Luxembourg, 1999

I should

like at the outset, Sir, warmly to congratulate you on your

election to the presidency of the General Assembly, which

marks the opening of the regular annual session. Your wise

and dynamic leadership will determine the scope and

outcome of our work.

I would like also to thank Mr. Didier Opertti for his

dedication and commitment throughout the fifty-third

session of the General Assembly.

Let me also reiterate Luxembourg's confidence, given

our Secretary-General's characteristic tireless determination

to promote dialogue, knowledge and mutual recognition,

that his efforts will lead to greater mutual understanding.

The respect accorded to, and the effectiveness of, our

Organization will depend on the strong cohesiveness of its

membership. Within its modest means, my country intends

to contribute to this key objective. Luxembourg is proud of

having participated in the definition of the European

Union's core positions. These were explained to the

Assembly by Mrs. Tarja Halonen, the Minister for Foreign

Affairs of Finland, in the statement she made in her

capacity as current Chairman-in-Office of the European

Union.

This fall will mark the tenth anniversary of the end of

the cold war, which for more than four decades hampered

the harmonious development of international relations.

Among other things, it prevented our Organization from

fully discharging its mandate to maintain international

peace and cooperation. This anniversary is definitely a

happy one, even if much of what had been hoped for in

1989 has failed to materialize and the consequences of

certain upheavals are still being felt.

Nonetheless, today's international environment has

seen far-reaching changes, and the international

community is now in a position to tackle very complex

challenges. My country hopes that this historic

breakthrough at century's end will be further consolidated.

Today is my first opportunity to represent my

country from this rostrum and to address the Assembly,

which comprises nearly all the countries of the world.

Luxembourg is one of the founding Members of our

Organization, and in October 1945, it was the smallest.

Our presence in San Francisco was due to our

determination to cooperate with the international

community and to reaffirm our sovereignty. Today I

would reiterate the commitment of the people of

Luxembourg to our Organization, which is called upon to

play a pivotal role in an international environment that is

becoming increasingly globalized yet, at the same time,

more and more fragmented.

While the first aspect of this process, globalization,

is most apparent in the economic field, the second,

fragmentation, is more clearly felt in the political arena,

as social inequities are increasing. This process will

undoubtedly result in very complex tensions, heightening

those that already exist and creating new ones. These will

have to be analyzed and dealt with; to do this we will

need imagination, clear-sightedness and, above all, an

effective resolve and capacity to act. Our security and

prosperity will depend on the way in which our

Organization confronts these challenges.

It would be unrealistic to expect a solution from the

Organization every time humanitarian disaster strikes or

a conflict breaks out. There is no such thing as a world

government, and it would be a disservice to the United

Nations to fail to acknowledge this obvious fact.

Nevertheless, the United Nations is a platform and

a forum for negotiations at the global level, and we

should therefore exert every effort to ensure its smooth

functioning. To do this it must have adequate funding to

duty bound to respect their Charter obligation to pay in

full, unconditionally and on time the amounts they owe to

the Organization. This also means that increasingly, the

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major political orientations of the Organization are decided

upon by consensus, thereby ensuring the support of all

States for its actions. It also means that the effort to update

and reform the United Nations mechanisms still remains

fully relevant.

It is only through cooperation, understanding and

solidarity, together with respect for commitments entered

into and for the rule of law, that progress towards a true

cohesiveness will be possible. All the Members of our

Organization are directly responsible for ensuring that their

contribution to the common undertaking and to its progress

is not lacking. This was the case during the decision to

create an International Criminal Court. We have thus

reached an important stage in the field of international

ethics and morality by providing ourselves with an

instrument through which those responsible for atrocities in

time of war and for crimes against humanity will be held

to account. The international community will henceforth be

more vigilant and will no longer allow those who have been

found guilty of such crimes to continue to enjoy impunity.

My country will ratify the Statute of the Court as soon as

possible, and we hope that it will soon become a reality.

My country's profound commitment to the European

Union, which is preparing to enlarge its membership, is a

sure reflection of our strong aspiration to strengthen both

the internal cohesion of the countries of the region and to

promote cooperation at an international level. The

contribution of the European Union to the life of our

Organization is intended to be a driving force for its further

development.

Small countries like mine tend to develop an acute

awareness of their own vulnerability. This is often further

aggravated by a considerable difficulty: that of making

known to our foreign partners a little-known national

reality. That explains our commitment to the vitality and

smooth functioning of intergovernmental organizations. For

us, the United Nations represents an irreplaceable forum for

the exchange of ideas and experiences, but to an even

greater extent it must be a tool for the maintenance of

international peace and security, development and respect

for universal values.

A new Government has just taken office in

Luxembourg. Its first task will be to ensure the continuity

of our foreign commitments. But it also intends consistently

to develop our policy of demonstrating our presence,

participation and solidarity at the international level. This

determination will be expressed through the major

intergovernmental organizations, which define the rules of

coexistence between nations and peoples. The United

Nations unquestionably takes pride of place among them.

My Government also intends to further develop its

relations with the more remote regions of the world. This

is an effort to respond to a real deficiency, which can be

explained by our size and our limited human resources. It

is important for us to remedy that situation through a

balanced programme of contacts. The United Nations, and

the presence of numerous delegations at United Nations

Headquarters in New York and at Geneva, will doubtless

provide us opportunities conducive to achieving that end.

The United Nations Development Programme

Human Development Report this year undertakes an in-

depth analysis of the phenomenon of globalization. It

clearly brings out the beneficial aspects and the

opportunities provided by this process, while at the same

time showing the negative consequences, which are very

serious and worrying: instability in financial relations,

high unemployment, an unsteady job market, the ravages

of AIDS, the increasing inequalities between North and

South, the extension of those inequalities to the field of

knowledge and the constantly growing marginalization of

a large number of developing countries.

The political and social effects of these

developments are no less worrying: increased

impoverishment, new forms of crime and violence,

increased migration, the destabilization of States and the

growing number of conflicts. Faced with these issues, the

States Members of this Organization have a major

responsibility to assume. The proposals contained in the

report therefore deserve constructive examination, and my

delegation is ready to take part in it. Ensuring that there

is a social and ethical dimension to globalization, agreeing

on new rules for good world governance and protecting

the environment are some of the major issues to be

agreed on in forthcoming discussions. That is why we

intend to deepen our commitment in areas related to

human development.

The fight against poverty, which the United Nations

has declared to be a priority objective, cannot be

conducted only in the economic sphere. It should be part

of an overall plan that also deals with related factors such

as the lack of family care facilities, shortcomings in

education and health and insufficient administrative

structures. A reallocation of resources is also required as

part of this effort. In that spirit, Luxembourg is now in

the process of meeting the targets of our Organization.

Starting in the year 2000, it will be devoting 0.7 per cent

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of its gross national product to official development

assistance. The Government of Luxembourg has decided to

increase that contribution to 1 per cent of its gross national

product over the next five years. Education and health will

be priority areas for our cooperation.

During the negotiations in the Millennium Round in

the World Trade Organization we must take account of that

context and pay particular attention to the interests of the

developing countries. We also support all the efforts

designed to alleviate the debt problem, particularly in the

case of the least developed countries.

The vast majority of the people of Luxembourg uphold

a model of society that strikes a fair balance between free

enterprise and social justice. This model of a social market

economy ensures development and social cohesion, even if

it may require periodic adjustment. This should prove an

inspiration at the regional and international levels.

Through the experience that we have gained over one

and a half centuries of independence, Luxembourg is

convinced that the principles of democracy, respect for

human rights, the functioning of the rule of law and the

transparent and ordered management of public affairs are

the essential elements that help to promote development.

The major conferences that have taken place during the past

decade on the subjects of human rights, social development,

population, the advancement of women and human

settlements have opened a new era of constructive dialogue

and shared responsibility, which has made a major

contribution to defining and redefining the action of the

United Nations in the field of development. We must

ensure that henceforth there will be coordinated, integrated

and effective follow-up to the steps that have been taken.

Those who represent civil society, the non-

governmental organizations, are essential partners of our

Governments in the implementation of the programmes and

action plans developed and adopted during the major

conferences. It is those people who work in the field in

direct contact with women, men and children who are at the

very centre or our efforts. We therefore attach great

importance to their close association with the follow-up

process for the conferences and the preparations for future

activities.

Other meetings are in preparation, notably those on the

subjects of racism and development financing. Each of

these initiatives is part of our effort to promote a fairer and

more equitable society, both internationally and within our

own national societies. The United Nations serves as a

catalyst in this process. It is undeniable that in this field

our Organization has found an innovative and useful role

to play.

It is indeed paradoxical that a decade that was

originally marked by a desire for openness has ended with

a disturbing new outbreak of bloody conflicts and

practices that we thought had become things of the past.

How can we overlook the growing number of

humanitarian tragedies and fail to see the increasing

expressions of nationalism, intolerance and refusal to

accept those who are different? They highlight the

historical or newly erected barriers which have made

impractical any dialogue between majorities and

minorities.

In these circumstances, there is a new requirement.

As the Secretary-General has said, strict adherence to the

traditional concept of State sovereignty is no longer

sufficient to meet present-day realities. We must

investigate new ways to live together in society that will

respect the character of each individual. We must find

ways to improve the functioning of democracy so that it

will be better able to accommodate internal diversity.

This Organization, especially the organ responsible

for the maintenance of international peace and security,

has not been given sufficient means to adapt to new

situations. The structures of the Security Council are

inadequate after several decades during which it has been

impossible to carry out a thorough review. Although

discussions on Council reform have been under way for

more than five years, there is a prevailing feeling of

powerlessness. It seems unlikely that any new movement

can result from the repeated clash of known positions.

Since last autumn, Security Council action has been

hamstrung by the reemergence of schisms harking back

to a bygone age. Now as then, the result is an inability to

act, so the matter of Iraq has been bogged down. For

more than a year, Council members have been unable to

work together and formulate a viable monitoring system

that would guarantee that the Iraqi regime no longer

possesses weapons of mass destruction. This dispute

benefits only those who continue to flout international

law. The credibility of the United Nations can hardly gain

from this prevarication.

The recent political and humanitarian crisis in

Kosovo has shown that the community of nations no

longer has either sufficient determination or sufficient

means to prevent tragedies of that scale. In the face of the

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horror of ethnic cleansing, a number of countries were

obliged to shoulder their responsibilities. The tragic

deterioration of the situation on the ground and the lack of

realism at the negotiating table made military action

inevitable. My country demonstrated its active solidarity

during that tragedy, because a passive response to such

crimes is no more acceptable in the international arena than

it is at home. Today, pacification is under way in Kosovo,

but minorities must be protected, respect for the law must

be guaranteed, and democratic institutions must be set up.

The Organization, in collaboration with other institutions,

has taken these tasks in hand.

The international community's commitment to build

multi-ethnic, multicultural, democratic societies in the

Balkans holds out to the Serbian leadership and the Serbian

population the prospect of a peaceful, secure and

prosperous future in the community of Europe. It is up to

them to seize this opportunity.

The Secretary-General has said that United Nations

action cannot stop until stability, security and peace return

to the entire African continent. That goal is far from having

been achieved, with serious conflicts taking place in central

Africa and in Angola. But there are glimmers of light in

Sierra Leone, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and

in the Horn of Africa. The crises there, while not yet

resolved, are at least on the path of negotiation. It is

encouraging to note that this progress has been achieved

thanks to the active participation of the countries of the

region.

We cannot allow the fate of Africa to slip out of the

field of action of the international community. We must

control the diverse situations relating to politics,

development and the democratization of society to enable

the continent to recover its proper place in the comity of

nations. That can be achieved only through sustained,

concerted medium-term and long-term action by the

international community and by the United Nations system.

My country will participate fully in these efforts.

In East Timor it seemed that, after 25 years of

injustice and oppression, there was a process that would

give the Timorese people an opportunity peacefully to take

charge of their future. Their desire for independence was

freely and clearly expressed under United Nations auspices.

Despite the Indonesian authorities having committed

themselves to guaranteeing order and security before and

after the popular consultation, grave violations occurred in

East Timor, followed by massacres and the large-scale

deportation of civilians. We welcome the dispatch of a

multinational force under United Nations authority to put

a rapid end to the violence and the atrocities, and to

repatriate people in decent conditions. We support the

efforts of the Secretary-General and of the United Nations

Mission in East Timor to continue the process leading to

the independence of East Timor. We must quickly

improve the island's humanitarian situation, which

continues to deteriorate, inflicting suffering on the

population concerned.

In the Middle East, after years of deadlock, Israelis

and Palestinians have resumed negotiations with the

participation of other parties to the peace process, with

the declared intention of concluding them by the autumn

of 2000, which would coincide with the Millennium

Assembly. Could anyone imagine a finer symbol of

concerted international action to restore peace and

security than lasting reconciliation in a land that is the

cradle of so many religions and so many civilizations?

The Millennium Summit will give us the chance to

take stock of what has been accomplished and of what the

complex decade of the 1990s has brought us, as well as

to chart the course for future action. The Secretary-

General has outlined this in his report on the work of the

Organization. We must give him effective tools to

forestall catastrophes, whether caused by the elements or

by the hand of man, and to coordinate our work to

minimize the consequences of tragedies we are unable to

avert.

In declaring its determination to tackle humanitarian

challenges in a spirit of prevention rather than of reaction,

the Organization has set itself an ambitious goal. It is up

to us to prove our will and our capacity to work

effectively to reach that goal.