Luxembourg, 2004

It is a special honour for me, as a member of the new

Government of Luxembourg and its Minister for

Foreign Affairs and Immigration, to take the floor for

the first time before this gathering of the nations of the

world.

You, sir, have acceded to the presidency of the

General Assembly at a time when decisions fraught

with consequences for the future of our Organization

must be prepared and discussed. Our Secretary-General

has reminded us that the United Nations is at a

crossroads. I have no doubt that, under your skilled and

wise leadership, our General Assembly will be able

effectively and decisively to provide constructive and

consensual responses to the great issues of our time.

The session ahead, leading us to the

commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the

establishment of the United Nations, must be one of

renewal for multilateralism. I can assure you, Sir, that

my country — a founding Member of the United

Nations — intends to contribute actively to that crucial

work, in particular within the presidency of the Council

of the European Union, to which Luxembourg will

accede on 1 January 2005, following the current

presidency of the Netherlands. It goes without saying

that I fully subscribe to the statement made by my

colleague, Mr. Bernard Bot, Minister for Foreign

Affairs of the Netherlands, before this Assembly.

From this moment until the sixtieth session of the

General Assembly, three themes will be the focus of

our attention: issues linked to the maintenance of peace

and security; the complex question of development and

its financing; and United Nations reform.

We must begin this genuine relaunching of

multilateral cooperation first of all in the area of the

maintenance of peace and security, basing our action

on the United Nations Charter. While regional crises

and civil wars have multiplied in various areas of the

globe, in particular on the African continent over the

past year, history has taught us, often tragically and

painfully, that peace and stability can only be

maintained and guaranteed within the framework of an

international order based on the rule of law and shared

strong and effective institutions based on fundamental

shared values. This has been stated in our superb

Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the

subsequent normative instruments that supplemented it.

This is also the lesson learned from the fratricidal

horrors and conflicts of the past century between

member States of the European Union, which now we

are gratified to see expanded to 25 members.

In that context, we look with concern toward the

Middle and Near East, where situations of tension and

of open conflict seem to be worsening. Regarding the

Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we must emphatically

recall here, given a situation characterized by

numerous impasses on all sides, that the path of

negotiation and compromise remains the only

reasonable path and that the road map remains the only

way to achieve a negotiated solution between the

parties, based on the coexistence of two States, namely,

an independent and viable Palestinian State, living in

peace next to Israel, within secure and recognized

borders. This was also vigorously reaffirmed by the

Quartet the day before yesterday. In the same way, any

withdrawal by Israel from the Gaza Strip must take

place within the context of the political process

described by the road map.

The unanimous adoption of Security Council

resolution 1546 (2004) on the situation in Iraq and the

subsequent restoration of Iraqi sovereignty constitute

an important stage in the process of political, social

and economic reconstruction of this battered country.

The European Union, for its part, adopted in early

September a set of measures designed to further

strengthen the European commitment to Iraq. We hope

that conditions will soon be such that the United

Nations will be able to fully play its proper role, in

particular regarding the political process, the

preparation for elections, humanitarian assistance and

reconstruction.

Luxembourg has also been following with the

greatest attention developments in the situation in the

Great Lakes region, the Western Balkans, and, in

particular, in Kosovo, as well as in Darfur in Sudan.

My country fully associates itself with the positions

presented here by my Dutch colleague on behalf of the

European Union.

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The preservation of peace, crisis prevention and

management and peacekeeping are among the noblest

tasks of our Organization. The Security Council has an

important role to play here. We should not hesitate to

consider innovative solutions in defining new

approaches and institutional processes to strengthen

our collective capacity for prevention and action on the

basis of the Charter.

Here I would like to welcome the measures taken

by the Secretary-General regarding the prevention of

genocide. I would venture to hope that the High-level

Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change will be able

to put before us proposals to both improve our capacity

for shared action and cope with the new threats to

peace and security, among which, first and foremost,

are terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass

destruction. United Nations instruments in fighting

terrorism were recently enhanced by the adoption of

Security Council resolution 1535 (2004) and the

implementation measures which flow from it.

However, the recent report of the Analytical Support

and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the Security

Council Committee established pursuant to resolution

1267 (1999) concerning Al Qaeda and the Taliban and

Associated Individuals and Entities reminded us that a

great deal still remains to be done to put an end to

these despicable and unacceptable practices which

leave so many families throughout the world in

mourning.

The fight against terrorism cannot be won solely

through the use of military and police means. We must

strike at its roots, which spawn hate, brutality and the

senseless destruction of human lives. The core of any

multilateral system is the right of all peoples and every

human being to live in peace and dignity.

The threat of weapons of mass destruction also

remains a concern of highest priority. While significant

progress has been made, disturbing news has reached

us over the last few months from other regions of the

globe, in particular from Iran and from the Democratic

People’s Republic of Korea. In each of these cases, the

necessary clarifications and full guarantees must be

provided, particularly within the framework of strict

respect for the International Atomic Energy Agency

(IAEA) regimes. Here, I would like to emphasize that

the 2005 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-

Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons must provide an

opportunity for reaffirming the validity and relevance

of the shared quest for solutions to the complex issues

of non-proliferation.

Regarding all of these cases linked to the

maintenance of peace and international security, the

United Nations will find a reliable and committed

partner in the European Union, which has made the

emergence of effective multilateralism one of its

priorities for the security strategy it adopted in

December 2003. It is, indeed, with pride that I add that

Luxembourg has also been shouldering its

peacekeeping responsibilities by contributing military

contingents to the Kosovo Force and to the

International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan,

which are now under the command of the European

Corps.

The issue of development is and must remain the

focus of the international community’s attention. This

is the most important point in this context. While

millions of human beings continue to live in

unacceptable conditions, our rallying around the

achievement of the Millennium Development Goals

must be constant and indeed stepped up, given the fact

that many States, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa,

still experience extreme difficulty in making progress

to meet the 2015 deadline.

For its part, Luxembourg is ready to shoulder its

duties in the indispensable joint international efforts. In

2003, our official development assistance (ODA) in

Luxembourg reached 0.81 per cent of our gross

national product and the goal of having this figure

reach one per cent in the years to come is part of the

programme of the new Government that was formed in

July of this year. The struggle against poverty and the

commitment to sustainable development on the global

level are also major objectives of the policy of

cooperation in Luxembourg, the policy that we are

implementing together with our partners in a spirit of

partnership and participation. In our actions to ensure

cooperation, particular emphasis must be placed on the

continuation of international efforts targeting

reproductive health, in particular, combating the

horrendous scourge of HIV/AIDS.

In addition to an increase in ODA on the global

scale, other sources of financing can be used, and the

initiative of Presidents Lula and Chirac has charted the

way for a number of interesting ideas in this respect.

We believe that it is critical to maintain the Monterrey

Consensus as a whole. Any effective development

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strategy in the medium- and long-term must be based

on a proper combination of elements such as ODA,

international trade, direct foreign investment and the

domestic efforts of the countries involved, particularly

regarding capacity reinforcement, strengthening of

governance and the rule of law. In this regard, I am

convinced that all efforts must be further developed to

achieve a positive conclusion to the Doha development

round.

As Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration,

I must mention an innovation in our national political

context, as did our Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan,

on 29 January 2004, in an inciteful speech to the

European Parliament in Brussels regarding the growing

importance of the problem of migration, particularly

for Europe. This issue must be addressed through a

careful management of migration flows by focusing on

integration and international cooperation. Decisive

action against organized crime, in particular crime

linked to any kind of trafficking in human beings, is an

indispensable corollary to this.

We are called upon to step up our efforts during

the year to come to prepare for a significant event,

namely, the September 2005 summit, and which, in

United Nations jargon, is being called the “major

event”. Five years after the Millennium Summit, this

meeting of the highest political leaders on the planet

should provide an opportunity to define a new

synthesis — a new global agenda — at the dawn of the

twenty-first century.

Indeed, we face many significant challenges.

Together, we must review all of the commitments

undertaken in the Millennium Declaration and at the

major conferences of the 1990s, assess their

implementation and, within the Organization, make

any adjustments and adaptations that a changing global

context requires — all without compromising the level

of the shared ambitions that inspire us. We must see to

it that the new global agenda expresses the hopes and

aspirations of the entire international community. In

particular, development must continue to be a focus of

the attention it deserves. There is also a need to open

our Organization up to the new debates and the new

issues that are emerging in the area of the maintenance

of peace and security.

None of the foregoing issues are fiefdoms of a

particular State or group of States. Rather, they are

concerns shared by all Member States and, as such,

must be managed jointly within the multilateral

institutions that form our common heritage. The

vitality and relevance of our Organization is the key to

the effort to redefine the terms of the international

agenda by giving priority to the concepts of

interdependence and solidarity. While the goals are

vital, the risks are significant, and, together, we must

chart a coordinated, inclusive and balanced path that

will allow each and every one of us to participate fully

and to express our aspirations and expectations.

To achieve those lofty goals we need, first of all,

to promote the development of a new mindset in our

deliberations. After the divisions and controversies of

recent years, the international community must once

again come together and close ranks around shared,

joint objectives. In that way the United Nations will

remain the pre-eminent seat of international legitimacy

and a vital centre for multilateral action, as the

Secretary-General recently said. It is that new mindset

that must inspire our shared activities as we move

towards next year’s major event.

We also need to agree on a procedure that will

ensure the participation of all, guarantee the necessary

balance among the various aspects of the process and

guide us towards greater coordination on the substance

of the political messages to be formulated. In all

events, rest assured that my country and its partners in

the European Union are ready to participate fully in

that debate.

In the context of a renewal of multilateralism, as I

have tried to outline it here, reform of the United

Nations has pride of place. Our institutions must be

better adapted to meet new challenges, as well as to

fulfil their present mandates. The genuine renewal of

the United Nations system must be reflected in a

palpable strengthening of the tools for analysis,

decision and action available to us. Effective

multilateralism must be expressed through the

strengthening of the United Nations system as a whole.

By adopting a more global approach, we see

reform not as a zero-sum game, but as a positive-sum

game, in which each player and each institution

benefits from the new impetus thus provided.

Significant progress was already made in the

revitalization of the General Assembly during the fifty-

eighth session, under the leadership of the former

President, Mr. Julian Hunte. Those efforts now remain

17

to be translated into action as well as continued and

intensified.

Security Council reform, which has been in

discussion for more than a decade, must be carried out,

so that that vital body can better reflect the realities of

today’s world; indeed, it is both a prerequisite for the

Council’s legitimacy and a guarantee for the

effectiveness of its action. More active interaction

between the Security Council and the General

Assembly and a better coordination of their roles, as

well as enhanced transparency regarding States not

members of the Security Council, should form the

framework of any future enlargement of the Council.

The restructuring of the work of the Economic

and Social Council and the Main Committees of the

General Assembly should be conducted with

determination and courage so that more focused and

better organized activities can gain greater relevance

and have greater political impact on the substantive

problems being addressed.

The strengthening of the rule of law on a global

scale, as called for by the Secretary-General, and, in

particular, the consolidation and ultimate

universalization of the International Criminal Court,

should be among our highest priorities, along with the

protection of human rights — the vital importance of

which I would like to emphasize once again.

Finally, I would be remiss were I to fail to

mention the Secretariat staff and other United Nations

personnel, who are carrying out an extraordinarily

difficult mission with courage and dedication, and

indeed sometimes, as we know, risking their very lives.

It is crucial that we be able, within the framework of

this year’s budgetary discussions for the year, to

provide the Organization with the resources,

particularly the financial resources to fulfil the

mandates that we have conferred upon it, especially in

regard to peacekeeping operations. It is also vital that

the Organization adopt a rigorous policy regarding the

protection of United Nations personnel, who are acting

on our behalf in often dangerous conditions in all

corners of the globe.

It seems that to put a curse on someone, one has

only to wish for them to live in interesting times. I do

not know if we are living under a curse, but I do know

that we are living in an interesting time: a time of

debate, a time of restructuring, a time of choice and of

the relaunching of international cooperation. Let us

seize this opportunity and breathe new life into the

United Nations, which has been proven itself to be

indispensable. But let us also admit that the choice of

multilateralism is a demanding one, and one that

requires of us all an increased readiness to call into

question our old certainties and to accept new

approaches within a renewed institutional framework.

On the path towards that renewal, let us draw

inspiration from the magnificent lines of the Spanish

poet, Antonio Machado, and I quote:

“Traveller, your footsteps

Are the road, and nothing else;

Traveller, there is no road.

The road is made by walking;

Walking makes the road”.

I am confident that together we will have the

vision and the courage to take that first step, and the

steps that follow, on that ambitious path.