GE0RGIA

STATEMENT

BY

H.E. MR. IRAKLI MENAGARISHVILI

THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

OF GEORGIA

AT THE FIFTY FIFTH SESSION OF THE

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS

NEW YORK

SEPTEMBER 21, 2000

Mr. President,

Mr. Secretary General,

Honored Guests and Distinguished Delegates,

At the outset, allow me to extend my warmest congratulations to you, Mr. President, on your election as President of the Fifty Fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly. It is without doubt a fitting recognition of your rich personal experience as well as Finland's role in the world affairs.

The Millennium Summit has made it clear that, in the words of Secretary General, "the UN remains as much in demand as in need of change". This is a formidable challenge but an opportunity as well, and the cost of not rising to the new calls of the next millennium can be dangerous.

I cannot but recall that many ideas on globalization and governance generated and debated at the current meeting resound the concept of "management of interdependencies", put forward by our President E. Shevardnadze at the 47th General Assembly, 1992. With this in mind, let me address some of those important issues from our standpoint.

Mr. President,

The end of totalitarian regimes set in motion a whole host of progressive changes within and among the countries. However, we are still struggling with the adverse legacies of totalitarianism. The experience of the post Cold War era clearly demonstrates that the intrastate conflicts have become a major threat to the international peace and security. The Secretary General's report at the Millennium Summit called for the reshaping of the UN's approach to peacekeeping to meet the challenges of this new global threat. This very idea is particularly topical for the region I represent and as termed by my distinguished colleague, Foreign Minister of Germany, I quote: "the triangle of Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East," being "full of destabilizing factors... and threatening to become a crisis region of the century ahead". Therefore, this region merits closer attention of the international community.

In this context, I also endorse the appeal made by the Austrian Foreign Minister, in her capacity of the Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE to enhance political awareness of the world community regarding these unresolved or potential conflicts and security risks, which I quote: "are often outside the spotlight of the broader public attention, but nevertheless have a highly destabilizing impact on the region and beyond".

Mr. President,

Periodic failures of the United Nations peace efforts, manifested, for instance, in ethnic cleansing of the predominantly Georgian population during the tragic developments in Abkhazia, Georgia, highlighted all the flaws of the selective peacekeeping. Well-intentioned UN efforts have sometimes been delayed and ineffective in the conflicts which remain beyond the immediate vicinity of the world community. I believe, we should make every effort to prevent conflicts becoming "frozen" ones.

Consequently, we support the proposal of the Secretary-General aimed at implementing necessary changes to increase the effectiveness of UN peace efforts in general. One cannot help but call for more frequent and firm application of the UN peace-enforcement mechanisms envisioned in the Chapter 7 of the Charter, in particular for coping with time-protracted conflicts.

The UN Charter calls for the consent of the parties involved to launch or renew the mandate of peacekeeping operations. However, current peacekeeping practices often play into the hands of separatists trying to maintain the status-quo. We believe, the UN should intensify its efforts to balance the interests of all sides with the dynamics of the peace process and comprehensive resolution of conflicts.

Moreover, we welcome the further enhancement of the UN Stand-by Arrangement System and improvement of the rapid deployment capabilities of the Organization.

Georgia also expresses its agreement with the US initiative to reconsider the scale of assessments of the re-allocation of the expenses for the UN peacekeeping. In the context of increasing the effectiveness of the UN peace operations, this initiative is of great significance.

In addition, the complex conflicts like Abkhazia, Georgia, which has left hundreds of thousands of IDP's deprived of the right to return to their permanent places of residence, must be addressed within multifaceted framework, which entails social and economic approaches along with the political ones.

We are grateful to the UN for the invaluable assistance it provides to the refugees and IDP's in Georgia. I would also like to express our special appreciation for the UNDP assistance programs in Georgia, particularly the ones aimed at improving the living conditions of the IDP's and increasing their self-reliance.

Mr. President,

I am stressing the issue of peacekeeping as it is directly related to the most sensitive problem for Georgia in the past seven years, since it fell victim to aggressive separatism in Abkhazia, Georgia.

I would like to reiterate that peaceful resolution of this conflict is the only acceptable option for the Georgian government.

In this respect, I am extending our gratitude to the UN and to the Group of Friends of the Secretary General for their efforts in support to the peace process. But, we should also admit that, as of yet, we have failed to achieve any tangible results here.

Recently, according to the Security Council resolution, within the UN frame, a document on the distribution of constitutional competencies between Tbilisi and Sokhumi has been drafted. We support this initiative and find it puzzling to understand what stands in the way of its timely endorsement. We are convinced that the submission of the document for the consideration of the Security Council should not be delayed-its endorsement by the Security Council as a basis for the political negotiations will create a sound ground for advancing the peace process in Abkhazia, Georgia.

Furthermore, I would like to reiterate that about 300 thousand predominantly Georgian refugees and IDP's from that conflict zone are still subject to continuous violation of their rights and difficult conditions. The return of the IDPs to their rightful places of residence is continuously hampered by the Abkhaz side with blatant disregard for internationally recognized norms, as well as a number of UN Security Council resolutions.

We strongly believe that there is an urgent need for the Security Council to timely address the above issues.

Mr. President,

It has become apparent that the UN alone is not at times capable of handling the conflicts. I strongly believe, that the key to more effective UN peace policies in our region lies in closer collaboration and synchronized action with such regional organizations as the OSCE and other European structures. Regrettably, the reality still remains different.

Having established an "ethnic cleansing" in Abkhazia, Georgia the OSCE called for dispatching a fact-finding mission to push forward the peace process. However, the UN still remains reluctant to accept the OSCE findings. While struggling with a variety of approaches, the ethnic cleansing of the Georgian population in Abkhazia continues.

Therefore, there is a great need of ensuring concerted actions between the UN and regional organizations in the process of conflict management and resolution.

Mr. President,

The dilemma of "humanitarian intervention" could be described as being inherent to the transition from the international to a global, hence to a more human centered world. It exposes in a new light the correlation between human rights and security. We are strong proponents of a value-based, universal global order. Therefore, we are confident that the international community should focus on establishing within this organization strong and efficient preventive mechanisms against gross and systematic violation of human rights in order not to make the "humanitarian intervention", as an extreme measure, imminent.

We believe that the International Criminal Court will play an indispensable role here as a deterrent and preventive remedy as well.

The dilemma of "humanitarian intervention" is also directly related to the UN reform in order to adapt the existing decision-making mechanism to timely and effective use of force.

Mr. President,

Sometimes, in newly establishing democracies, a protracted process towards material welfare calls democratic values into question. One of the most burdensome problems in this respect is debt accumulation. I am confident, that it is imperative to release poor and developing countries from this constraint. Writing off the debts will generate stronger impetus and a greater opportunity for these states to firmly remain on the chosen course of democracy.

A secure, democratic development, not merely security of democracies is a main challenge to be addressed in the course of shaping the global world.

I believe that the primary purpose of the UN as a guarantor of international peace can not be sustained without securing democracy on the global level as well. To set the developing world on the path to prosperity, the UN activities should encompass purposeful financial, economic and political measures, aimed at encouraging democratic development of the newly independent states, which would secure good governance, the rule of law, protection of human rights and predictable administration.

In the context of support to the new and restored democracies, we consider the initiative of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Uzbekistan to establish an open groupping, known as GUUAM is of particular importance Additional impetus to the manifold cooperation within the groupping was given by the meeting of the Heads of GUUAM member States during the Millenium Summit of the United Nations in New York.

Mr. President,

We also believe that all encompassing process of globalization strongly calls for a dialogue of civilizations as a measure to address the challenges of the new millennium, which was reaffirmed by the UNESCO Round Table preceding the Millennium Summit. I would like to confirm Georgia's readiness, expressed by President E. Shevardnadze of Georgia, to play an active role in facilitating such a dialogue.

Mr. President,

Much has changed in the fifty-five year history of the organization and today the world community is faced with a new type of challenges requiring novel approaches. In the past decade, there have been repeated calls for the UN Security Council expansion. We support the principle of expanding both permanent and non-permanent membership of the Council by developed, as well as developing countries to ensure adequate regional representation. We believe, that a seat of non permanent member should be allocated for the group of Eastern European Countries, the number of which has considerably increased.

We are firm supporters of permanent membership for Germany and Japan and hope this issue will find its resolution before long.

Georgia welcomes the increased transparency in the Security Council deliberations. We think that each member state should be permitted to participate in the informal meetings of the Council, whence the issues discussed are of their concern.

Time and again the UN actions have been ineffective due to protracted decision making and lack of consensus in the Security Council. Therefore, the reform of the Security Council should encompass its decision-making procedure including the veto rights as well.

Mr. President,

Finally, I would reiterate that challenges of the next millennium are myriad and complex.

And it is crystalclear that only united we can address the difficulties of the future and overcome the dividing barriers in shaping a new, global world order.

I wish to all of us success in this endeavor. Thank You.