Austria, 2006

“United in diversity”:

this motto of the European Union expresses what we,

the 25 — and soon to be 27 — member States of the

European Union, demand from ourselves, as well as

our aspirations for the United Nations. “United in

diversity” is also a concrete management principle of

our practical, everyday work to promote justice, peace,

freedom and prosperity. As the host country to the only

United Nations headquarters within the European

Union, as President of the European Union during the

first six months of 2006 and as a venue for the dialogue

of religions and cultures, Austria has consistently

aimed at translating this principle into practice,

including by providing peacekeepers, despite recent

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bitter experiences such as the tragic death of Major

Hans-Peter Lang while he was serving the United

Nations in southern Lebanon.

By establishing the Human Rights Council in

Geneva and the Peacebuilding Commission, we have

given ourselves new instruments for carrying out an

important part of our work in this phase of United

Nations reform. Austria thanks Jan Eliasson, President

of the General Assembly at its sixtieth session, for his

vision, tenacity and endurance. We owe it to his

negotiating skills that institutional reform of the United

Nations has been decisively set in motion. We pledge

to devote the necessary determination to the reform

measures that still need to be implemented, such as

management reform, the review of United Nations

mandates and the establishment of a rule of law

assistance unit.

Today, after decades of division, Europe is

growing together again. That is the major achievement

of the European Union. We have come a long way. The

iron curtain is a relic of the past. Today, we want the

countries of South-East Europe and the Balkans to take

their rightful place in Europe and to be included in the

reunification process of our continent. The European

experience is, profoundly, an experience of overcoming

old and bitter conflicts and of the power of patient and

peaceful transformation.

Here, I wish to welcome to the General Assembly

the newest European member and the 192nd Member

of the United Nations, the Republic of Montenegro.

In Europe, difficult issues need to be solved.

Tomorrow, the Security Council will discuss the future

status of Kosovo. Austria supports the efforts of

President Martti Ahtisaari and his team in Vienna. As

neighbours and friends, we urge both Belgrade and

Pristina to engage in these negotiations constructively,

in a results-oriented manner and with the necessary

sense of realism. Our goal is a democratic and multi-

ethnic Kosovo whose citizens can all live in security

and dignity on the basis of mutual trust. In the same

spirit, a confident, peaceful and prosperous Serbia,

fully integrated into the family of European nations, is

crucial for the stability of the whole region.

In the Middle East, innocent civilians still suffer

from the disastrous consequences of terror attacks and

the indiscriminate use of force. Men, women and

children on all sides must be given a real chance to live

in peace and in an atmosphere of increasing mutual

trust.

The goal that Austria pursues in its relations with

the Middle East is to realize the vision of Palestinians

and Israelis living side by side in security as

neighbours in two States, working towards a peaceful

and economically successful common future. We know

that the path towards that goal is rocky, but now we

have reached a turning point. In the aftermath of the

armed conflict in Lebanon, all parties in the region

have agreed on the need for renewed engagement on

the part of the international community. The European

Union and its member States can and will make a

substantive contribution.

However, international efforts can only

support — not serve as a substitute for — efforts by

Israel and the Palestinians. That is why we welcome

the efforts of President Abbas to form a Government of

national unity in the Palestinian territories and the

recent high-level, direct contacts. Yesterday’s statement

by the Middle East Quartet — in which the United

Nations plays such a central role — is another

encouraging signal. We hope that those decisions will

help to alleviate the plight of the Palestinian people

and to move the political process forward.

Austria is convinced that the work of the Middle

East Quartet should now pave the way towards a major

peace initiative. We see great merit in an international

Middle East conference along the lines of the 1991

Madrid Conference. We believe that such a forum

should be open to regional partners willing to

participate constructively in search of a comprehensive

peace settlement. A conference of that kind could also

examine the longer-term potential for regional security

arrangements.

As the Secretary-General has rightly pointed out,

Africa must remain one of our main priorities. In

particular, we must engage to prevent a humanitarian

catastrophe in Darfur. It is simply unacceptable that not

even relief agencies are given access to help those most

in need. It is deeply disturbing that there is no clear

perspective for an end to fighting and suffering in the

region. As many others, we urgently call upon the

Government of the Sudan to accept the deployment of

a United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur without

delay.

Austria is deeply aware of the need for the

dialogue of cultures and religions. This is because my

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country lies at the crossroads of many different

cultures, at the heart of a continent marked by centuries

of dividing lines. Our own difficult experience has

certainly taught us that mutual tolerance and respect

are universal values, which we must all uphold and that

religious beliefs, by their very nature, must never be

misused to justify violence.

In view of our own experience, we are also

convinced that the dialogue of religions and cultures is

not a challenge confined only to the international field;

this dialogue begins at home, within our own societies.

Here, as well as at the global level, “United in

diversity” must be our guiding principle. We have to

keep our work down to earth. We have to find answers

on how best to organize living together and provide

orientation in a rapidly globalizing world that many

regard as a menace. Ultimately, it is in the work place,

at school, in defining the role of women in society, in

seeking to create opportunities for young people and in

the media that we decide about the outcome of the

dialogue of cultures in real-life terms.

I am therefore convinced that we must better

integrate the dialogue of religions and cultures in the

everyday work of the United Nations. This is a topic

that we cannot leave to the street. The minefield of

collective emotions is not a good place to discuss

questions of belief. Complex feelings of frustration,

humiliation and neglect can erupt in violence at the

slightest trigger. In a world where connections are

established by a single mouse click, reactions arrive

within minutes. Here, we need to counteract on the

basis of our common values, in full conformity with

universal human rights and basic freedoms, as they are

the very foundation of our work here at the United

Nations.

In the 61 years of the United Nations, this is only

the third time that a woman has presided over the

General Assembly, and the first woman to do so

coming from the Arab world. While we congratulate

her personally on her election to this high position,

Austria also regards this election as a signal to all

women in the world: the time has come for women to

take their rightful place in all spheres of public life. We

are called upon to engage politically at all levels, from

the community level to the United Nations. The voices

of women need to be heard more clearly in the work of

the United Nations. Women know what holds families,

communities and societies together. This age-old

knowledge in all its modern variety and colour should

not be left untapped, in particular in peace processes.

In United Nations missions, at the negotiation table, in

decision-making processes and not only as voices in

the background. During its presidency of the European

Union, Austria, in its recruitment strategy, consistently

aimed at deploying women in European Union peace

missions. In addition, we elaborated guidelines for

European Union missions on how to best comply with

the special needs of children.

In his address to the General Assembly at its 10th

meeting, on 19 September, the Secretary-General

rightly said, “It is shameful that last year’s Summit

Outcome does not contain even one word about non-

proliferation and disarmament”. Austria calls for a

renewed commitment of the international community

to these security goals. We also offer to host the next

preparatory meeting for the Review Conference of the

Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons in Vienna in the spring of 2007.

Development and the preservation of our

livelihoods require sustainable solutions. Among the

great global challenges we are facing is climate

change. Global warming is real. Austria is committed

to do her part in combating it. However, in Austria’s

view, nuclear energy is not the right answer; it bears

too many risks and uncertainties to be regarded as a

safe and sustainable source of energy.

Solidarity is at the heart of the United Nations:

solidarity with the poor, the weak and the powerless.

Here, the United Nations task list for the coming years

is rich with promise: achieving the Millennium

Development Goals in full, concluding the Doha

Development Round, fighting against hunger, disease,

poverty and exclusion.

On Tuesday, we launched the United Nations

Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy with a clear

message: the international community is united against

this scourge of humanity. We will not tolerate terrorism

in any form or manifestation. And we will redouble our

efforts to dry up the breeding grounds from which

terrorism feeds itself. Let me in this context point out

the excellent work of the United Nations Office on

Drugs and Crime in Vienna, with its Global

Programme against Terrorism, in delivering technical

assistance to Member States.

It is out of respect for diversity and in recognition

of the need for unity that Austria has presented its

candidature for a non-permanent seat on the Security

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Council for the period 2009-2010. With this in mind,

we have made the rule of law the backbone of our

candidature.

Let me close by conveying Austria’s appreciation

for the great personality who has been standing at the

helm of this Organization for the past decade, for Kofi

Annan, the statesman and the person. We thank the

Secretary-General, in particular for being a tireless

encourager, despite the considerable obstacles he has

had to face at times. He is a role model for dignity and

confidence. He is always ready to speak out, in his soft

but firm voice, for those whose voices are not strong

enough or loud enough to be heard; to give voice to the

weak, the poor, the small and those who feel lost or

abandoned. Mr. Secretary-General, the world will

continue listening to your voice as it is the voice of

hope and steadfastness.