Romania, 2001

My most sincere

congratulations go first to His Excellency Mr. Han

Seung-soo on his election as President of the General

Assembly at its fifty-sixth session. His outstanding

personal qualities and the consistently valuable

contributions of his country, the Republic of Korea, to

United Nations activities are clear guarantees that the

stewardship of the current session of the General

Assembly, which started under dramatic and sorrowful

circumstances, has been entrusted to a safe pair of

hands.

I would also like to renew my heartfelt

congratulations to our Secretary-General on the well-

deserved awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize and on his

election to another term in office. Romania will

continue to support his commendable endeavours

towards reforming the Organization in a way that

should enable it to cope effectively with the challenges,

old and new, of our modern world.

The horrific terrorist attack of 11 September was

a rude awakening for all of us. It brought into focus

both the abyssal evil we have to confront and the high

value of human solidarity in the international response

to it. It also shed new light on some problems that the

international community has been facing for quite a

while and accelerated certain processes, the far-

reaching consequences of which are still not easy to

predict.

There can be no ambivalence or half measures

when it comes to condemning and effectively

combating terrorism and militant, violent fanaticism of

any kind. The tragedy that befell the United States and

the United Nations host city affected all humankind

and created a new resolve to bring to justice the

perpetrators and those who support, abet or harbour

them. We share the views of the President of the United

States, Mr. George W. Bush, that what is at stake is not

just America’s freedom but that this is the world’s

fight, civilization’s fight, the fight of all who believe in

progress and pluralism, tolerance and freedom.

Belief in those fundamental values have inspired

the noble concept of the dialogue among civilizations,

so eloquently expounded by the Secretary-General in

his address to the Assembly. Indeed, it is only through

dialogue that points of convergence can be identified

and cooperation becomes possible on matters that

acquire significance once they become the object of

shared concern.

From the very beginning. Romania joined the

international democratic community in its ongoing

campaign against evil-doers and their supporters for a

safer and freer world. The consensual view of the

Romanian nation across the political spectrum was

unequivocally expressed in Parliament’s decision to

make Romania’s air, maritime and land space available

to the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization and to provide access to any other

facilities that our partners may require. This is tangible

proof of our commitment to acting as a de facto

member of the North Atlantic Alliance.

My country firmly supports the relevant

resolutions recently adopted by the General Assembly

and the Security Council, and we have already

undertaken the necessary steps to ensure their full

implementation in Romania.

Regional solidarity is also essential. At a very

recent conference on the common fight against

terrorism, held in Warsaw on 6 November, the heads of

State of Central and Eastern Europe reflected upon

their past common experiences and voiced their

determination to stand firmly united in the fight against

terror for as long as it takes. It is also appropriate to

18

highlight here the meaningful work done by the

Bucharest-based Southeast European Cooperation

Initiative Regional Crime Center for Combating

Transborder Crime, involving active inputs from 11

countries. The Center should build upon its current

activities in order to enhance its contribution to the

worldwide fight against terrorism by making good use

of existing liaison systems, intelligence-sharing and

joint task forces.

I fully agreed with Secretary-General Kofi Annan

when he recently said that we must not let the terrorist

attacks distract us from the rest of the work we have to

do. In no way do these tragic events make the broader

mission of the United Nations less relevant. Indeed, the

new focus on terrorism should not divert us from the

core business of the world Organization. The agenda of

this session is both comprehensive and substantial. We

share the view that a large portion of our work should

be devoted to seeking practical ways to implement the

broad agreement reached at the Millennium Summit

along the lines indicated in the Secretary-General’s

visionary road map report.

We support the Secretary-General in his efforts to

integrate human rights into the whole range of United

Nations activities. We encourage closer cooperation

between the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees, other United Nations

agencies and mechanisms and regional structures that

have extensive expertise in this field, such as the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,

whose chairmanship-in-office is currently held by

Romania.

We regard the enhancement of the United Nations

peacekeeping capability as a top priority. Recent

experience in the Balkans and elsewhere has taught us

that proper policing can be at least as important as the

use of military might in modern-day peacekeeping and

peace-building operations. That is why Romania has

decided, in addition to its previous commitments in the

area, to contribute a significant contingent of military

policemen to the international presence in Kosovo to

assist the transition from conflict to stability.

The United Nations can become a focal point for

constructive interaction with regional or subregional

structures and specialized organizations of civil society

in dealing with concrete problems ranging from

conflict prevention to peace-building and post-conflict

rehabilitation, reconstruction and sustainable

development.

Probably the greatest challenge to the

international community is still how to reduce

economic and social disparities and to achieve

sustainable growth and poverty reduction within and

between all countries through appropriate policies and

well-focused institution-building. The world’s leaders

have pledged to engage political determination,

financial resources and innovative policies to reduce

global poverty by half before the year 2015. This is

most commendable, but it may prove to be more

difficult to accomplish than originally envisaged.

The 11 September attacks have affected not only

world security but also the global economy, which in

the preceding months was already showing signs of a

slowdown. The consequences are likely to be far-

reaching and much more dangerous than those of the

1997-1998 Asian financial crisis. The volume of

international trade, which increased by almost 13 per

cent in the year 2000, may decline by as much as 3 per

cent in 2001. People in developing countries in

particular are going to be hurt again.

The United Nations has an essential part to play

in promoting further integration of the world economy

in accordance with the principles of sustainable

development. But let us face the reality: we live in a

world where the developmental gap between the centre

and the periphery, between North and South, between

rich and poor, is still wide and growing wider. The

existing mechanisms for an orderly transfer of

resources appear to have been sadly inadequate. One

would expect that the recent shock, and the renewed

sense of global solidarity that it has triggered, would

prompt us into action to address the underlying causes

of blind anger: misery and hopelessness. The war

against terrorism can be truly successful only if it also

becomes a war against poverty, illiteracy, disease and

intolerance. I trust that the collective wisdom and

goodwill of responsible politicians everywhere will be

able to produce new and effective international

mechanisms meant to combine the vision of

sustainable, environment-friendly development with

good governance and the generalized observance of

basic human rights.

We see disturbing signs that the increasing

polarization with regard to wealth creation goes hand

in hand with a deepening knowledge divide. The

19

emerging knowledge economy has scarcely heeded the

injunctions of globalization. It still appears to the eyes

of many to be self-serving and parochial. However, it is

precisely the link between economic development and

the advancement of knowledge that should give the

laggards a chance to catch up through a more rational

utilization of resources, including intellectual

resources. We hope to see a new pattern of open

networking which will benefit each country —

especially those that are less developed — as well as

the international system as a whole. Again, existing

institutions do not seem creative or flexible enough to

address this challenge. The United Nations system may

become the catalyst for concerted action in public-

private partnerships to bring the “digital dividend” into

every community and every home.

The knowledge gap is compounded by the

ubiquitous phenomenon of brain drain from the

developing to the developed world. The problem is

almost as old as the United Nations itself. How to

reverse that trend, transforming it into a “brain regain”,

is another major challenge facing us all. To put it

simply, what we have here is a steady, not-so-hidden

flow of subsidies from the poorer nations to the richer

ones. After all, most of an education budget comes out

of the taxpayer’s pocket. Banish the thought of

regarding the individual as the property of the all-

powerful State: that notion is dead and gone. But it

may make sense to start thinking of some sort of

legally binding international instruments built on a

broader interpretation of the concept of intellectual

property to ensure a fairer distribution of the benefits

of knowledge.

The European Union has recently regulated the

transfer of players between soccer clubs. What about a

similar contractual arrangement between, say,

“Polytechnic University X Club” and “Microsoft

Club”? Some experimental domestic schemes have

worked well in linking industry to higher learning by

resorting to market mechanisms. Why should we not

consider international intellectual partnerships,

mutually beneficial for countries having advanced

technologies and infrastructure and those generating

creative human energies?

Romania supports the strengthening of the United

Nations through comprehensive institutional reforms

on the basis of the set of proposals now before us. As

the Secretary-General rightly noted, the United Nations

should turn from a culture of reaction to one of

prevention, aiming at the root causes of the prevailing

negative phenomena. We look forward to an

increasingly effective General Assembly regaining its

central position in the United Nations family, as called

for in the Millennium Declaration.

Experience shows that enhanced regional

cooperation can be both the engine and the result of

globalization. In a regional format, States can

implement innovative strategies for better access to

resources and markets. Regional organizations are

poised to become a significant factor in the global

community. Regional cooperation makes it possible to

capitalize on the advantages of globalization while

reducing its risks.

A set of policies can be successful only if it relies

consistently on the fundamental aspiration of ordinary

people to a peaceful and decent life. The current

unprecedented level of knowledge will, I am confident,

enable us to find the requisite resources, both in

ourselves and in society, for greater tolerance, mutual

respect and constructive dialogue, as opposed to the

primitive inclination to hatred and intolerance.

It is incumbent on the United Nations, the only

international organization of universal vocation, to

identify within itself the resources for the resolution of

problems of global concern. The United Nations should

keep working tenaciously to renew its structures and

improve its operational performance as we advance

into the new millennium. Romania is ready and willing

to add its contribution to that effort.