Romania, 2005

I

would like to add Romania’s voice to those who have

warmly congratulated His Excellency Mr. Jan Eliasson

on his election to the important position of President of

the General Assembly. We wish him every success and

assure him of our full support.

For Romania, the political debates at the sixtieth

session of the General Assembly have special

significance; during this session, we shall celebrate 50

years of presence and active participation in the

common efforts of the United Nations for peace,

security and sustainable development, to help

populations in distress and to promote human rights. It

is uncontestable that the present international situation

requires not only that we take a hard, critical look at

reality but also that we have the strength to take

responsible decisions and strong measures, both

politically and at the institutional level, to ensure that

the United Nations will be capable of meeting the

challenges of the twenty-first century and that it will

continue to play an important role in the service of the

greater good.

(spoke in English)

Romania aligns itself fully with the statement

delivered at the 9th plenary meeting by Foreign

Secretary Jack Straw of Great Britain on behalf of the

European Union. In my address I will, therefore, only

complement the key points already made there on the

challenges of reform. We can be proud of where the

Union stands today on the global scene and of its

United Nations record.

By no means is this just another general debate at

the start of a new session of the General Assembly. We

are called upon to rise to the responsibility enunciated

at the High-level Plenary Meeting of the General

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Assembly, which preceded these debates. There, heads

of State or Government committed all of us, through

the 2005 World Summit Outcome (resolution 60/1), to

continue the efforts to reform our Organization. It is

now in our hands to implement our leaders’ decisions

and make the most of them.

Against this backdrop, I wish to commend

Mr. Jean Ping, President of the General Assembly at its

fifty-ninth session, for the outstanding work he has

done over the past few months, together with his

facilitators, and for the way he conducted the

negotiations. It was a difficult process, but I believe

that we have a document with which we can be

satisfied. Many aspects still need further elaboration,

but the General Assembly is ready to work on them

under the skilful guidance of the current President,

Mr. Jan Eliasson.

The United Nations should continue to

accomplish multilayered objectives and to function as a

complex, effective organization. That is the spirit of

the deliberations conducted by our heads of State or

Government and of the decisions they took.

Much thus remains to be done in relation to the

mandate and responsibilities of the First Committee.

Debates on international security are still dependent on

arrangements put in place during the cold war.

Unfortunately, almost all multilateral negotiating

forums seem complacent in their conservatism. Yet we

all agree that, given those premises, it is difficult to

advance the political dialogue and to set new priorities.

We need a new dynamic, anchored in a genuine

reform process. It has to be tailored to respond

effectively to the most ominous threats to international

peace and security: terrorism and the proliferation of

weapons of mass destruction. It has to be truly relevant

to our needs and has to produce equal dividends for all

in a system based on the concept of collective security.

Success in the area of development calls for

broad solidarity in international economic relations.

Romania has gradually increased its contribution

towards resolving global development issues. And

accession to the European Union will make Romania a

member of the world’s largest donor community. The

United Nations must develop and strengthen its

capacity to effectively protect and promote human

rights and fundamental freedoms, by upholding the

concept of a “responsibility to protect”, which calls for

an international response in cases where a State is

unable or unwilling to discharge its primary function of

protecting the life, property and fundamental rights of

its own citizens.

This imperative is convincingly illustrated by the

fact that, over the past 15 years, we have witnessed

how a number of internal conflicts, which frequently

had started as separatist movements, have evolved to

achieve “frozen conflict” status. These conflicts have

become breeding grounds for egregious violations of

human rights and abuses, targeting the most vulnerable

categories, such as women, children and persons

belonging to various minorities.

It serves no purpose to debate an ambitious

policy agenda unless we have an effective United

Nations system adapted to the new realities of a

changing world. Years after the end of the cold war, the

United Nations is still struggling to make the transition

from an organization characterized by ideological

differences to one actively responding to pressing

operational challenges. Institutional change is an

absolute prerequisite for successful policy results.

One of the main problems besetting the

Organization could, unfortunately, end up by being

perpetuated — that is, increasingly high expectations

and demands, without adequate resources and

appropriate managerial tools.

At a time when some are calling into question the

relevance of our Organization and when we have had

to cope recently with a succession of revelations about

mismanagement, we, the Secretariat and Member

States together, need to act resolutely to ensure the

efficiency and credibility of the United Nations by

improving administrative performance, establishing

viable mechanisms for the responsibility and

accountability of the Secretariat, strengthening audit

and oversight functions and endowing the Secretary-

General with the authority and flexibility needed to

manage effectively the mandates entrusted to him by

the membership.

For Romania, like other United Nations

Members, the Security Council has continued to be the

body that monitors international relations with regard

to critical issues that pose a threat to regional and

global peace. It is highly commendable that the

Security Council has assumed the leading role in

establishing early warning and resolve as the

cornerstones of the United Nations and the

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international community’s approach to the full range of

new threats to international peace and security.

With over 2,000 peacekeepers on duty around the

world, Romania is a major contributor and a significant

investor in a wide range of United Nations-mandated

and United Nations-authorized operations; we

therefore have a very high stake in their successful

outcome.

Romania’s stance has consistently been that

protection against security threats means more than just

taking a stand at one’s own border; we have to go

where those challenges originate and approach them

with resolute action and sustained investment. This is

part of the rationale for Romania’s joint endeavours

with partners and allies in shouldering stabilization and

reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. In both

countries, elections are happening, following the

tremendous dedication and painstaking efforts of,

above all, the people of those countries, and also

because of a steadily engaged international community.

Romania is carrying her share of this burden all the

way through the process.

Since 9/11, the international edifice, as well as

our common values of peace and security, have been

badly shaken by an unprecedented surge of terrorist

activity. Romania was among the first countries to

embark on efforts undertaken globally, as well as

regionally, to combat this scourge. From that day on,

we have constantly been at the forefront of the fight

against terrorism, on the ground and through our active

participation in the process of shaping successive

initiatives in different forums.

Furthermore, Romania has carried out her

specific contribution to international counter-terrorism

efforts as an elected member of the United Nations

Security Council by assuming, inter alia, the

chairmanship of the Committee established pursuant to

resolution 1540 (2004) on the non-proliferation of

weapons of mass destruction.

Romania has already advanced to the ratification

stage of the 12 relevant international conventions

adopted in this area and has transposed important parts

of their provisions into its national legislation. I am

proud to inform delegates that, on 14 September, my

President signed the International Convention for the

Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, which was

adopted by the General Assembly on 13 April 2005.

Romania shares the European Union (EU) stand on the

urgency of adopting of a comprehensive convention on

international terrorism during the sixtieth session of the

General Assembly.

Our crucial aim is to see the day when the

international community is able to address each and

every security challenge, no matter where, by better

pooling existing resources and capabilities.

We were pleased to see recognition given in the

Summit Outcome (resolution 60/1) to the important

contribution that regional organizations have made to

peace and security.

The heads of State and Government expressed

their support for a stronger relationship between the

United Nations and regional organizations, under

Chapter VIII of the Charter. They resolved to expand

this dimension of the new architecture of international

peace and security through formalized agreements

between the respective secretariats and, as appropriate,

the involvement of regional organizations in the work

of the Security Council.

Romania’s particular experience in South-Eastern

Europe and the Black Sea area indicates that, in such

cases as conflict management and in handling

responses to transnational threats, regional action

reinforced by meaningful cooperation between the

United Nations and regional organizations is decisive.

In the Balkans, the way in which the Kosovo

issue will be addressed over the coming months is

going to be crucial for the overall prospects for lasting

stability, integration and prosperity for the whole

region. The United Nations-led policy of standards in

Kosovo has improved the situation in the region. The

probability of violence and conflict is lower now than

in the past, and we can start looking more confidently

towards the future. However, the job is not yet done.

Serbs and other ethnic communities in Kosovo still

fear for their security and cannot live normal lives.

There are also too many who are still waiting to return

to their homes. Therefore, the comprehensive

implementation of standards must continue, with

thorough consideration given to securing and

protecting normal relations between ethnic

communities, as well as to the rights and freedoms of

all people from Kosovo. No one will be able to refer

realistically to stability and a political settlement in the

region, as called for in United Nations Security

Council resolution 1244 (1999), until such a

foundation is achieved.

34

East of Romania, in the wider Black Sea area,

development is hampered by a lack of overall security

and stability. I am referring particularly to the

situations of protracted conflict in the region, frozen in

a state of uncertainty and disregard for international

law and scrutiny. Besides their negative impact on

development and political normalcy, these conflict

areas also spread modern maladies in the

neighbourhood, such as organized crime, illegal arms

and drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings, and,

not least, terrorism. The States of the region have to

rise to meet these challenges together. They will not be

able to do so without close cooperation. They need

strong partners, strategic vision and a coherent, more

comprehensive approach. It is clear that we have to

find something better and more sustainable than trying

to put these conflicts in the freezer for decades or

years. In order to ensure the benefits of stability in the

wider Black Sea area for all involved, the best way is

to work towards making the logic of cooperation

prevail.

In November, Romania will take up the

chairmanship of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation

pact. In this capacity, Romania will try to encourage all

players in the region to think strategically in the

common interest and overcome the burden of these

protracted conflicts so as to maximize the region’s

economic and social potential. Also, given the world’s

interdependence, the States of the region need a United

Nations that has closer links to regional structures and

that can enhance, in turn, the effectiveness of joint

action.

However we characterize the 2005 World Summit

Outcome — as a blueprint or a road map — it is

beyond a doubt that United Nations reform is still a

work in progress. As far as Romania is concerned, we

stand ready to join the presidency and all Member

countries in endeavours to prepare the United Nations

to meet the heavy demands placed on multilateral

cooperation in the twenty-first century.