Slovenia, 1993

Allow me, Sir, to offer

you, and the Republic of Guyana, sincere congratulations on

your election as President of the General Assembly at its

forty-eighth session. This session is taking place at a

moment of world history which everyone agrees to be

exceptional, so it is particularly important that it be as

successful as possible. The fact that you are guiding its

work encourages me to hope that it will be so.

Let me also take this opportunity to express my

gratitude for the contribution of the former Foreign Minister

of the Republic of Bulgaria, His Excellency Mr. Stoyan

Ganev, as President of the Assembly at its forty-seventh

session.

The very presence of Slovenia as an independent State

and a Member of the United Nations is adequate testimony

to the fact that the world has fundamentally changed.

Together with a series of other countries that are either

newly founded or have disengaged themselves from the

shackles of limited sovereignty - or both simultaneously -

Slovenia was not, of course, only an object of those changes,

but a protagonist in them. The motive force for these

changes was the democratic aspirations of nations, their

democratic movements and prominent individuals from all

spheres of social life. Many of the basic principles of the

United Nations Charter, especially the principle of respect

for human rights, motivated the democratic movements in

their struggle for political and economic change.

We should not forget that fact today as we watch the

processes under way in the part of the world formerly

known as the East. The tragic events which we perceive as

having resulted from those very changes should not blur the

memories of the movement for the freedom and dignity of

men and women as individuals and as members of

historically, culturally and linguistically defined entities. The

difficulties faced by the new democracies were expected.

Yet they are strengthening democratic institutions and the

effectiveness of democratic mechanisms. On the other hand,

in another - the smaller -part of the East, there is an orgy of

destructive violence caused by inconceivable hatred.

The old terminology, transferred to the notion of

"countries of the former East", obstructs a real understanding

of current events in the part of the world to which it refers.

Ideological notions should be replaced by terminology that

respects the cultural and historical characteristics of

individual regions, which in recent history all known politics

and ideologies have tried to obliterate.

The former socialist countries that earlier on had

developed democracy movements are now experiencing

secure democratic development. On the other hand, in those

countries with totalitarian regimes that were suddenly

confronted with the end of the bipolar world and where

democratic movements were barely incipient, the ensuing

ideological vacuum led to nationalism accompanied by

expansionism and grave violations of human rights and of

the rights of minorities. Former Yugoslavia, a typical multi-

ethnic State, a federation composed of six different

territorially defined members, experienced the consequences

of these distinctions within its former borders, and for that

reason could not survive.

Every region has its own particular characteristics.

Respecting them would to a great extent facilitate

stabilization and the prospects of peaceful development on

the basis of multilateral cooperation. It is not just for

Europe in the wider sense that this is valid, although it is

true that the processes of change are most pronounced in this

region, for better or for worse. The changes I am referring

to put seriously to the test most of the principles of

international cooperation and most of the mechanisms

created to enhance it. The right to self-determination is a

case in point. This right, on the one hand, was denied to

some nations while on the other hand the misuse of the same

Forty-eighth session - 29 September l993 11

principle for carrying out aggressive expansionism and

land-grabs has been tolerated.

The role of the United Nations has greatly increased

since the end of the cold war, and the Organization is

confronted with a number of issues that have to be tackled

in a new way commensurate to the new atmosphere. Now

it is more or less clear to everybody that we cannot do

without new concepts and new mechanisms within this

Organization to enable it to react in accordance with the

requirements of the time. It is of crucial importance to

strengthen human rights and democracy within countries and

to reflect this equally in their interrelations.

There are great expectations that the United Nations

will face these issues and will be able to adapt itself

efficiently. In order to do this the General Assembly should

make proposals in this regard. Let me mention some of the

fields that these proposals could embrace.

International law needs a further evolution of

substantive provisions and consensual mechanisms for their

implementation. The principle of non-interference in the

internal affairs of States should be reaffirmed, though it

should be sensibly qualified by adequate internationally

defined standards. International cooperation and the

interdependence of all States are continuously diminishing

the scope of matters which are essentially within the

domestic jurisdiction of States, while the scope of legitimate

international action is being expanded. In this context there

appears to be an opportunity for further protection of human

rights, the rights of ethnic minorities and the environment.

The Conference on Human Rights which took place in

Vienna last June confirmed global standards of respect for

and protection of human rights and recommended the

establishment of a high commissioner for human rights.

Slovenia intends to submit during this session proposals for

enhancing the activities of the United Nations in the field of

human rights, strengthening the Centre for Human Rights

and the establishment of a high commissioner for human

rights.

Economic cooperation is of particular importance.

Cooperation in the framework of a series of existing

international organizations and integrations must be seen in

the context of its extension to new members. Agreements

on economic cooperation between members and

non-members of trading blocs are already being concluded,

although sometimes too slowly. In any case, it is important

that these associations should not close the door to the new

democracies, since this could greatly impede the

development of market economies in the new democracies

at the very start. It is to be hoped that regional Economic

Commissions, specialized agencies of the United Nations and

international financial institutions will use their influence in

order to help remove obstacles.

At the Earth Summit in Rio last year we took part in

the efforts for closer international cooperation on the

environment. We will render all possible support to the

United Nations to achieve the aims of the Rio Conference,

including sustainable development, and to simultaneously

detect new problems in this field. Of course, success will

elude us if there is no adequate supervision or sanctions.

European security since the end of the cold war has

acquired different faces, and new countries have entered the

European scene. Some military arrangements with purported

defence aims have disbanded, and a number of countries are

looking for new arrangements to safeguard their security.

This represents an opportunity that should not be lost.

Europe should be able to fill the security vacuum with

democratic, forward-looking and adequate security

arrangements for all, the more so since it is the first time in

history that security is not bound to increased defence

spending. This is encouraging. On the other hand, we are

facing the danger of new outbreaks in different regions.

This situation, more than anything else, requires preventive

diplomacy, which should, by its very nature, be a matter of

coordination for the United Nations, whose views should be

formed in the General Assembly and the Security Council.

Existing security associations, such as the North Atlantic

Treaty Organization (NATO) the Conference on Security and

Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and the Western European

Union (WEU) should be systematically extended, and care

should be taken to see that there is coordination between

them and decision-making institutions of the United Nations.

The agreement between the United Nations and the CSCE

signed in May this year is encouraging from this point of

view. It may be useful to seriously consider creating forces

for rapid action, wherever timely action firmly authorized by

the Security Council could prevent a crisis.

During the last two years Slovenia has radically and

unilaterally restricted its own military potential. More than

half of the military facilities of the former Yugoslav army on

Slovenian territory have been committed to civilian needs.

However, the Republic of Slovenia remains subject to the

arms embargo which the Security Council imposed on the

former Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, this measure did not

produce the desired effect in other parts of the former

Yugoslavia; on the contrary, it has prevented the victims of

aggression from effectively defending themselves. It is our

12 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

view that it is high time the Security Council reconsidered

this measure and adjusted it to realities.

I am sure that I am not alone in the view that all the

new dilemmas that the world is facing also require reform of

the structures and mechanisms of the United Nations. The

General Assembly should more fully utilize its own

competence in this sense for dealing with situations and take

steps to settle international relations matters. The Security

Council, in view of the new circumstances in the world and

the nature of current problems, would appear to need some

modification so as to be able to react more flexibly and

effectively. It would be wise to increase its membership

appropriately to make it more representative and to

strengthen its responsibility to United Nations Member States

through the General Assembly. Further, strengthening the

professional competence of the Secretariat could be

envisaged, thereby improving conditions for the effective

operation of the Secretary-General. The current state of the

world, in which we are simultaneously confronted with

possible dangerous consequences of otherwise welcome

changes and with the well-known mounting problems of

developing countries, of course demands increased efficiency

of existing and perhaps new mechanisms. This means that

it will also be impossible to avoid the question of settling the

regular financing of the United Nations.

In closing I must unfortunately also touch on a matter

that has already disturbed and concerned the international

community for far too long: the crisis in some parts of the

former Yugoslavia. Slovenia, despite being near the regions

of armed conflict in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina,

has not been directly involved in the problems that have

been the cause of armed conflict for the last two years. This

does not, of course, mean that people of Slovenia and the

Slovene Government are indifferent. The Republic of

Slovenia is respecting sanctions and is cooperating in all

efforts by the international community to bring peace to

these countries. We have submitted proposals in order to

alleviate the crisis, find a political solution and cut short the

war and suffering. Unfortunately, the war still rages on.

We are constantly reminded of this by the presence of

70,000 refugees living in Slovenia. Caring for them is no

small burden for the 2 million inhabitants of Slovenia, even

though we have the cooperation of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees. However, international aid for

refugees is decreasing.

In our view, it is crucial to abide by all the principles

on which the international order after the end of cold war

should be based. This would encourage the newly founded

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to follow these principles

and, like other States founded on the territory of the former

Yugoslavia, to seek membership in the United Nations in

accordance with the Charter. The political and economic

interests of all members of the former Yugoslavia can begin

to be met only through negotiations, on an equal legal

footing, on the succession of the former Yugoslavia.

Slovenia supports, and will continue to support, all

initiatives to create a better world that provides adequate

prospects for the coming generations - a world based on the

mutual interests of the entire international community,

without the horrors of war, poverty and social distress, a

world in which human rights and the dignity of every

individual are standards respected by all Governments.

I wish the General Assembly every success at the

current session in its work towards this goal.