Latvia, 1996

Allow me to congratulate you, Sir,

on your election and to wish you success in carrying out

your duties during the fifty-first session of the General

Assembly. I wish all of us a productive and fruitful session

of the General Assembly and assure members of the full

cooperation of the delegation of Latvia in ensuring the

success of their work.

“Reform” was a much-used word during the previous

session of this body. The word “crisis” may become just as

prevalent during the fifty-first session. In this connection,

I should like to recall the words of United States President

John Fitzgerald Kennedy:

“When written in Chinese, the word crisis' is

composed of two characters. One represents danger

and the other represents opportunity.”

Since joining the United Nations five years ago, Latvia

has consistently supported reforms so as to avoid crises.

Our 50-year absence from the international community

makes us especially appreciate the fact that this rostrum is

the one place in the world from which all nations can speak

with an equal voice about matters of global importance.

A statement from this rostrum is a means rather than

an end. It can be but the first of many steps to a level of

human development that Immanuel Kant characterized as

eternal peace. Too often the closest we come to attaining

the ideal of a world without wars and the United Nations as

the maintainer of international peace and security is the

establishment of the mechanisms needed to halt armed

conflict. In this connection, may I recall that the joint

Estonian-Latvian-Lithuanian peacekeeping battalion, whose

training period will conclude next year, will be a

contribution of the Baltic States to the strengthening of

the mechanisms for peacekeeping and peacemaking

established by the United Nations.

The current world situation forces us to question

how often we have been too late, how often we have been

found lacking in wisdom, foresight and effective

diplomacy in our attempts to resolve disputes peacefully.

Somalia, former Yugoslavia, Chechnya, Rwanda — these

are not the only areas that have suffered recently. These

are problems for the entire global community, not only

the United Nations. It makes us think how far we are

from the ideal of eternal world peace, which few believe

possible, but whose realization is one of the fundamental

purposes of the United Nations. We all agree that peace

is a fundamental value and that war means catastrophe

and destruction. Still, we live in a world in which armed

conflicts constantly arise; where some profit from war;

and where relationships of dominance, the rules of the

game, and differing values do not exclude war as a

mechanism for pursuing national interests.

Reducing the possibility of local conflicts is an

important aspect of global security. Any local armed

conflict affects the global society as a whole, especially

in our rapidly changing and shrinking world, in which the

notions of distance, speed and information change rapidly.

International terrorism, the illegal trade in weapons and

narcotics, people fleeing their homes and other

consequences accompany local conflicts, but do not limit

themselves to the conflict zone alone. Political instability

and racial, religious and ethnic discord, combined with

low standards of living, breed armed conflicts. As

preventive measures, the United Nations must continue to

promote actively a respect for human rights, tolerance, the

universality of the United Nations, disarmament and the

implementation of arms-control agreements, and support

the economies of States that may need assistance.

We hail the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

(CTBT), which has opened for signature and ratification

after a long and difficult search for compromise. I intend

to sign the CTBT today. We are convinced that this

Treaty can move the world closer to peace. Latvia

considers it imperative that work be continued on the

control of conventional weapons. We support the

chemical weapons Convention, even though we are

concerned that the two largest producers of chemical

weapons have not yet ratified the Convention.

5

Latvia believes that universal respect for human rights

should continue to be a priority of the United Nations and

its Members. Taking into account the ever-increasing tasks

of the United Nations human rights system, increased

allocation of resources devoted to United Nations human

rights activities is an absolute necessity. Double standards

on human rights are intolerable, and Latvia devotes

particular attention to this. The guidelines for the global

protection of human rights are the documents adopted at the

World Conference on Human Rights. Countries should

implement these guidelines and share with others their

experience in doing so.

In Latvia these guidelines have been applied to a

unique demographic situation caused by 50 years of

occupation. In accordance with a recommendation of the

World Conference on Human Rights, Latvia has established

an independent institution for the protection of human

rights: the State Human Rights Office. This office has a

mandate to hear and investigate complaints from Latvia’s

residents, inform members of society about human rights,

and make recommendations to the Government and

Parliament on legislation affecting human rights. In

establishing the State Human Rights Office, Latvia received

invaluable assistance from the United Nations Development

Programme, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and

the Centre for Human Rights.

The United Nations must continue to protect those

values that engender a respect for human rights, tolerance,

the rejection of violence and the promotion of peace. It is

not weapons or physical force that protect homes, people

and countries. Rather, true security depends, inter alia, on

good relations with all neighbours and on a strong

economy. Latvia is successfully implementing such a

policy. Our aim is to achieve rapid economic growth and to

attract foreign investment in Latvia. Already this year,

Latvia has one of the lowest rates of inflation in Eastern

Europe, along with a stable currency and rapidly rising

indexes of development. We have a well developed port

system, including the world’s second largest potassium-

salts-loading harbour and one of Europe’s largest harbours

for the transit of petroleum products.

Latvia is the geographical centre of the Baltic States

and is a natural economic bridge between East and West.

Our country belongs to the European family of democratic

States, sharing common values and cooperating for their

protection. Integration in the European and transatlantic

structures is the highest priority for Latvia. We are actively

working for the integration of Latvia into the European and

global economic systems, as well as for a close partnership

in the European continent, on both the governmental and

non-governmental levels.

Latvia is also participating in efforts to improve the

work of the United Nations so that the Organization can

react more effectively to the challenges of our time. In

support of the restructuring and revitalization of the

United Nations in the economic, social and related fields,

and in recognition of the desirability of frequent rotation

of Member States represented on important United

Nations bodies, Latvia has for the first time ever

presented its candidature for a seat on the Economic and

Social Council beginning in 1997.

A year has passed since the United Nations

celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, when much was heard

about the urgency of reform of the Organization. Yet

during the last year Member States have been unable to

agree on these long-awaited reforms. If Member States

continue not to make decisions, the United Nations will

slowly but inevitably lose its ability to pursue its global

goals effectively. As part of the reform efforts, it is

important that the United Nations periodically enunciate

and evaluate priorities to be pursued, in particular in

times when resources are limited but the demand for them

is growing.

One cause of the crisis facing the United Nations is

the financial situation. Each Member State's financial

contribution to the Organization must reflect its capacity

to pay. Contributions can be a great burden for

developing countries and countries with economies in

transition that are overassessed. A future system of

contributions must be fair, transparent and elastic in order

that it may readily adapt to economic changes.

Latvia would like to repeat its view that new and

innovative financing mechanisms are a necessity. It

supports the current effort of the Economic and Social

Council to study such mechanisms for the purpose of

financing development that is sustainable. The

introduction of new financing mechanisms and other

financial management tools can only improve the

currently weak financial discipline of Member States.

Latvia supports reforms that would result in the

reduction of the number of subsidiary bodies of the

General Assembly and the number of administrative

structures in the Secretariat, as well as a full introduction

of methods of modern management.

6

With regard to the reform of the Security Council, a

priority should be to adjust its membership in order to

achieve equitable geographic representation and to respond

to the increase in the membership of the United Nations in

recent decades. The effectiveness of the work of the

Security Council must be increased further by making its

working methods even more transparent and the exchange

of information with non-members more intense than at

present.

Latvia is a country that is attached to the ideals of

peace, democracy and human rights. It identifies itself with

the efforts of the global society to maintain and realize

these ideals. It is an active member of the community of

nations. This, we are convinced, is the genuine road to

security and social and economic prosperity for our country

and for the world.