YouSaid · the spoken record

Udovenko

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66
first
1994-09-24
most recent
1995-09-24
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2
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un-general-debate

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  1. “I should like to recall that Ukraine was the first of the CIS countries to become a signatory of the NATO Partnership for Peace programme and the Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation with the European Community. The Ukraine became a party to the Conference on the Pact on Stability in Europe and has put forward initiatives for the strengthening of security and 19 cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe and in the Black Sea region. However, it should be acknowledged that, notwithstanding all their positive features, neither the Partnership for Peace programme nor any other measures undertaken can yet ensure reliable security safeguards for the States concerned.”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)

  2. “There are the activities of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Western European Union (WEU) and the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC), and the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States are also seeking ways to achieve collective security. However, for various reasons none of those structures is able adequately to fill the military and political vacuum created in the region following the disintegration of the USSR and the Warsaw Treaty. That is why Ukraine strongly supports initiatives aimed at all-European cooperation in various fields, including the field of security.”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)

  3. “I should like to express some views concerning Ukraine’s vision of ways to safeguard peace and stability on that continent. The difficulties of making forecasts in the field of international relations can be explained by the number of new risks and challenges to security that have been created by political, economic, inter-ethnic and other contradictions. These have already generated a wave of conflicts to which Europe was not prepared to make an adequate response. The anxiety on the continent of Europe is clearly demonstrated by the ongoing search for new machinery to ensure State security in Eastern and Central Europe, of which Ukraine is also a part. The point is not that appropriate structures to strengthen security in Europe do not exist.”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)

  4. “We are also looking forward to target-oriented activities by the international community designed to create favourable conditions for free access to the world market for exports from countries in this region, particularly Ukraine. In this connection, Ukraine welcomes the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and firmly intends to accede to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/WTO system. We hope that that system will promote trade liberalization and facilitate the creation of an open and transparent system of trade. After all, the intensification of international trade is an integral part of economic development. As a European country, we are primarily concerned with the problem of security in Europe in the broadest sense of that term.”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)

  5. “Those problems are not solely Ukrainian; they have a global dimension as well. In this connection, one positive development is the fact that the problems of countries undergoing the transition to a market economy are gradually coming to occupy a rightful place in the varied activities of the United Nations and its specialized agencies. However, it seems that donor States, while declaring their support for the implementation of reforms in countries undergoing transition, are still being excessively cautious in providing adequate support to specific projects in Eastern Europe and in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Today, that attitude is beginning to pose a serious problem.”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)

  6. “The existence of a group of countries undergoing transition to a market economy has become a real factor in current international relations. Ukraine is a part of that group. Our experience is showing that the transition period will not be smooth, that it will be fairly lengthy and that it will necessitate considerable effort, including international effort. There is, however, no alternative. Those very aspects of statecraft will be the focus of President Kuchma’s attention in the policy statement he will soon deliver to the Parliament. I should also like to note that the difficult economic situation in our country can to a considerable extent be explained by the vast financial burden of nuclear disarmament and the eradication of the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster.”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)

  7. “The President and the new Government are focusing their efforts on those tasks, but I must note that Ukraine’s problem in surmounting its economic crisis has an international dimension as well since, because of its geopolitical situation, the establishment of Ukraine as a sovereign and economically developed State is an important factor for peace and stability on the continent of Europe. There is therefore every reason to assert that support for Ukraine - both political and, especially, economic - is a reliable investment in the strengthening of international security. These facts are gradually being accepted, and the discussion of the Ukrainian question at the Naples Summit Meeting of the Group of 7 was evidence of this trend.”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)

  8. “However, our State, after having made persistent efforts, has felt that only recently has the world community come to understand its position. At the same time, the reality of the current situation of Ukraine is that we are still the subject of pressure and suspicion from outside and that we continue at times to encounter open reluctance to understand the essence of the problems we are facing. This greatly aggravates the present and still difficult economic situation in the country and hinders the process of market reforms. 18 Today, Ukraine is facing the difficult tasks of overcoming an economic crisis, of normalizing its social and economic situation and of creating favourable domestic and international conditions for gradually raising the living standard of its population.”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)

  9. “There can be no doubt whatsoever in this respect: Ukraine has been committed, and will continue to be committed, to fulfilling its international obligations, consistently and in good faith. This is a solid foundation of our foreign policy. The wave of political romanticism yielded to a time of severe trials in the political, social and economic lives of the newly independent States that emerged from the former Soviet Union. Linking the titles of two well- known novels, the overall tenor of the mood of society in the post-communist world might be described as "great expectations gone with the wind". To speak frankly, those feelings were not spared Ukraine, which immediately declared its readiness to cooperate honestly and openly with all interested partners.”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)

  10. “But these relations will by no means be developed at the expense of our contact with our other partners. Ukraine is equally concerned with strengthening relations with the United States; Germany; Canada; the countries of Central and Eastern Europe; the States of Asia - above all, China and Japan; as well as other countries of the Asian-Pacific region, Africa and Latin America. In other words, the range of our foreign policy interests is very broad. I would like to emphasize that at the international level Ukraine will protect its national interests, including its economic interests, with increasing dynamism and pragmatism. These are the corrections that will be made to Ukraine’s foreign policy, which, despite domestic political changes, remains, as President Leonid Kuchma has stated, predictable, consistent and weighted.”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)

  11. “Its main task as a historically ancient but politically young State consists in gradual integration into the European and world political, economic, humanitarian and other processes as a reliable link in a new global system of international relations. Of course, there will be corrections to our policy. The world has changed considerably, even in comparison with that period of time when Ukraine emerged on the political map as an independent State. All of us, including Ukraine, have to take into account new realities and respond to them appropriately. This is particularly so when we deal with the question of the intensification of mutually beneficial and equitable cooperation with the Russian Federation and with the other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)

  12. “We shall continue to follow the path of building an independent State, and a return to the situation which prevailed in the former Soviet Union is impossible. Secondly, what also seems to be an oversimplification is the question of where Ukraine will be, whether in the East or the West, of where it will go. I think it is precisely here in this Hall, which brings together representatives of all continents and regions of the world, that the artificial division into East, West, North and South is especially strongly felt. Today the world is becoming more integrated, and political indicators of geographical affiliation of countries are gradually disappearing. Ukraine, like any other State, cannot simply "go" East or West. It is there, where it has been for ages, and where it will stay for ever.”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)

  13. “Many radical and even diametrically opposed views have been heard - for example, whether the political pendulum in Ukraine will swing to the East or West, or whether Ukraine will remain an independent State and preserve its political sovereignty. In taking the opportunity to speak from this rostrum, I should like to clarify these important issues. First, the State policy of Ukraine will be consistently based on the authority established by the Ukrainian people when it confirmed, almost unanimously, its choice of independent development during the national referendum held in December 1991. This reality is decisive, and rumours that Ukraine will eventually lose its sovereignty are absolutely unfounded.”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)

  14. “17 Radical changes have also taken place in the political, social and economic life of Ukraine, which recently celebrated the third anniversary of its independence. The Ukrainian people, of their own free will, in a truly democratic way, elected Leonid Kuchma as the new President, and has elected the Parliament of the country. New leaders have come to executive power. Naturally, all of these developments are generating broad interest in, and closer attention to, Ukraine. In this connection, different - sometimes arbitrary - predictions have been made concerning the direction of our domestic and foreign policies, and even regarding their possible reorientation.”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)

  15. “The year that has elapsed since the previous session of the General Assembly has witnessed important international developments, in many of which the United Nations was both a catalyst and a participant. They included the historic turn towards peace in the Middle East and the elimination of the apartheid system in South Africa. Positive developments are expected in Ulster and in other hot spots of the planet. The completion of the withdrawal of Russian troops from Germany and the Baltic States has at last marked the end of the European history of the Second World War. In this context, the leaders of the Russian Federation should be given their due for displaying political courage and foresight.”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)

  16. “It is a great honour for me to congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the distinguished and very important post of President of the General Assembly. I am confident that your knowledge, experience and consummate personal skills, which you have demonstrated both as Permanent Representative to the United Nations and as President of the Security Council, will allow the successful resolution of the complex problems the international community is now facing on the eve of the celebration of the United Nations half century. I would like also to express my appreciation to the President of the previous session of the General Assembly, Ambassador Insanally, whose wise guidance resulted in the adoption of an entire set of constructive decisions to the benefit of all Member States of the United Nations.”

    1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)