Romania, 2010

It is my

honour to speak here and to participate for the first

time in the Assembly’s general debate. The moment is

all the more significant for us because Romania is

celebrating 55 years of membership in the United

Nations. My country and its people have always been

firm believers in the ideal of countries working

together for peace, prosperity and a better life for

humankind.

Nicolae Titulescu, one of the great Romanians of

the twentieth century, once said that hardship creates

the true brotherhood of nations. He said those words in

September 1931, as President of the League of Nations,

in a time of crisis. Today we are burdened again by

immense challenges and have to live up to great

responsibilities placed upon us by present and future

generations. Communities all over the planet face

mounting threats, which are often interrelated. Climate

change exacerbates food and energy insecurity, health

and population issues increase migration, while

poverty puts pressure on regional security and stability.

At the same time, we are heartened to see an ever

increasing commitment on the part of the world’s

nations to act collectively and to share vision and

willpower to overcome difficulties.

Climate change must be our next mobilizing

issue. We must not let differences and the enormous

complexity of interests define our drive. Negotiations

in Cancún and thereafter, building upon the

Copenhagen Accord, must pave the way for the timely

adoption of a comprehensive and legally binding post-

Kyoto agreement. Romania, including in its capacity as

Chair of the Commission for Sustainable Development,

will provide its unrestrained support and attention to

international efforts to alleviate our planet’s

environmental perils.

While climate change will hit us ever harder, a

global recession has just battered us. The crisis

revealed the flaws of our national and international

financial and economic systems. It has become obvious

that the world’s financial system is no longer

compatible with the realities of global competition, nor

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can it handle the misuse of free market principles.

Indeed, the system needs to be revised.

Sometimes, with sufficient resources,

development can be achieved quickly. But

development without good governance is less likely to

be lasting. A country whose citizens do not enjoy

equality and dignity can never be wealthy. From its

own past Romania knows very well the negative

impact that the lack of genuine democracy, human

rights and freedom has on long-term development

prospects. That is why we must never lose track of a

milestone document — the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights — adopted by this very Assembly,

62 years ago, in Paris. The principles, the values and

the generous ideals enshrined in that Declaration must

remain the underlying foundation of our governance

efforts. Romania plays an active role in promoting

those fundamental values in our part of Europe and

wherever its experience can prove useful and needed.

One must not forget that democracy starts with a

basic step: free and fair elections. Electoral processes

can be improved, including in the most advanced

countries. States must be ready to accept that

improvements are sometimes needed and be able to

listen to and understand the calls for change, from

within our societies or from outside.

Out-of-country voting is a sensitive and

challenging issue, including in my country. Romania

works in cooperation with the United Nations Electoral

Assistance Division, European institutions and the

Community of Democracies to develop knowledge and

codify best practices in the field of out-of-country

voting. We hope that the results of a first seminar on

this topic, hosted by Romania this summer, will be

multiplied and shared by many countries and regions.

Conflict prevention and peacebuilding are

priorities in today’s world. Neither of them can be

isolated from efforts to stabilize and reconstruct areas

and societies affected by conflicts. To be successfully

put into practice, that conceptual framework needs the

complement of a consolidated United Nations

operational instrument to which all Member States

must contribute to the best of their ability. For this

reason my country has taken a keen interest in, and

offered substantial contributions to, civilian and

military missions under the United Nations mandate

and has started to develop dedicated capacities, of

essentially civilian nature, in the area of stabilization

and post-conflict reconstruction.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Bucharest hosted an

international conference to officially open the

Romanian Training Centre for Post-Conflict

Reconstruction. The Centre will be open to

international participation, and we hope to develop

enhanced cooperation with the United Nations Office

for Partnerships.

Today, Romania is honoured and proud to have

consistently contributed to the management, through

international cooperation, of a number of conflict

situations and areas of instability. I pay my deepest

respect to the men and women of Romania who have

lost their lives and those who are risking their lives in

conflict areas, as well as to all the military, police,

gendarmes and civilian personnel serving all over the

world to bring peace and security.

We must reaffirm our determination to

accomplish the commitments made at the outset of the

United Nations-mandated international mission in

Afghanistan. While we welcome the results of the

latest conferences in London and Kabul and note the

progress in ensuring the stability, security and

development of that sorely tried nation, we look

forward to the moment when the Afghan authorities

will be ready to assume the entire spectrum of

responsibilities incumbent upon them.

Romania firmly supports the continued

involvement of the United Nations and the

international community in the reconstruction of Iraq

and is ready to carry on helping. The success of the

sovereign development of Iraq depends on national

reconciliation and the development of harmonious

relations with its neighbours.

As regards the issue of Kosovo, Romania

continues to uphold politically and practically the

essential United Nations mandate there, as well as the

roles of the European Union and NATO in ensuring the

progress, stability and security of the area. While

respecting the advisory opinion of the International

Court of Justice, Romania considers that the opinion

does not examine the core of the issue, which is the

legality of the creation of an alleged new State.

Romania maintains the view that unilateral secession is

not possible under international law. Accordingly,

Romania will maintain its position of non-recognition

of Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence.

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We continue to be concerned with the protracted

conflicts in the extended Black Sea area and South

Caucasus. While solutions to these conflicts continue

to be explored in the agreed formats, they must also be

monitored by the larger United Nations membership, as

a way to encourage dialogue and to ensure that

developments remain within the boundaries of

international law and United Nations resolutions.

In Georgia, which is among Romania’s top

priorities, the United Nations must continue to play an

important role, along with other actors such as the

European Union, which through its Monitoring

Mission contributes immensely to the stability of the

area.

Furthermore, we support the Middle East peace

process on the basis of the principles and provisions of

the relevant Security Council resolutions and of the

road map. We express our hope that the current direct

discussions will lead to the goal of two States living

side by side in peace and security. We also hope that

Israel and Syria and Israel and Lebanon can identify

the means needed to find solutions to improve their

respective relations.

Concerning the crucial role of the United Nations

in the area of disarmament, non-proliferation and arms

control, I would like to underline the need to both

strengthen the relevance of international law and to

fully implement it.

Romania welcomes the new United States-

Russian Federation treaty on nuclear arms reduction

and the adoption of the Final Document of the 2010

Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which contains

concrete actions to advance international cooperation

in the field of nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation

and peaceful use of nuclear energy. The entry into

force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

and future negotiations for a fissile material cut-off

treaty continue to be issues of high interest for my

country.

The efforts evoked in my address require a

vibrant multilateralism with a strong United Nations at

its core. That premise demands, in turn, improved

functional relations between the United Nations and

other international organizations with a global or

regional vocation.

The roles of the European Union, NATO, the

African Union, the International Organization of la

Francophonie and others in working jointly with the

United Nations in the field and at Headquarters must

be supported and reinforced by all Member States. At

the same time, the wide-ranging process of realignment

and reform of the United Nations and its bodies must

maintain the same pace.

In that context, I would like to warmly welcome

the creation of the United Nations Entity for Gender

Equality and the Empowerment of Women as a

significant step in United Nations reform. We

congratulate Madame Michelle Bachelet, former

President of Chile, for her appointment as head of that

entity and wish her every success. At the same time, I

would like to commend Secretary-General Ban

Ki-moon and the entire Organization for their

exceptional dedication and commitment to the

advancement of women.

The sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly

gives us another year in which we must accelerate the

Assembly’s renewal and work out historic decisions on

Security Council reform. Romania shares the view that

the overarching goal of Security Council reform must

be to create a more effective, transparent and

representative body, and my country will join any

pragmatic move in this direction. We strongly believe

that the Eastern European Group deserves better

representation on the Security Council in any

enlargement format.

Let me conclude by saying that our role and

position in the world’s affairs are not defined by our

greatest achievements, but by how we use those

achievements to strengthen the most vulnerable among

us. That has been and still is the noblest mission and

vocation of the United Nations, and of us all.