YouSaid · the spoken record

Janez Drnovšek

lines on the record: 117
first: 1993-09-24
most recent: 2004-09-24
sittings or episodes: 8
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

“There are more than enough signals that it is now high time for coordinated international action.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“At the same time, however, it is increasing the differences between rich and poor — between those who are sharing in the positive effects of globalization and those who are being pushed even further to the margins. Frequently we forget that not even those who derive the greatest benefit from globalization can protect themselves from its negative effects. Not even the richest and most technically advanced of us can isolate ourselves from international terrorism or from the effects of climate change and extreme poverty. For that reason, our common commitment and responsibility must be to ensure that all people benefit from the positive effects of globalization, and that, through our joint efforts, we ensure the protection of the environment. We can achieve this only through the broadest possible partnership and solidarity.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“In the past year we have witnessed major progress on the part of the countries in the region. However, in some areas we also saw a resurgence of the dangers created by still- unresolved inter-ethnic issues and a lack of socio- economic prospects. The goal of attaining democratic standards, including in the areas of human rights and the protection of minorities, must remain at the centre of our efforts. At the same time, however, we have to note that certain unresolved status questions hamper the political and economic consolidation of the region. We will thus have to devote greater attention to resolving those questions. Globalization is erasing geographical boundaries and reducing the physical distances between people.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“The complexity of modern threats to world peace and security also require a strengthening of the cooperation between various regional organizations and the United Nations. In this respect, we welcome the open debate in the Security Council on this subject. Such cooperation is especially welcome in cases where regional intervention can be more rapid and effective in conflict prevention and in post-conflict peace- building. Next year Slovenia will assume the presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and in that capacity as well we will strive for a further intensification of the good cooperation between the two organizations. In that spirit, the European Union is assuming increasing responsibility for stabilization and progress in the countries of south-eastern Europe.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“Non-governmental organizations can contribute to solutions through innovative approaches and by going beyond the limitations of established bureaucratic frameworks. They can help to create a critical mass of awareness regarding the urgent need for change and the elimination of global imbalances. By incorporating the contribution of various segments of global society into the work of the United Nations, we will make it more sensitive to the actual problems of people in various parts of the world. In that context, we welcome the report of the Panel of Eminent Persons on United Nations-Civil Society Relations, since it sets out a range of useful proposals regarding the contribution of non- governmental actors.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“They cover a whole range of internal tensions and conflicts within countries, on the one hand, and transboundary threats such as international terrorism, environmental pollution and the asymmetrical effects of globalization, on the other. In modern threats to international peace and security, States are not the only players. For that reason alone, States cannot on their own provide a satisfactory response to them. Intergovernmental cooperation needs to be supplemented through the inclusion of various non- governmental organizations and global civil society. I would like also to highlight the responsibility and potential of transnational corporations to contribute to protecting the environment and to eliminating the tensions caused by global competitive models.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“Slovenia supports the efforts to revitalize the General Assembly and acknowledges the achievements of Julian Hunte, President of the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session, in that area. We eagerly await 32 the report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change at the end of the year, and we express our willingness to cooperate fully. We hope that, on the sixtieth anniversary of the United Nations, we will see such changes, which will ensure for this global Organization a central place and the greatest possible effectiveness in performing its mission. Increasingly, threats to international peace and security are taking on new forms, which for a long time now have not been limited to the danger of aggression by one country against another.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“At the same time, we express our continued support of the International Criminal Court, which represents an important instrument for the exercise of the rule of law and human rights. Only a multilateral response to modern challenges can be effective. Of all existing organizations, the United Nations is without doubt the most important and most appropriate for seeking such responses. However, it is in need of institutional reform, so that its structure — the structure of 60 years ago — can now better reflect the realities of today’s world. Solutions to the burning issues facing humankind must be sought within the United Nations system, otherwise solutions will be imposed outside it. Frequently, that will undoubtedly be to the detriment of human development.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“The increasingly direct contacts among cultures and civilizations bring new challenges and new opportunities. Let us exploit them for mutual enrichment and the formulation of a common consciousness of humankind. We will be able to do that only with the presumption of radical equality and the tolerant acceptance of plurality in human values. The boundaries of the plurality of those values are delineated by fundamental human rights and freedoms. The United Nations plays a central part in asserting them internationally. Slovenia welcomes the start of work by the new High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, and assures her of our full willingness to cooperate.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“When we combat the universal evil of terrorism, we should not do this at the expense of the existing legal standards of human rights and international humanitarian law. Any lowering of these standards will be repaid to us in a reduction of the legitimacy of international action — and consequently in a creation of fertile ground for further attacks on human security. We should also draw attention to the responsibility of countries, in accordance with the principles of good governance, to ensure for their citizens the necessary conditions for a secure and decent life. In that context, we must express our concern at the humanitarian situation in Darfur, and we welcome the efforts of the United Nations and the international community to seek a way out of the crisis.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“It is time for us to realize the urgent need for change in world relations, and to summon the necessary will to put these changes into effect and thereby raise international cooperation to a new level. The past year was again marked by international terrorism, which claimed countless innocent lives. We witnessed with pain the tragedies in Beslan, Moscow, Madrid, Istanbul, Riyadh, Haifa and elsewhere. International terrorism is erasing the boundary between peace and war. The common fight against international terrorism and its origins must remain one of the priority tasks of individual Members and of the entire United Nations. This also applies to preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The unanimous Security Council resolution is a welcome step towards effective cooperation in this area.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“In this spirit, Slovenia supports the report of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization and its emphasis on the urgent need to ensure the conditions for a just and fair globalization. The Millennium Goals represent a major commitment to resolving problems of the modern world. But the developmental goals for bridging the gap between rich and poor are not being realized to a satisfactory extent. Existing international mechanisms and institutions are not ensuring that the trends of increasing global imbalance can be turned around for the better. We need change that will break through the inertia of established systems of operation. And for this we need new approaches: introducing innovative sources of financing world development can be one such approach.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“Through the founding of the United Nations almost 60 years ago, humankind raised its mutual cooperation to an entirely new level. 31 Prior to that, humankind painfully came to realize, through a catastrophe of unimaginable dimensions, the inseparable link between its fate and the urgent need for international cooperation. Today the fate of humankind is even more crucially linked than ever before. The boundaries between the problems of “others” and “our” problems are being increasingly erased. This applies to a wide range of areas: from security and social welfare to the economy and the environment. For this reason, world problems demand solidarity and the additional commitment of the international community to help those in need and to ensure that everyone will share in the fruits of technological progress.”
2004-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 59 (2004)
“We must respond to the new challenges of globalization by strengthening our efforts to ensure that the values that the United Nations has done so much to develop are also globalized: international peace and security, respect for human rights, solidarity and environmental protection. The United Nations must continue to play a leading role in that all- important process. To that end, it is our responsibility to make the United Nations capable of enacting those values and hence its admirable purpose thereby making the world a better place in which to live.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“On the basis of the experience it has gained to date, the United Nations may do well to consider expanding its own global network of universities. Such institutions would be subordinate to national legislation and would offer a high quality education in the spirit of the United Nations. Such a policy would have numerous benefits. Students would learn a great deal about the United Nations, while the United Nations would be contributing to increasing the level of education, as well as disseminating its core values. Globalization has opened our eyes to the vital realization that the whole human race is interdependent in its very essence.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“A number of questions and proposals relating to the revitalization and reform of the General Assembly have already been identified, and they have the support of the majority of Member States, including Slovenia. They now need to be put into practice. Let me also reaffirm Slovenia's belief that the Security Council must be enlarged to include representation for the countries that have the most responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. At the same time, there must be adequate representation for the rest of the international community in order to give the Council a satisfactory level of legitimacy. Putting aside the changes required in the functioning of the United Nations, it should be pointed out that many misconceptions about the United Nations stem from a lack of information about the Organization.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“The objective increase in global interdependence requires a strengthened role for the global Organization. To that end, we must revitalize the United Nations and adapt it to meet new challenges. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has accomplished a great deal thus far in the area of rationalizing United Nations operations and increasing efficiency. We 3 congratulate him on those achievements and will support him in his continued efforts to that end. We also welcome wholeheartedly his intention to establish a high-level panel of eminent persons to look at current challenges to peace and security and to review the functioning of the major bodies of the United Nations with a view to recommending ways of strengthening the Organization.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“We must move beyond a developmental pattern that worsens differences and tensions. Instead we have to ensure sound prospects for all, including those in the so-called third world. In the same vein, we must have international trade rules that enable less developed countries to use their resources to the maximum benefit. The collapse of negotiations in Cancun should be taken seriously. Developed countries should respond by accepting more of the requirements put forward by developing countries. The Millennium Declaration and its Millennium Development Goals are an important response to those challenges. We must therefore contribute what we can to achieving those objectives. I would like, at this point, to make special mention of the fight against HIV/AIDS. I warmly welcome the special session of the General Assembly dedicated to that issue.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Nor can we neglect the region of South-Eastern Europe, which posed one of the most serious threats to global peace and security throughout the 1990s. South-Eastern Europe is now peaceful. However, the success or failure of its post-conflict stabilization is still dependent on the active involvement of the international community. We must therefore devote sufficient attention to political and social consolidation in that region. The world cannot respond to the Iraqi crisis by reducing that issue to one of military security, or even by engaging in the increasing militarization of international security. We must focus on the source of threats to international security. We must work hard towards responsible and sound development that does not widen the gap between rich and poor.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Performing that role would be the best means of paying tribute to the representatives of the United Nations who tragically lost their lives in Iraq, including Sergio Vieira de Mello and his colleagues. They will live on in our memories as well as in our actions. We should not allow the focus on the most visible crises and on the fight against terrorism to lead to the neglect of other dangers to global peace and security. A single example of that would be the areas of Africa that require assistance in both ending conflicts and tackling the root causes of such unrest. Even Afghanistan, where so recently all eyes were focused, has faded from our minds. Yet there is a clear danger that the chronic instability of that country could revert to devastating civil war.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Those events now illustrate the limits of engaging unilaterally, given the immense challenges in the area of international security and the inherent limits of unilateralism itself. The complexity of the post-conflict reconstruction and revitalization of Iraq demands the widest possible support from the international community and Iraqis themselves. The United Nations is the only body capable of serving as the embodiment of such support. Its role in Iraq must become more active while retaining its autonomy. Only a strong United Nations with a broadly defined mandate will be able to fulfil the role we require of it, namely, to serve as a factor for stability in Iraq and in the entire region.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Sometimes we cannot avoid the Hobbesian dilemma between security and freedom. Still, we must be aware that the sacrifice of freedom for security frequently results in achieving neither. We must therefore ensure that international commitments to respect human rights are upheld. The international community has taken an important step in the protection of human rights with the creation of the International Criminal Court. It is our sincere hope that the most serious crimes against humanity will not go unpunished and that the Court will succeed in putting an end to such crimes through its independent operation. Over the past year, the international community's focus has been on Iraq. At first the course of events with regard to Iraq revealed the limitations of multilateral cooperation and decision-making.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Economic, inter- ethnic and religious tensions are no longer limited to single States or regions, but can now have potentially 2 global effects. The most drastic warning of that became clear in the terrorist attacks on the United States. The Iraqi crisis and other areas in turmoil offer further warnings in that respect. There is no doubt that we can only effectively fight international terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction through the broad cooperation of many countries. The United Nations played a central role in building an international coalition against terrorism, and it must continue to play that role. As we fight against the universal evil of terrorism, we must ensure that our eyes remain focused on upholding the great gains of our civilization. Human rights take pride of place among those achievements.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“In a time of growing global interdependence there are more and more problems that countries cannot solve alone, or even in cooperation with a smaller number of other countries. The multilateralism of the United Nations must therefore not be built on values that promote the short- term benefit of individual countries or interest groups. Instead, it must be grounded in the awareness that no one can be satisfied in the long term if we are surrounded by people living in destitution and without even the basic necessities of human dignity. Values grounded in that awareness must become an inseparable component of relations between countries as the global interdependence of the human race increases. That increasing global interdependence is also evidenced in the sphere of security, the most fundamental pillar of human welfare.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“The United Nations is a great and good idea, born of human suffering and the universal desire for a better world. Despite the many difficult challenges it has faced throughout more than half a century of its history, it has always had an important role to play. It has succeeded because it has been able to adapt and because, on meeting new obstacles, it has found a modus operandi to achieve its objectives, although not always to the desired extent. Particularly worthy of mention are its achievements in peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and the development of international law and the universal values that international law upholds. The role that the United Nations has played to date is clear proof of the fact that not every issue facing the international community can be resolved unilaterally, or even bilaterally.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“If it lives up to its early promise — and we intend to work hard to make sure that it does — the Stability Pact could be the key factor in bringing lasting peace, economic recovery and development to a very troubled neighbourhood. That such a wide range of States and international organizations — not least the United Nations — have committed themselves to helping in this very ambitious task gives us grounds for hope. In conclusion, I would like to return to the question with which I started: at the end of the millennium, how does the human race stand? Are there grounds for hope? Do we have the institutions and strategies needed to deal with our problems? If not, can we modify and redesign them? Even in the face of tragic conflicts, I believe that the answer to these questions must be “yes”.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Our aim is to help Bosnia and Herzegovina and other mine- affected countries in the region get rid of those lethal, hidden weapons, and to help those who have been wounded by them. In only the first year of its existence, the International Trust Fund has achieved many positive results in Bosnia; it is now extending its activities to Kosovo. There are many ways in which United Nations Member States can contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security. I would like to point out that Slovenia has joined a number of other nations in committing itself to tackling the security challenges of South-Eastern Europe. In establishing the Stability Pact, the international community has formed a framework intended to enable the concerted and sustained action necessary to stabilize the region.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We also hope that the forthcoming Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will represent a decisive step in the strengthening of the non-proliferation regime, and that progress will be made towards the objective of nuclear disarmament. I strongly believe that States Members of the United Nations and the international community as a whole must continue efforts to strengthen the prohibition of land mines, which is one specific front in protecting the physical security to which I referred. Last year our Government established an International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victim Assistance in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We have increased our participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations — and are committed to further increasing our participation in the near future — not only in terms of military personnel but also of civilian police and humanitarian aid workers. Disarmament efforts are a vital ingredient in the maintenance of international peace and security. The achievements of past years have been considerable, especially in such areas as chemical weapons and the comprehensive ban on nuclear weapon testing. However, there is a need to strengthen disarmament work, in the area not only of weapons of mass destruction but also in reducing flows of conventional arms. We hope that the Conference on Disarmament will be strengthened as an effective disarmament negotiation body.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Peacekeeping operations have in recent years become increasingly multidimensional: they encompass not only demanding military tasks but also a variety of other functions, such as civilian police activities, support for humanitarian assistance, practical disarmament measures, demobilization and integration of former combatants, and enhancing and monitoring human rights. 16 I should like to avail myself of this important occasion to affirm that Slovenia considers peacekeeping to be one of the key instruments available to the United Nations in discharging its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“In this regard, Slovenia attaches particular importance to the need to ensure more effective, comprehensive and efficient delivery of international justice. We are supportive of the two existing United Nations International Criminal Tribunals and of the ongoing process designed to give birth to a permanent International Criminal Court. To this end we have begun the legislative procedures necessary to ratify the Rome Statute. We are also contributing to efforts to complete the mandate of the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Determined and united action by the international community is needed to ensure that the existing norms of human rights are fully observed. Those who commit war crimes and crimes against humanity must be brought to justice. This is primarily the responsibility of States, which must act both individually through their national systems of justice, and collectively through an effective international justice system. Failure to act is no more and no less than an invitation to those capable of creating new, even more serious cycles of human tragedy to do just that. Whether there is to be human progress and development depends on the result of this confrontation between the rule of international law and those who stand to benefit directly from lawlessness. International indifference can only reward such people.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We note the increased readiness and determination of regional organizations to take on their share of responsibility for the maintenance of regional peace and security. As many examples of fruitful collaboration attest, relations between the Security Council and these regional organizations are relations not of competition but rather of cooperation. We therefore commend the increased role of regional organizations under Chapter VIII of the Charter. Let me continue by presenting some elements that we must consider in any international response to the changing nature of armed conflicts. There is an unacceptably wide — even a growing — gap between the existing norms of international humanitarian and human rights law and common situations on the ground: human rights are frequently and openly violated.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Finally, in post-conflict situations, such as Kosovo, continued coordinated action by the international community is necessary. It is only by working in concert that the United Nations, regional organizations and other international players can be effective. Only in this way can the difficult goals that have been set be achieved. These goals include bringing political and economic stabilization, democratization, the protection of human rights to the territory in question and establishing a functional legal system there. The changing nature of armed conflicts is also changing the role of the Security Council as it discharges its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“As an elected member of the Security Council, we are contributing to the maintenance of world peace and security. We are cooperating actively in the resolution of crises in South-Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. We believe that special importance should be attached to preventive action in situations posing a potential threat to international peace but which have not yet developed into armed conflict. Where situations have already escalated into armed conflict, no effort should be spared in finding a peaceful and timely resolution. We recognize the recent Security Council mission to Jakarta and Dili, in which Slovenia took part, as an innovative approach by the United Nations in dealing with crisis situations. Clearly, we welcome this.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Preventive diplomacy, preventive deployment, preventive disarmament and post-conflict peace-building are the orders of the day. We have to ensure respect for human rights. We are firm in our belief that a determined commitment to promote and protect human rights has to be an underlying principle for the activities of the United Nations at the threshold of the new millennium. We have to create conditions for good governance, the rule of law, sustainable development and social justice. All of these tasks and many others require creative thinking and bold action. Solving these thorny problems is a prerequisite for peace and prosperity. This is also the way to prevent conditions which directly feed the flames of the conflicts that I have described.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“This turn-of-the-century crime wave cries out for new approaches and new ways of protecting vulnerable civilian populations. Armed conflicts have in fact become a problem for humankind, not just for the nation or nations directly concerned. The international community must innovate as it seeks to solve these pressing humanitarian problems. Our basic aim has to be human security, and here I mean physical and not just legal security. Slovenia welcomes 15 and participates in the initiatives of like-minded countries which are determined to give full meaning and specific practical expression to the concept of human security. In addition, as one answer to these challenges, new and more sophisticated concepts of peacekeeping operations are being developed. New methods of conflict prevention should also be explored.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We have seen this phenomenon in almost all of the armed conflicts of recent times — in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Afghanistan and, most recently, in East Timor. How should the international community react to gross violations of human rights — violations that amount to threats to international peace and security? When and how can the international community seek to establish that a sovereign Government cannot, or does not want to, prevent a humanitarian catastrophe? When and by what criteria does it decide to use its instruments of enforcement? All United Nations Member States must think hard about these questions. We are grateful to the Secretary- General, who made, at the beginning of this debate, a significant contribution to such thinking.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Today, these types of wars amount to more than 90 per cent of those raging in the world. To make matters even worse, the number of civilians killed in these nominally “internal” wars is sharply increasing. A new kind of warfare is developing in which civilians are a primary strategic target. “Ethnic cleansing”, massacres and a horrifying variety of war crimes have become weapons for achieving political, economic and military goals. Ethnic, religious, national and social inequalities are frequently used as a smokescreen to hide the reality of massacre and conquest from the rest of the world. Furthermore, these inequalities are exploited by ruthless leaders, who use them as a tool to achieve very concrete aims.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“I speak here not of our situation as individuals or even as nations, but as a race. There are many signs of progress, and there are reasons for hope. However, the ultimate goal of world peace still seems elusive. The number of conflicts is significantly increasing. All over the world, millions of civilians are the victims of well-planned and systematic policies of killing, displacement, property destruction and intimidation. At the end of last year, the number of people worldwide who had been evicted from their homes stood at more than 21 million. East Timor and Kosovo are just two tragic examples of typical cases of contemporary armed conflicts. These are conflicts frequently take place within what the outside world recognizes as State borders, rather than between previously established States.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Let me take this opportunity to congratulate you, Sir, and your country, Namibia, on your election as President of the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly. I am convinced that your experience and diplomatic skills will help this General Assembly to fulfil its important tasks. I would also like to thank the outgoing President, Mr. Didier Opertti of Uruguay, for the guidance he provided to the fifty-third session of the General Assembly. Let me also take this opportunity to warmly welcome the Republic of Nauru, the Republic of Kiribati and the Kingdom of Tonga, which have just joined the United Nations family. We are gathered here at the threshold not just of a new century but of a new millennium. It is appropriate, therefore, that we take advantage of this important occasion to reflect upon our situation in the world today.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We believe that such basic issues of international security as the issue of nuclear arms need to be addressed in a realistic and comprehensive manner.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Slovenia demonstrated its determination to contribute to nuclear disarmament by joining seven other non-nuclear countries — Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, and Sweden — in launching the joint declaration of eight Ministers for Foreign Affairs entitled “Towards a nuclear-weapon-free world: the need for a new agenda” [A/53/138]. The prime goal of our action was to start new efforts for nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament. We, the representatives of eight countries, are firm in our efforts to enable forthcoming generations to enjoy a world free of nuclear weapons. This is the time for concrete action and visionary initiatives. The evolution of the international system requires both. Slovenia is aware of this important need.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“I would like to take this opportunity to invite other countries to join us in this noble effort. At the end of the cold war, many countries anticipated the end of the nuclear era. We were expecting an accelerated process of elimination of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, and notwithstanding important successes in the reduction of nuclear arms, the proliferation of nuclear weapons has increased in recent years. Slovenia strongly deplores nuclear tests and appeals to all countries to end their military nuclear programmes.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“7 The signing of the Ottawa Convention was an important step forward towards the total ban of anti- personnel landmines. We all have to start a global process of demining and mine clearance operations in thousands of mined areas all over the world. At the same time, the process of the physical and mental rehabilitation of millions of mine victims throughout the world should start as soon as possible. Slovenia has already joined this process. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia established the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The main purpose of the Fund is to raise financial resources and organize demining operations and a programme of rehabilitation for mine victims from Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Slovenia strongly supports the work of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda and is pleased to see the first ever verdict on the crime of genocide handed down by an international criminal court. We also see this as the most gratifying way to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The successful completion of the United Nations Diplomatic Conference on the establishment of an International Criminal Court on 17 July of this year is a historic step towards making the rule of law and human rights truly universal. We hope that this will help provide justice for victims, limit impunity and deter acts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the next century.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Fifty years have passed since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a historic document that recognized the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. This is an appropriate time to reflect on what has already been achieved and what still remains to be done in the field of human rights. This is the time to reconfirm our commitment and show our determination to promote and protect the whole spectrum of human rights — civil and political, as well as economic, social and cultural. We believe strongly that the promotion and protection of human rights is a legitimate concern of the international community and calls for a high level of international attention and cooperation.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“However, in many ways reform of its 50-year-old structure would greatly enhance its effectiveness. Slovenia shares the view of the majority of Member States that the Security Council also needs to be and should be reformed. It should become more representative and more up to date by expanding the number of its non-permanent as well as permanent members. It should become more effective in its decision- making. Last but not least, it should become more transparent, for its decisions affect all the Member States. This year?s session of the General Assembly will be marked significantly by the commemoration of an important event, which continues to be an important source of inspiration for United Nations activities today.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“This is a prerequisite for the process of the return of refugees to start. The United Nations has the means to organize an effective international action for the maintenance of peace. The Security Council is addressing most of these problems. At the moment, Slovenia is proud to be a non-permanent member of the Security Council. We are doing our best to contribute to the common effort to ensure that peace is maintained, international obligations respected, justice done and innocent lives saved wherever and whenever possible. Slovenian armed forces already participate in actions to consolidate peace, security and stability. The conduct of peace-support operations is an expression of Slovenia?s political will and a reflection of the readiness of our armed forces. The wealth of experience the United Nations has accumulated is impressive.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“In fact, there will be no reconciliation until all war criminals are brought to justice. To this end, we expect the cooperation of all countries concerned. The situation in Kosovo has been giving rise to legitimate international concerns for quite some time now. Serious violations of human rights have been reported for years. In recent months the population of Kosovo has been subjected to a campaign of terror and forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in the woods and mountains. The international community should prevent humanitarian catastrophe this winter and force all the parties in the conflict to face their responsibilities. All forms of violence against the civilian population in Kosovo must stop. The Kosovo population needs a ceasefire and needs negotiations to start now.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)