Czech Republic, 2011

Allow me to congratulate you,

Sir, on your election to the very important post of the

highest representative of the General Assembly at its

sixty-sixth session.

A few days ago New York City and the entire

world remembered the tenth anniversary of the tragic

events of 11 September. I should like to use this

opportunity to pay homage to all the victims and to the

firefighters and other rescue workers who died in

connection with the 2001 attacks. We should not forget

them.

The main topic suggested for the sixty-sixth

session — the mediation of disputes by peaceful

means — is at the very core of the United Nations

Charter, and I can assure members it is also at the core

of the foreign policy principles of the country I have

the privilege to represent, the Czech Republic. Nineteen years ago the dissolution of

Czechoslovakia was negotiated peacefully from within,

without any need for external mediation. Our

experience tells us that if a solution to any country’s

aspirations to sovereignty and freedom, or a solution to

a dispute among countries, is to be lasting and

acceptable for the citizens of those countries, that

solution must primarily come from within the region

itself and from the negotiations of the countries

concerned. In the same spirit, the Czech Republic is

convinced, with regard to the most important issue of

this session of the General Assembly, that it is

necessary for the two sides in the Israeli-Palestinian

dispute to find a way forward themselves.

I agree with President Obama that there is no

shortcut to ending a conflict that has endured for

decades. It requires that both sides take an innovative

approach and overcome some old, inflexible and rigid

schemes of thought. It requires both sides to negotiate

and to find a balanced solution that will last. Such a

solution cannot come through unilateral steps, neither

those forced by the United Nations nor the steps taken

by one side of the dispute only.

The Czech Republic successfully completed the

transition from communism to democracy, and, based

on that experience, we wish the countries of North

Africa to make progress in the same direction. We

know it is not an easy path. To remove several leading

politicians is not the crucial aspect of the much-needed

systemic change.

When the Iron Curtain fell in Europe more than

20 years ago, I used to talk about three mutually

interconnected preconditions for successful

transformation: a clear and transparent concept of

where to go, a feasible strategy how to get there, and to

be able to motivate the citizens of the country to

11-51185 8

promote it. I still do not see these preconditions in

some of the countries of North Africa.

By saying that, I want to stress that the systemic

change cannot be agreed upon or prearranged at

international conferences. It cannot be mediated or

passively acquired as a foreign investment. It is a

domestic task and a sequence of policies, not a once-

for-all policy change.

There is something we can do, however. We can

and should increase our efforts to cooperate with the

countries of North Africa. We should not forget that

there is a complementarity between freedom and trade.

Our relations — and now I speak especially about us,

the European Union member States — with the

countries of North Africa should be based on free

trade, which means on trade with a minimum of

regulation and arbitrary standards. Prosperity in the

countries of North Africa is a guarantee of stability and

is also a precondition for preventing growing migration

to the countries in Southern and Western Europe.

I should also like to mention another issue that I

see as crucial, that of nuclear energy. I welcome the

fact that the Secretary-General called for a special

meeting on this topic. The Czech Republic pays the

highest possible attention to nuclear safety and security

and supports the further development of nuclear

energy.

What happened in Japan in March this year was a

serious natural catastrophe, and there are certainly

lessons to be learned from it. The main lesson is

obvious. Even coastal locations, which are seen as

seismically stable for urban planning, can be affected

by earthquakes far away under the sea. Nuclear power

plants should be built in locations that are the least

prone to damage by natural disasters. Yet after the

tsunami hit the Fukushima power plant, some

Governments decided not to build new nuclear power

plants and some even to abandon nuclear energy as

such.

Speaking for the Czech Republic, we consider

that what happened in Fukushima did not by any means

question the arguments for nuclear energy. These

arguments are strong, economically rational and

convincing. Nuclear power is a stable, legitimate and,

in some countries, irreplaceable source of energy

today.

Let me conclude by saying that the Czech

Republic continues to support the much-needed reform

of the Security Council. The world has changed

considerably since the United Nations Charter was

signed. New countries must take greater responsibility

for this Organization and for its financing.

This year the Czech Republic holds the

presidency of the Executive Board of the United

Nations Development Programme, which supports

projects in 177 countries. We support that Programme

but want to stress that in order for developing countries

to develop, all kinds of unnecessary barriers, standards,

regulations and other constraints in the developed

world must first be removed.

I wish the President every success in his office

and assure him that the Czech Republic will continue

to be an active Member of the United Nations.