Ukraine, 2007

Allow me, first of all,

to congratulate you, Mr. President, on your election to

the high post of President of the General Assembly at

its sixty-second session. On behalf of my delegation,

let me wish you, sir, every success in your important

mission and assure you of our full support.

I would like to extend warm words of

appreciation to your predecessor, Mrs. Haya Rashed

Al-Khalifa of the Kingdom of Bahrain, whose

extensive diplomatic experience and skilful guidance

throughout the sixty-first session greatly contributed to

its success.

Allow me also to take this opportunity to express

our support for the ambitious plans and consistent

efforts of the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, to

re-energize the Organization, strengthen its capacity

and update the United Nations system in the new

century.

International terrorism remains one of the most

serious threats facing humankind today. Last year the

General Assembly, by adopting the United Nations

Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, made a concrete

contribution to combat terrorism in a coordinated

manner at the national, regional and international

levels. We believe that the adoption of a definition of

terrorism during the current session would be a starting

point in assessing counter-terrorism measures taken by

each State.

My country joined the anti-terrorist coalition at

its inception and has made a significant contribution to

its activities. In the last five years, all 13 international

counter-terrorism treaties have been ratified by the

Ukrainian Parliament.

On the governmental level, we support

international anti-terrorist efforts, in particular, through

participation in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear

Terrorism. This fall, we plan to organize in Ukraine the

third international forum on measures to counteract

acts of nuclear terrorism with the participation of civil

society, scholars and non-governmental organizations.

Disarmament and non-proliferation are among the

most important challenges on our agenda. As a country

that voluntarily renounced its military nuclear arsenals,

Ukraine is truly disappointed that a world without

weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) remains a

distant dream.

The international community continues to be

intimidated by the threat of WMD proliferation. The

strengthening of international legal norms and political

instrument to prevent WMD proliferation remains a top

priority. In this regard, I would like to stress the

importance of the universalization of the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, as well as the

Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.

Commemorating in 2007 the tenth anniversary of the

Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), Ukraine is

ready to contribute to the Organization for the

Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) efforts on

ensuring universal adherence to the CWC, particularly

by Middle East countries.

With this in mind, Ukraine proposes to host next

year, together with the OPCW, an international

conference with the participation of, inter alia,

countries from the Middle East and North Africa. The

anticipated outcome of such a conference might be a

joint statement of the intention of the countries

concerned to adhere to the CWC.

We are convinced that the only way forward is to

make simultaneous progress in the areas of both non-

proliferation and disarmament.

We cannot but underscore our concerns over the

recent tendencies that have already caused the erosion

of the multilateral regime in the arms control and

disarmament spheres with a negative impact on mutual

trust and confidence among States. The very recent

events around the Treaty on Conventional Armed

Forces in Europe have seriously put into question the

future of this important arms control instrument,

widely recognized as the cornerstone of European

security.

Speaking about global peace and security, I

cannot but draw attention to the problem of the

protracted conflicts in the GUAM Group area. These

conflicts create instability and insecurity and constitute

a threat to peace in the region. There is no doubt that

these conflicts endanger the sovereignty and territorial

integrity of the countries of the region, while also

hampering their economic and social development.

We are concerned that numerous international

efforts to settle those conflicts have yielded no results.

It is crucially important that the world community

continue taking practical steps to that end. In our

opinion, the United Nations, regional organizations and

other relevant mechanisms should harmoniously

complement one another, using their comparative

advantages in peacemaking efforts.

In this context, I would like to stress Ukraine’s

unequivocal support for a lasting settlement in Kosovo.

That objective cannot be achieved by undertaking

unilateral steps nor by steps seeking to bypass the

United Nations. A hasty settlement can only destabilize

the situation in the region and have negative

implications for the entire system of international

relations, since similar scenarios could be pursued by

separatist entities in other regions.

Ukraine has always supported United Nations

peacekeeping efforts, both politically and practically.

We are glad to note that the recent noticeable increase

in peacekeeping activities has taken place in

accordance with the reform strategy of Peace

Operations 2010. That is especially important in light

of the ongoing and expected deployments in the future.

In this context, Ukraine supports the Secretary-General

in his efforts to strengthen the United Nations capacity

to manage and sustain peace operations.

I would also like to draw your attention to the

fact that next year will mark the sixtieth anniversary of

United Nations peacekeeping operations. In this

regard, our delegation proposes to adopt, at the sixty-

third session of the General Assembly, a special

declaration to commemorate this event.

United Nations credibility will always be

measured by its ability to respond adequately to

various threats in all regions of the world. No

organization is better equipped to deal with those

issues. The United Nations should lead multilateral

efforts with a view to reaching solutions in the interest

of all. But, to address them effectively, we need to take

further steps in reforming and improving existing

mechanisms of the United Nations in order to make

this Organization more relevant in the twenty-first

century.

Unfortunately, the process of reforming the

Security Council, which is the key element within the

process of renewing the United Nations, is still only an

agenda item. We are of the view that the reform

process can only benefit from new, creative approaches

that will eventually bring about tangible results. In this

regard, I would like, once again, to stress Ukraine’s

position that one of the necessary elements of Security

Council reform should be the allocation of an

additional non-permanent seat to the Group of Eastern

European and other States, whose membership has

more than doubled since 1991.

In today’s world, adherence to sound economic,

social and environmental policies and good governance

are the key factors in achieving sustainable

development. We share the view, expressed in a

number of statements during this session, that

sustainable development is a global challenge. Ukraine

believes that only through concerted efforts, using

universal, multilateral mechanisms as well as regional

and subregional forums, will those challenges be

adequately addressed.

For Ukraine and other countries of the region, the

Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation

has become an important element in achieving

internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals.

At the same time, the forces of nature,

complemented by reckless and irresponsible human

behaviour can disrupt development plans, reshape

continents and even wipe out whole countries from the

world’s map. Science has shown, on many occasions,

that climate change, global warming and pollution may

cause sudden and dramatic consequences if not

addressed in timely, proper and effective ways. Ukraine

is firmly committed to the international agreements in

the area of climate change, including the United

Nations Framework Convention to Combat Climate

Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

This year, we marked the twenty-first anniversary

of the Chernobyl catastrophe, the worst technological

disaster ever faced by humankind. Chernobyl severely

affected my country and the entire region. We call upon

United Nations agencies and individual donors to

continue to provide assistance to the affected States

and to work together on the implementation of the

relevant programmes in a spirit of cooperation.

Ukraine, as a 2007 coordinator of the Chernobyl

Agenda, has proposed, together with the Republic of

Belarus and the Russian Federation, the adoption at the

sixty-second United Nations General Assembly

session, of a new resolution on strengthening

international cooperation to mitigate the consequences

of the Chernobyl disaster. In this regard, we would

welcome broad support for that initiative during this

General Assembly session.

Ukraine is approaching the seventy-fifth

anniversary of one of the most tragic pages in its

history the Holodomor or Great Famine. The

artificial famine of 1932-33, perpetrated by the Soviet

totalitarian regime for the purpose of annihilating the

rural population, the backbone of the Ukrainian nation,

took the lives of millions of innocent people. For more

than seven decades this horrific crime, which ranks

among the worst catastrophes ever experienced by

humankind, still awaits adequate international

condemnation.

We sincerely hope that the United Nations, as a

collective moral authority and effective instrument in

safeguarding human rights and fundamental freedoms,

will raise its voice and denounce the horrendous

disaster that was purposely inflicted on the Ukrainian

population in the early 1930s. By doing so, due tribute

will be paid to honour the memory of millions of our

compatriots who were outrageously deprived of their

lives. It is important to remember the past in order to

learn from it and to avoid repeating crimes against

humankind in the future.

A decision of the General Assembly to establish

an international day of remembrance of victims of

genocide would be a worthwhile and timely

contribution to the attainment of that goal. Likewise, it

could facilitate the effective implementation of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the

Crime of Genocide, as the world approaches the

sixtieth anniversary of those instruments in 2008. We

are confident that this event deserves the adoption of a

special resolution.

In the context of human rights, Ukraine attaches

great importance to the harmonious coexistence of

civilizations, dialogue and cooperation among various

cultures and peoples. In this regard, we support the

Alliance of Civilizations established under the

initiative of the Prime Ministers of Spain and Turkey,

and we intend to join the Group of Friends of the

Alliance in the near future.

The problems before us are daunting. We believe

that the United Nations is the only Organization with

the worldwide membership, global reach and universal

legitimacy needed to address today’s global threats and

challenges, which no country can resolve on its own.

I take this opportunity to reaffirm Ukraine’s

readiness to continue making an active contribution to

the further strengthening of our Organization.