YouSaid · the spoken record

Milan Kučan

lines on the record: 46
first: 1997-09-24
most recent: 2002-09-24
sittings or episodes: 3
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

“Present generations of statesmen, politicians, academicians and civil society all have a duty to lay the foundations of a global ethic and a United Nations that offers stronger guarantees for a world that is no longer so fiercely divided into peoples, nations and States with the right to a future and those who are robbed of that future by the technological and social gaps of our planet. I am convinced that there will be a kinder future for our world and a more creative future for the United Nations. It is with this in mind that I most warmly welcome our new Member, Switzerland, and soon also, Timor-Leste. These two new Members illustrate very clearly all the disparities in our globalized world. I firmly believe that their work in this Assembly will help transform the United Nations into a community for the entire world.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“The environmental, economic and ethical challenges humanity is facing today require a radical rethinking of global governance and the establishment of global responsibility. This is so much more so since we are faced with the breakdown of regulation and control in global trade, with an inequitable global development machinery that generates misery and humiliation, and that manifests a relentless preference for economic and financial logic over ecological, social and human demands. A positive alternative must be found to these negative aspects of our interdependence.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“That factor can only be a global ethic based on the ancient principle of reciprocity among human beings: do unto others as you would have others do unto you. In times of interdependence among each and every one of us, such values are particularly important. The global ethic should be developed based on this value, for it is a value with deep roots in the world's age-old great religions and civilizations. Based on this value, we will be able to strengthen universal human rights and global social justice, and without that justice, one cannot expect the world to be a safe and peaceful place offering people justified hope that our planet belongs to all of humanity. 3 International terrorism has unveiled the negative aspects of interdependence among our societies. We must now do more to strengthen the positive aspects and to create new ones.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“Let us do more to transform that fact into something that is in keeping with the needs of the people and the rule of individual and collective human rights. Certainly, this cannot be achieved by trying to drive peoples, States, cultures, religions and civilizations away from their own identities, by trying to place them under the common denominator of a single global identity. That would signify the collapse of our human world, bearing disastrous consequences. Today's world, where borders between States and particularly between civilizations are growing less rigid, is a world full of plural identities and of clearly defined national, cultural and religious entities that are beginning to open up to one another. This plurality calls for a unique integrating factor.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“Evil, understood in this way an evil that threatens to use the most atrocious weapons of mass destruction can be eradicated only through concerted action by democratic States under the umbrella of the United Nations. It is precisely in this context that the authority and credibility of the United Nations are on trial. The Organization has proven itself capable of reaching common positions and decisions even on the most demanding issues. We are capable of defining common positions, even concerning the actions of those who do not respect these common decisions. The United Nations now must have the ability not only to speak of those positions, but also to implement them through concerted action. That is the responsibility that all of us face today. Globalization, with all of its positive and negative aspects, is a given fact.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“That these efforts are urgently needed became particularly apparent last year on 11 September, a day of tragedy not only for New York, Washington and the United States in general, but for all humanity. The entire democratic world joined in the fight against international terrorism. Slovenia also did so with great resolve. No one who cared for humanity just stood aside. But as time passed, it became increasingly clear that even the best military weaponry of the anti- terrorist coalition could not reach down to the social roots of this horrendous evil. This evil is craftily taking advantage of the apathy and the anger of people and States without a future. This evil is trying to regain its strength by playing on religious, cultural and civilizational differences, intertwined with the great social rifts in our global world.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“Everyone, in their actions, also has a responsibility towards global society, for in an increasingly integrated world, the actions of one easily affect others. Certain measures of the global community of States in response to the challenges of the twenty-first century, such as the special session on the future of children, the World Summit Sustainable Development and the forthcoming meetings on a better future for Africa are signs that the United Nations is gaining in political and moral clout as an Organization common to all States and as an organization capable of finding the strength to carry out the announced internal reforms. In that context, Slovenia supports the implementation of the Millennium Declaration and the Secretary-General's proposed reforms.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“This ethic does not recognize absolute State sovereignty or absolute non-interference in internal affairs when systematic mass violations of human rights, through State terror, occur. The principle of humanitarian intervention is the beginning of an important process of implementing global ethics in the governance of this globalized and increasingly interdependent world. It is also a clear message to the authors of international law and to international judicial institutions. It is one of the pillars of the next phase of international law, as is the International Criminal Court. No one any longer has responsibility only towards themselves. State sovereignty is no longer untouchable.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“There would be even more systematic violations of human rights in many States and even more wars. In spite of its acknowledged weaknesses and inefficiencies, this world Organization has done great work. I daresay that, throughout its membership, Slovenia, too, has contributed to this through its own active pursuit of the principles of the United Nations. It received widespread recognition for the work it accomplished as a non-permanent member of the Security Council; this is something of which we are particularly proud. 2 The United Nations decisions at the historic Millennium Summit have already placed the Organization in the future realm of our global world. The violence committed by States against their own peoples is now faced with a new force: the ethic of the democratic world.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“It was 10 years ago, immediately following the admission of newborn Slovenia to the United Nations, that I addressed the Assembly for the first time. I did so with great pride, with faith in the United Nations and with gratitude for the chance given to my country to present to the international community its own views on current world affairs, with a sense of responsibility for its actions not only towards its own citizens, but also towards the entire international democratic community. Looking back at the past decade, I can say without the slightest reservation that, without the United Nations, life on our planet would be even more uncertain, social injustice would be even more widespread and global disparities in prosperity even more marked.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“We have stepped onto the path of freedom, and Slovenia has accepted its own share of the responsibility for our global world. I believe that this global world will tend toward a dynamic balance, provided that States — large and small, rich and poor, technologically developed and marginalized — will together seek new solutions. The venue can only be a fundamentally reformed United Nations. It is within such a United Nations that both a durable coalition against terrorism and a durable coalition of common responsibility of all countries for a world with more solidarity and social justice for all humanity and all its parts can be achieved.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“What reforms are needed to achieve this, in order for the United Nations to become this? We cannot wait with the answers. I am also speaking from the experience of Slovenia, which I represent. In gaining independence 10 years ago, we experienced brief but serious violence on our own territory. In our immediate vicinity, South- Eastern Europe, we were faced with one of the most barbaric policies since the Second World War, a policy responsible for genocide and other forms of widespread violence. With independence, Slovenia stepped into a world that is prepared to behave better than the self- enclosed world that the former Yugoslavia had become in the final years of its life, when the equality of rights of people and nations was violated and when hope for a 12 different future was denied.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“We must accept the recognition that every society, including the global one, must subordinate itself to specific rules, or else it will be subjected to the rule of crude force. Our difficulty is that we have overlooked that the world has become a single society full of internal contrasts, which in real life, especially in international relations, recognizes and respects few rules. What we urgently need is the common political will to provide legitimacy to a universal system of institutions and bodies, to which together we have entrusted the power to prescribe common rules. We need common political will to subject ourselves to these rules and to respect them. The actual power to prescribe rules would not be only in the hands of States. Could this also be the United Nations?”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“Therefore, adapting the United Nations to these new circumstances is, in a way, a call of distress. It will not be a simple task. All 189 Members and their representatives are bound primarily to the sovereignty of their own States. However, the world clearly also needs global governance. More than ever, we need the United Nations as a global entity common to all States, an entity that will be able, with the full authority that rests on the global responsibility of States, to take measures to the benefit of dynamic development, a development of balanced forces and effects of the global economy and globalization in general. Otherwise, we will have to state the alternative.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“This applies to a host of phenomena, not just terrorism, but also ecology, food, genetics, finance, the information society and violence. I also see challenges in the lack of communication between the authorities and increasingly global civil movements. Protests from Seattle to Genoa are a powerful warning of the danger of a division into two worlds that are beginning to communicate solely through protests and violence. The world today is clearly different from what it was before. It could be better, but only with an awareness of and mechanisms for assuming global responsibility. This will enable the search for a dynamic balance leaving no room for the chaos that uncontrolled developments and acts of terror lead to. In order to achieve this, we will have to change many things.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“These are politics that ignore the dimension of time and the duration of phenomena, such as the ecological effects of genetic or biomedical interventions that are not apparent immediately, but perhaps only in decades, only with the coming generations. I see challenges in the neglect of a comprehensive and interconnected perspective on phenomena and processes and in the disregard for the way in which they are interconnected. All modern political, social and ecological dramas and conflicts, as well as the global socio-pathological cancers, are a result of the interaction of a range of social forces and elements. These phenomena — including international terrorism — which are like epidemics, cannot be confined within the borders of one or more States.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“However, it assumes no responsibility for people’s social position and prospects for freedom and democracy, for development and the future, for people’s security. This responsibility is left to State administrations. I also see challenges in all kinds of fundamentalism, even in the perverted understanding of competitiveness which leads to production and services with an ever-shrinking labour force, without caring about people and nature, about life on the planet and its future in an economy whose only motive and aim is profit. I see them also in the very pragmatically oriented national and international politics operating in a framework of dramatic simplicity and simplification, and so their euphoric haste does not match their effect.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“We cannot allow terrorism and crime to abuse the opportunities offered by our globalized world before the democratic world itself is even in a position to put these opportunities to good use in finding answers to completely new challenges. I see these challenges in pronounced divisions with global implications — divisions into owners of capital, knowledge, ideas and information technologies, on the one hand, and the billions condemned to ignorance, a life of poverty and vegetating without prospects at the margins of society, 11 on the other hand, in the ever greater financial weakness of many nation-States and whole continents that are left without development potentials or prospects. In its relentless growth in power and authority, global capital has long since gone beyond State borders.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“In particular, cannot systematically violate basic human rights and freedoms through State violence, nor can they allow and encourage activities that threaten the security of other countries and of the international community, all in the name of their own sovereignty, even within their own boundaries. Neither can they ignore such activity by others and shut themselves behind their own borders. Last year’s position on humanitarian intervention was the first step in this direction, yet, unfortunately, not a sufficient one. The escalation of internationally syndicated and organized terrorism demands that further steps be taken.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“They warn us that the global world requires a different perception of the world and its dilemmas, especially of the unequal distribution of poverty and wealth, and that it raises questions to which there are as yet no answers. At the Millennium Summit last year, we came very close to a realistic analysis of some of the major economic, financial, social, cultural, political and ecological effects of the global economy. We have come closer to the important understanding that a global world also requires global responsibility, and that starts with the responsibility of each State. States cannot arbitrarily do things that are in complete conflict with the values of the democratic world.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“The instigators and perpetrators of these despicable acts must be brought to justice, while it is the responsibility of politics to remove the social and political roots of this evil. It is the universal values of all contemporary civilizations, such as the sanctity of life and respect for human dignity, that enable the creation of a global democracy based on a global ethos. Resolute action and attention must focus on those groups and individuals throughout the world who brutally violate these principles and bring chaos, murder and madness into our human world. Sadly, there are enough such people in all cultures and civilizations in all parts of the human world, including the Christian world.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“That is why we are ultimately obliged to avoid dividing cultures along the principle of “us versus them”, dividing races, religions and nations into the categories of civilized and barbaric, and ascribing a priori fundamentalism to any religion or civilization. The United Nations has proclaimed this year the Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations. We should seize this opportunity. The contemporary world is diverse, but all modern civilizations, cultures and major religions respect human dignity and human life. Killing is an aberration anywhere in the world. Sadly, human and social pathology have made killing a lucrative business and given international terrorism its own internal dynamic.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“We will responsibly consider joint measures for a world of more peace, greater freedom, solidarity and security and more social justice for every person and every nation, as well as ever less room for violence. The idea of such a world requires us to avoid the vortex of evil by undertaking a considered and resolute response to the terrorist crime that was committed. The immediate decisive military reaction of the United States of America and other countries of the anti- terrorist alliance was imperative. We cannot simply rest at that, however. The vortex of violence could threaten the democratic values that humanity has set over its long development as the measure of life in human society.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“All our admiration goes to the United States for making possible the normal work of the United Nations and the sessions of the General Assembly despite the recent tragic events and all their global consequences. The tragic crime, which affected the whole world, has brutally confronted us with new, very serious and long- term issues. This year’s general debate is thus an opportunity and a new and great responsibility for us all — a responsibility that must be accepted. Words of condemnation and solidarity cannot be enough. As we sympathize profoundly with the American people, we must also tell the world in one voice that we shall be deliberately and effectively allied in the future, too, and that we will cooperate in the fight against terrorism and in the eradication of the roots of that evil.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“I firmly believe that we, the present generation, will be able to preserve the United Nations as it was created by our forefathers in the turbulent time at the end of the Second World War, as an Organization committed to the principles of peace, cooperation, development and respect for human dignity.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“As a candidate for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council, we undertake in the event of our election to observe the principles of openness and transparency of action, and will strive to strengthen the ties between the Security Council and rest of the membership of the United Nations. May I in conclusion reiterate again the importance of this session of the General Assembly and of the decisions to be taken. We have arrived at a stage where we may see the crystallization of solutions that will prepare the United Nations to cope with the tasks of the next century. It is our responsibility to formulate these solutions in a sufficiently clear and comprehensive manner, and in that way provide for the viable future of our common Organization.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Within the scope of its possibilities, it has also been striving for long- term stabilization of the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the region at large. Through this action and its other international activity, Slovenia has proved to be a factor for peace and stability in Europe. As a Member of the United Nations, Slovenia is actively participating in the discussion on reform, including the issue of reform of the Security Council. Our readiness to contribute, in practice, to the work of the Security Council has been manifested by our cooperation in the peacekeeping operations in Albania and in Cyprus. And last but certainly not least, Slovenia has been paying its membership contributions to the regular budget and to the peacekeeping budget in full and on time.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The recent international action in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania, as examples of regional crises, demonstrates the importance of the participation of regional organizations; such a role has been played by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Slovenia’s readiness to contribute towards implementing the objectives of the United Nations has also been manifested by the candidature of Slovenia for a non- permanent seat on the Security Council for the period 1998- 1999 in the elections to be held at the General Assembly in a few weeks’ time. Slovenia has confirmed its role as a State that has been successfully coping with the issues of development and of good-neighbourly relations.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Operation Alba was conducted on the initiative and under the leadership of Italy, in agreement with the Albanian Government and with the authorization of the Security Council. That operation has shown how quick and determined action taken by a group of countries in the vicinity of the emerging crisis situation, and with the authorization of the Security Council, can prevent armed conflict and potential destabilization in the region. Slovenia took part in that successful operation and is ready to participate in other preventive actions, as well as in other peacekeeping operations. That readiness has been confirmed by the decision of the Security Council to include a Slovenian contingent in the peacekeeping operation in Cyprus.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“3 The activities underway in Bosnia and Herzegovina have assumed the character of a post-conflict action, but their aim is also a preventive one. Experience gained in recent years has shown that conflicts often re-emerge in the absence of appropriate preventive action of a diplomatic, economic or, if necessary, military character. The time to withdraw the international forces from Bosnia and Herzegovina will have to be considered very carefully. Withdrawing too early could lead to a recurrence of the initial situation of instability or of armed conflict. An example of successful preventive action representing an important lesson for the future has been provided by the international operation in Albania this year.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“At the same time, success in those fields falling within the competence of the United Nations is of critical importance for the establishment of lasting peace. Let me take this opportunity to stress that the inevitable starting point for solving the crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the precise identification of the nature of that devastating war, which has not been completely stopped. If there is a lack of willingness to identify the reasons for and the nature of the war, and its aims and protagonists, then the healing will inevitably be a lengthy and expensive process, with many risks to human life and property. One must even envisage the possibility that the search for peace might prove unsuccessful.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Yet peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina is still far from secure. The return of refugees is proceeding slowly, is limited, and is facing hindrances. The authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have not been functioning as stipulated in the peace accord, and the principal war-crime suspects have not yet been transferred to stand trial at the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The United Nations has been performing a number of important tasks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly in the areas of humanitarian aid, unarmed civil police activity and criminal prosecution. The scope of the present engagement of the United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina is, however, is in proportion with the increased coordination of action taken in Bosnia and Herzegovina by other international organizations.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“These include preventive diplomacy, cooperation with the Organization of African Unity, classic peacekeeping operations and the use of measured and focused economic sanctions. The appropriate choice of these methods has enabled the Security Council to formulate relevant approaches to the situations in Liberia, Angola and Burundi. As for some other crisis areas, including the Republic of the Congo, the most appropriate approach still remains to be found. The Security Council is also participating in settling issues which arise after the military conflicts. In Europe, the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina provides an example of such involvement. Following the conclusion of the Dayton agreement, which halted the war, the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina has stabilized to a certain extent.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“These situations are now assuming larger dimensions than in any other period of United Nations activity to date. The credibility of the Organization and the functioning of its main bodies must be repeatedly proven. Special importance in this respect must be attached to the activities of the Security Council, which, in accordance with the Charter, bears primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Today, expectations regarding action by the Security Council are more realistic than they were several years ago. However, they are no less demanding. The Security Council is taking an active part in issues concerning international peace on the African continent. It has proved its ability to apply a variety of the methods that are at its disposal in accordance with the Charter.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The formation and implementation of the regional arms control and disarmament regimes represent an effective mechanism in strengthening security. The experience gained during the Balkan crisis, which posed the most serious threat to peace in Europe since the foundation of the United Nations, strengthens our belief that lower armament thresholds should be imposed. More weapons can only present greater temptation and danger. None of the endeavours aimed at modernizing the Organization by providing relevant answers to global issues will have any guarantee of success if the United Nations proves unable to contribute to the solution of those crisis situations that pose a threat to international peace and that generate humanitarian problems.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“I wish to place special emphasis on the importance of the early adoption of the international convention on a comprehensive ban on anti-personnel landmines and their destruction. Slovenia has joined those countries that have already renounced their use, transfer and production, and has been participating actively in the Ottawa process since its inception. Negotiations concerning these issues have just been brought to a successful conclusion at the diplomatic conference in Oslo. Early in December of this year, Slovenia will join those who intend, in the presence of the Secretary-General, to sign the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Landmines and on Their Destruction. Disarmament efforts constitute an important element in the strengthening of international security.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“We expect it to be implemented effectively, although this will be feasible only if the Convention is ratified by all the remaining countries, particularly those disposing of large stockpiles of chemical weapons or of resources for their production. 2 The indefinite extension of the Treaty on the Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the conclusion of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty last year have considerably reduced the dangers created by nuclear weapons. But the time has come to take further steps. We need to ensure universal adherence to the ban on nuclear tests and to accelerate negotiations for the ban on the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons. Endeavours towards the reduction of nuclear-weapon arsenals should be intensified in order to ensure their gradual elimination.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“It is our hope that the discussions on Security Council reform, which have been going on for several years now, will lead to appropriate decisions that have the genuine support of the membership of the United Nations. Slovenia also endorses the approach taken by the Secretary-General in the field of disarmament. Disarmament has been one of the priority goals of the United Nations since its foundation. We have good reason to be satisfied, since disarmament efforts have registered considerable progress with respect to weapons of mass destruction. The Chemical Weapons Convention, signed four years ago, entered into force this year.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Robinson has already won worldwide recognition, and we wish her every success and look forward to her proposals for improvements in the field of human rights. Reform of the Security Council constitutes an important part of the reform of the United Nations. The period following the end of the cold war only reconfirms the importance of the effective functioning of the mechanisms of collective security. However, it also calls for changes in the composition of the Security Council and for the improvement of its working methods. Slovenia is committed to a reasonable and balanced increase in the number of permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council, to a restriction on the use of the veto and to greater transparency in the functioning of the Council.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Observance of human rights must be closely linked with the promotion of social progress and the eradication of poverty in order to secure human dignity, essential social security and development. Furthermore, this would substantially contribute to the elimination of political tensions and of the root causes of threats to international peace. Should the United Nations fail to ensure respect for human dignity and the protection of human rights, its basic mission will not be fulfilled. The new High Commissioner for Human Rights will certainly assume an important role in the search for solutions to salient issues. We note with pleasure that it is Mrs. Mary Robinson, until recently the President of Ireland, who has been appointed to this post. Mrs.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Slovenia agrees with the suggestion of the Secretary- General that human rights should be integrated into all principal activities of the United Nations, such as peace and security, economic and social affairs, development cooperation and humanitarian affairs. This approach promises a significant improvement in the activities of the United Nations in these areas. It would also lead to increasingly comprehensive United Nations activities in the field of human rights. Respect for human rights is achieved not only through the functioning of instruments to monitor compliance with international treaties but also through political, social and economic measures that allow human rights to become an integral part of social development and a part of the everyday life of each individual.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Its main value is that it offers the possibility of concrete decisions while remaining open to new ideas and proposals. The proposals for promoting sustainable development, defined as a priority task by the Secretary-General himself, deserve careful examination. The impression is that these proposals are headed in the right direction, although clearer answers to questions on development financing will be required. The “development dividend” created by the streamlining of the Secretariat will not be able to provide all the answers we need. Concrete proposals will be needed to define more accurately the tasks of the proposed office for development financing, which would encourage innovative means of mobilizing new financial resources for development.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Another important requirement for the success of this reform programme is for the United Nations to take its decisions promptly and on time. The past years have made possible all-round discussion about reform. And now is the time for decisions: Slovenia believes that major decisions should be taken during the first part of the present session of the General Assembly. The President of the General Assembly will play a significant role with regard to those decisions that cannot be postponed. We fully support and encourage you, Sir, in your assumption of an active role and in your determined management of the decision-making process. Slovenia supports the proposals contained in the Secretary-General’s report on a programme for reform. This project deserves all our attention and assistance.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“We, the representatives of the Member States and the peoples of the United Nations, are responsible for decisions that will give impetus to the necessary reforms and enable the Organization to deal with the tasks of the coming century. Our approach should not be based primarily on calculations of what individual Member States might gain from the reform. It should above all be based on an assessment of how to reform the Organization so that it will better serve all of us. This will be possible only if the Organization becomes better able to fulfil its basic tasks — the maintenance of international peace and security and comprehensive economic and social development, particularly in developing countries — and to ensure broad respect for the promotion and protection of individual and collective human rights.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Today, we have before us a comprehensive set of proposals by the Secretary- General in “Renewing the United Nations: A Programme for Reform” (A/51/950). This document proves that the discussions held within the last two years, and the experience gained in recent decades, have helped the new Secretary-General to prepare, within a few months, concrete proposals providing a basis for further decisions. Slovenia joins those who have expressed their appreciation to the Secretary-General for the impressive work he has performed in the first months of his mandate. This work has included concrete measures for the functioning of the Secretariat and proposals for reform. We are well aware, however, that the responsibility now lies with us.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Please allow me at the outset, Sir, to express my sincere congratulations on your election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty-second session. The expectations of this session are great and the tasks demanding; however, your experience and political wisdom are a guarantee that they will be fulfilled. I would like to take this opportunity to thank His Excellency for Razali Ismail, Ambassador of Malaysia, for his energetic and successful presidency of the fifty-first session. Almost two years have passed since we, Heads of State and Government of the United Nations Member States, confirmed our commitment to the idea of reform in this very Hall. This reform should contribute to the accomplishment of the mission of the United Nations in the current international situation as well as to greater efficiency of the Organization.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)