Latvia, 2008

I wish to begin by

congratulating Mr. d’Escoto Brockmann on assuming

the post of President of the General Assembly at its

current session.

Today I shall start by addressing the security

situation in the world. During the past year, the

international community has deepened its

understanding of frozen conflicts. Frozen does not

mean resolved; it means that those conflicts are able to

re-emerge. Therefore, I am particularly glad that

significant progress has been achieved towards

resolving long-lasting conflicts in some regions.

First, I would like to mention Kosovo. Strong

involvement by the United Nations, the European

Union (EU) and the United States helped to resolve a

protracted conflict in the Balkans. Now we need to

focus our efforts on the development of Kosovo’s

statehood: political stability, economic prosperity,

security and good relations with its neighbours.

I welcome the decision of the Secretary-General

to reconfigure the United Nations Interim

Administration Mission in Kosovo. It is necessary to

continue the constructive cooperation between the

United Nations and the EU so that the Kosovo Mission

can be fully deployed. That is important both for

Kosovo and for the entire West Balkans region.

The international community has also made

remarkable efforts to assist Afghanistan in building a

democratic, prosperous and secure State. Large and

small countries and civilian and military organizations

from all over the world are working together to fulfil

our common aspiration to peace and stability.

We must not undermine that immense effort by

being impatient. The war ravaged Afghanistan for

20 years; it will take at least as much time to rebuild a

peaceful society. The international community must

push ahead until that long-term aim is achieved.

Latvia is increasing its commitment to the Afghan

people in terms of development and security

assistance. We are focusing our civil engagement on

ensuring good governance and a strong judiciary and

on meeting the basic needs of the Afghan people.

The prospects for peace and stability in the

Middle East affect the whole world. Latvia hopes that

the peace negotiations between the Government of

Israel and the Palestinian Authority will produce

results. We hope that the parties will use the window of

opportunity to conclude a peace agreement by the end

of 2008. The indirect talks that have resumed between

Israel and Syria are another positive signal.

Latvia welcomes the stabilization process in

Lebanon. We hope that the Doha agreement will be

fully implemented and that it will serve as a solid

foundation for renewed political stability, national

unity and sustainable economic development in the

country.

Not all of the developments over the past year

have been positive. We have witnessed new challenges

to the law-based international system. We should ask

ourselves whether we, as the international community,

can accept the fact that peacekeeping troops protect

only one side involved in a conflict. Can we accept the

fact that peacekeeping forces are occupying territories

that are clearly outside the conflict zones? Can we

accept the fact that the protection of nationals abroad is

being used as a pretext for a large-scale use of force in

another State without the approval of the Security

Council?

All those questions arise from the international

response to the recent war in Georgia. If they matter to

us, we should have a clear plan to resolve the Georgian

crisis. The most important task is adherence to and

implementation of the six-point ceasefire agreement on

the part of the Russian Federation. First, foreign troops

must be removed from all Georgian soil. Equally

important is the establishment of an EU monitoring

mission to normalize the situation in Georgia.

For 15 years now, the United Nations has

mandated the United Nations Observer Mission in

Georgia. We must ensure that there are no obstacles to

the continuation of that effort. I call upon world leaders

to come together not only to provide humanitarian aid

to Georgia, but also to ensure a massive international

effort to help rebuild the country’s economy and

infrastructure.

It is about time that we seriously examine our

development commitments. The time between now and

2015 may seem long, but it is less than the time that

has elapsed since the adoption of the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000. Two days ago, I

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participated in the high-level meeting on Africa’s

development needs, and tomorrow I will participate in

the high-level event on the MDGs. Those are important

efforts aimed at giving the issue the top priority that it

deserves. We must significantly accelerate the

processes for achieving the MDGs by 2015. A clearer

picture of what we must achieve in the interim in each

of the main clusters of the MDGs — health, education,

growth and climate change — is what the United

Nations needs immediately.

We also need a clearer picture of the required

division of labour among various actors, and we need

to develop a shared sense of progress. A clear plan of

action is what we need right now. Therefore, Latvia

strongly supports the EU Call for Action initiative on

the MDGs. Climate change will have a major negative

bearing on the achievement of the MDGs. Latvia

supports broader use of renewable energy resources to

reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. However,

climate change cannot be seen as an exclusively

environmental challenge; we need a more integrated

approach.

Changes to energy consumption patterns must be

taken into account as we move towards sustainable

development, food security and worldwide trade.

Innovative technologies, as well as sustainable

production and consumption, would deliver both

midterm and long-term results. Carbon dioxide

emissions cannot be cut in some regions while others

do nothing. While each of our countries must commit

to cutting emissions, success will be possible only if

there is a truly global agreement that enables us to do

so and tells us how. The United Nations, as the only

truly global Organization, must play a decisive role.

Trade liberalization is an important contributor to

the achievement of the MDGs. Although the recent

trade liberalization efforts at the World Trade

Organization were not successful, the process must be

continued at the multilateral level.

Globalization has brought with it both increased

prosperity and increased risks. We need to find a way

to ensure that tomorrow’s globalization will offer

growing prosperity to all people. Globalization will

produce benefits on a truly global scale only if trade is

liberalized across the board. Every country and every

region must do its fair share in that process.

I would like to congratulate Ms. Navanethem

Pillay, the new United Nations High Commissioner for

Human Rights, on the assumption of her duties and to

wish her every success in that highly important post. I

would also like to thank Ms. Louise Arbour for her

invaluable contribution to the promotion and protection

of human rights.

This year, symbolically, the sixtieth anniversary

of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights coincides with the ninetieth anniversary of the

founding of the Republic of Latvia. In 1918, the Act of

Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia declared:

“All citizens, irrespective of their ethnicity, are

asked to help, for the rights of all people will be

guaranteed in Latvia. It will be a democratic and

just State where oppression and injustice do not

exist”.

I am truly proud of that statement. Thirty years before

the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights, the Republic of Latvia declared its adherence to

the same core values and principles and fully

implemented them in the newly established State.

Unfortunately, by the time the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights had been adopted, Latvia

had come under foreign occupation and its people had

been deprived of their right to freely determine their

political status and were being subjected to oppression

and injustice. It was only in 1991 that Latvia restored

its statehood and the continuity of its commitment to

fundamental human rights, inherent human dignity,

equality and the universality of those values.

The creation of the Human Rights Council and

the beginning of the Universal Periodic Review are

important steps aimed at promoting the values of the

Universal Declaration. The special procedures of the

Human Rights Council play a particular role in that

regard. Latvia expresses its full support for them and

urges all United Nations Members to cooperate fully

with the special procedures, including by issuing

standing invitations to them.

Latvia is ready to share with the international

community its experience in the area of promoting

human rights. Latvia has put forward its candidacy for

the Human Rights Council for the year 2014.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the

adoption of the Rome Statute establishing the

International Criminal Court (ICC). We welcome the

progress the Court has achieved in its analyses,

investigations and judicial proceedings. We call upon

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all States to ensure full cooperation with the Court. The

ICC is not an instrument that can be activated or

deactivated according to political expediency. We are

convinced that universality of justice is a prerequisite

for sustainable peace.

Effective multilateralism requires combining

greater awareness of the nature of the risks we face

with a contemporary understanding of how

international politics are forged today. International

organizations are only one part of our global system,

and often that part is the most resistant to change. It is

regrettable that the enthusiasm and momentum

generated during the 2005 World Summit in reforming

this universal international body has somewhat faded.

Reform of the Security Council is long overdue.

We must move on from the discussion of procedure

into a discussion of substance. We welcome the recent

decision by the General Assembly to continue

immediately within the Open-ended Working Group on

the Question of Equitable Representation on and

Increase in the Membership of the Security Council

and Other Matters Related to the Security Council to

prepare intergovernmental negotiations on the question

of the Security Council’s expansion.

While recognizing the need for structural reform

of the United Nations, we should not lose sight of

making more effective use of existing capacity.

Management reform is central to all those efforts. We

support further measures aimed at ensuring greater

transparency, enhanced accountability and strict budget

discipline. There has been some progress, but not

enough by far.

We live in a world with deteriorating security, a

growing population, the consequences of climate

change and market turbulence aggravated by high

energy and food prices. We need deeper engagement

with the risks we face globally. That requires a new

commitment to our values and a willingness to work

for an international system that has a vision of the

future at its heart. I would like that to become the

driving force for all the work of the General Assembly

at this sixty-third session.