Poland, 2006

Let me begin by

extending my congratulations to Her Excellency Haya

Rashed Al-Khalifa from the Kingdom of Bahrain on

the occasion of her election as President of the General

Assembly in its sixty-first session. I wish you, Madam,

every success in carrying out this important mission.

To the former President, His Excellency Jan

Eliasson, Minister for Foreign Affairs from the

Kingdom of Sweden, I convey my respect for his

outstanding achievements in running the previous

session.

I convey my best wishes to the Secretary-

General, Mr. Kofi Annan. I would like to express my

profound respect and full support for his incessant

efforts in continuing to reduce international tension and

resolve international conflicts.

The matters we have gathered here to discuss

today are very important for the world, for Europe, for

Poland and for me personally. I am saying this as

President and as a member of Solidarity — the

movement that completely changed my country.

Solidarity gave Poland her freedom and

sovereignty, and also contributed to the fall of

Communism in Europe. Thanks to Solidarity, a wall

dividing the world into two hostile camps was brought

down. We, the Poles, perceive global partnership for

development — the theme of this year’s session of the

United Nations — through the lens of our historical

experiences — the experiences of the Solidarity

movement.

The Polish Solidarity movement originated from

an idea that is a universal value in various cultures,

religions and traditions. This value must be

rediscovered in order to help build a new world based

on the right of all nations and all peoples to live in

dignity.

Poland’s heritage is inextricably connected with

the heritage of Europe — one that is founded on a

respect for human rights and love of freedom.

Like many other countries over the course of

history, we have experienced disasters like those that,

unfortunately, continue to affect the everyday lives of

millions of people on various continents. For many

years, we suffered from wars, destruction, poverty, a

lack of freedom and a loss of independence. Today, in a

free country where we have been implementing

essential reforms for more than a decade, we are

making up for lost time. Although we sometimes make

mistakes trying to improve on those reforms, we

continue to make progress. We wish to share with

others our experience of profound transformation.

Poland’s experience in shaking off a totalitarian

regime and taking up the task of modernizing the

country gives us a special understanding of the needs

of countries following a similar path. That is why we

are committed to doing our utmost to spread

democracy and freedom around the world. Today,

Poland is a rapidly developing country. We are

becoming a nation that is able to donate to the

international community, much to our satisfaction.

Until recently, we were the beneficiary of such aid.

Indeed, I should like Poland to become even more

active in that regard.

Today, in the twenty-first century, Poland is a

strong sovereign State and an active member of the

European Union, as well as an ally of the United States

of America. Having overcome painful historical

experiences, Poland has been developing friendly

relations with its neighbours since 1989, opening a new

chapter in its relations with Germany. We also want the

best possible relationship with our great neighbour

Russia. We are hopeful, yet sometimes concerned,

about the developments in that country.

Poland, a member of the European Union for

more than two years, supports the Union’s approach to

cooperation with the United Nations. We are convinced

that peace must be built through long-term sustainable

development. It is in that conviction that we take action

in the United Nations with regard to the Millennium

Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals.

We also support our eastern neighbours in their reform

efforts. Poland, which paved the way for a market

economy, the democratic rule of law and a civil society

in Central and Eastern Europe, has extensive

experience in those areas. We are prepared to share that

experience further with countries that are transforming

their economies and State institutions.

Together with our European partners, we are

shaping the political, social and economic future of our

continent. However, because Poland is aware that

Europe is not the whole world, we are participating in

stabilization and peacekeeping missions around the

world, including those in Kosovo, Afghanistan, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon and Iraq.

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We strongly encourage efforts to bring a lasting

peace to the Middle East. A few days ago, I had the

opportunity to express Poland’s position in that regard.

Poland unequivocally supports Israel’s right to live in

security. At the same time, Poland supports the

aspirations of the Palestinian nation to build an

independent State. We have been involved in the

stabilization of the region for many years. We actively

participate in the United Nations Interim Force in

Lebanon. Two weeks ago, at the request of the

Secretary-General, we stated that we would increase

our military contingent. If necessary, we will increase

it even further.

For Poland, the difficult and painful period of our

history belongs to the past. I wish to reiterate that our

experiences have left us with a sense of moral

obligation to help others. We want to repay our debt.

Just as we once received support, we now want to

support others.

In seeking to provide the most effective forms of

assistance, the international community must take into

account the phenomenon of globalization, which has

become the challenge of the twenty-first century.

Although it understandably gives rise to various

emotions and extreme opinions, its significance is

indisputable. Globalization has revealed the scale and

the nature of problems of which we had not been fully

aware. I am thinking about the ever-increasing

inequalities and exclusion from the achievements of

civilization and about the vast areas of poverty and

instability that are breeding grounds for crime and

increase the threats to peace and security.

It is also difficult not to fear the negative effects

of globalization: the division of the world into

countries that are becoming ever richer and those that

are condemned to ever-deepening poverty. The

response to these fears must be global solidarity. We

can scarcely fail to see the dramatic contradiction

between such poverty and the affluence made possible

by incredible scientific and technological progress.

What is solidarity in the global context? Very

briefly, it is the collective reaction against the

emergence of new iron curtains and political, economic

and cultural barriers; it is also respect for the dignity

and the inalienable right to freedom of every human

being throughout the world, regardless of culture,

tradition or geographic location. Understood in that

way, solidarity is a rational fight against poverty,

carried out by encouraging a broad flow of assistance

to the poorest countries through appropriately planned

economic support. Assistance efforts must be

undertaken in such a way as to ensure not only that

they provide short-term relief, but also, and above all,

that they permit long-term development. Thus, we

should work out a reform programme to make such

development possible.

Here, I should like to draw attention to the issue

of energy security, which is increasingly important in

many regions of the world. Energy security should be

based on the diversification of energy sources and on

the development of energy relationships that cannot be

used as a means of political pressure.

Assistance provided in the context of global

solidarity has an economic aspect. Freedom and respect

for the rights of the individual are essential conditions

for sustainable well-being. Assistance in the context of

global solidarity also implies support for societies

striving to achieve freedom, democracy and the

protection of human rights — support that is provided

with wisdom and that is sensitive to the cultural

uniqueness, traditions and needs of each country.

I believe that where tensions and social conflicts

are resolved through dialogue, where respect is

promoted for different cultures and religions and where

economic inequalities between societies and States are

prevented, terrorism will not find soil in which to

grow. I also wish to express my conviction that here

and now, in the contemporary world, we must fight

terrorism wherever it appears. In the long run,

however, global solidarity may be the most effective

weapon against those who would like to see the world

as the scene of a never-ending fight.

The United Nations today needs specific

programmes to realize ambitious visions founded on

global solidarity and a global partnership for

development. The United Nations must be more

effective in ensuring equal development opportunities,

thus closing the gap between the living standards of the

North and of the South.

The United Nations is thus confronted with huge

tasks, which require both high-minded commitment

and reforms. We want changes that adapt the United

Nations to contemporary challenges. The world is

constantly changing, and the United Nations must keep

pace with those changes. Only thus can it preserve its

significance and multiply its great achievements.

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Reforms must be focused on the human being, thus

defending human rights and freedoms and opening the

way to well-being and spiritual development for all.

Those were the founding values of the United Nations

over 60 years ago.

Poland advocates such a reform of the

Organization and is ready to participate in it. Poland

also wishes to participate in a restructuring of

international relations that would be based to a greater

extent on the principles of solidarity and assistance

extended by wealthy nations to nations in need. In

other words, the quantity of such support should be

significantly greater than it is now.

These words of that great Pole, Pope John Paul II,

the spiritual father of Polish solidarity, can be our

guiding beacon: “Man is great not through what he

owns, but through what he is; not through what he has,

but through what he shares with others.”

We are facing tremendous challenges. We can

tackle them only by acting in solidarity through global

partnership. May our efforts be inspired by solidarity, a

principle embodied in a word that appears in all the

world’s languages — and in many of them it sounds

very much the same.