Poland, 1997

At the outset I would like to

offer my sincere congratulations upon Mr. Udovenko’s

election to the honourable post of President of the United

Nations General Assembly at its fifty-second session. The

Polish delegation expresses its satisfaction that the

presidency of this session has been entrusted to an eminent

statesman from Ukraine, a country with which we have ties

of friendship and cooperation based on common values and

aspirations. The President may count on my delegation’s

full cooperation in the performance of his important tasks.

Please also allow me to extend expressions of

appreciation and respect to Mr. Razali Ismail, a prominent

representative of Malaysia, for his excellent guidance of the

work of the General Assembly during its fifty-first session.

I would also like to address words of the deepest respect

to Mr. Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General, for the

outstanding manner in which he has demonstrated his

qualities of leadership and good judgement.

Seven years since the downfall of a polarized world

and less than three years away from the year 2000, we

are already living in a new era. Are we, the citizens of

the Earth, aware of the momentous changes and the new

responsibilities which they entail? When looking at

ourselves from the perspective of the Pathfinder on Mars,

or of the space station Mir, do we see humanity in its

entirety or, rather, spasmodic movements of an anthill,

always prepared to fight over every scrap, devoid of the

gift of synthesis and without ability to perceive the

whole?

These are the questions which all of us, especially

here in this Hall, are confronted with. The burden of

responsibility of the United Nations for resisting dangers

and facing challenges, for eliminating tensions and

constantly building foundations for the future, has not

been relieved. It has not diminished. Perhaps it weighs

even heavier today than ever before.

From that moment in 1945, in San Francisco, when

Arthur Rubinstein, an outstanding piano virtuoso and a

great Polish patriot, proudly inaugurated the United

Nations era with the notes of the Polish national anthem,

until today, our Organization has given the impression of

being oriented towards emergency actions rather than

systematic and comprehensive work programmes. The

General Assembly and the Security Council are

excessively preoccupied with current issues. Nonetheless,

torn apart by the global confrontation between the free

world and totalitarianism, they attempted to find

mechanisms of dialogue and negotiation that would

protect the world from global conflict. They have fulfilled

that role. No one, neither the fiercest opponents of the

idea of the United Nations nor the greatest promoters of

its radical modernization, can deny the United Nations

achievements in maintaining world peace and security and

resolving local conflicts. One has to bow to the visionary

skills and political genius of the creators of the Atlantic

Charter, which provided the foundation for our

Organization. Their work has stood the test of time in

circumstances unforeseeable when the system was

established.

Until now we have been concentrating on avoiding

war. Shocked by the tragedy of the Second World War

and the experience of ravages of previous wars, we have

14

put all our energy into the creed “Never again”. However,

concentrating on avoiding war, the United Nations has not

always been able to pay sufficient attention to building a

world for people, a world of harmonious existence and

balanced development. I should like to emphasize this point

again and again.

The time has come to pay more attention to building

a world for all people, of all races, all religions and all

cultures, for people in the wealthier North and the poorer

South.

An important area of international cooperation has

been the effort to eliminate weapons of mass destruction:

nuclear, chemical and biological. This Organization has

made a significant contribution to this activity. Among the

recent milestones in this domain, I should mention the

enactment of the Convention on the Prohibition of the

Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical

Weapons and on Their Destruction, as well as the signing

of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. We also

consider extremely important the ongoing work towards

wider application and universalization of the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the basis for a

global regime of nuclear-arms non-proliferation.

We attach particular significance to the willingness of

the United States and the Russian Federation, as confirmed

at the Helsinki summit this year, to continue the START

negotiations, taking them to a qualitatively new stage

involving the radical reduction of nuclear arsenals. We trust

that the ratification of START II by the Russian Federation,

upon which these negotiations are conditioned, will soon be

a fact, just as we hope that our expectations with regard to

the immediate ratification by Russia of the Chemical

Weapons Convention will become a reality in the near

future. We welcome President Clinton’s decision to submit

to the Senate for ratification the Comprehensive Nuclear-

Test-Ban Treaty, as he announced from this rostrum.

Both for humanitarian reasons and for reasons of our

country’s security interests, we attach great importance to

effective actions aimed at limiting or banning conventional

weapons, including anti-personnel landmines. We welcome

the momentous arrangements concerning this issue that

were agreed at the recent Oslo Diplomatic Conference. We

believe, however, that the consolidation and universalization

of these agreements should continue to be sought

persistently at the Geneva Conference on Disarmament.

This would guarantee participation in the negotiations of the

main manufacturers and exporters, which in turn would

serve to take better into account the legitimate security

interests of all countries.

In this context of conventional disarmament, allow

me to confess that it was with immense sadness that my

delegation — just like everyone else in the world —

received the news of the tragic death of Diana, Princess

of Wales, a great supporter of a ban on landmines.

We are currently starting a new and different stage

in the history of the United Nations. The moment has

come to pose truly fundamental questions about the future

and to provide answers. Global peace is a primary value,

but should we not reach beyond that? In our view, global

peace is a fundamental precondition to the preservation of

human dignity and the observance of human rights, to the

enhancement of economic and political justice and to

harmonious and sustainable development. But the time

has come for the United Nations to open up more so as

to meet other challenges of contemporary civilization.

United Nations agencies have already made progress

in this direction. The experience they have accumulated,

as well as their lasting achievements in the definite

improvement of living conditions for millions of people,

constitute an important starting point. In this respect,

sufficient funding aimed at specific programmes is the

prerequisite for success. We welcome donations and

philanthropy, which are an important source of additional

funding and a clear sign of public support. However, the

United Nations needs a solid foundation for its activities,

and regular contributions by all Members are

indispensable.

The reforms proposed by the Secretary-General in

his report, “Renewing the United Nations: A Programme

for Reform”, provide the basis for fundamental changes

in the activities of our Organization that will allow it to

serve better the needs and expectations of all the Member

nations facing the challenges of the twenty-first century.

It is with hope and optimism that we welcome the

initiatives of the Secretary-General. We believe they will

lead to improved effectiveness and better management of

the United Nations system. They increase the focus on

development programmes and enhance the credibility of

the Organization. They strengthen the relationship

between Member States and the United Nations. Poland

supports the proposed direction of the United Nations

reforms. We are prepared to cooperate actively in this

process, and we are vitally interested in further efforts to

reinvigorate the United Nations system, including its

economic and social sectors.

15

There is no immediate threat of a global conflict, but

local conflicts might often lead to conflicts on a much

greater scale. The world was not free of regional or even

internal conflicts before, but either their importance and

ramifications seemed less significant in the face of a threat

of worldwide conflict, or they were temporarily frozen by

the cold war. With the ice melting, local conflicts ignited

with renewed intensity. The international community, fully

aware of the threat they presented, made efforts to assist in

defusing them, with varying degree of success.

Understandably, the United Nations had a perception of its

responsibility and took action using the means at the

disposal of the Security Council. Poland supports all the

efforts to institute the concept of rapid deployment in order

to improve the capability of the United Nations to respond

quickly to crisis situations. Our experience proves that the

ability to address local conflicts should be one of the

priorities in our efforts to reform the Security Council.

The basic premise for balanced enlargement and

reform of the Council should be the increased effectiveness

of its work in an international environment which is

undergoing fundamental changes. With our experience of

nearly two years of participation in the Security Council,

we are inclined to conclude that the effectiveness of

Security Council activities is greatly enhanced when it

enjoys the full support of the respective regions represented

in the United Nations. Therefore, we support the aspirations

of various regional groups to additional seats in the Council

if its membership is expanded. At the same time, Poland

would find it necessary to increase the representation of

Central and Eastern Europe in the Council by an additional

member. Thus, my Government is in favour of the

accession of Japan and Germany to permanent seats.

Poland is among the countries convinced of the

necessity of reforming the Council to adapt it to current and

future tasks. While implementing these reforms, we should

take into consideration two parallel and sometimes

conflicting tendencies: globalization and regionalization.

The emerging concept of regional responsibility should

undergo consolidation. Its burden is being carried by

regional organizations engaged in resolving regional

conflicts, prominent cases in point being the activities of

the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Bosnia

and Herzegovina as well as those of the Organization of

African Unity.

We believe that regional organizations should be more

engaged in preventive diplomacy and maintaining peace

while ensuring full compatibility with the United Nations

Charter. Thus, the Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is contributing to the

fulfillment of the basic task of the United Nations —

maintaining international peace and security — through

active regional cooperation in both conflict prevention and

crisis management, as well as in post-conflict

rehabilitation.

When Poland assumes the duties of OSCE

Chairman-in-Office in 1998, it will make every effort to

maintain and develop further a high standard of

cooperation between that Organization and the United

Nations.

In an atmosphere of global peace there is a much

better chance to stand up to conflicts as old as humanity,

such as religious conflicts, those between rich and poor

and those between various ethnic groups.

The Polish people, with its historical experience of

times of freedom and times of bondage, is gaining new

experience today. As the pioneer of the 1990s

breakthrough, which led to the end of a polarized world,

today Poland is experiencing both joy and hardship: the

joy of returning to the family of free nations and the

hardship of a transformation period and the restructuring

of our economy.

This year Poland has been undergoing a bitter test,

fighting against a natural disaster unparalleled in

centuries: the catastrophic flood in the south and west of

the country. May I take this opportunity to extend our

heartfelt thanks to the countries, organizations and persons

of goodwill that have come to our assistance. If there is

any lesson to be drawn from this horrible experience, it

is that massive natural disasters are a kind of danger that

we all have to learn to withstand together.

This year’s flood, whose destructive force struck our

country, also had a disastrous effect on our neighbors, in

particular the Czech Republic and Germany. We found

that such disasters can be faced much more effectively if

the preventive and rescue operations are organized on an

international and, especially, a transboundary scale.

There is an old saying that a friend in need is a

friend indeed. But one can also find friends in moments

of success and moments of joy. Thanks to the help of our

friends, and to their satisfaction, Poland crossed two great

thresholds this year. It was invited to the North Atlantic

Treaty Organization and to the European Union.

Negotiations with NATO are already under way, and

those with the European Union will commence at the

16

beginning of next year. Our readiness to shoulder

responsibility and our ability to meet the requirements have

been recognized. Poland is now considered a reliable and

respected member of the community of democratic nations.

The outcome of our recently held parliamentary

elections has confirmed that this basic orientation of our

foreign policy will remain unchanged and is supported by

the overwhelming majority of the Polish people.

The world is still imperfect. Millions of people are

paying — with their freedom, their dignity and sometimes

even their lives — the price of lack of democracy and lack

of respect for human rights. There are forces that feed on

ethnic antagonisms. Poverty is the fate of millions of people

across vast territories. But other problems on a global scale

are also visible — climate changes and diverse

environmental concerns, the constantly widening gap

between rich and poor and the insufficient reach of

education and health care. The reforms which we undertake

should increase the United Nations capability to address

these important issues. Let me now elaborate on some of

them.

Through deep and carefully thought-out reform, we

should equip the United Nations with mechanisms capable

of ensuring respect for the human rights of all the world’s

citizens to a greater degree than before. The United Nations

evolution and reform introduce the human rights issue in

quite a natural way to the Security Council agenda. We

welcome this trend. There is a clear connection between

international security and respect for human rights, which

should be reflected in the activities of the Security Council.

The events of the past few years in Africa have again

dramatically confirmed the existence of such a relationship.

1998 will be a special year for human rights. Half a

century ago the General Assembly adopted the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, a catalogue of the

individual’s rights and duties. However, the concept of

human rights still varies from region to region. I think that

on the threshold of the twenty-first century, as we

emphasized in Warsaw this January when inaugurating the

celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, it is worth considering how

to use this variety to build a universal concept of human

rights, just as the Declaration initially assumed. At the same

time, however, we oppose any attempt at the so-called

revision of the Universal Declaration, which must remain

a common minimal standard for all humanity.

As a member of the United Nations Commission on

Human Rights starting on 1 January 1998, Poland

confirms its willingness to continue the dialogue and

cooperation with representatives of all regional groups.

Observance and promotion of human rights are for all of

us a great challenge at the threshold of the twenty-first

century.

We also believe that closer economic cooperation

with developing countries will help them overcome

difficulties and actively participate in the world economy.

Poland is undertaking and will continue to undertake

important projects in this field. We also want to point out

the important role of international institutions in providing

development assistance for partners with lower levels of

income. We will continue to give them our support as

their tasks require and our capacity allows.

A year ago, in this General Assembly Hall, the

President of Poland, Mr. Aleksander Kwasniewski,

formulated a proposal for the elaboration of an

international convention against organized transnational

crime. We were encouraged by the massive support that

the Polish initiative received from the membership of this

Organization. We think that the international community

should take active measures to stop the spreading cancer

of transnational crime. We must secure the effective

cooperation of countries and organizations concerned.

We believe that the United Nations will find for

itself a creative and constructive role through the

Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice,

which has been entrusted with the task of elaborating this

convention. Poland is ready to cooperate with other

countries to extend the scope and range of the convention

if such extension would meet the needs and expectations

of Member States. We appreciate the work of the

Commission on this subject and hope that the Assembly

will receive a final draft of the convention at its next

session.

Equally important are the environmental issues. The

most important among them are those related to climate

changes. To deal effectively with such problems as the

greenhouse effect, melting of glaciers and the protection

of tropical forests is a task far exceeding the ability of

any single country or even region. It is hard to imagine

effective action in this area unless we all join forces.

It is justifiable to reconsider whether the United

Nations is an organization capable of dealing with these

tasks. The doubts voiced by the skeptics should not be

17

ignored. However, Poland is among the countries that

believe that the United Nations system can, through the

collective effort of its Members, meet the challenges. This

effort has to be directed towards, among other things,

understanding current and future dilemmas which reach

beyond this century. It must be sustained with a vision,

shared by all Members of the system, of the shape they

wish to give to tomorrow. It must involve the will to

develop an organizational system and make it effective,

with each Member bearing its share of responsibility.

Today’s Poland — democratic, economically successful,

enjoying good relations with all its neighbours, binding

itself to alliances with the European Union and NATO —

is ready to participate in carrying out this task.

We must rise to the expectations of the United

Nations. As one of the Organization’s founding Members,

Poland will not cease in its support of the United Nations

as a global forum for resolving problems and conflicts, and

especially for ensuring a just and effective system of global

governance aimed at eliminating threats to humanity.

Poland stands ready to do its part for the purpose of

achieving these lofty goals.