Hungary, 2007

Allow me first of all to

warmly congratulate you, Sir, on your election as

President of the General Assembly at its sixty-second

session. I am pleased to see you, a high-ranking official

from the rather underrepresented Eastern European

Group, assuming that prestigious post of the United

Nations. In fulfilling your challenging tasks during this

session, you may be assured of the support and

cooperation of the delegation of Hungary. I would also

like to pay tribute to your predecessor, Sheikha Haya

Rashed Al-Khalifa.

During the sixty-first session, Member States

worked hard to come to agreement on the proposals

made at the 2005 Summit meeting, but we still need to

do more to ensure that the United Nations system is

managed coherently and effectively. I believe that the

world needs, more than ever before, effective

multilateralism, which is still a key word for the future.

We should make progress on management reform,

mandate review and disarmament, and define further

concrete steps towards a renewed Security Council.

Hungary would have preferred for the issue of

Security Council reform to have seen more progress

during the sixty-first session of the General Assembly.

The impasse was certainly not due to the lack of effort

on the part of the President of the General Assembly or

to a shortage of creative ideas. We believe that the best

solution would still be a balanced increase of seats to

better reflect the political realities of today. The

enlargement process should be combined with tangible

improvement of the Council’s working methods.

We welcome the adoption of the new resolution

on the revitalization of the General Assembly. It is up

to each Member State to make the work of the

Assembly meaningful and to ensure that the Assembly

takes up issues of genuine concern and takes decisions

that have a real impact on the political process.

Let me now turn to Geneva, where important

reforms have taken place as well. The Human Rights

Council has finally started its work, in an atmosphere

of high expectations. The consensus over the universal

periodic review mechanism sends a clear message that

all countries will have their human rights records

examined at regular intervals. Thus, no country will be

immune from international scrutiny. However, in order

to make it truly meaningful, we have to build a credible

and robust mechanism. Special procedures and

contributions to the review from treaty bodies and non-

governmental organizations will prove to be essential

in that regard.

In order to better protect human rights and

fundamental freedoms, the system of special

procedures a unique web of protection has

continued to provide effective action for the benefit of

victims of human rights abuses. Special rapporteurs

and independent experts have continued their work,

giving a voice to the voiceless, even at times when the

Council was focusing mainly on the task of institution-

building.

We are thoroughly convinced that both thematic

and country-specific mandates remain valid, given the

numerous human rights violations still occurring on a

daily basis. In that regard, we concur with the

Secretary-General, who has emphasized the need to

consider all situations of possible human rights

violations on an equal footing. Not having a special

rapporteur assigned to a particular country does not

absolve that country from its obligations under the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other

human rights instruments.

I should now like to share some thoughts about

an issue dear to my country. We welcomed with great

satisfaction the recent decision of the Human Rights

Council to establish a forum on minority issues. I am

confident that the forum will provide a useful platform

for dialogue and exchange of views between

minorities, Governments and other stakeholders on

issues related to national or ethnic, linguistic and

religious minorities.

Allow me to place special emphasis on the

empowerment of women. We firmly believe in the need

for the effective involvement of women in the

decision-making processes at both the national and the

international levels. In that regard, Hungary supports

the ongoing debate on the future of the strengthened

gender equality architecture. We welcome the steps

taken towards achieving effective gender

mainstreaming throughout the entire United Nations

system.

On 30 March, we witnessed the signing ceremony

of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities. That new international instrument will

improve the living conditions of almost 650 million

persons with disabilities all over the world, ensuring

equal opportunities for them in all aspects of life. As

the second State party to ratify the Convention and its

Optional Protocol, we hope that they will enter into

force soon.

Seven years ago, our Governments made a

remarkable promise to the world in adopting the

Millennium Declaration (resolution 55/2). Although

there has certainly been some progress in achieving its

objectives, there will be regions of the world where the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not have

been met by 2015 if we do not intensify our efforts. In

the meantime, we must also emphasize the central role

of national policies and development strategies in

achieving the Goals. The sustainability of development

depends heavily on national ownership and leadership.

At the global level, the United Nations has a

comparative advantage in providing technical

assistance in the preparation and implementation of

national development plans. We fully support the

recommendations of the High-level Panel on United

Nations System-wide Coherence to improve the

operational effectiveness, inter-agency cooperation,

predictability and accountability of the United Nations

system.

The Millennium Development Goals represent

the global commitment to fundamental rights, which

must be guaranteed if we genuinely seek to strengthen

our democracies. Democracy should also mean

creating the conditions for sustainable economic

development that provides people with access

through decent jobs to opportunities to achieve full

personal development.

We are particularly pleased that Hungary can

share its transitional experiences, both as a member of

the Advisory Board of the United Nations Democracy

Fund and through the International Centre for

Democratic Transition, which is based in Budapest and

which has a partnership agreement with the Democracy

Fund. The United Nations has a special responsibility

to address challenges related to institution-building and

to promote democracy. As Amartya Sen, the Nobel

Prize winning economist has said, countries need not

be fit for democracy; they need to become fit through

democracy.

Hungary, as an emerging donor, is determined to

meet the obligations set out in the Millennium

Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals.

We are ready to increase our official development

assistance and to carry out our efforts in line with the

European Consensus on development and the Paris

Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. However, we are

convinced that scaling up the volume of aid in itself

will not necessarily lead to the achievement of the

Millennium Development Goals. It is also important to

emphasize the need for better complementarity,

coordination and coherence in development

cooperation.

Having been fully integrated into the European

Union (EU) and NATO structures, we are committed to

carrying out qualitative change in the outreach of

Hungarian foreign policy. We want to make our policy

and our presence more visible in all parts of the world:

an active development cooperation and assistance

policy coupled with an increased presence in United

Nations bodies. We are resolved to attach special

attention to creating more balance in the geographical

scope of our cooperation policy in order to include

African, Asian and Latin American countries. Stepping

up our outreach efforts and developing not only

assistance activities but also economic ties with Africa

will mark the beginning of a new era in our

relationship with that continent.

We are also ready to assume more responsibilities

in various international forums. Our ambitions are best

embodied in our application for a non-permanent seat

on the Security Council for the period 2012-2013. We

view our potential membership as an opportunity to

engage in constructive cooperation with all our

partners in order to achieve our common objectives on

the basis of shared interests and values.

Let me now focus on some of the most urgent

foreign policy issues of our day.

Peace and stability in the Balkan region is of

paramount importance to my country, and to Europe as

a whole. While the question of the future status of

Kosovo has drawn international attention, we are aware

that the issue of Kosovo is a challenge that needs to be

primarily tackled by Europe. Nevertheless, the United

Nations has played a pivotal role in the process to date.

Our hope is that that will continue to be the case until a

proper solution is found.

There is no doubt that there is a significant role to

be played by the EU in facilitating a satisfactory

solution for Kosovo. One thing is certain among all the

uncertainties: the status quo is not a solution. More

than ever, the region needs stability, economic

development and inter-ethnic reconciliation. The

European Union has invested much in the region in

terms of material, political and military assistance. It

has also offered the countries of the region prospects

for joining the European Union.

With regard to Serbia, we are convinced that

reinforcing the prospects for future membership of the

EU may facilitate finding a solution to the question of

Kosovo. Hungary therefore looks forward to a

successful outcome to the new round of negotiations

facilitated by the EU-United States-Russia Troika,

which the parties should approach in a constructive and

frank manner. We hope that the encouraging signs of

trust and a constructive approach will prevail in the

course of the entire process, and that the parties will be

able to come to an agreement endorsed by the Security

Council.

We are following with great attention the work of

the teams set up recently by Israeli Prime Minister

Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud

Abbas to negotiate core issues related to a permanent

solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We welcome

the initiative of the President of the United States to

convene an international conference in November.

Hungary is firmly committed to the

reconstruction of Afghanistan. As a State member of

the North Atlantic alliance, we have been involved in

the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force

since 2003. On 1 October 2006, we took over the

leadership of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in

Baghlan province. I am proud of the successful work

done by Hungary’s military contingent and by

Hungarian teams of aid workers. Moreover, I can

confirm our future commitment in Afghanistan, which

enjoys broad political consensus among all the parties

represented in the Hungarian parliament. Nevertheless,

we must not forget that the primary responsibility for

the stabilization and development of Afghanistan lies

with the Afghan people themselves. We are concerned

about the security situation and the attacks carried out

by Taliban and anti-Government forces, and we firmly

condemn all hostage-taking actions. Drug production

and trafficking continue to be a major source of

instability, and we note the increase in opium

production with grave concern. We encourage the

Afghan Government, working in close cooperation

with the international community and in particular with

its regional partners, to take effective measures to

stabilize the whole region.

The stabilization of Iraq is one of the major

challenges in the Middle East. We appreciate the

results that have been achieved so far in the course of

the country’s democratic transformation. However, the

Iraqi political class needs to overcome the present state

of deep division and start to walk down the path of

reconciliation and cooperation in order to bring peace

and stability to the country. As a precondition for a

long-lasting settlement of the conflict, the international

community must enable Iraqi leaders to assume

ownership and govern their country in an independent

way.

Hungary is very concerned about the acts of

violence perpetrated by the security forces of the

Burma/Myanmar Government. We are committed to

respecting human rights and democracy, and we

therefore strongly condemn the brutal physical attacks

against peaceful demonstrators. I reiterate our previous

call on the Government of Burma/Myanmar to fully

respect human rights and the norms of democracy, in

particular the rights to peaceful assembly and to the

free expression of opinions.

Due to one of the most worrisome conflicts on

the African continent the one raging in Darfur

the situation in the Sudan and nearby countries is still

unpredictable and explosive. Hungary welcomes the

renewed momentum in the efforts to resolve the Darfur

conflict, in particular the agreement reached on the

deployment of the African Union-United Nations

hybrid force and the subsequent adoption of Security

Council resolution 1769 (2007). We consider it

essential that the Hybrid Operation be launched, and

that troops be fully deployed in the full number

authorized, as soon as possible. I would like to

commend Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on having

made resolving the Darfur conflict a priority, as well as

on his visit to the Sudan. It is in that context that I

reaffirm our support for the peacebuilding and

peacekeeping efforts of the United Nations.

Hungary welcomes the fact that the

Peacebuilding Commission has started its work and has

met in a country-specific format to consider the cases

of Burundi and Sierra Leone. We look forward to the

first report on its work. We consider the Commission to

be an important instrument to enhance the capabilities

of the United Nations to support countries emerging

from conflict.

We are fully aware of the need to strengthen the

capacity of the United Nations to mount and sustain

complex and multidimensional peacekeeping

operations. Hungary commends the efforts made by the

Secretary-General to achieve that purpose and

welcomes the General Assembly’s decision to establish

the Department of Field Support. My country’s track

record in the field of peacekeeping demonstrates that

we are willing to actively support the Security

Council’s decisions. Hungarian military and police

personnel are present in many of the peacekeeping

missions of the United Nations, namely, in Cyprus,

Georgia, Kosovo, Lebanon and Western Sahara.

My recent participation at the fifty-first General

Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency

(IAEA) and my talks with Director General Mohamed

ElBaradei reaffirmed my conviction that questions

relating to nuclear safety and non-proliferation should

remain high on our agenda.

Hungary shares the concerns of the international

community over Iran’s nuclear programme. We deplore

Iran’s failure to take the steps required by the IAEA

Board of Governors and by Security Council

resolutions, steps necessary to re-establish

international confidence in the peaceful nature of its

nuclear programme. We welcomed the adoption of

Security Council resolutions 1737 (2006) and 1747

(2007), and we fully comply with the obligations set

forth therein. We hope that Iran will soon realize that a

diplomatic and negotiated solution is possible and that

compliance has many benefits.

Hungary continues to support the process aimed

at achieving the denuclearization of the Korean

peninsula in a peaceful manner and welcomes the first

promising results of the Six-Party Talks. Developments

related to the North Korean nuclear issue have

underscored the importance of the early entry into

force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

Hungary supports all multilateral, regional and

bilateral efforts that contribute in an effective manner

to our common goal of achieving disarmament and

curbing the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

Such efforts must also aim at upholding and

strengthening key international treaties and export

control regimes. In that context, one of the most

important challenges is to ensure compliance with the

Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Moreover, Hungary welcomes the entry into force of

the International Convention for the Suppression of

Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, which we ratified in April.

An urgent issue in the field of counter-terrorism

is the full and earliest possible implementation of the

United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. In

that regard, the main responsibility lies with Member

States, which should all also actively participate in the

upcoming implementation review. The conclusion of a

comprehensive convention on international terrorism

remains another high priority for Hungary.

Fifteen years after the United Nations Conference

on Environment and Development, the Rio Summit, it

is evident that, at the current pace, our efforts will not

be sufficient to halt the emerging global threats, in

particular that of climate change. The European Union

has a clear position in that regard, and it has proposed

to speed up the drafting of a new global compact. As a

member of the EU, Hungary fully agrees with the

urgency of the matter. We hope that the ongoing

deliberations on the future of the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change and of the

Kyoto Protocol will lead to concrete results within two

years. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome

the efforts made by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to

raise awareness about climate change in the

international community.

On behalf of my country, I would like to reiterate

Hungary’s commitment to upholding the rule of

international law, to giving priority to effective

multilateralism, to spreading the culture of cooperation

and the peaceful settlement of international disputes,

and to making every effort to preserve a sustainable

environment for future generations.

In conclusion, Hungary is strongly committed to

working with you, Mr. President, during the sixty-

second session of the General Assembly to achieve the

objectives set out in the 2005 World Summit Outcome.