Hungary, 2000

I

would like to sincerely congratulate you, Sir, on your

election to the presidency of this, the General

Assembly at its fifty-fifth session, which serves as a

bridge between two millennia. I would like to assure

you that you will have the full cooperation of my

delegation. I would also like to pay homage to your

predecessor, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, for the valuable

contribution he made to the work of this Assembly, as

well as for his contribution to the preparations for the

Millennium Summit.

14

During that Summit, less than one week ago, the

heads of State and Government of the Member States

of the United Nations adopted a Declaration. The

specific commitments and objectives contained in that

Declaration pose a complex challenge. Their

implementation will require sustained efforts on the

part of each of the members of the international

community. In making those efforts, all of us small

and large, rich and poor should keep in mind the

common responsibility we bear for the future of our

civilization.

The Secretary-General's millennium report and

the Declaration it inspired reflect with the greatest

eloquence the tasks and the requirements, as well as the

worries and fears, facing our planet. And those ideas

have been expressed at an opportune moment: the

threshold of the new millennium. By taking up the

work of implementing this major programme of action,

we will be undertaking the indispensable process of

addressing the increasingly pressing global problems

we are facing.

One of the great lessons of the decade that has

just passed, and also of the Millennium Summit, is that

with the vanishing of the bipolar world order, East-

West confrontation has been replaced by North-South

problems. We believe that everything possible must be

done so that this divide does not become rigid and so

that the problems and difficulties it poses do not persist

for too long. The Secretary-General's millennium

report, the document adopted during the Summit of

heads of State and Government, the many speeches we

heard during the Summit they all show that the

international community recognizes and has assessed

the scale of the challenges that globalization is forcing

it to take up, and they show that the international

community is searching for solutions to pressing

issues, with the goal of reducing the appalling

disparities in the world. There are many such issues

and problems. They include poverty, the increasing

economic and social gaps between the developed and

developing countries, environmental issues, organized

crime, international terrorism, AIDS and other

diseases, drugs, human migration, the use of the

Internet to sow intolerance and extremist ideas, and so

forth. It is no exaggeration to say that, in order to

ensure a stable, just and prosperous future for all

humanity, we must, as soon as possible, get down to

work on following up on the decisions that have been

taken and on creating international legal standards to

the extent necessary. These standards should also be

developed in the fields of trade, finance and human

rights most specifically to protect the rights of

ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities. As part of this

undertaking, it is important to reinforce good

governance and solidarity.

Let us recall that the great transformation of the

world's political, security, socio-economic and

scientific landscape has been accompanied by a

remarkable evolution the return of man to the

central place that is properly his on the international

chessboard, and by a rediscovery of the purpose of

governmental action at the national and international

levels. It is not a question of safeguarding States and

Governments but of protecting people and

communities, human beings, men and women who

compose our societies. We must thus realize that

political and legislative practices and our future

activities in the codification of international law must

adequately reflect that fundamental fact that we now

see re-emerging.

In this context, the millions of victims of the

conflicts afflicting the world and the daily tragedies we

continually see mean that we cannot stand with our

arms crossed, that we must try to find as quickly as

possible a response to the practical and theoretical

dilemmas that have been haunting us for some time.

There are conflicts within States accompanied by

serious violations of the human rights and genuine

humanitarian crises. The national authorities, wherever

they may be, must not be allowed to systematically

persecute their own populations on a massive scale

with complete impunity while taking shelter behind

certain principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

The international community must deal with these

situations with a new vision and philosophy that reflect

the realities and the spirit of our contemporary world.

As a result of our proximity to the ex-Yugoslavia,

my country, Hungary, has felt the whole weight of

these problems over the last decade. We have been

witness to the serious delays on the part of the

community of nations that has prevented it from acting

in time in Bosnia and Rwanda, and elsewhere, with the

appropriate means on the basis of a mandate

corresponding to the real nature of the situation and

with the necessary political will. That is why we

welcome Mr. Brahimi's report on peacekeeping

operations. We are ready to begin without delay the

15

necessary work to examine and implement these

recommendations.

With regard to the Balkan region, the Stability

Pact for South-Eastern Europe that came into being one

year ago is an initiative for prevention and

reconstruction which offers the countries and the

peoples of that part of the continent the possibility to

leave their conflicts behind, to settle their differences

and to open up new prospects for cooperation. Hungary

attaches great importance to this and will make its own

contribution to this vital enterprise, particularly in the

field of strengthening democratic forces in the region

and in human rights, including the rights of minorities.

Within this context, a democratic evolution in the

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will undoubtedly have

a stabilizing effect on the region as a whole and will

make it possible to bring to an end the isolation of

Serbia from the major European and international

currents. The elections scheduled for the end of

September offer us an occasion to set this process

under way. Such an evolution will enable us to

normalize relations between Serbia and Montenegro.

One of the global problems facing us is

undoubtedly the question of conventional weapons and

weapons of mass destruction. We appeal for new

progress in the field of light weapons and anti-

personnel mines, the victims of which are basically

innocent civilians.

The 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of nuclear weapons

marked an important step forward in the search for a

safer future for humanity. The document adopted there

reaffirms the central role of the treaty in the field of

non-proliferation and the need for international

agreement to this end. We hope that between now and

the next review conference, to be held in 2005, we will

be able to undertake the process of implementing the

programme of action which was adopted to promote

non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament. From this

point of view we attach particular importance to the

initiation of work towards a treaty on the prohibition of

fissile materials for military purposes.

We have also been following very closely the

negotiations designed to draw up a verification

protocol on the Biological Weapons Convention, which

will enter a decisive phase on the eve of the review

conference set for 2001. Hungary will chair the ad hoc

group charged with formulating a mechanism in that

connection and will do everything in its power to

achieve the objective over the course of next year.

Hungary considers the adoption of the Statute of

the International Criminal Court one of the most

important international achievements in the field of

international law. This Statute is aimed at imposing

rules of international humanitarian law and at ending

an era of impunity. Nineteen States have already

ratified the Statute, and the number of signatures is

now 112. Hungary views this with pleasure and will

pursue its own preparations for ratification of the

Statute. We will continue to participate actively in

negotiations to bring about universal acceptance of the

Court while preserving the integrity of its Statute.

The reform of our world Organization has been

on the agenda for some time. Recent events throughout

the world particularly unprecedented changes in the

political and military order, economic evolution,

progress in the fields of science and informatics, and

the end of the century that symbolizes very tangibly the

dawn of a new era full of both promises and

uncertainty have transformed the desire to see the

United Nations adapt to the realities of our time into an

imperative that will no longer tolerate any deviations or

hesitation. Consequently, our first task is to face in a

determined way the tremendous challenges awaiting us

in the twenty-first century. The political will of

Member States cannot be lacking if we really wish to

make every effort to support the laudable efforts of the

Secretary-General to achieve this adaptation process.

This will involve, among other things, reforming the

Security Council and the budgetary system, which is

necessary to strengthen the credibility and efficacy of

our world Organization.

The more quickly we can reform the Organization

according to the requirements of this critical period, the

more reassured people throughout the world will be as

to the future of the planet.