A/37/PV.1 General Assembly

May I be permitted to say first of all how deeply moved I am by the confidence you have placed in me by electing me to the presidency of the thirty-seventh session of t~ General Assembly. I offer my sincere tbanks to the group of Eastern European States for their unanimous stand in favour of my candidacy and I express my thanks to all the delegations that supported my election to this high and honourable post. 11. And now, in the name of the General Assembly and in my own name, I pay a tribute to my prede- cessor, Mr. Ismat Kittani, who during the past year 18. Ever since weapons acquired their frightening efficiency men of vision have had forebodings about the future of mankind. 1should like to quote a country- man of mine, Mor Jokai, a writer ofromantic historical novels and a contemporary of Emile Zola and Lev Tolstoy. At the Congress of the Inter-Parliamentary Union held in August 1895 in Brussels, Jokai de- scribed his harrowing visi~... of a global military conflict: "No stretch of imagination can conjure up the aftermath of a future war to be fought by millions of people ... not with firearms, but with veritably diabolic machines; a war involving all nations, whether large or small..." 19. I am persuaded that to listen to our hearts and minds means putting our trust in the power ofcommon sense and doing our utmost to preserve peace. I stand j,y those who are willing to undertake even unil~teral commitments to demonstrate their ~eadinessfor peace and who bring with them to the conference table new, constructive proposals for disarmament. I number myself among those who hold that th~ policy of peace and detente has no-and can have no-- rational alternative in our day. Let me quote Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, our contemporary, a Nobel Prize laureate of Hungarian origin, who wa5 the first to extract vitamin C from peppers commonly called paprika in my country. This great scientist and humanitarian became aware that vitamin C was being produced not onl~' for human consumption, but for military purposes as well. Speaking at Falmouth in 27. In addition to the cares that I have already mentioned that weigh on our minds, we are all affected in varying degrees by the symptoms of the world economy: the slowdown in the rate of economic growth, higher unemployment, inflation, drastic fluctuations in world market prices and adverse terms of credit. 28. Those symptoms are further aggravated by some that add to political tension by imposiQ.g economic sanctions and embargoes. Events have shown this to be a double-edged weapon. The list of countries encumbered by adverse economic trends is growing. As the sources available for development continue to decrease, so grows the impatience ofthe developing countries. That impatience is justified. It is in our common interest to change the obsolete patterns of the world economy which grew out of inequalities and subordination. The objectives motivating a new international economic order are indicative of the awareness that the national and political stability of developing countries is conditioned by, among other things, a stable economy. .. _. 29. In the process of restructuring international economic relations the developing countries will

I should like, in keeping with the established practice, to invite the attention of the General Assembly to document A/37/461, which contains a letter addressed to me by the Secretary- General in which he informs the Assembly that two Member States are in arrears in the payment of their financial contributions to the United Nations.within the terms of Article 19 of the Charter. May I take it that the General Assembly takes note of that information? It was so decided. The meeting rose at 3.55 p.m.