Estonia, 1997

Mr. President, first of all I

would like to congratulate you on your election as President

of the General Assembly at this session. We wish you

success in this responsible task in a year that will be of

great importance for the Organization.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express

our gratitude to the previous President of the Assembly,

Ambassador Ismail, who showed exceptional commitment

to the reform initiatives throughout the fifty-first session.

That recently concluded session was an important step

towards a reinforced United Nations which, with its

universal membership, will have to be able to deal with

serious problems facing the world today.

We expect the fifty-second session of the General

Assembly to be a decisive landmark in the renewal and

restructuring of the United Nations — a major endeavour

undertaken by Member States several years ago. In this

respect we would like to pay tribute to the Secretary-

General, who presented his report on this question to the

General Assembly on 16 July. My Government lends its

full support to Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his

efforts. We also note with satisfaction that part of this

package has already been implemented.

Estonia is looking forward to an agreement within

the foreseeable future concerning a response by Member

States to the Secretary-General’s proposals. It is our

sincere hope that Members will deal with this matter in a

constructive manner and that a generally acceptable

scheme for reforming the United Nations will be agreed

upon. We are confident that all Member States will

benefit from the reform of the Organization.

I would now like to focus my address on points of

specific relevance to present needs in the reform package.

The aim of reform as a whole is to adapt the Organization

to its new challenges, to make it more effective and

efficient, more manageable and modern in every way. We

are now remodelling this Organization to make it

compatible with the twenty-first century. The world has

changed — the United Nations has to change with it.

Having criteria for the appraisal of performance seems to

be of crucial importance. Result-based budgeting should

assure a strengthened linkage between intergovernmental

mandates and their efficient implementation. Enhanced

cost effectiveness envisaged for 1998-1999 is also an

encouraging sign.

Estonia lends strong support to the idea of cutting

the number of agenda items for future sessions. We also

find the idea of consolidating the representation of

different United Nations funds and programmes in

Member States on common premises and under one flag to

be very attractive. United Nations Houses would enhance

the visibility of the Organization and provide a valuable

source of information about it and its activities. I would

like to note the positive experience Estonia has gathered in

cooperation with the local United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP) country office. Many programmes

vital to Estonia have materialized owing to the support of

the UNDP. We highly appreciate this cooperation and hope

that the future United Nations House will be able to use

that valuable expertise.

The financing of the United Nations is a question that

interests all of us. Without adequate financing, the

Organization would not be able to fulfil its mandate. This

fifty-second session of the General Assembly must assess

the impact of the Secretary-General’s proposed reforms on

the programme budget for 1998-1999 and define a new

scale of assessments for its Member States. Estonia

supports the Secretary-General’s reform measures aimed at

enhancing the Organization’s effectiveness and better

implementation of its programmes by reducing excessive

and unnecessary expenditures.

With regard to the new scale of assessments, Estonia

would like to see a more transparent scale based on the

fundamental principle of capacity to pay to be adopted. All

measures should lead towards putting the Organization on

a sound and predictable financial footing. We believe that

the main prerequisite for achieving this goal is that Member

States clear their arrears to the regular as well as to the

peacekeeping budgets. Estonia is committed to doing so.

We welcome the appointment of Mrs. Mary Robinson,

former President of Ireland, to the position of the High

Commissioner for Human Rights. Estonia supports the plan

for the consolidation of the Centre for Human Rights and

the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

into one office. We would also like to stress the importance

that we attach to adequate financing of the Organization’s

human rights machinery.

Two major events have occurred in the past year in

the field of economic and social cooperation. The first of

them was the adoption of the Agenda for Development.

Estonia shares the perception of the importance of

development issues for the United Nations. Health and

education should also be high priorities. The second such

event was the nineteenth special session of the General

Assembly, the aim of which was to review the

implementation of Agenda 21, the global plan of action for

sustainable development adopted in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

Although the special session acknowledged the positive

results which have been achieved since Rio, it also

expressed concern over worsened overall trends for

sustainable development. In this regard, we expect the

fifty-second session of the General Assembly to give

further political impetus to the implementation of the

mandates and tasks defined at the session.

In Estonia, we believe that our task today is to

provide the present generation with the safe, good-quality

living environment and resources needed to promote a

strong and diversified economy without compromising the

needs of future generations. For that reason, over the last

five years Estonia has signed, ratified and acceded to

more than 40 bilateral and multilateral environment

agreements and conventions. We have also established the

Governmental Commission on Sustainable Development,

led by the Prime Minister. Estonia is working closely

with the countries in the Baltic Sea area to develop a

Baltic region sustainable development strategy.

I would like to stress the importance that we attach

to the consideration of economic and social issues by the

General Assembly. With this in view, the work of the

Second and Third Main Committees should be

rationalized in order to avoid any overlap and duplication.

One of the central areas of the reform concerns

renewing the Security Council. This year, Member States

must continue efforts to achieve the goal of making the

Council more representative and to improve its working

methods. Estonia elaborated its position in cooperation

with a group of smaller like-minded countries. We

support enlargement in both existing categories. We also

view Germany and Japan as potential new permanent

members of the Council. The developing countries of

Asia, Africa and Latin America should also be

represented on a permanent basis.

Disarmament has been one of the United Nations

priority goals since its founding. In fact, disarmament

efforts have yielded considerable progress. The conclusion

of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty last year

was an important step forward.

One of the important responsibilities of the United

Nations is managing conflicts — acting rapidly in the

face of crises. Peacekeeping continues to be an important

activity of the Organization. In recent years, we have

been witnessing a change in the role of United Nations

peacekeeping missions. United Nations peacekeepers have

2

been facing the challenge of dealing with internal conflicts

throughout the world.

Estonia is continuing to take part in United Nations

peacekeeping. An Estonian company has recently completed

its successful deployment in the United Nations Interim

Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Together with Latvia and

Lithuania, we are looking forward to contributing a

battalion of peacekeepers to the United Nations

peacekeeping operations. The battalion, called BALTBAT,

will be operational from the beginning of 1998. I would

like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all Member

States of the Organization that have been participating in

this project. The initial experience of Baltic peacekeepers

in United Nations peacekeeping missions has shown how

regional cooperation evolves into global cooperation. The

Baltic preparedness to merge as a joint battalion is an

element strengthening regional security. It proves our

readiness to assume responsibility as well as our right to

choose our own means of security. Estonia is currently

contributing civilian police officers and military observers.

We have also joined the United Nations peacekeeping

standby arrangement.

We strongly believe in the cooperation of the United

Nations with regional organizations in all parts of the

world. Reliance on the expertise and capacities of these

organizations would allow us to avoid duplication and

allocate scarce resources in the most effective manner. We

do have examples of fruitful cooperation with regional

entities. In Europe, we have been witnessing joint United

Nations actions, in particular with the Organization for

Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe and with the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

We would like to note that the structure and

composition of regional organizations is changing. The

European Union and NATO are gradually opening to new

members. This is a very important phenomenon in the

process towards enhancing stability and security in our

region. Estonia associates its future with full membership

in both of these organizations.

In conclusion, let me express my sincere hope that on

the eve of the twenty-first century mankind is willing to

reverse its classical interpretation of the past so eloquently

expressed at the dawn of this century by the English

novelist and poet Thomas Hardy:

“War makes rattling good history; but Peace is poor

reading.” [Thomas Hardy, The Dynasts, pt. II, Spirit

Sinister]