Germany, 2006

Please accept

my congratulations, Madam, on your election as

President of the General Assembly at its sixty-first

session. I wish you every success. I should also like to

express my sincere thanks to the President of the

General Assembly at its sixtieth session for his

dedicated work and to wish him every success in his

future endeavours.

The world events that have taken place over the

past 60 years are reflected more graphically in

Germany than in almost any other country. Until 1989,

the wall and the barbed wire across our country

symbolized the division of Europe and the rest of the

world into two blocs. Since then, Germany has become

the embodiment of the successful overcoming of that

division.

Both division and the overcoming of division

have influenced our view of the world. For 45 years,

peace in Germany was due largely to the friendship and

the political and military protection of partner

countries, which took their responsibility seriously.

That experience shaped the political outlook of

Germans. That is why we, too, are now shouldering our

responsibility, both in Europe and in other parts of the

world. In the context of the United Nations, that means

that a reunited Germany believes it has an obligation to

do everything it can to support the Organization in

creating a more peaceful and more equitable world.

German soldiers and police officers are taking

part in numerous peace missions that are either led or

mandated by the United Nations. In the Western

Balkans, Germany has provided the largest contingent

of peacekeeping troops in Kosovo and in Bosnia and

Herzegovina. Germany is playing a prominent role in

the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Germany is leading

the European operation in the Democratic Republic of

the Congo and is supporting the first free elections

there in 40 years. Germany is engaged in the Sudan

through its support for the African Union Mission in

the Sudan and the United Nations Mission in the

Sudan. And, at this very moment, German navy vessels

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are on their way to the Lebanese coast, where they will

reinforce the United Nations peacekeeping force.

Germany will contribute up to 2,400 troops to that

peace mission.

Germany supports a policy of dialogue and the

peaceful reconciliation of differing interests. We firmly

believe that political conflicts cannot be resolved

through military force or military victories. Peace is

brought about by engaging in political dialogue,

establishing economic ties and giving people tangible

hope for the future. If the parties to a conflict are

unable to overcome political divisions on their own,

the international community, represented by the United

Nations, has an obligation to help. That is the guiding

principle of our foreign policy.

As Minister for Foreign Affairs of a reunited

Germany, I have been profoundly influenced by

German and European history. On that basis, I have a

concrete mandate for German foreign policy: we must

do everything in our power to prevent the world from

dividing once again into hostile blocs. Politicians in

every country have a responsibility in that regard.

Everyone can — and, I believe, everyone must —

make a contribution. It is my firm conviction that

anyone who instigates antagonism between people of

different cultures and religions is not living up to his or

her responsibility.

No one should interpret the involvement of

Germany and its partners in the Balkans, in

Afghanistan, in the Sudan and in Lebanon as an

aggressive global campaign waged by the West against

Islam. In a world that has grown closer together than

ever before, we do not need exclusion or polarization.

Rather, we need the courage to promote understanding

and to engage in dialogue.

In the Middle East, it is crucial, following

Security Council resolution 1701 (2006), on Lebanon,

that we seize the opportunity to promote

understanding. I call on all parties to the conflict in the

region to act responsibly. Those who want their

children and grandchildren to live in peace instead of

violence, in safety instead of fear, in prosperity instead

of poverty, must have the courage to embark on new

paths rather than simply cultivating long-standing

enmities.

The principles for a settlement are clear: Israel’s

right to exist, on the one hand, and the establishment of

a Palestinian State, on the other. Those were the core

concerns of the Road Map, to which, I am firmly

convinced, we must return. However, if we are to

ensure lasting success, we must do everything we can

to include everyone involved, even if that seems a

roundabout way to achieve our goal. Therefore, I hope

that we will succeed in persuading Syria to engage in a

constructive dialogue. We need stronger engagement

on the part of the international community, particularly

the Middle East Quartet. I welcome the Quartet’s

recent meeting.

In Afghanistan, the international community is

demonstrating how the principle of responsibility can

be put into practice in concrete terms. After 23 years of

civil war, political structures are now being developed.

Millions of refugees have returned to their home

country. Just as important, young people — including

girls — can go to school again. However, drug

cultivation and the security situation pose a threat to

the progress that has been made, at least in certain

regions of the country. We, the international

community cannot allow the successes to date to be

brought to naught.

In the Western Balkans, too, war is a thing of the

past; I am very pleased to note that that is so. The

political and military commitment of the United

Nations, the United States of America, Russia and the

European Union has played a key role in this. In

Kosovo, the task now is to ensure that the two parties

to the conflict take their responsibility for peace and

stability seriously. A solution to the status of Kosovo,

which has remained unresolved for many years, is

overdue. Germany staunchly backs the efforts of the

United Nations Special Envoy, President Martti

Ahtisaari. We believe that stability cannot be achieved

if the will of only the majority population of Kosovo is

expressed. Kosovo Serbs must be guaranteed adequate

protections as a minority.

We need only glance at a map of Africa to

understand how important the peace and stability of the

Sudan and the Congo are for the African continent as a

whole. I believe that instability and conflicts in Africa

also have a direct impact on Europe. For this reason,

too, Germany is supporting the United Nations in its

efforts to find a solution to the conflicts in those two

countries.

While the United Nations peace mission in

southern Sudan — the United Nations Mission in the

Sudan (UNMIS) — has made an effective contribution

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towards the implementation of the Peace Agreement

between northern and southern Sudan, peace in Darfur

is still a long way off. Neither the Sudanese

Government nor rebel groups can be absolved of

responsibility for the humanitarian disaster in the west

of the country. Nevertheless, I am firmly convinced

that a lasting solution to the conflict will be possible

only if we work with, not against, them.

As members are aware, over the past few years

Germany, together with France and Britain, supported

by the United States of America, Russia and China, has

been intensively seeking a solution to the conflict

regarding Iran’s nuclear programme. Let me state

clearly that no one wants to deny Iran the right to use

nuclear energy peacefully. Nor is isolating Iran the

objective of the diplomatic effort. On the contrary, we

hope that Iran will become a reliable and responsible

partner in the crisis-stricken Middle East. That is why,

on 6 June, we offered Iran a package aimed at far-

reaching cooperation. The package includes proposals

for closer diplomatic, economic and security

cooperation, and expressly acknowledges Iran’s right

to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

However, the international community also

rightly expects cooperation and transparency from Iran.

If Iran were to prove that the suspicions of the

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are

unfounded and if it sent a clear sign that it truly intends

to use its nuclear programme for peaceful purposes

only, that could open the door to a development which

benefits the people of Iran and the entire region.

It is now up to the Government in Tehran to face

up to its responsibility. The decision in favour of peace

and stability in the entire Middle East requires courage.

I call upon Iran to end the current phase of

procrastination and give a clear sign of trust so that we

can look to the future together and can finally sit down

at the negotiating table.

Resolution of the nuclear dispute with Iran is

urgent. However, the challenges of the proliferation of

nuclear weapons go far beyond that. We must act now

if we want to halt the erosion of the non-proliferation

regime. The next attempt to implement the Treaty on

the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons must not

fail.

Not only Iran but also other countries are

thinking about developing enrichment technology. We

will have to develop new instruments if we want to

prevent such risks from arising.

I am therefore strongly in favour of not merely

exchanging ideas on the multilateralization of the fuel

cycle and transferring responsibility for uranium

enrichment to the international community, but of

further developing such ideas into concrete options. I

therefore appeal for greater efforts to find solutions,

working together with the IAEA.

The conflicts in the Middle East, Afghanistan, the

Western Balkans and the Sudan, and the dispute with

Iran, as well as the fight against international terrorism,

have one thing in common: in none of those cases is

the West taking a hostile stance against Islam. Nor do

they involve a clash of civilizations. Rather, they are

very diverse conflicts involving diverse interests.

I believe that there is just one link, albeit a very

different one: each one of those conflicts can be

resolved only with a willingness and ability to engage

in dialogue. That is because dialogue gets everyone

concerned involved, engages them and does not allow

them to shirk their responsibility for resolving a

conflict. However, a policy of cooperation and

dialogue does not mean talking at any cost. Those who

want to engage in dialogue must meet some basic

prerequisites. In my view, these include a readiness to

bring about a peaceful reconciliation of interests —

that is to say, they must be prepared to renounce

violence and respect the position of the other side —

and their own position must be consistent and credible.

If these prerequisites are not met, then no dialogue

with any chance of success can get off the ground.

I am firmly convinced that a dialogue beyond

cultural borders can succeed because, despite all of our

differences, we are living in one world. The various

cultures of the world have more in common than

political rabble-rousers would have us believe. People

everywhere have the same fundamental interests: they

want to live in peace and security, free from poverty.

They want good health care and good schools for their

children. No responsible Government would ever want

to withhold these from its people — nor should they

ever be allowed to try to do so.

The United Nations and its agencies and

programmes embody this vision — and it is this vision

that makes the United Nations so indispensable. I am

convinced that we will need the United Nations more

than ever in the coming decades. The number and the

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scale of crises in the world are increasing. That could

bring about a renaissance of the United Nations even in

countries that are sometimes still sceptical about the

world Organization.

The effectiveness of the United Nations, its

ability to act and the confidence it inspires as the

international community’s main multilateral

Organization are closely connected. Everyone can see

how necessary transparent structures and effective

institutions are for the United Nations. The reform of

the United Nations — the entire Organization, not just

the Security Council — should not, therefore, simply

remain on the agenda; concrete progress must be made.

We see the expectations placed on the United

Nations rising. This is especially urgent in the case of

the review of mandates, as well as management and

financial reform. Germany pledges to support this

endeavour, because we must reform if we, as members

of the international community, wish to remain

effective. We owe that not only to the United Nations

but, above all, to the people in whose name we

shoulder responsibility together.