Montenegro, 2007

Allow me, Mr. President, to join others in welcoming you and

congratulating you on your election as President of the

General Assembly at its sixty-second session. We are

convinced that your leadership will contribute to

promoting both your country and our entire region, as

well as to a successful outcome at the current session.

May I also extend wholehearted congratulations

to the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon. He can

count on the full support of Montenegro, as the

youngest Member of the United Nations. Particular

thanks go also to Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa for

her successful presidency of the General Assembly at

its sixty-first session.

It is time for all countries and particularly

smaller and developing countries to realize that

multilateralism is the pre-eminent form of interaction

in our changing world. Multilateralism provides a

framework for choosing democratic, development and

cultural options that can most effectively meet the

major challenges ahead, including the maintenance of

peace and security, climate change, development

processes, the fight against terrorism and the protection

of human rights.

Mindful of the importance of multilateral

organizations, in particular the United Nations,

Montenegro stands ready to actively participate in

making those principles a reality. As a society that is

implementing major structural economic and social

reforms, we understand and support the reform

processes taking place under the auspices of the

Organization. Furthermore, as a Member State, we are

aware of our obligation to respect the international

legal order and to contribute to the consolidation of

peace and democracy in the international community.

Good-neighbourly relations and regional

cooperation, as integral components of the processes of

European and Euro-Atlantic integration, form the basis

of Montenegro’s foreign policy. We strongly believe

that Montenegro and the Western Balkans clearly have

a European future. In that context, we support the

efforts of all of our neighbours to adopt and implement

European standards and values.

In mid-October, we shall sign a stabilization and

association agreement with the European Union (EU),

thus establishing the first contractual relationship

between Montenegro and the Union. That will

complete the current phase of intensive activities on

our path towards Europe, which will enable us to enter

a new and enhanced phase in our European relations. It

is in that context that we view our recent accession to

the Partnership for Peace initiative. Our commitment to

European and Euro-Atlantic integration has been

reaffirmed in all the strategic documents that we have

adopted since the restoration of our independence.

Many development processes are now taking

place in Montenegro: an expansion of our open-market

economy, the transformation of ownership structures

and reform of our public sector, judicial and security

structures. Our institutional reforms and development

programmes, which have been the focus of our

political activities during the current phase, are guided

by the principles of European and Euro-Atlantic

integration, which are a guarantee of stability and

prosperity. It is with a full sense of responsibility that

we are creating an environment that ensures the rule of

law, equality and respect for human, minority and

religious rights. In that way we can contribute to

regional stability as well.

Although we are a small State, we stand ready to

contribute, to the best of our ability, to the

establishment of conditions that will enable the region

to continue along the path of mutual trust, enhanced

stabilization and unhindered cooperation.

By becoming independent, Montenegro has taken

charge of its integration into the system of international

relations as an equal partner and has shouldered its

responsibility for the maintenance of peace, security

and stability in the region, while building an open and

democratic civil society.

In that context, we believe that the direct

negotiations that have begun on Kosovo’s future status

will be fruitful. Montenegro strongly supports that

negotiating process, in which the international

community has invested considerable effort, convinced

that it will lead to a lasting and sustainable solution

that will contribute to the strengthening and

preservation of regional stability over the long term.

Montenegro is particularly sensitive to the theme

underlying the sixty-second session of the General

Assembly: our response to climate change. As the

Secretary-General stated in paragraph 8 of his report

on the work of the Organization (A/62/1), “[C]limate

change, and what we do about it, will define us, our

era, and ultimately our global legacy”. Here, the idea

of the world as a global village, an indivisible whole, is

perhaps most evident. Without a common approach,

there can be no correct response. No one has the right

to remain indifferent to this challenge, either

individually or in global terms.

The negative impacts of climate change could be

many. It could affect countries such as my own in ways

that include a rise in the level of the Adriatic Sea,

rising temperatures and damage to forest and other

ecosystems and to biodiversity. In that context,

Montenegro is making efforts to keep pace with global

trends, contributing to endeavours to ensure better

living conditions and a more humane environment for

us and future generations. We are carrying out many

activities and projects to that end, including efforts in

fulfilment of our international obligations. We have

ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, and we have

begun to prepare our first report on implementation of

the Protocol. We also recently adopted a national

sustainable development strategy and are now

establishing a network of public institutions to plan

activities related to the challenges of climate change.

Mindful of our country’s natural resources and of

our responsibility to preserve them, the parliament of

the Republic of Montenegro decided in 1991 to declare

Montenegro an ecological State. As an ecological State,

Montenegro has an additional obligation to support

United Nations efforts to promote sustainable

development throughout the world. Through robust

efforts, we shall continue to strengthen Montenegro as

a State that guarantees sustainable development for its

citizens.

We therefore welcome the efforts of the United

Nations and particularly of the Secretary-General in

this area. We are encouraged by the messages

emanating from the present General Assembly session

and the recent high-level event on climate change. We

hope that those messages will contribute significantly

to the success of the Bali process in December and that

the Bali Climate Change Conference will produce

additional constructive proposals and sustainable

solutions, particularly with regard to the post-2012

goals.

In recent months, we have seen the United

Nations continue to make significant efforts in hot

spots throughout the world. The contributions made by

the United Nations in Darfur alone have repeatedly

demonstrated the Organization’s capacity to adapt and

to play its appropriate role in today’s world.

We therefore believe that the United Nations is

capable of undertaking comprehensive reform of its

system to respond to the increasingly complex

challenges facing it. Given the importance of the

Organization to world peace and security, the

modalities of such reform should result in a stronger,

more organized, better coherent and more effective

United Nations.

We are of the view that effective coordination

among the principal United Nations organs is vital. We

have seen some progress in this area since the 2005

World Summit.

Another essential aspect of United Nations

reform is reform of the General Assembly, which

remains the primary decision-making organ of the

United Nations. Work on that aspect, together with

others, must be intensified and made more results-

oriented.

The same thing applies to the ongoing debate on

reform of the Economic and Social Council and, in

particular, of the Security Council. Equitable

representation for the Group of Eastern European

States, to which we belong, should be guaranteed in

that important organ.

For a small country like Montenegro, effective

cooperation with the United Nations is crucial. We are

therefore most interested in being the agent and

promoter of that cooperation, be it through the One

United Nations Initiative or through a similar modality.

Our commitment to cooperation with the United

Nations is also demonstrated by the project to build the

first United Nations eco-building as the focal point for

all United Nations activities in Montenegro.

As a developing country, Montenegro looks

forward to the High-level Dialogue on Financing for

Development and to the successful conclusion of the

Doha Round negotiations, which we hope will lend

fresh impetus to bringing together economic, financial

and social issues with the aim of achieving

comprehensive progress and development. The world

today faces a multitude of challenges in this area.

Montenegro stands ready to contribute to the global

partnership for development.

In that context, Montenegro will continue its

activities conducive to the full implementation of the

Millennium Development Goals, for we are convinced

that in that way we will contribute to improving quality

of life and overall stability.

With a view to meeting the legitimate security

interests of nations, we must be united and decisive in

tackling terrorism, which continues to threaten the

world. The United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism

Strategy and its Plan of Action (resolution 60/288) are

of great importance, and call for agreement on a

comprehensive convention on international terrorism.

Montenegro will continue to demonstrate its full

and unequivocal commitment to, and compliance with,

international obligations through its cooperation with

the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former

Yugoslavia (ICTY). We shall continue our concrete

cooperation with the ICTY, contributing not only to the

rule of law but also to implementing the Tribunal’s

completion strategy.

We shall continue to craft our policies and to

work towards our development on the basis of the

principles set out in the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights, which represent the foundations of

modern democracy. We therefore view the United

Nations as the most important forum for achieving

progress, a more equitable future and a community of

equal nations.

Our country is proud of its multi-ethnic and

multiconfessional harmony. That is one of our

cherished values, which distinguishes Montenegro in

the regional and broader international context. With

our traditions and culture, Montenegro is part of the

age-old historical currents of the Balkans, the

Mediterranean and Europe. We are at the crossroads of

civilizations and religions, and share the intertwined

influences emanating from them. We want to preserve

and enhance that legacy by working together not only

with our neighbours but also with all other countries

with which we share such advantages of geography,

culture and values.

The world Organization is the only true global

forum, because it reflects all the diversity and qualities

of its Members, which are united by principles and

values that, after 62 years, continue to serve as a

beacon in an increasingly changing and dynamic

world. Following that course while being prepared to

change is an imperative for us all.