Croatia, 2006

At the outset, allow me to

join other delegations in congratulating the President

of the General Assembly on her election and to express

my deep conviction that, under her skilful leadership,

this session will achieve remarkable results.

Allow me also to extend my country’s sentiments

of deepest appreciation to Secretary-General Kofi

Annan. His relentless work for a better world has been

most remarkable. Leading the United Nations for 10

years in very sensitive times, his achievements,

humanism, vision and initiatives have crucially

contributed to the Organization. That has been

recognized worldwide. I wish him all the best in his

future engagements and thank him.

We live in a fragile world — a world disturbed

and unsettled, a world that is marked by conflicts,

controversies and confrontations of an entirely new

nature. The architecture and mindsets of yesterday’s

world are giving way to a web of new challenges.

Yesterday, it was all about blocs, ideologies, the cold

war and appeasement. Today, it is all about ethnicity,

conflicts, burning regions, colliding religions, mass

destruction, terror and poverty.

Today, international order is marked by three

extremely demanding and global challenges: global

tensions, global imbalances and global constraints. In

that triangle, we need to strive to deliver sustainable

solutions. Our responsibility is enormous — indeed,

even as we seek to ensure global opportunities,

freedom and shared values, this new world in the

making is in danger of lapsing into mistrust,

disagreements and divisions.

We live in a world of extraordinary inequalities in

opportunity, but our world is also a global and

interdependent one, where a broad sharing of economic

and political opportunities could serve as an effective

instrument for economic growth and development. In

so doing, we can start turning the internationally

agreed development goals, including the Millennium

Development Goals, into action.

My country is aware that a greater mobilization

of domestic resources in developing countries is a

necessity. Croatia has made significant progress in

creating an enabling environment for partnership and

innovation. Tremendous changes have taken place in

the development of a market economy, changing

ownership structures, creating a business environment,

and reforms in the public and private sector. Above all,

Croatia has progressed in ensuring domestic

democratic stability and a prosperous international

position as a framework for long-term development.

Croatia supports the commitments to the goals

and targets deriving from the United Nations summits

in Monterrey and Johannesburg, and the related

processes, such as the Doha Development Agenda and

the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. We also

support the emphasis on achieving the targets in

developed countries for official development assistance

based on actual needs — rising from today’s 0.33 per

cent of gross national income to at least 0.51 per cent

by 2010 and 0.7 per cent by 2015 — to meet the

Millennium Development Goals and each country’s

absorption capacity. We recognize that mobilizing

financial resources for development and the effective

use of those resources in developing countries are

central to a global partnership for development.

Still, simply raising the level of official

development assistance is not enough to enable the

international community to fulfil its obligations

towards the countries in need. It is also necessary to

contribute to a more equitable distribution of aid that,

unfortunately, quite often remains outside the regular

economic and financial flows. Croatia also welcomes

initiatives to enhance the quality of aid and to increase

its impact, bearing in mind the fact that progress both

for donors and for partner countries can be facilitated

by the harmonization efforts at the international and

regional levels. Therefore, we stress the need for an

integrated approach among international institutions.

06-52885 38

Croatia recognizes the needs of Africa, especially

sub-Saharan Africa and the least developed and

landlocked developing States, as well as the special

vulnerabilities of small island developing States. We

are therefore pleased that those groups of countries

received specific reference in the Outcome Document

of 2005, thus emphasizing their particular needs and

circumstances. The less fortunate must not be left

behind. Special attention should be given to countries

emerging from wars and undergoing a costly, complex

and highly demanding post-conflict management

process.

Croatia strongly supports yesterday’s official

launching of the International Drug Purchase Facility

initiative. We see it as a significant step forward and

express our hopes that all countries will render their

contribution.

As a contributor to various United Nations

programmes and funds, my country confirms its

capacity to support the activities of the United Nations

in numerous fields. We will increasingly continue to do

so. During the past few years, Croatia has started to

contribute voluntarily to a number of United Nations

activities, programmes and bodies: the United Nations

Children’s Fund, the United Nations Trust Fund for

African Development and the Office of the High

Commissioner for Human Rights, to mention but a few.

Being a small country, Croatia has limited financial

and human resources, but that will not hinder us from

sharing, helping and assisting.

Global economic and human development must

remain in our focus, but as we meet today, the focus is

very much on global tensions and instability. Today,

many ongoing regional crises continue to cause great

humanitarian tragedies around the world, seriously

destabilizing regional and global security. Those arcs

of instability are creating a network of fear and anger

across many parts of the world. Terrorism is taking on

new dimensions and forms. Weapons of mass

destruction are yet another cause of grave concern.

Economic imbalances and social impediments are

becoming new sources of instability across the world.

Religious divisions and misunderstandings add a new

and dangerous dimension to insecurity in the world.

The significant growth of international terrorism

has caused an unhealthy atmosphere of mistrust,

religious and cultural intolerance, and grave

infringements of human rights. Those consequences

have in time developed into their own separate and

extremely dangerous problems that exponentially

threaten already fragile international relations.

The Republic of Croatia, as a member of the

global anti-terrorist coalition, strongly condemns

international terrorism in all its forms and

manifestations and, bearing in mind the ever-evolving

threat of terrorism — especially weapons of mass

destruction and cyber-terrorism — calls for even

stronger global cooperation in the suppression of that

modern-day scourge.

We must prove to our nations that we will stay

firm and united against terrorism. In that light, a strong

commitment to achieving a global consensus on a

definition of terrorism and a final adoption of the

comprehensive convention on international terrorism

are very much needed and would reaffirm the central

role of the United Nations in the suppression of

terrorism. It that respect, we welcome the United

Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, launched

yesterday, and express our hope that all countries will

implement it.

The Republic of Croatia has established very

good cooperation with the United Nations, especially

the Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee

and its Executive Directorate. Additionally, on 15 and

16 May, a Monitoring Team for the implementation of

Security Council resolution 1267 (1999) visited

Croatia and met with representatives of all relevant

Government bodies involved in the suppression of

terrorism.

Year by year, we continue our great cooperation

with the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the United

Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna, which

has resulted in a recently held national expert

workshop on international cooperation in criminal

matters related to terrorism, organized through our

joint cooperation in June this year in Valbandon,

Croatia.

Weapons of mass destruction and a common

approach to non-proliferation must remain our focus.

Responsibility for world peace and security must

continue to be the key guideline in dealing with that

grave challenge. The rules and standards must be

globally accepted and the United Nations and its

specialized institutions and agencies must continue to

play a pivotal role.

39 06-52885

My country won its liberty only a decade ago.

Aggression and crises in our part of Europe presented

the entire international community with a new

challenge at that time. Regional conflicts emerged as

the new and disturbing roots of new dangers to

international peace, and they remain a challenge in

many parts of the world. In that light, stability and

peace in South-East Europe and post-conflict

management and cooperation must be viewed as a

success for the international community and the

countries involved.

My country played and continues to play a

prominent and leading role in providing for long-term

stability, cooperation and democratic development for

all of South-East Europe, based on the commonly

shared vision of a new, united and secure Europe.

Already negotiating future full membership in the

European Union, and based on the progress of reforms

in the military and the security sector — as well as

standing at the threshold of NATO membership —

Croatia is today an anchor of stability, security and

cooperation. Croatia is therefore an indispensable

partner in the historical transformation of that often-

troubled and critically important region for European

and world peace, transforming it into a zone of modern

society and democratic standards and values.

Croatia’s specific position as a Central European,

Danubian and Mediterranean country provides added

value in bilateral and multilateral contacts and

experience, stemming from its participation in

numerous global, European and regional organizations

and initiatives in the fields of security, democratic

development and economic cooperation, including

Croatia’s current presidency of the South-East

European Cooperation Process.

Stability, democratic development and

cooperation, as well as the resolution of remaining

open issues and completing the security architecture of

that part of Europe, will also have to be closely linked

to the indispensability of the protection and promotion

of universal values, the rule of law, human rights and

democracy, as well as their interrelationship with

security and development.

Croatia supports efforts to accelerate democracy’s

movement around the world, particularly through such

intergovernmental organizations as the Community of

Democracies. Last year, as a signatory of the Warsaw

Declaration of the Community of Democracies, the

Republic of Croatia contributed to the founding of the

United Nations Democracy Fund to reaffirm its

commitment to encouraging other countries on their

path to democratization.

Croatia welcomes the fact that the International

Criminal Court (ICC) has begun work on its first cases.

We attach great importance to the continuation of the

ICC’s successful work. Croatia also welcomes the fact

that the number of States parties to the Rome Statute

has reached and surpassed 100, and we hope that the

number will continue to rise. The Republic of Croatia

also supports the work of the International Criminal

Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in pursuing

its completion strategy. Croatia continues to fully

cooperate with the ICTY as part of our own

advancement towards the rule of law, and also as an

indicator and impetus for the region, with the aim of

overcoming the legacy of the recent past in South-East

Europe.

The Republic of Croatia has been a member of

numerous United Nations bodies and very active in

organizing and hosting conferences and other

multilateral activities. My country is now ready to take

the next step in strengthening our responsibility as a

Member of the United Nations. For that reason, the

Republic of Croatia has presented its candidature for a

non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the

term 2008-2009 at the elections to be held in 2007.

Croatia recognizes the importance of global

multilateralism, as well as the growing significance of

regional organizations in tackling the challenges of

today’s world. The role of the United Nations in the

promotion of international cooperation for

development and the achievement of the development

goals agreed by the international community must

remain fundamental, pivotal and re-energized. We also

welcome the strengthening of coordination within the

United Nations system, in close cooperation with all

other multilateral financial, trade and development

institutions, in order to support sustained economic

growth and sustainable development.

Allow me to refer to one of the messages of the

Outcome Document of last year’s Summit — namely,

the notion that there will be no development without

security and no security without development. We

acknowledge that peace and security, development and

human rights are the pillars of the United Nations

system and the basis of our collective security and

06-52885 40

well-being. We recognize that development, peace,

security and human rights are interdependent and

mutually reinforcing. In facing that challenge, the

United Nations system is called on to play an enhanced

development role.

Croatia welcomes the inauguration of the Human

Rights Council and considers it to be a milestone for

the global promotion of human rights. My country also

welcomes the establishment of the Peacebuilding

Commission, which arose from the need for a

coordinated and integrated approach to post-conflict

peacebuilding.

My country is pleased to have been elected to the

Peacebuilding Commission in May, and I would like to

use this opportunity to thank all the States that voted

for us and placed their confidence in Croatia. Our wish

is to contribute actively to the United Nations system

of collective security in an effective and transparent

way, as embodied in the Charter and aligned with the

Millennium Declaration.

Croatia welcomes another visible result of the

efforts to reform the United Nations — the

establishment of the Human Rights Council as the

main standing body of the United Nations on human

rights.

Now, allow me to share some remarks on one of

the most important tasks we need to address.

In this fragile world, the need for an efficient and

democratic world body is ever increasing. The Summit

of heads of State and Government held in 2005

provided us with a platform for further action toward

the reform of our Organization. There has been noted

progress on several important reform issues, but we

cannot be satisfied with the pace of the process. My

country believes that the reform of the Organization

and of the Security Council must justly take account of

the interests of all. Croatia advocates the enlargement

of the Security Council in both the permanent and non-

permanent categories of membership, based on

appropriate regional representation in which the

Eastern European Group would have two non-

permanent seats. It is of the utmost importance in a

new, enlarged Council to have an appropriate number

of representatives of the developing countries of the

South and better representation of small and medium-

sized countries.

Additionally, the reform of the Council should

extend to its working methods and its interaction with

other principal bodies of the Organization, first and

most importantly the Economic and Social Council.

That would strengthen the United Nations in a wide

range of areas, including peace and security,

development and human rights. There is also a need to

improve United Nations management practices and

working methods to raise the whole system to a higher

level of transparency and accountability.

Mindful that peace and security are prerequisites

for economic and social prosperity, Croatia would like

to remain engaged in and responsive to current

concerns on reforming the United Nations system in

order to make it a stronger and more effective

Organization for times to come. That is our common

responsibility. We need to act today in order to prepare

ourselves in a timely manner for the challenges of

tomorrow.

Although one third of the entire Millennium

Development Goals period is already behind us, the

targets set are, regrettably, not being met at the desired

pace. That must be changed as a matter of urgency, as

it is undoubtedly an issue affecting the future security

and stability of the world. We must move forward in

assisting developing countries and other countries in

need to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

As I mentioned at the outset of my address,

Croatia has presented its candidature for a non-

permanent seat on the Security Council for the term

2008-2009, the elections for which are to be held in

2007. I feel the need to stress that Croatia’s candidacy

is, above all, a measure of Croatia’s responsibility.

I have mentioned the fragility of today’s world. I

have not mentioned the fragility, uncertainties and

challenges that Croatia experienced in the recent past.

They are well known, but at the same time they are the

source of our understanding of and responsiveness to

the needs of a fragile world. We believe that we can

contribute to building a new cooperative world in

responding to our new challenges and to enhancing our

Organization. Croatian membership in the Security

Council would also serve as a telling demonstration of

the success of the peace process in South-East Europe.

My country went through a successful transition

from being a country receiving peacekeeping forces to

one that is now a contributor to 11 of the 18 United

Nations peacekeeping operations in various regions

41 06-52885

throughout the world. Croatia also provides training

and hosts international courses in the field of

peacebuilding. We are therefore well aware of the

added value that countries that have rebuilt their

national capacities bring to the credibility of such an

important body for the cause of international peace,

security and development. Croatia stands determined to

continue to support peace efforts and a strengthened

United Nations role on a regional and global level.