DENMARK

H.E. MR. NIELS HELVEG PETERSEN

MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS

OF DENMARK

Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General,

Let me first associate myself with the statement by my colleague, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the European Union.

Let me also, Mr. President, congratulate you on your election as President of this Millennium Assembly. (I am pleased to see a member of the Nordic family of nations in this position.)

Mr. President,

A few days ago, leaders from all over the world gathered at the Millennium Summit. They gathered to reaffirm their faith in the UN Charter and to give direction to the UN in the 21 st century. The Charter remains as relevant as ever with its mandate to promote peace and security, create an international community based on the rule of law, uphold the respect for human rights and promote social development.

The new Millennium brings new challenges to the UN in an ever more globalized world.

Increased communication between countries and peoples reinforces the need for common norms of social and economic behaviour. The global UN conferences within the last decade bear witness to the value of the United Nations as a unique normsetting forum. The follow-up conferences to the Social Summit in Copenhagen and the Beijing Conference on women are cases in point.

These UN summits have advanced our understanding of the interaction between peace, development, and human rights. The UN process on Financing for Development offers an opportunity for renewed commitment and action. The relationship between social development and promotion of human rights is today recognised. The best preventive action against conflict and strife is to ensure sound economic and social development, based on good governance, respect for human rights, and protection of minorities.

An encouraging and innovative feature is the decision adopted by the Economic and Social Council in July this year to establish a Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, thereby advancing the aspirations of Indigenous Peoples. The Danish Government and The Home Rule Government of Greenland welcome this recent development. We will actively support the work of the Permanent Forum.

Mr. President,

I welcome that the SecurityCouncil has demonstrated increasing attention to humanitarian issues. The open meeting in the Council on Africa, in January this year, gave new prominence to the humanitarian challenges for this continent.

The Council has in the past year taken up issues as diverse as "AIDS in Africa", "Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflicts" and "Children in Armed Conflicts".

These initiatives increase our awareness of the root causes of conflicts.

Mr. President,

The international. community must shoulder its responsibility in relation to the AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS could seal the fate of more than 30 million Africans over the next five years. The epidemic undermines decades of development efforts and dissolves the social texture of nations. It could destabilise entire regions. The AIDS-epidemic is not a local problem. It is a matter of security of global importance.

Africa has enormous potential, but millions continue to survive on less than one US dollar a day. The growing transfer of private capital rarely flows to the countries in Africa.

We must do more to integrate Africa in the world economy. Trade opportunities must be improved, we must give free access to the markets of industrialised countries, also for products where African countries have a genuine, competitive advantage. The legal framework of the WTO must take into account the special difficulties of developing countries. Trade related technical assistance must be improved.

Mr. President,

Peace and security we know are fundamental conditions for economic and social development. War, internal strife and political unrest have devastated large parts of Africa, causing untold human suffering and destruction. No one should expect easy solutions. But we must work together to prevent and resolve armed conflicts in Africa.

We witness an increased African effort in the field of peace and security. The international community must support this trend through our active involvement. We must assist in capacity building by relevant African organisations and by backing UN peacekeeping efforts.

Africa itself must create the conditions for international involvement. We welcome the initiatives by the Security Council to create a common ground for UN peacekeeping operations by inviting the parties involved to discussions at special sessions of the Council in New York.

Mr. President,

Although the Camp David talks did not bring about an agreement in the Middle East, they represented a major step forward and helped to narrow down differences on key issues.

A breakthrough has never before seemed so close at hand. Time, however, is quickly running out. I urge the parties to seize this historic opportunity. I salute the political courage displayed by the Israeli and the Palestinian leadership in their efforts to achieve a durable solution. I welcome the recent decision by the Palestinian Central Council to defer the decision on the question of statehood in the interest of further negotiations.

Mr. President,

Democracy is a peacemaker. Democracies are much less prone to violent conflicts. The Secretary-General recently called attention to what he called "fig leaf democracies". The fig leaf of elections does not by itIself turn a dictatorship into a democracy. Elections can even lead to a backlash, as frustrations rise and tensions turn into violence.

Denmark increasingly turns her efforts towards the prevention and management of violent conflicts, in line with our comprehensive engagement in developing countries and active involvement in UN peacekeeping activities. We will strengthen the ability to react quickly and effectively. We will continue to support regional co-operation, also when it comes to countering the uncontrolled spread of small arms.

The landmines are a substantial obstacle to development. Increased efforts by the UN, governments and NGO's are necessary. Right now new momentum is needed. The Second Meeting of States Parties to the Ottawa Convention provides an important opportunity.

Mr. President,

Peace operations are no longer a question of merely keeping the warring parties apart or monitoring cease-fires. They are a comprehensive and complex undertaking involving disarmament, demobilisation of combatants, supervision of elections, monitoring of human rights, training of local police forces and so on.

We must enable the UN to adapt to the new realities to do things better and avoid failures like Rwanda and Bosnia.

I fully support the recommendations in the Brahimi report on United Nations peace operations. We must provide stronger political and financial support for the Organisation. I welcome the proposed shift towards the use of civilian police and towards the rule of law, as I welcome the focus on rapid deployment of military and civilian personnel. Police and judicial experts are indispensable to rebuild the economy and the civil society, and their work must be based on a solid peace-building strategy.

Close co-operation between the UN and other international organisations is called for. We must establish a partnership between the UN and regional actors.

The Secretary-General last year called upon member states to pursue more effective policies to stop organised mass murder and violations of human rights. I fully support this view.

We cannot leave large groups of people unaided where national authorities do not live up to their responsibilities.

Conflicts in Kosovo and East Timor raise serious questions with regard to some of the classic principles of international law. The principle of state sovereignty. The principle of respect for human rights. And the principle of the non-use of force in international relations.

On the one hand, we have a basic rule of international law incorporated into the Charter of the United Nations that the use of force in international relations is prohibited unless authorised by the Security Council or in self-defence. On the other hand, many countries find that there is a political and moral obligation to act in the face of atrocities causing large-scale human suffering within another state. There is no clear-cut solution to this dilemma.

But surely no legal principle including sovereignty can be used as a shield to commit crimes against humanity and other serious violations of human rights. The Security Council has a moral obligation to act on behalf of the international community. We must remember that the United Nations was founded, in the words of the Charter, in order "to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights".

Any intervention mirrors a failure of prevention. As a last resort the international community must have the ability to act in the face of organised mass murder or ethnic cleansing even if the Security Council is blocked.

The challenge is to keep open the option of humanitarian intervention without Security Council authorisation in extreme cases, but to do so without jeopardising the international legal order.

Mr. President,

We must ensure that the Security Council functions as efficiently as possible. If not, the influence of the Council will be diminished.

The permanent members of the Security Council should apply the right of veto only in matters of vital importance. Therefore, I reiterate my proposal to establish a procedural rule. A rule according to which a permanent member of the Security Council would have to state the reasons why it has decided to exercise its right of veto in a given situation. Furthermore, the member should state on which grounds it considers that matters of vital importance are at stake. I hope that this idea can be further developed, and that it can gain broad support.

Mr. President,

I have addressed new challenges and possibilities at the start of the new Millennium. Let me end by reminding this Assembly that old challenges still need to be addressed. Weapons of mass destruction are a lethal legacy of the cold war. They need our continued attention. Certain states are'still pursuing the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction and building a missile capacity. There is a need for further improvement of the international non-proliferation regimes.

Mr. President,

Peace, development, and human rights were the essentials in the work of the UN from the very beginning. They remain essential.

The primary responsibility for a more peaceful, prosperous and just world rests with governments. The UN is here to help us. The Millennium Summit confirmed our common will to work together as truly United Nations.

Mr. President,

I cannot leave this Assembly without expressing my deep concern at the situation in Myanmar. The treatment of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi is a disgrace and I call on the regime in Myanmar to immediately restore Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom of speech, movement, and communication.


Thank you, Mr. President.