Slovakia, 2012

At the outset, I wish

to convey thanks and appreciation to the Secretary-

General for his true commitment to the fulfilment of

the purposes and principles of the United Nations. The United Nations and its General Assembly are a

unique tool, the one and only global forum that provides

room for dialogue to discuss strategic visions and to

seek policy-level solutions to the problems that we are

jointly confronted with at the international, regional

and national levels. It is our obligation and moral duty

to search together for ways of bringing peace and

prosperity to all humankind. Conflicts do not stop at

borders. The world we live in is so interconnected that

every problem is a problem for all of us and every threat

is a threat faced by all. At the same time, every success

is of benefit to all of us.

Besides numerous indisputable benefits, the

process of globalization introduces new challenges. I

will mention just three challenges encountered in the

early twenty-first century: the global economic crisis,

environmental change and man-made threats, including

terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. We need

global partnership and cooperation. We need strong

multilateralism. We need a proactive United Nations that

can lead effectively on all fronts: political, economic,

military, social and civil. We need a trustworthy United

Nations that people can rely upon to save them from the

scourge of war. We need to work together towards our

common goal: peace, security and dignity for all.

The Organization’s primary objective is to preserve

peace and security in the world. We have been through

an extremely challenging year full of unexpected twists

and turns, including some severe new conflicts, grave

violations of human rights, disease, famine, terrorism

and extremism, as well as other threats to peace and

security, which, unfortunately, we cannot always

successfully prevent. Attacks have even occurred

against diplomats and diplomatic missions, which we

resolutely condemn as totally unacceptable.

It is the way we go about resolving constantly

occurring conflicts and the effectiveness of our

responses to new threats that tells us how successful

we are in meeting the objectives of the United Nations.

Violence can never be the right way to settle a dispute.

Open dialogue, respect for mutual differences and a

joint search for solutions by peaceful means is the only

way to proceed; there is no alternative. Therefore, we

appreciate the appeal to concentrate specifically on

that crucial aspect of international relations. We are

all obliged under the Charter of the United Nations to

resolve disputes by peaceful means so that peace and

security are not at risk.

The Charter provides us with a range of options,

including negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation,

arbitration and other peaceful means, which must

be used effectively. Mediation under the auspices

of the United Nations is key to resolving conflicts

by peaceful means. Reinforcing United Nations

mediation capacities, confidence-building, improved

implementation of the Charter and enhanced respect for

its provisions are central.

While the nature of conflicts evolves and changes,

their essence remains the same — achieving goals by

violence. I refer not just to military battles. Famine

and thirst have even more devastating consequences

than weapons. Unfair distribution of wealth, social

imbalances, poverty and the feeling of injustice remain

breeding grounds for conflicts and disputes. Persons

whose basic needs are met do not seek conflict; rather,

they seek ways of making the best of their lives. In that

context, I think that prevention is the most effective

tool for ensuring peace, sustainable growth and a life

of dignity.

It is crucial to eliminate the primary causes

of conflicts, including through poverty reduction,

sustainable development, respect for human rights, the

rule of law and respect for its instruments, building of

democratic institutions, and arms control. Those are

the basic building blocks of peace and prosperity. The

United Nations, with its multipurpose focus, possesses

the potential to effectively assist its Members in all

those areas. But it must be adequately empowered to

do so.

However, we still differ considerably on what the

United Nations should do, and how. Terrorism poses an

imminent threat to every one of us, yet we are unable

to find common grounds to describe its characteristics.

Climate change has brought about crucial changes with

concrete impacts on agricultural production, yet the

production of greenhouse gases and emissions does

not decline. The gap between the wealthy and the poor

has been growing. An increasingly important role is

being played by non-State actors — multinational

corporations and speculative investors.

The crisis has shown that even the strongest

economies are vulnerable. They are vulnerable when

they live on credit, when the moral hazard goes beyond

what is sustainable. The crisis has shown that peace

has its limits in every society, whether that society is

more or less advanced. It is important for the global

economy that the strongest economies are stable and, in particular, that they are aware of their responsibility

for global development and the sustainability of

social stability in the world. This is not only about the

application of the principle of social solidarity; it is

about the self-preservation of humankind.

We therefore have to pursue a common target:

to transform the United Nations into an effective

Organization with a leading role in a new international

environment. We need a political willingness on the

part of all Members and a clear vision to adapt the

United Nations to the global demands of the twenty-

first century.

One of the instruments for preventing conflicts is

the elimination of poverty and ensuring sustainable

development for all, and in all aspects. The United

Nations has the necessary tools in its hands. At a time

of fiscal constraints, we have to use the existing tools

more effectively. We do not need to create new parallel

or duplicate structures.

At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable

Development (Rio+20), we agreed that we needed an

inclusive, strong multilateral system that will be able

to effectively address threats in the area of sustainable

development. Such a system is crucial for enduring

peace and, of course, for security.

We support Sustainable Energy for All, an

initiative launched by the Secretary-General. In the

spirit of the initiative, we emphasize, among other

things, the positive aspects of the use of nuclear energy

in the energy and health care sectors. I am convinced

that priority investments in research to increase the

operational safety and security of nuclear power plants

would be more useful than massive investment in the

closure of functioning power plants.

Slovakia is prepared to intensively and constructively

cooperate with partners in order to maximize the

effective functioning of the United Nations system in

the economic, social, environmental and other areas.

We support strengthening the Economic and Social

Council and more effective cooperation of the Council

with the General Assembly and other entities across the

United Nations system.

Slovakia takes seriously its moral duty to help

developing countries and countries in distress. We have

less than three years to go to accomplish the United

Nations Millennium Development Goals. We need

to step up our efforts. As a donor country, Slovakia

contributes its share to addressing the pressing problems of global development. Despite its tight budget, Slovakia

increases its total contribution to official development

assistance every year.

A secure and stable environment conducive to

development cannot be achieved without effective arms

control and universal disarmament as the fundamental

instruments of conflict prevention. Slovakia is an

advocate of a comprehensive, universal and binding

arms trade treaty. Our objective is to curb irresponsible

dealing in arms and to prevent their transfer to the hands

of terrorists, criminals and other illicit groups. I regret

that the years-long efforts of States, in cooperation with

civil society, were not crowned with success at the July

2012 Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty. I believe

that further negotiations will lead to a consensus on an

effective agreement.

A world free of nuclear weapons is one of the

priorities long pursued by the international community.

Although we have made some progress in this respect

in recent years, there are still countries that are not

parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear

Weapons.

We appreciate that a conference on a Middle East

zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass

destruction has been scheduled for December 2012 in

Helsinki. We believe that despite the regrettable turmoil

in the region and the unwillingness of some countries to

cooperate, we will overcome the differences and jointly

bring the conference to a successful conclusion, for the

sake of our common goal, namely, peace and security

in the Middle East without the fear of nuclear weapons.

Success of the conference would also support long-

lasting efforts to drive away concerns over the Iranian

nuclear programme. Rocket tests performed by Iran

do not contribute to belief that its nuclear programme

serves a peaceful purpose.

With regard to further improvements in the

work of peacebuilding missions and increasing their

effectiveness, I would like to mention three aspects

that I consider crucial: first, cooperation among United

Nations missions; secondly, the protection of civilians

and the contributions to monitoring human rights; and,

thirdly, the need to prepare a strategy for the transition

from peacekeeping to peacebuilding, that is, increased

effectiveness in the implementation of security

sector reform. More intensive cooperation among

peacekeeping missions will allow for effective sharing of

funds, equipment and personnel between neighbouring

missions, as well as contribute to improving the

capabilities of United Nations peacekeeping forces

to adequately respond to unforeseen situations. The

protection of civilians is one of the main objectives

under the mandates of peacekeeping operations. It will

enable the restoration of political processes in a country,

including the implementation of measures aimed at

the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of

combatants, as well as of ordinary people affected by the

conflict, including children. As the road from conflict

to enduring peace is complicated, it is important that

we prepare strategies for the peacekeeping forces to

anticipate and transfer responsibility for peacekeeping

in a host country with the aim of eliminating duplicate

instruments and procedures.

Last year, the international community devoted

considerable attention and funds to support Afghanistan

on its road towards responsibility for its own security

and for meeting its obligations. Afghanistan remains

the top-priority foreign military operation for Slovakia.

Our troops will stay in Afghanistan as long as necessary.

Security and stability also depend on a stable

economy. Therefore we also wish to intensify our

involvement in the area of development assistance.

Afghanistan remains one of the three primary recipients

of Slovakia’s official development assistance. At the

same time, we support the central role of the United

Nations and the United Nations Assistance Mission in

Afghanistan in capacity-building and stabilization in

Afghanistan. Wherever in the world human lives are at

risk, the international community should be prepared

to take resolute action.

Allow me to express my deepest regret over the

thousands of victims of the conflict in Syria. The Slovak

Republic has joined the initiative requesting that the

most serious crimes under international law committed

in Syria be investigated by the International Criminal

Court. The primary responsibility for the protection

of its citizens is always borne by the Government and

democratic institutions of a country. The aim is to

build a country governed by the rule of law, respecting

international principles and at the same time reflecting

traditional common law.

Slovakia is committed to the United Nations

principles set out in the Charter. We believe that the key

to resolving global problems in today’s interconnected

world is an inclusive and effective multilateralism.

Global threats to security, the economy, the environment or society know no borders and are so extensive that no

country and no regional organization can alone respond

to or defend against them effectively.

We believe that, together, we will make progress

on our agenda during the current session of the General

Assembly. That is what our citizens expect from us.