Romania, 2008

Romania fully associates itself with the statement made

on behalf of the European Union by President Nicolas

Sarkozy. I should simply like to make a few remarks

with regard to issues of particular interest to my

Government. I should like to frame my statement

around two words: responsibility and solidarity.

The basic purpose of the high-level meeting that

took place on 25 September was to review the progress

made in the implementation of the Millennium

Development Goals and evaluate the feasibility of

achieving them. It was a matter not of whether they

were appropriate or reasonable, which they obviously

are, but rather of determining the viability of

implementing them in the face of new challenges. The

conclusion was that international cooperation and

determination could provide a solution, provided that

responsibilities were met and solidarity forthcoming. In

doing so, we would be making the idea of community

concrete.

With regard to climate change, the world energy

crisis and food security, I should simply like to say that

the vulnerability of nature is inevitably linked to our

increased technological capacity to influence the

climate — sometimes irreversibly — through the

cumulative effects of human activity; hence the moral

imperative of responsibility to the future. We cannot

separately or individually find solutions to the

problems that affect us all, in particular global

warming and the energy crisis.

In the face of all those interconnected challenges,

it is our responsibility to better equip the United

Nations with the necessary means to coordinate

effective joint efforts. The revitalization of the General

Assembly, system-wide coherence, Security Council

reform and, not least, the reform of the Department of

Political Affairs are all areas in which we have a

responsibility to make significant progress. It is

encouraging that there has been an effort to find

common denominators in many projects and initiatives.

Any reform of the Security Council must take

into account the legitimate aspirations of the regional

groups, with the ultimate goal of ensuring a more

representative, legitimate, transparent and effective

Council.

If we expect results from the United Nations, we

must provide it with the appropriate resources.

Following the reform of the Department of

Peacekeeping Operations, it is only logical to

strengthen the capacity for analysis, political

mediation, foresight and preventive diplomacy of the

Department of Political Affairs. My country is ready

once again support the initiative for institutional

consolidation, in particular as regards a European

regional office charged with expanding its reach to the

Western Balkans and the Black Sea region.

United Nations regional political offices could

also increase their cooperation with regional and

subregional organizations, whose resources should be

in synergy with those of the global Organization. The

cooperation between the United Nations, the African

Union and other subregional organizations during the

recent crises in the Darfur region of the Sudan, in

Kenya and in Zimbabwe are all encouraging examples.

We also welcome the ongoing cooperation between the

United Nations and the International Organization of la

Francophonie.

I should now like to say a few words on

democratization. Romania welcomes the substantial

expansion and improvement of cooperation in the

Conference of New or Restored Democracies,

including the unprecedented efforts of Qatar in that

regard.

A/63/PV.13

08-53122 34

The current challenges should give rise to

renewed international cooperation. The network of

democratic solidarity that provides support to countries

emerging from conflict or from autocratic regimes is

founded on a philosophy of freedom that repudiates

threats from international terrorism or radicalism,

which have developed their own network as a sort of

parallel globalization based on fear. However, the

international network of cooperation should not have

anxiety and fragility as its common denominators, but

instead the natural propensity of States and

organizations that share the same values, principles and

objectives, namely, freedom and respect for the law

and the dignity of the human being. Allow me to recall

that, on Romania’s initiative, in 2000 the General

Assembly adopted its comprehensive resolution 55/96,

which set out the defining characteristics of

democracy.

Peacekeeping missions remain the backbone of

the international role of the United Nations. Post-

conflict normalization and rebuilding should be an

integral part of the international strategy to deal with

potential breaches of peace or the reignition of

conflicts. My country acknowledges and praises the

endeavours of United Nations personnel in Kenya,

Iraq, Myanmar, northern Uganda, Somalia, Cyprus, the

Central African Republic and Nepal.

The progress made in Iraq and Afghanistan

should trigger renewed solidarity with the peoples of

those countries. The efforts of the international

community to stabilize and ensure the success of the

ongoing deep transformations in Iraq and Afghanistan

should be matched by renewed commitment on the part

of the Iraqi and Afghan political leadership to reach

compromises and comprehensive agreements allowing

for political reconciliation and economic development.

Romania remains committed to the democratic

future of both countries. Romania was first among the

countries that are not members of the Paris Club to

agree, in 2005, to the terms of debt relief for Iraq. The

NATO summit held this year in Bucharest reconfirmed

solidarity and engagement with Afghanistan. Any

security agreements to complement or replace the

current security arrangements in Iraq have to take into

account the need to ensure the protection of United

Nations personnel in order that the United Nations

Assistance Mission for Iraq and the Organization’s

specialized agencies, funds and programmes can

properly fulfil their extended mandates in Iraq.

I should now like to say a few words about the

Human Rights Council. Romania has encouraging

expectations following the start of the activities of the

Council’s Universal Periodic Review mechanism.

Under the Romanian presidency, the Council examined

32 national reports, including my country’s own report.

The debates generated valuable recommendations and

entailed remarkable commitments with regard to the

universal application of recognized international

standards for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

We should not weaken our support for the Human

Rights Council or for the Office of the High

Commissioner.

The widespread impact of humanitarian crises

resulting from conflicts and natural disasters requires,

again and again, our solidarity with the people in need.

The tragedy of 7 million Sudanese, almost 5 million

Palestinian refugees, 5 million Iraqi internally

displaced persons and refugees, 3 million Afghan

refugees and 1.4 million Congolese and 1 million

Somali internally displaced persons should catalyse

concrete actions of assistance. The recent Georgian

crisis also added to the international statistics on

internally displaced persons and refugees. Yet, numbers

as such should not obscure in our conscience the

terrible individual tragedies implied by these

humanitarian catastrophes.

Aware of that plight, Romania is preparing to

host a special evacuation transit centre for persons in

urgent need of international protection and onward

resettlement. The centre would provide temporary

shelter for refugees facing immediate danger in their

countries of origin, pending final resettlement in third

countries.

The appalling humanitarian crises of recent

decades should prompt a renewed effort to define ways

to prevent and adequately react to such situations and,

furthermore, to rebuild for durable conflict resolution.

Further efforts should be made to forge a common

understanding of the conditions and application of the

principle of the responsibility to protect.

Romania resolutely promotes international

cooperation in the areas of crime prevention and

believes that prosecutorial services represent one of the

main pillars of the criminal justice system. My country

is preparing to host, in March 2009, the third world

A/63/PV.13

35 08-53122

summit of attorneys general, prosecutors general and

chief prosecutors. The meeting is to be organized with

the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and

Crime and will focus on prosecutorial independence

for effectiveness, integrity and public confidence. We

look forward to welcoming the international

community’s representatives in Bucharest next spring.

Allow me now to turn to the issue of protracted

conflicts. It has always been striking to hear the

recurrent references to frozen conflicts. Let us be

honest: no conflict stays frozen indefinitely without

consequences. The recent crisis in Georgia proved that

the international community cannot hide or shy away

from dealing with uncertain situations under the

assumption that they will simply disappear eventually.

On the contrary, uncertain situations and grey zones

gradually produce effects, effect changes in the status

quo and can, from apparent tranquillity, spew forth the

magma of delayed — and thus amplified — conflicts.

A dormant volcano can still be an active one. Unsolved

issues carrying latent threats are not socially or

politically neutral, since they generate new realities

and risks to stability and security.

Deferring the solution of a crisis is not a suitable

answer. Only a negotiated formula, with the support of

bona fide international and regional mediation and

assistance, can provide long-term and enduring

solutions. The crisis in South Ossetia, with its

reverberations in Abkhazia and the entire State of

Georgia and beyond, should focus the attention of the

international community on all protracted conflicts in

the area, including Transdniestria and Nagorny

Karabakh.

We have to have a new energetic and

comprehensive approach to the so-called protracted

conflicts. It is time to jointly understand the danger and

take action. The United Nations and its Security

Council should play their parts and accordingly assume

their responsibility. Hesitation is not helping. Full

observance of all principles and norms of international

law, including the territorial integrity of States, is a

must for all of us if we want peace, security, stability

and prosperity to prevail.

One of the main objectives of the international

community should be to consolidate stabilization and a

democratic future across the entire Black Sea region.

Romania promotes a wide range of cooperation ideas

in the Black Sea area. If we take a closer look, we can

see a region with a large population, an important hub

for energy and transport flows and great economic

potential. The United Nations should be there to assist

the region, not only in unfreezing conflicts but also in

helping coastal countries to cooperate to solve

problems related to pollution, illegal migration,

organized crime and drug trafficking, so as to project

stability and to support development.

I now turn to disarmament, non-proliferation and

the fight against terrorism. I should like to underline

that responsibility and solidarity are also basic pillars

of the international norms in that regard. That leads me

to say, as many before me have done, that statements

such as the one made a few days ago in the Assembly

about Israel are unacceptable.

First, every State has an essential responsibility

to effectively and comprehensively implement its

commitments by promoting the necessary legal

framework and establishing appropriate mechanisms

for verification and control.

Secondly, there is a need for solidarity and

cooperation at the regional and multilateral levels so

that national measures and actions are recognized and

implemented. Romania has always demonstrated its

interest and readiness to work together with all States

members of the international community in that

respect. The most recent proof of that is the

contribution of my country to the seven-nation

initiative on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation

launched by Norway in 2005. Concrete examples of

our involvement include the international seminar on

how the Black Sea region can contribute to improved

global security, which was hosted in Bucharest in 2007,

and other activities aimed at promoting the objectives

of that cross-regional initiative.

Allow me to conclude by calling for effective

multilateralism and the strengthening of the United

Nations. After all, some questioned the relevance of the

United Nations after the end of the cold war. The

Organization has never lacked for criticism or

scepticism. We do not believe the issue to be one of

trying to regain a sense of lost purpose. The United

Nations continues to be the broadest and most

inclusive Organization in the world and enjoys a

special reputation and legitimacy. The United Nations

provides a forum for all Member States — large or

A/63/PV.13

08-53122 36

small, rich or poor, developed or developing — to have

their voices heard and heeded.

Instead, the question for all Member States is

how to make the world Organization and its specialized

agencies, funds and programmes more effective,

responsible and coherent in the face of new and

ongoing challenges. If the moral imperative that should

lead us to carry out our responsibilities and

demonstrate solidarity in order to advance the cause of

humankind is not enough, then what we need is to look

towards the pragmatic aspect, namely, the utility and

sense implied in the fact that the world’s well-being

contributes to the well-being of our own countries and

citizens.

History is a good teacher, provided we learn from

its lessons. History shows us the virtues of joint efforts

and the benefits of cooperation. We are still far from

the Kantian dream of a stable world order that is

democratic and prosperous. But we can move ever

closer to it through multilateralism and the

strengthening of the United Nations.