United Nations A/63/PV.11 General Assembly Official Records Sixty-third session 11th plenary meeting Friday, 26 September 2008, 9 a.m. New York President: Mr. D’Escoto Brockmann ........................... (Nicaragua) In the absence of the President, Mr. Hausiku Now, if the Assembly will permit me, I should (Namibia), Vice-President, took the Chair. like to continue in my native language. (spoke in Montenegrin; interpretation provided by the The meeting was called to order at 9.05 a.m. delegation) Address by Mr. Filip Vujanović, President As the youngest United Nations Member, of Montenegro Montenegro has left its mark on the international scene. It gained its statehood centuries ago and The Acting President: The Assembly will now democratically restored it in 2006. For us, statehood hear an address by the President of Montenegro. represents political freedom, but also political Mr. Filip Vujanović, President of Montenegro, was responsibility. Both are qualities that we look for and escorted into the General Assembly Hall. find in the United Nations: in the spirit of its Charter, and in the promotion of mutual respect and equality The Acting President: On behalf of the General among nations and peoples. Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations His Excellency Mr. Filip Vujanović, President Multilateralism lies at the core of the of Montenegro, and to invite him to address the international system and inspires strong motivation and Assembly. commitment. That is why the United Nations provides a reliable framework for maintaining international President Vujanović: It is my honour and peace and security, strengthening democracy, pleasure to welcome the election of Mr. Miguel protecting human rights and freedoms, respecting d’Escoto Brockmann as President of the General international law and fostering the economic and social Assembly at its sixty-third session. I wish him great development of all States. success in carrying out that complex, responsible and challenging task. I would also like to express my Today, the world Organization is going through a sincere gratitude and great respect to Mr. Srgjan process of necessary reform prompted by great Kerim, President at the sixty-second session, for achievements, but also by some setbacks, and even successfully leading the Assembly during his tenure. In failures. Montenegro supports a process of pragmatic addition, I would like to pay tribute to the Secretary- reform at the United Nations. As a small State, we are General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, and to emphasize our full particularly interested in strengthening the authority of support for his efforts to strengthen the position of the the General Assembly and other main United Nations United Nations as a valuable factor in resolving the bodies. issues on the ever-expanding international agenda. This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the interpretation of speeches delivered in the other languages. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room C-154A. Corrections will be issued after the end of the session in a consolidated corrigendum. 08-52272 (E) *0852272* A/63/PV.11 The Security Council lies at the heart of the faced by countries in transition affect the dynamics and overall reform process and needs to be transformed quality of the way we tackle other issues, thus making taking into account equitable regional representation, the implementation of the Millennium Declaration transparency and improvement in its working methods. imperative. Therefore, the development needs and Montenegro supports intergovernmental negotiations. priorities of the African countries, discussed at length We are undoubtedly faced with a very challenging and during the 22 September high-level meeting, require complex process, but one to which Montenegro will urgent global solidarity and support. strive to contribute. Montenegro fully supports United Nations efforts Respect for human rights and freedoms, to resolve the problems caused by the energy crisis, improvement of minority and faith-based rights and the especially rising food prices worldwide. We also fully strengthening of good-neighbourly relations will support the intention of the Secretary-General and of continue to be the foundation of our national stability, the United Nations to focus the attention of the as well of regional stability. Our engagement at international community on vital issues such as food national, regional and international levels is therefore prices and food security, in addition to the issues of focused on the rule of law and the fight against climate change and the MDGs. The reason behind this corruption and organized crime. is obvious: everyone is affected and is hence committed to solving those problems. This year we mark the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The In the light of that, we agree with the proposed Declaration is still vital and applicable. We are fully United Nations action in the multilateral framework. dedicated to its implementation and determined to We commend the recent adoption of the Rome uphold its values and principles. In support of that, Declaration on World Food Security, and strongly Montenegro has presented its candidature for believe that integrated international action is the best membership of the Human Rights Council for the response. period 2012-2015. As an ecologically concerned State, Montenegro As the achievement of the Millennium cherishes an interactive relationship between the Development Goals represents one of the key environmental aspects of the protection of natural objectives of United Nations policy, it is only natural resources, on the one hand, and the production and that small and developing States, such as Montenegro, distribution of organic food on the other hand. should be resolved to make a concerted effort towards Furthermore, Montenegro encourages the creation of those goals. Aware of all the challenges in an international trade environment that favours small- implementing that agenda, Montenegro shares the scale producers and developing countries. Public- Secretary-General’s opinion that yesterday’s high-level private partnerships on specific projects, as one form event contributed positively to the increased of cooperation between my Government and United commitment to realize the goals that have been set. Nations agencies in the field of energy efficiency, are also of special importance for us. Challenges that we are facing today, including political problems, hotspots, blatant violations of Montenegro has many reasons to be satisfied with human rights and freedoms, proliferation of weapons the dynamics and results of its ongoing reform of mass destruction, terrorism, environmental processes. Promotion of democracy, equality and degradation and climate change, require an adequate tolerance among States and peoples has been and will response and decisive action. We believe that no continue to be our political doctrine. We are motivated effective or lasting response is possible without joint by a desire for stability and economic and cultural action by the entire international community. development, and we demonstrate this in practice in our relationships with neighbours and regional Countries in transition, such as our own, have partners. It is also a basis for Montenegro’s progress in relevant experience and are strongly motivated to offer European and Euro-Atlantic integration. continuous support to the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, in the light of the forthcoming Our European Union (EU) and NATO agenda is International Conference on Financing for based on the principles of democracy, a functional Development, to be held in Doha. Economic challenges market economy, efficient institutions and the rule of 2 08-52272 A/63/PV.11 law. In the process of integration, special emphasis is President Préval (spoke in French): Just one placed on the dynamics and time frame in which our year ago (see A/62/PV.6), I recalled before this progress is being achieved — in all areas, including Assembly that I was bringing the words of a people political, legislative, economic and public administration who for 200 years have experienced extreme suffering reform. as a result of all kinds of material privation and complete vulnerability in the face of natural risks and This year, Montenegro joined the Union for the disasters. Mediterranean. We appreciate the support offered by our EU partners and other members of that significant At that time, I hardly thought that I would find initiative. Montenegro stands ready to make its myself here again one year later against the backdrop contribution and to take an active part in the of the image of hundreds of children, women and the revitalization of the projects within that initiative. elderly swept away by floodwaters, hundreds of thousands of citizens suddenly finding themselves Montenegro is taking a step forward in its without shelter, tens of thousands of tons of security policy, centred on multilateral cooperation, agricultural harvest destroyed in a few hours, not to with the aim of creating a legislative framework for the mention the incalculable damage to basic infrastructure deployment of our police, military and civilian such as communication networks, art works, irrigation personnel to United Nations