Luxembourg, 1998

As previous speakers have done, I would like to

convey to the President my sincerest congratulations on

his election to the presidency at the fifty-third session of

the General Assembly. I am convinced that our Assembly

will benefit greatly from his sense of authority and

leadership. I also wish to express my gratitude to his

predecessor, Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, for his

commitment and perseverance in conducting our work

during the fifty-second session.

The Secretary-General of our Organization is

devoting tireless energy to opening up new avenues for

our common efforts. He has emphasized the crucial

importance of good communications to ensure that the

United Nations will be a catalyst both for those directly

involved in international life and for our peoples. We

share that belief with him and encourage him in that

respect.

Last Tuesday, members heard the statement of

Mr. Schüssel, President of the Council of the European

Union. He spoke on behalf of all of the countries of the

European Union, and Luxembourg fully supports the

views expressed.

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The presence of representatives of 185 States in this

Hall reflects our common concern to ensure balance and

security among nations, but also within our societies. Our

concern is to ensure the permanence of values to which we

are all committed in an ever-evolving world. In the context

of its mandate to preserve international peace and security,

our Organization regularly asks whether it has the means to

ensure that the general interest, as perceived by our

citizens, prevails. Surely, we must not be overly ambitious.

We are aware of the complexity and the magnitude of the

situations we face, and that these impose limits on our

action. Therefore we must focus our operations and provide

an appropriate framework for them. It is also our duty to

acquire the means to act effectively whenever our

ineffectiveness or slow response would seem to negatively

affect the weakest among us.

Luxembourg supports the efforts under way to provide

our Organization with permanent structures and to make

available to it forces prepared for rapid and effective

intervention whenever the Security Council, guarantor of

the preservation of peace and security, deems it necessary.

Our common efforts to make our world safer suffered

a serious setback following the nuclear tests recently carried

out by two major countries in South Asia. We noted with

satisfaction that the representatives of India and Pakistan

have just announced from this rostrum that their countries

are prepared to join the international community by

acceding to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear

Weapons and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

We invite them to proceed in that direction as quickly as

possible.

Will these efforts appear absurd, given the endless

pursuit of the tragic discussion about the disarmament of

Iraq? This spring the Security Council endorsed the

memorandum of understanding submitted to it following the

Secretary-General?s visit to Baghdad. Since then, such

cooperation has been called into question. Such abrupt

changes generate concern and discouragement and call into

question the credibility of our Organization. It is the

Security Council?s responsibility to take the necessary steps

to ensure that its decisions in this area are fully respected.

Our Organization is pursuing conflict prevention and

peacekeeping. At the recent meeting between the United

Nations and the representatives of regional organizations,

the proposal for development of a culture of prevention was

put forward. Progress has been made in the concept of

mutually supportive institutions and on support for the

initiatives taken at the regional and subregional level.

While it is desirable to support such initiatives and

efforts, we must remember that the Charter confers

principle responsibility for the maintenance of

international peace and security on the Security Council

and that the Council must fully play its role. We welcome

the fact that in 1998 the Council once again authorized

two peacekeeping operations, one in Sierra Leone and the

other in the Central African Republic.

The Ottowa conference on the prohibition of anti-

personnel mines was undeniably an invigorating success

in an area which constantly creates innocent victims. This

treaty, which has just entered into force, will make it

possible to save many human lives. The news that anti-

personnel mines are again being sown in Angola and

along the borders of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

is terrifying. Such action, if confirmed, must be

condemned vigorously.

In Kosovo, the violence directed against the civilian

population must end. It proves that the Federal Republic

of Yugoslavia continues to follow paths which cannot but

compromise progress in its integration into international

and European structures. Armed action conducted by

Albanian groups in Kosovo must also end. The scorn for

human suffering displayed by the Serbian leaders and the

extremists in Kosovo is incomprehensible.

A new status for Kosovo must emerge. It is

inconceivable that such a status can emerge under the

sway of threat or, even worse, cold-hearted implacable

violence, which would merely drive the wedge deeper to

the point where the very idea of understanding would be

absurd. As Security Council resolution 1199 (1998)

requires, a political solution must be negotiated between

the parties under the aegis of the international community.

Firm cohesion between Europe, the United States and the

Russian Federation should enable those in the region, as

was the case previously, to address their future in a more

rational and orderly way.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the extremist tendencies

are on the decline. This political progress was rapidly

reflected in concrete results achieved in the field, and

today this war-torn country is engaged in reconstruction.

It is comforting to note that a growing number of

individuals charged with war crimes have been sent to the

Tribunal at The Hague. The establishment and the

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functioning of the structures decided on in the context of

the peace process are today becoming a reality.

The recent elections have confirmed this new realism.

It is up to the international community to consolidate this

trend, as it still appears to be fragile, and to ensure, in

particular, the return of refugees and displaced persons.

This latter question is particularly acute in Croatia and

Albania.

Another key element for opening the way to a brighter

future is a firm, unequivocal commitment by the regional

parties and the international community. I refer to the peace

process in the Middle East. Five years after the Oslo

agreements, we must note the stagnation of the peace

process, whose logic — the principle of land for peace —

the current Israeli Government never really accepted.

The archaic and paralysing philosophy of refusal has

unfortunately returned to the foreground; it is reflected in

many initiatives which only increase tension, thus nullifying

the efforts of those who advocate peace. The political

leaders involved must reverse this trend so as to return to

the good faith implementation of all the provisions of the

Oslo agreements.

Our action, in that region and in others, must focus on

convincing the parties involved that there is no alternative

to peace.

It is regrettable that this central concept is also being

called into question in a number of African regions. Tribal

rivalries and resentments continue to supplant

clearsightedness and the desire for good governance. In no

case should the political leaders involved in the different

flashpoints feel that their only choice is between submitting

to events and shirking their responsibilities.

The struggles for influence and the war in and around

the Democratic Republic of the Congo are on the verge of

degenerating into a regional conflict and bringing about a

humanitarian catastrophe there too.

The causes of conflicts and the promotion of peace

and sustainable development in Africa call for a united

response. The debate at ministerial level that the Security

Council has just held on these topics was very helpful. The

General Assembly will have occasion to consider this

question over the course of its fifty-third session, with a

view to a discussion on possible measures. While the future

of Africa depends first of all on the efforts of Africans

themselves, the international community must be actively

involved in order to ensure respect for international law,

and in order to carry out its duty of solidarity.

Recent events, with the terrible bombings perpetrated

in Africa and Northern Ireland, remind us once again of

the intolerable nature of terrorism. It is up to the

international community to acquire an effective means of

combating this scourge on an international level, and to

ensure that the perpetrators of such acts answer for their

crimes before the competent courts. We owe it to

ourselves to put a definitive end to the culture of

impunity in connection with terrorism.

Another priority for our General Assembly is reform

of the Organization. We welcome the fact that some

progress was made during the fifty-second session. But

reform cannot be an isolated event; it must become a

process that underlies all of our action. We pledge to

continue actively supporting the efforts of the Secretary-

General, and to add our efforts to his, with a view to

giving the United Nations the capacity to respond in a

flexible and evolving way to the challenges of the twenty-

first century.

Any in-depth reform of the system will remain

fragile so long as the Organization lacks sound and

reliable financial resources. The grave financial crisis

which the Organization has experienced for a number of

years must be considered as a threat to the effectiveness

of the whole. Our proposed reforms will be consolidated

only when all Member States have agreed fully to meet

their obligations under the Charter by paying their arrears

to the United Nations, and by paying on time and

unconditionally the full amount of their obligatory

contributions, both to the Organization?s regular budget

and to the peacekeeping budget.

The maintenance of security and peace in the world

cannot be dissociated from the international community?s

efforts on behalf of development.

When we see entire regions, even subcontinents,

experiencing poverty and malnutrition, there is a shocking

imbalance which will soon pose a threat to the security of

the States concerned and to respect for the fundamental

rights of the human individual.

When we see that generations of young people can

hope for no future but unemployment or a frustrating

inactivity, there exists a flagrant and unjust imbalance

which will be a source of conflict.

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When we see social categories permanently deprived

of education and health care, that, too, is an imbalance to

which we cannot be indifferent.

The economic, financial and social crisis currently

besetting South-East Asia, Latin America and Russia has

exacerbated this trend. Rationally, the international

community must acknowledge that the means of

intervention traditionally, and almost mechanically,

employed to overcome economic crises have proved

ineffective this time.

In his work Civilisation matérielle, économie et

capitalisme, Fernand Braudel pointed out the profound

source of this crisis:

“the emergence of a savage capitalism, as distinct

from what we consider to be a market economy”.

A market economy, and particularly a social market

economy, cannot do without a stable State capable of

regulating competition and protecting the weak.

The strengthening or restoration of a democratic,

working State in the countries in crisis seems to me to be

an absolute priority.

The international community cannot shirk the

obligation to shoulder its responsibilities and lend a strong

hand. It will do this not only because of its duty of

solidarity, but because the interests of one and all are

linked.

Another area in which the interdependence of our

objectives is particularly visible and tangible is that of the

management of the world?s natural resources. It is clear that

we need to be ambitious when it comes to the long-term

management of our environment.

Last year we met here in special session to undertake

an initial evaluation of the implementation of the

commitments undertaken at the Conference on Environment

and Development a little over six years ago. At Rio de

Janeiro and during last year?s evaluation session we defined

the concept of a world partnership for sustainable

development, a partnership respecting the fact that the

protection of the environment cannot be dissociated from

the economic and social development process.

Undeniable progress has been made in recent years:

the entry into force of the Framework Convention on

Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity

and the Convention to Combat Desertification. But it must

be acknowledged that the world environment has

continued to deteriorate.

Accordingly, it is essential to accelerate the

implementation of Agenda 21, the programme of action

adopted in Rio de Janeiro.

Luxembourg intends to shoulder its share of this

responsibility. Accordingly, we have undertaken, in the

context of the commitments made by the European Union

at the Kyoto Conference, to reduce our emissions of six

greenhouse gases to 28 per cent below 1990 levels by the

year 2012.

In the context of the Biodiversity Convention, we

also plan to establish a national network of protected

areas covering 10 per cent of our national territory.

The goal of managing the world?s material resources

as a good parent would reflect an atavistic concern, that

of guaranteeing security through careful preparation for

the future, in particular through suitable education.

The recent Lisbon Conference devoted to the

problems faced by young people rightly emphasized the

need to provide training that is suited to the job market so

as to prevent unemployment and marginalization. Such

training must include education about responsibility. We

therefore welcome the fact that the Lisbon Declaration

commits Governments to ensuring the participation of

young people in programmes that concern them. In that

way we can come closer to democratic civic education

based on the rights and responsibilities of citizens and on

the participation of young people in civil society.

Luxembourg has undertaken a long-term effort to

make its own contribution to providing funds for

development. Our efforts are aimed at attaining the target

set by the United Nations of 0.7 per cent of gross national

product for official development assistance before the end

of the millennium. Our efforts occupy an important place

in the struggle against poverty, which is one of the main

obstacles to development. At present our contribution is

0.56 per cent of gross national product and is equivalent

to official development assistance of $195 per capita.

According to those criteria, Luxembourg is fifth among

donor countries in the Development Assistance

Committee.

Fifty years ago our Organization adopted the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For the first

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time, a universal organization declared its determination to

place respect for human rights at the heart of international

relations. Since then, we have made considerable progress

towards ensuring recognition for the universal value of such

rights and their effective enjoyment.

Several international instruments have been added to

the Universal Declaration so as to focus more precisely on

what human rights represent and to ensure that the citizens

of all countries of the world effectively enjoy these rights.

Our Organization has established the post of High

Commissioner for Human Rights, and concern for human

rights now underlies all of its activities. This progress leads

us to believe that human rights will find the central and

permanent home at the heart of international life that they

deserve.

We also note that the Criminal Tribunals established

by the United Nations to bring to trial those accused of

crimes committed during recent wars in the former

Yugoslavia and Rwanda have recently been able to

strengthen their authority and the scope of their action. This

affirmation of their importance played a considerable role

in the preparation of the Statute of the International

Criminal Court. I sincerely welcome the positive conclusion

of the work of the recent Rome Conference. At the same

time, I should like to emphasize the fact that the entire

international community has given that new institution

strong and constant support.

The end of the culture of impunity represents a

decisive turning point in international relations at the end of

this century. But this turning point will be convincing only

if the Members of our Organization display a commitment

to provide the new Court with the necessary credibility.

In this commemorative year, we must ensure that our

achievements are assessed in depth and that we avoid

complacency in the field of human rights. Only in this way

will it be possible to expand the base on which we can

build the values that the international community has so

often said it is prepared to ensure for humankind as a

whole.

I am confident that the United Nations will remain

capable of steadfastly pursuing the attainment of the great

objectives it has set itself: to serve men and women, ensure

respect for their rights, preserve them from the scourge of

war and lead them towards development and fulfilment.

Luxembourg?s support will certainly not be lacking.