Romania, 1994

It

is my pleasure, Sir, to congratulate you on your election

to the presidency of the forty-ninth session of the General

Assembly. We are certain that your experience and your

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diplomatic skill will lead to a very positive outcome for the

work of this session.

May I at the same time convey to the Secretary-

General our profound appreciation of his tireless efforts to

adapt the United Nations to the increasingly complex

requirements of a changing world.

The structure of the international system, at the end of

this century, is experiencing radical changes, particularly

the end of the post-war bipolarity, the fall of the Iron

Curtain and the end of the cold war. Many new peoples

have gained their right to self-determination and democratic

development, long repressed by totalitarian regimes. Some

succeeded in accomplishing this by peaceful means; others

have had to go through tragedies and major conflicts, such

as those in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the territory of the

former Yugoslavia and the Trans-Dnestr, the Caucasus and

Central Asia, former territories of the Soviet Union. Today

they are all sources of concern to the international

community because of their implications for regional and

international peace and security.

The revolutions in Central Europe, whose essential

purpose was the restoration of freedom and dignity to the

people in that part of the world and their return to

traditional democratic values, with respect for fundamental

human rights and political pluralism, have inter alia, made

more politically homogeneous a part of the continent long

marked by ideological and political barriers and

confrontation between opposing military blocs.

Europe is undergoing an apparently contradictory

evolution. On the one hand, there is a tendency towards

the fragmentation of States and a reaffirmation of the

national identities and personalities of the central part of the

continent and the former Soviet territories. On the other

hand, in the West there is a process of integration which is

tending to draw in new European States.

Other continents are also undergoing historically

important changes.

The Middle East, thanks to the actions of a number of

politicians who were bold enough to take the great

responsibility of rising out of the inertia there, and running

the risks of peace, has entered a process of historic

reconciliation which once seemed impossible.

In Latin America, as well as in Asia and the Pacific,

dynamic economic zones have been created, thus destroying

false assumptions about the inevitability of

underdevelopment in two-thirds of the world.

In Africa, the abolition of the policy of apartheid,

the reorganization of the Republic of South Africa on

democratic lines and the defeat of reactionary racial

concepts open up new prospects for cooperation and

development for the entire continent.

The dynamics of the world have changed. This

creates many questions for the international community,

Governments, politicians and political forces. So far the

answers have been few and inadequate. But life does not

wait. States and people have concrete needs as well as

hopes and ideals. Their natural tendency is to act in

order to fulfil them, whether or not there exists an

organized international framework for harmonizing

divergent interests.

This is where international organizations and the

United Nations in particular have a role to play. In the

effort to decode and evaluate the significance of the

highly dynamic and complex developments in the

international political arena, several scenarios have

appeared in which these developments are viewed as

preludes to a new era of confrontation between

civilizations. But freeing international relations from

ideology does not and must not necessarily lead to

confrontation between civilizations. By definition,

confrontation is alien to civilization. Civilization is

characterized, rather, by tolerance and open-mindedness.

Of course, this does not exclude competition between

civilizations, between the values they promote, between

their capacities to guarantee the free enjoyment of basic

human rights and the development of initiative and the

human personality. But to establish the conditions of

such coexistence between civilizations a restructuring of

international relations is required if an optimal framework

for the affirmation and development of each people’s

individuality, as well as prosperity, are to be ensured.

From this perspective, the role of the United Nations is

essential.

Next year we will be celebrating the fiftieth

anniversary of the end of the Second World War and, at

the same time, the establishment of the United Nations.

Like other States in the region, Romania, against its will,

was dragged into a conflict that claimed millions of

victims and wrought enormous destruction. However,

through the determination of all its internal democratic

forces - the embodiment of our nation’s aspirations -

Romania managed to break away from Hitler’s war

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machine and join the coalition of the united nations on 23

August 1944. The great human, material and logistical

efforts made by the Romanian people between 23 August

1944 and the final victory of the united nations forces are

engraved in the Golden Book of our national history. Even

though the status of co-belligerent was not granted to

Romania, no one has ever contested the strategic value and

political importance of these sacrifices.

We support proposals that in 1995 - the year which

marks half a century since the end of the war - the

international community should concentrate its efforts on

building a climate of peace and giving a decisive impetus

to the peaceful settlement of conflicts existing in various

regions of the world, thus making next year a true

international year of peace.

In this framework, we believe that there is a need to

rethink the entire machinery and to adapt the structures of

the United Nations to contemporary requirements. Indeed,

this rethinking process has already started, and this is to be

welcomed. The Secretary-General’s "Agenda for Peace"

offers excellent material for reflection and action.

In this context, we support the proposals, in our view

justified, aimed at reviewing the composition of the

Security Council in order to adapt it to today’s realities and

ensure a better representation of the great geographical

regions. In our view, such a limited increase in

membership would have to include Germany and Japan

among the permanent members of that the Council, taking

into account their potential, role and contribution to the

activities of the Organization. Certainly, this should not

mean the establishment of a "condominium" of the

permanent members over the rest of the world. Rather, we

see it as a deeper commitment to their responsibility for

maintaining international peace and security, which is the

main task of the Security Council. In this way, a balance

could be achieved between the Council and the General

Assembly and the other main bodies within a context of

democratic decision-making procedures that would allow all

countries to act on a democratic and equal basis in

protecting their legitimate interests.

Any rethinking of the structures of the United Nations

must take into account the phenomenon of the globalization

of international problems, one of the features of today’s

world. Objective factors of development are increasing the

interdependence of States and regions of the world. In one

way or another, we are all affected by the tragedies that

have unfolded in, for example, the former Yugoslavia, the

Trans-Dnestr region, the Caucasus, Rwanda and Haiti. The

world economy shows clear trends towards integration on

a global scale, a development which affects the interests

of all States. The ecological equilibrium of the planet is

becoming of vital interest to all regions and summons all

States to bear their share of responsibility.

All these phenomena, typical of the late twentieth

century, require us to develop an awareness of our planet

as a veritable spaceship if our Governments’ actions at

the international level are to be both effective and

convergent. The United Nations system is best placed to

encourage and sustain the development of such an

awareness.

Today, there is no greater threat to international

peace and security and no greater source of tension and

conflict among nations than the widening gap between

rich and poor States. The corrections already attempted

by the international community, including the Decades for

Development and various assistance programmes, have

not managed to put a halt to these negative trends. This

poses a grave threat to the global balance, particularly

through the inevitable phenomenon of massive population

migration, which is impossible to control, from the

underdeveloped areas of the planet to much smaller zones

of prosperity in Europe and North America.

It is in mankind’s general interest to prevent such a

prospect and to preserve its diversity. This can be

achieved solely through a determined and enlightened

effort on the part of the international community to

eradicate underdevelopment and promote the economic

growth of the developing countries, thus turning them into

the truly equal partners of the developed countries, as is

rightly emphasized in the Secretary-General’s Agenda for

Development. The United Nations system is the most

appropriate framework for launching on a global scale a

partnership for development, the necessity of which is

growing more apparent by the day.

Clearly, such a development must first address the

needs and aspirations to progress of the developing

countries. At the same time, it should coincide with the

interests of the developed countries, which are facing

many difficulties today - not on the same scale, of

course - by offering them new opportunities to overcome

recession and chronic unemployment. The experience of

the developed countries themselves demonstrates that

economic development inherently leads to an increase in

the absorption capacity of national markets and in the

degree of economic interaction.

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From this viewpoint the European continent is in a

position to engage in an experiment that has great relevance

for the world economy. Without coordinated action by

European States and institutions, the ideological and

political barriers characteristic of the period when Europe

was divided into opposing military blocs may well be

replaced by a new iron curtain, economic in nature,

between developed countries and those in transition,

because of the gaps between them. Such risks could be

eliminated by the ever-growing trend towards integration at

the continental level; the construction of a system of

economic relations based on equality between the countries

of the East and West on the continent, which will help to

promote reforms in the Central and Eastern European

countries; and the realization of the necessary standards of

integration. Those developments could also make a vital

contribution to the achievement, in a similar manner, of a

partnership for development.

In this connection, international efforts to promote the

economic growth of a particular area must not be viewed in

terms of competition or rivalry with other areas. Any

economic progress in an area that is lagging represents a

gain for other areas. In this context, the United Nations

system can play a moderating and balancing role in

managing, as rationally and effectively as possible, a

partnership for development at the global level.

I have referred to some of the major challenges

contemporary international developments present to the

international community, and to the United Nations in

particular, developments with regard to which the latter is

particularly called upon to assume the role of organizing

cooperation between States to harmonize and safeguard

their common interests.

As a democratic State aware of its responsibilities to

its people as well as to international peace, security and

cooperation, Romania intends to be part of the universal

effort to face these challenges. My country’s principal

contribution to this joint effort consists of consolidating the

democratic process and domestic stability. Over the nearly

five years since the Revolution of December 1989, the

country’s face has radically changed. A new Constitution,

modern and democratic in nature, has come into force; the

totalitarian regime has been abolished and the foundations

of a State of law have been laid; the free exercise of

fundamental human rights, including the rights of

individuals belonging to national minorities, is guaranteed.

On that basis, we have created step by step an ever greater

degree of domestic stability, which today makes Romania

a stabilizing factor in the region. This is an especially

remarkable achievement in that it was obtained under

difficult international conditions - in particular, the

situations of conflict in our immediate neighbourhood and

above all the extremely heavy burden which the embargo

against Yugoslavia has imposed upon the Romanian

economy, with no compensation whatsoever.

To the extent that it can, Romania participates in the

efforts of the international community to resolve regional

conflicts, primarily those in our own geographical area.

We are ready to assume all our responsibilities and make

our contribution to peacefully settling those conflicts and

ensuring security and calm in a region traumatized by

military confrontations and with interests at stake that are

not necessarily the same as those of the parties engaged

in combat.

In that spirit Romania has fully associated itself with

the Partnership for Peace offered by the North Atlantic

Treaty Organization (NATO) to the countries of Central

Europe and of the former Soviet Union. We believe this

new form of interconnection with an institution that

constituted a guarantee for the maintenance of peace

throughout the European continent will give a better

opportunity for peace in Europe and, implicitly, for

international peace and security.

Similarly, in a broader context, Romania supports

the process of integration at the continental level. It is

endeavouring to contribute to this by pursuing a policy of

good-neighbourliness and by implementing regional

cooperation projects, particularly in the area of Central

Europe, the Black Sea and the Danube basin, all of which

should accelerate the integration of the countries of

Central and Eastern Europe into the structures of the

European Union, NATO, the Western European Union

and the Council of Europe.

The priority Romania attaches to the European and

Euro-Atlantic options, resulting from its history and from

geopolitical factors, does not exclude traditional

relationships established over the years with countries and

areas outside the European continent. On the contrary, as

the country’s domestic political and social life has

become more stable and as its economy has begun to

improve, those relations have been renewed and

expanded. They are certainly valuable at the bilateral

level, but they are also valuable multilaterally, since they

strengthen international confidence and trust and develop

a global awareness of the fact that the world is shrinking

all the time, in terms of both time and space, and that

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each State shares responsibility for the tranquillity, peace

and prosperity of other States.

The extremely complex situations in various parts of

the world and the contradictory currents that exist, with all

their attendant risks and uncertainties for overall peace and

security, demand a democratic vision of the new

international order, which must be built, and abandonment

of prejudices in relations between States inherited from the

cold-war period. But that is not all. I believe that today

we need a vision of the management of international

relations in which realism and pragmatism predominate.

Unfortunately, the after-effects of ideological outlooks still

linger in political thinking, distancing us from reality and

inevitably influencing policy making. In certain conditions,

this can have extremely serious consequences for States and

peoples by marginalizing them or even by isolating them

from international cooperation. In the medium and long

term, such political decisions can only have harmful

consequences for international peace and security.

Because of its vocation and its Charter principles, the

United Nations is the ideal forum for determining an

approach to international problems free from stereotypes

and prejudices. To the extent that the United Nations

succeeds, all Member States stand to gain - each

individually and the international community as a whole.

Romania is prepared to participate in this joint effort to

build a world of international peace and cooperation, free

from conflicts and prejudices.