Portugal, 1998

It is with the greatest

pleasure that I congratulate my colleague from Uruguay,

Didier Opertti, on his election to the presidency of this

session of the General Assembly. In his election I see the

recognition of the role played internationally by the

Republic of Uruguay, an Ibero-American country and a

friend of Portugal, as well as our appreciation and our

confidence that his personal, intellectual and professional

qualities will result in success in our work.

I would also like to pay tribute to the outgoing

President, Hennadiy Y. Udovenko, for the dedicated and

competent manner in which he steered the work of the

General Assembly at its fifty-second session.

To the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, I renew my

tribute for the remarkable manner in which he has been

carrying out his difficult functions during a period in

which the United Nations is increasingly called upon to

intervene in many aspects of international life.

I would like to dwell upon some questions of

particular importance to my country, beginning with those

of a political nature, including Africa. I recall that my

Austrian colleague has already addressed the Assembly on

behalf of the 15 States members of the European Union.

When releasing last April his excellent report on the

causes of conflict and the promotion of lasting peace and

sustainable development in Africa, the Secretary-General

did not hesitate to qualify as “colossal” (S/1998/318,

para. 5) the scale of the human tragedy that persists in

parts of the African continent, which has been devastated

by the conflicts that have affected a number of States

since the end of the cold war.

Within its possibilities and in accordance with the

historical, cultural and social ties that bind it to many

regions and countries of Africa, Portugal continues to

make efforts towards helping overcome those conflicts by

peaceful means and towards the promotion of economic

development, social progress and good governance, which

are indispensable for their eradication. I would like to

underline the readiness Portugal has shown to participate

in United Nations peacekeeping missions, particularly in

Africa. By way of example, I recall the role played by

Portuguese forces within the framework of the peace

15

process in Mozambique, and in the ongoing United Nations

missions in Angola, in Western Sahara and, most recently,

in the Central African Republic, as well as in the

evacuation operations undertaken in the Democratic

Republic of the Congo and in Guinea-Bissau.

I must express here the very serious concern of my

country at the situation in Angola, a country to which we

are bound by so many and such deep ties. The signs of

rupture are becoming more dangerously evident in the

peace process, which has proceeded with such difficulty.

The refusal by the União Nacional para a Independência

Total de Angola (UNITA) to comply fully with the

obligations of the Lusaka Protocol, which it freely signed,

with regard to its demilitarization and transformation into

a political party, and its obstruction of the normalization of

State administration contribute to the resort to military

options outside the framework of the negotiated solutions

adopted by the international community.

As a member of the troika of observer countries to the

Angolan peace process and as one of countries that

contributed most to the United Nations Angola Verification

Mission (UNAVEM) and to the United Nations Observer

Mission in Angola (MONUA), Portugal remains committed

to promoting concord in Angola in close cooperation with

the United Nations and, in particular, with the new Special

Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Issa Diallo,

whose difficult mission should be helped and supported.

We are, however, fully aware of the fact that all the

diplomatic efforts will be in vain if those responsible in

Angola do not have an effective will for peace. The

Government and UNITA must assume their responsibilities

to the Angolan people, whose right to peace, security and

well-being is legitimate and inalienable. We appeal, once

again, for the Lusaka Protocol to be respected, and in

particular appeal to UNITA to assure immediately the

Protocol?s implementation, in strict accordance with the

terms that have been demanded of it by the Security

Council.

The gains of a multi-party system in Angola must not

be jeopardized. Its participants, particularly having endorsed

peace and national reconciliation, must not see the erection

of barriers to the respective mandates, and all must be

given the conditions of security necessary to face the

reconstruction of the country.

The Secretary-General deserves our full support in

continuing to promote all the necessary responses that the

gravity of the situation requires from the international

community.

Guinea-Bissau — a friend of Portugal with which

we also share many varied and strong affinities — has

since June been the site of a conflict that has had grave

human, economic and social consequences for its people.

At the express request of the parties to the conflict,

Portugal and the Community of Portuguese-Speaking

Countries (CPLP) — which is principally made up of

African countries, and has among its main goals the

political and diplomatic coordination of its members?

policies — carried out from the start mediation efforts

designed to stop the fighting, obtain a negotiated solution

to the conflict and bring humanitarian assistance to the

population of Guinea-Bissau. At no time was it possible

to doubt the legitimate intentions that led the CPLP, of

which Guinea-Bissau is a founding member, to respond

to the request made to it. The CPLP?s intervention

aligned itself with that of the Economic Community of

West African States (ECOWAS), eventually permitting

the signature of a ceasefire agreement between the

Government and the military junta, which opened the way

to a negotiated settlement of the conflict.

Still on the African continent, a word is also due on

the events in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We

defend unequivocally the need to respect the territorial

integrity and sovereignty of that vast country, whose

stability is strategically essential to the region in which it

is located. We support unconditionally the African peace

initiatives that seek a negotiated and peaceful solution to

the complex political problems of the Democratic

Republic of the Congo, which are at the heart of the

conflict and cannot and should not have a solution based

on the use of force or on the presence of foreign military

forces.

Notwithstanding continued difficulties, we still

believe in a democratic, free and prosperous future for

Africa. We are therefore committed to bringing to fruition

the initiative we launched in 1996 to hold a summit

between the European Union and Africa, which is now

scheduled for 2000. We therefore welcomed with

satisfaction the decision taken by the most recent

Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit in

Ouagadougou to endorse that initiative.

I would now like to refer to another source of

serious and justified concern for the international

community, this time on the European continent: the crisis

in Kosovo, which jeopardizes peace and stability in the

16

Balkans and is producing heavy human losses, in terms of

deaths, injuries, internally displaced persons and refugees.

There can be no doubt as to who bears the primary

responsibility for the eruption of the current crisis. The

adoption a few minutes ago by the Security Council of a

resolution co-sponsored by Portugal is a clear signal of the

determination of the international community and cannot be

ignored by those to whom it is addressed.

Portugal welcomes the constructive spirit that

dominated the most recent round of ministerial talks on the

question of East Timor, held under the auspices of the

Secretary-General, whose efforts at mediation, as well as

those of his Special Representative, Ambassador Marker

and his collaborators, I would especially like to

congratulate. I believe I can, for the first time, say that

effective and promising steps have been taken towards

creating the conditions to achieve a just, comprehensive and

internationally acceptable solution to this problem, with full

respect for the legitimate rights of the East Timorese

people, in accordance with the principles of the Charter and

the relevant resolutions of the United Nations.

While safeguarding the basic positions of principle of

the parties, it was agreed to negotiate for East Timor a

wide-ranging autonomy that we wish to see rest on

genuinely democratic and participatory rules for its people,

who, it is hoped, will progressively establish an ample

degree of self-government. It was also agreed to associate

more closely the East Timorese — whose will, freely

expressed in accordance with their legitimate right to self-

determination, will be essential to validate any definitive

solution to the question — with the process of negotiations

under way, entrusting the Secretary-General with the

responsibility of promoting that wide consultation.

It is necessary now to achieve tangible progress with

regard to the more critical aspects of the situation in the

territory, such as the reduction of the Indonesian military

presence, the release of all East Timorese political

prisoners, including Xanana Gusmao, and the monitoring by

the United Nations of the evolution of the situation on the

ground.

We believe that we are still at a turning point. Nothing

substantial has yet been settled or guaranteed. That is why

we consider it essential that the international community

continue to follow closely the evolution of this process in

its varied aspects, so that the goal of finally enabling the

people of East Timor to enjoy a future of freedom, peace

and security is not delayed any further.

In just over a year, on 20 December 1999, the

territory of Macao, currently under Portuguese

administration, will return to the sovereignty of the

People?s Republic of China, in fulfilment of the terms of

the Luso-Chinese Joint Declaration of 13 April 1987. The

transition process has been carried out in a constructive

and pragmatic climate, reflecting the good relations that

exist between the two countries. We are convinced that

this climate will persist until the end, thus guaranteeing a

transfer of power conducive to the future stability and

prosperity of Macao, while respecting its autonomy and

uniqueness.

As a short note on the question of official

development assistance, I would like to put on record

that, according to data on 1997 recently issued by the

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

(OECD), Portugal was the donor that registered the

largest increase in this type of aid — 27.3 per cent.

Within the framework of the International Year of

the Oceans, Portugal dedicated the last World Exposition

of this century — EXPO ?98 — to the theme “The

oceans: a heritage for the future”, attempting in this

manner to contribute to a progressive enlightenment of

humanity with regard to the risks and challenges related

to the preservation of the oceans.

Still in this area, Portugal has participated actively

in various activities undertaken in the context of the

United Nations, namely at the level of the

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO) and the Independent World

Commission on the Oceans. In fact, Portugal was granted

the honour of the presidency of the latter, in the person of

Dr. Mario Soares, and its work led to the adoption of the

report approved in Lisbon at the beginning of this month,

which appeals for a democratic, equitable and peaceful

management of the “ocean ... our future”, and which will

be submitted to the General Assembly.

Portugal is a non-permanent member of the Security

Council until the end of this year. We have sought to

contribute effectively to the strengthening of the Council?s

authority and the effectiveness of its action, in accordance

with the purposes and principles of the Charter. On the

other hand, increasing the transparency and democratic

nature of its functioning is essential to us, allowing, in

this way, non-members to better follow the work of the

Council.

17

This year, as we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, none can

purport to defend international law and legitimacy while

ignoring the fulfilment of those fundamental rights.

Terrorism is one of the most perverse forms of human

rights violation, and a coordinated international effort to

combat it is urgently required.

I should like to mention that Portugal is a candidate

for membership in the Commission on Human Rights, for

a mandate that will begin in January 2000 and that will

coincide with the Portuguese Presidency of the European

Union.

In an era of globalization — of markets, information,

circulation of people and cultural exchange — we also have

a duty to include in the international agenda the

globalization of human rights. This will be the best tribute

we can pay to the Universal Declaration that was issued 50

years ago.