A/52/PV.54 General Assembly

I give the floor to the representative of Japan to introduce draft resolution A/52/L.23/Rev.l.

My name is Mikako Kotani. As a member of the Japanese team, I have taken part in two Olympic Games — in Seoul in 1988 and in Barcelona in 1992 — and I won two medals in synchronized swimming. I am also a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission. Today I am pleased and honoured to represent Japan at the General Assembly and to take part in its consideration of agenda item 24, “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal”. For today’s debate, Japan, together with many co- sponsoring Member States, has submitted a draft resolution calling for the observance of the Olympic Truce during the XVIIIth Olympic Winter Games, to be held in Nagano, Japan, from 7 to 22 February 1998. I would like first to express my deep gratitude to Mr. Juan Antonio Samaranch, President of the International Olympic Committee, for his initiative in calling for the Olympic Truce, and to the representatives of United Nations Member States for supporting that initiative since 1993. I do not believe that the only objective of sports is to break records. The balanced development of both the mind and the body is also an objective of sports. Fair competition, in a spirit of sportsmanship, fosters mutual respect that excludes discrimination of all kinds, including that based on race, religion, gender or nationality, and serves to deepen mutual goodwill. This, in turn, can lead us to the gradual realization of peace and understanding — goals shared by all humankind. The Olympic Games are the world’s greatest celebration of sports. The five Olympic rings represent the five continents and symbolize the strong bonds of friendship and solidarity that are created through the Olympic Ideal among the youth of the world. Coming together at the Olympic Games, the athletes who compete with their skill and strength deepen their mutual understanding and goodwill, and appreciate the significance of world peace. In ancient Greece peace was highly valued, since all hostilities ceased during the games that took place in Olympia. Participating athletes were assured safe passage, even through enemy lands, thanks to the Olympic Truce, known as ekecheria. Needless to say, this Ideal will prevail during the forthcoming Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, which will promote respect for the beauty and bounty of nature and celebrate peace and goodwill as ideals for the twenty-first century. These Games are the second Olympic Winter Games to be held in Asia, following those in Sapporo in 1972. It is my firm conviction that the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano will provide a venue for a broad exchange among young people from all over the world, and will contribute to making this a better and more peaceful world. In 74 days the last Olympic Winter Games of this century will begin. On this occasion, let us renew our determination to ensure that in the coming twenty-first century the people of the world will practise tolerance and live in peace, as stated in the Preamble to the United Nations Charter. With this in mind, I propose here today that we resolve to observe the Olympic Truce during the period of the XVIIIth Olympic Winter Games next February, and to urge the peaceful settlement of international conflicts in conformity with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and the ideal embodied in the Olympic Truce. I sincerely hope that the draft resolution will be adopted unanimously. In addition to the 159 Member States listed in document A/52/L.23/Rev.1, the following 17 countries have joined in sponsoring the draft resolution: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Cuba, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Iraq, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Liechtenstein, Palau, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Viet Nam.

I should like to wish the representative of Japan and her team more medals at the XVIIIth Olympic Winter Games to be held in Nagano in February 1998.

It is a great honour for me to speak before the General Assembly on this agenda item, entitled “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal”. It is equally an honour for my On 7 November 1995 the General Assembly at its fiftieth session adopted by consensus resolution 50/13, by which it called upon Member States to reaffirm the observance of the Olympic Truce, or ekecheria, as it was known during Greek antiquity, every four years during the Summer and Winter Games. That resolution reflects the historic, solemn appeal addressed by the President of the General Assembly to all States to observe the Olympic Truce during the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, to strive towards building lasting peace, whether or not they happened to be parties to a confrontation, and to focus their thoughts and actions on the principles and ideals to which the ekecheria and the Olympic Movement seek to propagate. Most important, however, is the appeal addressed to those presently engaged in armed conflicts to uphold this principle, and to suspend all hostilities, in keeping with its observance. The ekecheria has been living in the hearts of the Greek people for more than 30 centuries. It is an ancient tradition of my country, according to which all conflicts ceased during the period of the Truce, beginning seven days prior to the opening of the Olympic Games and ending on the seventh day following the closing of the Games, with the aim of providing athletes, artists, their relatives, pilgrims and the public safe passage to and from Olympia. The implementation of the principle of the ekecheria by the world community could herald the beginning of a new era which will, hopefully, lead to the gradual disappearance of the immense human tragedies caused by the plague of war. It is equally important to note that Alexander the Great, having recognized the importance of both the Olympic spirit and Ideal, advocated that the ancient city of Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, should be regarded as the capital of all Greeks. In his historic campaign, this great man was happy to see materialize his vision of spreading Greek civilization, together with the Olympic Ideal, to the extreme limits of the ancient world. It was within this spiritual framework that Alexander the Great built stadiums and organized athletic games in almost all the places he led his humanistic campaign. He put special emphasis on promoting his idea that every person should share the virtues of perfection of the body, The Olympic Ideal has been in the past and remains in our time an everlasting source of inspiration and hope for humanity. It expresses the very essence of the will to compete, with peaceful means, to achieve peaceful goals and attain victory through individual effort and the harmonious exercise of both body and mind. It is more than clear that it never meant exterminating or — even worse — humiliating the opponent. In the spirit of Olympic ethics, any form of discrimination — racial, religious, political, linguistic or otherwise — is totally excluded, and the fundamental principle of equality prevails. During the last three millenniums the Greek people have remained wholeheartedly and deeply committed to the Olympic Ideal, founded on the noble principles of understanding, tolerance, solidarity and dignity. The observance of these principles takes a particular dimension, especially in our time, when the world is suffering from heinous evils, such as armed conflicts at the national and regional level, genocide, ethnic cleansing, violence, terrorism, crime and drugs, which are directly connected to the complex and acute problems of hunger, poverty, misery, unemployment and, last but not least, clear, gross and uncorrected violations of human rights. Through the Olympic Truce and the Olympic Ideal, fresh steps can be made towards the promotion of human rights, constructive dialogue, reconciliation and the search for durable and just solutions to contemporary problems. These solutions must aim primarily at the elimination of all kinds of human suffering, the advancement of friendship between peoples, cooperation and equality among nations, and the strengthening and maintenance of peace on a universal scale. The internationally recognized symbol of the five interlocking rings clearly signifies the union and the fraternity of the five continents, whose athletes represent every single people of the globe. The Greek delegation would like to pay tribute to the International Olympic Committee, one of the most important non- governmental organizations, for all its arduous endeavours, performed on a worldwide scale, to promote constantly, in all possible fields and at all levels, the Olympic Ideal, with the sole aim of achieving through We would like, in particular, to express our appreciation to the International Olympic Committee for its initiative to conclude the mutually beneficial cooperation agreements between itself and the relevant organs, organizations, programmes and specialized agencies of the United Nations system, especially the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the World Health Organization. We feel that all Member States should try their best to encourage this cooperation, because it is our strong conviction that through athleticism an important impetus is given to a large variety of activities, since sports have become an important component of modern culture and because athleticism is an important element which encourages peoples to abstain from recourse to violence, enabling them, at the same time, to use their knowledge and experience to understand themselves and others. Greece, which is ready to host the Olympic Games in 2004, transmits a strong appeal to the youth of the world, without any discrimination, to take part in the Games, which, at the very beginning of the third millennium, we are confident will give a new thrust to the fundamental principles and concepts of friendship, solidarity, understanding and fair play. In conclusion, my delegation would like, once again, to reiterate that the Olympic Ideal remains an endless source of hope and inspiration which will carry the torch with the Olympic flame to present and future generations for a better, more human and peaceful world. Mr. Zackheos (Cyprus): I would like at the outset to express my pleasure over the great number of countries that have sponsored the draft resolution, which shows the importance that the international community attaches to the Olympic Ideal. The great challenge now is to take the first practical steps towards turning into reality the observance of the Olympic Truce, or ekecheria, during the Summer and Winter Olympics, beginning with the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. It is important to strengthen adherence to Olympic ethics, and especially to conduct the Games in a fair way. In this context, the efforts against the use of prohibited anabolic steroids and other drugs are to be commended. Cyprus, a small country, has since its independence followed an active foreign policy based on the principles of international law and the United Nations Charter, which coincide fully with and adhere to the Olympic Ideal. The latest manifestation of our determination to become a bridge of peace in our sensitive region in the eastern Mediterranean, and a homeland of harmony and understanding for all communities living on the island, is the proposal of President Clerides for the demilitarization of Cyprus. On this solemn occasion, we renew our appeal for the acceptance of this proposal so that Cyprus will be able to participate in the next Olympics as a reunited, happy and peaceful State. The people of Cyprus felt immense satisfaction at the decision of the International Olympic Committee concerning the hosting of the Olympic Games of 2004 in Greece, birthplace of the Olympic Movement. We interpret this decision as an appeal for a new beginning and an expression of mankind’s collective will to make the twenty-first century a period of serious efforts towards peace, the advancement of social progress and prosperity. The twentieth century, which is approaching its end, has seen two world wars, ideological antagonisms, regional and local conflicts and the policy of “ethnic cleansing”. It is hoped that human rights and respect for international law will be the norm in the new millennium. I would like, in conclusion, to express our appreciation for the great efforts of the International Olympic Committee in imbuing youth with these ideals, which will guarantee a better and more humane world.

Our Assembly is about to adopt for the third time a draft resolution on building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic Ideal. This text has just been very In this draft resolution, the General Assembly would urge Member States to observe the Olympic Truce during the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, to be held in Nagano, Japan, next February. This is a sincere, straightforward appeal to hostile parties, whoever they may be, to suspend or cease all fighting before, during and after the Games. Since this item was included in our agenda in 1993, at the forty-eighth session of the General Assembly, a solemn appeal to respect the Greek tradition of ekecheria, or Olympic Truce, has been regularly made in connection with the Olympic Winter and Summer Games. The tradition of this truce goes back to the first Olympiad in ancient Greece, when Iphitos, King of Elis, concluded with Lycurgus of Sparta an agreement establishing on the territory where the games were to be held a sacred truce, the ekecheria, which was respected by all, conscientiously and with conviction. At that same forty-eighth session, in 1993, the General Assembly, following the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, adopted resolution 48/10, in connection with the centenary of the International Olympic Committee, declaring 1994 the International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal. This Ideal, symbolized by the Olympic Charter, is a philosophy of life that exalts and brings together in a harmonious and balanced whole all the qualities of the body, the will and the spirit. Allying sport with culture and education, the Olympic Ideal seeks to inspire a way of life based on respect for the fundamental, universal ethical principles of solidarity and non-violence. The goal of the Olympic Ideal is to place sport everywhere in the service of the harmonious development of mankind in order to encourage the establishment of a peaceful society that seeks to preserve human dignity. Above and beyond this appeal, which has now become a tradition, my delegation wishes equally and unreservedly to encourage cooperation between the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations system as a whole, particularly in the areas of The International Olympic Committee has made such cooperation one of its primary objectives. Since it was created more than 100 years ago, it has been trying to develop Olympic sports activities as a way of actively teaching the young people of the world’s various countries about international understanding and harmony, without prejudices of any kind. In this respect, the decision of the International Olympic Committee to fly the United Nations flag at all sites of Olympic Competition is highly symbolic. We are too often surrounded by violence. To combat it, education remains the best tool. It is our duty to instil in our children the values of respect and tolerance for others. The practice of sport can and must contribute to this and must be promoted as a means of fostering understanding, solidarity, friendship and ethics. The International Olympic Committee and the National Olympic Committees are doing their utmost in this respect, and we commend them most sincerely for that. The Head of the delegation of Monaco to the General Assembly, His Serene Highness Crown Prince Albert, who is also Chairman of Monaco’s Olympic Committee and a member of the International Olympic Committee, attaches the greatest importance to this fundamental mission that the two institutions share. Monaco’s co-sponsorship of the draft resolution submitted today for the approval of the States Members of the United Nations is another expression of our commitment to this cause. By adopting the draft resolution on building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic Ideal, the General Assembly would be strengthening cooperation between the United Nations and the international Olympic Movement, as well as placing it within an ongoing, long-term process highlighted every four years by the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The broad support for the draft resolution and the large number of sponsors are very encouraging. We must try to show that the draft resolution’s message is not just one of symbolic hope, but is rather the expression of the desire for peace of a world community that is strong and united in the face of the hateful violence of combat and ceaseless armed conflict.

The United Nations was created for peace. Whenever there is a call for peace, we must join hands, for sport is a good vehicle for promoting peace. My delegation believes that team sport characterizes two basic traits of humans: competitiveness and cooperation. We cooperate as a team and compete with other teams. This is the spirit of sports. The International Olympic Committee is the highest sporting body, whose ideals closely resemble those of the United Nations. Both promote peace and understanding among nations and peoples. Therefore, we urge closer cooperation between these two institutions. Observing the Olympic Truce is an area of cooperation which serves the cause of peace. Maldives regards the Olympic Truce as an important symbol of peace. Its origin, which dates back to the ninth century B.C., when it was sworn to cease hostilities, clearly illustrates this. The United Nations recognized this when the General Assembly at its forty-eighth session urged Member States to observe the Olympic Truce. My delegation is happy that the General Assembly is about to adopt this year a draft resolution calling for Member States to observe the Olympic Truce during the forthcoming Olympic Winter Games in Japan. Maldives, as a sponsor of the draft resolution, calls upon all Members to support it. Maldives is not known or heard of in most international sports events. Given its size, small population and financial constraints, this is unavoidable. However, Maldives attaches great importance to sports. We believe that sports should play an important role in the lives of children, youth and even the elderly. However, given the large percentage of youth — 32 per cent — in its population, a substantial proportion of the available resources, however meagre, are used for the sports activities of youth. This has enabled our fine young men and women to participate in regional sports activities as well as in some international sporting events, including the most recent Atlanta Olympics 1996. Let sport, which is recreational and which teaches discipline, be equally used as a vehicle to foster peace and understanding throughout the world. Let us pledge ourselves not to limit the Olympic Truce to the cessation of hostilities during the Games themselves. Let us make it a way of life.

I take the floor today to make my country’s contribution to the debate on the draft resolution entitled “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic Ideal”. This agenda item is particularly important to us. In fact, San Marino has been a sponsor of the draft resolution on this matter for years, and we would like to share the wisdom and value of its concept. San Marino has always tried to reiterate and defend the importance of ideals and principles. Perhaps it is because of them that my country, the oldest functioning republic in the world, has been able to preserve its sovereignty and independence for 15 centuries. Another ancient republic established the Olympic Games. They were traditionally organized to stimulate healthy competition among countries and to promote peace and fair play. The draft resolution would seem to be of only symbolic value, but it acquires substantial importance if we consider the strong influence that sport can have on individuals, and in particular on young people. The Olympic Games have always been a moment of unity among peoples, a synonym for overcoming all diversities and making space for tolerance and fair play. Moreover, the Games represent a unique opportunity for the exchange of experience among young athletes from different cultures, and if different cultures can coexist in sports competition they can certainly coexist in real life. Conflict may exist, but violence is not necessary. Certainly, the Olympic Games do not suffice to eliminate major armed conflicts that affect the world, but they can represent an important moment of reflection that we cannot and should not renounce. Thus, my country associates itself with the many other sponsors in transmitting this important message every four years that conflicts should be suspended during the duration of the I am sure that all countries represented in this forum will look with favour on this draft resolution and will take the appropriate steps to implement it fully. We are confident that the draft resolution will be adopted by consensus.

My delegation wishes to thank Miss Mikako Kotani, Olympic silver medallist for synchronized swimming, Barcelona 1992, for serving as torch-bearer on this agenda item. It is my delegation’s pleasure, as host country of the most recent Games in the Olympiad and as host for the Winter Olympic Games in 2002, to be a sponsor of today’s draft resolution, “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic Ideal”. The Olympic Ideal goes beyond victories and records to fair play, friendship and, ultimately, peace. The Olympic Ideal promotes international understanding among the youth of the world through sport and culture. It goes beyond sports competition to embrace intercultural and humanitarian activities as well. Sports are truly global activities that extend into the lives of all people, whether they are rich or poor, at peace or at war. International competitions such as the Olympic Games encourage nations to set aside their differences in the spirit of fair play, and they provide everyone with a venue for cultural exchange and an opportunity to share national traditions and customs. As a baseball player who was drafted to play professionally earlier in my life, I was particularly proud when my sport, known as the “Great American Pastime,” was included as an Olympic event in 1984. Just for the record, I did not make it as a professional baseball player. Whether athletes or spectators, when we meet at international sporting events we share in the glow of world-class competition, in the heartbreak of losing, in the glory of winning, but most important, in the goodwill of participation. That is why the sponsors of today's draft resolution urge all to reaffirm observance of the Olympic Truce, the ancient tradition calling for all hostilities to cease during Olympic Games. Since 1993 this biennial resolution has been the most co-sponsored in General Assembly history. Today our goal is to continue sending its strong message In 1894 Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the International Olympic Committee, predicted that the new, modern Olympics would eventually become both a symbol and the center piece of a new global era of unity among nations. While that vision has yet to become a reality, today's reaffirmation of the Olympic Truce by the General Assembly will recommit the nations of the world to that global aspiration.

Successive events in history and the lives of peoples since time immemorial have shown that sport plays a pioneering role in enriching the cultures of the world and in expressing their special characteristics, and that it contributes directly to promoting relations and strengthening ties between societies and communities in matters of culture and the environment and all other areas of human activity. The needs of the young are not limited to food, education and financial and technological security. They equally need to develop a physical awareness and a sports culture, so as to channel and sublimate their inherent talents and creativity and their boundless energy. Sport can also be a means of establishing human and humanitarian values and of cultural enrichment, in harmony with the principles of peaceful coexistence, participation, democracy and respect for human rights. The United Arab Emirates has faith in the philosophy of sport, as principles founded on tolerance, brotherhood and solidarity, as advocated by the International Olympic Committee. We therefore call for the harmonious improvement of the well-being of humanity through sports programmes that encourage participation and understanding between young people at the international level, particularly through the strengthening of activities aimed at combating activities and phenomena that our societies reject, such as violence, terrorism and drug trafficking. That responds to the need for world peace and security, and allows for the protection of social and economic structures and their development in a sustainable manner, so as to create a better world for its peoples through sport and the Olympic principles. Being convinced of the role of sport in individual development and in enriching society in general, the Emirates have attached particular importance to the organization and promotion of this sector, and have given great attention to youth and the development of the talents of young athletes. In doing so, we have taken into account global developments and respected noble principles and moral values. This prompted us to establish a national Olympic committee, to supervise national activities in this area and to improve training and refereeing so as best to meet our goal of improving the training of young people in various sports. Since young people are both building blocks for the future and the wealth of today, the Emirates have created a sports city, Zaied, an integrated, well-equipped complex which promotes all varieties and disciplines of sport and culture. Like countries where sports have already been successfully promoted, we have allocated generous funds to encourage and equip clubs and stadiums, thus permitting participation in most sports at regional and international competitions. In addition, there are scientific and cultural seminars, conferences and other events relating to the subject of sport for young people. To maintain our strong links with our past and our true Arab and Islamic heritage, faithful to our ancestors and their sporting activities, we have responded to the interests of our people by promoting horse races, camel races and water sports. In doing so, we have played a leading world role in these fields. We have also established federations for horsemanship and camel racing in Arab countries, and have sponsored prizes in kind and in cash for the leading competitors at the seasonal and annual races. We have thus underscored our willingness to preserve this traditional sport, which is valued both at Finally, my country welcomes the international efforts to advance cooperation in the joint activities of the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee, particularly those that encourage development, humanitarian assistance and environmental protection, as well as the improvement of education and health. The United Nations Development Programme, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization all take part in this work. We reiterate the importance of furthering these efforts by encouraging the organization of large-scale sports competitions; exchanging information and experience between organizations; and rationalizing programmes for management, training, refereeing and the promotion of regulated sports events. This should be done at all levels and for all ages, given the great contribution that sport can make at the global level to the achievement of development and well-being for all societies.

The General Assembly first considered this item at its forty-eighth session, when it proclaimed the centenary of the modern Olympics, 1994, as the International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal. On that occasion the General Assembly, in response to the appeal of the International Olympic Committee, urged Member States to observe the Olympic Truce from the seventh day before the opening to the seventh day after the closing of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. This year's draft resolution calls upon Member States once again to observe the Truce during the upcoming Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. The Olympic Truce is rooted in the ancient Greek tradition of ekecheria. It expresses mankind's perennial aspiration to peace and the belief that sports bring out the best in human beings, even at the worst of times. In the words of the founder of the modern Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin: “The Olympics conserve the noble and chivalric character that distinguished athletics in the past, so that athletics may continue to educate young people in the admirable way conceived by the Greek masters.” I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to congratulate the political and athletic authorities in Athens on being the host to the Summer Games in the year 2004. Today, sports have come to play a vital, productive role in enriching the lives of young people by helping them to focus on bettering themselves, engaging in healthy competition and learning to appreciate the social dimension of life. Athletics can also have a critical role in preventing many social ills, foremost among them crime and drug abuse. In recognition of this, the Italian sports authorities have developed over the years a number of programmes to underline how sporting activities can help us to achieve a drug-free society. In the classical era, the Olympic Games were celebrated every four years for more than a millennium. For generation after generation, the glory of those early games was sung by the great Greek poet Pindar, who, in his First Olympian Ode, wrote: “The days that are still to come are the wisest witnesses.” It is my sincere hope that the modern Games may have an equally long and illustrious tradition, so that our children and our children's children into the unforeseeable future may continue to live by the Olympic Ideal.

Draft resolution A/52/L.23/Rev.1, of which Guyana is a sponsor, calls for the building of a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic Ideal. At the Olympics, the best of our youths in the field of sports converge in a friendly atmosphere to compete in various events which test their endurance and demonstrate their determination to give of their best for the glory of their countries. Initiatives taken by the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee to cooperate in order to achieve a common purpose should be beneficial to society as a whole. The Olympic Movement can in fact contribute towards a peaceful and better world by adhering to such principles as the development of mankind and maintaining human dignity. Its work may therefore serve the purposes and principles of the United Nations. The modern Olympic Movement precedes the United Nations by many decades. Both, however, have achieved significant advances through their histories and both should continue to be dynamic in the future if we are to aim for a better world. Despite interruptions, including the two World Wars, the flames kindled by the sun's rays form a torch for peaceful coexistence. Through the years, we have witnessed greater numbers of athletes participating, on an equal footing, with others from around the world. Credit for this must be given to the Olympic Charter's anti-discrimination provision, which ensures equal participation by barring discrimination with regard to a country or person on grounds of race, religion, sex or any other reason. We are pleased to see that the International Olympic Committee has been making further contributions of benefit to society by moving beyond a strictly athletic focus to other areas of involvement, working with the United Nations to promote the Olympic Ideal and the observance of the Olympic Truce, as well as participating in humanitarian activities. Those most in need, our children, are among those who could benefit from such initiatives. Action in this regard by the United Nations Children's Fund in Afghanistan to work with the warring parties to observe a truce during the 1996 Olympics so that children could be vaccinated should be only the beginning of many such initiatives by the United Nations and the Olympic Movement. The world has changed since the Greeks declared an international truce, or ekecheria, so as to allow athletes to travel safely to Olympia to participate in the Olympics. Through international travel, we can circumvent war-torn countries to get to the country hosting the Olympics. While

The Olympic Ideal is one of the positive expressions of the competitive instincts which haunt human beings, since the outcome is a “positive sum game”. When these instincts are taken to the point of absurdity, which nevertheless has its own logic, a “zero sum game” results, leading to conflicts, the arms race and sometimes war. Such is the history of mankind: the desire to conquer in order to be greater and to have more. Moreover, as we noted during the last world war, war — the ultimate competition — affects both the victor and the vanquished and leaves a trail of death and destruction behind it which is not worthy of the level of civilization which we call our own. The United Nations was therefore established in order to place competition among nations and groups of human beings on the diplomatic stage — competition through words, logic and example. Pierre de Coubertin had a different idea 50 years earlier in creating the necessary impetus for the Olympic Ideal. This Ideal, whose practical manifestation can be seen today in the Winter and Summer Games which are held every two years in various parts of the world, must be endorsed by the United Nations. That is because, on the one hand, it advances sport as a means of improving physical well-being and self-mastery in activities designed to improve health and physical condition, and, on the other hand, promotes peaceful competition among nations which is settled by the victors and the vanquished on the field of action — competition in which all are winners, since those who are in training for the Games and contribute to them are enriched by their participation. Anyone who has engaged in sport at any time in life is well aware of the beneficial effects of such activities on the body and the mind. I remember arriving on my bicycle at Olympia in the Peloponnesus several years ago after covering 150 kilometres in a day. It was probably at It would be Utopian to imagine that two nations in conflict could say to each other: “You know what, Nation X, let us meet at the Olympic Games in Nagano, and the winner between our two ski teams will decide in whose favour our border conflict will be settled”. It would also be illogical, since the aim of diplomacy is, if possible, to find a rational and reasonable solution to existing conflicts on the basis of facts and logic. “Winner take all” is the logic of war and it is not acceptable to us. But confrontation through the Olympic Games, in the spirit of competition and fraternity which inspires them, allows an escape valve for nations’ aspirations as an extension of the psychological aspirations of the individuals who make them up. When the athletes parade in a stadium, each representing their own country, with equal chances, from nations large and small, we are proud of our own athletes and admire those of other nations. And no lives are lost. On the contrary, even those who do less well emerge better trained from the Games and all nations feel that they are winners. For all these reasons, the Principality of Andorra associates itself with those countries which, like us, have sponsored the draft resolution on building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic Ideal. My country would like to urge all States to observe the Olympic Truce during the Games of the XXIII Winter Olympiad, to be held in Nagano from 7 to 22 February 1998. The small countries which are Members of the United Nations have always demonstrated particular sensitivity to the ideals of the Olympic spirit, and in this connection I would like to salute Monaco and His Serene Highness Prince Albert, and also its Ambassador here, for the steadfast support they have given for the presence of the United Nations in the Olympic movement. This is perhaps because small States are obliged by their histories to understand better the “zero sum game” of wars and the “positive sum game” of competition through sport. We are When the flag of the United Nations flies high over the mountains of Japan next February, we will be there.

Australia is very pleased to support and to sponsor the draft resolution before the Assembly. Quite frankly, it is one which we believe no country could oppose — promoting international understanding through sport and culture; advocating active support for the concept of the Olympic Truce; underscoring the importance of youth; and linking the Olympic Ideal to those of the Charter, which all United Nations Members have pledged to pursue independently and collectively. The Government of Australia, as proud host to the XXVII Olympiad in the year 2000, has a clear and positive interest in supporting this draft resolution. We are especially proud to have secured the Games that will mark the end of one millennium and the beginning of another. We will be doing our utmost to ensure that the Games represent the values and the ideals not only of Australia — a country which I believe is known for its egalitarianism, for the friendliness of its peoples and for its commitment to a fair go for all — and of the International Olympic Committee, but also of the United Nations. The last preambular paragraph of the draft resolution refers to the increasing number of joint endeavours of the International Olympic Committee and of the United Nations system, for example in the fields of development, humanitarian assistance, protection of the environment, and health promotion and education. I can assure you that Australia is working energetically to incorporate all of these elements into our planning for the 2000 Games. With regard to the environment, we are planning to make these Games the greenest Games ever. As Australia’s former Ambassador for the environment, I actually had the privilege of presenting what were called our “bid books” to the President of the International Olympic Committee and members of his Committee in Lausanne, and we placed particular emphasis on our plans for the “Green Games”. We are implementing the principles of environmental protection and promotion throughout the construction of the facilities, the design of the athletes’ village and the entire management of the Games. With respect to development, holding the Games in what is obviously a multicultural society located in the Asia-Pacific region will, we believe, give the XXVII Olympics a very distinct development profile. Special efforts are being made to assist developing countries, particularly small States, to facilitate their participation in the Games and in sports training in preparation for the Games. Special efforts are also under way to feature the peoples of Oceania in the opening ceremonies and in the overall celebrations to welcome the world to the region which bears the name Pacific, part of our Olympic and United Nations ideal. Our indigenous people will also have a particular role to play, consistent with the importance that we attach to the promotion of the rights of indigenous peoples. I have chosen just a few examples to try to bring some practicality to the words that are on the paper of the draft resolution and to underscore the important linkages between the Olympics and the United Nations and the elements that we are seeking to reflect in the Olympic events and celebrations of fairness, tolerance, equity, cooperation and harmony among peoples and with our environment. It is for all these reasons that Australia supports fully the decision of the International Olympic Committee, as reflected in operative paragraph 5 of the draft resolution, to fly the United Nations flag at all competition sites of the Olympic Games. This sounds a very simple proposition, but quite frankly, at a time when we are all working to reform this Organization, when we want to raise its profile and to persuade the sceptics and the critics of the United Nations of its relevance and its capacity to respond to the needs of all Members, this is especially important. And again, to go from the rhetoric to the reality, when one thinks about the numbers of people who will see that flag flying, then I think it makes the point. We are estimating that over 10,000 athletes, and approximately 5,000 officials, from some 200 countries will participate in the Games. We are expecting 15,000 media representatives

It is my pleasure to address this plenary meeting on agenda item 24, “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic Ideal”. I would begin my statement by conveying our appreciation to Mr. Juan Antonio Samaranch, President of the International Olympic Committee, for the valuable contribution that he and the Committee have made to the cause of sports and peace. More particularly, His Excellency the Minister of Viet Nam Youth, Mr. Ha Quang Du, Chairman of the Viet Nam Sports Commission and President of the Viet Nam Olympic Committee, has requested my delegation to take this occasion to convey to the President, to the General Assembly and to Mr. Juan Antonio Samaranch the compliments and deep appreciation of Viet Nam. The Olympic Games have long been a significant phenomenon in our society. They promote international understanding, solidarity and friendship among peoples, particularly among the youth of the world, through sport and culture. They also serve the cause of peace and help to promote the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. We take note with great satisfaction of the initiative on the promotion of the ancient Greek tradition of ekecheria, or “Olympic Truce”. Dedicated to the noble spirit of fraternity and understanding between peoples, this tradition has recently been revived as a serious call for all hostilities to cease during the Olympic Games, thereby mobilizing the people and the youth of the world in the cause of peace. Viet Nam and its Olympic Committee therefore welcome and strongly support the observance of the Olympic Truce during all Olympic Games, particularly during the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, which will be held in Nagano, Japan, in February 1998. The Government of Viet Nam has always attached great importance to the development of sport and the promotion of peace, solidarity and friendship among the peoples of the world, including the observance of this Ideal in Viet Nam and in regional and international sports competitions. The Vietnamese Government sent a high-ranking representative delegation to attend the seminar on “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic Ideal”. Viet Nam has therefore decided to co- sponsor the draft resolution entitled “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic Ideal”, as contained in document A/52/L.23/Rev.1. I should like to conclude by confirming our resolve to try our best to successfully implement the Olympic Truce and the Olympic Charter in Viet Nam. We join the sponsors of the draft resolution before us in recommending that the item be included on the agenda of the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly.

We have heard the last speaker in the debate on this item. I should like to announce that since the introduction of draft resolution A/52/L.23/Rev.1, the following countries have become its co-sponsors: India and Pakistan. The Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution A/52/L.23/Rev.1. May I take it that the General Assembly decides to adopt the draft resolution?

I call on the representative of Denmark to introduce draft resolution A/52/L.38.

As representative of the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), I have the honour to introduce draft resolution A/52/L.38 on “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe” on behalf of 41 Member States. The following countries have joined the original list of sponsors: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Malta, the Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Ukraine, the United States of America and Uzbekistan. The draft resolution welcomes the fact that cooperation and coordination have further improved in the past year, as well as progress in common work in the field between the United Nations and the OSCE. Since the Budapest Summit in 1994, cooperation and coordination between the two organizations have been continually developed and strengthened in the political and organizational fields. Further strengthening of the relationship between the United Nations and the OSCE has been given high priority by the Danish Chairman-in- Office. Before turning to the substance of the draft resolution, I should like to associate myself fully with the statement which will be made later this morning by the representative of Luxembourg on behalf of the European Union. I also express my gratitude to the Secretary- General of the OSCE, Mr. Giancarlo Aragona, for being with us in this Hall today. The United Nations and the OSCE cooperate closely in a number of areas. By increasingly taking responsibility within its own geographical area, the OSCE not only promotes the objectives of the United Nations in that area, but also contributes to the ability of the United Nations to deal with crises elsewhere. The close working relationship between the two organizations is seen in joint projects concerning elections, media, humanitarian and refugee law, ombudsman institutions and democratic transition. In the field, the United Nations and the OSCE join forces in such places as Tajikistan, Georgia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and, not least, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Croatia, the OSCE is collaborating with the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) in preparing the transfer of the civilian tasks of UNTAES to the OSCE. The most recent and, I would say, the most outstanding example of cooperation between the United Nations and the OSCE was the crisis in Albania earlier this year. Faced with a major challenge, the international community acted with resolve. The OSCE, backed by the United Nations, provided the framework for an international presence. Based on a recommendation from the OSCE, the Security Council endorsed the mandate of the multinational protection force that provided the security necessary for international assistance. Our efforts were successful. New elections have been held and the situation has improved considerably. It has been proved to us that immediate action is of the essence and that a strong regional organization facilitates the necessary decisions by the Security Council. Close cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations can be an important tool in conflict management and resolution. Regional organizations must assist the United Nations but should not seek to replace it. Their involvement in conflict management must be based We still have important tasks in front of us. But I feel confident that the good cooperation and coordination between the United Nations and the OSCE will continue, and that the two organizations will still be able to cope with the challenges they are faced with. On behalf of the sponsors of draft resolution A/52/L.38, let me express my sincere hope that the draft resolution will be adopted by consensus. We have, in fact, done our very best to make such an adoption possible, in that we have used wording expressing common denominators, insofar as this was at all possible without depriving the text of any substantive message. Our aim is a debate in this Assembly and a resolution adopted which may promote, and not complicate, the efforts of the OSCE to solve its important task — efforts which, as far as the Danish Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE is concerned, should reach their culmination with the OSCE Ministerial Meeting in Copenhagen on 18 and 19 December 1997.

I give the floor to the representative of Azerbaijan to introduce the amendment to draft resolution A/52/L.38 contained in document A/52/L.39.

I should like to introduce Azerbaijan’s amendment contained in document A/52/L.39. This is an amendment to the draft resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. I believe that the grounds for our proposal are well known to all of you. Paragraph 16 of draft resolution A/52/L.38 does not deal with the real essence of the problem and departs from language adopted earlier by the General Assembly. This matter involves the highest interests of Azerbaijan, its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has frequently been upheld by the world community, inter alia by the United Nations Security Council in its resolutions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict: 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993). At the 1996 Lisbon Summit of the OSCE, all European States, with the exception of Armenia, once again reconfirmed this principle. The The text of the Azerbaijan amendment is not new. Twice before, at its forty-ninth and fifty-first sessions, the General Assembly adopted this text. Essentially, it relies fully on the relevant provisions of resolution 49/13, which was adopted without a vote by consensus, including Armenia, and repeats the relevant paragraph of last year’s resolution 51/57. The amendment we are proposing also reflects one of the basic principles of a settlement of the Armenian- Azerbaijani conflict, confirmed by the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE at the Lisbon Summit and adopted as an annex to the Lisbon Summit Declaration [A/51/716, appendix I]. The delegation of Azerbaijan calls on the General Assembly to do as it did last year — to respect this principle and to support our amendment in document A/52/L.39.

I have the honour to take the floor on behalf of the European Union. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe associated with the European Union — Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia — and the associated country Cyprus align themselves with this statement. First of all, I should like to take this opportunity to welcome Mr. Giancarlo Aragona, Secretary-General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). His presence here today testifies to the importance of the ever- closer cooperation that has grown between the United Nations and the OSCE. The European Union welcomes the fact that during the past year the United Nations and the OSCE have intensified their cooperation and the coordination of their activities, as shown by regular meetings between the United Nations Secretary-General and the Chairman-in-Office and the Secretary-General of the OSCE. As a driving force behind the integration, stability and prosperity of Europe, the European Union has played a leading role in the development of the OSCE. The OSCE, which is concerned with transatlantic and pan-European security, has become a key forum for management of the changes that have occurred in Europe in recent years. The The European Union also wishes to reaffirm its support for the activities of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. Strengthening the role of the OSCE will enable it better to assume its responsibilities as a regional organization within the meaning of Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter. Consequently, the OSCE is examining in detail the means of putting into operation the “OSCE first” principle, including the possibility for OSCE States jointly to decide to refer a dispute to the Security Council, notwithstanding the position of the States parties to the dispute. Of particular importance in the relationship between the United Nations and the OSCE is the high level of mutual support which each organization provides for the other. In recent years the two organizations have cooperated closely or have embarked on joint operations in a number of peacekeeping and international security missions. As regards the former Yugoslavia, the OSCE was given, at the Peace Implementation Conference held in London on 4 and 5 December 1996, the mission of supervising the municipal elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina which took place on 13 and 14 September 1997. The European Union welcomes the close cooperation between the OSCE and the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH), which helped it to organize polling in accordance with cooperation arrangements made for the September 1996 elections, when the observers of the United Nations International Police Task Force (IPTF) assisted the OSCE and were deployed throughout the country on election day to monitor and advise local police. On 14 February 1997 the Arbitral Tribunal decided that the Brcko area would be placed under temporary international supervision. The OSCE opened a centre in Brcko in order to define common objectives for the implementation of the decision and to strengthen its In Georgia the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is cooperating with the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and with the OSCE Mission on preparations for the return of the Ossetians to their homes in Georgia. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative is in frequent contact with the OSCE Head of Mission at Tbilisi. On 10 December 1996 the United Nations opened an office in Sukhumi for the protection and promotion of human rights in Abkhazia. On 25 April this year the Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Secretary-General of the OSCE signed a memorandum of understanding under which the OSCE agreed to second to the Office a member of its mission in Georgia with experience in human rights activities. The inter-Tajik talks, which OSCE representatives attended as observers, resulted in the signing, on 27 June 1997, of the General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan. The United Nations and the OSCE are continuing their efforts to help the implementation of the General Agreement. The OSCE representatives signed the Protocol on Guarantees and take part in the work of the Contact Group set up in Dushanbe under the Protocol. The United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) is continuing to act in close cooperation with the OSCE mission in the country, and the United Nations and the OSCE are closely coordinating their efforts to facilitate the implementation of the General Agreement. The conflict in Nagorny Karabakh, where the United Nations has been providing technical and political support to the OSCE Minsk process, is an example of practical cooperation. The European Union appeals to the parties to intensify their efforts to achieve a negotiated solution. The principles that ought to lead to a settlement respecting the dignity and the interests of the parties are well known, and have been clearly defined within the framework of the OSCE. The European Union welcomes the joint declaration by the Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 10 October 1997. It appeals to the parties to continue the negotiations within the OSCE Minsk process. We also welcome the conclusions of the OSCE summit meeting in Lisbon on 2 and 3 December 1996, which took place at an important time in the development of the European security architecture. The Lisbon Declaration on a Common and Comprehensive Security Model for Europe for the Twenty-first Century will strengthen security and stability in the OSCE region and contribute to providing a framework within which all States, security organizations and regional and subregional arrangements can work together in a constructive and mutually reinforcing way. The ministerial meeting to be held in Copenhagen on 18 and 19 December will continue to work towards that end, in particular by drawing up a European security charter. The human dimension remains a priority for the OSCE, as it has been since the beginning of the Helsinki process. Respect for and the promotion of human rights, the elimination of all forms of discrimination and free and independent media are basic requirements for a viable democracy, the consolidation of democratic institutions and the establishment of confidence between government and people. The implementation meeting on human dimension issues held in Warsaw this month provided ample evidence of that. In conclusion, the European Union expresses its appreciation to the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, the Permanent Representative of Denmark, and his delegation for their excellent work; we look forward to working The European Union supported draft resolution A/52/L.38, which was sponsored by all the members of the European Union.

The substantial progress made in strengthening and enhancing practical cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) over the past year proves conclusively that cooperation between these two leading international Organizations, in accordance with Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter, is becoming a major factor in strengthening global and regional stability in a multipolar world. Such cooperation should continue to focus on issues of key interest to the international community, primarily those of promoting the settlement of conflicts, peacekeeping, and providing for humanitarian aspects of security and development, including observance of human rights and the rights of ethnic minorities, refugees and displaced persons. Russia has consistently supported the institutional strengthening of the OSCE and its transformation into a fully fledged regional organization in the sense of Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter. The OSCE’s universal nature provides a basis for the consolidation of its coordinating and system-building role with regard to other European and Euro-Atlantic organizations dealing with security matters. The implementation of the fundamental decisions of the OSCE Summit meeting held in Lisbon, regarding in particular the elaboration of a common and comprehensive security model for Europe in the twenty-first century, will be a notable landmark on the road towards this goal. We attach special significance to the work on a charter on European security within the OSCE framework, which is to form the basis for regional security arrangements as envisaged by the United Nations Charter. This document, in terms of its significance, should be commensurate with the Helsinki Final Act and, in fact, further move the member States of the OSCE towards the establishment of a common area of equal security with no dividing lines. In our view, special attention should be paid in the charter to the security interests of States that have not joined military and political alliances and have not expressed the desire to join such alliances in the foreseeable future. During the An important contribution to constructing the new European architecture for security and cooperation must be made by the United Nations, whose political and expert support is extremely useful in realizing the common European idea. One of the priority areas for interaction between the United Nations and the OSCE should be the enhancement of the common European potential for peacekeeping, including the strengthening of its normative basis, while recognizing the irrevocability of the United Nations Security Council’s functions and prerogatives under the Charter in this domain. Practically speaking, it will not be long before the question of the OSCE’s own peacekeeping arises, and this too will need to be addressed from the very outset on the basis of close cooperation with the United Nations, with the support of the Charter and the diverse peacekeeping experience of the United Nations. Russia welcomes and supports the further strengthening of cooperation between the United Nations and the OSCE in the settlement of conflicts in the territory of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), particularly in Georgia, Tajikistan, and Nagorny Karabakh. The more effective involvement of the OSCE in the settlement of a number of conflicts on CIS territory will bolster the established and proven negotiating formats. The OSCE should not seek to replace the United Nations where the United Nations, because of its universality, is providing effective coordination of the efforts of the various organizations. On the other hand, it would be expedient for the OSCE to intensify its work along the lines of its specialization, such as, for example, human rights monitoring, support for the formation of democratic institutions, and the supervision of elections. The United Nations and the OSCE are cooperating successfully in the implementation of the Bosnian Peace Agreement. The holding of municipal elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina in September, under OSCE supervision, was an important stage of the process. We hope that the OSCE mission in Bosnia will continue to work in close contact with relevant United Nations structures and specialized agencies in resolving such vital matters as protection of the rights of ethnic minorities, the problems of refugees, and the normal functioning of municipal authorities. Ensuring the rights of refugees, including their property rights and personal safety, as well as monitoring Further evidence of the deepening partnership between the two organizations came during the planning and execution of the multinational protection force operation in Albania under mandate from the United Nations Security Council. The success of this operation is a good example of the need for overall supervision of regional peacekeeping operations by the Security Council. Of great importance also is United Nations-OSCE collaboration in the humanitarian dimension, inter alia, through the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the United Nations human rights structures. A promising new direction for cooperation between the two organizations is tackling the problems of forced migrants in CIS territory with the participation of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration. Russia supports OSCE activities on the “Situation of human rights in Estonia and Lativia”, which was the subject of a decision adopted by consensus at the fifty-first session of the General Assembly. We proceed from the assumption that the recommendations of OSCE bodies, especially those of the High Commissioner on National Minorities, will continue to receive active attention. The establishment in the OSCE secretariat of the post of coordinator of economic and environmental affairs enhances that area of the organization’s activities without duplicating the functions of other international agencies in the area. We note with satisfaction the effective assistance to OSCE’s work in the economic sphere provided by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE). We are counting on the OSCE coordinator’s close collaboration with ECE. There are also instances of fruitful cooperation between the two organizations in the field. The OSCE, especially with regard to its missions, is collaborating closely with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the implementation of a number of projects in Central Asia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Estonia and Latvia.

We associated ourselves with what the Permanent Representative of Luxembourg said on behalf of the European Union. That statement reflected precisely how we see the matter. I would like only to complement the view of the European Union with our national perspective, as this agenda item encompasses both the general issue of model cooperation between the United Nations and a regional arrangement, and the particular issue for us as a European State. We are pleased that this item has become a regular one on our agenda. Two months ago the Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Mr. Saudargas, said from this rostrum, The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has a bright future as a full-fledged regional arrangement under Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter. The report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations [A/51/489] demonstrates that the spirit of Chapter VIII is being understood and utilized in a wise and efficient manner. We commend the contribution of Denmark, as the Chairman-in-Office of OSCE this year, and we are confident that the incoming chairmanship of Poland will ensure that OSCE continues to play a result-oriented role in Europe. We also welcome the presence today of the Secretary-General of OSCE, Mr. Giancarlo Aragona, whom we thank for the efficient management of the functioning of the Secretariat of his Organization. His staff may be small in numbers, but its contribution is very considerable. Last year we encouraged working-level contacts between the competent institutions of the United Nations Parallel to the secretarial contacts on the part of the United Nations, there could perhaps be more dialogue on the political level between, for instance, the President of the United Nations General Assembly and the OSCE Chairman-in-Office. The OSCE is a unique institution due to its pan-European and transatlantic membership. It enhances the ability of all participating States, large and small, to control their security by drawing on the broad range of tools available to them within and outside OSCE. It has sufficient capabilities of preventive diplomacy, assuming a greater role in the preservation of stability in Europe and reacting to suddenly emerging situations of tension or crisis both swiftly and flexibly. Lithuania supports the strengthening of the activities of OSCE as a primary instrument for early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation. Like the United Nations, OSCE, with the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe within the framework of OSCE, plays a key role in enhancing stability, transparency and predictability, which are indispensable elements of any security architecture, and more specifically, in the development of a broad framework within which European cooperative security can be strengthened. Forms of current and potential cooperation between the United Nations and OSCE include consultations, diplomatic support, operational support, co-deployment and, whenever appropriate, joint action. The complex nature of recent initiatives aimed at restoring peace in areas of conflict has shown the need for comprehensive conflict management and resolution, which require close cooperation between States and a variety of institutions. Comprehensive dialogue between the two Organizations can produce tangible results, or at least good prospects. The joint action of the United Nations Mission of Observers and the OSCE mission in Tajikistan, for Most notably, if the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina are to thank someone for a second and third chance for peace, it is the United Nations, OSCE and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. We have always believed that the record of the two Organizations in the former Yugoslavia is much better than it would have been if the United Nations were left alone to deal with the challenges. Although primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security lies with the United Nations Security Council, even the United Nations, with its vast experience and unmatched global network, cannot take on all the world’s problems by itself. OSCE should relieve the United Nations of some of its regional burdens. This could include the possibility of referring a conflict to the Security Council with a recommendation, if necessary without the support of the party or parties concerned. In cases where the United Nations and OSCE are active in the same country and cooperation has to be very concrete, the primary responsibility should lie with OSCE. A good example of words being transformed into concrete deeds is the expanding OSCE mission in Croatia, which will take over the tasks of the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium. There are many ways organizations can fully realize their potential. The United Nations and OSCE, whose security dimension is based on confidence-building measures, such as conventional arms control, transparency in armaments and information-sharing, can complement one another by acting together in response to security challenges. For example, we laud the exchange of information which takes place within OSCE, including the data submitted to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms. That, in our view, enhances the efficiency of this United Nations mechanism. This procedure was also found effective when applied to the Chemical Weapons Convention. The global exchange of military information adopted by OSCE in 1994 may serve as an example to other regions. The OSCE code of Humanitarian affairs is another principal area of cooperation between two or even more institutions. It is commendable that information is regularly exchanged in tripartite meetings between the United Nations, OSCE and the Council of Europe. These contacts have grown from sharing factual information on the human rights situation in the OSCE area to discussing actions in more fundamental dimensions, such as democracy-building, the rule of law, constitutional matters and minority rights. We endorse and strongly encourage this development. We welcome the cooperation of the United Nations — in particular, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration — with the OSCE in assisting the management of increasing migration problems in the OSCE area and beyond. The involvement of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in the return and reintegration of deported people is a good new step in tackling one of the outstanding social issues in the OSCE region. In the quest for the best European security formula, Lithuania is from time to time offered various prescriptions, such as unilateral security guarantees for the Baltic States. We believe that neither unilateral security guaranties legitimized by international agreement nor regional security pacts can ensure European security. There can be no regionalized or unilateralized security in Europe. All the continent’s nations are not only bound to be together, but are meant eventually to become partners with one aim and one fate. We, rather, see European security as an indivisible asset, and cooperation as a common responsibility of all OSCE members. The Joint Communique of the Presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania issued on 10 November 1997 reiterated “the shared position that unilateral security guarantees do not correspond to the spirit of the new Europe and that they, as well as regional security pacts, have never been on the agenda of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania”. Our two main pillars in building our international future are good-neighbourly relations and integration into European and trans-Atlantic institutions. The signing of the There will be only one United Nations and one Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Each is unique in its own way and each is useful, if not indispensable, in addressing international issues. Together they form a mutually complementary part of multilateral tools for contacts between the peoples of Europe and peoples all over the world. We ought to make the best use of these powerful tools. Draft resolution A/52/L.38, introduced by Denmark, invites us to do exactly that and deserves consensus approval. We appeal to all Member States to look beyond their national interests, however legitimate, take a broader approach and adopt the draft resolution without a vote.

It has been said many times that the end of the cold war has brought about major changes for the United Nations. To an even greater extent, this also applies to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has reshaped and even reinvented itself over the past few years. The General Assembly decided four years ago to invite the OSCE to participate in the sessions and work of the Assembly as an observer. Over this period, cooperation between the two Organizations has been steadily enhanced, deepened and further developed. The increasing necessity and demand for activities in the field of peacekeeping and related areas, and the simultaneous political and financial problems connected with these United Nations activities, have made it clear at an early stage that the involvement of regional organizations in this area has to be enhanced, for their mutual benefit. We are gratified to note that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe itself has made a very substantive contribution to this end over the past few years. The cooperation between the United Nations and the OSCE, based on the principles of mutual benefit and complementarity, today covers a wide range of issues, among which country-specific activities are perhaps the most prominent. The OSCE has thus continued to play a very important role in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially An even more illustrative example of the more action-oriented work of the OSCE is that of its activities in Albania, where it responded quickly to a situation of crisis while receiving the necessary support from a multinational protection force mandated by the Security Council. This type of targeted mission, entrusted with a clear mandate and time-frame, is of exemplary value for future situations of a similar nature. While such missions are of considerable importance for creating the necessary political momentum for the overall activities of the OSCE, much of its work may be less visible, but it is of equal value for achieving medium-term and long-term results. An excellent example is the activities aimed at confidence-building and reconciliation in different parts of the former Yugoslavia, particularly those undertaken in cooperation with the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium. The report contained in document A/52/450 testifies to the increased cooperation between the two Organizations in specific thematic areas. We have taken note with particular interest of the activities relative to the follow-up of the regional conference on refugee questions in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the close cooperation between the OSCE and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. While we welcome the increased cooperation reflected in the report, it appears to us that there is potential for further deepening the interaction between the two Organizations. The more action-oriented work of the OSCE is a development which is beneficial to the Organization itself and to the United Nations, but at the same time the OSCE should continue to rely on the standards of achievement and the areas of work which have constituted its primary strengths in the past. These activities — in the field of the human dimension, for example — can also be of considerable value for the United Nations, and there could be an increased exchange of information and expertise on them. In this context, we note with gratitude the enhanced importance of the work of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. It should also be kept in mind that the institutional basis of the OSCE in certain areas has taken on forms and dimensions that provide a deep understanding and vast experience. This can be beneficial to the work of the United Nations. The protection of minorities and the excellent work of the In summary, we would like to express our satisfaction at the level and especially the quality of cooperation between the United Nations and the OSCE, while looking forward to its further deepening and development. It is of crucial importance that the cooperation of international organizations, especially with regard to emergency situations and field operations, be based on a clear understanding, which sets out a framework for cooperation and allows for the maximum possible coordination of activities. The experience gained from the major field operations in which the OSCE has been involved over the past several years has shown that there is room for further improvement. We have taken note with great interest of the initiative to create a “platform for cooperative security” to serve as a model for cooperation in the area of peace and security in the twenty-first century, based on the principle of the equality of all partners. In conclusion, I would like to thank Mr. Giancarlo Aragona, Secretary-General of the OSCE, for his presence during this debate, and to express, on behalf of my Government, our thanks to the Government of Denmark for the remarkable and efficient manner in which it has carried out its responsibilities as Chairman-in-Office for the year 1997.

Since its summit meeting in Paris in 1990, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has demonstrated increased capacity to cooperate and coordinate with the United Nations and other security-related organizations in handling regional crises. The OSCE has developed adequate political tools and has continuously enhanced its abilities with respect to early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation and has thus been significant in maintaining peace and security in its region. The OSCE has universal membership in the region and a strong set of common commitments in terms of the human dimension or human rights, economic cooperation and security issues, and it is active in arms control and disarmament. The shared commitments of the member States of the OSCE and the consensus principle of the organization are cornerstones on which the OSCE works. Key assets of the OSCE are its adaptability and creativity when dealing with early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation. For our part, we want to see the operative capacity of the OSCE further developed, including As a regional arrangement under Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter, with observer status since 1993, the OSCE has been able to relieve the United Nations of some of its workload. This role should be strengthened and further developed. We note with satisfaction the conclusion of the Secretary General in his report [A/52/450] that the cooperation and coordination have improved over the past year. We believe they can be further improved. In our view, the interchange between the organizations and the OSCE's position as a regional arrangement should be further refined and actively applied. The active and positive cooperation between the United Nations and the OSCE in the field deserves to be particularly underlined in this connection. In countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia and Tajikistan, to mention a few, the United Nations and the OSCE work for the same cause but perform different tasks, each organization drawing on its comparative advantages. The OSCE, however, is not a small-scale blueprint of the United Nations. The OSCE does not have a universal character and works mainly with diplomatic instruments. Its missions take the form of highly advanced diplomatic undertakings, facilitating democracy, human rights and, thus, stability. The OSCE is cost-effective, and it achieves concrete results with a lean organization and a relatively modest financing. The OSCE is determined to develop further and to improve its competence in its various fields of activity, and it therefore deserves our support in doing so. We regret that it does not seem possible to adopt the present draft resolution without a vote. We strongly encourage all delegations to support the draft resolution introduced by Denmark earlier today and sponsored by Norway and many other CSCE member countries.

Cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations has assumed increasing importance following the demise of the cold war. The regional conflicts characteristic of our time have led the international community to examine this question in greater depth in attempting to address the root causes of conflict and tension. The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) was born out of the tensions of a cold war which divided Europe. Notwithstanding such division, the Notwithstanding, conflict erupted, bringing to the fore the dangers posed by ethnic strife. The horrors witnessed during the war in the former Yugoslavia shook the core of Europe and brought a sense of urgency regarding the need for more effective preventive efforts in dealing with such situations. The United Nations too was faced with a number of regional conflicts and grappled with ways and means to manage and address them. It was in this context that Malta proposed that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) declare itself a regional organization in the terms of Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter. As my Prime Minister stated last year at the Lisbon summit meeting: “In Helsinki, we declared our understanding that the OSCE is a regional arrangement in terms of Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter. It is Malta's view that the time has come to find a lasting and practical formula for cooperation between the OSCE as a regional arrangement and the Security Council of the United Nations, a formula that gives due consideration to the separate and distinct tasks of these two institutions. There already exists the need for a more structured and rational division of competencies between the OSCE and the Security Council.” Efforts must be redoubled to reach a consensus on the possibility of using OSCE mechanisms as the instrument of first resort in our common efforts at preventive diplomacy within the OSCE, without in any way prejudicing the provisions of Article 35 of the Charter of the United Nations. The Lisbon Declaration recognized this fact by stating that: “In exceptional circumstances the participating States many jointly decide to refer a matter to the United Nations Security Council on behalf of OSCE While any member of the United Nations may bring any dispute to the attention of the Security Council or the General Assembly, a joint reference of disputes to the Security Council will give OSCE's decision additional momentum. This commitment therefore constitutes an important element of conflict prevention. In assessing the cooperation between the United Nations and the OSCE, an analysis of the involvement of each, singly or in concert, in different areas is required. The OSCE's involvement in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains its biggest challenge and achievement so far. The Lisbon Summit Declaration [A/51/716, annex I] confirmed that the OSCE will continue to play an important role in the promotion and consolidation of peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly in the supervision and conduct of the municipal elections, as well as in providing assistance in the implementation of the other tasks mandated to it under the Dayton Accord. The OSCE's roles in Tajikistan, in Georgia and most recently in Albania have also demonstrated the organization's contribution to regional and international peace and security and enhanced cooperation with the United Nations. Activities undertaken by OSCE with regard to the human dimension through its Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) remain vital if we are to ensure democratic governance and respect for human rights. It is perhaps those aspects which serve as a tool of preventive diplomacy itself as they seek to build the concepts of social justice and the rule of law which could ultimately consolidate peace both within and among States. We note with satisfaction the close contacts between the United Nations Centre for Human Rights in Geneva and ODIHR, as well as the support given by the Economic Commission for Europe to the OSCE economic dimension. Malta welcomes the tripartite consultations among the United Nations, the OSCE and the Council of Europe. These consultations will aim at furthering the principle of a pragmatic rationalization of activities in the field and as a result will lead to an enhancement and strengthening of such consultations. Equally important is the work undertaken by the High Commissioner on National Minorities in seeking to promote tolerance and mutual respect within and among Since the early origins of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) in Helsinki, Malta has assiduously promoted the concept that security and stability in the Mediterranean are closely linked to European and, consequently, to international peace and security. Ever since, Malta has promoted the Mediterranean dimension of the OSCE and focused its efforts on initiatives meant to enhance the access of the Mediterranean Partners for Cooperation to all activities of the OSCE, particularly to the Permanent Council and the Forum for Security Cooperation. Malta has, on several occasions, raised awareness regarding the important Mediterranean chapter of the Helsinki Final Act. The possible means of achieving this were presented by Malta in its comprehensive response to the General Assembly resolution 51/50, entitled “Strengthening of security and cooperation in the Mediterranean region”, as contained in the document. In view of the report of the Secretary-General presented on this item, Malta is of the view that the continuation of the informal understanding that there should be a division of labour between the OSCE and the United Nations is indicative of the fact that a re-examination of such an understanding is required with a view to establishing a proper and appropriate division of labour between the United Nations and the OSCE. This would invariably charge the OSCE with responsibilities worthy of its status as a regional arrangement in accordance with Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter and effectively enhance the existing framework of cooperation between the two Organizations.

The Albanian delegation is very pleased at the presence today of Mr. Giancarlo Aragona, Secretary-General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Albania values highly the importance of the cooperation between the United Nations and the regional organizations and arrangements, being convinced of the positive impact of such cooperation for the benefit of international peace and security. Regional organizations are useful instruments for the promotion of peace, security and cooperation within regions, on the basis of the concept of individual security. We believe that the cooperation between the United Nations and the OSCE can be very useful in fields such as conflict prevention and crisis management, through the deployment of joint missions, sharing information and joint- assessment missions, as well as in post-conflict regions, through coordinated programmes covering areas such as demilitarization, the establishment of democratic institutions and the organizing and monitoring of elections. The Albanian Government highly appreciates the role and contribution of OSCE in overcoming the crisis which broke out in Albania during the first half of the current year. The contributions of OSCE, its Chairman-in-Office and his personal representative have been instrumental in reaching a political solution to the crisis. The electoral assistance and monitoring of the 29 June elections of this year were crucial in ensuring the success of those elections, thus opening the way for the efforts aimed at the rehabilitation of the country. We have all witnessed the strong political support OSCE gave to our request for an international humanitarian and stabilizing presence to be sent to Albania. The Security Council — on the basis of the decisions of OSCE and bearing in mind the readiness of that Organization to further help in the efforts to overcome the crisis — authorized the multinational protection force and its prompt deployment. The expeditious authorization of the force and its rapid deployment contributed fundamentally in the prevention of the escalation of the situation into a full-scale conflict. We applaud the cooperation between the United Nations and OSCE in the case of the Albanian crisis and consider it an example of coordinated international action undertaken at the right time and in a proper manner. At present, after the parliamentary elections, Albania is trying to build democratic institutions and establish the The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has a rich record of involvement in dealing with the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Its role in assisting Bosnia and Herzegovina to establish democratic institutions and implement the Peace Agreement is great. However, we note with regret that, despite the continued calls from the OSCE, the General Assembly and the Security Council, the long-term mission of OSCE has not yet been able to return to Kosovo because of the lack of cooperation on the part of the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). We would like to mention the repeated calls the General Assembly has addressed to those authorities, most recently through resolution 51/111, urging them to allow the immediate and unconditional return of the OSCE mission to Kosovo. Referring to the same resolution, we have hopes for the efforts of the Secretary-General to establish an adequate international monitoring presence in Kosovo. Albania's call for increased international efforts for the peaceful solution of the Kosovo problem stems from its wish and desire to contribute positively to the solution of the remaining problems of peace in the region, to develop good-neighbourly relations and to enhance and strengthen peace and stability in the still troubled Balkans. Albania strongly supports draft resolution A/52/L.38 and joins the list of its sponsors.

Slovenia associates itself with the statement made by the representative of Luxembourg on behalf of European Union (EU) and would like to add a few points. My delegation would like to thank Secretary-General Kofi Annan for preparing the report on cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The report confirms our belief that there is a wide range of activities in which the two Organizations can develop and are already developing useful cooperation and coordination to the benefit of international peace and security, democratization and respect for human and minority rights. The end of the cold war gave a new impetus to the United Nations. At the same time, it gave a completely new dimension and importance to the role of regional organizations and arrangements in international affairs. Regional organizations got the opportunity to share the burden of maintaining peace and stability within their own regions. The world and regions that had been defined by division and antagonisms got the chance to unite in peace, economic development and common values. OSCE is a very good example of the kind of regional organization that seized the opportunity to become an entity that fosters cooperation and development, democratization, human rights and peace. It cooperates with and complements the United Nations as a regional arrangement in the sense of Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter. As such, it provides an important link between European and global security. We believe that the future of world peace and security depends to a large extent on the comprehensive cooperation of the United Nations with the regional organizations. In this regard, we would welcome the enhanced cooperation of the Security Council with the relevant regional arrangements. OSCE increasingly contributes to the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security in Europe through activities in early warning and preventive diplomacy, crisis management, arms control and disarmament, post-crisis stabilization and rehabilitation measures, and efforts in support of economic development and promoting respect for human rights within the OSCE area. For each and every one of the listed aspects, OSCE and the United Nations have developed mutually beneficial cooperation, which has proven to be very effective in easing and solving different regional crises. OSCE is the one European organization that possesses specific comparative advantages in the areas of preventive diplomacy, conflict prevention and post-conflict rehabilitation. It is well positioned to tackle the root causes of tensions and has a clear mandate for assisting the settlement of domestic conflicts. Its cooperative methods can be successful in conflict prevention. OSCE is developing an inventory of effective instruments and is accumulating experience, expertise and an understanding of specific problems. The activities of the High Commissioner We wish to emphasize that the High Commissioner on National Minorities has already proved, in a number of specific situations, the advantages of the early involvement of the international community in situations which could lead to international frictions and disputes. His work is firmly based on the internationally agreed standards of human rights and his advice to the interested Governments is a valuable example of successful preventive diplomacy. Lessons learned from Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina prove that the existing international and regional organizations possess tools that are efficient for preventive and post-conflict engagement, on the condition that they are applied in a concerted, timely and proper manner. As a part of OSCE and United Nations activities, Slovenia actively participated in the international efforts related to these two situations. In the period from April to August this year, Slovenia participated in Operation Alba, which was successfully led by Italy and authorized by the Security Council. Albania could be cited as a success story of the Security Council’s mandated preventive action and the OSCE-led political and democratic rehabilitation. We commend the Albanian people and Government for their efforts to return the country to stability and to concentrate on what Albanians need most: the strengthening of democratic institutions and economic development. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a case of mixed conflict prevention and post-conflict activities of multiple international organizations. In September this year, OSCE organized an international seminar in Slovenia on cooperation between the international organizations and institutions, concentrating on experiences from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The participants agreed that, taking into account the very complex and not yet stable post-conflict situation in the country, international organizations, the United Nations and OSCE among them, perform their work with good, albeit not yet irreversibly established, results. Their main objectives are to help people of the country to strengthen peace, restore the conditions for coexistence, start economic reconstruction, supervise the The activities of international organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina deserve our full recognition. In order to ensure that these efforts succeed and that the present results are translated into a situation of durable peace and security, it is vital that the current international military presence be maintained in Bosnia and Herzegovina after June 1998. The level of security achieved so far is vital for the future consolidation of peace. In saying this, I should also stress that additional arrangements for the preservation of a unified Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as for the inviolability of borders and for ensuring respect for the rights of national minorities, should be provided by the international community and its organizations. We believe that this is one of the areas in which the United Nations and OSCE should cooperate in the future.

Allow me first to take this opportunity to welcome Mr. Giancarlo Aragona, Secretary-General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The dramatic changes that the world has gone through during the past decade have created new opportunities for cooperation among nations, while also posing new threats. This dichotomy makes cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations all the more urgent in order both to seize the emerging opportunities and to meet the challenges facing the world community. We support the advancement of the role of OSCE as a major forum addressing the challenges in the region through preventive diplomacy, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation. In this respect, we view the Lisbon Declaration on a Common and Comprehensive Security Model for Europe for the twenty-first century as an important instrument for creating a peaceful, stable and prosperous Europe. The strength and attraction of OSCE lie in the fact that it was formed as a community of shared values. It was this promise and our commitment to these values that brought us together in this Organization. Indeed, our membership places upon us responsibilities and obligations to meet certain demands and maintain standards, which also naturally correspond to our national interests. Among the challenges that OSCE faces today are those of resolving the ethnic conflicts that erupted after the end of the cold war and of preventing future ones. One of the tasks that OSCE is mandated with today is to reach a peaceful resolution to the Nagorny Karabakh conflict. This conflict is also Armenia’s main foreign policy preoccupation, which, despite the maintenance of the ceasefire for almost four years, continues to threaten peace and stability in our region. We appreciate and commend the efforts of the co-Chairmen of the Minsk Conference to reach a peaceful resolution acceptable to all the parties to the conflict. As part of any compromise solution, however, the commonly recognized freedoms of the Nagorny Karabakh population, their physical security and control over their territory and destiny must be guaranteed. These agreement-based obligations must be secured by measures that will make the peace process irreversible and disallow the resumption of military actions. It is our strong belief that a resolution acceptable to all the parties involved is the key to establishing durable peace and stability in the region and stimulating economic growth and prosperity in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorny Karabakh. Armenia remains committed to a negotiated settlement of the conflict and will continue to be constructively engaged in the peace process. However, we urge Azerbaijan to negotiate directly with the elected officials of Nagorny Karabakh, for we strongly believe that no final solution can be achieved without Nagorny Karabakh’s direct participation in the deliberations on its own political status. Let me stress that Armenia fully supports the draft resolution presented by the Chairman-in-Office, contained in document A/52/L.38. To conclude, I would like to express our appreciation to the Permanent Representative of Denmark and his delegation for the excellent work done during their term as Chairman-in-Office of OSCE, and we look

In accordance with General Assembly resolution 48/5 of 13 October 1993, I now call on the Observer for and Secretary-General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Ambassador Aragona.

The Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Niels Helveg Petersen, referred several months ago to the important achievements of the Organization under his chairmanship. There have been others since then, and as the end of the year approaches, I would like to take stock of our activities and sketch out broadly the prospects for 1998. Two days ago OSCE successfully concluded in Bosnia and Herzegovina one of the most sensitive operations it has had to carry out: the supervision of elections to the Assembly of the Republika Srpska. It thereby laid a new stone in the process of building peace in the region. That election illustrated the capacity of OSCE to carry out large-scale operations in a very short period of time, since barely two months elapsed between the balloting and the decision of the Permanent Council authorizing it to act. The Mission in Sarajevo and the secretariat had to cope with this new task when they had just completed the monitoring of the municipal elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina and were working to implement the results. Bosnia and Herzegovina was the major challenge facing OSCE in 1997, as it was in 1996. In addition to monitoring the elections, it worked to strengthen democracy and respect for human rights, as well as regional stability, in accordance with articles II and IV of the Dayton-Paris agreements. It will continue to work in these areas in 1998 and to carry out the missions assigned to it by the Dayton-Paris agreements, in coordination with the High Representative for the Implementation of the Peace Agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina and the international organizations present in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nothing would have been possible without close coordination between their on-site representatives, and in particular coordination with the Stabilization Force (SFOR), which did more than provide security and the necessary logistical support for our operations. It thereby demonstrated the extent to which its presence and action, adapted to the Likewise, in Albania OSCE welcomes the essential contribution of the multinational force authorized by the Security Council. Operation Alba ensured a climate of security and also gave its support to humanitarian assistance and the fulfilment of the political mission of the personal representative of the Chairman-in-Office of OSCE. The Albanian crisis represented an important period for OSCE. The original nature of the crisis led the international community to respond in an innovative fashion, particularly regarding cooperation between intergovernmental institutions. OSCE very quickly established a coordination framework open to all these organizations in order to permit the simultaneous execution of tasks in an efficient, economical and synergistic manner. This framework worked to the satisfaction of all. The Albanian crisis also allowed for testing the value of phased intervention by the international community to restore peace, an approach that is becoming traditional. Elections were held to provide the population once again with leaders in whom it could have confidence and whom it would not oppose by violence. After that stage of emergency intervention, a long-term assistance programme in the economical, political, and social fields was established to consolidate the investment made in the future of Albania by the international community. OSCE then reduced its presence and adapted it to its new mission, while continuing to provide the other actors a coordination framework. Croatia is of particular interest in terms of cooperation between the United Nations and OSCE. Given the prospects for the conclusion of the mandate of the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) next 15 January, OSCE decided last June to expand and strengthen its long-term mission in Croatia by adapting its deployment timetable to that of the withdrawal of the United Nations. Its mission in Zagreb received an additional mandate to promote and monitor the implementation of the commitments undertaken by the Croatian Government regarding the return of refugees and displaced persons on two fronts and the protection of their rights, as well as those of persons belonging to national minorities. OSCE can only welcome this initiative. The mission in Croatia will unquestionably be one of the central concerns of OSCE in 1998. The United Nations is also greatly interested in its success, not only because the United Nations is concerned with everything involving peace and respect for human rights, but also because the mission will demonstrate that the universal Organization was right to pass the baton to our regional organization. OSCE and the United Nations have devised ways of cooperating in other areas as well. This cooperation is not merely for large-scale missions. For my part, during all my travels I try to foster exchanges of information and coordination between locally represented organizations. Indeed, pragmatic cooperation based on respect for competencies and for the expertise of each organization has become the rule and is no longer the exception. Nevertheless, it can still be further strengthened. Thus the human rights office opened by the United Nations in Sukhumi, Georgia, nearly a year ago includes a United Nations officer and a member of the OSCE mission in Georgia. In Tajikistan, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the head of the OSCE mission remain in continual contact. Our mission has thus taken up from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees the task of protecting repatriated persons in the south. In Tajikistan, whenever necessary, the OSCE provides support to the United Nations, whether this involves participating in the guarantees of the General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord; supporting the programme of reconciliation and democratization; or contributing to the preparation, and participating in, the donors' conference currently under way in Vienna. It is also ready, together with the United Nations, to render its assistance in monitoring the elections planned for next year. In Tajikistan and in Abkhazia, Georgia, the OSCE is supporting United Nations efforts to restore peace. In other countries or regions, the OSCE is the principal protagonist in the search for solutions to disputes — if not the sole protagonist, as in Chechnya. This is the case in Moldova, in Georgia — for South Ossetia — and with respect to the conflict with which the Minsk conference is dealing. The resolution adopted by the latter could lead to an important innovation for the OSCE. With the culmination of the efforts of the co-Chairmen, the organization will for the first time be exercising a peacekeeping function in the sense of a regional arrangement as set out in Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations. While cooperation in the field between our organizations was strengthened during the past year, as was made clear by the representatives of United Nations agencies — including Mrs. Rehn, Mr. Bota, Mr. Merrem and Mr. Walker — who addressed the Permanent Council of OSCE, cooperation between the headquarters of our organizations has also made progress. The OSCE recently met in Vienna with the United Nations and the Council of Europe on the situation in the Caucasus. On 23 January 1998, it will chair the annual meeting between the Chairmen-in-Office and the Secretaries General of the OSCE and the Council of Europe and the heads of the Geneva-based United Nations agencies. To facilitate the participation of the latter, the OSCE has proposed that this meeting be held in Geneva. This past year has provided numerous examples of the OSCE's contribution to stability and peace in Europe, not only by providing timely responses to new conflicts but also by discharging the longer-term mandates entrusted to it by its member States. In the area of arms control, OSCE member States have undertaken to review the Vienna Document 1994 of the Negotiations on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures. The implementation of the code of conduct dealing with the political and military aspects of security was the subject of a follow-up conference in Vienna as well as of national seminars designed for the military. Other long-term tasks also lie ahead. The OSCE's philosophy is that the exercise of democracy and respect In addition, the role played by the High Commissioner on National Minorities and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in the areas of early warning and preventive diplomacy was reinforced last year. Together with our mission in Sarajevo and our presence in Tirana, the Warsaw office participated in election-monitoring operations that demonstrated the close interrelationship between the freedom to vote, democracy and the re-establishment of security. The office also carried out significant election-monitoring operations, in particular in Serbia and Montenegro. The OSCE's Parliamentary Assembly has played an important role in all of the organization's election-related activities. The support of those elected representatives for all of our activities means that our organization is not limited to diplomats and international officials but involves also civil society, as was the wish of its founders in Helsinki. In 1998, the OSCE will need to build up further its capacity to prevent conflicts and human rights violations. Its member States have provided it with two new instruments for that purpose: a Representative on Freedom of the Media and a coordinator of economic and environmental activities. The latter's mission is to In accordance with the Lisbon Declaration on a Common and Comprehensive Security Model for Europe for the Twenty-first Century, the OSCE will make an effort to strengthen cooperation and complementarity between European and trans-Atlantic organizations. The ministerial conference to be held in three weeks in Copenhagen, which will close the Danish chairmanship, should, inter alia, devise ways of making progress in the definition of a security model, including the platform for cooperative security designed to define the modalities for cooperation between the OSCE and other security organizations. In Copenhagen, member States will also have to adopt a new financing mechanism for large-scale OSCE operations. This will keep us from having to devote a great deal of energy to urgent searches for ad hoc voluntary financing and thereby strengthen the effectiveness of the agency, as will the adaptation measures for the secretariat that I have proposed to the member States. With these considerable accomplishments, Denmark’s chairmanship of the organization will come to an end. Poland will succeed Denmark. The presence of the Polish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geremek, at the last ministerial troika on the very day he was sworn in bodes well regarding the personal interest he will bring to discharging the mandate of his chairmanship.