Statement by H.E.Mr.Slobodan Casule,Minister of
Foreign Affairs of the
Nations,
Mr. President,
Dear Colleagues,
Distinguished Ladies and
Gentlemen,
At the outset, allow me congratulate you, Your
Excellency, on the assumption of the most prestigious duty of President of the
fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. My
delegation is fully confident that your skilful leadership will bring success
to this session.
I avail myself of this opportunity to congratulate also
the outgoing President, H.E. Mr. Han Seung-soo of the
Mr.
President,
The
United Nations community has recently become richer with the admission in the
membership of the Swiss Confederation. Though the valuable contribution of this
country to the United Nations goals was undisputed even before its formal
membership, I congratulate the Swiss Federation on this decision. We are also
looking forward to the imminent membership of
Mr. President,
The heinous acts of
The promptness with which the world reacted and the
solidarity expressed, gathering around the broadest possible coalition ever
against terrorism was an exemplary one. The United Nations took the lead in
combating international terrorism. The
Mr.
President,
Two days ago, on Sunday, 15
September, we had the fourth free, democratic elections in Macedonia. They
marked the progress achieved over the past year and the fact that they went
smoothly, reaffirmed our commitment to
democracy and the rule of law. They also reaffirmed the maturity of Macedonian
society, Government and its citizens, thus once again establishing its position
as an equal and respected member of the European family.
Our elections, as an
outstanding democratic achievement are more than proof that all along
Terrorism has more than
once proven itself an unworthy ally, more than that, a dangerous bedfellow,
that always as a rule, turns against those that use it in their pursuit of
social change or justice.
Therefore, there must be
no double standards when dealing with political extremism and terrorism
because, as we proved it, there is not one issue that cannot be dealt with
politically, better yet, as we have done, through elections and dialogue.
Mr. President,
The recent history of crises has
shown more than ever the importance of cooperation and solidarity among the
countries of our region, as well as of developing regional collective security
mechanisms in
Allow me in this context to reiterate our firm
position for the necessity of full implementation of the Security Council
Resolution 1244 concerning Kosovo. The Republic of Macedonia has provided
continuous support to the efforts of the international community, and has
always met the requests of UNMIK and KFOR in regard to the successful
fulfillment of their mandate. We support the UNMIK policy of
"benchmarks" and believe that it will facilitate the building of a
democratic, multi-ethnic society and strengthening of the rule of law in
Kosovo.
Let me recall that the
Agreement on Delineation and Demarcation of the border between the Republic of
Macedonia and the FRY, whose implementation on the ground is about to start
soon.
At this point, let me
stress that the efforts aimed to undermine the validity of the Agreement as the
one we witnessed early this year by the local self-government and Assembly of
Kosovo, should be definitely rejected and nullified. We support the reaction of the Security
Council in determining this action null and void.
Mr. President,
There are still many challenges ahead of all of us in
the region. All our good will and efforts to provide sustainable stability will
not yield results unless we seriously address the real problems present in the
region as a consequence of 10 years of wars and instability. Organized crime,
various forms of trafficking in drugs, arms, human beings etc, which most often
spur extremism and terrorism, have not been adequately taken into account.
National measures do not suffice to eliminate these phenomena. Strong
involvement and support of the international community is also indispensable.
Allow me to inform you that the Republic of Macedonia
will once again this year submit a resolution on Maintenance of international
security-good-neighborliness, stability and development in South-Eastern
Europe. This resolution addresses the complexity of the problems of disarmament,
stability and development of this region.
Mr. President,
The struggle against terrorism must not defer us from
other important issues on the UN agenda. The Millennium Summit and the
Secretary-general's “Road Map Toward the Implementation of the United Nations
Millennium Declaration” go hand in hand in identifying the direction of future
United Nations activities to which we commit ourselves: eradication of poverty,
struggle against HIV/AIDS, conflict prevention, protection of the environment.
Globalization remains one of the
most important issues on the international agenda. It is obvious that there are
some essential problems that need to be addressed immediately. In the new
millennium, it is crucial for the International community to address the development
agenda in a more comprehensive way, hand in hand with improving the status of
protection and respect of other fundamental human rights and freedoms. In this
context, the implementation of the goals set at the of the International
Conference on Financing for Development and the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, and with the Summit on Children, the most important United Nations
events of this year, require strong political will and commitment on the part
of the member states in the forthcoming reviewing period.
I would like to use the opportunity
to welcome the United Nations Declaration on the New Partnership for
There
is a need to build stronger partnerships with other relevant organizations
beyond the UN System such as WTO, WB, IMF, the business community, NGO’s and
other in order to have them closely engaged in the process. The fact that every
fourth Member-State of our Organization is classified as least developed is certainly
of no credit for all of us. That is why this issue has to be given highest
priority.
On disarmament matters, while the United
Nations Conference on Small Arms and the adopted Programme of Action marked a
significant first step on global level towards preventing, combating and
eradicating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, we deem there is
a need for an enhanced follow-up process. The problem of small arms and
proliferation has been of particular concern for the
Mr. President,
The
strengthening of the role and relevance of our Organization should remain to be
one of the topical issues on the United Nations agenda. Additional efforts should be made in
particular to strengthen the United Nations preventive and peace-keeping
capacities.
Of
no less importance is making progress on the issues of equitable representation
and reform of the Security Council. We are looking forward to the deliberations
this year within the open-ended working group hoping to produce meaningful
progress in making the Security Council more representative and more
transparent, while preserving and improving its effectiveness for the
maintenance of international peace and stability.
Mr. President,
The Republic of
Macedonia has been from the very beginning a strong supporter for the
establishment of the International Criminal Court and one of the first sixty
states to ratify the Rome Statute, which entered into force on July 1, 2002. We
support the efforts for the ICC to become truly universal, while believing that
the concerns expressed regarding the possibility of politically motivated
prosecution can be addressed in a way that would not compromise its spirit.
Mr. President,
The world today faces new challenges. Undoubtedly the
most important of these is the redefinition of the very essence of
international relations. This effort to instill new values is questioned by
regimes and rouge leaders that belong to the past, that have, as a
contradiction to progress, survived. We are all mesmerized by the development
of events surrounding
Problems like these demand solutions. Many measures
are considered today, but they must be based on a common conviction that our
main task is to construct a new and better world, and that these extraordinary
steps are not our goal.
Therefore, it is the
firm conviction of the
We know this best.
The Republic of Macedonia had more than a good reason to be among the
co-sponsoring countries in proclaiming last year, 2001 as the Year of Dialogue
among Civilizations, being in the heart of the Balkans and south-eastern
Europe, where over the centuries different cultures and civilizations left
numerous traces and where Christianity and Islam have struggled for
predominance and various ethnicities have interwoven.
As a follow-up and
practical contribution towards implementation of the Plan of Action, the
I thank you.