Slovenia, 2003

The United

Nations is a great and good idea, born of human

suffering and the universal desire for a better world.

Despite the many difficult challenges it has faced

throughout more than half a century of its history, it

has always had an important role to play. It has

succeeded because it has been able to adapt and

because, on meeting new obstacles, it has found a modus

operandi to achieve its objectives, although not always to

the desired extent. Particularly worthy of mention are its

achievements in peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance

and the development of international law and the

universal values that international law upholds.

The role that the United Nations has played to

date is clear proof of the fact that not every issue

facing the international community can be resolved

unilaterally, or even bilaterally. In a time of growing

global interdependence there are more and more

problems that countries cannot solve alone, or even in

cooperation with a smaller number of other countries.

The multilateralism of the United Nations must

therefore not be built on values that promote the short-

term benefit of individual countries or interest groups.

Instead, it must be grounded in the awareness that no

one can be satisfied in the long term if we are

surrounded by people living in destitution and without

even the basic necessities of human dignity. Values

grounded in that awareness must become an inseparable

component of relations between countries as the global

interdependence of the human race increases.

That increasing global interdependence is also

evidenced in the sphere of security, the most

fundamental pillar of human welfare. Economic, inter-

ethnic and religious tensions are no longer limited to

single States or regions, but can now have potentially

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global effects. The most drastic warning of that became

clear in the terrorist attacks on the United States. The

Iraqi crisis and other areas in turmoil offer further

warnings in that respect. There is no doubt that we can

only effectively fight international terrorism and the

proliferation of weapons of mass destruction through

the broad cooperation of many countries. The United

Nations played a central role in building an

international coalition against terrorism, and it must

continue to play that role.

As we fight against the universal evil of

terrorism, we must ensure that our eyes remain focused

on upholding the great gains of our civilization. Human

rights take pride of place among those achievements.

Sometimes we cannot avoid the Hobbesian dilemma

between security and freedom. Still, we must be aware

that the sacrifice of freedom for security frequently

results in achieving neither. We must therefore ensure

that international commitments to respect human rights

are upheld.

The international community has taken an

important step in the protection of human rights with

the creation of the International Criminal Court. It is

our sincere hope that the most serious crimes against

humanity will not go unpunished and that the Court

will succeed in putting an end to such crimes through

its independent operation.

Over the past year, the international community's

focus has been on Iraq. At first the course of events

with regard to Iraq revealed the limitations of

multilateral cooperation and decision-making. Those

events now illustrate the limits of engaging unilaterally,

given the immense challenges in the area of

international security and the inherent limits of

unilateralism itself. The complexity of the post-conflict

reconstruction and revitalization of Iraq demands the

widest possible support from the international

community and Iraqis themselves. The United Nations

is the only body capable of serving as the embodiment

of such support. Its role in Iraq must become more

active while retaining its autonomy. Only a strong

United Nations with a broadly defined mandate will be

able to fulfil the role we require of it, namely, to serve

as a factor for stability in Iraq and in the entire region.

Performing that role would be the best means of paying

tribute to the representatives of the United Nations who

tragically lost their lives in Iraq, including Sergio

Vieira de Mello and his colleagues. They will live on in

our memories as well as in our actions.

We should not allow the focus on the most visible

crises and on the fight against terrorism to lead to the

neglect of other dangers to global peace and security. A

single example of that would be the areas of Africa that

require assistance in both ending conflicts and tackling

the root causes of such unrest. Even Afghanistan,

where so recently all eyes were focused, has faded

from our minds. Yet there is a clear danger that the

chronic instability of that country could revert to

devastating civil war. Nor can we neglect the region of

South-Eastern Europe, which posed one of the most

serious threats to global peace and security throughout

the 1990s. South-Eastern Europe is now peaceful.

However, the success or failure of its post-conflict

stabilization is still dependent on the active

involvement of the international community. We must

therefore devote sufficient attention to political and

social consolidation in that region.

The world cannot respond to the Iraqi crisis by

reducing that issue to one of military security, or even

by engaging in the increasing militarization of

international security. We must focus on the source of

threats to international security. We must work hard

towards responsible and sound development that does

not widen the gap between rich and poor. We must

move beyond a developmental pattern that worsens

differences and tensions. Instead we have to ensure

sound prospects for all, including those in the so-called

third world. In the same vein, we must have

international trade rules that enable less developed

countries to use their resources to the maximum

benefit. The collapse of negotiations in Cancun should

be taken seriously. Developed countries should respond

by accepting more of the requirements put forward by

developing countries. The Millennium Declaration and

its Millennium Development Goals are an important

response to those challenges. We must therefore

contribute what we can to achieving those objectives.

I would like, at this point, to make special

mention of the fight against HIV/AIDS. I warmly

welcome the special session of the General Assembly

dedicated to that issue.

The objective increase in global interdependence

requires a strengthened role for the global

Organization. To that end, we must revitalize the

United Nations and adapt it to meet new challenges.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has accomplished a

great deal thus far in the area of rationalizing United

Nations operations and increasing efficiency. We

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congratulate him on those achievements and will

support him in his continued efforts to that end. We

also welcome wholeheartedly his intention to establish

a high-level panel of eminent persons to look at current

challenges to peace and security and to review the

functioning of the major bodies of the United Nations

with a view to recommending ways of strengthening

the Organization.

A number of questions and proposals relating to

the revitalization and reform of the General Assembly

have already been identified, and they have the support

of the majority of Member States, including Slovenia.

They now need to be put into practice. Let me also

reaffirm Slovenia's belief that the Security Council

must be enlarged to include representation for the

countries that have the most responsibility for

maintaining international peace and security. At the

same time, there must be adequate representation for

the rest of the international community in order to give

the Council a satisfactory level of legitimacy.

Putting aside the changes required in the

functioning of the United Nations, it should be pointed

out that many misconceptions about the United Nations

stem from a lack of information about the Organization.

On the basis of the experience it has gained to date, the

United Nations may do well to consider expanding its

own global network of universities. Such institutions

would be subordinate to national legislation and would

offer a high quality education in the spirit of the United

Nations. Such a policy would have numerous benefits.

Students would learn a great deal about the United

Nations, while the United Nations would be

contributing to increasing the level of education, as

well as disseminating its core values.

Globalization has opened our eyes to the vital

realization that the whole human race is interdependent

in its very essence. We must respond to the new

challenges of globalization by strengthening our efforts

to ensure that the values that the United Nations has done

so much to develop are also globalized: international

peace and security, respect for human rights, solidarity

and environmental protection. The United Nations

must continue to play a leading role in that all-

important process. To that end, it is our responsibility

to make the United Nations capable of enacting those

values and hence its admirable purpose thereby

making the world a better place in which to live.