Minister of Foreign Affairs

of the Republic of Slovenia

at the 55^th Regular Session of the General Assembly

of the United Nations

New York, 16 September 2000

Mr. President,

Let me take this opportunity to congratulate you and your country, Finland, on your election as President of the 55^th Session of the General Assembly. It gives me particular satisfaction that the country from our European region is presiding over this august body.

I would like to thank His Excellency Mr. Theo Ben Guribab of Namibia for his work as President of the 54th Session of the General Assembly and to commend him for the guidance he provided throughout the year.

I would also like to commend the Secretary General Kofi Annan for his inspiring contribution to the noble goals of peace, justice, development and strengthening of our organization.

Mr. President,

Last week world leaders gathered here to direct the organization for the next century. Silver lining of the Millennium Summit was concern for the well-being of all human beings and common determination to free the humanity, each and every nation and each and every human being from want, fear, to sustain future of humanity and to renew the United Nations accordingly. Common goal of all the discussions was to provide for human security in all its complexity, to uphold the principles of human dignity, equality, equity, solidarity and tolerance at a global level.

The United Nations has the obligation of protecting civilian population and particularly most vulnerable ones - children, women, elderly and disabled against gross and systematic violations of human rights and humanitarian law, be it interstate or intrastate conflict. The strengthening of the international law is important element in achieving this goal. Special attention should be given to exploring new methods of conflict prevention as well as to take better use of those that proved to give results. We shall all engage more decisively on building the culture of prevention and modernize and equip the United Nations for the task.

It is also imperative for the United Nations to elaborate a doctrine for humanitarian intervention, which will be based on modern interpretation of the Charter of the United Nations, and in line with new international relations and norms. We listened with interest the announcements made by Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Canada in this hall on the establishment of an independent International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty.

There is nothing in the Charter that would justify crimes against civilian population. There is also nothing in the Charter that would justify the fact that large parts of the world still live in poverty, neither that states stagnate due to the dept burden while the rest of the world enjoys welfare. Technological and economic development does bring the world together. But globalization as well brings closer the problems and strengthens mutual responsibility for finding their solution.

Mr. President,

The Millennium Summit adopted comprehensive and far reaching declaration. Leaders put before us difficult but achievable goals. Member States should now look carefully into how they can contribute nationally to the implementation of the goals at the global level. As a responsible member of the organization Slovenia intends to prepare its plan of action for the implementation of the goals set out in the Millennium declaration. I want to take this opportunity today to mention some of the efforts that we intend to undertake.

Being a country that has just joined donor community, Slovenia will look closely into how it can organize better in order to extend more assistance to the developing countries and the countries in the region, thus contributing to the goals regarding development and poverty eradication.

We have just signed the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while the National Assembly is supposed to ratify the Statute of the International Criminal Court by the end of the year. Both documents are among the most important building blocks in assuring greater protection to civilians in conflict situations. We are looking forward to an early functioning of the International Criminal Court in order to ensure more effective, equitable and efficient delivery of international justice.

Slovenia is determined to help in the process of strengthening the organization as indispensable foundation for peaceful, prosperous and just world. Once more we want to stress the need for the enlargement of the Security Council in its permanent and elected membership, as well as with regard to the reform of its working methods. The credibility of the United Nations depends on its ability to carry out its responsibilities in full, especially regarding maintaining peace and security. We therefore welcome and commend the Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations and we are looking forward to early implementation of its recommendations.

In this context we believe that the reform of the financing of the peace-keeping operations of the United Nations is a necessary condition for a renewed role of the United Nations in this field. A new scale of assessments that would more accurately reflect the capacity to pay should be adopted during this session. I have the honor to announce that the Government of Slovenia has decided to voluntarily relinquish the discount it is no longer entitled to with regard to its financial contribution and that starting from the next year it is ready to pay its share for the peace-keeping operations in full.

Slovenia is also gradually increasing its participation in the peace-keeping operations, those of the United Nations as well as regional ones. We are committed to further increase our support to these operations, not only with military personnel but also with civilian police and humanitarian personnel.

Mr. President,

The basic aim of the United Nations actions should be to ensure human security, with the security being physical, economic and social rather than legal. We note with satisfaction that the interests of individuals are indeed and rightly so in the very center of the Millennium declaration. Slovenia will continue to participate in the group of like-minded countries, which is determined to give full meaning and specific practical expression to the concept of human security.

The area of illicit arms flow of small arms and light weapons is such as to require our additional efforts. We hope that the upcoming international conference on the small arms and light weapons will pave the ways for regulating and controlling the proliferation of unimpeded access to small arms and light weapons, the weapons most used in today's armed conflicts.

Member States should also continue to improve efficiency and effectiveness of mine action programme, as well as to strengthen all steps and activities in mine action and mine victims assistance. Slovenia on its part will continue to support the efforts of its International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance to extend its activities on the whole region of South-East Europe. Achieved results of the past years are good guarantees for the activities of the Trust fund in the future.

Mr. President,

I would also like to briefly address the situation in the region of South-East Europe. We are all aware that there will be no self-sustaining peace and stability in the region without the full cooperation and integration of the FRY (Serbia and Montenegro). For obvious reasons this cannot be the current regime in Belgrade. International community must cooperate with, support and encourage the forces within the country that are striving for democracy, peace, reconciliation, economic recovery and return to simple normalcy. We share the hopes to see the new democratic FRY (Serbia and Montenegro) being soon part of a stable and prosperous South-East Europe. We also share the hopes that this country will soon join us in the United Nations, as well as in the other international and regional organizations, in accordance with the usual procedure and practice for admission of new members to these organizations.

Thank you, Mr. President.