YouSaid · the spoken record

PÉTER

lines on the record: 428
first: 1961-09-24
most recent: 1973-09-24
sittings or episodes: 11
sources: un-general-debate

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“It has become increasingly evident in recent months, however, that some countries-without which the holding of a European conference on security and co-operation would be unthinkable- wished to make the next logical steps for preparing a European conference on security and co-operation dependent on the entering into force of the agreements relating to the two German States and West Berlin. But we have to be realistic in this matter. The spokesmen of this approach ignore two essential factors. The first is that the treaty settlement of questions fundamental to the future of Europe has been made possible by the more positive, all-round atmosphere created as a result of extensive bilateral or multilateral discussions, chiefly in the last two years, on a European security conference.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“The point has been made that before further steps can be initiated to prepare the conference on European security all three agreements have first to be ratified and implemented. The Hungarian Government, in unison with the other States parties to the Warsaw Treaty, has repeatedly made clear the following point: in international relations it is unwise to make the solution of one question subject to the solution of another, however closely and logically those questions may be related.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“There is also an East German miracle; which has prompted the present West German government to take a policy which is more realistic than ever before. This more realistic policy matured in the conclusion of agreements between the Soviet Union and the Federal Republic of Germany, between the Polish People's Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany, and between the four Powers on West Berlin. Those agreements are the most important milestones in East-West relations in the post-war years since the Austrian State Treaty. At this point none of them has yet been ratified. Before ratification can take place much circumspect work in many fields still has to be completed. 125.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“The purpose of those proposals is to keep the questions of the ban on the armaments race and the realization of general and complete disarmament on the agenda of our everyday life. Humanity is capable of bringing disaster on itself, even without thermo-nuclear war, merely by maintaining and stepping up the present arms race. 123. In addition to improved Soviet-United States relations as part of the positive turn in all-round international relations, recent events in Europe have fundamentally affected the international atmosphere and thus the atmosphere at the present session of the General Assembly. 124. The enormous progress made by the German Democratic Republic has vitally contributed to those far-reaching changes in the European situation.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Furthermore, a draft convention on the prohibition of the development, production and stockpiling of bacteriological (biological) and toxin weapons and on their destruction [A/8457-DC/ 234, annex A] has already been submitted to the General Assembly. 121. Humanity can be saved from a new world war, and the hazards of thermonuclear war can be eliminated, only by a gradual approach to general and complete disarmament. 122. The partial agreements already concluded or still under discussion all serve this historic purpose. No one must be naive as far as these high aims are concerned. In this connexion I refer to the Soviet proposal for a meeting of the five nuclear Powers [A/8328] and a world disarmament conference [A/L.631J.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“This depends principally-at least under the circumstances of the present balance of power-on relations between the Soviet Union and the United States of America. The most important piece of international good news concerns the agreement reached between the Soviet Union and the United States on measures to reduce the risk of nuclear war and the agreement on improving the direct communications link between them, both signed at Washington on 30 September 1971. 120. Part and parcel of improving the international atmosphere is the penetrating, realistic attitude being taken at the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT).”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“As could be expected, those who were the target of criticism on this account were hardly gratified. 118. Unlike last year's anniversary session of the General Assembly, the present session began in an extremely positive atmosphere, indicative of the many positive changes in international relations that have occurred since last year. I have touched on one of the causes of the change: the door is about to open to the People's Republic of China. 119. A much more essential cause is, however, an improvement in relations between the Soviet Union and the United States of America. In the eyes of all democratic forces and humanitarian people, the pivot of international life is the desire to escape the threat of a thermonuclear war.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Should the General Assembly decide to invite the representatives of the People's Republic of China, this decision should exclude the presence of a second Chinese delegation. Taiwan and mainland China have to settle their disputes between themselves. Clearly Taiwan also professes the "one China" principle. 116. The fact that a solution of the question of the representation of People's China seems to be imminent is one of the factors that has decisively improved the atmosphere of political discussions at this session of the General Assembly. 117. Peoples and Governments had pinned their hopes on the commemorative twenty-fifth session, when it seemed likely that Heads of State or Government throughout the world would meet here in honor of the anniversary last year. But this came to nought because of a gust of the cold war.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“The time is growing ripe to restore the rights of the People's Republic of China in this Organization. This is not a question, as some would have us believe, of ousting a country from this Organization but of restoring to a founding Member of the United Nations its fundamental rights. Those who hitherto opposed the seating of the rightful representatives of the People's Republic of China did harm to this Organization, to international relations in general, to the People's Republic of China and, last but not least, to themselves. It is gratifying to note that here at the General Assembly the number of members in favor of restoring to the People's Republic of China its full rights in the activities of the United Nations is increasing. These rights must be restored. There is only one China.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“During the lifetime of the Organization, the new social system, that of socialism, emerged in several countries. This, in turn, has changed the international balance of power. The countries freed from the colonial yoke have made a vital contribution to this modification of tne balance of power. Their presence in the United Nations has effectively contributed to eliminating cold war subjects from discussion and to focusing attention on the fundamental problems in the life of the peoples. 115. Now there can be a new perspective for the United Nations and it may be opened up this year. So far, one quarter of humanity-a country 800 million strong-has been debarred from the activities of the Organization, a country which is a founding Member of the United Nations.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“In bygone years many have warned in this hall that the United Nations might meet the same fate as the League of Nations. So far, the United Nations has overcome all these crises. This can be ascribed to certain specific reasons. 113. Firstly, the Charter is superior to the Covenant of the League of Nations. The Charter was drawn up by countries having different social systems but a common aim: to help all peoples for the sake of peace. That is why it was expressly stated that the goal was to free all peoples from foreign and colonial domination. It was even enacted that war as a means of resolving international disputes must be banned once and for all through disarmament. 114. Secondly, the composition of the United Nations has undergone far-reaching changes.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Although it had some useful achievements to its credit, the League of Nations was more than once instrumental in preparing the ground for armed conflicts. What is more, the League played a part in the outbreak of the Second World War, primarily by refusing to adopt proposals for peaceful coexistence, disarmament and the prevention of war. 112. The successor to the League of Nations, the United Nations, was brought into being after the Second World War, again by the victorious Powers. Already the United Nations has gone through many a crisis. The United Nations has also been made an instrument of armed conflicts, even of threats of world-wide war. Sometimes it was also the instrument of cold war activities. In Korea, for instance, the conflicting sides are still today negotiating under the United Nations flag.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“That goes to show that neither the architects nor some founding Members of the United Nations could have imagined that the long-standing forms of the colonial system would disintegrate within such a short period of time. 110. It would seem reasonable to pose the question here and now. What changes can the world, and thus the United Nations itself, expect? Will our children and our children's children celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations? 111. The victorious Powers of the First World War brought into being the League of Nations, but the League did not live to celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary. The Second World War broke out before the League could celebrate that anniversary.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“108. The current, twenty -sixth session of the General Assembly launches the second quarter of a century in the existence of the United Nations. With last year's commemorative session of the General Assembly, the first quarter of a century of this international Organization came to a close. Much has changed in this world of ours between the founding of the United Nations and its twenty-fifth anniversary, but so has the Organization itself. 109. Here in the General Assembly hall, much of that change is reflected in the fact that we are already short of room to accommodate all the representatives of Member States. In other words, the architects of this building had not foreseen that, in a historically short period of 25 years, the United Nations would have more than 130, instead of only 51, Member States.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“May this session of the General Assembly under his Presidency be a starting point for new initiatives to improve international relations and, above all, to open new doors for negotiations on the problems of disarmament.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“As long as no decisive steps are taken on the way towards real disarmament, it will be impossible to forget that, regardless of the ups and downs of détente and periods of tension, the danger of a thermonuclear war permanently hangs over our lives. It is in this cruel reality that we deal with all the issues, great and small, of the present world situation. 70. In conclusion, I wish to pay a heartfelt and well-deserved tribute to the President of the General Assembly at its twenty-second session, Foreign Minister Corneliu Manescu of the Socialist Republic of Romania, for his successful activities under complicated international conditions during one of the longest sessions of the General Assembly. 71. I extend our good wishes to the distinguished Foreign Minister of the Republic of Guatemala, His Excellency Mr. Emilio Arenales.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The treaties concerning armament and disarmament matters signed since 1963 are the results of careful preparations, delicate diplomatic actions conducted on a bilateral and multilateral basis. Certainly, it will be so again. The memorandum of the Soviet Government will be discussed first by the First Committee. Bilateral contacts and deliberations of this Assembly may pave the way for genuine negotiations on the proposed questions. If some success, in however modest a measure, could be achieved in the questions that can be most easily approached, then the twenty-third session of the General Assembly of the United Nations may figure in the annals as one of the most encouraging sessions. 69. And this may happen in spite of the permanent and latent dangers of a thermonuclear war.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“This general debate has had favourable omens from its very beginning. It was by the proposals of the Soviet Union, presented by Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko [1679th meeting], that the twenty-third session of the General Assembly was led out of the shadows of cold-war dangers into the propitious climate of new possibilities for disarmament negotiations. Besides all the crucial problems of the actual world situation, it is the disastrous nuclear arms race being escalated at an unpredictable rate that is the greatest danger to our future. In, the present circumstances of the nuclear age, it would be a most inspiring event if new negotiations were started to work out the conditions for checking the armaments race and preparing real agreements on concrete disarmament.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Our co-operation with the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the consolidation and strengthening of our common international activity will create a new and more solid basis for bilateral and multilateral negotiations with a view to building up a real and peaceful system of security in Europe. After dispelling its illusions, West Germany will certainly be a party to such a system. It is only with the sincere and constructive participation of West Germany that a really effective and peaceful system of security can be imagined in Europe. We have in view a more stable, more consolidated and safer Europe. This is not unreal; it can be achieved. It will be beneficial not orly to the nations of Europe. My Government avails itself of every opportunity to participate in international co-operation to this end. 68.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“But we witnessed new attempts to strengthen the NATO contingents in Europe. In addition to all this, there are incontestable signs that some United States quarters would like to offset the obvious failure of their South-East Asian policy by generating new tensions on the European scene. 67. The risks involved in Europe are great. And so are the risks involved in the problem of the peace and security of Europe from the point of view of the whole world. That is why we had to strengthen our fronts, our frontiers. That is why we were compelled to strengthen Czechoslovakia, whose geographical position is most exposed. Nobody is happy — nobody can be happy — about the necessity of such an action, but its effects will be beneficial to the cause of peace in Europe and in the world.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Its recognition is an underlying prerequisite of peace and security in Europe and in the world at large. No move towards reunification can be justified unless it is made on the basis of recognition of the existence of those two States. 66. In the past few years, we did our best to induce the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and its allies to recognize these historical realities. Our effort was in vain, or rather of little avail. But we witnessed a new military build-up in West Germany, and there came a new upsurge of revanchist and neofascist tendencies in public life, and political manoeuvres directed against the historical realities. We, the States Members of the Warsaw Treaty, made proposals for a system of European security to be elaborated with the simultaneous dissolution of the military alliances. It was to no avail.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Properly speaking, and without oversimplifying the situation in Europe with all its complicated nature, of which I am perfectly aware, it may be said, as we have said over and over, that the fundamental issue of European security might be settled through an explicit international recognition of such existing facts as are recognized de facto by all parties concerned but not recognized de jure by all. I mean the existence of two German States, the special status of West Berlin, the definitiveness of the Oder-Neisse frontier and of the frontiers of both German States, including the boundary-line between them. The existence of two German States is a historic necessity, for the time being. It has its historical, political and social background.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“We emphasized that calmness in Europe was a superficial phenomenon; that the basic issues below the surface had not changed; that the main problems of Europe which had often created high tension in that part of the world, the source of two world wars, were not solved; that the greatest concentration of military forces was in that so-called Old World; and that the most imminent dangers of a thermo-nuclear holocaust might start out from there. That was the real situation at the time when we were listening to optimistic speeches here. 65.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The supporters of Israel could do it and the whole world a service by persuading the Israeli Government to comply with the resolution of the Security Council. 64. The situation in Europe has seemed to be calm in recent years. The general debates of several sessions emphasized the stability and promising signs of security in Europe. Reports were published of bilateral and multilateral talks in preparation for an all-European security conference. But it is also on the records of those sessions of the General Assembly that my delegation did not cease to caution against vain expectations and even against illusions.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Their proposals offer a decent possibility for the withdrawal of the United States from this most tragic affair and would help to put an end to the war in Viet-Nam. 63. The political and peaceful solution of the Middle East crisis may be within reach if and when Israel can be convinced that Security Council resolution 242(1967) of last November is not an agenda item to argue about in bilateral or multilateral negotiations but a summary of the main lines along which the complex problems of that area could and should be solved. The directly interested Arab States are most willing to co-operate in elaborating the stages of implementation of the provisions of the Security Council resolution.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“This year a partial limitation of the bombing raids has made it possible to start preliminary talks in Paris. Only the complete and definitive cessation of the bombings and other acts of war against the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam can turn the preliminary talks into genuine negotiations. All those concerned have to understand—and I think it is not difficult to understand — that there cannot be meaningful negotiations under bombing attacks and under the threat of renewed bombings. The Hungarian People’s Republic expresses its full solidarity with the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and with the National Liberation Front of South Viet-Nam. We are convinced that their proposals serve the peaceful development of the nations of South-East Asia.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“These complex experiences may — and, let me say, must — encourage us to create the necessary preconditions by going step by step on a carefully paved pathway towards even higher goals for the sake of present and future generations. 62. In regard to the Viet-Namese question the first realistic goal to aim at is the turning of the Paris preliminary talks into genuine negotiations. It is on record in the United Nations that my delegation, as early as October 1965, in the general debate of the twentieth session, pointed out to Member States that, in regard to the problem of the war in Viet-Nam, the only way to approach the conference table was to stop the bombing of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam unconditionally and without any threat of its renewal.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“It has also become clear that, as long as the war in Viet-Nam continues and more effective international co-operation does not become possible, there will not be sufficient concentration of resources to help solve the vital problems of nations confronted with ever-growing economic difficulties. 61. What I have said just now is intended to demonstrate how it was possible to arrive at positive results concerning a considerable number of international problems against the background of complications. Besides all these achievements there were and there still are brave and cautious endeavours and even struggles deserving of our deepest respect.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The common stand it worked out on issues concerning the Middle East, the arms race, neo-colonialism, apartheid, secessionist tendencies, colonial rule, mercenary troops and so on is an important document of instructive value to the whole world. 60. The second session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development disappointed many of the expectations attached to this new international undertaking. It is true, however, that it has helped to present the problems of the developing world more clearly to the world as a whole, and that is an improvement.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Had it not been for the harmful influence of the aggression against Viet-Nam, the Israeli aggression against the neighbouring Arab States would not have occurred; and were it not for the United States reluctance to yield to a realistic political solution in South-East Asia, the Middle East problem would not be deadlocked either. 59. One of the most encouraging events of recent times was the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity, held last month in Algiers. The regional organization of independent African States set an inspiring example to international organizations when, although coping with enormous difficulties and divisive problems, it managed to hold a summit conference and even to achieve very important positive results.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Throughout the world, there is a much deeper understanding of the real issues of the problem at the present time than at the time of the fifth emergency special session or the twenty-second session of the General Assembly, and that is an improvement in itself. At the previous session, the effects of propaganda distorted the whole picture at the expense of the Arab States. The general picture is much more accurate now, and there is growing readiness to force political solutions through wider international co-operation. Even the Middle East question cannot be separated from the problem of the Viet-Nam war.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The United States seems to be committing a new sort of mistake. Certain utterances on the part of United States public figures give the impression that the United States administration entered into the talks in Paris assuming that readiness for talks on the part of Viet-Nam was an indication of weakness. If any such self-deception continues to influence United States negotiating tactics, the present opportunity will inevitably be missed, and a new opportunity will come only under much harder conditions. 58. As for the Middle East problem, there is a considerable measure of improvement in spite of the growing dangers created by repeated armed clashes along the cease-fire lines.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Considering that the war against Viet-Nam overshadows the whole world as the main factor in the deterioration of the situation everywhere, the start of the Paris talks was, it seemed to world opinion, a basis for new hope of finding a just and peaceful solution to the problems of South-East Asia. The experience that we have had since that time does not seem to justify the good hopes. 57. The very fact that the Paris talks are taking place is really a good thing in itself. Nevertheless, if the unrealistic attitude of the United States negotiators frustrates the opportunity, the consequences could be disastrous. Having misjudged the Viet-Namese issue during the 1954 Geneva Conference and also later, particularly in February 1965, the United States has from that time continually escalated the war.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“It is self-evident that, as long as the war of aggression against Viet-Nam continues and no real political solution is reached, there is no way of taking considerable and decisive new steps to curb the armaments race and to formulate a comprehensive disarmament programme. Those who would like to increase international tensions, the representatives of “cold war” policies, now use everything — thus the so-called Czechoslovak question — as a pretext for hindering the ratification of the non-proliferation Treaty, and we even witness the reappearance of the protagonists of thermo-nuclear war itself. 56.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“One could rightly expect that the agreement between the two most powerful States in human history concerning the necessity of such a treaty will make it easier to pave the way for further negotiations, with a view to stopping the nuclear arms race and formulating the principles of preparing effective steps towards disarmament. In view of the present trend in escalating the production and invention of new thermo-nuclear war machinery, one is compelled to say that the escalation and spread of the arms race itself, even without the outbreak of a thermonuclear war, may have the most tragic effects on the life of the present and future generations. 55.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Without compromise agreements there is no real step forward to avoid a world-wide catastrophe. 53. Therefore, Mr. President, with your kind permission, I take it as my next task to sum up the most encouraging signs and events of recent months, with the background of complicatedness. 54. Since the conclusion, in 1963, of the Moscow partial nuclear test-ban Treaty it has certainly been the most promising accomplishment that, after hard and painstaking negotiations, the text of a Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons has been elaborated.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The present complication has resulted from the contradictory effects of improving and deteriorating international relations under the shadow of the dangers of a nuclear war. Very much more is at stake in the present contradictory tendencies than in the life of past human generations and in previous years. Enormously much more is at stake. 52. In the judgement of my Government regarding the competing factors of the present world situation, the best way to proceed to chart a better future is to tackle the dangers by taking into account all the good results that we have achieved so far. And on the basis of the most solid results, we should seek step by step the most realistic solution of today’s crucial issues by exploring the ways of reaching the best compromise agreements.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“I hope that the conflicting and controversial factors in the present complicated situation will not make him lose confidence in his special talents for helping to promote mutual understanding between the opposing forces. 51. What in fact do we mean by saying that the present world situation is complicated? When we describe the present situation as complicated, we certainly do not lose sight of the fact that the world situation was much more complicated on the eve of the Second World War and during the war launched by Hitlerite Germany and its allies. The United Nations was confronted with much more complicated situations after the Second World War, during the years when colonial Powers were still absolute masters of vast colonial territories.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Time after time in cur debate, and recently elsewhere as well, we hear official statements describing the present world situation as complicated. This qualifier is being used by the Secretary-General in his annual reports and by many speakers on this rostrum. I am sure that the Secretary-General, who bears the main personal and direct responsibility for the functioning of this Organization, is most painfully confronted with the complicated state of international affairs. Once he was in such despair that he decided to leave his post. We succeeded at that time in convincing him that his personal qualities were needed in this function. Thanks to his sense of responsibility, he made himself available for another term as Secretary-General.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“At the same time, in the very interest of implementing the true principle of peaceful coexistence, we do our best to be effective members of the anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist front against any aggression and against any attempt to renew imperialist world domination and to spread the practices of neo-colonialism. 49. The Hungarian Government is persistent in these efforts, and we see no reason whatever to change our political line to any slight extent in the face of actual events. We have to keep in view the cruel and stubborn fact of the permanent danger of a nuclear war existing as long as the arms race continues and until decisive steps are taken to turn back the whole trend by taking concrete measures towards general and complete disarmament under adequate international control. 50.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“We consider the firm unity of socialist States one of the main preconditions for the restoration and consolidation of international peace and security. On this basis we are constantly strengthening our relations with the developing world. The representatives of the developing countries are very important factors in this world Organization and at other international forums in liquidating the remnants of the “cold war” of previous years and in foiling any new attempt made to revive the old “cold war” controversies. 48. It is our basic political endeavour to strengthen international co-operation with the developed capitalist States on the true basis of the principle of peaceful coexistence.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“They will be strong enough to open new ways towards a political solution of the burning issues which are fraught with permanent and latent dangers of an international confrontation that could spark off a nuclear holocaust. 46. Hungarian foreign policy is striving for that end, with constant readiness to join with those forces which are devoted to the task of improving international relations in seeking, by political means, the solution to questions involving actual military conflicts, actions or military confrontations, and to burning issues which are fraught with the dangers of a new conflagration. Therefore, we are ready to participate in every action that can really promote the cause of the community of socialist States, from Cuba to Viet-Nam, including China and Albania. 47.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“A special and revealing aspect of improvement consists in the very fact that those who are bent on increasing tensions within and outside the United Nations have not succeeded in turning the general debate of the present session into a forum for a renewed cold war. The positive results attained by fairly developing international co-operation in recent years are so solid and persistent that they are effective enough to paralyse any attempt to revive the futile cold-war activities of bygone years. Our confidence in the future is based on the same forces within and outside the United Nations which have doomed to failure the cold-war endeavours in our debate. The same forces will prove strong enough to prevent the danger of a nuclear war from increasing.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Before the end of this general debate, other representatives of about the same number of Member States will be heard. A careful study of the substance of the speeches we have heard so far discloses a deep concern over the present trend of international events and also great confidence in the possibility of checking the present deteriorating and dangerous tendency and giving a fresh start to improving international relations — that is to say, the experience here has shown concern and confidence. We could even say that the international situation has improved during this debate. The improvement has been felt in the general tone of the debate. Certain statements have even contributed to improving the present world situation. 45.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“43. This generation of ours has the choice of two paths: peaceful coexistence or nuclear war—life or death. Many of the statements made in this general debate have shown that the Governments represented here are aware of the growing danger of missing the crucial opportunity while we are still free to make the choice. Nowadays we are, so to speak, at the crossroads where decisive resolutions need to be made in order to avoid a nuclear catastrophe. 44. We are now about midway through the general debate, and a summary of the views of Member States already makes clear the basic preoccupations of the nations which are below the surface of actual international events. We have had the opportunity of listening to the presentation of the international policies of more than forty Member States.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The primary and most urgent task in the present situation in the face of the danger of further deterioration of international relations and of deepening international crises is to persuade the United States to start the process of de-escalation of the war in Viet-Nam. Its beneficial effects would soon make themselves felt. Governments of Member States might help— as many of them certainly are doing already — by increasing their persuasiveness with a view to opening the way to de-escalation.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“The States not represented so far in this Organization should be given adequate opportunity for participation on the basis of equality, as proposed in the introduction to the Secretary-General's annual report. The United Nations should rid itself of the shameful burdens of the past. In the Far East the Organization is still viewed as a belligerent party to the Korean war under the provisions of an armistice treaty. How can the United Nations get out of past entanglements? Is there anyone who could nurture the anachronistic idea of concluding a peace treaty in the name of the United Nations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea? There is only one realistic way to liquidate the past and to open a hopeful future; and that is to end the United Nations role in this affair and to withdraw all foreign troops from South Korea. 35.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“In order to return to the road we have left, or rather to start a fresh and more successful approach towards amore orderly pattern of international life, we have to cope with various crucial issues, most of which are interdependent. 34. Without ending the war in Viet-Nam, it is impossible to make any considerable progress in any way. The remnants of the colonial system should be liquidated as quickly as possible. The co-operation of the five permanent members of the Security Council should be restored. Conditions for ensuring the participation of the People's Republic of China in the work of this Organization should be established. The possibility of the return of France to disarmament negotiations should be created.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“The actual demands of the developing nations and their participation in the international organizations make it imperative for us to stand up against war dangers and artificial "cold war" issues and to struggle for the just solution of current issues concerning the very existence of mankind. 33. In 1963, at the time of the Moscow partial nuclear test ban treaty, it was hoped that, having seen the futility of the sharp "cold war" manoeuvres and the failure of armed interventions, we would start out on the road to a more orderly international life. The good expectations, however, were frustrated by a series of harmful events, first of all by the wanton escalation of the war in Viet-Nam.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“It was also on the proposal of the Soviet Union in 1960 that the General Assembly drafted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. The development of the socialist States and their participation in international political life have contributed in great measure to making international conditions favourable for the struggle for independence of peoples under colonial oppression. The participation in the work of the United Nations of a great number of States liberated from colonial domination has been of great benefit to this Organization, as it has improved the international situation by and large.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)