Yugoslavia, 2004

Allow me at the outset to convey the greetings and best

wishes of the people of my country to Member States

and their people, and to the Secretary-General.

War, oppression, crime, hatred and suffering

plague hundreds of millions of men and women all

over the world today. In pursuit of the ideals of peace,

democracy and happiness, the United Nations is the

united conscience of humankind. In order to achieve

the goals of the Millennium Declaration, our

Organization must be strengthened structurally,

economically and spiritually.

Serbia and Montenegro therefore supports both

the initiatives for the enlargement of the Security

Council, that based on the need for equal

representation of all continents, and that which

concedes a special role for the most developed

countries, without whose support the United Nations

would be unable to fulfill its noble goals.

The fight against global terrorism in all its

manifestations, such as anti-Semitism and anti-

Islamism, is our primary responsibility today. Those

who perpetrated, masterminded and bankrolled terrorist

atrocities in New York, Washington, Moscow, Beslan,

Jerusalem, Madrid, Istanbul and other places have not

only declared war against all nations, but also against

God himself, who is the same God for all people.

In the fight against terrorism, force is

unavoidable, but prevention is what we need most.

52

Politicians, international religious and spiritual leaders

and the media must constantly emphasize that the

killing of children and of innocent civilians are crimes

that the terrorists are perpetrating against their own

religions and nations and that God will neither forgive

them nor reward them with paradise for such crimes.

Multilateralism is the only means to prevent the

catastrophe of the clash between faiths and

civilizations. At the same time, terrorism must be

condemned with equal resolve by everyone. There can

be no acceptable terrorists, nor should terrorists be

proclaimed as `freedom fighters’ anywhere.

Serbia and Montenegro is a small country that has

been confronted with most of the world’s current

problems and misfortunes. The recent wars that saw the

break-up of Yugoslavia - one of the founding members

of the United Nations - have had immense and painful

consequences: unemployment; poverty; the tragic

plight of some 600,000 refugees; hopelessness among

young people, which breeds drug dependence; a rising

suicide rate; and the desperate position of Serbs in

Kosovo and Metohija.

The reality of Kosovo and Metohija today is both

dramatic and grim. Over the past five years, the

international administration and dominance of the

Albanian majority of this Serbian province have led to

the killing or abduction of more than 2,500 Serbs,

including many children, and to the destruction of

1,500-year-old churches and monasteries and

approximately 40,000 homes. As a result of terrorism

and massive violations of basic human rights, nearly

200,000 Serbs and other non-Albanians have been

expelled from Kosovo and Metohija.

The hopes of suffering victims are directed

towards the United Nations, particularly its bodies and

specialized agencies. I take this opportunity to express

my most profound gratitude to the Secretary-General

and to the Director-General of UNESCO for the

decision to convene, in November, an international

donor conference aimed at funding the reconstruction

of destroyed churches and monasteries in Kosovo. We

are also grateful for the principled position that all

homes must be rebuilt, that conditions must be created

for the return of all of those who have been expelled

and that the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija must be

guaranteed the right to life and to freedom of

movement and all civil, national and religious freedoms.

The spirit of a united Europe and a united world

lives in the hearts of Serbs and Montenegrins. While

we respect the existing State borders that we share with

our neighbours, we wish to erase them in everyday life

and to build a common European future based on

dialogue, reconciliation and equality among all nations.

We are fully confident that, with the strong support of

the United Nations, we will attain that goal.

But the insistence by some on the creation of a

sovereign State of Kosovo amounts to a call for the

break-up of the sovereign State of Serbia and

Montenegro. Such an objective breeds new hatred and

misery and is contrary to the basic tenets of

international law and to the Charter of the United

Nations. We will not agree to the violation of the rights

of our State and its citizens.

By applying consistent standards in addressing all

crimes, the United Nations will assist the efforts of the

democratic Government in Serbia and Montenegro to

fulfill our obligations to the International Criminal

Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which is something

we must do. The nation is innocent; responsibility rests

on the individual, and none of those who have been

indicted for war crimes has the right to hold a nation

hostage.

All of us on this planet are brothers and sisters.

Gens una sumus: we are all one family. Therefore, the

primary obligation of any majority, whether religious,

racial or ethnic, is to fully protect the rights of

minorities. I can assure the Assembly that my

Government is unreservedly committed to that

principle.