YouSaid · the spoken record

Tomislav Nikolić

lines on the record: 120
first: 2012-09-24
most recent: 2015-09-24
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

“By taking up these topics and drawing members’ attention to them, I hope to motivate us to show genuine empathy and solidarity, to take responsibility for the future and to build, together and indefatigably, true humanism in the Organization that gathered us together here today. I would like us to meet in this place with different messages next year and, if not with our problems solved, then at least with steps made towards solving the problems that burden us today. I would like us to be better every coming year. I would like the States of the world to feel that the ideas of liberty and equality and of a humane and just society are not just empty rhetoric, but instead genuinely resolve to implement them throughout our planet.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Now is the time for it to show if it still is the standard-bearer in the implementation of human rights and the respect of international law or if it continues to turn a blind eye to the apparent double standards and allows the attainment of civilization to be valid only for some countries and some peoples. Equality is applicable not only to relations among individuals, but also to relations among States. Our fathers shed blood on many battlefields for the equality of all peoples. They fought for our freedom to speak our mind and for our opinion to be strong enough to change things. Freedom and equality are the fundamental principles of the Charter of the United Nations, of numerous international documents and of national constitutions. We must not allow them to become dead letters.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“They are preponderantly Serbs, but include also Bosniaks, Croats, Roma and others. Some of these people have gone to third countries, while others continue to live in Serbia. We are still faced with the consequences of these migration as they have altered the demographic, social and other structures of our country and society. Then and now, my country has not had much to offer to these destitute people who left their homes. It has shared the little it had. Serbia expects the United Nations Member States to act responsibly and humanely. We should all bear in mind that this situation will have global consequences. Civilization is at a crossroads. Europe is going through serious travails and tribulations.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“The attempt failed, as members of the Security Council were aware of the true intentions and desires of the initiators, as well as the possible catastrophic consequences. What kind of genocidal criminals are we? Is it the image imparted by the footage of migrants in Serbia, undaunted and unworried about the reaction of our people and authorities, unlike elsewhere in the region, or is it the image of a hospitable people with a kind heart? Have Serbian citizens changed? They have not. The people of Serbia of all ethnicities have, now and in the past, been humane and hospitable, as well as good neighbours. In addition to refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, Serbia hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons from the territory of the former Yugoslavia.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Passivity and the increasingly inhumane treatment of migrants open a market for smugglers. The sequence of catastrophes that would ensue in such a case, from the Mediterranean to the British Isles, would be tragic, and the tragedy in which over 800 people died would be remembered as just one sad link in that sorry chain. Even though it was not directly involved in the conflict in the territory of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, started and stage-managed in a similar way to the conflict in Syria, Serbia was labelled guilty. A resolution was even recently submitted to the Security Council to stigmatize the Serbs as an example of a genocidal people, although such a characterization of any people in the world is unjustifiable.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Our borders are open to receive them and to let them through. We need no law for that because that is the way we are. Serbia is 15-29568 7/33 A/70/PV.20 30/09/2015 not a member of the European Union, but it consistently implements the proclaimed principle of solidarity, a fundamental value and the supposedly unconditional mainstay of the Union itself. I do not understand this selfishness, and sometimes even the hatred towards those who have nothing that some individuals have come to nurture. If the rapid pace with which the leaders of some countries are losing their cool and composure are any clue, the situation can only deteriorate. We therefore need a comprehensive plan that would have to be implemented within the shortest possible time. Without such a plan, migrants will be left altogether at the mercy of human smugglers.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“The Governments of certain States Members of the United Nations behave as if they had never abandoned the ideology that prevailed before the end of the Second World War, thereby destroying the fragile stability in the Balkans that was achieved through hard work and dedication, to which Serbia contributed the most. My country has had to cope with a deep economic crisis since 2008. Refugees, therefore, cannot expect to secure much more than their personal safety in Serbia. We will provide it to them irrespective of the fact that certain countries also intervene against people living in Serbian territory. Our care for humankind and our empathy for those in need, as well as our resolve to give those people what we may not need as urgently as they do at the moment, will not diminish.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“As regards the number of asylum- seekers in the Republic of Serbia, 125,138 persons arrived in Serbia between 1 January and 14 September, and only 524 have submitted asylum requests. I would like to draw attention to the alarming practice of some Governments that have erected wire and razor fences to ghettoize the asylum-seekers fleeing war and destitution. Such an attitude runs counter to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the proclaimed solidarity of the States members of the European Union with migrants. It also aggravates the situation in countries that respect international law and treat the individuals struck by calamity humanely.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“The humanitarian disaster facing the world is only a consequence of the crisis that has shaken Syria for the past four years, all along without an adequate response from the international community. Without access to common funding, the situation of Serbia is perhaps more difficult than that of the other countries of the old continent. Despite its difficult economic situation, Serbia is making every effort to provide decent conditions and accommodation for refugees. However, if the international community, and the European Union above all, fails to make concrete efforts to solve the problem, a humanitarian catastrophe of an even larger scale would threaten South-East Europe. The consequences are impossible to foresee, but they would surely affect not only Europe, but the whole world as well.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“It will fulfil all its obligations under Security Council resolution 1244 (1999) and all its obligations under the agreements reached in Brussels, but it will never, ever recognize the independence of part of its territory, the autonomous province of Kosovo and Metohija, to which its very existence is connected. The problem of the mass migration from the Middle East is the greatest challenge of our times. We cannot analyse the causes and or identify those directly and indirectly responsible for the migrant crisis here and now. It is an issue of paramount importance and should be addressed at an international forum that would bring together prominent leaders and eminent scholars and scientists. That is the best way to assess the situation objectively, provide an answer and propose a solution to that complex problem.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Peoples do not acquire history and civilization by snatching centuries of the existence of others or by bribing, with Judas’ silver, those to whom the history of others means nothing and who would stand by indifferently if the spiritual and cultural roots of a people — in this case of we Serbs — were removed from the areas from which they had been expelled. The United Nations must preserve its credibility and stand up to the injustice and evil that Serbia would suffer if the Organization acquiesced to that undertaking. I am certain that those gathered here, as responsible and honourable persons of State, will stand up against the injustice and wrong that would be inflicted upon Serbia and could have a domino effect on other nations and States. Serbia is talking to the representatives of the Administration in Pristina.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“By defending the right of Serbia to preserve and proudly present its identity and cultural heritage, as it has done for the past 11 centuries, by preventing the unscrupulous dispossession of one’s heritage and its attribution to somebody else, we are defending the underlying principles of international law and human justice, as well as those on which UNESCO was founded. I therefore call on all Heads of State not to allow the Serbian people to have its soul excised, its essence usurped and its monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija, its spiritual backbone, declared the cultural heritage of the Albanian people there. In short, that is neither the truth nor a historical and scientific fact. It is not justice.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“How is it possible that arsonists and destroyers, with goals that clearly go beyond all the ethical norms and established rules on which UNESCO was founded, 6/33 15-29568 30/09/2015 A/70/PV.20 are now trying to project themselves as guardians and protectors? Should that request be accepted nonetheless, a dangerous precedent would be set and the door would be opened for the legitimization of violence against the national, cultural and religious identity of any people anywhere.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“It is therefore important that Serbia, as a member of UNESCO, continues to be the keeper of this cultural treasure, which belongs both to Serbia and to the world. In an attempt to falsify history — unfortunately with the support of a certain number of countries — Albania has submitted, on behalf of the Pristina Administration, a request to UNESCO that the Serbian heritage be declared Kosovar — that is, Albanian. Those who strategically destroyed monasteries with the aim of marginalizing the importance of Kosovo and Metohija for the Serbs and of establishing a new ethnic and cultural identity for Kosovo and Metohija on the ashes of the history of others, would be rewarded in that way.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“These invaluable and unique works of art and architecture have survived five centuries of Ottoman rule, the Balkan Wars and the First and Second World Wars. Yet, there they were, in 2004, being savagely desecrated and destroyed, buried and ploughed over, as though that undertaking was a part of preparations, designed with meticulous precision, to coincide with the unilateral declaration of independence of the Republic of Kosovo, an event that ensued four years after the barbaric destruction of the patrimony of Serbia’s Christian culture and civilization. Not only Serbian, but also European culture and the world’s collective memory are preserved in Kosovo and Metohija, representing an important human civilizational achievement on planet Earth.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Their centuries-long existence there is evinced in the many monasteries and churches whose foundations were laid before the ninth century and represent Serbian deeds etched in stone, the testimony of the Serbian presence in Kosovo and Metohija. At the thirty-first session of its General Conference, UNESCO confirmed that a crime against a cultural heritage was committed in Kosovo and Metohija. In the small territory of Kosovo and Metohija, UNESCO has registered 372 highly valuable cultural monuments of the Serbian people, as clearly defined by UNESCO standards. As many as 49 monuments from the Middle Ages have been identified as a part of European and world heritage in which humankind can take pride and honour. Specifically, they served our pride and honour.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Here I recall that in March 2004, in the face of only sporadic opposition from the Kosovo Force (KFOR), Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija destroyed numerous Christian Orthodox churches, other church buildings, convents, bell towers and monastery libraries and archives, usually by setting fires or explosive devices. That was only the brutal and effective perpetuation of the damage and destruction of over 140 Orthodox sanctuaries perpetrated since the arrival of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo and the KFOR in June 1999. In that period, the Albanian terrorists systematically destroyed the spiritual and cultural heritage of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“I should also add that Serbia has been a candidate country of the European Union for more than three years now and has continued to take decisive steps to harmonize its systems and practices with European Union standards. At the same time, Serbia has also continued to maintain its cooperation and friendship with Russia and China. A State is made up of its territory, its people, its languages and its cultural heritage. Serbia is the only country in Europe that in addition to seeing part of its territory seized, its people expelled and their murders and the so-called harvesting of their organs going unpunished, has now had to deal with attacks on its cultural heritage under the protection of UNESCO.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“We will continue to work together with others as a team and an active participant, in hopes that scientists will come up with clear answers and irrevocable proof as soon as possible, while politicians support them and implement speedy, effective solutions. We can hope for a better future only if we overcome problems such as hunger, wars and diseases. Serbia has therefore actively participated in peacekeeping operations all over the world and has made every effort to train and equip growing numbers of its officers and soldiers to take part in such important assignments. In that regard, this year Serbia’s chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has been universally commended, including by those currently in conflict situations.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Serbia’s Government and scientific institutions, in full compliance with the relevant international documents, first and foremost among them the United 15-29568 5/33 A/70/PV.20 30/09/2015 Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, will continue to contribute to the activities of the United Nations and other organizations, primarily through European and regional initiatives on climate monitoring and reducing the negative effects of climate change. Serbia welcomes the forthcoming twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC to be held in Paris later this year. We intend to support and make a full contribution to consideration of this important issue.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“We must develop technologies that can enable developing countries to develop while being as environmentally responsible as possible, rather than using concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and global warming as pretexts to allow their industry to stagnate. There are moral reasons, too, for ensuring that countries develop. Politicians should be tasked with providing full support to scientific activities, on the one hand, and harmonizing and coordinating responses to climate change and extreme weather situations, on the other. Adapting and preparing national and social responses to potential scenarios, including worst-case scenarios, should be our most basic and important goal.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“We continue to talk noncommittally about another major challenge, that of climate change, as if its consequences were not patently evident everywhere, and as if we did not see that they are exacerbating the friction caused by the already high level of inequality in the world. In a wake-up call of sorts, the consequences of our past and current actions now have the greatest effect on the weakest of us, the countries that are still undeveloped industrially and struggling to provide their citizens with a better life. Most developing countries account for just a fraction of global warming. They must be given the opportunity to grow their economies under the same conditions that have already enabled other countries to prosper, even though their greenhouse gas emissions may be higher than the rich would like.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“The twenty-first century threatens to be an age in which some countries accumulate and concentrate enormous individual wealth and the rest are consigned to poverty and uncertainty. Among those wealthy individuals is also an entirely new generation of privileged directors who, unjustifiably and immorally, are paid far more than their employees. It seems, however, that the numbers of those willing to protest this phenomenon has been growing to a point where their demands may have to be acceded to. I urge everyone to work together to help to achieve an equitable distribution of the world’s assets and resources.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“We hope that our new era will usher in a new beginning, a new way of thinking, whose essence will be, as it should, in the best interests of people and their immediate and larger communities. We all understand that this is not easy to achieve, for modern communications can be used to impose a way of thinking aimed at implementing ideas that are not in the interests of the majority. Modern man’s urge to conform and daily struggle to meet ever greater demands, along with the spectre of unemployment and hardships in later life, undermine his resolve to resist increasingly evident violations of basic human rights. The world today is tragically divided between a few enormously rich individuals and a majority who live outside the boundaries of human dignity.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“We must understand that we cannot control everyone’s lives even if we think it may be risky to leave things up to their free will. Major changes in the way we live demand that we allow time to adjust to ensure that basic values do not collapse. Today, the world is extraordinarily interconnected in miraculous, virtual ways; information is exchanged and people and goods move at unprecedented speed. But the people themselves have never been so alienated. In huge cities, amid millions, people die alone. Individuals, States and international organizations become alienated. There are many reasons for this. Increasingly, relations among States are based on the more powerful, affluent and developed imposing their will on others.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“It postulates a global economy linking every region of the world on a basis of trust, ethics, equality and support, as well as a comprehensive approach to managing development by analysing and assessing the efforts of Governments and businesses. All management, however, requires that certain rules be established, and the question therefore is: Who will establish the rules and where? Can individuals, or groups of individuals, foresee all possible future events and developments, and is it possible to control those events and developments at all? Are we simply establishing a new global power centre, oblivious to the individual specifics of States or groups of States, an organization that has only one solution to all problems? What can we do about the fact that some of the Goals do not correspond to some countries’ specific situations?”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Are profits and political or military superiority really worth so much that we no longer feel the sufferings of others but rather let baser instincts take over? Peace and prosperity cannot be a privilege for the people of certain countries alone; every man and woman on planet Earth has a right to them. That 4/33 15-29568 30/09/2015 A/70/PV.20 is why we hold out a helping hand in our quest to achieve the Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1) through shared actions aimed at creating a better future for humankind, based on principles that can ensure progress and prosperity for all. Sustainable development is clearly a concept accepted by most of the world.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“It lies with all of us, because we cannot contemplate sustainable development without accepting our shared responsibility to tackle one of the world’s major challenges — eradicating or at least alleviating poverty. I often wonder how parents can look their children in the eye as they tell them that school and learning are important for their future and a normal life, and try to convince them that they will have food on their plates once they finish school and acquire learning. We do not learn when we live in fear, have nothing to eat or are threatened by disease, when our parents are unemployed or we face the threat of a terrible war. Those here representing the rich and powerful should think about that as they put their children to bed in a warm room at night and make important decisions during the day.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Some of the mighty and powerful seem to believe that the world economic crisis did not do enough to terrify our children and their parents. They continue to use highly sophisticated weapons to drive people from their homes and countries and thrust them, in fear for their lives, into the turmoil of migration, journeying thousands of kilometres in a world without food, water or electricity. The responsibility for these developments lies not with those who struggle to fight poverty and create conditions in their countries conducive to a dignified human life, or with Serbia, which has opened soup kitchens in order to give many their only daily meal. It lies with those who have much, whether God-given or gained by exploiting others. It lies with those who spend more on arms than all the world’s poor countries together spend on food.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“What worries us, though, is that those who think that efforts should be intensified in the hope of restoring peace quickly and easily and promoting economic progress for all — developing countries, in particular — are few and far between. We ought to look each other in the eye and assess the past year with an open mind. We ought to announce what has been achieved in our countries. Some of us ought to ask themselves if their actions helped humankind or threatened the future of our children. Can we still begin our speeches with “We, the peoples of the United Nations”? Are we any closer to peace and prosperity or are we rushing, with blindfolds on, towards another 1939, which saw the start of a major world tragedy that lasted six years and whose consequences we shall never be able to erase?”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Not infrequently, unlawful and exceedingly immoral actions are being taken, purportedly for ethical and legal reasons. This happens most often when a clear legal norm that brooks no exception — such as the need for the Security Council to take a decision, for instance — stands in the way of a major Power achieving its geopolitical goals. International law, therefore, and the moral tenets underpinning a legal norm and its implementation, are deeply in crisis today. There is ample evidence of this, including the most recent large-scale crisis. Some call it a migrant crisis; others refer to it as another wave of people migrating for various reasons.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“These terrorist groups now threaten millions of people and have created a negative image of Islam, the religion on whose behalf they profess to act. The two key elements of law and ethics were once key in international relations and politics. United States President Woodrow Wilson was a staunch advocate, while the great Serbian poet Njegoš expressed it in verses of The Mountain Wreath in the following way: Along his path who maketh Might his right Rise stenches of inhuman cruelty ... [and] As Wolf doth on the Sheep impose his might, So tyrant lords it over feebler fellow; But foot to place upon the Tyrant’s neck, To bring him to the consciousness of Right — This of all human duties is most sacred! Today, however, legal and ethical factors are essentially being eclipsed in international politics.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“The world of today does not resemble the world of yesterday, and none of us can remain indifferent to this fact. Ours used to be a bipolar world, divided into blocs. We did not thrive because the poles were violently 15-29568 3/33 A/70/PV.20 30/09/2015 opposed to one another and had access to the most dangerous weapons the world possessed at the time. But we are also not doing well in a world with one Power that carries out diplomacy by issuing threats, oblivious to the concerns of all others, including those of the United Nations. Peoples and States attend to their own interests and are thereby exposed and open to extremist religious fanatics, giving rise to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham and other extremist movements.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Seventy years have passed since the establishment of the United Nations. People live differently now; many changes have taken place and many reforms have been effected. It is time that we reform the United Nations as well. I call on the President to speed up this process during his mandate. Perhaps no other session in the history of the General Assembly has come at a more opportune time. Last year saw many new developments. Negotiations, which were unimaginable before, were started to end the embargo on Cuba. An agreement was reached to lift sanctions on Iran. We recognize those who took part in making these historic decisions and encourage them to see these changes through to completion. This is very much in line with the policy my country has pursued for a number of decades.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Serbia stands united with the leaders of the entire world in the endeavour aimed at bringing prosperity to humankind. That is a responsibility that we all share. Not only can we achieve much by working together, but we can achieve much more together. That is why the establishment of a united, global front around the idea of the common destiny and interests of humankind, which we all share, should be the first step that we, the States Members of the United Nations, must make as we attempt to solve new global challenges.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Those are measures meant to lead to the eradication of poverty and the strengthening of institutions. For Serbia, the top priority is poverty eradication, but the goals of inclusive education, health, gender equality, sustainable energy and, in particular, sustainable economic growth and employment are just as important. Jump-starting the economy is the mission to which we shall devote the greatest attention in the coming period, although always mindful of the issues I have mentioned, in order to ensure prosperity for all our citizens. We must acknowledge the higher degree of socioeconomic interlinkage that exists if we are to come up with fresh ideas. We must design new ways to overcome the current crises in global management and study our options for formulating and implementing political solutions.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“It is very important in this situation that States Members of the United Nations have recognized the magnitude of the problem and have supported the Secretary-General’s proposal to establish the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response. Serbia is ready to join in and contribute to the collective effort with its scientific and medical capacities and in any other way. The world has changed, but for the poorest it has remained the same. The greater instability of developing countries is a clear indicator that they continue to be in need of assistance. The international community must therefore pay appropriate attention to that group of countries, primarily through financial support, the development of new technologies and the training of human resources.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Traditionally, Serbia has supported the multilateral approach in the field of disarmament and arms control, proceeding from the conviction that in a world of rising interdependence and complexity, common challenges call for common solutions. It is with great concern that we follow the developments related to the rapid spread of the Ebola virus in the countries of Western Africa. We extend our condolences to the Presidents and peoples of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone for the great number of victims. The disease, unprecedented in the extent of its transmission and its high mortality rate, threatens to cause one of the biggest humanitarian crises of the world today and calls for immediate collective action, since it is a problem that belongs to all of us.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“We face new global challenges that call for creative responses, global partnership and flexibility. Serbia is unreservedly committed to the principles of multilateral cooperation and to strengthening the principles and system of the United Nations. In that context, we consider the process of the reform of the United Nations system a historic chance to demonstrate our consistent support for the idea of building consensus among Member States on all key issues. Serbia is ready for constructive cooperation and respect for all participants in the dialogue, which will contribute to the greater efficiency of the United Nations system. Serbia supports the reform of the Security Council. Serbia will do its utmost to help bring solutions to global security problems and sustainable development.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“One of the main questions facing the world is the problem of foreign fighters recruited by terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State and Al-Qaida. According to research conducted by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence, based in London, the most significant regions outside Western Europe and the Middle East for the recruitment of foreign fighters are the Balkans and the countries of the former Soviet Union. The data on foreign fighters for the Balkans vary: up to 140 recruits from Albania and as many as 60 from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The numbers are somewhat smaller from Macedonia — up to 20. From Serbia there have been three and from Bulgaria one, while the number from our province of Kosovo and Metohija is as high as 150. It must be stopped.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“We honour and respect the political and economic interests of all Member States, and our approach and actions in protecting our national and international interests are predicated on those positions. Serbia most strongly condemns the crimes committed by the members of the extremist organization of the Islamic State, particularly the brutal murders. Such forms of terrorism pose one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, and Serbia is committed more than ever to supporting international efforts in the fight against terrorism. The rapid rise of the Islamic State and its ability to attract fighters from all over the world has caught the attention of the international community.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Today our region is teeming with investment opportunities, and a strong and peaceful South-Eastern Europe is synonymous with a strong and stable Europe as a whole. Serbia has experienced acts of terrorism on its territory in Kosovo and Metohija. We therefore understand very well the security problems the world is facing. We firmly condemn every form of terrorism. We are ready to discuss any initiative that can contribute to strengthening the role of the United Nations in combating that global evil. Serbia has achieved significant success in the fight against terrorism, especially at the regional level, and is ready to lend its experience and knowledge to help strengthen other States’ counter-terrorism capacities. Serbia has never supported and will never support the language of ultimatums.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Serbia is making a concrete contribution to maintaining international peace by participating in United Nations and European Union peacekeeping operations. Thanks to that work and to our cooperation with allies and partners, the region is more stable than it was 15 years ago. I would point out that we support every initiative aimed at modifying and adapting peace operations to new security challenges. Serbia calls for strengthening regional cooperation and harmonizing approaches to the activities of peacekeeping missions. Serbia’s new policy has fostered sincere and fully transparent relations in South-Eastern Europe. That was particularly evident during the disastrous floods that struck Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The solidarity and magnanimity shown then set an example for the entire world.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“The principles of safeguarding peace and security, the peaceful settlement of disputes and crises and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States are the bases on which the Republic of Serbia will cooperate in the search for solutions to the various political and security challenges in the world. At the global level, therefore, we support all efforts by the United Nations and its Member States and by regional organizations to find diplomatic solutions to the world’s most sensitive security issues. With its broad political experience and bold leadership, Serbia can contribute, through dialogue with friends, partners and Member States, to devising solutions to the disagreements that threaten to disunite the world all over again.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“We are deeply disturbed and alarmed by the events in Ukraine and will do everything in our power to help find a peaceful solution to the problem and overcome differences peacefully. Our Slav brothers deserve peace and tranquil development, along with respect for those universal principles that should be accorded all countries and peoples and that are clearly defined in the Charter of the United Nations. Serbia respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine as a United Nations Member, and the equitable implementation of international law. I recall that some countries denied Serbia that right through their recognition and promotion of the independence of a part of the territory of Serbia — Kosovo and Metohija.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Serbia is preparing to assume the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) next year. That role and task present my country with complex, multilateral challenges, but we are ready for them, and we have been preparing in collaboration with Switzerland in positive and constructive cooperation. Serbia will use the OSCE chairmanship to encourage and strengthen mutual cooperation among the countries in the region. The Balkan countries have made immense progress in recent years and have developed substantial and comprehensive mutual cooperation. Serbia will make every effort to see that the process of reconciliation and cooperation and mutual respect is fully implemented throughout the region. The chairmanship will also be used to encourage those processes.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Serbia has taken a step forward into the future, and wishes to make an active contribution to global economic progress, the suppression of crime and corruption, and the quest for a solution to all matters of international security. Membership in the European Union is our foreign policy priority. Like any other form of international association, the European Union falls short of achieving ideal solutions and is saddled with its own challenges and issues relating to its enlargement, but it is still the best community of European States. Serbia’s place is with its members so that it can fully modernize its society and State and further develop its economic capacities. The clear goal we aspire to is to build Serbia into a respected member of the family of European nations, and our progress in membership negotiations will contribute to that.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“They must not remain mere statistics. They must not be forgotten. There are 58,000 refugees living in Serbia, 42,000 from Croatia and 16,000 from Bosnia and Herzegovina. I believe refugees deserve special attention from the United Nations and UNHCR. The marginalization of the serious problems that those vulnerable people face should be condemned rather than ignored. The issue of basic human rights is a universal one, respected by every State Member of the United Nations. Any hasty decision on the issue would be a mistake, since it could undermine the region’s reconciliation processes, which are not yet fully formed, as well as the fundamental right of Serbs to return to their homes in Kosovo, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“I would like to recall that everything began with the acts of terror committed by the Albanian minority in Kosovo and Metohija aimed at achieving their secessionist ambitions. Today, 15 years after the adoption of resolution 1244 (1999) — by which we ceded administration of the province of Kosovo and Metohija to the United Nations — the conditions conducive to returning internally displaced persons to Kosovo and Metohija have still not been created, something that is noted in the Secretary-General’s regular reports on UNMIK’s work and in the reports of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons. Serbia has the largest number of internally displaced persons of any country in Europe, a total of 230,000.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“That concerns questions having to do with the province’s status, the position of Serbs and other non-Albanians in the province, and protection of the Serbian religious and cultural heritage. Our approach to the search for a sustainable political solution for Kosovo and Metohija has broader political implications. I believe we can all agree that the creation of conditions for the enjoyment of basic human rights and minority rights would not only promote the return of the displaced population but would also provide a model for political dialogue and toleration, the assumptions of today’s world and the policies of peace that the United Nations spearheads. Creating optimal conditions for internally displaced persons to return to their homes is the key factor in the process of normalizing relations between Belgrade and Pristina.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)