YouSaid · the spoken record

Zdenka Kramplová

lines on the record: 38
first: 1997-09-24
most recent: 1998-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
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

“I should like to stress that my country, which belongs to the group of small and medium-sized States, is prepared to be fully responsible for bearing its fair share of the global responsibility connected with membership in the Security Council. As we approach the third millennium, a considerable part of humankind is still facing poverty, violence, 24 violations of human rights and the effects of war. The millions of people on this planet affected look to the international community, and the United Nations in particular, with great hope. Whether we will succeed in reforming the United Nations together into a strong, politically efficient and financially healthy system that will be able to meet the expectations of current and future generations depends on the will and commitment of all of us.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The Slovak Republic is sincerely interested in the implementation of the Judgment, which would be based on an agreement with Hungary reached, if necessary, with the further help of the International Court of Justice. An active and effective participation of Slovakia in the United Nations is one of our foreign policy priorities. To achieve this objective, Slovakia meets all its commitments under the United Nations Charter in full and is consistently intensifying its engagement in all areas of the United Nations system. The candidature of the Slovak Republic for a non-permanent seat in the Security Council for the term 2000-2001 is the logical result of this approach.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“We also expect further substantial progress in the discussion on the jurisdictional immunity of States and State property prepared by the International Law Commission. The United Nations contributes not only to the progressive development of international law and its codification but also — in particular through its main judicial authority, the International Court of Justice — to the peaceful solution of disputes between States in accordance with international law. The Slovak Republic has gained its first experience of ICJ proceedings. It welcomed the Court?s Judgment in the case concerning the Gabcˇ'kovo-Nagymaros Project, which confirmed the validity of the treaty between Slovakia and Hungary concerning the construction and operation of the project on the Danube.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“To coordinate drug control activities at the regional level, the Slovak Republic is ready to secure the establishment in Bratislava of a regional United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) office for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. We appreciate that the Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court in Rome was successfully completed, and we believe that in the foreseeable future a permanent criminal court will be established in order to punish the most serious crimes against humanity and, moreover, to prevent them. We believe that progress in the preparation of an international legal document on the elimination of nuclear terrorism will be achieved during this session of the General Assembly.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“A very important element in the process of humanitarian assistance, especially in crisis regions, is ensuring the security of humanitarian personnel, and the Slovak Republic is ready to give its support to all United Nations measures aimed at reinforcing this security. The recent twentieth special session of the General Assembly devoted to countering the world drug problem together was an important milestone in the joint efforts of the international community in the fight against drugs. It is a great achievement that for the first time in history a consensus was reached between producer and consumer countries on the need to eliminate the threat of drugs through parallel and considered action in both priority areas: decreasing the demand for drugs and decreasing the production of drugs.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“In accordance with General Assembly resolution 52/201, the Government of the Slovak Republic offered to host the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bratislava this year. In total 169 parties to the Convention took part in the Conference under the presidency of the Minister of the Environment of the Slovak Republic. The successful outcome of the Conference reaffirmed the commitment of all parties to conserve biological diversity for future generations. The fact that the Government of the Slovak Republic hosted that Conference confirms the importance we attach to the protection of environment and sustainable development. As an emerging donor country, Slovakia is investigating ways of providing humanitarian assistance on a bilateral basis.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“We welcome, therefore, the activities of the 23 Economic Commission for Europe aimed at broadening cooperation with the private business sector and non- governmental organizations. Slovakia is interested in a more intensive participation in the development programmes of the United Nations specialized institutions and is preparing its own concept of development assistance, whose objective is to increase Slovakia?s participation in programmes for developing countries. The Slovak Republic, as a member of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council and the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, takes an active approach to issues of environmental protection and sustainable development.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Both these events represent an appropriate framework and provide the impetus for the further promotion, protection and development of human rights at the threshold of the twenty-first century. In a year which will mark two important anniversaries in the field of human rights, the Government of the Slovak Republic approved the country?s accession to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which I had the honour to sign on 22 September last. The Slovak Republic attaches great importance to international economic cooperation and to the important role of the Economic and Social Council in this process. In the framework of regional cooperation, Slovakia favours respect for the specific needs of individual regions.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“In the process of post-conflict peace-building, it is of the utmost importance that a multifunctional approach in close coordination with regional institutions and non- governmental and humanitarian organizations should be strictly observed. One of the global problems that poses an ever increasing threat to humankind is terrorism. Slovakia has always rejected terrorism and strongly condemns all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, wherever and by whomsoever committed. The joint efforts of all States are a vital precondition for successful fight against this evil. The year 1998 will witness two important human rights anniversaries — the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the fifth anniversary of the World Conference on Human Rights.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Slovakia supports the efforts of the United Nations aimed at conflict resolution through the strengthening of United Nations capacities in the field of preventive diplomacy, early warning systems and effective use of United Nations peacekeeping operations. Slovakia?s active participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations is proof of our continuing commitment. At present, Slovakia is participating in three peacekeeping operations, and it is prepared to provide troops to other missions as well. My country supports the United Nations efforts to strengthen its capacity for rapid deployment of United Nations peacekeeping forces, especially in further developing the concept of United Nations stand-by arrangements, as well as a rapidly deployable mission headquarters.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The ratification of the Ottawa Convention is in the internal legislative process. We believe that the Ottawa process and the Conference on Disarmament are complementary. Slovakia — which has experience in demining devices and technologies, and has capacities in education and training in mine clearance — would like to play an active role in the process of the total elimination of anti-personnel landmines. In the area of biological weapons, the Slovak Republic supports improving the verification system of the Biological Weapons Convention, as well as the elimination of the illegal transfer of these weapons.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“We appreciate the highly qualified and objective expertise of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), both in the field of elimination of the nuclear military threat and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Slovakia fully supported the activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency known as programme “93+2” for strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of the safeguards system. I have the honour to inform the Assembly that the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency approved at its session in September the additional protocol to the safeguards agreement between Slovakia and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Early entry into force of the additional protocol will be a high priority for Slovak authorities. Slovakia pays very close attention to the issue of landmines.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“In any case, much of the tension can be solved through the regular contributions by Member States to the relevant United Nations budgets. The Slovak Republic supports the idea of the exclusively peaceful use of nuclear energy and is a strong advocate of unconditional and universal observance of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Slovakia actively participates in the Preparatory Committee for the 2000 sixth Review Conference of the Parties to the NPT, and in this context fully supports the universality of the NPT and the CTBT. In March of this year, Slovakia completed the ratification process of the CTBT. This confirms our active approach in this area.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The Slovak Republic supports a Security Council reform that would enhance its representative character, its working methods and the transparency of its work, as well as preserve the Council?s capability to act promptly. The reform should result in an adequate representation of individual regional groups and accommodate a legitimate claim of the Eastern European regional Group and other States to a new non-permanent seat in the Security Council. Let us keep in mind that the number of members of the Eastern European Group has doubled over the past few years. 22 Slovakia supports the efforts to reach a consensus on the reform in the area of United Nations financing, favouring the principle of capacity to pay.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“It gives its full support to the swift implementation of the reform measures initiated by the Secretary-General in his basic report on reform. The Slovak Republic welcomes the proposal to designate the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly as the Millennium Assembly. We expect that the Millennium Assembly will provide Member States an opportunity to formulate answers to questions about the strategic goals of the United Nations for the next millennium in the field of international peace and security and economic cooperation. We assume that the report on the role of the United Nations in the twenty-first century that the Secretary-General intends to present to the General Assembly in the year 2000 will provide a thorough evaluation of the results achieved in specific areas of United Nations activities.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“First of all, I wish to congratulate the President on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-third session and to express my sincere belief that under his leadership this session of the General Assembly will carry out successfully the tasks that the international community expects this global forum to deal with. I would also like to thank Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko for his work and contribution to the successful completion of the last session of the General Assembly. In this period of significant global political and economic changes, the world needs a modern and effective United Nations that is capable of dealing with issues of importance to all of mankind in a proper and flexible manner. Slovakia believes that the ongoing process of reform of the United Nations will contribute substantively to this goal.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The Slovak Republic is prepared to contribute to this process so that the United Nations can approach the next millennium as a modern, viable, global body with the adequate authority to fulfil the purposes embodied in the United Nations Charter.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“At the same time, the Slovak Republic supports the creation of effective conditions for tripartite cooperation among Governments, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations. Human rights abuse has been the cause of a number of conflicts in many places on our planet, which are often followed by a humanitarian crisis on a massive scale. Women and children are the most fragile sectors of any afflicted population. We must not forget this fact while pursuing the purposes of the United Nations. I believe that the United Nations reform process will be successfully completed in next few years. I find the Secretary-General’s programme for reform to be an important step in this regard.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Slovakia stresses the need for the consistent implementation of relevant United Nations resolutions. In this regard we support the role of special rapporteurs appointed to selected countries where systematic human rights abuses occur. We acknowledge the results the special rapporteurs have achieved in this field. The Slovak Republic supports the ambitious proposals for restructuring United Nations institutions dealing with human rights in order to create effective conditions for improved protection of human rights. In this connection, we consider it appropriate and necessary to harmonize the activities of the Commission on Human Rights with the work of the relevant expert committees established pursuant to international human rights treaties.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The creation of this centre is a concrete example of the achievement of United Nations reform, in this instance of UNDP’s efforts for decentralization at the country level and cutting the burden of administrative costs. The centre’s foundation has been actively supported by Slovakia, and use has been made of my country’s advantageous position as a bridge between UNDP secretariat activities at Headquarters in New York and UNDP efforts in the countries of Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States region. We are convinced that the presence of the UNDP regional centre in Bratislava will enable Slovakia to be even more active in development cooperation within the United Nations development group. Human rights are a matter of the highest priority among the activities of the United Nations.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“We look forward with anticipation to the special session of the General Assembly on drugs. That session, which will be held next year, should yield concrete results with regard to combating the production of and trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. As we all know, drugs pose a real threat, mainly to younger generations. Since the Slovak Republic’s establishment as an independent State, it has been participating actively in the work of one of the most important multilateral development bodies, namely, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Slovakia has been a member of the UNDP Executive Board since 1993. The UNDP regional centre for Central and Eastern Europe was established in the Slovak capital, Bratislava, in June of this year.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The reform of the subsidiary bodies of the Economic and Social Council and the rationalization of their structure, work and functions require, in our opinion, a careful approach, one to be taken with full respect for their autonomy while aiming at their further rationalization and consolidation. The steps taken so far by the Secretary- General in this field are pointing in the right direction. Slovakia, as a member of the Commission on Sustainable Development and the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme, devoted considerable attention to the nineteenth special session of the General Assembly. Although the special session has not brought the expected results, we consider it an 3 important step in the global discussion on the strengthening of the principles of sustainable development.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The Organization is a unique forum that can facilitate close cooperation and partnership for development among Governments, civil society, the private sector and regional and global organizations. The role of the Economic and Social Council, as set forth 50 years ago in the United Nations Charter, needs to be revised. In a time of changing social and economic- development philosophy, it is necessary to strengthen the policy-management and coordination roles of the Economic and Social Council, as well as its position in the macroeconomic-policy-coordination dialogue.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The Slovak Republic has been striving to strengthen the Convention through its active approach to the work of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. We are proud to state that some of the Organization’s inspectors were trained in facilities provided by the Slovak Republic. We are interested in continuing these activities in order to help the Organization fulfil its verification and preventive functions. Support for economic and social progress is one of the basic missions of the United Nations. We welcome the creation of a new Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and we believe that this will lead to its further streamlining and efficient performance.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“It is important that the technical and formal approach to the work of the Preparatory Committee has been altered, thus establishing favourable conditions for the success of the Review Conference. The Slovak Republic, which uses nuclear energy solely for peaceful purposes, has supported all steps designed to lead to the elimination of nuclear weapons. As one of the 44 countries needed to ensure the Convention’s entry into force, the Slovak Republic is prepared to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) before the end of this year. I would also like to state that Slovakia has been honoured to chair the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organization. This year’s entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention can undoubtedly be considered the most significant event in the field of disarmament.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The Slovak Republic has been continuously engaged in a number of activities that contribute to the alleviation of the consequences of the use of anti-personnel landmines. Reflecting the provisions of the Ottawa convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel landmines, we would like to offer our assistance in mine-clearance programmes by putting at the United Nations disposal a mine-clearance unit that would follow up on the very successful performance of the Slovak Engineer Battalion in former Yugoslavia. We welcomed with satisfaction the conclusions reached at the first session of the Preparatory Committee for the Sixth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Recently, the Slovak Republic, as a new member of the Conference on Disarmament, was honoured to chair that unique multilateral disarmament forum. We are convinced that the Conference on Disarmament must play a further, indispensable role in solving the most important issues of international security, stability, peace, arms control and disarmament. Besides the opening of concrete negotiations on the prohibition of the production of fissile materials for weapons and other explosive devices, we find especially important the question of a global and comprehensive ban of anti-personnel landmines. We understand the efforts to bring this issue to the Conference’s agenda and the Ottawa process to be fully complementary. We highly appreciate the agreement on the text of the Ottawa convention reached recently in Oslo.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“At the same time, the efforts aimed at restructuring the Security Council within a predetermined timetable, even in the absence of a general agreement, might be counterproductive. Since Security Council reform is an extremely important and sensitive issue for the further existence of the Organization, Slovakia prefers a 2 continued and thorough discussion in this regard without an artificial acceleration of the whole process. The change of priorities in international politics after the end of the cold war, in particular the utmost necessity to solve various socio-economic problems, seems to have shifted arms control and disarmament issues out of sight. Concerned about this negative trend, we feel that disarmament should again be given priority in the United Nations agenda.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“A number of stimulating as well as antagonistic opinions reflecting the complexity of the process have been formulated. The most evident example of this is the question of Security Council reform. It is in all our interests that the Security Council’s composition and decision-making procedure reflect the significant changes that have taken place on the international political scene during the last three decades. The Security Council’s reform should result in an enhancement of its legitimacy and representativeness, while maintaining its ability to react promptly. In our view, a new geopolitical situation on the global scene should be reflected in a new concept of the Security Council. Apparently, a decisive part of the general membership is not ready for such a step and political circumstances have not sufficiently matured.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Experience has proven that small and mid-size States are capable of bearing their part of the responsibility for stability and security in individual world regions. In this connection, the Government of the Slovak Republic has decided to present its candidature for a non-permanent seat in the Security Council for the term 2000-2001. We believe that the candidature of the Slovak Republic, which is not currently a member and has no representative in any of the principal United Nations organs, can win the support of the Member States in order to increase the representativeness and democratic nature of this body. Along with the reform measures initiated and undertaken by the Secretary-General within his competence, a discussion of important issues that reside within the jurisdiction of Member States is under way.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Slovakia has been currently contributing its troops and military observers to the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) in Eastern Slavonia and to the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) in Angola. It also takes active part in the work of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, of which it became a member in April this year, and thus contributes to the improvement of the planning and control system of United Nations peacekeeping operations. On this occasion, I can state with full responsibility that the Slovak Republic is interested in and is ready to continue contributing to United Nations peacekeeping operations.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Therefore, we welcome the decision of the Secretary-General to make the Department of Political Affairs the focal point for defining objectives, criteria and operational guidelines in this regard, as well as his intention to strengthen the role of a special representative of the Secretary-General to be responsible for the implementation of peace-building initiatives in the field. At the same time, in our view, it is still necessary clearly to define the competence, interaction and feedback between the Department of Political Affairs and the special representative of the Secretary-General. The contribution of the Slovak Republic to the work of the United Nations rests first of all upon the concrete fulfilment of the primary purposes of the Organization, such as the maintenance of international peace and security.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“As experience in recent years has shown, the ability to respond quickly with adequate mandate and means is a prerequisite to the successful completion of peacekeeping operations. The Slovak Republic fully supports the Secretary-General’s efforts to build up the United Nations standby arrangement system and to establish a rapidly deployable mission headquarters team. We are ready to participate actively in this system while considering the allocation of appropriate means. Post-conflict peace-building is of crucial importance should a conflict resolution achieve lasting results. In recent years, the reconstruction of a conflict-torn society has involved a variety of actions. Many actors have been engaged in this process while lacking integrated coordination.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“For this reason, the General Assembly should no longer postpone its decision on the permanent allocation of Slovakia to group C of the Member States for the financing of United Nations peacekeeping operations. We expect that the General Assembly at its fifty-second session will take a decision confirming the permanent presence of Slovakia in this group. It was also on the understanding of the difficult financial situation of the United Nations that Slovakia, on the eve of the fifty- second session of the General Assembly, paid in full its arrears to the peacekeeping budget for the period 1993- 1996. The maintenance of international peace and security remains one of the main priorities of the United Nations and peacekeeping operations are a key instrument available in this regard.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“We believe the principle of honouring legal obligations — in this case, the payment of assessed contributions — should be a basis for any solution to be adopted, although we understand that a number of countries are in arrears to the Organization because their rates of assessment do not reflect their capacity to pay. Slovakia belongs to a small group of countries — so-called good contributors — having paid its regular budget contributions in full and on time this year. With regard to our peacekeeping- budget assessment, the General Assembly decided to allocate Slovakia to group C of Member States for the period 1993 to 1996. We continue to believe that there is no need to limit this decision strictly to such a short period. Speaking in terms of capacity to pay, Slovakia simply belongs to group C of the Member States.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Though one of the basic goals of the reform is to streamline the work of the Organization, along with cost-saving, the latter should not be the final goal of the reform, since this approach itself does not lead to the strengthening of the United Nations system. Any reform of the Organization which would lead to a weakening of its position is not acceptable. The financing of the United Nations is necessarily an integral part of its reform, since continuation of the current financial crisis has a grave impact on the performance of the Organization.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The Slovak Republic welcomes the Secretary-General’s report (A/51/950) entitled “Renewing the United Nations: a programme for reform” and supports his endeavours to streamline the work of the Organization in order to achieve greater unity of purpose, strategic deployment of resources, coherence of efforts and flexibility in response. The suggestions included in the Secretary-General’s report reveal a firm determination to transform the United Nations into a centre which takes an active part in governing international relations, in accordance with its main principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Mr. President, at the outset, I would like to congratulate you, Sir, on your election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty- second session. I also wish to thank your predecessor, Mr. Razali Ismail, for his excellent work during the last session of the General Assembly. The ongoing session of the General Assembly is crucial in terms of showing the capability of the United Nations to react adequately to changes in the global scene after the end of the cold war, mainly in connection with problems humankind faces on the eve of the new millennium. We all know that if the United Nations is to meet the expectations and needs of the new era, it must go through a process of reform.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)