Czech Republic, 1993

Mr. President, let

me start by congratulating you on your election to this high

office. I am sure that under your leadership this year’s

General Assembly will be particularly successful and

effective.

Today is the first time that a representative of the

Czech Republic has had the honour to address the United

Nations General Assembly as part of the general debate.

The Czech Republic is indeed a new State. Still, the

division of Czechoslovakia is nothing to be happy about. It

is always better for equal communities to unite than to

separate. However, once we determined that the continued

existence of Czechoslovakia could not be assured by quiet

and peaceful means, we strove to separate peacefully. While

in other parts of the world similar separations are frequently

accompanied by terror and violence, in our country not a

single window pane was broken. This experience makes us

believe that good will and common sense can lead to

peaceful settlements, even of problems traditionally

accompanied by violence.

The Czech Republic is currently undergoing profound

political and economic changes. On the political side, we

are constructing a democratic regime in what used to be the

communist world. The Government has proven to be a

stable one. Meanwhile, we emphasize human rights, and our

robust press freedom as well as our human-rights record

have been recognized even by very finicky non-partisan

international organizations.

On the economic side, the Czech Republic has also

chalked up certain successes. Privatization of property that

was formerly State-owned is continuing apace. Prices are

being freed so that they can find their natural, market-driven

level. Meanwhile, we have managed to maintain tight

monetary policies, keep inflation and unemployment at rather

modest levels, and hold to a balanced budget. We live

within our means.

In this context, let me emphasize one thing. We are

managing the process of economic transformation with our

own efforts and our own resources. We do not ask for

direct financial assistance. We do not seek to siphon off

scarce development resources from countries whose situation

Forty-eighth session - 6 October 1993 13

is much worse than ours. We tell our friends from

developed countries, "We seek trade not aid from you.

Open your markets to us, not your pocketbooks." Actually,

open markets would benefit all of us, whether our economies

are developed or developing, settled or in transition. This is

why we are convinced that the successful conclusion of the

Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and

Trade would finally benefit us all.

In addition to the transition of our domestic political

system and the transformation of our economic system, we

have also modified our foreign policy. One of our foreign

policy priorities concerns Slovakia. Over the last months,

the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic have been

learning how to live together as two independent countries,

rather than as two regions of the same country. We have

concluded a series of agreements and treaties, and have

become used to having an international border between us -

a border, I stress, which is peaceful.

We are assuming our natural place in Europe. My

country has recently been accepted as a member of the

Council of Europe, which my President is about to address

in a day or two. Just two days ago in Luxembourg I signed

a Europe Agreement with the European Economic

Community. Also unmistakable is the transatlantic

dimension of our diplomacy, as exemplified by our activities

within the Conference on Security and Cooperation in

Europe (CSCE) and the North Atlantic Council for

Cooperation (NACC), and by our interest in joining the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Our relations with the developing world have also been

changing. On the one hand, there is a long history of

friendly relations with many countries which we are now

trying to put on a new and more balanced footing. On the

other hand, we are seeking cooperation with a number of

important countries which until recently had been ignored for

political reasons. Thousands of physicians and technicians

from the developing world who have been trained in our

universities act today as so many goodwill ambassadors for

us. I am sure that in a short time we will be able to provide

appropriate economic assistance to needy regions of the

world, preferably through multilateral channels.

Our foreign policy is that of a small country and

reflects that country’s position in Europe and in the world.

It is, however, an independent foreign policy which is not

beholden to anyone and which does not blindly copy the

foreign policy of any other country.

The end of the cold war era is connected with the fall

of European communism, and its consequences have not yet

been fully grasped. While the danger of a world nuclear

catastrophe has significantly abated, conflicts provoked by

political, ethnic, religious, social and economic disputes have

flared up. Meanwhile, rays of hope have appeared in

regions where we perhaps did not expect them. I have in

mind the prospects for a peaceful settlement in the Middle

East, the shaping of a democratic process in the Republic of

South Africa and last, but not least, the success of the

United Nations in Cambodia.

In recent days we have been following with great

concern developments in the Russian Federation. We had

hoped that Russia’s problems would be settled peacefully,

but the anti-reformist opposition initiated violence. Free and

democratic elections are the only solution to the situation.

Elections will determine whether those who waved the

Russian flag in Moscow or those who waved the communist

red flag should guide Russia’s future.

Post-cold-war conflicts have shaken many of the values,

principles and certainties with which we have been living.

Nowhere have these values been questioned as radically and

as viciously as in the countries of the former Yugoslavia

during the several wars that have taken place there in recent

years. Wars in the former Yugoslavia, the Caucasus and

elsewhere have made us aware of the need to ask old

questions anew, to re-examine concepts that have been basic

to international politics since the Second World War.

These questions concern, for example,

self-determination; the role of internal borders as new States

emerge; non-interference in internal affairs; international

recognition of new States and its timing; and probably

others. We will need to scrutinize them far more daringly

and rigorously and with far greater imagination. Here, I

think, is where some of the greatest challenges for the

United Nations will arise in the immediate future. This is

treacherous ground, but it might offer one possible vehicle

in the search for guidance in the times ahead.

Today, however, the fighting in Bosnia and

Herzegovina seems to be resulting in a division of that

country along ethnic lines. We find the enforced

coincidence of statehood with ethnicity odious. We cherish

the principle of a civic society in which citizens enjoy equal

rights regardless of their ethnic background, mother tongue

or religious creed. By contrast, we feel that ethnic, not to

mention religious, purity is a concept from another age,

irrelevant in the modern world. We regard as inadmissible

any violent changes of frontiers as well as "ethnic cleansing"

14 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

accompanied by massive and flagrant violations of human

rights.

One need not stress how important for my country -

particularly when it was not free - was adherence to human

rights, including their codification by the United Nations.

Individual, universally valid human rights and their

observance are inseparably linked to democracy and

prosperity. This year’s World Conference on Human Rights

held in Vienna was an important turning-point. In our

opinion, a more effective use of the means spent on the

protection of human rights, the concentration of activities

into one body, and the establishment of the office of a high

commissioner for human rights would be steps in the right

direction.

The Czech Republic is proud of its share in the work

of the United Nations. Let me mention some of our

contributions. Currently we have military observers in

Mozambique and in the former Yugoslavia. Two more

teams are to be deployed in Georgia and in Liberia. Others

have helped keep the peace in Angola and in Somalia. We

have an infantry battalion stationed in Croatia under the

command of the United Nations Protection Force. Our

civilian observers monitored Haiti’s elections. Our military

participated in the liberation of Kuwait. Our specialists are

working for the United Nations Special Commission. A

large group of security personnel is about to join the United

Nations guard contingent in Iraq. Our officers also served

for 40 years on the armistice line in Korea as members of

the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission.T h i s

demonstrates our tradition of service to the international

community, a tradition of shouldering our fair share of the

international burden.

Along different lines, we have participated for 30 years

in the work of the United Nations decolonization Committee.

And as I look around this Hall, I realize that there is not a

single country among the 130 or so which have been

admitted after the founding of the United Nations that we

would not have helped assume its seat here.

As members of the Assembly know, the Czech

Republic is running in elections for one of the non--

permanent seats on the Security Council. We are running on

our record - our record of service and the record of our

experience. On this basis I ask members for their support in

the forthcoming elections.

As many have already mentioned in the general debate,

the world is different than it was 50 years ago.

Consequently, the United Nations and its Security Council

have reached a turning-point. Still, it is the considered

opinion of my Government that, on the whole, the Security

Council now serves us well. In the past few years, it has

ceased to be a mere side-show in world politics. Indeed, it

has frequently come to occupy centre stage. As a result, the

Council and the United Nations as a whole are striving to

meet the rising expectations the world is pinning on them.

Whatever changes we suggest, we must proceed

responsibly in efforts to reform the Council, in the spirit of

mutual understanding and consensus. The Security Council

must adapt to the new political, economic, social and

security realities of the world. Some countries have become

important members of the international community. An

expansion of the Security Council must above all respect

principles of effectiveness and responsibility for

implementing its own decisions. A just geographical

representation is equally important.

However, some changes should be made today. There

is a certain sense of frustration among non-members of the

Security Council, which is steadily increasing the number of

its informal meetings behind closed doors. We need greater

transparency. We need more communication. We need a

better balance between the Council and the General

Assembly.

In this respect, distributing the monthly agenda of the

Security Council to Members is a welcome first step.

Inviting the chairmen of regional groups for briefings is also

helpful. I am sure that the Council will find further

measures along these lines that could be implemented

immediately. If the Czech Republic is elected, my

Permanent Mission will try to identify other such measures.

The credibility of the United Nations hangs on, inter

alia, the performance of some 80,000 military and civilian

members of United Nations forces in 17 peace-keeping

operations all over the world. Crisis management now

includes not only the classical separation of adversaries but

also the protection of humanitarian convoys, the monitoring

of elections and the observance of human rights. Peace-

keepers are sent more often to countries where there are no

functioning Governments and where agreements are worth

only the paper they are written on. Thus, Blue Helmets are

increasingly becoming the targets of uncontrolled armed

groups. Even as we hold this general debate, members of

peace-keeping forces are dying in clashes with warlords.

The Czech Republic welcomes the intensifying

discussion of the Secretary-General’s "An Agenda for

Peace". The resolution adopted at the forty-seventh session

Forty-eighth session - 6 October 1993 15

of the General Assembly is a first step, however small, in

the right direction. However, much more intensive

cooperation not only among Member States but also between

Member States and the United Nations Secretariat is needed

in order to create an effective mechanism of functioning

peace-keeping. The work of our Organization must

correspond to the changing character of peace-keeping. One

interesting idea is the proposal to create a working group

under the auspices of the Security Council that would review

these issues and prepare proposals and recommendations.

The considerable number of regional and domestic

conflicts is a part of the global security picture. Cooperation

between the United Nations and regional institutions is

another useful instrument for solving them. The Conference

on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) is one

organization that plays an important role in the Euro-Asian

area. The first formal step towards cooperation between the

United Nations and the CSCE was resolution 47/10, adopted

at the last session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Not by accident, the cooperation and coordination of these

two organizations was formalized during Czechoslovakia’s

presidency of the CSCE. The limited resources of both

organizations force us to try to coordinate and complement

their operations and missions.

Guided by our own vital interests, we have been

striving to develop closer cooperation and interaction with

organizations capable of giving effective security guarantees.

This, however, does not mean we want passively to let

others look after our security. On the contrary, we wish to

be active participants in this two-way process. This effort

involves, for example, the following: first, our constructive

contribution, as a country with an advanced nuclear industry,

towards the strengthening of the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its extension

beyond 1995; secondly, the adoption of obligations to reduce

the risks of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and

their means of delivery, particularly through joining the

Missile Technology Control Regime and the so-called

Australia Group; and thirdly, the early ratification and

thorough implementation of the Convention on the

Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and

Use of Chemical Weapons.

A financial crisis is threatening our Organization. The

financial discipline of Member States is but one prerequisite

for improving the situation. Equally important is the need

to make more effective use of available resources and to

strengthen the control of Member States in using them. We

need to make better use of existing control mechanisms. We

favour the creation of a strong, meaningful post of an

inspector general.

The United Nations system also pays great attention to

the problems of social development, and a lot of good work

has been done since development programmes and

specialized agencies were established. The Czech Republic

considers the problems of economic and social development

to be one of the priorities for international policy-making, as

these issues directly influence other current burning issues,

such as local and ethnic wars, drugs, poverty and

undernourishment in some regions of the world.

However, despite the numerous successes of specialized

agencies, there is considerable space for further improvement

of their performance and efficiency. We think there is room

for improvement in, inter alia, focusing more carefully on

specific targets; eliminating overlap in some activities;

utilizing available resources more effectively; reducing

bureaucracy and enhancing flexibility; and developing

greater cooperation among agencies.

Environmental issues are also high on our agenda, as

parts of our country are in the most environmentally

devastated areas of the world. The situation is not only

taking its toll on people’s health but is also undermining the

economy of the country as a whole. Sustainable

development is more than a new-fangled catchword for us:

in our country, it means finding the right balance between

environmental concerns and aspirations of development.

The United Nations Conference on Environment and

Development (UNCED) was an important step forward in

tackling this problem in all its dimensions. All

UNCED-related decisions adopted at the forty-seventh

session of the United Nations General Assembly are very

important. The Czech Republic will take part in their

implementation, even if not all of them relate directly to its

national interests. We welcome the creation of the

Commission on Sustainable Development. The mandate of

the Commission, its programme of work and the experience

it has accumulated even during the short period of its

existence indicate its budding importance. The Czech

Republic, as a member of the Commission, is seriously

involved in its work.

Central and Eastern parts of Europe border on a zone

of instability. We have gained priceless experience in

solving problems resulting from the disintegration of the

totalitarian world, even as we perceive the world through the

eyes of a stable European democracy. This dual vision can

help us identify risks and seek their solutions. We feel we

16 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

have something to contribute, and we are prepared to

shoulder our share of responsibility for world affairs. This

is one of the reasons why the Czech Republic submitted its

candidacy as a non-permanent member of the Security

Council. We believe we will be able effectively to use our

experience and our perception of the world, and we hope

that you will all support us.