General Assembly Session 50 meeting 8

The President

The Assembly will first hear a statement by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The President

I have great pleasure in welcoming the Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria, His Excellency Mr. Zhan Videnov, and inviting him to address the General Assembly.

Mr. Videnov (Bulgaria)

Allow me first of all to congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the presidency of the fiftieth session of the United Nations General Assembly. Your election is a clear recognition of the high esteem your country justly enjoys as an important link between different cultures and continents. This in turn has enabled Portugal to become an active partner of those countries, like Bulgaria, that are progressing towards democracy and a market economy within a united Europe.

In today's world of profound change the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations is of significance above all as a vantage point from which to try to develop a vision for the future.

Situated at the historical crossroads of nations and civilizations, Bulgaria today is seeking both to contribute to the successful redefinition of the United Nations role in the world of tomorrow and to ensure its own national security and wellbeing. The role of the United Nations should be above all to build upon the enhanced capacity of the Organization in three crucial spheres of its activities, namely, conflict settlement and peace-keeping, post-conflict peace-building, and the laying of durable foundations for lasting peace.

Today we all recognize the emergence of a great number of new challenges to peace and security marked by extraordinary diversity and complexity. The conflict still raging in the former Yugoslavia has been a traumatic test of the key United Nations responsibility for conflict settlement and peace-keeping. The disappointments in this regard have been many and profound; yet we should all face up to the simple truth that our Organization can be only as effective as a guarantor of peace as we Member countries wish and permit it to be.

Bulgaria has from the outset strictly adhered to policies supporting a peaceful settlement under United Nations auspices. Unilaterally, it has adopted and consistently abided by the principle of non-interference in the conflict. It has chosen not to become involved, either directly or indirectly, in any type of military activities on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, including participation in United Nations peace-keeping. We have called upon the other countries in the region to exercise the same restraint. On the other hand, throughout the conflict Bulgaria has supported every international initiative aimed at achieving a peaceful, balanced, just and comprehensive solution.

In keeping with its obligations under the United Nations Charter and as a means of restarting negotiations, Bulgaria has consistently implemented the international sanctions regime. This step was taken on the basis of a national consensus that, despite the heavy burden such sanctions created for Bulgaria, it was our duty to implement them as a dependable member of the international community.

Yet Bulgaria has sustained debilitating losses as a result of the sanctions. Over the past few years, we have repeatedly drawn attention to this problem, both as it concerns Bulgaria and as it concerns cooperation with other affected States. The sanction-induced losses so far amount to well over 25 per cent of Bulgaria's estimated gross domestic product for 1995. This has made Bulgaria by far the country most seriously affected.

Bulgaria's policies favouring a peaceful outcome have helped to establish it as a stabilizing factor in a most deeply troubled region of Europe. At the same time, we feel that such recognition also contributes to enhancing the peace-making potential of the United Nations itself. Positive interaction between the policies of individual Member States and the decisions and measures of the world Organization is the decisive factor in enhancing the latter's key mission, that of helping to settle conflicts and keep the peace.

However, Bulgaria's experience also shows that in order to discharge this mission successfully in the future the United Nations needs carefully to rethink its main peace-keeping instruments, such as economic sanctions and peace-keeping missions.

In areas outside its immediate vicinity Bulgaria has in recent years contributed ground forces and civilian and police observers. In the operation in Cambodia, generally considered a success, several young Bulgarians lost their lives. We sympathize with other countries that have sustained human losses in subsequent missions, including the latest in the former Yugoslavia. We therefore strongly support the view that there is a need to reform and improve the ways in which such missions are planned and executed, with priority given to enhancing the safety of United Nations personnel.

Recently, mediation between parties to a given conflict has been successfully utilized in the discharge of United Nations conflict-settlement missions. In this context, we welcome the agreement reached between neighbouring Greece and the Republic of Macedonia as a most important step towards lessening tensions in the whole of southeastern Europe.

A further major contribution in this regard should be active United Nations support for and collaboration in bringing to a successful conclusion the present intensive efforts to attain peace in Bosnia. Bulgaria welcomes the United States peace initiative and the efforts to implement it in close cooperation with the United Nations and the countries in the Contact Group. This has opened up real possibilities for a negotiated settlement of the conflict.

Experience derived from the Yugoslav crisis highlights the importance of another crucial United Nations function, namely, post-conflict peace-building. Today, it is obvious that although negotiations have not yet achieved a final settlement there is a need to begin to address the problems of post-conflict peace-building without delay.

One set of such problems concerns the reduction of the levels of armaments and armed forces. It is clear that conflict settlement would be pointless were it not accompanied by a set of actions designed to remove the sources of real or potential security threats in the area.

Thus, in the arms-control field Bulgaria shares the view that the establishment of a future harmonized arms-control regime in Europe should combine measures of both a pan-European and a regional character. Such measures should be based on the understanding that security must be indivisible and that any disproportionate concentration of armaments, in particular when coupled with a lack of control mechanisms, undermines security and stability. Therefore, the establishment of a credible system of arms control and confidence- and security-building measures for the territory of the former Yugoslavia, as part of and in line with the pan-European regimes, must be an essential part of a comprehensive post-war settlement. Relevant international bodies such as the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) should play a very important role in this respect. The main objective should be to attain levels of armaments that will preclude once and for all any temptation to use force.

The second set of peace-building measures concerns post-conflict economic reconstruction and stabilization.

Important work has been done at the United Nations in the past several years for developing an integrated approach to successfully implementing reconstruction programmes. Such an approach should encompass four interrelated aspects: strategic issues of reconstruction, needs and capabilities, post-conflict reconstruction framework and mobilization of resources.

Today plans for reconstruction are being laid for parts of the conflict area in the former Yugoslavia. Bulgaria is particularly well placed to contribute to such plans. This is so for a number of reasons: first, its long-standing relationship with the countries in and around the conflict area and its consistent policies in favour of a balanced and durable political settlement; secondly, because of the experience and know-how of Bulgarian companies with a long record of practical work in the area; thirdly, acquired knowledge and expertise in working with international financial institutions in implementing programmes for reconstruction and development. For all these reasons, Bulgaria could be an important factor contributing to the success of any reconstruction effort in the area.

The emerging pattern of structured coordination between various organizations within and outside the United Nations system provides guidelines and a very useful example to follow. It encourages our own thinking as we start exploring practical and institutional possibilities for contributing to the concerted international efforts in this respect.

At the same time, Bulgaria has every reason to expect also to receive a part of the international post-conflict assistance for the region. Effectively building the peace in the region requires that neighbouring countries that bore the brunt of sanctions and have sustained inordinate losses be included on a priority basis in the list of recipients of international assistance.

Bulgaria's concerns over the subject of sanctions have already become well known. We have formulated them in extenso on several occasions. In fact, the international community and, in particular, the General Assembly have recognized the right and the need to include non-target third countries in programmes for reconstruction and development. At its two previous sessions, on Bulgarian initiatives, the General Assembly adopted by consensus two resolutions on this set of issues. This year again, my delegation intends to submit a corresponding draft resolution which I hope will receive universal support.

At this point, I cannot but underline the findings and recommendations contained in the report (A/50/60) of the Secretary-General entitled "Supplement to An Agenda for Peace" and, in particular, his conclusion that the price of sanctions implementation should be borne equally by all Member States and not only by those who have had the misfortune of being neighbours or important economic partners of a sanctions target country. I would like to take this opportunity to commend especially the efforts of His Excellency Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali in this particularly important field of United Nations activities.

It is our view that, as a result of work already done, today there exists a significant scope of agreement on the ways and means for overcoming the specific economic problems confronting the affected States, as reflected in part IV of resolution 47/120 and resolutions 48/210 and 49/21 A of the General Assembly. Bulgaria is participating, and will continue to do so, in an effort to help towards the successful completion of the discussion on these issues in the United Nations.

Together with conflict settlement and post-conflict peace-building, a third, parallel line of action should be undertaken without delay. It should focus on laying durable foundations for lasting peace through economic and social development. The task of achieving durable stability and security regarding peace and economic development has always been of particular relevance in South-Eastern Europe. It has become all the more so in the light of evolving European integration.

In order to boost such development and lasting stability, there is an urgent need for concerted efforts by the international organizations and specialized agencies within the United Nations system, coupled with broader and more intensive cooperation at a regional level. It is doubtless necessary to avoid overlapping and duplication. Yet a mechanism must be put in place for effectively coordinating programmes for early implementation of achievable objectives.

The Ministerial Conference on environment for Europe, which is going to be held in Sofia the last week of this October, is a particularly apt example of this approach. Another initiative along these lines is the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) seminar on the role of trans-European infrastructure for stability and cooperation in the Black Sea region, which will also take place in Sofia, a month later. It will be dealing with priority projects for developing regional transport, telecommunications and energy infrastructure as factors both for economic growth and for lasting stability and peace in the area.

The above forums could provide valuable inputs for the work undertaken within the European Union with the aim of elaborating a comprehensive regional strategy for South-Eastern Europe. Such a strategy could be based on the approach embodied in the measures accompanying the Pact on Stability in Europe, put forward at the time by the Union. Cooperation at the subregional level may also prove to be a factor of significant practical importance in this context.

For its part, Bulgaria, in the course of the past several months, has attempted to develop thinking and proposals for regional stability, security and cooperation which could interact with initiatives and programmes developed by European and international institutions and major world partners. It is our belief that developing the economic dimensions of regional security will greatly favour the overcoming of local tensions rooted in the past, as well as the full-fledged implementation of the basic principles of relations between States under the Helsinki Act and the Paris Charter.

With a view to promoting such regional cooperation, I would like to state from this lofty rostrum that Bulgaria is ready to host a gathering of interested Central and South-Eastern European States at the governmental level in the course of 1996. Given careful preparation and the support of the international community, such a high-level meeting could become a major step towards lasting security and stability in a historically much-troubled part of Europe.

The parameters of the new international system are still taking shape today. What is positive is that in the days of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations the international community is looking for pragmatic and responsible approaches to lend new meaning to the Organization's mission. The discussion of the possibilities of and prospects for United Nations restructuring can draw on the accumulated wealth of experience and take advantage of the prevailing spirit of cooperation. Let us make the best possible use of them and together venture into the new century stronger, wiser and more united.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria for the statement he has just made and for his personal references to me and my country.

The President

The next speaker is the Vice Chancellor and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, His Excellency Mr. Klaus Kinkel, on whom I now call.

Mr. Kinkel (Germany)

Please accept my warm congratulations, Sir, on your election as President of the General Assembly at its fiftieth session. At the same time, I wish to thank your predecessor, Ambassador Essy, for his successful work.

The United Nations 50 years on -- that makes this session of the General Assembly an event of extra-special significance. The people of the world have high expectations. We must take stock, but in so doing we must, above all, look to the future.

The representatives of 50 nations who assembled in San Francisco in the year 1945 were intended to be, as President Truman put it, "the architects of a better world". What has become of their blue-print?

Today the family of nations has 185 members. Millions of people all over the world owe their lives, their freedom and their health, their jobs and their homes, to the United Nations and its specialized agencies. Decolonization has been completed, apartheid has been overcome, and respect for human rights is no longer an internal affair. In the field of disarmament a historic breakthrough has been achieved: in May of this year the proliferation of nuclear weapons was halted. That constitutes a big step towards making the world safe for mankind.

All these are considerable achievements which many critics of the United Nations have overlooked in this jubilee year, achievements on which you, in particular, Mr. Secretary-General, and your staff are to be congratulated. Indeed, the United Nations, in spite of some unjustified criticism, can take pride in what it has done for the cause of peace, freedom and human dignity.

Especially worthy of our gratitude and appreciation are the more than 68,000 United Nations troops currently serving on missions in all regions of the world. When servicemen from Asia, Africa or Latin America attend to the basic needs of refugees in Europe, in the former Yugoslavia, and keep the beleaguered people from starving, then that is, I believe, a marvellous indication that the "one world" is a reality. Lest we forget: nearly 5,000 of those troops, the Blue Helmets, have been killed or wounded in the line of duty. The Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel must be put into effect as soon as possible. This we owe to all those who serve the United Nations.

As we recap the events of the past year, we also have to consider the huge problems now confronting the world Organization. The ability to safeguard peace: that is the world's main criterion when judging the United Nations. And here we have reached a critical point.

Somalia, Rwanda and Bosnia: these countries stand for disappointment and setbacks as well. However, I should like to make it very clear that in such cases the culprit is quickly found, too quickly. Nothing is more convenient than to point to the alleged inefficiency of the United Nations. And nothing could be further from the truth.

When it has not been possible to help people, when United Nations troops have been humiliated in the former Yugoslavia, it has in nearly every instance not been the fault of the United Nations. The problems have lain in its unsatisfactory mandate, in the lack of political will on the part of Member States, and, unfortunately, in the shortage of funds. It is we, the Members, who cause the difficulties.

Following the holding of United Nations troops as hostages, the atrocities in Zepa and Srebrenica, and the terrible second bloodbath in Sarajevo's market place, the community of nations has demonstrated that there is a limit to the amount of brutality and contempt for international law it will tolerate. And there has to be a limit.

The resolve of the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has paid off -- not only for the people of Sarajevo, who for three years have been starving and freezing and kept under constant fire, but also for the peace process.

Yesterday, here in New York, the parties to the conflict had another meeting with the Contact Group, of which Germany is a member. Another step forward was achieved on the constitutional issue following the result achieved in Geneva, and I believe this step to be a decisive one. For the first time since the conflict began there is a realistic prospect of a negotiated peace settlement.

But I should like to warn against being over-euphoric. A lot has still to be done. We shall have to put one stone on top of another stone in order to finish this building. This time none of the participants should leave the conference table until an agreement has been reached -- a peaceful agreement at the negotiating table, and not an agreement on the basis of military actions. Anyone who continues to prefer bloodshed, to prefer military actions, will be taking a great responsibility upon himself.

From the beginning, Germany has played an active part in these efforts. We have never taken sides, nor did we ever want to take sides, against one party; rather, we have always taken up the cause of the victims, those who have been tormented and driven from their homes.

To date, the German Government's humanitarian aid in the region amounts to more than 1 billion Deutsche marks. And I should like to stress strongly that we have no double standards, nor should we have double standards. In the short time since August, we have provided more than 6 million marks to help Serbian refugees from Krajina.

My country has contributed in various ways to all peace-keeping operations. By sending medical personnel to Split and deploying Tornado fighters for the first time -- fighters which we have made available in Piacenze, Italy -- in a United Nations peace-keeping mission, we have also shown that we do not merely talk about taking on more responsibility, but that we act to do so.

We will also meet our responsibility when it comes to implementing the terms of a peace settlement -- and I hope that this settlement will come soon. The reconstruction of Bosnia's economy requires a genuinely international cooperative effort, an effort on the part of the international community. The European Union -- and Germany, of course, as a member of the European Union -- will play its part.

What lessons can and must we learn from what has happened in Somalia, Rwanda and Bosnia?

First, the United Nations must confine itself to doing what is feasible. Its resources are obviously being strained beyond the limit. It cannot take on every responsibility. It cannot solve all the problems that the world is confronted with.

Secondly, the extent and duration of the commitment of the United Nations must be more precise, the political and military objectives must be clearly defined, and there must be a realistic and, above all, coherent mandate.

Thirdly, if the world Organization is going to intervene, then it must act consistently and resolutely. There must be no repetition of what happened in Rwanda or Zepa or Srebrenica.

Fourthly, cooperation between the United Nations and other organizations such as NATO must from the outset be planned in such a way that maximum speed and, above all, efficiency are assured.

Fifthly, we believe that the regional organizations must play a larger role than they have done so far. Not every problem must go straight to the United Nations. In Europe, for instance, and in other places of the world too, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) could assume much greater responsibility. However, we have to enable it to do so.

Still, let there be no illusions. Peace-keeping is not just a fair-weather exercise. Such missions will always be apt to create problems for the world Organization.

And, in view of the hundreds of thousands of lives that have been saved in Somalia and Bosnia, who can argue with an easy conscience that the United Nations should not have intervened? And many of these people have already been forgotten. What is required here is an increased peace-keeping capacity -- constructive help, not destructive criticism.

And to those who over and over again have called into question the actions of the United Nations and its peace-keeping operations, I would like to address the following question: Is there an alternative? Who could take the place of the United Nations? Indeed, Europe has not been able to cope with this tragedy in its own house as well as we all hoped it would.

But nor should we forget the European Union's achievements in the former Yugoslavia. It paved the way for the Contact Group's ongoing peace efforts.

To my mind, the conflict in the former Yugoslavia emphasizes how important and right it was for Western Europe to embark on a new course after the Second World War, a course that was directed against nationalism and against the use of force. For four decades, as a result of the East-West conflict, not all European nations were able to follow that route of the European Community, today's European Union.

The European Union is now striving to correct that terrible aberration and bridge the gulfs that separate it from Central and Eastern Europe. The goal is one Europe, a Europe in which the old big-Power politics and hegemonic aspirations can never again take root.

That Europe must have a legitimate place for Russia, but for Ukraine as well. The European house does not consist solely of the European Union: it has many rooms. Neither of these two nations, Russia or Ukraine, should be left outside. To our Russian and Ukrainian partners and friends I say: Europe needs your contribution and it does so also in bringing peace to the former Yugoslavia. Here their new partnership with the European Union and NATO must -- and, I add, will -- prove its value.

Many feared that when the East-West confrontation disappeared Europe would focus exclusively on its own affairs. That has not been the case. The European Union is intensifying its political, economic and cultural cooperation with the other regions of the world.

In Asia, Africa and Latin America it is already a model for peace, prosperity and regional integration. In the United Nations the European Union is the principal partner for dialogue with the developing countries.

The European Union and Germany have been particularly active in promoting peace and economic recovery in the Middle East. The recent agreement on the West Bank worked out by Yassir Arafat and Shimon Peres is another important milestone on the road to lasting peace in that region. I congratulate both sides on their courage and on their far-sightedness. The United States is playing a major part in this process in this region. We are grateful to them for that. Egypt has rendered an important contribution as an intermediary.

Increasing the peace-keeping capacity of the United Nations also involves reforming the Security Council. There is now a global consensus, I believe, that this is necessary.

The first steps towards reform have already been taken. More changes have been made to the Council's methods of work and more transparency achieved in the past two years than in the whole of the previous four decades.

Like many other Member States, Germany considers that the Council should have more permanent and non-permanent members. The nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America need wider representation and I think we owe it to them. They have deserved it. The same applies to several countries with an important global role.

Germany, with the support of many Member States, has announced its interest in permanent membership of the Security Council. Our willingness to assume greater responsibility, also within this framework, is for us the logical and consistent extension of our commitment to the United Nations. This commitment is consistent with the fundamental principle of our foreign policy, which is to give priority to multilateral cooperation. We have abided by that principle in pursuing European integration, and we believe that that same principle would help us play a useful role in the Security Council.

The world finds itself faced with many new conflicts and challenges. It is crucial that in dealing with them we should focus our efforts more than we have done so far on conflict prevention. A political solution must remain the first option. That requires wider use of human rights observers, improvements in the United Nations early warning system, the promotion of democratization and the observation of election processes, as successfully done recently in Mozambique.

We have provided a list of experienced intermediaries for the tasks of preventive diplomacy. The example of Macedonia shows what the preventive deployment of United Nations Blue Helmets can achieve. I am very happy about the agreement that has been achieved between Greece and Macedonia on this extremely important issue. Preventing fire can save countless lives and in any case it is cheaper than putting fires out. On my recent visit to Rwanda I was deeply shocked, in the truest sense of the word, by the atrocities that have been perpetrated there by human beings on other human beings. If the United Nations had intervened at an early stage and resolutely, many lives could have been saved.

Germany has set up a substantial emergency aid programme for Rwanda. We are trying in particular to do something about the awful prison conditions. I myself visited prisons, in Kigali for example, and I must tell you that I have never seen anything like that in all my life. Urgent remedies are needed here to ensure that one injustice is not followed by another. I travelled to Burundi too, and I returned deeply saddened and concerned. We must not make the same mistakes in Burundi.

Disarmament, arms control and confidence-building -- these are some of the main components of conflict prevention. In recent years we have made the kind of progress that no one would have believed possible at the height of the arms race 15 years ago. The task of buttressing this breakthrough and building on the achievements has acquired great political significance.

A few weeks ago we commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the first atomic bomb explosions over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nuclear weapons must never, never, be used again. They must be eliminated completely, as required by article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. That aim was reaffirmed by the nuclear Powers at the New York Conference extending the Treaty.

Never has the door to a ban on every kind of nuclear-test explosion been wider open than today. We must now direct all our efforts to the achievement of this goal. The Geneva negotiations must produce such a comprehensive ban by the autumn of 1996 at the latest.

Anti-personnel mines, too, are "weapons of mass destruction". Day in, day out, they are taking a terrible toll on human life, and many of the victims are women and, above all, innocent children. If any kind of weapon must be outlawed, then this one should be.

Eliminating this scourge is a task of the highest priority, particularly in Nicaragua, Angola, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Georgia and Cambodia. Germany, together with its European partners, will continue the initiative in this direction during this session of the General Assembly.

At the First Review Conference of the Convention on certain conventional weapons, which opened in Vienna the day before yesterday, tougher export restrictions will have to be agreed on and a strict ban imposed on the use of anti-personnel mines.

I appeal to all Members of the United Nations: In the name of humanity, accede to the Convention on certain conventional weapons as quickly as possible.

There are good reasons why the work of the United Nations began with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The United Nations is more than a mere gathering of sovereign States. It is based on the common belief in the dignity and worth of every human being, and it is my view that this must remain the focal point of all political activity.

Universal Children's Day, celebrated a week ago, reminded us of the awful fate to which these, the weakest members of society, are often exposed. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) therefore needs the support of every one of us.

The task of helping those people all over the world who have been persecuted and deprived of their rights must remain at the top of the political agenda. Pressure from the international community, the media, non-governmental organizations and private citizens must be maintained. Those who torture people and who treat human rights with contempt should not be able to sleep peacefully. To this end, the High Commissioner's position will have to be strengthened and the Centre for Human Rights better equipped. People who commit war crimes must know that they will be prosecuted under international criminal law. Hence, Germany strongly urges the establishment of a permanent international court of justice.

But above all, stronger measures to protect minorities are called for. "Ethnic cleansing" is no basis for peaceful coexistence, either in Europe or anywhere else.

More than 27 million people are today on the move. This is one of the most dramatic events of our time. The cause is not only hunger and distress, but, in most cases, unfortunately, ethnic and religious fanaticism. Diversity of culture and tradition is one of the world's greatest assets, and no one should seek to impose a particular model of society on others.

The fact that there exists a core of human rights which everyone has to respect is quite a different matter. This was reaffirmed at the Vienna Conference and should not be challenged by anyone.

Today the dialogue of cultures is central to the quest for peace. I have invited leading representatives of the Islamic world to come to Germany in November to participate in such a dialogue. My feeling is that we have to learn to understand each other better. I have also urged that the Bosnia Contact Group closely coordinate its efforts with the Islamic Contact Group.

In Germany, two and a half million Muslims are living harmoniously with the local community. In my view, it is extremely important that we should develop cooperation and mutual trust at the international level as well, and I am speaking as the German Foreign Minister. Islam cannot be equated with terrorism or fundamentalism. No new enemy stereotypes must be allowed to develop. I think that we should be happy that we have been able to do away with the old ones.

Peace and development are inseparable. Any reform of the United Nations worthy of that name should therefore encompass economic and social matters as well. This fiftieth anniversary is a unique opportunity to create a modern framework for a new development in partnership. Work on the Agenda for Development must therefore be completed as soon as possible.

Apart from improving and simplifying the finance regime for United Nations development activities, the chief concern is to coordinate and efficiently implement the results of the world conferences on the environment, social problems, population growth and women -- especially the Conference on Women that has just ended in Beijing.

These are the main interrelated issues of our time as we pursue the goal of peace. The planet Earth must remain habitable for future generations as well. Progress is possible only through equal and fair partnership between North and South. Germany will continue to exert every effort to this end.

None of this can be done unless we can come to grips with the biggest crisis confronting the United Nations: that of its financial situation. There is no reason to deny that it has assumed dramatic proportions; one has to be quite frank about this. This crisis can be overcome only if all contributors, and especially the main ones, meet their obligations punctually. Germany is the third largest contributor to the United Nations, and we pay our bills. We cannot allow a situation to continue where those who pay their contributions on time are also burdened with the arrears of wealthier Members. Unless decisive action is taken very soon, whole areas of activity could grind to a halt.

I very much welcome the confirmation by the American Secretary of State that the United States stands by the obligations arising from its membership. The United Nations needs an America that fulfils its leadership role, just as the United States needs a world Organization capable of, and willing to undertake, reform.

How can we overcome this financial crisis? First, we must restore the balance between the budgets for peace-keeping operations and the regular budget of the United Nations. We cannot allow resources for such operations to be used up to the point of depletion while at the same time funds for urgent programmes of economic or social development are either non-existent or have to be cut back.

Secondly, it is time we found a scale of assessments that reflects Members' actual ability to pay. You, Mr. Secretary-General, have made great efforts to rationalize the Organization's work, to ensure budgetary discipline and to reduce staff. I appeal to all Member States to give Under-Secretary-General Paschke the support he needs for his difficult job.

The United Nations is indispensable to the task of maintaining global order and as a forum and instrument for international cooperation, today no less than in the era after the Second World War. No other organization has the same ability to focus the interests and energies of the world's nations, which we believe is necessary.

The United Nations is not "the others", but us, the Members. And this Organization is only as strong and as united as we, its Members, make it.

Hence my appeal today to the Assembly: let us stop our constant vacillation between euphoria and disappointment regarding the United Nations. Let us stop apportioning blame, which leads nowhere. Let us rather merge vision and pragmatism, solidarity and responsibility for our own actions into a rational and realistic international partnership under the aegis of the United Nations. Let us give this world Organization more clout and make it more efficient and economical. Yes, we will have to slim down the United Nations. It has to save money. Let us do these things in a constructive spirit, together with, and on behalf of, the United Nations. Let us give the United Nations what it needs -- including paying our dues.

That is what the world community expects of us now, and rightly so. That is the task facing the family of nations on the threshold of the new millennium. If the reforms fail, there will be only losers.

"Hope is the pillar of the world", they say in South Africa. Fifty years ago, such a pillar of hope for mankind was erected in San Francisco. Let us do everything to ensure that this pillar will continue to support the hopes of mankind in the next 50 years as well. Germany will continue to play its part.

The President

I now call on the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of China, His Excellency Mr. Qian Qichen.

Mr. Qian Qichen (China)

Mr. President, please allow me, first of all, to warmly congratulate you on your election to the presidency of the current session of the General Assembly. I am convinced that with your remarkable ability and rich experience, you will admirably fulfil this mission. I would also like to express my appreciation and thanks to Mr. Amara Essy for the important contribution he has made during his presidency.

I wish to avail myself of this opportunity to extend my welcome and congratulations to the Republic of Palau, which was admitted into the United Nations after the last session.

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the founding of the United Nations. Over the past 50 years, the United Nations has stood the test of the vicissitudes in the international situation, grown steadily, scored remarkable achievements and made major contributions to the peace and prosperity of mankind. Its membership has increased from 51 at its founding to today's 185. The status and role of the United Nations, the most universal and authoritative intergovernmental organization of sovereign States today, is irreplaceable by any other international organization.

The United Nations has traversed a tortuous and uneven path over the past fifty years, just like the development of anything else. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, it is time to review the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, earnestly summarize the positive and negative experience, and introduce appropriate and necessary reforms so as to revitalize the United Nations and usher it into the new century with a new look to meet the challenge of the times. This is the call of all peoples and a lofty mission of the times.

The United Nations, which was founded in the triumph of the world war against fascism, reflects the ardent desire and determination of the world's people to avert the scourge of war forever, safeguard world peace and security, carry out friendly international cooperation and achieve common development. History has repeatedly proved that adherence to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter will enable the United Nations to play a positive role in safeguarding peace and promoting development, while violation of and departure from the purposes and principles of the Charter will impair the dignity and image of the United Nations and weaken its role. Therefore, to continue to uphold and carry forward the purposes and principles of the Charter is an unshirkable responsibility of all United Nations Members and a basic principle guiding the reform of the United Nations.

The core of the United Nations Charter is the principle of equality between sovereign States and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. All sovereign States, whether they are big or small, rich or poor, strong or weak, are equal members of the international community. The internal affairs of a country should be managed by its own people. Major world affairs should be addressed by countries through consultations on the basis of equality and mutual respect. In international relations, to bully the small, oppress the poor, override the weak, impose one's own social system, ideology and values on others or interfere in other countries' internal affairs all run counter to the spirit of the United Nations Charter. Some people are publicly clamouring for "containment" of other countries, which shows that the cold war mentality still refuses to quit the stage of history. But it will ultimately be discarded by history. The post-war period of half a century proves that in handling State-to-State relations, "hot war", "cold war" or "bloc politics" do not work. Strict observance of the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence are the only way for States to live in amity with each other and achieve common development.

Since the last session of the General Assembly, thanks to the joint efforts of various quarters, the tendency towards the peaceful settlement of disputes through negotiations has grown and international economic cooperation has gained momentum. However, there still remain many destabilizing and uncertain factors in the international situation. Hegemonism and power politics continue to hold out. Peace and development, the two major tasks of the world today, still face grave challenges.

Armed conflicts and catastrophic wars in some parts of the world remain unabated, which has not only inflicted heavy losses of life and property on the countries and peoples concerned, but also casts a shadow over regional peace and stability and that of the whole world. All this cannot but cause concern and distress among the world's people. As the background and causes behind these conflicts are complicated, to seek a just, fair and appropriate solution to them would call for tremendous and concerted efforts by all the parties concerned, the United Nations and the international community as a whole. We maintain that the parties concerned should, in the fundamental and long-term interests of the people, seek just and fair solutions through negotiations, taking into full account both history and reality as well as the reasonable interests and positions of all sides. Where consensus cannot be reached immediately, the parties concerned should exercise restraint and patience so as to prevent contradictions from intensifying and at the same time try to create conditions and an atmosphere for an eventual peaceful settlement.

United Nations peace-keeping operations in recent years have played a useful role in settling international disputes peacefully. They have both accumulated successful experience and learned lessons from setbacks. We believe that, to ensure a healthy development of United Nations peace-keeping operations and activities in other related fields such as preventive diplomacy, the following guidelines should be established and followed:

Observation of the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, in particular the principle of respect for State sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries;

Settlement of disputes through peaceful means such as good offices, mediation and negotiations instead of resort to frequent mandatory actions. Even humanitarian operations should not resort to military means;

Opposition to double standards and the imposition of the policies and views of one or a few countries on the Security Council. Some countries should not be allowed to carry out military intervention in the name of the United Nations;

For peace-keeping operations, adherence to the principles that have proved effective, such as obtaining prior consent from the parties concerned, observing strict neutrality and the non-use of force except for self-defence;

Adoption of a realistic approach and confining the operation within one's capability. Peace-keeping operations should be launched only when conditions are ripe and should refrain, in whatever circumstances, from becoming a party to a conflict in deviation from the fundamental orientation of such operations.

It has been demonstrated time and again that United Nations peace-keeping operations, if divorced from these guidelines, would, contrary to our wishes, fail to achieve their desired objectives and might even go astray.

Last May, the Review and Extension Conference of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) adopted the decision to renew the NPT indefinitely. This serves the interests of all signatories, helps to strengthen the international non-proliferation regime and is conducive to the maintenance of world peace and security. China believes that nuclear non-proliferation is only an interim step towards the ultimate goal of the complete prohibition and total destruction of nuclear weapons. The indefinite extension of the NPT must not be construed as an indefinite license for the nuclear-weapon States to perpetuate their prerogatives.

One year ago, also from this rostrum, on behalf of the Chinese Government I called for the conclusion of a convention on the complete prohibition of nuclear weapons and put forward a series of complete and interrelated proposals on nuclear disarmament. We are pleased to note that the negotiations on a comprehensive test-ban treaty have produced some gratifying progress. China supports the conclusion of such a treaty no later than 1996 and will continue to work with other countries to this end. Once the treaty enters into force, China will stop its nuclear testing.

China's possession of a limited nuclear capability is entirely for self-defence and for deterring the nuclear threat against it. The Chinese Government has from the very beginning unilaterally undertaken not to be the first to use nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances and not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon States. China's nuclear weapons therefore do not constitute a threat to any country. We strongly urge other nuclear-weapon States to respond positively to China's initiative by immediately starting negotiations aimed at concluding a treaty on mutual non-first-use of nuclear weapons and an agreement on the non-use or non-threat of use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon States and nuclear-free zones.

It has become a trend in today's world that when countries formulate their domestic and foreign policies they accord top priority to the economy and pay close attention to national economic development. The worldwide tendency towards economic integration, regionalization and the formation of economic groupings has accelerated, and competition among States in the economic, trade, scientific and technological fields has further intensified. Under such circumstances, the developing countries are faced with a formidable challenge as they strive for economic growth and higher living standards for their people.

Furthermore, over 1 billion people on this planet remain in abject poverty; this constitutes one of the world community's most acute problems. Given much-needed support to the developing countries as they reactivate their economies and creating a favourable external environment for them are not only important conditions for the shared economic growth and common prosperity of all countries, but also a crucial guarantee for lasting peace and stability throughout the world. Given the present situation, the United Nations should ask itself to pay at least as much attention to development as to peace, effectively perform its duties under the Charter and play a more dynamic role in galvanizing economic growth and development in the developing countries. The reform of the United Nations must result in the strengthening, not the weakening, of its role in the area of development.

True, fairly rapid economic growth in the developing countries must depend primarily on their own efforts. However, it is also important for the international community, and the developed countries in particular, to take practical and effective measures to open markets, provide development funds, transfer technology, increase development aid and reduce the debt burden in favour of the developing countries. International economic cooperation should be guided by the principle of mutual opening-up, equality and mutual benefit. Such practices as implementing protectionist policies of one form or another and attaching political strings to economic assistance to developing countries are obviously misguided.

Profound changes have taken place in China amid the surging tide of change and development across the world. The 17 years that have elapsed since the beginning of reform and opening-up in China have been unprecedented in terms of the economic growth rate and the improvement of the people's living standards. At present, China enjoys political stability, economic prosperity, ethnic harmony and vigorous advances in democracy, legality and community undertakings. China's exchanges and cooperation with the rest of the world have reached a level unprecedented in both scope and depth. Although there may still be many difficulties and challenges along the road ahead, we are confident that, through several generations of hard work, our people will lift China out of economic and cultural backwardness and turn it into a highly prosperous and democratic modern country.

The Chinese people are peace-loving people. China's history for over a century following the Opium War was one of tears, blood and humiliation in which the Chinese nation was subjected to repeated aggression, suppression and plunder at the hands of the big Powers. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. The Chinese people treasure their hard-won independence and freedom and will never commit aggression or intervene against others. China is opposed to hegemonism and power politics of any kind and will never seek hegemony for itself. With a population of 1.2 billion, China will remain a low-income developing country for a very long time and the steady improvement of our people's living standards will remain our objective, towards the attainment of which no effort will be spared. Even when China grows stronger, it will continue firmly to pursue its independent foreign policy of peace and will live in amity with other nations. A stable and prosperous China is a positive factor for peace and development in Asia and the world at large. This is a conclusion that people of vision around the world have come to share.

The Chinese people have waged heroic and unyielding struggles to resist external aggression and oppression and to defend the sovereignty, independence and unity of the country. There is but one China in the world. The Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal Government of China. It is the sole representative of China at the United Nations, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. The peaceful reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Straits represents the unshakable will and determination of the entire Chinese people, including our compatriots in Taiwan. Proceeding from this reality, the Chinese Government has put forward the correct proposal on peaceful reunification within the framework of the concept of "one country, two systems" and a series of realistic and practicable policies and measures. The past few years have seen a steady expansion and deepening of exchanges and contacts between the two sides in various fields. Any attempt to obstruct peaceful reunification and to split Taiwan from China is doomed to failure. Should anyone try to do so, he would be lifting a stone only to drop it on his own toes.

History moves on. Mankind is progressing. In four years we will usher in a new millennium. The future is full of promise. Let us join hands and make concerted efforts to bring about a better world in which there are peace and cooperation, justice and equality, mutual respect and common development, a world of universal prosperity and continuous progress.

The President --> -->

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Python 2.6.6: /usr/bin/python Sat May 25 22:54:52 2013

A problem occurred in a Python script. Here is the sequence of function calls leading up to the error, in the order they occurred.

/data/vhost/www.undemocracy.com/docs/trunk.py in ()

194 if __name__ == "__main__":

195     pathpart = os.getenv("PATH_INFO")

196     maintrunk(pathpart)

197

198

maintrunk = <function maintrunk>, pathpart = '/generalassembly_50/meeting_8/highlight_S-RES-242(1967)'

/data/vhost/www.undemocracy.com/docs/trunk.py in maintrunk(pathpart='/generalassembly_50/meeting_8/highlight_S-RES-242(1967)')

131     elif pagefunc == "gameeting":

132         LogIncomingDB(hmap["docid"], hmap["gadice"] or "0", referrer, ipaddress, useragent, remadeurl)

133         WriteHTML(hmap["htmlfile"], hmap["pdfinfo"], hmap["gadice"], hmap["highlightdoclink"])

134     elif pagefunc == "agendanumexpanded":

135         LogIncomingDB(pagefunc, hmap["agendanum"], referrer, ipaddress, useragent, remadeurl)

global WriteHTML = <function WriteHTML>, hmap = {'docid': 'A-50-PV.8', 'gadice': '', 'gameeting': 8, 'gasession': 50, 'highlightdoclink': 'S-RES-242(1967)', 'htmlfile': '/home/undemocracy/undata/html/A-50-PV.8.html', 'pagefunc': 'gameeting', 'pdfinfo': <pdfinfo.PdfInfo instance>}

/home/undemocracy/unparse-live/web2/unpvmeeting.py in WriteHTML(fhtml='/home/undemocracy/undata/html/A-50-PV.8.html', pdfinfo=<pdfinfo.PdfInfo instance>, gadice='', highlightth='S-RES-242(1967)')

322         if dclass == "spoken":

323             if not gadice or agendagidcurrent == gadice:

324                 WriteSpoken(gid, dtextmu, councilpresidentnation)

325         elif dclass == "subheading":

326             if agendagidcurrent and (not gadice or agendagidcurrent == gadice):

global WriteSpoken = <function WriteSpoken>, gid = u'pg012-bk01', dtextmu = u'<h3 class="speaker"> <span class="name">The Pres...France, His Excellency Mr. Herv\xe9 de Charette.</p>', councilpresidentnation = None

/home/undemocracy/unparse-live/web2/unpvmeeting.py in WriteSpoken(gid=u'pg012-bk01', dtext=u'<h3 class="speaker"> <span class="name">The Pres...France, His Excellency Mr. Herv\xe9 de Charette.</p>', councilpresidentnation=None)

69     print '</cite>'

70

71     print dtext[mspek.end(0):]

72

73     print '</div>'

dtext = u'<h3 class="speaker"> <span class="name">The Pres...France, His Excellency Mr. Herv\xe9 de Charette.</p>', mspek = <_sre.SRE_Match object>, mspek.end = <built-in method end of _sre.SRE_Match object>

<type 'exceptions.UnicodeEncodeError'>: 'ascii' codec can't encode character u'\xe9' in position 107: ordinal not in range(128)
      args = ('ascii', u'\n\t<p id="pg012-bk01-pa01">I now call on the Mini...France, His Excellency Mr. Herv\xe9 de Charette.</p>', 107, 108, 'ordinal not in range(128)')
      encoding = 'ascii'
      end = 108
      message = ''
      object = u'\n\t<p id="pg012-bk01-pa01">I now call on the Mini...France, His Excellency Mr. Herv\xe9 de Charette.</p>'
      reason = 'ordinal not in range(128)'
      start = 107