YouSaid · the spoken record

Ernst WALCH

lines on the record: 43
first: 2001-09-24
most recent: 2004-09-24
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

“The momentum gathered over the past year must be translated into further, bold measures and trigger a process that is not reversible. This is no time for complacency and no time for indifference. This Assembly has historical tasks before it. We must leave lethargy and short-term national interests behind in the interest of the greater good. Secretary-General Kofi Annan put it very aptly in his speech this past Tuesday: If we cannot reach agreement on the way forward, history will make the decisions for us. We must set a vision for the future and live up to our responsibility. We owe this to all future generations and to ourselves.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“More openness and inclusiveness in the Security Council are still both desirable and feasible. The question remains, however: Is the Security Council too powerful or do we simply lack the necessary system of checks and balances? We support a dynamic and strong Security Council and therefore tend to the latter view, with a clear focus on an enhanced role for the General Assembly, the only universal organ of the United Nations. The measures on revitalization upon which we were able to agree during the last session show us how far we still have to go. It must be our goal to make this Assembly an efficient and effective body that can act and react quickly and with resolve. We are still very far away from that goal.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“We believe that it is not sound for a universal Organization to have its major decisions in a truly vital area taken by only a handful of States. Furthermore, the working methods of the Council, its accountability to the membership as a whole and its mandate must also be addressed. Liechtenstein, and its delegation in New York in particular, will continue to stand ready to make their contribution to that end. In accordance with the Charter, the Council acts on behalf of the entire membership in carrying out its duties, and its decisions are binding on all Member States. All States should therefore take a strong interest in its work and make use of their opportunities to interact with and express their views to the Council, whether they are members or not.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“The Council must meticulously observe the mandate given to it under the Charter and ensure transparency and clarity in its decision-making. That is of special importance where the Council’s decisions directly affect the rights and obligations of individuals who are not entitled to individual legal remedies — a situation which can be difficult to reconcile with the rule of law. A strong momentum is gathering for reform of the Security Council after more than 10 years of deliberations on that very complex topic. In light of the challenges before the Council and the open questions concerning its role, in particular with regard to increasing legislative activities, successful reform must address all aspects. Enlargement to make that body more modern and representative is one such aspect.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“We have been very slow in dealing with the changes in the world and its consequences, most notably with regard to non-State actors who fall outside the framework of international law as we have known it in the past. We must ensure that all those individuals and groups that play a significant role in the international arena are not 25 allowed to move in a legal vacuum and we must clarify which rules apply to them. That, however, we can do credibly and thus effectively only if we, the Governments representing States, continue to respect the standards we have created for ourselves. The one body that is particularly called upon in that respect is the Security Council — to many, the epitome of the United Nations as a whole.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“We firmly believe that the rule of law is an indispensable element of sound domestic policies — often referred to as good governance — and an indispensable part of sustainable development worldwide. International organizations, including the United Nations, are called upon to continue their efforts to assist States in establishing and applying the rule of law. We strongly support the efforts made over the past year to strengthen the role of the United Nations in that respect. The rule of law at the domestic level must be complemented at the international level through full and unconditional respect for internationally recognized standards and transparent and fair rules in international decision-making.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“For the first time in the history of mankind, there is an independent Court, based on a Statute negotiated by the international community at a diplomatic conference, that has the competence to try individuals responsible for the worst crimes when States themselves fail to do so. We are sadly reminded every day how much such an institution is needed. On the negative side, we have observed a dangerous erosion in the application of long-standing international law standards, most notably in the field of international human rights and international humanitarian law. The stage we have reached is critical and there can be only one response: We must urgently reverse this trend and uphold the primacy of the rule of law, both nationally and internationally.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“In a globalized world, collective action is the necessary response to a great number of challenges. Effective measures in numerous areas — the environment, HIV/AIDS, poverty-reduction, the fight against terrorism, to name but a few — can only be taken on the basis of genuine and efficient global cooperation. Such cooperation can only be successful if it is based on a set of transparent and clear rules applied in the same manner to everybody who participates in it. International law is clearly the primary instrument in this respect. However, we have witnessed contradictory tendencies in the area of international law, especially in the recent past. On the positive side, there have been landmark achievements, most notably the establishment of the International Criminal Court.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“It is therefore our obligation to conduct an in-depth and sober analysis of these new challenges in order to make an informed decision about how best to address them within the framework of the United Nations system. Changes and creative approaches will be needed. We therefore very much look forward to receiving and considering the report of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change established by the Secretary-General. But however insightful their findings and however visionary their recommendations may be — and we have high hopes that they will be — the necessary decisions to expand the existing multilateral architecture will have to be made by us, the States gathered in this Assembly on the threshold of the sixtieth anniversary of the United Nations. Not in 10 years. Now. The time is right.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“An unequivocal and unwavering commitment from all of us is the basis for collective action and for observing the rules we have set for ourselves. Only this commitment can give meaning to our decisions to tackle new challenges, and only this can enable us to further develop a rules-based framework in order to look confidently into the future. We must acknowledge the fact that the challenges we are facing today were not foreseeable when the founding fathers agreed on the terms which guide the work of this Organization. At the same time, we must always recognize the Charter of the United Nations as the unique achievement that it is and examine our current ways of applying this great tool that was passed down to us.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“The United Nations faces unprecedented challenges: the recent past has brought about a worrisome erosion in the standing and credibility that this great Organization has enjoyed 24 worldwide. Use of military force without prior authorization by the Security Council and increasingly difficult and dangerous conditions under which United Nations personnel operate in many places are but two examples illustrating this trend. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has given a two- tiered response. First, he issued a call for an unequivocal commitment to the principle of multilateralism, upon which this Organization is built. And secondly, he commissioned a report from eminent and highly experienced personalities on how the Organization should address new threats and challenges. Liechtenstein believes that this was the right response.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“If you are able to lead this Assembly out of its established routine of paying lip service to its own reform and if you are able to initiate the radical reform this body so desperately needs, you will have created a lasting legacy, and we will support you. Much has been said about the crisis in which the United Nations finds itself after this difficult year. However, every crisis is an opportunity, and I hope that the Assembly will take up its work in this spirit. Very rarely over the past few years has the public interest in the United Nations been greater than it has over the past 12 months. We must ensure that the peoples of the world continue turning to the United Nations as the place where established rules are upheld, new challenges are tackled and effective and responsible action is taken collectively.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“An overburdened agenda, sterile debates, an overflow of documentation and the routine adoption of resolutions, that are but a rehash of past resolutions, have a combined devastating effect on the relevance of this body. The General Assembly is today paralysed to a point that keeps it from dealing with the politically crucial issues and from acting in a quick and flexible manner. A good illustration is the resolution in which the General Assembly condemned the attack on the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad. Even though everybody shared the shock and dismay about this vicious attack, it took the General Assembly almost a month to adopt the said resolution. The current state of the Assembly sadly plays into the hands of its detractors. Presiding over the General Assembly is a very difficult task, Mr. President.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“The appropriate body for such discussions is obviously the General Assembly, the only main organ of the organization of universal membership. 24 When educating people about the United Nations, we keep stumbling upon one issue: The need to explain that the United Nations is not identical with the Security Council. The fact that the Council is seized with the most burning issues and the most pressing international crises is only one part of the explanation for this fact. The flip side which we must no longer ignore is the increasingly futile struggle of the General Assembly to play its rightful role in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“The effectiveness and credibility of the Council will be much enhanced if it bases its decision-making on a dialogue with the States on whose behalf it acts. In the recent past, the Council has made some decisions that were controversial and others that were of unprecedented reach. Some of the measures taken in connection with financial sanctions impact directly on the lives of individuals who have no means of bringing their grievances stemming from such decisions to the attention of the Council. Since the Council makes its decisions on behalf of the entire membership and since their implementation is mandatory for all Member States, there should be ways for all Member States to express the concerns they might have with regard to such decisions.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“We hope that the initiative the Secretary- General presented last week will contribute to making the main organ that is at the centre of the world's attention a more effective and representative body. While the work on Security Council reform has been slow and unsatisfactory overall, it has nevertheless produced some important and positive results. The Council has opened up to the membership as a whole and increasingly engaged in open debates, both on thematic and on other issues of concern to the membership as a whole. Liechtenstein welcomes this development and has participated in many of those debates. This increased openness of the Council, however, does not resolve the issue of its accountability.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“It was therefore rather disturbing to see the Open-ended Working Group continue engaging in business as usual, while the world the world we are supposed to represent, after all unanimously called for effective and comprehensive reform. The composition of the Council is clearly a reflection of a geopolitical reality that ceased to exist a long time ago and enlargement thus continues to be an indispensable element of a meaningful reform of the Council. At the same time, there is also a clear need to address other issues, such as the mechanisms for decision-making and in particular the implementation of Security Council resolutions whether adopted under Chapter VI or Chapter VII and issues of legality.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“While discussions in the media, in the academic world and in think tanks after the military action against Iraq invariably have focused on the theme of the need for quick and effective Security Council reform, this sense of urgency was lost on the Open-ended Working Group on Security Council Reform the very body that has the competence to make decisions on such reform. After 10 years of debate on this issue, we all appreciate the difficulties attached to it, and they are indeed big. However, these difficulties are not sufficient justification for our failure to resolve an issue that everybody agrees is a major obstacle to the effective functioning of the Organization as a whole.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Like any other State, in particular small States, Liechtenstein attaches the highest possible priority to the rule of international law expressed, inter alia, in our commitment to the International Criminal Court and international relations that are based on rules derived from international legal standards. The United Nations, as the core body for drafting and adopting those standards, must continue to play its role in defending and upholding them. It is more obvious than ever that the Security Council is facing a particular challenge in this respect.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“The crisis the United Nations has gone through in connection with the action taken against Iraq will not be overcome simply by adopting a pragmatic approach in dealing with the aftermath thereof. We welcome the ongoing discussions in the Security Council on a stronger and more meaningful role of the United Nations in Iraq. At the same time, there must also be a recognition that international law continues to be the foundation for our actions in dealing with problems of international peace and security and that the rule of law needs to be applied both at the national and at the international levels.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“We therefore hope that the General Assembly will take the necessary measures to make the 23 United Nations Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel more effective. The process that led to this engagement of the United Nations in Iraq constituted a major crisis for the existing mechanisms dealing with threats to international peace and security, first and foremost the Security Council. This Organization is subject to and dependent on the political will of its Members. Its distinctive quality lies in the fact that it provides legitimacy in accordance with international law. This outstanding quality it must not lose, and we are all challenged to stand up for this core function of the United Nations, which is a good part of its raison d''tre in today's world.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Let me first pay tribute to the commitment and the courage of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and all the United Nations staff members who lost their lives in the unprecedented attack on United Nations headquarters in Baghdad. The date of 19 August is engraved in the consciousness of the international community and in the annals of the United Nations. We were forced to face a fact that we have not tackled with the necessary determination in the past: the vulnerability of United Nations staff worldwide. While legal protection can certainly not prevent an attack such as the one of 19 August, we must nevertheless provide the best possible protection in this respect.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“The debates of the past few weeks have made it clear that nothing can replace — as Secretary-General Kofi Annan put it so aptly — the unique international legitimacy provided through a decision of the Council. Legality, and thus political credibility, are ensured through seizing the Council. At the same time, however, the full implementation of all such decisions must be ensured. This must therefore be the way to go for the international community.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“States have an obligation to ensure that people who are suspected of having committed acts of terrorism are treated in accordance with the relevant standards. The United Nations, as the primary international law-making body, has a special responsibility in this respect and has to live up to its obligation to be the guardian of the rule of law. When the United Nations is called upon to uphold the rule of law, it must, of course, ensure first and foremost the legality of its own actions in all areas and, in particular, when it comes to armed action and intervention. The Charter of the United Nations provides for the sanctioning of such action by the Security Council.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“We all must strive to bring our national enforcement and cooperation mechanisms to the highest achievable standards. This, however, must be accompanied by a set of minimum standards which are observed and enforced globally. As stated on previous occasions, Liechtenstein stands ready to make its contribution to developing such standards and to contribute to compliance enhancement by offering our extensive practical expertise. Injustice must not be fought through injustice. The fight against terrorism must therefore go hand in hand with basic standards of the rule of law. Overzealous action must not, as has occurred in some instances, jeopardize the rights of the individual. Non- derogable human rights, as contained in the relevant international treaties, must be safeguarded under all circumstances.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“My Government has attached the highest priority to the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee established pursuant to that resolution. We submitted on time two comprehensive reports on our national implementation thereof. One year after the inception of the Committee's work, we have to take stock of its achievements and of the challenges ahead. There are obviously different stages of implementation worldwide and diverging capacities of States, especially in the area of combating the financing of terrorism. Thus, it is imperative to introduce minimal standards to which all States need to adhere. Such an effort to set and implement benchmarks will ensure the practical impact and continued political relevance of the Counter-Terrorism Committee.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“As a State party to the Rome Statute, we welcomed the entry into force of the Statute on 1 July as a true landmark in the history of international justice. We remain fully committed to preserving the integrity of the Court's Statute. We found it therefore disquieting that the Council dealt with the International Criminal Court in a manner suggesting that the Court posed a threat to international peace and security. The Security Council, above all, is called upon to uphold the rule of law. The state of affairs worldwide makes it abundantly clear that credible and effective 28 action by the Council is needed now more than ever. Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) illustrates how determined action by the Council can contribute to fighting real threats to international peace and security.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“In looking back, we realize today that the sense of working together we all felt was short-lived and that it has not extended to all areas. After the terrorist attacks there was recognition that international terrorism can only be fought successfully if all States and nations work together. This raised hopes for an era of genuine multilateralism. However, those hopes vanished quickly and were replaced by the realization that unilateralism and confrontation were again dominant. One example of such confrontation was the debates on the International Criminal Court, which extended even to the Security Council. Holding these debates implied, ironically, that the International Criminal Court jeopardized peacekeeping operations of the United Nations.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“Small States in particular rely on the rule of law, both at the national and at the international levels, where this Organization plays a particular role. Today, we are all challenged more than ever to uphold the principle of the rule of law. The events of 11 September made us realize that no person and no place is immune to the threat of international terrorism. The international community, and especially this Organization, responded vigorously. For weeks immediately after the attacks, countries were determined to join forces to oppose and eliminate the threat to all of us. Today provides a good opportunity not only to commemorate those who have died at the hands of international terrorists, but also to reassess our common response and responsibility as the international community.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“In the past year, the United Nations has again convened a number of meetings at the highest level, with the best intentions and the most ambitious agendas. Those included the special session on children, the International Conference on Financing for Development and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. All these meetings have resulted in important outcomes, but they have sometimes fallen short of the expectations of those most directly affected. Bigger is not always better. We believe that the era of such world conferences and summits has come to a close. We have established good standards and must now focus on their implementation. The Millennium Development Goals must be given primary importance in this respect. A few years ago, we had hoped to be entering an era of the primacy of the rule of law.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“Let me first extend my congratulations and a warm welcome to Switzerland, a neighbouring country of Liechtenstein, on its membership in the United Nations. Switzerland has for centuries lived the ideals of the United Nations as a place where peoples of different ethnic backgrounds, languages, cultures and religions have peacefully lived together and have founded a nation based on democratic principles and the rule of law. Now its people have chosen to join the United Nations. We look forward to Switzerland's contribution, its expertise and experience in the challenging work of this Organization. Together with the admission of East Timor a few days from now, this brings the United Nations even closer to being what it was intended to be, a truly universal family of nations.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“That goal may seem distant or even unrealistic, but so did the goal of eradicating slavery in the nineteenth century and fascism in the twentieth century. It is now up to all of us to free ourselves from terrorism, the scourge of the twenty- first century.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“It must be unacceptable for terrorists to establish themselves as political players by resorting to violence and by indiscriminately attacking civilians. This unified stance against terrorism must, in turn, be accompanied by our willingness to engage in a peaceful dialogue with those who advocate legitimate political causes, difficult as that may seem. Only by ensuring that communities and entities are not oppressed, and that they are given room to voice their concerns, can we eventually eradicate terrorism. In this context it is important that the international community develop mechanisms that allow for such a dialogue to take place, based on an agreed framework and existing standards of international law. We must not accept terrorism as a fact of life, but believe in our collective ability to eradicate it.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“The United Nations is therefore challenged to prevent such a clash. The International Year of Dialogue among Civilizations serves as a useful reminder of what the United Nations has always stood for. Terrorism cannot be fought only with military measures and international judicial cooperation. Only by going beyond these obvious measures can we be successful in the long term. We must change the collective conscience and awareness of all societies and teach our children the futility and the dangers of resorting to violence as a means of dealing with conflicts. Terrorists utilize the most extreme forms of violence. Therefore, they must be effectively excluded from society. They must be outlawed.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“The events of 11 September have given additional significance to this message, since racism and intolerance can be both cause and consequence of terrorism. One of our most difficult new challenges in our fight against racism is to prevent discrimination 21 against people because of their affiliation with certain ethnic groups. There are those who interpret the events of 11 September as a fulfilment of a predicted clash of civilizations. They are wrong. Those who committed the attacks do not represent a civilization or religion; they believe only in terror, violence and destruction. They are just criminals. Their acts were not an attack on a civilization; they were an attack on, and a crime against, humanity. But, of course, nothing would serve their intentions better than a clash of civilizations.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“The World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance was concluded on 8 September. I had the honour to attend that event in my capacity as Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which served as the regional preparatory body for the Conference. After a most difficult and complex process, the Conference was brought to a successful end with probably the best achievable outcome — the resolution of issues of both the past and the present, and a global anti-discrimination agenda within which we all can work. The difficulties of the Durban Conference are reflected in the still ongoing debate on remaining technical, but important, details. The necessary political will should be mustered as soon as possible so that the message from Durban can reach people worldwide.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“It is of crucial importance that the spirit of international cooperation, rather than being selective and short-lived, should prevail in our work on these essential issues. The United Nations is further challenged on the complex relationship between terrorism and human rights. The promotion and protection of human rights must not fall victim to the fight against terrorism. Human rights are not a luxury that we can afford during good times and dispense with in times of crisis. Rather, they are the foundation upon which all our activities must be based. Curtailing the existing human rights standards in the name of the fight against terrorism would mean giving up our most fundamental values — the very values that those who commit terrorist attacks are out to destroy. This we must not allow to happen.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“The fight against terrorism is multifaceted and the role of the United Nations must also cover a wide range of topics, including what is often referred to as the root causes of terrorism. Indeed, isolating the extremists, exposing the perversity of their agenda, and thus preventing more misguided and disenfranchised people from joining a cause of insanity, is the only way our fight will be successful in the long term. Poverty, social exclusion and marginalization, and the lack of basic education are key areas we must address. These are, of course, by no means new topics on the agenda of the United Nations, but we need to do more and we need to do better. Informed and educated policy changes are not concessions to the evil of terrorism. Such thinking would lead to paralysis and inaction.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“In this context I wish to state very clearly that bank secrecy as practised in Liechtenstein never has provided and never will provide protection to terrorists or their financial transactions. If the fight against terrorism is to be a genuinely common effort, it must include all of us. The General Assembly, as the only all-inclusive organ of the United Nations, must therefore play a significant role in our efforts. We trust that the General Assembly will assert its rightful place as the law-making body of the United Nations by adopting a comprehensive convention against terrorism to fill the gaps in the existing framework of international law dealing with specific aspects of terrorism.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“We are committed to implementing resolution 1373 (2001) as a whole, but will place particular emphasis on its central aspects relating to the financing of terrorism. We have all the necessary instruments in place to make our contribution to suppress and prevent the financing of terrorism. Consequently, I signed on behalf of Liechtenstein the Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism on 2 October this year. Our common effort can only be successful if it is focused on our true goal of stopping financial flows to terrorists and their organizations. We must not, however, venture into other areas of international financing under the guise of fighting terrorism.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“We are indeed facing a new type of crisis and the Security Council has designed a new type of response. The delegation of Liechtenstein looks forward to working closely with the Counter-Terrorism Committee to fully implement the provisions of that resolution. Given the novelty of the task, we appreciate the difficulties and enormous workload the Committee is facing. We also express our support for the transparent manner and the spirit of cooperation and dialogue which the Committee has displayed thus far in carrying out its work. Benchmarking and best practices are of the utmost importance in this context. High standards of enforcement have to be developed and to be applied uniformly to all actors, be they Governments, banks, intermediaries, fiduciaries or attorneys.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“He has navigated this Organization in a most clever, capable and visionary manner through turbulent times and assiduously enhanced its standing in the international arena. Right before the beginning of his second term as Secretary-General the United Nations is a stronger and more credible organization than ever. I wish to congratulate the Secretary-General, and indeed the entire Organization he heads, on being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. No one could be better placed to be a voice of international legitimacy and to provide leadership during the times ahead — and this is a moment when leadership is most needed. 20 Both the General Assembly and the Security Council have reacted with resolve and determination to the attacks of 11 September. The Council took a bold step in adopting its ground-breaking resolution 1373 (2001).”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“Let me first join previous speakers in expressing our heartfelt sympathies to the host country and to the bereaved families for the loss of their loved ones in yesterday’s disaster. Ever since 11 September, the fight against terrorism in all its forms has rightfully been at the top of the agenda of the United Nations and of other international organizations. On behalf of the Government of Liechtenstein, I wish to pledge our full support for international cooperation to combat terrorism. A quick understanding has emerged that multilateralism and international cooperation are the only ways to successfully tackle the challenges we are facing. Once again, the world has looked to the United Nations for leadership in our common fight, and once again the United Nations has delivered. We wish to pay tribute to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)