YouSaid · the spoken record

George Vassiliou

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS GEORGE VASSILIOU

lines on the record

107

first

1988-09-24

most recent

1991-09-24

sittings or episodes

4

sources

un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

1. “We are confident that the direct negotiations initiated under the auspices of the Secretary-General will lead to a comprehensive, just, honourable and durable resolution of this tragic conflict, whatever the temporary setbacks. The wind of change blows throughout the world from South-East Asia to southern Africa, Western Sahara and Chad, bringing with it promises of hope for peace and security. We look forward to the moment when we can embrace within our member ship an independent Namibia. We are painfully aware that antagonism and threats to peace still persist. The world is replete with conventional and nuclear weapons. Nuclear tests are still being conducted, the prohibition of chemical and biological weapons still eludes us whilst the demilitarization of outer space is still hotly contested.”

   1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)

2. “In the first place, the rapprochement between the United States and the Soviet Union, the Treaty on the Elimination of intermediate-range and Shorter-range Missiles - the INF Treaty - and their continuing dialogue have greatly improved the international political climate. The Geneva Accords on Afghanistan would have been unthinkable without this new climate of co-operation and flexibility. We earnestly hope that they will be fully implemented. We welcome with relief the cease-fire agreement of 20 August 1988 between Iran and Iraq, secured in the context of the implementation of Security Council resolution 598 (1987).”

   1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)

3. “This is dictated not only by idealism but also by the enlightened self-interest of each State. The choice before us is simple. Either we support and strengthen the United Nations and its Institutions and extend the domain of international law or we opt for international anarchy. In view of the improved international political climate the current session of the General Assembly acquires added significance. We hope that the spirit of compromise and flexibility observed in the last session will prevail during our current deliberations. Historic changes have indeed taken place since the last session of the General Assembly.”

   1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)

4. “I also gratefully acknowledge the valour and sacrifice of the united Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus for over 20 years. We are delighted at the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the United Nations peace-keeping forces. We consider it a well deserved tribute to their contribution to world peace. The rise in the prestige and effectiveness of the United Nations is not fortuitous. ' It has been built on the work and dedication of a great number of people. It has also been the natural and inevitable consequence of the growing interdependence and globalisation of problems, the inability of individual countries to solve them and the relative contraction of the world as a result of the technological and information revolutions. The existence of a strong, generally respected and more effective United Nations is an imperative of our time.”

   1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)

5. “The list of problems addressed by the United Nations and its specialized agencies is long and impressive and extends beyond the realm of peace-keeping and peace-making. Its contributions in the fields of decolonization, human rights, respect for international law, the protection of the environment, the rights of women and children, the care of refugees, the fight against disease, hunger or drug abuse, economic and technical assistance, the preservation of cultural heritage, and so on, constitute important steps forward in the history of our times. Speaking for Cyprus, I should like to make special mention of the continuing contribution of the Organization, and of the Secretary-General in particular, to the search for a solution to the Cyprus problem.”

   1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)

6. “It highlights all the international moral imperatives of our time and it provides all the main signposts for our future course. The United Nations is steadily becoming the universal conscience of mankind and is serving as the framework and, at times, the referee for settling international disputes. On the solid basis of the principles enshrined in its Charter the United Nations provides the foundation and the direction for solving or forestalling international crises. Small States are particularly gratified by the growing achievements of the United Nations as they regard their participation in the collective security system envisaged under the Charter to be of vital importance to them.”

   1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)

7. “Mr. President, I should like to join the previous speakers in congratulating you on your well-deserved election to the presidency of the forty-third session of the General Assembly. The confidence shown in you by this body is a tribute of the international community to your vast experience, as well as to Argentina, a friendly fellow non-aligned country. I also wish to congratulate your predecessor, Mr. Peter Florin, Deputy Foreign Minister of the German Democratic Republic, for the impeccable manner in which he discharged his tasks. I should also like to express our esteem for and admiration of the Secretary-General for the way he has been conducting the affairs of the United Nations. We have read his latest report with great interest. It is a masterly exposition of present predicaments and the ways to resolve them.”

   1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)