YouSaid · the spoken record

Nicolas Sarkozy

lines on the record: 47
first: 2007-09-24
most recent: 2011-09-24
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

“Deadlock might satisfy everyone here, but it will create violence, bitterness and opposition that will imperil the resurgence of the Arab peoples. To that, France says that the tragedy must cease for a simple reason: it has gone on for too long.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“But it would be a great shame if the General Assembly did not seize the opportunity of the reawakening of the Arab peoples to democracy to settle a problem that brings unhappiness to these two peoples, who are in any event condemned to live alongside each other. If we take a compromise solution, we will rebuild trust and we will give people hope. I say that with the utmost gravity to the representatives of all nations. We must assume an historic responsibility. It is the General Assembly of the United Nations that must keep this appointment with History. Let us reassure Israel and give hope to the Palestinian people. The solution is on the table. Let us take this compromise solution over deadlock.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“In conclusion, I would like to say to the Palestinian people with the deep and sincere friendship I hold for them: “Think of the Israeli mothers grieving for their family members killed in terrorist attacks. They feel the same pain as the Palestinian mothers confronted with the brutal death of one of theirs”. I would like to say to the Israeli people with the deep and sincere friendship I hold for them: “Listen to what the young people of the Arab Spring are saying: ‘Long live freedom!’ They are not crying ‘Down with Israel’. You cannot remain immobile when this wind of freedom and democracy is blowing in your region”. I say with deep and sincere friendship for these two peoples who have suffered so much that the time has come to build peace for the children of Palestine and for the children of Israel.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“In parallel, Israel must observe the same restraint. It must abstain from any actions that would prejudge the final status. 11-50692 24 The ultimate goal must be mutual recognition of two nation-States for two peoples established on the basis of the 1967 lines with agreed and equivalent exchanges of land. The General Assembly, which has a power to do so, should decide to move ahead, leave behind the fatal trap of paralysis, missed appointments and short-lived attempts to relaunch the process. Let us change our approach. Let us change our state of mind. Each should try to understand the reasoning, sufferings and fears of the other. Each must open its eyes and be ready to make concessions.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Who can doubt that? Must we therefore exclude an intermediate stage? Why not envisage offering Palestine the status of United Nations Observer State? That would be an important step forward. After 60 years of immobility, which has paved the way for extremists, we would be giving hope to the Palestinians by making progress towards final status. To show their determined commitment to a negotiated peace, the Palestinian authorities should, as part of that approach, reaffirm Israel’s right to exist and to its security. They should commit to avoiding using this new status to resort to actions that are incompatible with the pursuit of negotiations. We have but one alternative — immobility and negotiations that go nowhere or an intermediate solution that would give hope to the Palestinians with the status of an Observer State.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Is it not legitimate that, after 60 years of war and attacks, they demand guarantees of that peace, so long awaited? Of course it is. I say that forcefully. If anyone anywhere in the world were to threaten the existence of Israel, France would immediately and wholeheartedly stand alongside Israel. Threats made against a State Member of the United Nations are unacceptable, and they will not be accepted. Today, we are facing a very difficult choice. Each of us knows — and let us stop with hypocrisy and one- off diplomacy — that full recognition of the status of a State Member of the United Nations cannot be attained at once. The first reason for that is the lack of trust between the main parties. But let us tell the truth: who can doubt that a veto in the Security Council will engender a cycle of violence in the Middle East?”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Let us choose the path of compromise, which is neither renunciation nor repudiation, but which allows us to move forward, step by step. Thus, for 60 years the Palestinians have been waiting for their State. Has the time not come to give them hope? For 60 years, Israel has suffered from not being able to live in peace. For 60 years, the question of the peaceful coexistence of the two peoples — Palestinian and Israeli — has continued to fester. We can no longer wait to take the path of peace. Let us put ourselves in the place of the Palestinians. Is it not legitimate that they claim their State? Of course it is. And who does not see that creating a democratic, viable and peaceful Palestinian State would be, for Israel, the best guarantee of its security? Let us put ourselves in the place of the Israelis.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“All the elements of a solution are known — the Madrid Conference of 1991, President Obama’s speech of 19 May, the Road Map, the Arab Peace Initiative and the parameters agreed by the European Union. So, let us stop endlessly discussing the parameters and allow negotiation to begin in line with a concrete and ambitious timetable. Sixty years without one centimetre’s progress — does that not compel us to change the method and time frame to one month to resume discussions, six months to reach agreement on borders and security, and one year to reach a definitive settlement? As of this autumn, France proposes hosting a donor conference so that the Palestinians can complete the construction of their future State. France wishes to say that we must not immediately seek the perfect solution, because there are no perfect solutions.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“I mean that no one can believe that the peace process can succeed without Europe, without all the permanent members of the Security Council and without the Arab States that have already chosen peace. A collective approach has become indispensable in order to create trust and to provide guarantees to each of the parties. Peace will indeed be made by the Israelis and the Palestinians, and by no one else. No one can expect to impose it on them. But we must help them. The method no longer works. Let us together acknowledge that setting preconditions for negotiation is to condemn ourselves to failure. Preconditions are the opposite of negotiation. If we wish to enter into negotiation, which is the only possible path for peace, there must be no preconditions. Let us change the method.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“For shattering the dreams of those peoples would vindicate the fanatics who have not stopped pitting Islam against the West by stirring up hatred and violence everywhere. That appeal for justice shook the world, and the world cannot respond to that call for justice by perpetuating an injustice. That miraculous spring of the 23 11-50692 Arab peoples imposes on us the moral and political obligation at last to find a solution to the Middle East conflict. We cannot wait any longer. The method used to date — I weigh my words carefully — has failed. So we must change the method. We must stop believing that a single country — whether the largest or a small group of countries — can resolve so complex a problem. Too many large actors have been sidelined for our efforts to succeed.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“When we met in this very place in September last year, who among us could have imagined that in barely one year the world, already shaken by an unprecedented economic crisis, would undergo such change? Within a few months, the Arab Spring gave rise to immense hope. The Arab peoples, too long crushed by oppression, were able to raise their heads and claimed the right to be free at last. They fought back against the violence and brutality with their bare hands. To those who proclaimed that the Arab Muslim world was by nature hostile to democracy and human rights, the young Arabs produced the most cogent denial. We do not have the right to disappoint the hope of the Arab peoples. We do not have the right to destroy their dreams.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We have no choice; we must take risks, since the greatest risk today would be to do nothing, to let ourselves be carried along by the force of habit, to think that we still have time. France has come to tell you that we have no more time. I hope that this year, 2009, is when a new world order — a more fair, more efficient world order — will be established, one that each of us will be comfortable with.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Each of us needs to realize what would happen if we had to go home and explain to our fellow citizens that we have been incapable of reaching an agreement, of finding new solutions at a time when they are suffering so grievously from the consequences of the crisis. I wish to say very clearly that nothing would be worse that a mediocre compromise in Pittsburgh and in Copenhagen. World opinion and the current circumstances demand that we find a real solution to the problems and not just to pretend. If we do nothing, the threat of the worst crisis is not behind us but ahead of us. We are at one of those moments in history when political decisions will have a profound and lasting impact on the future.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Yes, we will need to come up with further resources for development assistance and for meeting the ecological challenge together. I do not hesitate to say that we will find these resources by taxing excessive gains from speculation and profits. We do not have to look far for resources; they are right there. I would like to appeal to all States, to all international organizations, that the recommendations made by the commission chaired by Joseph Stiglitz be disseminated broadly. Let us make no mistake about the way we measure economic growth. The task is a huge one, and it is only just beginning. That is all the more reason for starting now and starting quickly. We have little time remaining.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“How can we impair the right to health of those who have nothing? We are members of the International Labour Organization, which has defined the fundamental standards in this field. How can we accept that those standards be flouted? The right to health, the right to a minimum respect for one’s social rights and the right to protection of the planet are just as important as the right to trade. There is no single right that is more important than the others. We cannot ask developing countries and poor countries to comply with these standards if we, the rich, do not help them in their efforts. We all belong to the same human race. We all live on the same planet. We are all facing the same challenges. So yes, we need to be able to share our technology. France is ready to do so, and so are the other wealthy countries of the world.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We need to curb the price swings of commodities that are subject to excessive speculation, starting with oil, since this instability is unsustainable. The countries that have commodities must be paid a fair price for their resources. We must not accept the speculation that destabilizes the world over the costs of commodities. In Copenhagen, we need to commit to quantitative targets for greenhouse gas emissions. We can no longer put off the moment of choice. We need to set up a world environment organization. We need to acknowledge the legitimacy of the principle of a carbon tax border adjustment mechanism so that nobody can profit from environmental dumping. We cannot let the law of trade be the only law. I believe in free trade, but there are fundamental standards. We are members of the World Health Organization.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The missions of both the Fund and the Bank need to be redefined. To maintain the Fund as the guardian of an orthodoxy that has been so severely shaken by the crisis would be a tragic mistake. The international system has to be reformed. We cannot have a politically multipolar world with a single currency. That is not acceptable; it is not possible. We have to re-engineer the financial capitalism system. If we have a system in which the real price of risk or the real price of rare resources is not being paid, that is a suicidal system. We need to eliminate tax havens, for we must not tolerate places where money derived from speculation, crime and fraud is stashed. It is up to us. No one in the world would understand if we were to fail to live up to this objective.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“I say in the name of France, it is unacceptable that the African continent does not have a single permanent member on the Security Council — it is unacceptable because it is unjust. It is unacceptable that the South American continent, with such a great power as Brazil, or India with its population of one billion, or Japan or Germany, should be excluded from among the permanent members of the Council. It is unacceptable, and I say here that the legitimacy of the United Nations is riding on this reform. Either the United Nations reforms and its legitimacy will grow, or 09-52179 46 the reform fails and then decisions will be taken outside the United Nations. We must reform the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; that is indispensable. Voting rights need to be more equitably distributed.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The truth is that we have already waited too long to regulate globalization, fight global warming and curb nuclear proliferation. And I should like solemnly to tell the leaders of Iranian that they would be making a tragic mistake in relying on the passive response of the international community in order to pursue their military nuclear programme. We have waited too long to re-establish peace in the Middle East by giving the Palestinian people the State to which they are entitled in the name of law and in the name of justice. And we have waited too long to guarantee the people of Israel the right to live in security, which the tragedies of history have made so necessary for them. We know what we need to do now: increase the number of permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We must change. We cannot allow it to start all over again, leading to another disaster tomorrow. After such a strong disavowal of our usual thinking and our deep-rooted prejudices, the task before us is precisely the same as that faced by men of good will who sought here to build a new political, economic and monetary world order after the Second World War. The generation that preceded us was equal to its responsibilities. The question today is: Will we be equal to that same responsibility? The world will change. It cannot be otherwise. The only question is: Will the world change because we are able to act with wisdom, intelligence and courage, or because fresh crises will arise if we are not wise enough to take the path of radical change?”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We are politically and morally accountable for the suffering on our planet. Tens of millions of men and women have lost their jobs and their homes. A billion human beings are suffering from hunger, and hundreds of millions have no access to water, energy or minimal health care. To those hundreds of millions of people, we, the heads of State and Government, and no one else, must restore hope. Those who are paying the price of the crisis had no role in bringing it about. We owe an answer to the people who are outraged by the behaviour of those in the financial world who led us to the brink of chaos and continue to seek to enrich themselves indecently. We owe an answer to those who are still dying in absurd wars from another age, while humankind has so many challenges to face. France’s answer is unambiguous. Things cannot go on as they were.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“In speaking to the General Assembly in France’s name today, I am well aware that we all have a historic responsibility in the current circumstances. In the midst of a financial, economic and social crisis that has no precedent in the history of the United Nations, and faced with the threat a global ecological disaster, we must now invent a new world where the follies of yesterday are no longer possible. That is our responsibility. Now we all know towards what catastrophes our obstinate attempts to solve the problems of the twenty-first century with twentieth- century ideas and instruments may lead us. No one among us can claim any longer that he did not know. There is a universal awareness that the path that the world has taken over the past few decades is a dead end. This awareness is born of sorrow, suffering and fear.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“That is what Europe wants: peoples united in respect, understanding and solidarity; peoples united throughout the world working together for the great common cause of safeguarding of humanity. Time is at a premium; the world cannot wait.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Europe believes in the African renaissance, which is under way and, first and foremost, is in the hands of the Africans, particularly those of African youth, which is the youth of the world. Essentially, what brings us here together in this forum, where everyone must listen to the others and thereby show them a form of respect, is something more basic even than democracy. What brings us together is respect for the dignity of all just as they are, and for diversity of their opinions, cultures and beliefs. Human dignity is a universal value. What we must promote everywhere is respect for that diversity, which is the surest guarantor of peace and human fraternity and the surest antidote to intolerance, hatred, violence, obscurantism and fanaticism.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Europe says to Somalia that it will help it, with the support of the United Nations, to combat the scourge of piracy off its coasts. Until all States join together to establish a maritime police force, we cannot allow some hundreds of pirates to threaten the free passage of ships throughout the world. Europe says to Africa that it is committed to co-development, that it wishes to be Africa’s privileged partner, and that it has a common destiny with Africa and a profound sense of solidarity. Europe says to Africa that it has its place among the permanent members of the Security Council and in the enlarged G-8. How can one ever hope to settle the great issues of the world while ignoring Africa, South America or a large part of Asia?”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“However, it says to Iran with the same sincerity that it cannot accept a nuclear-armed Iran that would endanger the peace and stability of the whole region. Nor can Europe tolerate — and I say this solemnly — Iran calling for the destruction of the State of Israel. Europe says to Israel that it is its friend and that it will let no one threaten its existence. Europe says to Israel that it will always be at its side in the fight against terrorism, but with the same sincerity says to telling Israel that there will be no peace until there is a viable Palestinian State with recognized borders. Europe says to Afghanistan that it will continue to stand by it and that it will not permit barbarians allied with Al-Qaida again to take an entire people hostage and to turn an entire country into a terrorist base.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Europe wants peace, and because it wants peace it says to Russia that it wants links of solidarity with that country, that it wants to build a shared future, and that it wants to be Russia’s partner. Why not build a continent-wide common economic space that would unite Russia and Europe? However, Europe also says to Russia with the same sincerity that it cannot compromise on the principle of the sovereignty and independence of States, their territorial integrity or respect for international law. Europe’s message to all States is that it cannot accept the use of force to settle a dispute. 08-51570 14 Europe says to Iran that it respects that country, that Iran has the right to civil nuclear energy and that it will explore all avenues of dialogue.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“In our globalized world, the fate of each is linked to that of all others. The negotiations on climate change, begun in Bali, will conclude in Copenhagen next year. Whatever our particular interests, we do not have the right to fail. Europe will adopt an unprecedented raft of measures on energy and climate in December. Europe does not wish to teach lessons; it wishes to set an example. Europe also wishes to set the example by acting to bring about peace. It did so in Georgia. It did so with the Union for the Mediterranean. Because for over half a century Europe has undertaken to stop the endless cycle of war, vengeance and hate that has periodically taken it to the edge of the precipice, it does not want war. It does not want a war of civilizations. It does not want a war of religion. It does not want a cold war.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Let us rebuild together a regulated capitalism, in which entire swathes of financial activity are not left to the sole judgement of market operators; in which banks do their job; which is to finance economic development rather than to fuel speculation; in which rules of prudence apply to all and serve to avert and soften shocks instead of exacerbating them; in which the credit agencies are controlled and punished when necessary; in which transparency of transactions replaces such opacity that today it is difficult to understand what is happening; and in which modes of remuneration do not drive people to take unreasonable risks. It is my duty to say that those who jeopardize people’s savings should be punished and at last face up to their responsibilities. We will succeed in that on the condition that we work together.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“I am convinced that it is the duty of the heads of State and Government of the countries most directly concerned to meet before the end of the year to examine together the lessons of the most serious financial crisis the world has experienced since that of the 1930s. Who would understand it if the world’s major economies should fail to take the time to meet to discuss what we must do together and the lessons we must draw from what has happened?”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“We can no longer wait to turn the G-8 into the G14 and to bring in China, India, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil. Italy is proposing a major step in that direction at the next summit, which it will host, and Italy is right. Let us act to make our international institutions more representative, because if they are more representative they will be stronger, more effective and more respected. A new world is emerging not only through all our successes, but also through all the crises besetting the planet. However, we cannot receive that new world passively, we must build it. Let us learn to manage together the most acute crises that no one, not even the most powerful among us, can resolve alone.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“We cannot wait to prepare for the post-petroleum world, to fight global warming, to save the oceans, to put an end to monetary, social and ecological dumping. We cannot wait to bring ethics to financial capitalism. For too long we have all been resigned to being powerless. For too long we have retreated before the need to give to the globalized world institutions that will enable it to be regulated. The world of the twenty-first century cannot be governed with the institutions of the twentieth century. We are a century behind. Let today’s major Powers and the Powers of tomorrow unite to shoulder together the responsibilities their influence gives them in world affairs. To all those who are hesitant, I wish to say that enlarging the Security Council and the G-8 is not just a matter of fairness, it is also a question of effectiveness.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“Let us not forget that if we are gathered here today, it is because following one of the most terrible tragedies that humankind has ever known, there were men and women of good will who were determined that in the future no one could ever say, when faced with misfortune: “There is nothing we can 13 08-51570 do.” That is why we are here, because those who went before us did not renounce their responsibility. Europe believes that today, our duty is to act and to refuse to submit. We can wait no longer. We are beginning to gauge the tragic consequences of having already waited too long. We cannot wait to achieve peace, to end the tragedy in Darfur. We cannot wait to fight terrorism, to avert the food crisis that condemns so many human beings to die of hunger.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“I bring you fraternal greetings from Europe — Europe that is conscious of its responsibilities and wishes to act; Europe that is true to its values — democracy and freedom; Europe that is loyal to its friends, but also Europe that wishes to speak to the whole world in service of dialogue and of peace. At a time when the world is deeply troubled, I have come to tell you, on behalf of Europe, that in the midst of so many difficulties the international community has a political and moral responsibility that we must shoulder.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“I solemnly appeal to the United Nations to go further in combating corruption, which saps countries that are suffering and all too poor. Things must change. Mindsets must change. Behaviour must change. This is our responsibility now, because tomorrow it will be too late. If we fail to act, we will see a resurgence of all the threats that the people of the post-war world believed they had overcome. Let us not take this risk lightly. Peoples of the world, we can, together, build a better future for all people. It is up to us alone; it is up to our capacity to remain faithful to the values that have brought us together here today. You have understood. France believes that we have no more time to wait. France calls for action. France urges action. France is committed to action in the service of world peace.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“On behalf of France, I call on all States to join together to found the new world order of the twenty-first century, predicated on the key idea that the common goods of humanity must be the responsibility of all of humanity. On behalf of France, I solemnly appeal to the United Nations to provide itself, in this era marked by the return of scarcity, with the means to guarantee that all people throughout the world have access to vital resources: water, energy, food, medicine and knowledge. I solemnly appeal to the United Nations to concern itself with the issue of fairer distribution of wealth and of the income derived from commodities and technology. I solemnly appeal to the United Nations to concern itself with the moralization of financial capitalism.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“Justice means that we cannot tap a country’s resources without paying a fair price for them. Let us look squarely at our world. Never before has there been so much easy money, with so much wealth concentrated in the hands of a few large groups. Throughout the world, even in the richest countries, there are many men and women who no longer have even a hope of emerging some day from their material and moral distress. In conclusion, I appeal to the conscience of all those who have a responsibility for the conduct of world affairs. Because if we do nothing, the poor and the exploited will one day rise up against the injustice done to them. What the world needs is a new mindset: a genuine New Deal on a global scale, an ecological and economic New Deal.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“The answer is no. Have we done enough to achieve that end? The answer is no. When the Berlin wall fell, we all dreamed that history would cease to be tragic. Let us look at our world as it is so that we can make it better. Let us judge our world by the yardstick of justice. Justice means that the Palestinian people can regain a country and build a State. Justice means that the Israeli people can enjoy the right to live in security. Justice means that the Lebanese people can regain their freedom. Justice means that the Iraqi people, in all their diversity, can find within themselves the path to reconciliation and democracy. Justice means that a developing country on which we wish to impose environmental rules, even though its inhabitants have barely enough to eat, can be helped to put such rules in place.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“And we will devote all of our energies to that. We want to see the peaceful coexistence of the main religions to vanquish fundamentalism and fanaticism. But I want to say, with all due gravity, that there is too much injustice in the world for the world to hope to live in peace. The founding fathers of the United Nations knew that the world’s future could be read in the eyes of a tortured child; a hungry child; children who watch their parents being humiliated; children who since birth have known nothing but war; children torn from their homes, their lands, their families. Because in those children’s desperate eyes there is not only suffering, but also all the wars and revolts that will drench the world in blood tomorrow. Let us look at the world as it is. Let us look at what we have made of it. Have we wanted enough to make it more just?”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“Attachment to one’s faith, to one’s identity, to one’s language and culture, and to one’s way of life, thought and belief all that is legitimate, and profoundly human. To deny that is to sow the seeds of humiliation. It would stoke the fires of nationalism, fanaticism and terrorism. We will not avert the clash of civilizations by forcing everyone to think and to believe the same things. France intends to pursue, together with all people of goodwill, this battle to build a new world order of the twenty-first century. We want a Lebanon living independently, and we say that France will always stand shoulder to shoulder with Lebanon in its desire for independence. Tomorrow we hope that Israelis and Palestinians will find within themselves the strength to live in peace. Peace is possible. It is possible now.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“But if we allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, there would be an unacceptable risk to stability in the region and in the world. I want to say here, in the name of France, that we can only resolve this crisis by combining firmness with dialogue. It is in that spirit that France will act. I want to say here, in the name of France, that it is the duty of the international community to confront those who seek power and constantly threaten the fragile balance of peace and to do so by bringing to bear its unwavering unity and its determination to uphold the law. I want to say, in the name of France, that there will be no peace in the world without respect for diversity, without respect for national identities, without respect, I venture to say, for religions and beliefs, or without respect for cultures.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“There will be no peace in the world if the international community compromises with the right of peoples to self-determination and if it compromises with human rights. There will be no peace in the world unless the international community is unshakeable in its determination to fight terrorism. There will be no peace in the world unless the international community stands united in its resolve to put an end to the wars in the Middle East, to put an end to the horror in Darfur, to the tragedy of Lebanon or to the humanitarian disaster in Somalia. And I weigh my words carefully. There will be no peace in the world if the international community falters in the face of the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Iran is entitled to nuclear power for civilian purposes.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“France is loyal to its friends and to the values it shares with them. But this loyalty is not submission. This loyalty is not a shackle. And France intends to draw on that loyalty in the cause of openness to others, of openness to the world. I want the world to know that France is willing to talk to everybody in the world, in every continent. But I would also like to say that openness is not renunciation. Understanding is not weakness. Weakness and renunciation are not factors of peace; they are factors of war. France and Europe in the past experienced the tragic consequences of such an attitude for themselves and for the whole world. When you are weak and submissive, you get ready to accept war. We all have a duty to ensure that that never happens again.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“Against selfishness, against fanaticism, against hatred, it is our duty to renew that appeal to the universal conscience by virtue of which, for the first time in the history of all the peoples of the world, all nations agreed to meet within a common forum in order to set aside what divides us and talk to one another. This appeal to the universal conscience is an appeal for peace. It is an appeal for open-mindedness. It is an appeal for diversity. And it is an appeal for justice. France has always sought greatness for the sake of men and women, not for its own sake. Like all nations, France, in the course of its long history, has made mistakes, and has sometimes been at fault. But its people, the people of France, have always chosen to be on the side of freedom and democracy.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“The message I wish to bring to you in the name of France is a simple one: in this world where the fate of each of us depends on the fate of others, the United Nations should not be weakened; the United Nations must be strengthened. Reforming the United Nations so as to adapt it to the realities of our world is an absolute priority for France. We cannot afford to wait any longer. The world’s problems must be addressed and resolved globally. No one on this Earth can alone protect themselves from the consequences of climate warming, the clash of civilizations, major epidemics.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“I have never believed that the United Nations could one day root out the violence that lies within human beings. But what I do know deep down inside me, what we all know deep down, is that in spite of all its failures, without the United Nations it would have been impossible to put an end to conflicts that seemed to be insoluble. Remember the genocide of the Cambodian people, remember the suffering inflicted upon them; remember the independence of Namibia; remember the independence of Timor. Look at the Great Lakes region, or West Africa. Without the United Nations, the world might have experienced a third world war, doubtless even more terrible than the two previous ones. France is convinced that the United Nations is the only remedy we have for the blindness and folly that sometimes take hold of human beings.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“To all the peoples represented here, I convey the brotherly greetings of France. Mr. Secretary-General, you have an enormous responsibility, and you have the trust of France. This is the first time that I address this Assembly on behalf of France. It is a solemn and moving moment for me. I cannot help thinking of all of those men and women who, at one of the most tragic moments in the history of humanity, as the world stood on the brink of barbarity, finding that prospect intolerable, succeeded in countering force and violence and barbarity with justice and peace. Thus was the United Nations born. The United Nations is not a mere political construct. It is not a mere legal construct. It is an awakening of the human conscience against everything that threatens to destroy humanity.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)