Estonia, 2001

First of all, allow me to

congratulate Secretary-General Kofi Annan and all of

my colleagues on having received the Nobel Peace

Prize. There is no doubt that without the United

Nations, our world would be much less secure, with far

fewer prospects for resolving conflicts. I would also

like to commend the efforts that have been made

during the last few years to reform this Organization so

that it can better deal with the new challenges it has to

face. In addition, please allow me, Sir, to congratulate

you on having been elected President of the fifty-sixth

session of the General Assembly.

After the terrorist attacks of 11 September, it

became apparent that, when we are all confronted with

a common threat, many existing disputes and

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differences become insignificant. The United Nations

Member States together have condemned the terrorist

acts. It is of the utmost importance to maintain that

unity and persistently to reinforce it with concrete

actions. Terrorism is the ultimate challenge to our

common values, and our struggle against that threat has

only begun.

The destruction and elimination of terrorist

networks is a time-consuming task for which there are

no instant solutions. The United Nations does,

however, have effective measures at its disposal for

fighting terrorism: the international conventions that

the United Nations has adopted over the years and the

sanctions that can be applied to hamper terrorist

activities. The ratification of those conventions and the

enforcement of those sanctions by every United

Nations Member State is, at this moment, one of those

truly important tasks that it behoves all Members to

carry out. I am glad to be able to confirm that Estonia

has either already ratified, or is the middle of the

parliamentary procedures for ratifying, all of the

appropriate United Nations conventions. Estonia has

taken all necessary steps to apply Security Council

resolutions 1333 (2000) and 1373 (2001).

Estonia has improved and intensified cooperation

and the exchange of information with its neighbours

and partners. We have expressed our solidarity and

unreserved support to the United States in the fight

against terrorism. We have aligned ourselves with the

European Union’s 21 September anti-terrorist summit’s

final document and action plan. With our neighbours

Latvia and Lithuania, we have also formulated

common measures for preventing possible terrorist

attacks and for applying coordinated tactics in case we

become the victims of terrorist activities. We have

intensified international border controls and police

cooperation.

Many programmes that had been adopted earlier

are now proving to be extremely useful in the struggle

against terrorism. The Financial Action Task Force on

Money Laundering, for example, has given a high

rating to Estonia’s anti-money-laundering legislation.

A recent audit shows that Estonian banks have no

contractual relations with any organization or

individual alleged to be connected with international

terrorism.

The international political atmosphere in

Estonia’s immediate vicinity, the Baltic Sea region, is, I

am glad to report, peaceful, which is conducive to

stable development and good-neighbourly cooperation.

Up to now, Estonians have hardly had to deal with the

direct results of terrorism. But this fall’s terrorist

attacks were aimed directly at international peace and

stability. This means that now we, too, keenly sense the

danger that faces us all. This places the United Nations,

as the world Organization, at the centre of the ongoing

struggle.

The reform processes launched during the last

few years to reorganize and reform the United Nations

are also appropriate for dealing with current problems.

Now, however, we must ask ourselves if there is some

way that we can speed up and intensify these reforms

so as to better deal with the urgency of the prevailing

situation. In our new situation, I would bring forth

three well-worn and proven principles that apply not

only specifically to the United Nations, but to other

aspects of international cooperation as well.

First, we must once again ask ourselves how

exactly each of us can make the most fruitful

contribution. Secondly, what can we do to increase the

efficiency of the Organization? And thirdly, I would

like to stress the principle of openness.

First of all, let us deal with the matter of every

Member’s individual contribution. The United Nations

brings together Member States with a wide range of

resources and capabilities. Even the most successful

nation’s reserves and capacities, however, have a limit.

Therefore, it is only natural that every Member State

carefully evaluate how it can be the most useful. It is

equally important for Members to realistically assess

how high a level of development they have achieved,

and, when appropriate, to refrain from accepting aid in

favour of those who need it the most.

This is the flip side of development. As one rises

out of poverty and underdevelopment, one should also

grow up and become more responsible, acknowledging

that obligations rise along with living standards. Last

year, for example, Estonia decided to relinquish its

right to pay reduced contributions to the peacekeeping

budget. For Estonia, to give up the rights to such a

discount was not a step taken lightly — it was a

decision based on the Government’s realization that

with our rapid development, we had acquired new

responsibilities. The United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP) had, after all, found that Estonia

had developed to the point where the UNDP could

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terminate the activities of its mission in Estonia in

December 2000.

Of course, we miss working together with such a

useful cooperative agency as the UNDP representation

in Estonia. Yet we realize quite well that there are

many regions in the world which badly need their

assistance, while for Estonia the presence of the UNDP

mission is no longer essential. In other words,

maintaining the representation would be irresponsible

on our part, as it would use resources for which there is

a greater need elsewhere. This means that Estonia’s

cooperation with the United Nations and its agencies

has qualitatively advanced to a higher level. This has

been clearly demonstrated by the founding of the

United Nations Building project in Estonia. The

intention is to have the representation of various United

Nations agencies all under one roof. The fact that the

United Nations is gaining importance in the eyes of the

Estonian public is evidenced by, inter alia, the fact that

the Estonian United Nations Association has been

steadily increasing its activities.

During the last few years, Estonia has clearly

progressed from an aid recipient to an aid provider.

This transformation has been confirmed by, among

others, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and

Development (OECD) Development Assistance

Committee, which, in its 2000 yearbook, lists Estonia

for the first time as a donor nation. Therefore, those

who assisted Estonia during its now completed

transition phase can clearly see now that their aid has

borne fruit. We, in turn, are willing to share the

experience that we have gained in the course of the last

10 years. As a matter of fact, we have already

established cooperative efforts of this nature with

several countries.

I spoke earlier about how every Member State has

an obligation to evaluate how it can best help the

United Nations in its endeavours. Of equal importance

are the ongoing efforts to increase the effectiveness of

the Organization as a whole. In this light, I would

emphasize two aspects: reform of the Security Council

and the Brahimi report on improving United Nations

peacekeeping operations.

We must ensure that our cooperative efforts for

solving the urgent problems confronting us do not

become entangled in the deficiencies of the structure or

the working order of the Security Council. We all know

very well what these deficiencies are, and therefore our

common goal is quite clear: to increase the

representativeness, transparency and efficiency of the

Security Council. The enlivened discussions and the

shift towards greater openness in the work of the

Security Council give us hope. We supported the

strenuous efforts of Harri Holkeri, the General

Assembly’s previous President, to intensify the

activities of the Working Group dealing with reform.

We share the view that it is time to move from

discussions on to the negotiating phase.

Estonia supports the enlargement of the Security

Council in both the permanent and non-permanent

categories of membership, just as we support reform of

the Security Council’s decision-making process. In the

confrontational context of the cold war, the veto in the

Security Council was a means for the great Powers to

protect their interests. Even then it was avoided, and

any light-handed use of the veto resulted in

condemnation by the international community. Now,

however, the sense of trust among the Security Council

members has grown immensely, and a limitation of the

use of the veto would be an appropriate reflection of

this improved atmosphere.

The composition of the Council, which still

reflects the power relationships that prevailed in 1945,

is another issue that cries out for resolution. From the

inception of the United Nations that year until just a

decade ago, the people of my country were afforded

only rare glimpses of the goings-on at the United

Nations through fissures in the iron curtain. When we

finally established our independence in 1991, we

emerged into the international arena only to discover

that the Security Council, judging by its composition,

was still stuck back in the year 1945. This strikes

Estonia as being anachronistic, if not wrong-headed.

The guarantors and greatest contributors to stability in

the world have, in the course of half a century, changed

fundamentally. We need not fear opening a discussion

on whether the moral and legal reasoning underlying

Security Council membership in the wake of the

Second World War is still appropriate in the post-cold-

war era — or this post-11 September era. Nothing

underscores the need to come back to this question

more than the challenge that we are currently facing.

Participation in the United Nations peacekeeping

operations is an inseparable part of Estonia’s national

security policy. We therefore fully support the

endeavours outlined in the Brahimi report concerning

the reformation of United Nations peacekeeping.

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Estonia is in full agreement with the report’s

comprehensive and long-term approach to the

prevention and solution of conflicts. Although we often

talk about the need for limiting expenditures, in this

case it is clear that in order to increase efficiency,

means must be found for increasing the budget of

United Nations peacekeeping operations. We are

pleased to say, as I mentioned earlier, that we have

contributed to this effort to increase those

expenditures.

Let me proceed to my third theme, namely,

openness. Openness and transparency are essential for

many reasons. Terrorist attacks have been directed at

everyday interpersonal relations and at our usual means

of communication, such as the postal system and air

travel. Therefore, we need to make concerted efforts to

ensure that the movement of people and ideas will not

suffer from the threat of terrorism. Terrorism itself is

fed primarily by misinformation, disinformation and

misperceptions. Here too, openness is important; it is

essential to communicate our intentions and ideas both

to those who support us as well as to those who doubt

us.

Openness is also essential in more conventional

situations, for example, in the traditional political

decision-making process, be it in the international or

domestic arena. Here, Estonia can share experiences in

the sphere of information technology. Last year, the

Estonian Government began to hold its cabinet

meetings electronically. All information concerning

government activities now moves through electronic

channels — through the Internet. In addition to

speeding up decision-making and providing monetary

savings, information now becomes available to the

general public through the Internet, much faster and

more efficiently. More and more Estonians are making

use of the opportunities offered by the public sector —

the services of the revenue office, local governments

and federal agencies — through the Internet. Having

now connected all Estonian public schools to the

Internet, the Government also plans to bring all public

libraries online. This last summer, the Estonian State

Chancellery launched a unique new project by opening

a direct democracy portal called “Today I Decide”.

This portal allows everyone to present ideas, initiatives

and proposals, as well as to comment upon proposed

legislation. New ideas that have been proposed by

portal users are passed on to the appropriate

government offices and agencies for action. Many of

you may be interested in finding out more about the

initiatives I have described, and we are more than

happy to share our experiences with you.

Finally, I would like to stress the fact that the

grave events that have affected all of us in the last few

months will not prevent us from moving ahead. Our

decisiveness and sense of unity have only been

reinforced by what has happened. We must not discard

or forget all the common projects initiated before 11

September. In many parts of the world, nothing has

changed for those who suffer from poverty, hunger and

persecution. Thinking about our projects for the future,

I am especially pleased that the United Nations special

session on children, which was postponed owing to the

terrorist attacks, will nevertheless take place in May

next year. The goal of this upcoming special session, to

create better conditions and opportunities for children

everywhere, continues to be of the utmost importance

to us. It is precisely for initiatives of this kind, which

endeavour to achieve a better future for mankind, that

the United Nations Organization has earned the Nobel

Peace Prize.

In conclusion, please allow me to express my

personal condolences and the condolences of all

Estonians to the families of those who perished in the

air tragedy that occurred just a few days ago in the

borough of Queens.