By chance, Sir, I find myself the first member of the Council to speak in the first open discussion of your presidency. Your presidency marks a real landmark, both for your country and for you personally. We have much appreciated the way in which you have smoothly guided the Council’s work so far th…
I welcome the presence here among us of the Foreign Minister of Georgia.
The United Kingdom believes that a durable peace in Georgia will come about only if all concerned make a serious and sustained political commitment to achieve a settlement.
The onus for doing this remains with the two parties…
I should like to begin by extending the British Government’s condolences to King Mohamed VI and his family and to the Government and people of Morocco on the death of King Hassan II. I should like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to his many achievements, notably his tireless efforts to promo…
As Sir Jeremy Greenstock set out in detail in the Security Council debate on 24 March, the international community has over the past year made exhaustive efforts to resolve the crisis in Kosovo through negotiation. Every means short of force was used to try to avert the current situation. These effo…
First I should like to welcome you, Mr. President, most warmly to this Council meeting. The United Kingdom very much appreciates and supports Canada’s initiative in arranging this briefing and the commitment that you personally have given to it. 1999 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Geneva Conv…
I am very pleased to be here today speaking on behalf of the United Kingdom, but I should make it clear that the Permanent
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the adoption of which we commemorate today, is quite a remarkable document. It sets down in eloquent and moving language the fundamen…
The Secretary- General’s report (S/1998/1109) makes depressing reading. We have witnessed another year of conflict, population displacement and yet more suffering for the people of Afghanistan. Nor is it only the Afghan people who have suffered. The murder of the staff of the Iranian Consulate in Ma…
I regret that my delegation has found it again necessary to vote against resolution 53/68, on the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, and resolution 53/69, on the dissemination of information on decolonization.
The latter text does co…
Thank you, Mr. President, for taking the initiative in calling this meeting. The efficacy of the format is, I believe, amply demonstrated by the stimulating, interesting and very useful briefing that Mrs. Ogata has given, and I should like to pay a considerable tribute to her. Like others, we hope t…
The United Kingdom would like to exercise its right of reply in response to this morning’s statement by the Libyan Permanent Representative. The initiative of the United Kingdom and the United States, announced 24 August this year — to hold a trial of the two Libyan nationals accused of the bombing …
I welcome this opportunity to take part in our debate on the Secretary- General’s report. I would first of all say that I regard that report on promoting peace and prosperity in Africa as lucid, compelling and directly relevant to the work of the Security Council. Kofi Annan has laid a firm foundati…
I would like to say a few words in response to the remarks made by the Foreign Minister of Spain earlier this afternoon about Gibraltar. The long-standing position of the British Government on this matter is well known to the Government of Spain. I will simply restate it briefly here.
British sover…
Today’s world offers one clear lesson: to survive and prosper, we have to work together better. That much is clear.
We can no longer separate what we want to achieve within our own borders from what we face across our borders. Rapid change of the sort we have seen recently can inspire fear. But we …
The terrible acts of terrorism this month in Nairobi, in Dar es Salaam and in Omagh in Northern Ireland are a stark reminder that terrorism spares nobody. They also remind us that terrorism will not be defeated unless those responsible are brought to justice.
It is almost 10 years since Pan Am flig…
Ten years after the United Nations first became involved in Angola and four years after the signing of the Lusaka Protocol, the peace process ought to be on the verge of completion. Instead, it is edging dangerously close to collapse. It is not too late to pull back from the brink, but whether the A…
The establishment of the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) by today’s draft resolution will be extremely welcome. First, the mission will be only the third peacekeeping operation to have been sent out by the United Nations in over two years. Following the establishment of the…
I have the honour to take the floor on behalf of the European Union, under agenda item 142, on the apportionment of the costs of peacekeeping operations.
The Central and Eastern European countries associated with the European Union — Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania…
I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of the European Union. The Central and Eastern European countries associated with the European Union — Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia — and the associated country Cyprus, as …
The United Kingdom has worked hard, along with the other sponsors of this resolution, to bring the Secretary-General's proposal into effect through the proper procedure of a Security Council resolution, and we are glad at the consensus agreed on this text today. The support that this resolution enjo…
