FOR THE RECORD: ... and to the Security Council of the United Nations (09/17/00)

FOR THE RECORD

... and to the Security Council of the United Nations

Following is the text of the statement by Leonid Kuchma, president of Ukraine, at the meeting of the United Nations Security Council, at the level of heads of state and government, on the topic of ensuring an effective role for the Security Council in the maintenance of international peace and security, particularly in Africa.

Mr. President:

At the outset, let me thank you for your personal contribution towards successful realization of the initiative for convening this meeting.

I consider this forum a confirmation by the Security Council of its willingness to assume the primary responsibility for ensuring the effective functioning of the collective security system in the 21st century.

The exclusive monopoly of the Security Council on authorizing the use of force in international relations, except for cases when the right of self-defense is being exercised, as well as effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression should remain the major foundations of this system.

It is absolutely essential that in the next century this nerve center of world politics preserves its undeniable authority and enhances its legitimacy and effectiveness.

This goal should be attained by elevating the level of confidence placed in the Security Council, by improving the instruments of maintenance of peace at the disposal of this organ and by achieving its comprehensive reform.

Pursuing efforts aimed at resolving conflicts, the Security Council should necessarily address their root causes, revealing the real sources of confrontation. First and foremost, this bears relation to social and economic factors as the most prevalent causes for eruption of violence.

Significant opportunities could be offered by better development of underutilized potential for cooperation between the Security Council and other organs and institutions of the United Nations, first of all with the General Assembly. There is a pressing need for appropriate implementation of the provisions of Article 65 of the Charter, which regulate such cooperation within the Economic and Social Council.

In my address today to the Millennium Summit of the United Nations I spoke in favor of developing a comprehensive conflict-prevention strategy. One of the key components of such a strategy could be the establishment of United Nations regional centers for conflict prevention.

It is also important to expand further the range of instruments required for the maintenance of peace and security. In this context, conflict prevention operations should gain prominence as a qualitatively new model of peacekeeping activities. I am confident that, together with peacekeeping and peace-enforcement operations, this instrument will substantially strengthen the capacity of the Security Council to discharge its responsibilities.

The founding fathers of the United Nations could not even imagine how acute the difficulties related to the application of enforcement measures imposed by the Security Council would become. Sanctions were designed as an important tool to ensure implementation of the council's decisions. However, they eventually turned into ineffective, and sometimes even harmful, instruments. It is, therefore, indispensable to elaborate a clear and coherent methodology for their imposition and lifting, which will take into consideration the concerns of innocent civilian population and the interests of third countries.

In Ukraine we know the price of peace and security. Our people carne through the horrors of the most bloody and destructive war in the history of humankind. This is why Ukraine remains committed to peacemaking and peacekeeping activities under the U.N. banner. As a current member of the Security Council, Ukraine is fulfilling its special responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security by its concrete and tangible contribution to United Nations peacekeeping operations.

I deem it necessary to draw your attention to the so-called frozen conflicts in the post-Soviet space. For almost a whole decade tensions in Abkhazia, Georgia and Nagorny-Karabakh have been destabilizing the situation in this vast region, posing a threat of a wide-scale humanitarian catastrophe. There is also an urgent need to resolve the Transdniester conflict. Postponing the final settlements of such crises may cause irreversible consequences. The poverty and suffering of the civilians in these conflicts make active peacekeeping efforts absolutely indispensable.

Ukraine has come up with the initiative to hold in Yalta, in the near future, the next round of negotiations between the Georgian and Abkhaz sides aimed at confidence-building. Now, it is the turn of the other members of the Security Council.

We are also concerned with the fact that the tight knot of Balkan problems has yet to be untied.

The ability to provide adequate responses to threats to peace and security in every region of the world will always constitute the major prerequisite for reliance on the Security Council.

Today this principle should be upheld with special attention to the problems of the African continent. The challenges facing Africa should be given their maximum consideration. Leaving the long-suffering continent to solve all its difficult problems alone is absolutely unacceptable.

Ukraine is determined to make a practical contribution to the United Nations peace efforts aimed at resolving conflicts in Africa. This determination is reinforced by our aspiration to expand economic cooperation with African countries. Ukraine looks forward to a century of African renaissance and stands ready to advance its arrival.

Mr. President, we have every reason to consider this historic summit of the Security Council as an encouraging and promising beginning, which will be followed by more successful and productive efforts in the new century. Whether as a member of the Security Council, or not, Ukraine will always actively contribute to the effective accomplishment of its honorable and responsible mission.

Thank you for your attention.

| Home Page |