Kingdom of Denmark, 2000

Allow me first to

associate myself with the statement by my colleague,

the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, on behalf of

the European Union. May I also congratulate you,

Mr. Vice-President, and through you, President

Holkeri, on your election to preside over this

millennium Assembly.

A few days ago, leaders from all over the world

gathered at the Millennium Summit. They gathered to

reaffirm their faith in the Charter and to give direction

to the United Nations in the twenty-first century. The

Charter remains as relevant as ever with its mandate to

promote peace and security, create an international

community based on the rule of law, uphold respect for

human rights and promote social development.

The new millennium brings new challenges to the

United Nations in an ever more globalized world.

Increased communication between countries and

peoples reinforces the need for common norms of

social and economic behaviour. The global United

Nations conferences within the last decade bear witness

to the value of the United Nations as a unique norm

setting forum. The follow up conferences to the social

Summit in Copenhagen and the Beijing Conference on

Women are cases in point.

These United Nations summits have advanced our

understanding of the interaction between peace,

development and human rights. The United Nations

process on financing for development offers an

opportunity for renewed commitment and action. The

relationship between social development and

promotion of human rights is today recognized. The

best preventive action against conflict and strife is to

ensure sound economic and social development based

on good governance, respect for human rights and

protection of minorities.

An encouraging and innovative feature is the

decision adopted by the Economic and Social Council

in July to establish a permanent forum on indigenous

issues thereby advancing the aspirations of indigenous

peoples. The Danish Government and the home rule

Government of Greenland welcome this recent

development. We will actively support the work of the

permanent forum.

I welcome the fact that the Security Council has

shown increasing attention to humanitarian issues. The

open meeting in the Council on Africa in January gave

new prominence to the humanitarian challenges for this

continent. In the past year, the Council has taken up

issues as diverse as AIDS in Africa, protection of

civilians in armed conflicts and children in armed

conflict. These initiatives increase our awareness of the

root causes of conflict.

The international community must shoulder its

responsibility in relation to the AIDS epidemic in sub-

Saharan Africa. The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS could

seal the fate of more than 30 million Africans over the

next five years and epidemic undermines decades of

development efforts and dissolves the social texture of

nations. It could destabilize entire regions. The AIDS

epidemic is not a local problem. It is a matter of

security of global importance. Africa has enormous

potential but millions continue to survive on less than

one dollar a day.

The growing transfer of private capital rarely

flows to the countries in Africa. We must do more to

integrate Africa into the world economy. Trade

opportunities must be improved. We must give free

access to the markets of industrialized countries, as

well as to products where African countries have a

genuine competitive advantage.

The legal framework of the World Trade

Organization (WTO) must take into account the special

difficulties of developing countries. Trade-related

technical assistance must be improved.

Peace and security, we know, are fundamental

conditions for economic and social development. War,

internal strife and political unrest have devastated large

parts of Africa, causing untold human suffering and

destruction. No one should expect easy solutions, but

we must work together to prevent and resolve armed

conflicts in Africa.

We witness an increased African effort in the

field of peace and security. The international

community must support this trend through our active

involvement. We must assist in capacity-building by

relevant African organizations, and by backing United

Nations peacekeeping efforts. Africa itself must create

the conditions for international involvement. We

welcome the initiatives by the Security Council to

create common ground for United Nations

peacekeeping operations by inviting the parties

involved to discussions and special sessions of the

Council in New York.

Although the Camp David talks did not bring

about an agreement in the Middle East, they

represented a major step forward. They helped to

narrow down differences on key issues. A

breakthrough has never before seemed so close at hand.

Time, however, is quickly running out. I urge the

parties to seize this historic opportunity. I salute the

political courage displayed by the Israeli and the

Palestinian leadership in their efforts to achieve a

durable solution. I welcome the recent decision by the

Palestinian Central Council to defer the decision on the

question of statehood in the interest of further

negotiations.

Democracy is a peacemaker. Democracies are

much less prone to violent conflicts. The Secretary-

General recently called attention to what he called fig

leaf democracies. The fig leaf of elections does not by

itself turn a dictatorship into a democracy. Elections

can even lead to a backlash as frustrations rise and

tensions turn into violence.

Denmark increasingly turns her efforts towards

the prevention and management of violent conflicts in

line with our comprehensive engagement in developing

countries and active involvement in United Nations

peacekeeping activities. We will strengthen this ability

to react quickly and effectively.

We will also continue to support regional

cooperation also when it comes to countering the

uncontrolled spread of small arms. Landmines are

substantial obstacles to development. Increased efforts

by the United Nations, Governments and non-

governmental organizations are necessary. Right now,

new momentum is needed. The second meeting of

States Parties to the Ottawa Convention provides an

important opportunity.

Peace operations are no longer a question of

merely keeping the warring parties apart or monitoring

ceasefires. They are a comprehensive and complex

undertaking involving disarmament, demobilization of

combatants, supervision of elections, monitoring of

human rights and training of local police among others.

We must enable the United Nations to adapt to the new

realities, do things better and avoid such failures as

happened in Rwanda. I fully support the

recommendations in the Brahimi Report on United

Nations peace operations. We must provide stronger

political and financial support to the Organization. I

welcome the proposed shift towards the use of civilian

police and the rule of law, as I welcome the focus on

rapid deployment of military and civilian personnel.

Police and judicial experts are indispensable to

rebuilding the economy in civil society, and their work

must be based on a solid peace-building strategy. Close

cooperation between the United Nations and other

international organizations is called for. We must

establish a partnership between the United Nations and

regional actors.

Last year the Secretary-General called upon

Member States to pursue more effective policies to stop

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organized mass murder and violations of human rights.

I fully support this view. We cannot leave large groups

of people unaided where national authorities do not

live up to their responsibilities. Conflicts in Kosovo

and East Timor raise serious questions with regard to

some of the classic principles of international law, the

principle of State sovereignty, the principle of respect

for human rights and the principle of the non-use of

force in international relations. On the one hand, we

had a basic rule of international law incorporated into

the United Nations Charter ó that the use of force in

international relations is prohibited unless authorized

by the Security Council or in self-defence. On the other

hand, many countries find that there is a political and

moral obligation to act in the face of atrocities causing

large-scale human suffering within another State.

There is no clear-cut solution to this dilemma.

But surely no legal principle, including sovereignty,

can be used as a shield to commit crimes against

humanity and other serious violations of human rights.

The Security Council has a moral obligation to act on

behalf of the international community. We must

remember that the United Nations was founded, in the

words of the Charter, in order to reaffirm faith in

fundamental human rights. Any intervention reflects a

failure of prevention. As a last resort, the international

community must have the ability to act in the face of

organized mass murder or ethnic-cleansing, even if the

Security Council is blocked. The challenge is to keep

open the option of humanitarian intervention without

Security Council authorization in extreme cases, but to

do so without jeopardizing the international legal order.

We must ensure that the Security Council

functions as effectively as possible. If not, the

influence of the Council will be diminished. The

permanent members of the Security Council should

apply the right of veto only in matters of vital

importance. Therefore, I reiterate my proposal to

establish a procedural rule; a rule according to which a

permanent member of the Security Council would have

to state the reasons why it has decided to exercise its

right of veto in a given situation. Furthermore, the

Member State should state on which grounds it

considers that matters of vital importance are at stake. I

hope that this idea can be further developed and that it

can gain broad support.

I have addressed new challenges and possibilities

at the start of the new millennium. Let me end by

reminding this Assembly that old challenges still need

to be addressed. Weapons of mass destruction are a

lethal legacy of the cold war. They need our continued

attention. Certain States are still pursuing the

acquisition of weapons of mass destruction and

building a missile capacity. There is a need for further

improvement of the international non-proliferation

regimes. Peace, development and human rights have

been the essentials in the work of the United Nations

from the very beginning. They remain essential. The

primary responsibility for a more peaceful, prosperous

and just world rests with Governments, but the United

Nations is here to help us. The Millennium Summit

confirmed our common will to work together as truly

united nations.

I cannot leave this Assembly without expressing

my deep concern at the situation in Burma. The

treatment of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi is a disgrace, and

I call on the regime in Burma to immediately restore

Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom of speech,

movement and communication.