STATEMENT
by
H.E. Mr. Wladyslaw Bartoszewski
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland
at the Millennium Session of the UN General Assembly
Mr President,
Distinguished Delegates,
Allow me first of all to congratulate you on election as President of the Millennium Session of the General Assembly. The Polish delegation expresses its satisfaction that the presidency of this session has been entrusted to an eminent statesman from Finland, a country with which we have ties of friendship and co-operation based on common values and aspirations. You may count, Mr President, on my delegation's full co-operation in the performance of your important tasks.
My congratulations also go to the Assembly's outgoing President, Minister Theo-Ben Guribab, for the outstanding commitment and skill he displayed during his presidency.
On behalf of Poland allow me also to welcome the new member of the United Nations, Tuvalu, into our global family.
I would also like to express my appreciation to the Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Arman, for the outstanding manner in which he has demonstrated his qualities of leadership and good judgement and in particular for his inspirational report, "We the peoples: the role of the United Nations in the 21st Century".
Mr President,
Although the start of the new millennium is still a few months away, a new era actually began a little earlier. It was marked by the demise of the world's ideological polarisation into East and West and division into three worlds and by the emergence of the world economy. Humankind enters this new era, the age of globalisation, with the immense opportunity of expanding the spheres of freedom and prosperity brought by the triumph of democracy and advances in technology, especially the achievements of the information revolution.
Behind us we have left the twentieth century, an age of extremes and profound contradictions. It was an age of man's triumphs and downfalls, alternating setbacks and advances in the evolution of the international community. On the one hand, we have been witnesses of amazing scientific, technological and material progress, the spread of human rights and democracy, and development of universal international institutions. On the other hand, it was also an age of the most horrendous dramas in contemporary human history, of the tragedies, atrocities and devastation of two world wars, of the utmost contempt for the human being, and of genocide and blind violence perpetrated by utopias intent on thus building "brave new worlds". The Polish poet and Nobel laureate in literature in 1980, Czeslaw Milosz, wrote in The Witness of History that the 20th century's original contribution to the history of the human race was "the near disappearance of the concept of values" and concluded: "The extermination camp became the central fact of the century."
Nonetheless, the end of this century seems to bring more optimism. This is not only the assesment of the foreign minister of reborn and democratic Poland. It is also the personal feeling of a man who, having been a prisoner of two totalitarian systems, the Nazi and the Communist (incidentally, I am, I think, the only foreign minister to hold this "distinction"), has known the sufferings specific to this century and of the hope ingrained in human nature. But as well as destruction and hatred I have also been, since as long ago as the days of the Holocaust, a witness and participant of a struggle for the dignity and the rights of the human being and the process of my country's recovery of independence and arduous construction of democracy. My history of active participation in transforming the conditions of human existence, in its individual and collective dimension, began in the yard of the concentration camp of Auschwitz. Later, enlistment in the Polish Resistance and in particular participation in assistance for the inhabitants of the Warsaw Ghetto. Next, the unimaginable inferno of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 and the death, as it seemed at the time, of Warsaw. Finally, the end of the war. I remember the joy and the hope with which we greeted the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They gave me strength when I found myself having to survive the ordeal of years of incarceration in Communist jails. From them, too, I drew inspiration on the journey that eventually led me and my political friends to Gdansk, the city for which our allies were unwilling to die in 1939 and in which the next great turning-point in the history of the past century was launched.
Indeed, two weeks ago we celebrated in Poland the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Solidarity movement, the Polish revolution at first suppressed at gunpoint by the totalitarian regime but which, becoming an emblem of hope, weathered repression and an unfavourable set of international circumstances. The rebith of Solidarity in 1989 and the Polish Round Table opened the way to historic changes, including the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Communist block, and in consequence set in motion a sweeping transformation of the international system. Having been involved for over 60 years in these processes, as write, historian, university lecturer and, currently, foreign minister, I feel, if you will forgive the personal tone of this confession, as if I were a living, physical symbol of humanity's stormy voyage through the history of the past century.
But let me also say that the traumatic experiences of my nation have made the Poles exceptionally aware of the value of peace and any manifestations of good lastingly present in international life. Making our contribution to the positive culmination of the 20th century and working towards revitalisation of the message of the United Nations and thereby opening up new prospects for the Organisation, we see ourselves as full and active members of the global family of nations. A further source of the sense of security and confidence, which fortifies us in this role within the United Nations, is that we have become a member of the North- Atlantic Alliance and are forging ever closer ties with the European Union which we expect to join in the near future.
Bolstered by our accomplishments in the past decade, by reclaiming our place on the international stage, we are eager to participate, together with other nations, in this generally perceptible shift in the direction of values. A yearning for a world imbued by moral values is visible in all civilisations and religions. It is especially evident in the waning of unlawful use of force in international life. The recent outbreaks seen here and there are an echo of divisions and conflicts that are fading along with this century. This positive tendency can be observed in Europe, in the Middle East, in north-east Asia, and in other parts of the world. Contributing to it is a growing respect for human rights and appreciation of the economic and social factors involved in their full achievement.
Against this background the Polish people hold in great esteem the peace mission of John Paul 11, the Pope from Poland. A pope whose pontificate, like the whole course of his life, personifies, beacon- like, an unwavering adherence to values and, through the symbol of open arms, understanding and reconciliation. Such a posture by the Pope not only fills us with pride but is also a model for our international behaviour. The bearings guiding our actions, including here, in the United Nations, is tolerance, openness and respect for the dignity and rights of the individual, the rights of minorities and whole nations. We are determined to oppose every kind of discrimination and prejudice, whether on ethnic, national, religious or social grounds. In this cause Poland is and will continue to be a staunch ally of the United Nations.
Mr President,
We are entering the 21st century with the immense potential generated by the newest phase of the revolution in science, technology, mass communications, the opening-up of frontiers, development of inter-social ties, and universalisation of democracy and human rights. Most of these phenomena are designated by the common term "globalisation". For a number of years assessment of their consequences has, especially in the wake of the regional financial crises, been growing increasingly contentious. Sometimes they are treated as a force of nature sweeping all before it, as morally neutral processes that can do good or harm and which eventually will either bring prosperity to all peoples or be a source of crises, inequality and instability within nations and on the international scale.
Globalisation has unquestionably beneficial effects in the sphere of trade, production, spread of modem technologies or capital flows. Liberalisation of international trade and the growth of world output and the prosperity of societies should bring a more equitable sharing of the benefits of globalisation. At the same time there can be seen looming dangers, harmful side-effects and new problems whose scale and nature we are not yet capable of identifying correctly. The challenge facing us is to work together to steer these processes in such a way that it is their blessings that are mainly felt by humanity and that prevents them creating new divides in the world. We must do everything in our power, including here at the United Nations, to ensure that these processes spell globalisation of good.
Mr President,
Distinguished Delegates,
Faced with the opportunities, but also the threats, presented by the evolution of human civilisation on the threshold of the third millennium, the international community needs to organise around a question of basic importance to the direction of its further development. That was the purpose of the government of Poland when it decided together with the governments of Chile, India, the Republic of Korea, Mali, the United States and the Czech Republic to initiate broader international collaboration in the cause of consolidation and promotion of democracy in the world. In this gathering there is no need to argue the virtues of democracy. No one disputes the positive feedback between democracy and human rights, internal and international peace, economic growth and prosperity, better realisation of the principles of justice and solidarity. At the same time, we cannot ignore the threats to democracy which are primarily of an internal nature. They affect both countries in the process of democratic transition and so-called mature democracies. They cover a wide spectrum, ranging from poverty and economic underdevelopment, ethnic conflicts and organised crime to corruption and the exclusion of whole sectors of public life, notably finance and the media, from democratic control, which saps the foundations of democracy and demeans it in the eyes of society. Democracy, its condition and prospects, can and should be no less a legitimate subject of international debate and co-operation than the other great issues of our times, human rights, disarmament, the environment and the like.
Imbued with this belief we embarked, in conjunction with a number of other states, on organisation in, June of this year an international conference, "Towards a Community of Democracies". A total of 107 states accepted our invitation. Speaking at the Warsaw conference, the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: "One of the greatest challenges to humankind in the new century will be the struggle to make the practice of democracy equally universal. In that struggle nations in which democracy is already well established will need to be vigilant in preserving that achievement, and to work together to help those whose democracy is still new or emerging. That, I know, is the main purpose of your new coalition, and I warmly salute it." The participants of the conference, "Towards a Community of Democracies", adopted the Warsaw Declaration, in which they reaffirmed their commitment to its catalogue of democratic values and standards. They also undertook to pursue informal co-operation to strengthen and promote democracy in the forum of various international organisations. For obvious reasons the key question will be what can be done to advance this cause in the framework of and through the United Nations.
Let me take this opportunity to recall another Polish initiative which also falls within the cur-rent of responses to the harmful side effects of globalisation processes. In 1996, at the UN General Assembly, Poland submitted a proposal to frame a universal legal instrument, the first of its kind, that could help us combat one of the greatest dangers of our times, which is international organised crime. At the present session the text of this Convention will be presented to the General Assembly for its approval.
Mr President,
Distinguished Delegates,
The central issue of successive international agendas is security. Though preserving international peace and security is the main purpose of the United Nations, states have also looked to other ways of ensure their security: through creation of balance-of-power systems, arms races and even the use of force. Today we are trying to achieve such goals by different means. Anachronistic doctrines of geopolitics and spheres of influence are now fading into history; the Roman maxim, "If you want peace, prepare for war" (Si vis pacem para bellum), is becoming irrelevant. Nevertheless, the problem of security remains a pressing one, as the numerous conflicts and humanitarian dramas in various parts of the world make all too clear. In addition to crises and wars inherited from the old international order we are plagued by conflicts which spring from poverty, ethnic and religious strife or the atrophy of states' ability to perform their basic functions: providing the people living within their borders with internal security and decent conditions of existence.
This new situation, in which security depends not so much on purely military factors as on social stability, observance of human rights and the rights of national minorities or access to drinking water, enhances the role of the United Nations which can draw on unique experience and a wide range of non- military instruments for ensuring security. Fuller involvement by the United Nations in the security sphere as provided in the mandate deriving from its Charter requires determined continuation of reform of the Organisation in this field, starting with a practical redefinition of the role of the Security Council that would extend its purview to non-traditional threats to international security. The Security Council must do what in accordance with the Charter is expected of it by members and respond more decisively to signs of budding conflicts or humanitarian disasters. The Kosovo drama, like many others, could have been avoided if the Security Council members had displayed sufficient imagination and resolve at the right time. It would also have enabled us to avoid last year's arguments and controversies over the issue of humanitarian intervention. The inability of the Security Council to respond robustly in such situations will open the way to further precedents for sidestepping the Charter and UN mechanisms in the security sphere and thereby could lead to disintegration of this system.
On the determination of the Security Council as the system's lynch-pin will depend the success and effectiveness of the proposals and recommendations contained in the Secretary-General's Millennium Report. Poland endorses its perspective on international problems and approach to tackling them. We are in favour of stronger legal instruments for stabilising the international order; this refers to situations involving threats to security and use of force, to respect for human rights and to arms control and limitation. In all these areas we must preserve- the primacy of the UN system over regional or unilateral measures which are acceptable only in the exceptional circumstances in which the Security Council and UN mechanisms are found wanting.
In this context I would also like to pay tribute to the Brahimi Report on United Nations Peace Operations. As a long-standing and very active participant in UN peacekeeping missions Poland is in favour of streamlining the machinery for conducting them from decision-making to presence in the field and ensuring their greater effectiveness by widening and making more adequate the array of instruments with which such operations are equipped. This means both the possibility of the use of force by the units deployed in an operation and a wide spectrum of peace-building and post-conflict rehabilitation capabilities. I refer also to action aimed at advancing human rights and laying the groundwork for democracy (in the institutional and civil society sphere). In our view. in further work on the recommendations of the Report greater emphasis should be put on the question of co-operation between the United Nations and regional organisations an area in which there lie many hitherto untapped opportunities and a more creative approach to conflict prevention.
Mr President,
Distinguished Delegates,
We no longer seek foundations for a future international order in military capacities but to an ever greater degree are trying to build it on fair and respected laws. The maxim Si vis pacem para iustitiam which adorns the facade of the Palace of Justice in The Hague no longer has quite the idealistic ring that it had several decades ago. But we are also aware that though administering justice through law is an indispensable condition of peace it is not yet a sufficient condition.
Our times in which conflicts and instability are often a result of poverty and underdevelopment require the application of a new maxim, a contemporary paraphrase of the old ones: Si vis pacem para solidaritatem.
Here we are entering the domain of the international economic order, in particular its financial and trade dimension. This is a sphere in which the UN system must be much more active than hitherto or run the risk of being sidelined by the new and powerful non-state actors in international life. The lately in- vogue, if ill-defined, formula of global governance should at the practical level be developed in the UN framework or in concert with, not parallel or even counter to the United Nations. First and foremost, it is essential to intensify international, efforts to promote stability and predictability in international economic relations, which includes strengthening of the new international financial architecture of a system and institutions based on transparent rules.
What is also needed and this is a point that clearly emerges from the reports of the main international organisations, the Secretary-General's report included is a new approach to development. One has to agree with those who maintain that there is no greater challenge today than global sustainable development and that UN success or failure will be crucial to the outcome of efforts by the international community. One of the key challenges facing the international community as it enters the 21st century is poverty reduction, especially in the least developed countries. Success in this field requires wide application of the principle of solidarity in international economic relations. If globalisation is to be harnessed to development and poverty reduction more is needed than just better co-ordination between the organisations active in the socio-economic sphere. It is also necessary to stop perceiving development and poverty reduction solely as technical problems. To attack them effectively there has to be a coherent policy that comprises not only financial and technical assistance but also substantive measures in the sphere of education, culture, good governance, rule of law, democratic institutions, etc. International solidarity will not deliver results in the shape of building up the production capacities of the poorest countries and enabling them to reap benefits from globalisation processes without serious efforts on the part of these countries themselves, in particular rational economic policies and the ability to make effective use of development aid.
Poland is joining in the international endeavours to further effective management of international interdependence with an appropriate played by the UN system and a key role by international financial institutions in the organisation of international economic and financial cooperation. In the framework of poverty reduction strategy we are participating in implementation of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPQ Initiative. Poland -also supports the European Union proposal that WTO members, including in the first place the industrialised countries, should within a year of the conclusion of the new trade round abolish import tariffs and quotas on, basically, all exports from the least developed countries (LDCs).
Mr President, it is precisely in order to stress what we believe to be the crucial significance of solidarity in maintaining peace, security and solidarity throughout the world that the Polish government, mindful of the experiences of our recent history, will together with a few other countries propose that the United Nations proclaim August 31st as "International Solidarity Day"; it is the date of the establishment of the free and independent Solidarity trade union in Poland in 1980.
Mr President,
Distinguished Delegates,
The qualitatively new feature of the situation at the turn of the century is not only the extent but the greater complexity of the tasks facing our Organisation. Greater still are the expectations associated with it of individuals, diverse groups, nations and the whole international community. It is essential that we not only understand the nature of the new problems but also deal more effectively with the matters which have to be tackled by the United Nations (whether or not they form an explicit part of the mandate deriving from the Charter). In roles ranging from preserving peace to human rights and from development to protection of natural environment the United Nations is irreplaceable. It is precisely because of the nature of such threats in the contemporary world as environmental degradation that a speedy and comprehensive response by the United Nations is needed. The sense of "one earth, one human race" requires solidarity-driven and responsible action by all the system's participants.
The tasks and expectations associated with the United Nations require a strengthening of its role in international relations. The system must continue to be the legal and institutional infrastructure of the international order. No other formula provides sufficient legitimisation for the performance of this role. The UN Charter and Organisation are indispensable to, in the first place, small and mediumsized countries, in particular ones outside the most highly developed group. Marginalisation of the United Nations would lead to anarchy in which the only law would be the will of the great powers and the increasingly powerful non- state actors in international life. The extremely positive trends towards involvement of non-governmental organisation in UN activities a trend steadfastly championed by Poland must remain consonant with the inter-governmental character of the Organisation whose universal mandate stems from the legitimacy of the states which are its members. Within this system we must, however, be mindful not only of the rights of states but also of their obligations. Accountability does not apply only to individuals though here we are in favour of prompt entry into force of the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court. We cannot allow the United Nations to tolerate a situation of non-accountability of states for violations of international law.
The successes of any organisation, its usefulness and effectiveness, are a matter not only of the determination and unanimity of its members. Much also depends on the resources at its disposal, the efficiency of its procedures and the competence of the people operating them. In the past United Nations officers have provided innumerable examples of their dedication in pursuing the Organisation's activities, of their commitment to serving the ideals actuating the United Nations. Better use needs to be made of their potential through constant adaptation of the Organisation's structures and mechanisms to the changing tasks. That will also make for much better disposition of the Organisation's budget. In our drive to rationalisation of the UN budget our focus should not be on ways of reducing it. The real problem is that there is not enough money to do all things that everyone expects the Organisation to be doing. The UN budget should be tailored to the tasks which we ask it to perform but also more effectively. We are also aware that the Organisation's regular budget and the peacekeeping budget should be based on the principle of the ability to pay and on realistic economic indicators. Poland is prepared to accept any reasonable and fair changes that may be agreed on the future scale of contributions. We will play a constructive part in negotiations on this problem.
Thank you.