France, 1997

May I first say, Sir, how pleased my country is at your

election as President of the fifty-second session of the

United Nations General Assembly. I should also like to say

to the Secretary-General that France welcomes the action he

has already taken and assure him that he has our support

and confidence.

I shall begin my statement by expressing a conviction

on behalf of my country: the world needs the United

Nations more than ever. No, the United Nations did not

lose its raison d'être with the end of the cold war, the end

of the arms race between the two blocs and the head-on

clash of differing ideologies.

On the contrary, the need for a universal regulating

body has never been so apparent. The reasons are known to

all. Without regret, we left the era of bipolar confrontation

to enter, in 1991, a new, global, evolving world in which

185 States cooperate, make alliances with one another or

compete in stable or, conversely, unstable combinations.

In this world, States are no longer the sole players. The

giant conglomerates, the financial markets, the media,

opinion groups and non-governmental organizations all

play an increasing role. Because of this, there is an

overriding need for clear, fair and predictable ground

rules to establish a framework for settling conflicts or

mere differences. For, nowadays, no serious problem can

be resolved by one country, even the most powerful,

entirely on its own.

Unless we take care, unless we manage to build a

world in which the rule of law prevails among all States,

a world in equilibrium between its major centres of

power, other scenarios will ensue: the absence of a

counterweight will encourage the predominance of a

single Power, and, inevitably, that Power will be tempted

to engage in unilateralism; for want of organized regional

entities, globalization will exacerbate the economic — and

sometimes political — struggle of each against all; States

will find themselves further weakened, and some will

implode under the effects of aggressive nationalism,

which is often contagious. Fierce competition will render

virtually impossible environmental conservation, however

urgent, however vital in the true meaning of the word, as

well as the fight against drugs and crime; greater respect

for human rights will be compromised.

Our common task must be to forestall such dangers

and, at the same time, to consolidate, together, the

achievements of recent years. For this, regional groupings

are one of the best possible foundations. Europe, which

has been the crucible of so many wars, has been showing

the way for half a century. The growth rates achieved by

many countries in Asia, in Latin America and now in

Africa, announce the emergence of new centres of power

and prosperity. Political and economic entities are being

organized and institutionalized: South-East Asia meets in

the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN);

in Latin America, the Southern Cone Common Market

(MERCOSUR) is developing, as are the Southern African

Development Community (SADC) in southern Africa and

the Economic Community of West African States

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(ECOWAS) in the west of that continent. To some extent,

one might also include cultural and political entities, such

as the Commonwealth and la Francophonie. This is a

sensible way to adapt to globalization.

However, at the global level we need a coherent,

effective United Nations with the resources necessary to

carry out its missions. It is the task of this body to facilitate

the smooth organization of international relations and to

determine universally recognized rules of law. To be sure,

other organizations exist in various sectors, and these have

their own, very important areas of authority. But none of

them can take the place of the United Nations in giving the

world of tomorrow a set of comprehensive rules. True to its

tradition, France will support all the Organization's efforts

to that end.

I come now to the main object of the session which is

beginning. To carry out the major role we expect of it, the

United Nations must retain or reacquire the means to take

decisions and to act. For this, we must resolve two matters:

United Nations reform and the financing of the

Organization. The ability of the United Nations to act in the

years ahead will depend on the solutions we find together.

France approved of the move by the new Secretary-

General at the outset of his mandate to continue the study

initiated by his predecessor, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

The main lines Mr. Kofi Annan has proposed for the work

and the impetus he has given to the process of revamping

the Organization have received France’s full support, a

support shared by France’s partners in the European Union.

The remarks made from this rostrum by its current

President, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg,

illustrate this. I should like to comment more specifically

on three points: the Security Council, financial reform and

restructuring.

The current composition of the Security Council no

longer accurately reflects the political geography of today’s

world. Clearly, it has to be reformed — that is to say,

enlarged — to become more representative.

In this connection, we must take into account the

Security Council’s indispensable role in peacekeeping and

thus elect countries able to contribute to this task, whether

they are from the North or the South.

Accordingly, my country is in favour of the accession

of Germany, Japan and three countries from the South to

permanent seats and the establishment of new

non-permanent seats. For a Security Council composed

solely of the principal countries of the North would not

be representative. Nor should we forget that, once it is

enlarged, and hence more representative, the Council will

still have to be effective. That is essential.

The proposals that have been submitted to us should

make it possible to move forward. However, we are all

aware that no consensus has yet been reached and that

debates on this matter will be difficult. National interests

and the concerns of regional groups must be given due

consideration. In any event, I welcome President Razali’s

perseverance throughout the fifty-first session of the

United Nations General Assembly, which made it possible

to draft a solid working basis from which we must now

proceed to work to find a solution.

Furthermore, financial reform of the United Nations

is a particularly complex issue. It is shocking that the

United Nations should be in a precarious state and

therefore in a situation of financial and budgetary

dependence with respect to its debtors. I believe that we

will be able to move towards a solution on the basis of

three principles: what is owed to the United Nations must

be paid in full, on time and without conditions. Finally,

the payment of contributions should not be a way of

exerting pressure on the Secretary-General and the other

Member States.

With these rudimentary principles as a basis, France

is open to discussion on all aspects of the problem. We

will have to decide on the scale for apportioning

assessments among all States. There is no perfect scale,

but some are not as bad as others. The concept of each

State’s ability to pay, which has enjoyed consensus since

the outset, still seems simple, logical and fair today. On

that basis, a solution can be found that takes account of

the needs and interests of each State. France will do its

utmost to facilitate the settlement of the financial crisis.

We can be both imaginative and conciliatory — like the

European Union’s plan. But our efforts will succeed only

if there is respect for the rules I have just recalled, which

reflect our Organization's impartiality and credibility. If

the United Nations were forced to comply with the

unilateral demands of one among us, in regard both to its

financing and its functioning, then how could it convince

anyone in the future that it is impartial and faithful to the

principle of the equality of all under the Charter, and

generate respect for its decisions?

I come now to restructuring. The Secretary-General

has undertaken to restructure and regroup the

Organization’s institutions. France appreciates the logic of

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this approach. It therefore welcomes the establishment in

Vienna of a centre to deal specifically with combating new

transnational dangers such as organized crime, drug

trafficking and terrorism, problems that we must fight with

ever-increased vigour. It is also very much in favour of

integrating the Office of the High Commissioner for Human

Rights and the Centre for Human Rights into a single entity

in Geneva where the main humanitarian aid services are

already established. It also hopes that the main issues

involving disarmament can continue to be addressed in

Geneva.

From this rostrum, I applaud the appointment of

Mrs. Mary Robinson to the post of High Commissioner for

Human Rights. Her very strong personality is

commensurate with the challenges her task entails. The

commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, starting on 10 December this

year, will provide an opportunity to reaffirm, in the face of

persistent violations and ever-recurring acts of barbarism,

the universality of these rights. But we will also have to ask

ourselves, in addition to making the usual declarations that

are still necessary, what political and economic actions are

needed to make real headway, in specific situations,

towards respect for human rights, and how the emergence

of democracies can be encouraged from outside.

The United Nations, while adapting, must remain the

preferred instrument for taking action in the interests of

peace. At this time, the United Nations is really the only

organization that can try to bring order to an international

society which is becoming fragmented and globalized at the

same time. The United Nations is faced with both a

resurgence of every kind of micro-nationalism and the

strengthening of regional entities. Most conflicts are now

not between States but within them. Given these new

challenges, the United Nations has already demonstrated

how adaptable and flexible it is. But we must continue. To

ensure the lasting settlement of conflicts, consciences have

to be assuaged and justice needs to be done to put an end

to the endless cycle of revenge. The perpetrators of the

most serious crimes must be tried impartially, with respect

for the rights of the defence, and after an exemplary

investigation which reveals the facts in full. This is why

France supports the action of the international criminal

tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and hopes

that the forthcoming conference on an international criminal

court will be a success.

Since the beginning of the decade, the Organization’s

actions to promote peace and international stability have

changed radically. The time has passed when large-scale

peacekeeping operations were mounted solely under the

blue flag of the United Nations, in Cambodia and the

former Yugoslavia for example, in order to take on

massive challenges alone. Today, the United Nations

intervenes more and more frequently in conjunction with

other organizations or by authorizing the action of

regional actors. In Europe, the United Nations is pooling

its efforts with those of the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization in sensitive theatres of operation, and even

with those of the Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe. In Africa, for the first time, the

Secretaries-General of the United Nations and the

Organization of African Unity (OAU) have in the past

year appointed a joint special representative in the person

of Ambassador Sahnoun, in the Great Lakes region. It is

good that these two organizations are working together.

This development must be encouraged. We must also help

African States and organizations to strengthen their own

peacekeeping capabilities. To this end, countries outside

the African continent must pool their efforts and not

multiply the number of rival and sometimes redundant

initiatives. For instance, the Government of France, the

United Kingdom and the United States recently agreed to

act together with all those who wish to do so to

strengthen the peacekeeping capabilities of African

countries, under the auspices of the United Nations, of

course, and in cooperation with the OAU.

But, in France's view, encouraging Africa to become

more involved in resolving crises certainly does not mean

that the international community should relinquish its

other responsibilities with regard to the African continent.

It is therefore essential that the United Nations be ready,

once the declared conditions are met, to act in Congo-

Brazzaville. By the same token, the many recent tragedies

in the Great Lakes region make sustained international

involvement indispensable. This United Nations

commitment to promote peace and development must also

serve to further human rights. That is why it is important

for the humanitarian investigative task force in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo to be able to carry out

its mission. I might add that by spending too much time

talking about crises in Africa, one might forget the

essential point, namely that the African continent is taking

off in quite an unprecedented way. My country believes

in this.

We are all still mobilized by the situation in the

Middle East. The peace process, set in train on the

initiative of clear-sighted and courageous men on both

sides, raised tremendous hopes. We can clearly see the

increasingly tragic consequences to which the current

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stalemate would lead, were it to last. The peoples of this

region are once again stuck in an impasse, in a situation of

humiliation, resentment, and the fear of terrorism. New

efforts are therefore necessary so that these two peoples,

Israeli and Palestinian, which are matched in terms of

insecurity and fear of the future, can together find justice

and security. France gave its full support to the action by

the American Secretary of State, who recently went to the

Middle East. Indeed, the United States has a special

responsibility and special means to attempt to reinvigorate

the peace process and effectively combat the deadly acts of

extremism. France and Europe are ready to take part in any

constructive move to this end.

What can the United Nations do? It cannot take the

place of the parties concerned, which have the primary

responsibility. It is up to the Organization to state, or

restate, the law and to recall the principles which must be

the basis for any peace if we want it to last. I refer here to

the resolutions adopted by the Security Council on the

conflict in the Middle East, not forgetting resolution 425

(1978), which deals with the integrity of Lebanon in

particular.

Many other crisis situations where the wounds have

not healed could be mentioned from this rostrum — so

diverse is the work of the United Nations. In particular, I

am thinking of the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina,

where security has been restored but where the construction

of a State with viable democratic institutions remains

uncertain; and of Albania, where the new stability, thanks

to resolute European action authorized by the United

Nations, is giving rise to new hopes. I am also thinking of

the tenacious efforts of the United Nations to contain or

defuse the crises in Haiti, Cyprus, Georgia, Afghanistan,

Tajikistan and elsewhere.

Finally, let us not forget, now or ever, much-needed

development assistance.

Of course, the insertion of emerging economies,

including the former underdeveloped economies, into the

global economy is an excellent thing; indeed, past efforts in

this regard have proved to be well founded. But this must

not be a selfish excuse for the rich countries to give up

their effort to provide development assistance, which is

equally necessary. In any event, this is very much an

imperative for the leaders of the member States of the

Francophone community. The summit of these States in

Hanoi in November will attest to their interest in more

balanced development and also to their commitment to

respecting the multiplicity of cultures and languages.

I will say no more, however — other than to draw

one single conclusion. While the world has changed so

much over the past 50 years, and even more over the past

six years, its inhabitants still voice the same needs. The

rule of law must be continually consolidated and the

democratic ideal put into practice, faced as we are with

the temptations of oppression and the use of force, for

which new pretexts are constantly being invoked. How

can we be sure that the factors that make for war and

chaos are banned for ever from all continents, including

Europe?

At this moment of our Organization's reform, let us

not forget the lessons of history. Only international

dialogue, the common management of crises, beginning

with their prevention, and the wise conservation of the

earth’s resources make it possible for the voice of reason

and peace to prevail and for confidence in progress to be

rebuilt. The United Nations is the right and the only

legitimate forum for such international discussions, and

the only one where they are universal. Our Organization

is an irreplaceable framework and a vital necessity for us

all. In the past, it has often been able to deter, address,

resolve and prevent. Let us reform it so as to make it

even more useful.