Georgia, 1998

Allow me at the

outset to congratulate the Minister for Foreign Affairs of

Uruguay, Mr. Didier Opertti, on his election as President

of the General Assembly at its fifty-third session. This

decision, to which Georgia acceded with pleasure, is a

fitting recognition of Uruguay’s high international

authority and a well-deserved tribute to Mr. Opertti’s

personal qualities and profound experience.

At the same time, I am honoured to have the

opportunity to express my gratitude to the President of the

General Assembly at its fifty-second session,

Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko of Ukraine, for his significant

contributions to the successful outcome of the previous

session.

Today, as the second millennium is coming to a

close, an inevitable question pops up: What will the next,

the third, millennium be like? Indeed, for the first time

since the end of the global stand-off, the opportunity has

emerged to create a qualitatively new world order based

14

upon the comprehensive development of free and

independent States. Allow me to share our observations on

some of the important issues that we face.

We have repeatedly underscored the threat to global

stability posed by the spread of the disease of aggressive

separatism and the ineffectiveness of our joint efforts to

cope with it. For five years now, the conflict in Abkhazia,

Georgia, has been on the agendas of a number of

international forums. The need to resolve this conflict

within the framework of the territorial integrity of Georgia

and to ensure the speedy return of hundreds of thousands of

refugees and displaced persons has been reiterated more

than once. However, we have to admit that real progress

towards the settlement of this conflict has not been

accomplished.

Moreover, in May 1998, as a result of the punitive

operation carried out by the Abkhaz side in the Gali region

of Abkhazia, Georgia, more than 60 civilians were killed,

about 1,400 houses burned and over 40,000 peaceful

civilians expelled once again from their land. The vigorous

efforts of the Georgian Government at that point averted

full-scale confrontation and bloodshed.

The tragedy in the Gali region was preceded by the

unfulfilled resolutions of the Security Council and by

decisions on the “ethnic cleansing” of the Georgian

population in Abkhazia, Georgia, adopted at the Budapest

and Lisbon summits of the Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Thus, we are once again

confronted by the acute problem of the implementation of

decisions taken by the international community.

The Government of Georgia remains committed to a

peaceful solution of the conflict and applies only political

means, to which there is no reasonable alternative. In order

to add new impetus to the peace process, we have

welcomed the creation and development of the Geneva

process, under the auspices of the United Nations and with

the participation of the Russian Federation as facilitator, the

Friends of the Secretary-General and the OSCE. More

active work should be conducted in the framework of the

Geneva process on the question of the political status of

Abkhazia within the Georgian State.

In our view, it is urgent to fully resume the

functioning of the United Nations Observer Mission in

Georgia and, in accordance with its mandate, to ensure the

freedom of its activities.

The matter of utmost importance is the safety of

UNOMIG personnel in the conflict zone. Their

vulnerability was again proved by the recent armed attack

against four members of UNOMIG in Sukhumi.

In this regard, we wish to emphasize the importance

of the proposal of the Secretary-General concerning the

deployment of self-protection units. Unfortunately, this

question has turned into a subject of endless discussion.

Indeed, it is unclear how the deployment of a self-

protection unit would contradict the interests of any of the

parties to the conflict or any other State, when this step

is intended only to facilitate UNOMIG’s intensive

monitoring and would contribute to peace in the region.

While categorically condemning terrorist acts,

regardless of the motives or where these acts might come

from, we support the creation of joint investigative teams

with clearly defined mandates of action.

The turn of events in Abkhazia, Georgia, has shown

that some important aspects should be touched upon. First

among these is the development of economic programmes

of post-conflict peace-building to promote the peace

process. We already have an example of the successful

implementation of such an approach in the settlement of

the Georgian-Ossetian conflict. The implementation of the

economic programme in close cooperation with the

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees (UNHCR) has brought about the realization of

a number of important projects for the reconstruction of

the social and economic infrastructure in the conflict zone

and, most importantly, has activated the mechanism of the

return of refugees to their homes. Recently, we have

embarked upon the implementation of the subsequent

stage of the programme, which has been financed by the

European Union.

Secondly, for the success of the peace process, we

deem it necessary to formulate and effectively implement

confidence-building measures between the parties to the

conflict. To this end, and for the implementation of the

measures formulated and the coordination of work in this

direction, we believe it would be reasonable to actively

engage the joint United Nations-Organization for Security

and Cooperation in Europe Human Rights Office in

Sukhumi.

The third aspect is the grave humanitarian situation

existing in internal conflicts, such as the one in Abkhazia,

Georgia. I refer to the fate of hundreds of thousands of

15

refugees and internally displaced persons. We regret that

the rights of the internally displaced persons are not

protected by an international act.

President Shevardnadze has called upon the world

community to mark 1998, the year of the fiftieth

anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

by elaborating a comprehensive plan for the creation of an

effective international mechanism for the protection of the

rights of internally displaced persons throughout the world,

including their political rights, the right to protect their

property and the right to return to their homes. In this

regard, we actively support the proposal of the Secretary-

General concerning the creation of an organizational

structure for the protection of the rights of displaced

persons.

When discussing the creation of a global model of

security for the twenty-first century, we have to admit that

the post-confrontational world is not yet secure, and the

problem of separatism is not the only threat against which

we have to consolidate our efforts.

We cannot but express our concern over the expansion

of the zone of nuclear proliferation. The nuclear tests in

South Asia have clearly made this threat far more ominous.

Therefore, we call upon all States to display goodwill and

a commitment to peace, and to join the Treaty on the Non-

Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Comprehensive

Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

Efforts to quell the hotbeds of the so-called local

conflicts have so far been unsuccessful. Georgia is deeply

concerned at the developments in Kosovo, and especially in

the north Caucasus region, namely, in Chechnya, Dagestan

and across the border of North Ossetia and Ingushetia.

Terrorism, with all its bloody manifestations, poses a

threat both to the region and to the world as a whole.

Unfortunately, Georgia has also had its fair share of

terrorism. The assassination attempt against the President of

Georgia was aimed at the destabilization of the country and

of the entire region. These and the recent terrorist acts

against the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania

require an intensification in the fight against terrorism.

Therefore, we must actively support any efforts to do away

with this evil.

As we usher in the next millennium, it is impossible

not to touch upon the problems of economic development

and economic security. The process of economic

globalization raises the question of a new role for the

United Nations as a universal institution which would

effectively contribute to the development of national

economies and ensure economic security at both the

regional and the global level.

All this is especially urgent for the post-Communist

countries with economies in transition. Since restoring its

statehood in 1991, Georgia has been on a difficult road,

having gone from chaos to stability and from total

economic collapse to development. This became possible

through democratic change and economic reforms.

We have come to believe that the successful

transition of the newly independent States to the market

economy depends entirely on their integration into the

international economic system through regional and

interregional cooperation. A clear example of the

implementation of a large-scale programme of economic

cooperation is the revival of historic Silk Road. The

Summit of the Transport Corridor: Europe-Caucasia-Asia

(TRACECA) member States, held recently at Baku,

Azerbaijan, emphasized that the idea of an alternative

roadway for the Central Asian region through the south

Caucasian corridor has already turned into a significant

system stretching across the whole Euro-Asian continent.

The economic cooperation of the Black Sea basin

countries is also very important. This area was recently

transformed into a regional economic organization, having

impressive potential and far-reaching plans.

In the course of the formation of a new world order,

the main responsibility for international peace and

security rests with the United Nations. An important step

would be the reform of the Security Council in

accordance with the new geopolitical realities. In this

regard, we reiterate our position concerning the inclusion

of Germany and Japan among the permanent members of

the Council. We also support the increase in the number

of non-permanent seats, providing one for the States of

the Eastern European region. We also advocate more

transparency in the work of the Security Council,

including participation in its closed meetings by those

non-member States whose problems happen to be the

subject of the Council’s discussions.

We are aware of the importance the United Nations

attaches to the timely contributions of its Member States.

In this regard, despite its economic constraints, Georgia

will do everything in its capacity to cover its indebtedness

to the Organization.

16

Special attention should be accorded to the further

development of United Nations peacekeeping operations.

We believe that the time has come to further develop

and institutionalize the system of standby arrangements.

The creation of the Multinational United Nations Standby

Forces High-Readiness Brigade can play an important role

in preserving the peace. The same is true of the

establishment of a well-equipped headquarters from which

to identify potential hotbeds of tension.

Georgia has always advocated the establishment of an

International Criminal Court and actively participated in the

Rome Conference. We believe that the establishment of this

permanent jurisdictional body will ensure that gross

violations of human rights and crimes against humanity no

longer go unpunished.

Like many previous speakers, in my statement I have

resorted to such expressions as “new challenges” and “new

threats” in the post-confrontational world. But at the same

time, the new era opens before us new and boundless

horizons and creates new opportunities in the formation of

a new world order. We believe that only by joint efforts

and common political will can we cope with these

challenges and realize all these opportunities.