Belgium, 1992

Allow me first of

all to congratulate you warmly. Sir, on your election to the presidency of the

General Assembly. Through your person, an entire region of the world affirms

in this forum its political renewal.

The body of Members of our Organization is growing continually. Over the

last year, 21 new States have come to join our ranks and have subscribed to

the commitments of the Charter. We bid them welcome. Belgium has always held

the view that our Organization should be open to all States. Equally strong,

however, is our conviction that expansion should not come to mean shattering

and dispersal. National aspirations must remain subordinate to the essential

prerequisites of multilateral cooperation, which is becoming more necessary

every day.

In this respect, the confidence Belgium placed in the new

Secretary-General even before his election has turned out to be fully

justified. As proof of this, I would refer to his actions in the former

Yugoslavia and in Somalia. I have also in mind his analyses at the Rio

Conference, his report on preventive diplomacy and his report to the General

Assembly.

My colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom, has

already spoken on behalf of the member States of the European Community. This

allows me to concentrate my statement on a few issues of particular concern to

us.

The end of the cold war made strengthened international cooperation both

possible and necessary. For combined reasons of history, size and

geographical location, Belgium has always been predisposed to cooperation.

Without a credible international order, we will all sooner or later be faced

with an upsurge of unilateral demands containing the seeds of inevitable

threats to peace. Our membership of the Security Council has enabled us to

witness this first hand. A United Nations which functions effectively

constitutes the best guarantee against such dangers.

The end of the cold war has produced a variety of results. A wall has

fallen but new trenches have been dug. The elimination of global ideological

confrontation has led to the easing of regional conflicts that were fuelled by

that confrontation. But it has also released frustrations, which have often

degenerated into parodies of the right to self-determination and into new

conflicts. We must react to this.

Fortunately, the United Nations is no longer paralysed by the automatic

ideological antagonisms of the past. The Security Council in particular has

regained its means of action and its authority, which is now broadly

recognized. Failure to comply with its decisions now equals isolation from

the international community.

But precisely because our Organization is experiencing something of a

revival, we have to ensure that it does not fall victim to its own success.

The summit meeting of the Security Council members, held last January,

recognized the extent of this challenge. The Heads of State or Government

requested the Secretary-General to develop concrete proposals to respond to

it.

The Secretary General's report, "An Agenda for Peace", has given us ample

food for thought on the future role of the Organization. The report confirms

that our central objective should be peace first and foremost, for without

peace, neither normal society nor faith in the future of individuals is

possible.

The General Assembly will debate preventive diplomacy in depth. We hold

this concept to be based on the following elements: full use of the powers

vested in the Secretary-General; a United Nations presence in the initial

stages of a potential conflict; the specific role of regional organizations;

commissions of inquiry and temporary observer missions; an enlarged role for

United Nations staff already present in potential conflict zones; and

disarmament and non-proliferation.

Disarmament and non-proliferation continue to merit special attention in

their own right. The end of the cold war has made the control and monitoring

of conventional weapons more difficult. The nightmare of global nuclear

confrontation has given way to the threat of the unchecked proliferation and

dissemination of nuclear arms and technology. During the forty-sixth session

of the General Assembly, the 12 countries of the European Community, together

with Japan, took an initiative which has led to the creation of a register for

multilateral control of the transfer of conventional weapons. That, however,

is but a first step.

The case of Iraq has demonstrated the extent of the problems caused by a

lack of transparency in commercial transactions involving both conventional

and nuclear weaponry. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should

therefore continue to improve its system of safeguards, preventive detection

and monitoring of the transfer of dual-use items.

I would like to pay a tribute here to the steadfast efforts of the

Conference on Disarmament. Belgium currently chairs that Conference and will

present to the General Assembly the draft Convention on a ban on

chemical-weapons. On behalf of a country victimized by these weapons during

the First World War, I want to launch a solemn appeal in favour of the

universal acceptance of the draft Convention, resulting in the final

elimination of these particularly barbaric weapons from all arsenals.*

A more systematic use of preventive diplomacy would, no doubt, enable us

to limit at least the human cost of conflicts. However, it is clear that when

prevention reaches its limits, the Organization must be able to resort to

other peace-keeping measures.

In response to the appeals of the Secretary-General, Belgium, for its

part, has dispatched a battalion to Croatia and units to Bosnia and

Herzegovina, and is preparing a battalion for deployment in Somalia.

The financial difficulties of our Organization have led us recently to

seek alternative financing systems. However, I must take this opportunity to

recall the obligation of solidarity that applies to all Member States. All

Members must fulfil their budgetary obligations. The system for financing

peace-keeping operations should be uniform and predictable, and should resolve

the problems of financing the initial phases of urgent operations. The United

Nations would obviously lose both operational capacity and credibility if the

Organization were denied the budgetary resources corresponding to its

responsibilities.

However, all the combined tools of preventive diplomacy, disarmament,

non-proliferation and peace-keeping operations are not sufficient to ensure

real peace. Most conflicts are more deeply rooted. I wholeheartedly agree

with the Secretary-General's broad interpretation of the elements which

contribute to ensuring peace. Like him, I believe that the role of the

Organization extends to the prevention of tensions of any kind, be they

economic disparities, infringements of human rights, the absence of democracy

or environmental degradation.

For the first generations of the post-colonial era, the term "North-South

dialogue" kept alive the hope of attaining a more equitable distribution of

wealth and opportunities. The situation today is far from meeting those

expectations. This is the combined result of the cold war and military

expenditure, of a degree of selfishness in the North, of corruption and bad

governance, and of a wrong choice of priorities both in the South and the

North.

For these reasons, major bilateral and multilateral aid efforts have

sometimes failed and have also maintained a culture of dependency which now

demands a process of emancipation. The contrasts between North and South

demand our attention more than ever. We are witnessing, on the one hand, a

race to satisfy material cravings, and on the other, abject poverty. This is

the greatest challenge facing us. We not only have to maintain important

resource and technology transfers, but we also need to make a frank analysis

of past errors and to identify the real priorities.

In this context two factors have, in my view, become of key importance:

first, the concept of global interdependence and, secondly, the growing

emphasis on the close links between population, environment and development.

Useful lessons may be drawn from past disappointments concerning

donor-recipient relationships. The Assembly will also discuss the triennial

policy review of the operational activities of the United Nations system. We

hope that this will be a thorough debate leading to a genuine reassessment of

multilateral aid mechanisms.

For our part, we have launched a number of innovations in our bilateral

aid during recent years. These include, in particular, the creation of joint

management systems for our development projects, designed to reinforce the

decision-making capacity of our partners.

Nevertheless, a real economic take-off will be possible only if

investments follow government efforts. We note with satisfaction that a

number of developing countries have taken steps to offer greater legal

security to foreign investors with respect to freedom of enterprise, fiscal

matters and mobility of capital and profits. Such measures contribute to the

creation of a better investment climate.

We have to concern ourselves now more than ever with the social aspects

of development. Profit is not a goal in itself. Income redistribution must

allow for the full personal development of every individual within a society

based on solidarity. This solidarity must extend to future generations. The

rights of workers, as well as their families, their cultural heritage and

their environment, must therefore be protected. The World Conference on

Social Development, to be held in 1995, will provide us an opportunity to give

these goals and principles the high priority they deserve.

International economic cooperation can flourish only on the basis of

political will and effective mechanisms. This explains the vital importance

of several international negotiating processes, either in progress or already

being finalized, being brought to a successful conclusion.

I should like to stress Belgium's attachment to the liberalization of

world trade as a driving force for economic growth and development. The

success of the Uruguay Round is the essential precondition for this.

Finally, the Rio de Janeiro Conference was a milestone in the process of

increasing collective awareness of the future of our planet, and Belgium will

attach the greatest importance to its follow-up. One of the crucial aspects

here concerns the financial mechanisms. We earnestly wish for a strengthening

of the structure of the global environment facility to adapt it better to the

various needs. This should also contribute to a greater convergence between

the international financial institutions of the Bretton Woods system and the

operational mechanisms of the United Nations family.

I could not possibly close this part of my statement without mentioning

the economic problems of a region to which we feel particularly close, namely

Africa. Current events are continually giving us cause for concern. Belgium,

however, refuses to give in to visions of catastrophe or what a fashionable

phrase defines as "Afro-pessimism".

In recent years Belgium has redefined its attitude and its commitments

towards Africa, first in areas where we could have to assume special

responsibilities. We warmly welcome the fact that the link between democracy,

human rights and development is now widely recognized and applied. We hope

that democratization will be understood at its true value, namely, for the

benefit of the people. The spirit which inspires us is not that of a new

paternalism: we wish to enter into cooperation as equal partners. In order

to support political renewal in Africa, my Government has just created a fund

to assist in the financing of democratic elections, the main beneficiary of

which will be the African continent. Furthermore, Belgium is actively using

its influence with its partners and in relevant international institutions to

ensure that the dawning of democracy is accompanied by an upturn in economic

activity. In the meantime, we have intensified our emergency aid in several

areas affected by conflict or natural disasters. My Government also welcomes

the fact that, as regards aid to Africa, it has established a fruitful working

relationship with Belgian and international non-governmental organizations.

Failure to respect the rights of the individual is another source of

tension and violence, as well as an impediment to economic and social progress.

We must clearly reaffirm the principle of the universality of basic

rights and freedoms which are inherent in human dignity. These rights cannot

be subject to various interpretations.

Respect for and the protection of human rights require stronger

monitoring mechanisms. An extraordinary session of the Human Rights

Commission took place last month in Geneva. The Commission strongly condemned

the serious and intolerable human rights abuses taking places in the former

Yugoslavia. Belgium warmly welcomes this rapid reaction and

would like to see it serve as an example in the future.

Belgium would also like to see the coming World Conference on Human

Rights lead to a reaffirmation of the international commitments by States and

a strengthening of cooperation in the world community. We appeal to all

countries to strive in a constructive spirit for the success of this

Conference.

We are already in favour of a role for the Security Council in certain

cases of particularly flagrant or large-scale violations of human rights.

This is why Belgium insisted on having the Council hear Mr. van der Stoel on

the human rights situation in Iraq.

This is a delicate subject, as we are well aware. But international law

is evolving, and since information has virtually lost its borders, frontiers

are fading for injustice as well. Ultimately, States simply have to respect

the international commitments they have undertaken as sovereign Powers.

The unbreakable link between democracy and respect for human rights is

also put in concrete terms in the United Nations system through the question

of electoral assistance. Numerous requests for such assistance are currently

being addressed to the Secretariat. In order to give an adequate response,

precise standards must be established. The existing mechanisms which allow

for some forms of electoral assistance must be fully used. This session of

the General Assembly should enable us to clarify matters where necessary.

The growing number of ethnic conflicts poses a special problem, half-way

between the traditional questions of human rights and the exercise of the

right to self-determination. Consequently, the protection of ethnic

minorities deserves special attention at this time.

In Europe, we continue to believe, in spite of recent disappointments,

that the rules developed by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in

Europe (CSCE) remain valid. The right to self-determination must in no case

be put forward to justify excesses and cruelties committed in its name.

Besides, the protection of minorities should not necessarily or indeed

exclusively be placed under the banner of self-determination. I wish to

repeat what I said in the early part of my statement - for this seems to me to

be a fundamental truth: excessive invocation of the principle of

self-determination leads straight to a caricature of national sovereignty.

It is necessary therefore to explore viable alternatives: real

administrative decentralization, cultural autonomy, federal or confederate

systems. The claims of minorities are above all the collective expression of

a specific dignity and of human rights which cannot be trodden underfoot or

ignored. Once this truth has been admitted, approaches more conciliatory than

blind nationalism become possible. This is my hope for the future of the

minorities issue.

The current world situation has prompted me to concentrate my reflections

around the role of the United Nations in maintaining international peace and

security, in the fight against underdevelopment and in the protection of human

rights. In none of these fields can we hope to achieve lasting improvements

without strengthened regional cooperation.

As we approach the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the United

Nations Charter, in a world very different from the one its authors knew, the

need for complementarity between the regional and global spheres has become

obvious. We must work to define its modalities. At a time when Belgium is

close to the end of its term of membership in the Security Council, I am

pleased to note that this debate is taking place above all as regards the

establishment and maintenance of peace.