Montenegro, 2011

It is truly an honour

for me to address the Assembly at this global forum on

behalf of Montenegro and to reiterate our commitment

to the principles and purposes of the United Nations

and its Charter.

I hereby wish to congratulate Mr. Nassir

Abdulaziz Al-Nasser on his election as President of the

General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session, and to

pledge the full support of the Montenegrin delegation

as he carries out his demanding task. I also wish to

thank Mr. Joseph Deiss for his valuable contribution

and for strengthening the central role of the United

Nations in the global system during his presidency of

the General Assembly.

I would like to congratulate Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon on his reappointment, which I am certain

will result in the continuation of the reforms

undertaken to build a more efficient and coherent

United Nations system, and thus a safer and more

prosperous world.

Two months ago, Montenegro was replaced by

South Sudan as the youngest Member of our

Organization. I wish to congratulate South Sudan on its

independence and its full-fledged membership in this

body. I truly believe that this milestone will contribute

to security and serve as a good starting point for the

development of good-neighbourly relations.

We also support the democratization processes in

North Africa, as well as the actions taken by the United

Nations and the African Union in Côte d’Ivoire,

Somalia, the Congo and other parts of Africa to further

the overall progress of the entire continent.

In the context of regional cooperation,

Montenegro has contributed to overall stability in

South-East Europe by chairing the most important

regional initiatives, which has been a unique and rather

challenging experience for our Administration.

Montenegro is committed to further developing mutual

understanding and to strengthening all forms of

cooperation in the future. Our success and that of the

countries of our region is the success of Europe, too.

There is full consensus on the issue of European

Union integration in Montenegro. We are aware of the

fact that this process requires continuous contributions

from all stakeholders in our society. I am convinced

that we will have enough will, enthusiasm, capacity

and energy to tackle it during the forthcoming period.

I hope and believe that persistent and committed

work on the implementation of overall internal

reforms, based on the seven key recommendations

underlined by the European Commission and

accompanied by a policy of good-neighbourly relations

and regional and international cooperation, represent a

solid foundation for the European Commission to

recommend, in its progress report to the European

Council, that European Union (EU) accession talks be

opened with Montenegro.

We are taking firm steps forward on the

Euro-Atlantic path and are currently preparing our

second Annual National Programme as part of the

NATO membership process. The progress of the

Western Balkan countries towards European and Euro-

Atlantic integration is a key factor for regional stability

and lays the groundwork for long-term economic

prosperity.

As a United Nations Member State and a reliable

international partner, Montenegro is committed to the

maintenance of international peace and security.

Consistent with its capacities, Montenegro actively

participates in United Nations peacekeeping missions

in Liberia and Cyprus, while also keeping in mind the

regional security aspects.

Through our participation in the NATO-led

International Security Assistance Force, we directly

contribute to the efforts of the international community

to ensure lasting peace in Afghanistan, while at the

same time supporting global efforts in the fight against

terrorism. Through the EU ATALANTA mission, we

have joined the fight against piracy, the consequences

5 11-51360

of which have also been suffered by Montenegrin

sailors.

Nevertheless, in order to prevent new conflicts

that have the potential to cause humanitarian disasters

and put additional pressure on the already-burdened

peacekeeping mission contingents, it is necessary to

strengthen preventive diplomacy and mediation

activities in cases of potential and initiated conflict.

The further development of United Nations capacities

in this domain will contribute to the timely and

peaceful resolution of conflicts before their

complexities lead to serious international

repercussions.

In that regard, Montenegro strongly supports the

peaceful resolution of all existing conflicts, especially

those in the wider region of the Middle East and North

Africa. Priority should be given to the urgent signing

of a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine,

which is in their mutual interest. Only if both sides

refrain from violent actions will room be created for

confidence-building and a comprehensive solution to

the Middle East issue, making Israel a safe country, to

the benefit of both internationally recognized sides and

meeting the prerequisites for Palestine to establish a

stable State.

Montenegro also supports all the Security

Council resolutions and actions taken by the

international community aimed at stopping human

rights violations and fulfilling the legitimate

aspirations of populations, especially in Libya and

Syria.

Montenegro supports the principles of the

universality of human rights and the inadmissibility of

violating them or resolutions promoting their

protection and enhancement. We also support the

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

and the Human Rights Council, to which we have

announced our candidature for the period 2013-2015.

Experience that Montenegro gained in its turbulent

past, when it provided shelter to refugees, can serve as

a basis for achieving long-lasting political

compromises aimed at securing peace in the region. In

our view, the Universal Periodic Review is an

important instrument for assessing the status of human

rights in the world.

I wish to emphasize our support of the work of

the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former

Yugoslavia, and the importance of all of the

international tribunals, especially when it comes to

systematic violations of fundamental human rights and

freedoms. They not only serve as an example and guide

for national courts, but they also function as a clear

deterrent to and inescapable destination for individuals

who ignore the rules established by the Geneva

Conventions.

Montenegro, as an ethnically, culturally and

religiously diverse society, is an active member of the

Group of Friends of the United Nations Alliance of

Civilizations and is committed to the fundamental

principles of integration, the strengthening of civil

society, tolerance and the fight against all forms of

discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. We

are determined and committed to preserving the

fundamental values that civil society is based upon, no

matter what the challenges are and no matter what the

challenges that we, as a society and a State, will have

to face in the future.

Let me also briefly point out our current

economic developments. The fact that we are a small

and open economy, and therefore vulnerable to changes

in the global economic market, resulted in the global

economic and financial crisis stalling Montenegro’s

economic progress. Nevertheless, with the

implementation of our anti-crisis economic policy we

have lessened the impact of the global crisis and

stopped the downward trend in the Montenegrin

economy.

That crisis confirmed the soundness of the basic

principles of our economic policy — focusing on

further stabilization of public finances, improving the

business environment and structural reforms, so as to

establish a stable, dynamic and competitive economy

in the long term and to improve the quality of life of all

citizens of Montenegro. Despite being fully aware that,

if we are to mount an adequate response to the crisis,

we will have to make some difficult and unpopular cuts

in order to create a new, sound basis for strengthening

the economy, we also know that actions taken by one

stakeholder alone, no matter how successful, are

insufficient. We all have to play a positive role in order

to strike the right balance among success,

sustainability, social responsibility and solidarity in

this complex process.

Accordingly, we must not stop progress towards

achieving the Millennium Development Goals, the

realization of which creates the basis for the further

11-51360 6

development of human rights and fundamental

freedoms throughout the world. The fight against

poverty and diseases, gender equality, protection of

mothers and children, education, environmental

protection and sustainable development represent the

main prerequisites for progress and prosperity for our

societies and are high on our Government’s agenda.

Montenegro supports pragmatic reform in the

United Nations. As a small country, it is especially

interested in strengthening the authority and role of the

General Assembly — and other main United Nations

bodies — and in improving its efficiency of operation.

Increasing representation in the Security Council —

including granting a seat to the Group of Eastern

European States in the category of non-permanent

member — would result in a functional strengthening

of that body, improving its efficiency, accountability

and credibility, in accordance with the United Nations

Charter. A modern reform process, open to Member

States individually or to groups of countries, must be

based on a broad consensus on all five key aspects of

Security Council reform. I am sure that there is a way

to make a bridge between those goals and other

entities, such as the Group of 20, for instance.

In its further democratization, its improved

efficiency, its strengthened judiciary and administrative

system, its fight against corruption and organized

crime and its fostering of an inclusive society,

Montenegro and the resident and non-resident United

Nations agencies are working together to achieve the

strategic goals of our common policy. The United

Nations Development programme Resident

Representative and the One United Nations programme

have given an opportunity both to United Nations

agencies and State partners in the process to create and

monitor programme activities directly and on equal

footing, and to adapt programme activities to the

development needs of our country.

At the same time, the One United Nations

programme is an opportunity for gradual reform in the

operations of the United Nations system, creating a

simultaneous and well-coordinated approach that will

result, among other things, in avoiding overlaps

between United Nations agencies and in achieving

more efficient results in the implementation of national

priorities.

Montenegro supports nuclear non-proliferation

and objects to further expansion of the number of

countries that possess nuclear weapons. Moreover, we

support all agreements of the nuclear Powers on mutual

reduction of their nuclear capacities, creating a safer

world for existing and future generations. In that

context, I wish to thank the Secretary-General for the

appeal he sent late last month, requesting all countries

that have nuclear technology to adhere to the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. I wish to

emphasize that Montenegro ratified the Convention on

Cluster Munitions and that within less than a year it

destroyed all reserves of that type of weapons, thus

confirming again its commitment to the principles of

non-proliferation.

Montenegro is an environmentally conscious

State. That is a bedrock principle of our Constitution.

Based on that commitment, we have an additional

incentive to find solutions that are compatible with our

sustainable development policy. Our strategy for

development in Montenegro is to achieve synergy

between growth and employment, on the one hand, and

social equality, the environment and natural resources,

on the other.

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable

Development, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro

in 2012, represents an important opportunity to

promote international cooperation in the area of

sustainable development and an opportunity to make a

comprehensive evaluation of the progress made in the

past two decades. Montenegro, as a member of the

United Nations Commission on Sustainable

Development from 2011 to 2014, is committed to

contributing to the success of that Conference with its

constructive actions.

Montenegro is especially sensitive to climate

change issues. There are numerous potential negative

effects of climate change on Montenegro. A rise in sea

level and temperature would diminish biological

diversity. I therefore believe that the fight against

climate change requires a global, coordinated and

decisive international agreement, based on the

principles defined in the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol.

The Framework Convention represents a key

multilateral forum for global action in the area of

climate change, and the sixteenth Conference of the

Parties in Cancún confirms that a multilateral approach

to climate change management under United Nations

auspices can give concrete results.

7 11-51360

Allow me to reiterate once again how honoured I

am to participate in the general debate of this global

forum on behalf of Montenegro and, together with the

representatives of 192 countries, to contribute directly

to the promotion of our mutual understanding and

peaceful coexistence, to the benefit of all of our

nations.