Kingdom of Denmark, 1994

The unique role of the

United Nations is to promote the well-being of people, the

security and development of nations and the protection of

our common world. It was built on a resolve to maintain

peace and security and to employ international machinery

for the promotion of the economic and social

advancement of all peoples.

The United Nations peace-keeping activities are a

challenge for all nations. For Denmark, it is a matter of

the highest priority. The United Nations can rely on

Denmark to respond swiftly and efficiently to the needs

of the Organization for troops, civilian police, customs

officials and personnel for humanitarian relief operations.

We have made organizational arrangements to make this

possible, even at very short notice. A recent example is

Denmark’s decision to contribute civilian personnel to

engage in a humanitarian effort and to promote human

rights in Haiti.

We favour a combination of peace-keeping

operations with humanitarian relief operations. The

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establishment of the United Nations stand-by forces will

enhance the ability to respond quickly to emerging crises.

Denmark is ready to participate with further elements and

is establishing an international brigade for that purpose.

Peace-keeping has its own special features. They are

different from traditional military training. Peace-keepers

must consistently act in full accordance with their role and

mandate. As has recently been said, patience, persistence

and pressure are key elements of peace-keeping missions.

Seventy-three nations today contribute troops, military

observers or civilian police to the many ongoing operations.

The number of troop-contributing nations is increasing.

This has placed emphasis on the need for training.

Denmark stands ready to share its vast experience and

knowledge in peace-keeping training and requirements.

The cooperation between the Baltic States, the Nordic

countries and the United Kingdom on a Baltic

peace-keeping battalion is a good example of such

cooperation. At present, a Lithuanian platoon is serving in

the Danish battalion in Croatia.

Keeping the peace worldwide is costly. Funds are

limited, as is the number of trained and equipped troops.

In the future we must utilize preventive diplomacy. In

Macedonia, we have seen the positive effects of the first

example of preventive deployment.

Communication between the Security Council and the

troopcontributing countries is imperative. Further progress

is needed on this, for instance in the form of regular

consultations between the members of the Security Council,

the troop-contributing States and the Secretariat.

Peace-keeping involves the important question of

safety and security for United Nations and associated

personnel. Peace-keepers act as a neutral force. They must

be ensured the highest possible standard of protection.

Attacks cannot be tolerated. We strongly support the

efforts of the United Nations to draft a legally binding

treaty in this field.

The "Agenda for Peace" (A/47/277) led to discussions

on a more active role of the United Nations in peacemaking

and peace-keeping. It is to be hoped that the "Agenda for

Development" (A/49/935) will inspire an equally important

discussion on the role of the United Nations in

development. Development policies must correspond to

prevailing social, economic, environmental, religious and

ethnic problems.

We cannot fight tomorrow’s battles with yesterday’s

weapons.

My Government is proud to host the World Summit

for Social Development in Copenhagen in March 1995.

The challenge of the Summit, the first of its kind, is to

create new foundations of peace through development. It

presents a unique chance to overcome the North-South

divide through new approaches. We must eradicate

poverty and enable all people to earn a livelihood. We

must promote social integration by fostering just, safe and

stable societies with the full participation of all people.

Discrimination in all its forms must be eliminated and

human rights respected, and conditions for children and

young people must be improved.

As a link to the Beijing Conference on Women, the

Summit must make a strong commitment to achieving full

equality between men and women and to enhancing the

contribution of women to social progress and

development.

Progress has been achieved in the preparatory

process for the Summit, but this process is still marked by

difficulties. Time for preparation is running short. The

Secretary-General is making untiring efforts to promote

the Copenhagen Summit and to secure its success. It is

essential that Member States support the

Secretary-General in his endeavours in order to keep up

the momentum of the process. The Summit represents an

opportunity for world leaders to commit themselves and

their Governments to a better and more just world.

Members may rest assured that, as hosts of the

Summit, we will spare no effort to make it a success.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming Heads

of State or Government in Copenhagen.

The World Conference on Human Rights in 1993

was a turning-point in United Nations activities for the

promotion and protection of human rights. It is gratifying

to see one of its central recommendations implemented in

the form of the establishment of the post of High

Commissioner for Human Rights. Steps should now be

taken to increase substantially the resources for the United

Nations human rights programme. We must enable the

High Commissioner to discharge his mandate in full.

Human rights are a vital element in preventing and

resolving conflicts. We must therefore develop new

approaches to monitoring human rights. One such step

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could be to set up a team of human rights monitors to assist

the High Commissioner.

Freedom of expression is a basic human right. The

fatwa against Salman Rushdie and others constitutes a

flagrant violation of this right. We urge the Iranian

Government to dissociate itself from this threat.

Increasingly we realize that our actions or our

negligence as individual nations affect other nations and

their populations. All nations have a common future that

we must protect from nuclear disasters, environmental

degradation and weapons of mass destruction.

Chernobyl taught us how important this aspect of

security is. It is of great concern to my Government that

many nuclear facilities in Central and Eastern Europe and

the Commonwealth of Independent States are operating at

critically low levels of safety. We must improve this

situation.

The Rio de Janeiro Conference in 1992 put renewed

emphasis on environment and development. Denmark’s

resolve to abide by the Rio principles is strong. Our

international development assistance of 1 per cent of gross

national product (GNP) is guided by the principles of

sustainable development. This will provide additional

financial resources to developing countries and countries in

transition in order to assist them in meeting objectives of

sustainability.

Our common future also calls for taking steps towards

disarmament, arms control and confidence-building

measures. It implies reducing weapons of mass destruction,

chemical and biological weapons as well as weapons to be

used in outer space. We have reached a time that is

conducive to these aims and to allowing the role of the

United Nations to be enhanced.

Reform of the United Nations is necessary. Denmark

supports a strong Security Council. We agree that the

Council needs to be adapted to today’s world and that it

needs to be enlarged. In enlarging the Council, priority

should be given to additional seats for non-permanent

members, allocated under the principle of equitable

geographical distribution. A small number of new seats

could be allocated as permanent seats.

We entrust the United Nations with mandates to secure

worldwide peace, security and development, but we fail to

ensure the Organization the necessary financial means. It

is not tenable, for instance, that troop-contributing nations

cannot be reimbursed, and I simply fail to understand

how some Member States can advocate United Nations

actions, including peace-keeping operations, and then

refuse to pay the bill.

Denmark welcomes the withdrawal of the last troops

of the former Soviet Union from Estonia and Latvia on

31 August, in accordance with concluded agreements.

This is truly a historic event. It is of significance to

future relations between the Baltic States and Russia, to

stability in the Baltic area and for European security. The

agreements must now be fully implemented by all parties

in order to keep up the momentum.

As for the former Yugoslavia, important results have

been reached since the establishment of the Contact

Group. The decision by the authorities of the former

Republic of Yugoslavia to close the Serbian-Bosnian

border and to accept international surveillance is a direct

consequence of pressure by the international community.

The continued negative reaction to the peace plan of

the Bosnian Serbs must lead to their further isolation.

Sanctions remain one of the most efficient instruments in

our policy of isolation. We therefore welcome the

adoption of resolution 942 (1994) by the Security Council

last week.

Against that background, we welcome the deferral of

the question of lifting the arms embargo. Denmark firmly

believes that the arms embargo should not be lifted, as

this would entail risks of the conflict’s spreading. It

would disrupt the peace negotiations, which combine the

efforts of the United Nations, the European Union, the

United States and Russia, and it would make the

continued presence of the United Nations Protection Force

(UNPROFOR) impossible.

UNPROFOR is playing an indispensable role in

attempting to keep the peace and at the same time

alleviate the plight of the people. With 1,400 troops,

civilian police and monitors in the former Yugoslavia,

Denmark is one of the largest troop contributors to

UNPROFOR. We remain committed to our participation

in this operation.

We believe that a strict and effective sealing off of

the border between Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia

and Herzegovina will be a new and decisive element. At

short notice Denmark sent observers for the Mission of

the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia

(ICFY) to monitor that border.

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Denmark continues to make substantial contributions

to the humanitarian relief work in the former Yugoslavia.

Coordination by the United Nations and the European

Union is progressing favourably. Denmark is placing both

personnel and financial means at the disposal of that

enterprise.

We strongly condemn the renewed "ethnic cleansings"

which the Serbs have systematically carried out. The

persons responsible for these atrocities must be brought

before the international tribunal set up for the punishment

of crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia.

In the Middle East political will and hard negotiations

have created a historic breakthrough. Denmark warmly

welcomes the signing of the Declaration of Principles

between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization

(PLO) in 1993 and the Declaration signed between Israel

and Jordan in 1994. The Gaza-Jericho Agreement was the

next important step. International support is now needed to

keep up the momentum.

The holding of fair and free elections in Gaza and the

West Bank will represent significant progress. We

encourage the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli

Government to ensure speedy implementation of the

election process.

Progress should also be achieved in the negotiations

between Syria and Israel and between Lebanon and Israel.

We welcome the clear political will of all parties to

continue their efforts to bring about such progress. They

all stand to gain significantly from peace, and the United

Nations continues to have an important role to play.

The tragic events in Rwanda revealed the weakness of

the United Nations and of the international community. It

was demonstrated that we were not able to provide an

effective and timely response. The challenge remains to

create stability and ensure Rwanda the proper conditions for

development. This will require an international effort on a

considerable scale, which can be successful only if it is

firmly rooted in Rwanda and the countries of the region.

On the African scene it is heartening to see the

Republic of South Africa reinstated in its seat in the

Assembly. It is now fully participating in the work of the

United Nations. South Africa has proved to the world that

a peaceful transition from repression to democracy is

possible. It has set an example. This also confirms that

the United Nations has a role to play in bringing about

fundamental reforms in a repressive society.

Denmark has been a staunch supporter of the forces

of democratic change in South Africa. We will continue

our considerable financial support to the consolidation of

democracy.

The best contribution of Member States to the

United Nations is to reconfirm their will to implement the

Charter, to accelerate the reform process and, indeed, to

pay their dues. The United Nations is, and must continue

to be, a vital instrument in the service of the peoples of

the world.