encourages the leaders concerned to overcome the last

obstacles and to open the way to normalization of their

relations with Israel.

The Israelis and the Palestinians must then act together

and in good faith, with the solidarity of the regional and

international community to implement successfully the

agreement on autonomy in the occupied territories, the first

step towards a comprehensive settlement. The first

contributor of funds, the European Community and its

member States, is prepared to increase cooperation on behalf

of a population that must be helped to emerge from poverty

and build a more dignified and prosperous future. Our

Government will participate fully in that effort.

Thanks to the United Nations, peace was restored in

Namibia and Nicaragua three years ago.

Today in Cambodia the effort led by the United Nations

has enabled the people of an ancient culture, humiliated by

decades of bloody oppression and foreign occupation, to

participate on a mass scale in free and open elections. By

consolidating a State of law and national reconciliation, the

country will be able to rebuild itself.

In Haiti a firm policy of close cooperation between the

United Nations and the Organization of American States

(OAS) has led to an agreement which provides for the

restoration of democracy.

In El Salvador the assistance of the United Nations was

decisive in putting an end to the civil war and recommencing

the construction of a civilian society and the process of

national reconciliation. Free elections in which all

Salvadorians will be able to participate are to be held next

year.

In Somalia, however, intervention by the United

Nations has demonstrated the limits of armed intervention in

a tribal civil war in the absence of a political agreement and

a cease-fire. Nevertheless, the difficulties encountered in

Mogadishu should not make us forget that the United

Nations made an essential contribution to combating the

famine.

32 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

In South Africa further decisive progress is being made

towards the definitive abolition of apartheid. I welcome the

agreement on setting up a transitional body to draw up a

provisional Constitution and prepare for free elections in

April 1994. Only a shared determination and close

cooperation between all the parties will make it possible to

stop the deadly violence which continues to kill and which

jeopardizes the process of reconciliation.

Significant progress towards restoring democracy and

towards national reconciliation has also been made in other

countries in Central America and in Africa.

Those achievements, however imperfect, are

encouraging, and demonstrate the role that our Organization

can play in preserving peace and consolidating democratic

regimes.

The situation in the former Yugoslavia is still extremely

disturbing. Every day we see on television the barbarism

that accompanies "ethnic cleansing" and the bloodstained

dismemberment of Bosnia and Herzegovina -a country which

was once an example of ethnic and religious coexistence.

The agreement between the three Bosnian parties,

which has yet to be finalized, is admittedly complex and far

from perfect. Yet it has the merit of opening up the

prospect of putting an end to terror and violence. It offers

a comprehensive arrangement for emerging from the crisis.

Its success, which is far from being assured, presupposes a

real desire on the part of the three parties to reach agreement

and to carry out and abide by what is signed. The European

Community and its member States, where necessary assisted

by the Western European Union (WEU), are ready to

contribute to implementation of the agreement, in

cooperation with the United Nations, the North Atlantic

Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Conference on Security

and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Sanctions could be

lifted when the various Security Council resolutions on the

former Yugoslavia have been implemented and when a

satisfactory solution to the problem of minorities has been

found.

Overall, our Organization’s peace-keeping activities

have reached an unprecedented level. Almost 80,000 Blue

Helmets, military and civilian, are in the field in an

unparalleled number of humanitarian missions and peace-

keeping operations. I pay tribute to all those who serve the

cause of peace and in particular to those who have lost their

lives during these actions. We have a duty to ensure better

security for personnel.

Luxembourg, itself born as a modern State of an

international treaty guaranteed by the Powers of the time, is

particularly sensitive to the need for security and the need to

preserve the peace. It has therefore contributed actively to

United Nations peace-keeping operations, sending military

personnel and making suitable financial contributions. My

Government intends to continue this cooperation in the

future.

Luxembourg also firmly supports the efforts to step up

United Nations activities in the area of preventive

diplomacy. These efforts must be increased. Measures such

as fact-finding missions, the use of rapid alert systems, the

establishment of a rapid deployment group, and a

reinforcement of the roles of regional organizations could all

be very useful in preventing conflict. Once a conflict has

been unleashed it requires a much more costly intervention

to ensure the restoration of peace.

New cooperation is developing between the United

Nations and regional organizations, which will increasingly

be called upon to carry out peace-keeping functions at their

level or to support and supplement United Nations activities

in the area of collective security. The WEU, of which my

country currently holds the presidency, is in the course of

defining its role in peace-keeping operations. NATO and the

CSCE are doing likewise.

The preservation of peace and the promotion of

democracy and the rule of law go hand in hand with the

protection of human rights.

Over the years, our Organization has succeeded in

developing and progressively codifying human rights. But

that is not enough; we must also see to it that these rights

are better respected. The annual reports of organizations

involved in the defence of human rights show that we are

still far from attaining that objective.

We are pleased that the Vienna Conference on Human

Rights allowed encouraging progress to be made. The

universality of human rights was clearly affirmed. Specific

proposals were made for ensuring broader knowledge of

human rights, promoting them and respecting them. It is

now for this Assembly to approve those proposals, including

the establishment of a High Commissioner for Human

Rights.

There is an indissoluble link between respect for human

rights and the promotion of democracy. Within the United

Nations system this link takes concrete form in the

Organization’s growing activities in the area of technical

Forty-eighth session - 29 September l993 33

assistance and international supervision of electoral

processes. I support the proposals by our Secretary-General

to broaden these support activities to include the

establishment of a free press, political parties and an

independent judiciary.

In this context, I welcome the decision taken by

President Yeltsin to organize free elections in order to ensure

democratic legitimacy for all State bodies in Russia.

The United Nations must also increase its activities in

the economic, social and environmental areas. This will also

require the continued courageous reform of its structures and

working methods.

We can have no lasting peace while peoples are

subjected to abject poverty and famine and while they have

no hope for progress towards greater justice and equality.

Cooperation and trade: these are the two foci of a single

policy, which must be followed. In the past few years my

Government has doubled the aid it designates for

development and cooperation. We are in favour of the swift

conclusion of a balanced agreement in the General

Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Such an

agreement can provide at the world level a new impetus to

trade and economic relations.

Following the Rio Conference on Environment and

Development, the new Commission on Sustainable

Development must be determined to ensure that the

commitments entered into at that Conference are followed

up.

The world’s population has more than doubled over the

past 40 years and according to estimates will double again

in the next 30 years. The international community must

engage in a thorough analysis of the consequences of that

level of growth - for example, the problems of refugees,

urban concentration, and the enormous constraints in the

areas of food, housing, health and education. That is why

the Conference on Population and Development to be held

in Cairo in 1994 has such importance.

It is not surprising that social problems are becoming

increasingly important at a time when many economies are

facing difficult adjustment processes and others are carrying

out a delicate transition from a planned economy to a market

economy. Moreover, all recently published reports confirm

that there is a disturbing increase in the gap between the

richest sectors and the poorest sectors of populations, both

within countries and between countries.

The World Summit for Social Development which will

take place in 1995 will, if it is adequately prepared, offer the

international community an opportunity to develop a strategy

to combat poverty and to ensure the better distribution of

wealth.

More than a year ago the Secretary-General issued his

report "An Agenda for Peace", which was designed to

strengthen the Organization’s capacities in the area of

preventive diplomacy and the maintenance and restoration of

peace. Some of the proposals it contains are already being

applied in practice, but others are still pending. We hope

that the current review of the Agenda will lead to specific

results that can meet the Organization’s needs.

Reform of the Security Council is a delicate issue

which touches on the very heart of international post-war

cooperation. The Council has now been in operation for

50 years, and the time has come to have a candid and in-

depth discussion of the question. The fiftieth anniversary of

the Organization in 1995 could offer us a good opportunity

to do this.

The second crisis facing the United Nations - and this

point has been emphasized in all the statements made here

so far - is the chronic budget deficit. To put it bluntly, the

United Nations is bordering on insolvency. This is all the

more astonishing in that the annual budget of the

Organization is about the same as that of a medium-sized

city.

The legal obligation that binds all Member States

makes it incumbent on them to pay their financial

contributions in full and at the proper time. The credibility

and the operational capacity of the United Nations depend on

this.

In conclusion, let me turn to an old Europe.

In building European union the members of the

European Community have tried to seize an unprecedented

opportunity for the entire continent to achieve a truly unified

Europe, a Europe of countries that have often made war

against each other in the past.

Without denying the current difficulties, I believe that

the process of integration being carried out by the European

Community can serve as the inspiration for initiatives for

regional integration in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

European unification was thought up and implemented

on the basis of principles that are still fully valid:

reconciliation between peoples that only yesterday were

34 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

enemies; broad-ranging political, economic, commercial and

cultural cooperation; and the development of a social model

based on pluralistic democracy, the market economy and

solidarity. Such a model guarantees justice and social

cohesion even if we are never able to make it perfect and it

must be constantly adjusted.

It is on the basis of these common values that all the

peoples of Europe can, for the first time in their history,

build their future together. I believe that at the world level

also, thanks to concerted international action, we will be in

a better position to overcome the obstacles to peace and to

create a world order that is more democratic, more tolerant,

more just and more social - in a word, more in keeping with

the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations.