North Macedonia, 2002

At the outset, allow me to congratulate

Mr. Jan Kavan on his election to the most prestigious

post of President of the fifty-seventh session of the

General Assembly. My delegation is fully confident

that his skilful leadership will bring success to this

session.

I wish to avail myself of this opportunity also to

congratulate the outgoing President, Mr. Han Seung-

soo of the Republic of Korea, for his tireless efforts

and dedication in performing his duties.

The United Nations community has recently

become richer with the admission to its membership of

the Swiss Confederation. Though the valuable

contribution of that country to the goals of the United

Nations was undisputed even before its formal

membership, I congratulate the Swiss Federation on

this decision. We are also looking forward to East

Timor's joining the Organization, which will take place

soon.

The heinous acts of 11 September 2001, which

struck New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, have

brought the international community to a critical

juncture, where it is faced with an ultimate challenge:

how to find a way to successfully cope with the

indiscriminate effects and devastating consequences of

acts of international terrorism.

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The promptness with which the world reacted and

the solidarity expressed through the broadest coalition

ever against terrorism was exemplary. The United

Nations took the lead in combating international

terrorism. The Republic of Macedonia, itself a victim

of terrorist aggression, has joined the international

coalition and is making its contribution to this end.

Two days ago, on Sunday, 15 September, my

country held, for the fourth time, free and democratic

elections. They marked the progress achieved over the

past year, and the fact that they went smoothly

reaffirmed our commitment to democracy and to the

rule of law. They also reaffirmed the maturity of

Macedonian society, its Government and its citizens,

thus once again establishing its position as an equal

and respected member of the European family.

Our elections an outstanding democratic

achievement are clear proof that all along

Macedonia has been seeking political and democratic

solutions. They represent an outstanding example of

the fact that democracy, elections and political freedom

are the most effective mechanisms for a society and its

needs, and the most efficient answer to violence as an

instrument for achieving political goals.

Terrorism has more than once proved itself not

only an unworthy ally, but also a dangerous

bedfellow one that always turns against those who

use it in their pursuit of social change or justice.

Therefore, there must be no double standards

when dealing with political extremism and terrorism,

because, as we have proved, there is not one issue that

cannot be dealt with politically, or, better yet, through

elections and dialogue, as we have done.

The crises in recent history have shown more

clearly than ever the importance of cooperation and

solidarity among the countries of our region, as well as

the importance of developing regional collective

security mechanisms in South-eastern Europe.

Macedonia, for its part, is making every effort to make

its contribution to strengthening cooperation within

various regional organizations and initiatives. Further

improvement of good-neighbourly relations remains

one of the priorities of the foreign policy of the

Republic of Macedonia.

Allow me in this context to reiterate our firm

stance as to the need for the full implementation of

Security Council resolution 1244 (1999) concerning

Kosovo. The Republic of Macedonia has provided

continuous support for the efforts of the international

community and has always met the requests of the

United Nations Interim Administration Mission in

Kosovo (UNMIK) and KFOR in regard to the

successful fulfilment of their mandate. We support the

UNMIK policy of benchmarks' and believe that it

will facilitate the building of a democratic, multi-ethnic

society and strengthen the rule of law in Kosovo.

Let me recall here the agreement on delineation

and demarcation of the border between the Republic of

Macedonia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,

whose implementation on the ground is to start soon.

At this point, let me stress that efforts aimed at

undermining the validity of the Agreement, such as the

ones we witnessed early this year by the local self-

government and Assembly of Kosovo, should be

definitively rejected and nullified. In that sense, we

support the reaction of the Security Council, which

determined that this action was null and void.

There are still many challenges ahead of us in the

region. All of our goodwill and efforts to provide

sustainable stability will not yield results unless we

seriously address the real problems present in the

region as a consequence of 10 years of wars and

instability. Organized crime, various forms of

trafficking in drugs, arms, human beings and so on,

which most often spur extremism and terrorism, have

not been adequately taken into account. National

measures do not suffice to eliminate these phenomena.

Strong involvement and support on the part of the

international community is also indispensable.

Allow me to inform the Assembly that the

Republic of Macedonia will once again this year

submit a draft resolution on the maintenance of

international security, good-neighbourliness, stability

and development in South-eastern Europe. The draft

resolution addresses the complexity of the problems of

disarmament, stability and development in this region.

The combat against terrorism must not distract us

from other important issues on the United Nations

agenda. The Millennium Summit and the Secretary-

General's road map towards the implementation of the

United Nations Millennium Declaration have both

identified the direction of future United Nations

activities, to which we commit ourselves: the

eradication of poverty, the struggle against AIDS,

conflict prevention and protection of the environment.

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The draft resolution will address the complexity of the

problems of disarmament, stability and development in

this region.

The struggle against terrorism must not detract

from other important issues on the United Nations

agenda. The Millennium Summit and the Secretary-

General's road map towards the implementation of the

United Nations Millennium Declaration (A/56/326) go

hand in hand in identifying the direction of future

United Nations activities, to which we commit

ourselves: the eradication of poverty, the struggle

against HIV/AIDS, conflict prevention and the

protection of the environment.

Globalization remains one of the most important

issues on the international agenda. It is obvious that

there are some essential problems that need to be

addressed immediately. In the new millennium, it is

crucial that the international community address the

development agenda in a more comprehensive way and

improve the status of the protection of and respect for

other fundamental human rights and freedoms. In that

context, the implementation of the goals set at the

International Conference on Financing for

Development and at the World Summit on Sustainable

Development together with the special session on

children, the most important events of the United

Nations this year require the strong political will

and commitment of Member States during the

forthcoming review period. In that regard, I wish to use

this opportunity to welcome the United Nations

Declaration on the New Partnership for Africa's

Development adopted yesterday by the General

Assembly as resolution 57/2.

There is a need to build stronger partnerships

with other relevant organizations beyond the United

Nations system, such as the World Trade Organization

(WTO), the World Bank and the International

Monetary Fund, as well as with the business

community, non-governmental organizations and

others, in order for them to be closely engaged in the

process. The fact that every fourth State Member of our

Organization is classified as least developed is

certainly no credit to any of us. That is why this issue

must be given the highest priority.

On disarmament matters, while the United

Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms

and Light Weapons in All its Aspects and the adopted

Programme of Action marked a significant first step at

the global level towards preventing, combating and

eradicating the illicit trade in small arms and light

weapons, we believe that there is a need for an

enhanced follow-up process. The problem of small

arms and proliferation has been a particular concern of

the Republic of Macedonia and the broader region. It

poses a serious threat not only to my country's security

and stability, but also to the region at large. Therefore,

it is necessary to take strong action to combat the illicit

flow of small arms and light weapons.

Strengthening the role and relevance of our

Organization should remain a topical issue on the

United Nations agenda. Additional efforts should be

made particularly to strengthen United Nations

preventive and peacekeeping capacities.

Making progress on issues of equitable

representation and reform of the Security Council is no

less important. We are looking forward to the

deliberations this year of the Open-ended Working

Group, aimed at achieving meaningful progress

towards making the Security Council more

representative and transparent, while preserving and

improving its effectiveness for the maintenance of

international peace and stability.

The Republic of Macedonia has from the very

beginning been a strong supporter of the establishment

of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and was one

of the first 60 States to ratify the Rome Statute, which

entered into force on 1 July 2002. We support the

efforts of the ICC to become truly universal, while

believing that the concerns expressed regarding the

possibility of politically motivated prosecutions can be

addressed in a way that will not compromise the spirit

of the Court.

The world today faces new challenges.

Undoubtedly, the most important is the redefinition of

the very essence of international relations. That effort

to instil new values is questioned by regimes and rogue

leaders who belong to the past and who, contradicting

progress, have survived.

We are, at this moment, all mesmerized by the

development of events surrounding Iraq and the Middle

East as a whole. Problems like these demand solutions.

Many measures are being considered today, but they

must be based on a common conviction that our main

task is to construct a new and better world and that

these extraordinary steps are not our primary goal.

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Therefore, it is the firm conviction of the

Republic of Macedonia that our most important tools

must be dialogue and mutual understanding. We know

that very well. The Republic of Macedonia being at

the heart of the Balkans and of South-Eastern Europe,

where over centuries various cultures and civilizations

have left many traces, where Christianity and Islam

have struggled for dominance and where ethnicities

have become interwoven had every reason to

support the proclamation of 2001 as the United Nations

Year of Dialogue among Civilizations. As a follow-up

and a practical contribution implementing the Global

Agenda for Dialogue among Civilizations, the

Republic of Macedonia will host in November of this

year, in Ohrid a World Heritage city of the United

Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization a regional forum on dialogue among

civilizations, the first gathering of that kind in the

region of South-Eastern Europe.