Estonia, 2008

Allow me to begin by

congratulating Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann upon

his assumption of the office of President of the General

Assembly. I wish him success in his responsibilities

and endeavours. I also wish to express my appreciation

and respect to his predecessor, Mr. Srgjan Kerim, for

his effective leadership during the sixty-second session

of the General Assembly.

I shall be brief. I would like to speak today about

the following three issues: the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) and the prospects for

realizing them; natural disasters and humanitarian

assistance; and the war between Georgia and Russia,

along with some of the conclusions that can be drawn

from it.

Let me begin with the Millennium Development

Goals. We must bear in mind that over half of the time

originally allotted for achieving the Goals is already

behind us. Yet, have we actually reached half our

goals? As Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reported

here 20 days ago, there are reasons to doubt that we

have. Some achievements can be regarded as

noteworthy progress, for example greater access to

education, a marked reduction in infant mortality, debt

relief for developing countries, an increase in access to

information and communication technology for people

in developing countries, and so on. We have also made

certain progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

At the same time, however, progress in the

spheres of trade and development cooperation has been

modest. From the Secretary-General’s report, it is clear

that, although the donor States have increased their

official development aid, the actual flow of financial

assistance in the course of the past two years has

actually decreased.

The European Union, of which Estonia is a

member, is on the whole, on track towards increasing

its development aid to 0.7 per cent of its gross national

income, the objective agreed at the United Nations.

Estonia has steadily increased its share among

international donors; our development aid has grown

fourfold since 2004.

In addition to the actual decrease in development

aid, we suffered a serious setback when the Doha

Development Round of trade negotiations stalled and

where the main theme has been a more efficient

integration of developing countries into a world trading

system based upon equality and regulations.

I would now like to set forth several positions

based upon matters of principle that Estonia regards as

essential, and which are also part of the United Nations

Millennium Declaration.

First, every nation is primarily responsible for its

own development. In order to ensure their proper

development, developing countries must strengthen

their administrative infrastructure and capacity,

intensify their fight against corruption and put their

economic environment in order. That is the only way

to create conditions suitable for an efficient mode of

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transferring development aid and for increasing the

benefits of the aid received.

High levels of corruption, inefficient

administrative capacity and an unresponsive economic

climate make it difficult for donor-nation public

opinion to support increases in development aid. In a

word, our electorates — and here I am of course

speaking of democratic countries with free and fair

elections — do not understand why their taxes are

spent that way.

Secondly, donor States and organizations can

enhance the effectiveness of development cooperation

by mutually coordinating and standardizing the

procedures involved in development cooperation.

Finally, I would like to stress that Estonia

strongly supports British Prime Minister Gordon

Brown’s and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s

initiative, the Millennium Development Goals Call to

Action. The objective is to inform the general public of

the importance of fulfilling the objectives of the

Millennium Development Goals programme. This year,

Estonia also joined that initiative. I personally hope

that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was right when he

said that the MDGs are still achievable if we act now.

The second Wednesday of October is the

International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction. In

that connection, as opposed to the fight against poverty

or diseases, we cannot of course set objectives for

ourselves that can be expressed in monetary amounts.

We can, however, formulate and implement measures

that can help to minimize the dangers and threats to

people and their property, and to avoid or reduce

destruction to physical infrastructure and the

environment. We can thereby limit losses and alleviate

the suffering of people. That, in turn, can prevent the

social and economic convulsions that natural

catastrophes have on repeated occasions triggered

throughout history.

In the case of humanitarian catastrophes, be they

natural or man-made disasters, it is of the utmost

importance that help arrive on the scene as quickly as

possible and that the access of humanitarian experts be

ensured, regardless of their nationality or the State or

organization that they represent. Unfortunately, there

have recently been a number of occasions when

various countries have permitted help from abroad only

under very specific conditions. As a result of such

policies, it is the weakest and the most vulnerable who

suffer the most.

As I said earlier, I would like to talk about recent

and ongoing events in the southern Caucasus,

specifically the military conflict between Georgia and

Russia. There are a series of complex issues involved,

but here in the General Assembly I would like to raise

one fundamental question: What do those events mean

for us, the United Nations?

To begin with, we must realize that the principles

governing relations between States have been seriously

damaged. It is regrettable in the extreme that the basic

principles of the United Nations as enshrined in the

Charter, such as the unacceptability of threatening the

use of force or actual aggression against a nation’s

territorial integrity, were grossly and grotesquely

violated. Those principles must be and must remain the

bases for the activity of the United Nations and the

Security Council. Therefore, we have the right to

demand and ensure that the United Nations be capable

of convincing one Member to withdraw its military

forces from the territory of another sovereign Member

State and to terminate its aggression.

The capacity of the United Nations to fulfil the

expectations placed upon it cannot be dependent upon

whether said Member nation chooses or not to act

according to the good practices of international law. In

the alternative case, the United Nations loses its reason

for existence. We cannot allow international law to be

followed selectively and only when convenient, for

then it is no longer law.

Russia’s behaviour in the weeks following the

cessation of combat activity showed us that,

unfortunately, even in the first decade of the twenty-

first century, it is possible to refuse to adhere to

international treaties, to interpret them arbitrarily and

to observe international laws only when it serves one’s

interest. A permanent member of the Security Council

should be especially committed to fulfilling the

principles of the Charter of the United Nations. That

forces us once more to conclude that, in the interests of

the international community, it is imperative to

improve the capacity of the United Nations to regulate

and resolve conflicts. Looking at recent events, it has

become quite clear how important it is to proceed with

the reform of the Security Council.

The previous month’s events in the southern

Caucasus raised another issue. Even before the armed

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conflict broke out, Georgia was the target of a

cyberwar aimed at Government websites, as well as

those of news agencies and banks. In the case of

cyberattacks and cyberwarfare, it is becoming ever

more difficult to determine and apprehend the

perpetrators. As I stated last year from this very

rostrum, cyberattacks are an international problem —

indeed, a form of aggression — that no nation is able

to deal with on its own. Cyberattacks can be launched

against any nation on any continent, and from any

continent.

Administering and policing the cyberworld to

avoid criminal and hostile attacks requires extensive

cooperation and the standardization of relevant

international regulations. I call upon all United Nations

Member nations to deal with the risks associated with

cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness. Estonia,

which has extensive experience dealing with and

repulsing cyberattacks, is ready to contribute its

expertise to thwarting that new form of criminal

warfare.