Slovenia, 1997

Please allow me at the outset,

Sir, to express my sincere congratulations on your election

as President of the General Assembly at its fifty-second

session. The expectations of this session are great and the

tasks demanding; however, your experience and political

wisdom are a guarantee that they will be fulfilled.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank His

Excellency for Razali Ismail, Ambassador of Malaysia, for

his energetic and successful presidency of the fifty-first

session.

Almost two years have passed since we, Heads of

State and Government of the United Nations Member

States, confirmed our commitment to the idea of reform

in this very Hall. This reform should contribute to the

accomplishment of the mission of the United Nations in

the current international situation as well as to greater

efficiency of the Organization. Today, we have before us

a comprehensive set of proposals by the Secretary-

General in “Renewing the United Nations: A Programme

for Reform” (A/51/950). This document proves that the

discussions held within the last two years, and the

experience gained in recent decades, have helped the new

Secretary-General to prepare, within a few months,

concrete proposals providing a basis for further decisions.

Slovenia joins those who have expressed their

appreciation to the Secretary-General for the impressive

work he has performed in the first months of his mandate.

This work has included concrete measures for the

functioning of the Secretariat and proposals for reform.

We are well aware, however, that the responsibility now

lies with us. We, the representatives of the Member States

and the peoples of the United Nations, are responsible for

decisions that will give impetus to the necessary reforms

and enable the Organization to deal with the tasks of the

coming century.

Our approach should not be based primarily on

calculations of what individual Member States might gain

from the reform. It should above all be based on an

assessment of how to reform the Organization so that it

will better serve all of us. This will be possible only if

the Organization becomes better able to fulfil its basic

tasks — the maintenance of international peace and security

and comprehensive economic and social development,

particularly in developing countries — and to ensure broad

respect for the promotion and protection of individual and

collective human rights.

Another important requirement for the success of this

reform programme is for the United Nations to take its

decisions promptly and on time. The past years have made

possible all-round discussion about reform. And now is the

time for decisions: Slovenia believes that major decisions

should be taken during the first part of the present session

of the General Assembly. The President of the General

Assembly will play a significant role with regard to those

decisions that cannot be postponed. We fully support and

encourage you, Sir, in your assumption of an active role

and in your determined management of the decision-making

process.

Slovenia supports the proposals contained in the

Secretary-General’s report on a programme for reform. This

project deserves all our attention and assistance. Its main

value is that it offers the possibility of concrete decisions

while remaining open to new ideas and proposals.

The proposals for promoting sustainable development,

defined as a priority task by the Secretary-General himself,

deserve careful examination. The impression is that these

proposals are headed in the right direction, although clearer

answers to questions on development financing will be

required. The “development dividend” created by the

streamlining of the Secretariat will not be able to provide

all the answers we need. Concrete proposals will be needed

to define more accurately the tasks of the proposed office

for development financing, which would encourage

innovative means of mobilizing new financial resources for

development.

Slovenia agrees with the suggestion of the Secretary-

General that human rights should be integrated into all

principal activities of the United Nations, such as peace and

security, economic and social affairs, development

cooperation and humanitarian affairs. This approach

promises a significant improvement in the activities of the

United Nations in these areas. It would also lead to

increasingly comprehensive United Nations activities in the

field of human rights.

Respect for human rights is achieved not only through

the functioning of instruments to monitor compliance with

international treaties but also through political, social and

economic measures that allow human rights to become an

integral part of social development and a part of the

everyday life of each individual. Observance of human

rights must be closely linked with the promotion of social

progress and the eradication of poverty in order to secure

human dignity, essential social security and development.

Furthermore, this would substantially contribute to the

elimination of political tensions and of the root causes of

threats to international peace. Should the United Nations

fail to ensure respect for human dignity and the protection

of human rights, its basic mission will not be fulfilled.

The new High Commissioner for Human Rights will

certainly assume an important role in the search for

solutions to salient issues. We note with pleasure that it

is Mrs. Mary Robinson, until recently the President of

Ireland, who has been appointed to this post. Mrs.

Robinson has already won worldwide recognition, and we

wish her every success and look forward to her proposals

for improvements in the field of human rights.

Reform of the Security Council constitutes an

important part of the reform of the United Nations. The

period following the end of the cold war only reconfirms

the importance of the effective functioning of the

mechanisms of collective security. However, it also calls

for changes in the composition of the Security Council

and for the improvement of its working methods.

Slovenia is committed to a reasonable and balanced

increase in the number of permanent and non-permanent

members of the Security Council, to a restriction on the

use of the veto and to greater transparency in the

functioning of the Council. It is our hope that the

discussions on Security Council reform, which have been

going on for several years now, will lead to appropriate

decisions that have the genuine support of the

membership of the United Nations.

Slovenia also endorses the approach taken by the

Secretary-General in the field of disarmament.

Disarmament has been one of the priority goals of the

United Nations since its foundation. We have good reason

to be satisfied, since disarmament efforts have registered

considerable progress with respect to weapons of mass

destruction. The Chemical Weapons Convention, signed

four years ago, entered into force this year. We expect it

to be implemented effectively, although this will be

feasible only if the Convention is ratified by all the

remaining countries, particularly those disposing of large

stockpiles of chemical weapons or of resources for their

production.

2

The indefinite extension of the Treaty on the Non-

Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the conclusion of the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty last year have

considerably reduced the dangers created by nuclear

weapons. But the time has come to take further steps. We

need to ensure universal adherence to the ban on nuclear

tests and to accelerate negotiations for the ban on the

production of fissile material for nuclear weapons.

Endeavours towards the reduction of nuclear-weapon

arsenals should be intensified in order to ensure their

gradual elimination.

I wish to place special emphasis on the importance of

the early adoption of the international convention on a

comprehensive ban on anti-personnel landmines and their

destruction. Slovenia has joined those countries that have

already renounced their use, transfer and production, and

has been participating actively in the Ottawa process since

its inception. Negotiations concerning these issues have just

been brought to a successful conclusion at the diplomatic

conference in Oslo. Early in December of this year,

Slovenia will join those who intend, in the presence of the

Secretary-General, to sign the Convention on the

Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer

of Anti-Personnel Landmines and on Their Destruction.

Disarmament efforts constitute an important element

in the strengthening of international security. The formation

and implementation of the regional arms control and

disarmament regimes represent an effective mechanism in

strengthening security. The experience gained during the

Balkan crisis, which posed the most serious threat to peace

in Europe since the foundation of the United Nations,

strengthens our belief that lower armament thresholds

should be imposed. More weapons can only present greater

temptation and danger.

None of the endeavours aimed at modernizing the

Organization by providing relevant answers to global issues

will have any guarantee of success if the United Nations

proves unable to contribute to the solution of those crisis

situations that pose a threat to international peace and that

generate humanitarian problems. These situations are now

assuming larger dimensions than in any other period of

United Nations activity to date. The credibility of the

Organization and the functioning of its main bodies must be

repeatedly proven. Special importance in this respect must

be attached to the activities of the Security Council, which,

in accordance with the Charter, bears primary responsibility

for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Today, expectations regarding action by the Security

Council are more realistic than they were several years

ago. However, they are no less demanding. The Security

Council is taking an active part in issues concerning

international peace on the African continent. It has proved

its ability to apply a variety of the methods that are at its

disposal in accordance with the Charter. These include

preventive diplomacy, cooperation with the Organization

of African Unity, classic peacekeeping operations and the

use of measured and focused economic sanctions. The

appropriate choice of these methods has enabled the

Security Council to formulate relevant approaches to the

situations in Liberia, Angola and Burundi. As for some

other crisis areas, including the Republic of the Congo,

the most appropriate approach still remains to be found.

The Security Council is also participating in settling

issues which arise after the military conflicts. In Europe,

the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina provides an

example of such involvement. Following the conclusion

of the Dayton agreement, which halted the war, the

situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina has stabilized to a

certain extent. Yet peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina is

still far from secure. The return of refugees is proceeding

slowly, is limited, and is facing hindrances. The

authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have not been

functioning as stipulated in the peace accord, and the

principal war-crime suspects have not yet been transferred

to stand trial at the International Tribunal for the former

Yugoslavia. The United Nations has been performing a

number of important tasks in Bosnia and Herzegovina,

particularly in the areas of humanitarian aid, unarmed

civil police activity and criminal prosecution. The scope

of the present engagement of the United Nations in

Bosnia and Herzegovina is, however, is in proportion with

the increased coordination of action taken in Bosnia and

Herzegovina by other international organizations. At the

same time, success in those fields falling within the

competence of the United Nations is of critical

importance for the establishment of lasting peace.

Let me take this opportunity to stress that the

inevitable starting point for solving the crisis in Bosnia

and Herzegovina is the precise identification of the nature

of that devastating war, which has not been completely

stopped. If there is a lack of willingness to identify the

reasons for and the nature of the war, and its aims and

protagonists, then the healing will inevitably be a lengthy

and expensive process, with many risks to human life and

property. One must even envisage the possibility that the

search for peace might prove unsuccessful.

3

The activities underway in Bosnia and Herzegovina

have assumed the character of a post-conflict action, but

their aim is also a preventive one. Experience gained in

recent years has shown that conflicts often re-emerge in the

absence of appropriate preventive action of a diplomatic,

economic or, if necessary, military character. The time to

withdraw the international forces from Bosnia and

Herzegovina will have to be considered very carefully.

Withdrawing too early could lead to a recurrence of the

initial situation of instability or of armed conflict.

An example of successful preventive action

representing an important lesson for the future has been

provided by the international operation in Albania this year.

Operation Alba was conducted on the initiative and under

the leadership of Italy, in agreement with the Albanian

Government and with the authorization of the Security

Council. That operation has shown how quick and

determined action taken by a group of countries in the

vicinity of the emerging crisis situation, and with the

authorization of the Security Council, can prevent armed

conflict and potential destabilization in the region. Slovenia

took part in that successful operation and is ready to

participate in other preventive actions, as well as in other

peacekeeping operations. That readiness has been confirmed

by the decision of the Security Council to include a

Slovenian contingent in the peacekeeping operation in

Cyprus.

The recent international action in Bosnia and

Herzegovina and Albania, as examples of regional crises,

demonstrates the importance of the participation of regional

organizations; such a role has been played by the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Slovenia’s readiness to contribute towards

implementing the objectives of the United Nations has also

been manifested by the candidature of Slovenia for a non-

permanent seat on the Security Council for the period 1998-

1999 in the elections to be held at the General Assembly in

a few weeks’ time. Slovenia has confirmed its role as a

State that has been successfully coping with the issues of

development and of good-neighbourly relations. Within the

scope of its possibilities, it has also been striving for long-

term stabilization of the situation in Bosnia and

Herzegovina and in the region at large. Through this action

and its other international activity, Slovenia has proved to

be a factor for peace and stability in Europe.

As a Member of the United Nations, Slovenia is

actively participating in the discussion on reform, including

the issue of reform of the Security Council. Our readiness

to contribute, in practice, to the work of the Security

Council has been manifested by our cooperation in the

peacekeeping operations in Albania and in Cyprus. And

last but certainly not least, Slovenia has been paying its

membership contributions to the regular budget and to the

peacekeeping budget in full and on time.

As a candidate for a non-permanent seat on the

Security Council, we undertake in the event of our

election to observe the principles of openness and

transparency of action, and will strive to strengthen the

ties between the Security Council and rest of the

membership of the United Nations.

May I in conclusion reiterate again the importance

of this session of the General Assembly and of the

decisions to be taken. We have arrived at a stage where

we may see the crystallization of solutions that will

prepare the United Nations to cope with the tasks of the

next century. It is our responsibility to formulate these

solutions in a sufficiently clear and comprehensive

manner, and in that way provide for the viable future of

our common Organization. I firmly believe that we, the

present generation, will be able to preserve the United

Nations as it was created by our forefathers in the

turbulent time at the end of the Second World War, as an

Organization committed to the principles of peace,

cooperation, development and respect for human dignity.