Belarus, 1997

It gives me particular

pleasure to congratulate you, Sir, the distinguished

representative of Ukraine, on your election to the

responsible post of President of the fifty-second of the

General Assembly of the United Nations. I am convinced

that your rich and profound experience in diplomatic

relations, together with your personal qualities, will

facilitate the constructive work of this General Assembly

session and make it an outstanding international event.

The delegation of the Republic of Belarus is ready to

contribute to your endeavours in any way required. I

would also like to use this opportunity to say a word of

gratitude to your predecessor, Mr. Razali Ismail, for his

competent and efficient presidency during the fifty-first

session of the General Assembly.

Every day, international life and international

relations acquire ever more multidimensional and ever

deeper significance, with new meanings and trends in

development that can no longer be constrained within the

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criteria and standards of the twentieth century. We live at

a time oriented towards the future. A fin de siècle mentality

is not just a nostalgic feeling for the century passing away,

but also embraces a deep concern for the years ahead. The

destiny of mankind, however contradictory and diverse, and

the interests of nations and States may become more

amenable to one common denominator, are increasingly

concerned with the well-being of humanity, and display

numerous convergent features which make it possible now

to discuss the opportunity for a new international order.

Entering the twenty-first century, with its new

international order, does not mean that we renounce the

experience of the last 52 years in the development of the

family of nations under one common programme, as set out

for us by the founding fathers of the United Nations and

outlined in its Charter. On the contrary, it means adjusting

these lofty aims to the new realities of a multifaceted world

and also making the Organization — no matter how

different its separate parts are — the mainstream of human

development, where the economic well-being of people

brings to an end age-old ills such as starvation and

epidemic diseases, as well as huge environmental threats,

and which helps to achieve multilateral understanding

between those participating in this development. Solving

these problems is becoming the overriding ambition and the

main goal and hope of the United Nations, as well as of

mankind as a whole.

Right now, the United Nations has started displaying

its capacity to adapt its structure and policies to the

demands of the future. The orientation of the United

Nations towards the future is the overriding goal that was

established for it during its fiftieth anniversary celebrations.

The change of leadership and the measures that are now

being undertaken in this direction give sufficient grounds

for optimism. We declare our support for these goals and

actions. With a sense of trust and the intention to

contribute, we take note of the actions of the new

Secretary-General, Mr. Annan, in regard to reform within

the United Nations. In this respect, I would like to quote

from a letter dated 5 September 1997 sent by the President

of the Republic of Belarus, Mr. Lukashenka, to the

Secretary-General:

“These reforms are a timely and meaningful response

to the objectives facing the United Nations during this

complex period at the turning point of the millennia,

including problems which ought to be solved with the

purpose of enhancing the effectiveness of the United

Nations system.

“The Republic of Belarus is in favour of a

pragmatic, comprehensive approach to United

Nations reform which would provide for the

strengthening, on the basis of the opportunities

available, of the United Nations potential in

peacekeeping, humanitarian and informational

fields.”

In our opinion, these measures are very important

and represent an up-to-date response to the need to settle

the issues coming before the United Nations during this

complex historical period as we approach the end of the

millennium. These issues need to be solved in order to

enhance the functional efficiency of the family of the

United Nations. When we speak of reform in the United

Nations, we have in mind first and foremost an effective

distribution of United Nations resources, the streamlining

of the Organization’s administrative and organizational

structures, and budgetary and structural reform of the

United Nations Secretariat, as well as personnel

adjustments to meet the challenges of the modern world.

When addressing United Nations reform, we place

special emphasis on the reform of the Security Council,

which is one of the principal United Nations bodies,

responsible for the maintenance of international peace and

security.

Extremely critical in this respect is, of course, the

principle of balanced representation of all regional groups

of United Nations Member States on the reformed

Security Council. The Republic of Belarus is convinced

that allocation of one more non-permanent seat on the

Security Council to the Group of Eastern European

States — whose membership has more than doubled in

recent years — is in full compliance with the provisions

of Article 23 of the United Nations Charter, which sets

forth the principle of equitable geographical distribution.

Among all the new realities that are being brought

into the mosaic of international relations, efficient

mechanisms for global and regional security still seem

paramount. Belarus considers its national security to be

inalienably connected and identified with the collective

security system of the European continent. Each State has,

of course, ample right independently to select the most

efficient means of protecting its own national interests,

including the right to participate in regional security

organizations.

For the last two years Belarus has displayed a firm

stance against the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty

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Organization (NATO) as a military bloc. I hope for

understanding on the part of the international community in

this respect. In the event that we had on our western

borders not the friendly sovereign Polish State we have

now but a military organization, it would certainly push us

to seriously analyse and reconsider our national security

considerations.

However, recently we have noticed developments

inside the NATO structure itself. We took due note of

several meetings of NATO member States regarding the

transformation of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council

into the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, as well as the

transformation of the major military aims of NATO itself.

Taking into account current realities, we would like to

reiterate our position against NATO’s expansion as a

military organization, but also to add to it that we are in

favour of its development into a universal European

organization for peace and security. It is with this intention

that we have entered into negotiations with NATO and

presented a programme for Belarusian participation in the

Partnership for Peace. We sincerely hope that by

developing a more constructive approach we will reach a

mutual understanding, which could be reinforced by some

mutual obligations.

We would also like to state that with this evolution of

NATO and a thorough analysis of existing world and

regional security systems and treaties, further emphasis

should be attached to well-established regional

organizations such as the Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to their closer

cooperation with the United Nations and its specialized

agencies.

As to the OSCE, we feel certain that it has already

accumulated profound experience and skills in tackling

many important security issues and is able to make a major

contribution to strengthening peace and security on the

continent. Therefore, the Republic of Belarus readily

supports the initiatives of Russia and the Netherlands

concerning a number of special events to commemorate the

one hundredth anniversary of the First Peace Conference.

Should this conference take place in 1999, it would be an

important opportunity to discuss the complex problems of

peaceful cooperation between Member States and to find

and elaborate means to constructively handle major issues

of contention and also to strengthen the legal foundations

of international actions for peace.

I should like to state that the Republic of Belarus, as

one of the founding Members of the United Nations, has

always spoken strongly in favour of the peaceful

regulation of military conflicts in different regions of the

globe and of elaborating new and efficient measures to

prevent the emergence of new crisis situations. That is

why we share the approach of many who have spoken

here, when they expressed concern about the development

of the situation in the Middle East. It is our opinion that

the continuation of the Arab-Israeli dialogue, which will

live up to the agreements previously reached, is a must to

stop terrorism in this region, to put an end to the non-stop

bloodletting of innocent people and to establish a firm

and lasting peace.

The same can also be said of the Balkans, which is

now one of the hottest spots in the European region. We

are convinced that lasting peace in the former Yugoslavia

is possible only under conditions where violence is

renounced and where the parties involved settle their

conflicts in a peaceful manner.

The Republic of Belarus invites the General

Assembly to enable the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,

as a founding Member, to resume its participation in the

work of the General Assembly and other bodies of the

United Nations.

Unfortunately, conflicts, including military clashes,

are still a reality of humanity’s everyday existence. We

call upon the Security Council to be more prudent in

handling these conflicts, to be more diligent in seeking

peaceful means to regulate them, avoiding at all costs

economic destruction as well as the political and moral

damage that comes with attempts to apply sanctions.

I should like to seize this opportunity to confirm the

willingness of the Government of the Republic of Belarus

to host the Minsk international Conference on conflict

settlement in Nagorny Karabakh.

As members know, Belarus has always been among

those nations which have spoken and acted strongly to

make effective measures undertaken by the United

Nations in the field of disarmament. I should like to

remind the Assembly that Belarus was one of the first

Commonwealth of Independent States countries, after the

breakup of the Soviet Union, to withdraw nuclear

weapons from its territory. Belarus aims to achieve

further progress in the field of disarmament, in particular

by banning chemical, bacteriological and other toxic

weapons, by putting an end to research into new weapons

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of mass destruction, and by preventing an arms race in

space. Awareness of these aims means a more secure future

for our children.

The Belarusian position on disarmament issues is firm

and logically predictable. Apart from our refusal to station

nuclear weapons on our soil, we have suggested creating a

nuclear-free zone in the centre of Europe. I must admit that

so far the response to this initiative has been tepid, at best.

But I would also reiterate that no matter the tepid response,

only the creation of regions entirely free from nuclear

weapons and the nuclear threat will facilitate each important

step along the road to the eventual comprehensive

renouncement of nuclear weapons.

Apart from general support for the reform programmes

of the United Nations, I should like to emphasize the

particularly positive approach of Belarus to the idea and the

philosophy of sustainable development. Pursuant to the

decisions and recommendations adopted by the Rio 1992

Earth Summit, the Government of the Republic of Belarus

worked out a national strategy for sustainable development,

whose outline was presented to the General Assembly’s

special session last June.

We appreciate the great assistance rendered to us by

the United Nations Development Programme, the United

Nations Secretariat and the United Nations Economic

Commission for Europe, which helped us to hold our

conference on sustainable development in Minsk in April

1997, which was attended by representatives of 30 countries

and more than 30 international organizations. That

conference was an important landmark on the path to

working out an international strategy for sustainable

development and outlined many of the important issues that

are now faced by countries in a period of transition. I

sincerely believe that the sustainable development

programme launched by the United Nations will encourage

the participation of other multilateral organizations in its

implementation, in particular, the World Trade

Organization, which could advance reforms in countries

whose economies are in transition by accepting them as full

members. We fervently hope that the Agenda for

Development, as a long-term policy of the United Nations,

will not only provide reliable mechanisms to deal with

international catastrophes, such as the Chernobyl accident

and others, but will also help establish a system to prevent

such catastrophes and eliminate their consequences in all

parts of the world.

I should like to emphasize that the Chernobyl-related

activities of the United Nations as well as the international

assistance in mitigating the consequences of that nuclear

catastrophe are highly appreciated by the people of

Belarus. Yet the assistance is needed right now —

today — though we will need it in the future as well.

That is a tragic reality the Republic of Belarus is living

through.

As members are aware, sometimes and in some

areas Belarus has been the object of criticism because of

the slowness of reform and democratic transformations.

Concern has been expressed regarding certain internal

developments in the Republic of Belarus. While I would

certainly acknowledge that some of the international

community’s concern has been justified, I would like very

much to say that the Republic of Belarus is a sovereign

State that develops its own policy with due regard for the

opportunities — economic, social, moral and

psychological — of its citizens, within the limits of

international patterns of behaviour and with respect for

human rights and personal freedoms.

It has been an uneasy path, but so far the Republic

of Belarus has avoided the pitfalls in economic and

political areas, and with the due assistance of the

international community expects to attain certain

standards compatible with the developed countries of the

world. Now we are practically the only country of the

Commonwealth of Independent States that had a stable

economic growth of about 16 per cent during the first half

of this year; we have arrested the decrease in volumes of

industrial production and we are a country free from

religious, ethnic or civil strife.

Of course, there are many difficulties still ahead of

us. But as long as a consensus of the people is secured on

major development programmes and aims, the institutes

of government and democracy are stable, and

international cooperation proceeds within acceptable

international norms. There is hope that we shall

accomplish the goals set before us.

Difficult as it might be, we have made quite a few

positive steps to assure the United Nations that we are

seriously focused on strengthening our participation in

this international body. No matter what objective financial

or other economic difficulties Belarus is experiencing, we

seek to fulfil our financial obligations before the United

Nations. This year, the Government of Belarus has

allotted the first instalment to gradually liquidate our

arrears to the regular United Nations budget, and before

the year is over we plan to contribute another $5 million.

However, we hope more careful consideration can be

10

given to reaching a fair solution in the settlement of the

issue related to the payment by Belarus of its arrears in

financial contributions to the United Nations regular budget

and financing the United Nations peacekeeping operations.

I would take up this issue, not to emphasize the need

to avoid payments, but to invite the international

community to distinguish between the cases when payment

is not made due to objective difficulties and when it results

from the absence of will on the part of some Member

States to contribute in accordance with the principle of the

capacity to pay, or is an attempt to exert pressure on the

United Nations and the policy it implements. There must be

a common quest for special solutions to further revise the

scale of assessments, to reconstruct debt in cases where

economic conditions of this or that Member State do not

allow for the regular payment to be made in time.

During the limited time afforded to us, it is not

possible to cover the whole range of problems which

confront the United Nations and which involve special

actions and responsibilities of Member States. I have

outlined only those which the Government of Belarus

considers of the first priority to be addressed in order to

secure the normal functioning of the United Nations.

I would like to close my statement on a note of

cautious optimism. There are many indicators that the

United Nations is advancing in the right direction, and the

participation of Member States in the United Nations

programmes of settling major global issues is a shade better

today than it was yesterday. With all those shades blending

into a positive optimistic colour, the future of humanity is

more secure today than it was yesterday, and certainly a lot

more secure than it was before yesterday.