S/PV.1684 Security Council

1 thank the representative of Panama for the kind words he addressed to me. 40, Mr. PBREZ Dll CUELLAR (Peru) (brterprctatiwt @ona S,tmisl~): Mr. President, may I first of all oxprcss my gratitude to you for the kiind words with which you welcomed the flvc new members of the Council, among them Peru. At this first opportunity 1 facl bound to state that my country comes to this lofty United Natfons organ, of which it was a member 17 years ago, with a complete awareness of the responsibilities we are assuming and with confidence in the function of safeguarding International peace and security which devolves upon the’ Security Council. My delegation will bring to the CouncU its own expcrienco and Its complete faith and hope In the United Nations, and in the discharge of our functions we shall cndcavour seriously and Intonslvoly to study the problems we face, promptod by the do&c to make a thoughtful and dispassionate contribution to the solution of those prob. lcms, We intend to adjust our conduct to the standards of the spirit and the letter of the Charter and of the major substantive resolutions of the General Assembly, and to the constant inspiration of the clear principle, which Is deeply rooted in the Latin American community, that. peace Is 42. It is most gratifying and the bosl augury for the dolegation of Peru that its first statement this year in UIC Council as a non.pcrmanent mcmbor is to offer our warm support for the proposal of the Govcrmuont of Panama that the Council should meet in its capital during March of this year. Thus Poru advviccs one of its purposes in this United Nations organ, that is to say, the constant and adequate reprosentatlon and dcf~nce of the interests of Lath1 America, 43. Panama has many reasons to aspire to having the honour to be the site of meetings of Uds important Council. Geographically it is tho isthmus which joins the two major parts of Amorlca. Because of the Canal, it is the bridge which unites the Atlantic with UIC Pacific and which links together Europe and Africa and even the oastorn coast of America with all the Amcrlcan and oven Asian countries bordering UIO Pacific, thus rendering an fiwaluablo service to the international community. Historically, its capital played host in 1826 to the first conference of Lath1 Amcrlcan coUntrics, concoivcd by and convened thanks to the prophetic genius of Uolivar. hi 1939 it was UIC scene of the first meeting of Latin Amcriciln Ministers for Foreign Affairs, and in 19% of UIC first conferonce of hoads of State of the continent. Phially, Its strategic territory, its people and its problems constitute an oxcollent example of the political, eco~~onllc and so&l mcomplcxlty of Lath1 America, 44. Therefore, few places could be as representative as the Republic of Panama of what this enormous and populous geographical drca is and aspires to be-a geographical area which starts at the Rio Bravo and ends only at the conflnca of the Antarctic. The best proof of this is the hn~~~cc~l~‘~~~ and unanimous support for the proposal of Panama which was transmitted to you, Mr. President, a few days ago by the htiu American Group at the Uni:ed Nations. On the other hand, my Gavcrmnent feels thut a serlcs of mcotlngs outside lloadquartors as proposed by Panama is fully in accord with !hc invitation to Momber States contained in tho Declaration on the Strciigthcnhlg of hiternational Security to c~h~~~co by all posslblo ~nea~l~ the outhority of tho Security Council and of its decisions. 52. -The prlnclple of such a sorles of moethigs having bceo aocopted, Its success depends upon the various conditions in which it will bo held-tochnlcal, admhdstratlvo, fhuuiclal and, of course, political. But WC havo, III Uds connc~lon, tho useful precedent of the mooting~ hold by the Council In Addls Ababa, WC can thoroforo follow the course wo took lDst yoar and roquost the Conunlttco on Council Mocthlgs away from Ilaadquartors to consldcr the questions ralscd by the invitation of tho Government of Panama. The roprosontntivo of Panama has alroady give11 us EOIW clarifications hi this coImcxion, and WC do not doubt that in the Committee solution8 will be found which will a&Euro us, when we receive its report, that the necessary conditions oonccrItirg the material organlzation of our work will bo met. 47. The delegation of Peru, ~1 offering its firm support for the proposal of Panama, oxpresses its confiderico that UIO countries which constAtute the Council will also effectively support it. .~ 53, At this juncture my delegation does not deem it ~Icccssary to expross in detail Its idons on the probleIns that tnay crop up lator, Our reprosentativo in the Commlttco will deal with those problems when tho tlmc comas, But a distinction stems ncccssary now between, on the one hand, problems linked to the organirathi of the Ineetlngs and the preparation of tho agenda-for which a concrete proposal has been hitroducod by the Government of Panama-and, on tlIe other hand, problems having to do with the preparatfon of the work of the Council itsulf. In our dow nothing prevents us from seeing to it that the first problems, be thoroughly Etudlcd a8 spccdlly as possible by the Cormnlttee before it presents a report to the Council. In view of the claritlcations and assurances thus given it, the Councfl should he able soon-before the end of the month, let us say-to confirm Its decision in principle ln favour of Council meetings in Panama. The Pananur~don authorities would thus have the neceE8ary time to take tho Ineasuros roqulred before the proposed date of 15 March, ~.~ 54. Careful prepuration of our work also seen3 necessary. It is lndlsponsable to ensure the success of the series of meetings, whose duration will be rather lbnited, in view of the numbor of Latin American reproscntatives who will probably wish to address the Council, This preparation could be effected later by the Committee at a second stage. It goes without saying that the Committee should in this regard maintain close contact with the dclegatfons mainly concerned, t>at is to say, those of ktln American countrlaE. 48. Mr. !LJlCOhlPT (France) (bIterpreff&otora flom b+‘eticlI): Mr. President, ~nay 1 tlrst express to you the congratula. tions of Iny delegation 011 your accession to the post of President of the Security Council. 1 also want to wish you fuil 8ucce88 in the very hnportant function8 you arc now ~~exercislug. These wishes are of course not limited to this month alone but extend to the two years during which my delegation is convhlced you will make an extrotnoly va&@e contlibuUor!,to UI~ work of the Council. ~I 49, hlay I also ex.tend our best wishes to the four other States-Australia, Austria, Kenya a;ld Peru-whose delog& tiona have started their work on the Council. I wish to welcome them, to Bssurc them of the entire co.operatlon of the French delegation, reflecting the frlendly and contldent rolatlons between our countrica, and to oxpress to thom tho saUsfaot!on we feel at seeing them associaied with the work of the Counoll in fuvour of international peace and sccurlty, SO. 1 now come to the item on our agenda. When on 11 January 1972-that Is to say, a HtUe over a year ago-the Council was considering the lntitation addressed to it to hold meetings in an African capital, my delcgatlon took sympathetic-note of the statemsnt by @UI~ AnitIas8ador of Panama 1’1624rh me&p/ that the uossibilitv should be envisaged of holdbIg a~‘sosslon in ‘Latin &erica, his Govermnent then offerhig to wclcorne Uie Security Councld in the capital of Panama. Since that date the idea has gained ground. For our part WC have been ready, as everyone knows, to consider this suggestion with an open mind. ‘tl~e Council ts now offlclally selmd of the lnvltatlon addressed to UB by tha Government of P,mama. This invitation is u1I8nln~ously supported by tk LatlII Arnerlcan Group. 55. That, in our opinion, should be the logical and reasonable outline of the work of the Committee; It is within the mandato which the Council assigned to it 09 11 January 1972 /!62St/r rrreetlrIg/. This should enable uu to underbrkc the PamnI~s meetings with the best guarantees of succc8.8. It is essontid for this OXCCptlOna~ Sede8 Of IllOCthlgE of the Council in L&n America to be a EucCes6. Rest assured that the Preach delegatioII wlB not stint it8 assistance for this to be a&loved. SI. in conformity with the favourable position it h&r adopted from tho beghuihlg, the French delegation wishes tllo closest c0.0polatl011 WlUl 1110111. wo fir0 happy to jwo UlOlll hero. , 5% My dologatlon rocogrdzm the hnportanco whlcl~ tho Govormnent of Panama, and indood other Latin Amoricon Governments, attach to tho proposal that thrro should bo a serlos of 111ooth1gs of tho Socurlty Council in Panama City, Wo undorstand tho proposal to be intondod as a domonstro. tion of tho respect which the Status of I.&in Amoricn havo for the provisions aud l~rhrciplos of UIO Chartor and of tholr intorost in tInding practical ways to onsuro continuous lwoco and security in the region, As such, wo cannot but wolcon~o tho spirit hi which the proposal has beon put forward. If it is the wish of tho majority of the mombors of the Council thot wo should at ‘this mooting accept in principle the invitation of tho Govcrninont of Panama to moot in Ponon~o City from 15 to 21 March, my delegation will be proparod to John in doing so. S9. At the samo time, I must rocail the reservations which 1 oxprossed in this Council in January of last year/1625ik txeeritlgl, when wo mot to consider tho invitation of the Organization of African Unity to hold a series of Council mcotbrgs in Africa. The views of my dolegation on the prhtoiple of the matter have not changed, While we naturally accept that the Council may hold meethrgs ot places “otlior than the seat of the Organbiti0n”, as the Charter provides, wo are concorned that nothing should affect the capabibty of the Council to function contbruously, as Ulo Charter do stipulates. The roquiroment that the Council should be able to function continuously, so that it can deal with unforeseen crises, means, among other things, that it should not bo separated from its base, its records, its comn~unications and other facilities unless there am ovor4ding reasons, In other words, it is Article 28, paragraph 1, that should be UIO prime consideration. hrdeod, the fact that until last year the Council bad never, apart from ono cxcoptlonal case, held a meeting away from Roadquarters creates in my mind a strong presumption that its members saw good reasons for not doing so, The fact that the Councii did meet in Addis Ababa a year ago was again in the ilature of a special case, and I do not think there was any general disposition among the membership to regard it as a precodont. We all recall how excellent UN organizational arrangements were, but BVBII so I thhrk most of us exporionced some iuconveniencc-for instance, ~II communicathig with our Govorninents. 60. In the present case, WC note that no items rclatmg directly to tho particular problems of I.&in America arc under active consideration by the Council, This might reasonably bc herd to weaken the case for holding a series 61,-Por those and othor reasons my dologat.ion wolcomcd the decision of tho Council last year to set u,p a Committee on Council Mootings away from Headquortors, and WC oxprossod the vlow that it would bo proforablo if the Council did not tako II docislon bi prh~clplo to agrco to the proposal for o sorios of moetbrgs in Africa until it had rccoivod a report from that Committoe, In the prosont case also my dalogatlon had thought that It would be r&M for that Committco to moot buforo tho Council itself raoohod any decision. Tho fact that the Committoo did not last year produce the guldolinos which it was asked to draw up for any future meetings away from Now York woujd scorn to support this view, 62. Certainly thcre are u number of particular points which nood clorifIcotion-for oxamplo, with rognrd to the cost to the Unlted Nntions of a series of mcothrgs in Panama. In the prcsont stoto of the flm~ccs of the United Nations we must examine the question of cost with particular care-though I hovn9, of course, taken note of ti10 gonorous offor that has been mado by the ropresentativo of I’ogl~yl. 63. WII think too that the Committee should consider the question of tho agenda-on which we havo a formulation suguoosted by tho Minister for Foreign Affairs of Panama in his letter of 9 Jamuuy [S/JOBSB/ -with a view to ensuring that we sot the most out of tho meotings~ My delegation feels that it would be deslrablo to hove n clear idea of the way in which it is oxpectod to concentrate discus&n upon matters falling wlthh the raponfib?!kics of the Security c0unci.l. 64. Those are questions which I am sure the Council .will agree should bo examined; but In the mcantbne my dolegation will join with the rest of the Council in making a posftive response to the gcnorous invitation of the Govern. merit of Panama. -mm ~~~~ 65, The PRI!SIDBNT: I thenk the representative of the United Kingdom for the I&d words he has said about me. 66. Mrs. Jeanne Martin CISSE (Gubtaa) (interprefatfon from fie&r]: Mr. President, first of ali I should Iike to welcome you; your accession to membership of the Council has begun briilhautly with your presidency durhrg this first month of January. May I assure you of tho complete co-operation of tny dolegation. I also wish to wolrome the other new Council members-the delcgetions of Austraha, Austria, Kenya and Peru-aud assure them of our full co-operation. 67. Tunti~~g now to the item beforo us, my delegation welcomes with sympathy the invitation of the Government =. =. 1. ..dwAly of. this Latli Amorlcan GLmp .and of the Afrlcun -=;-~‘a:raui,,‘.l,asod on -tlro ~siniillujty -of probloins whjcii both -=- llioso contfnonls livo wilh, has iod us to support ,Uio Invitation oxtondod by tho Govornnlont of Panama. We are swo tiiul Uioso niootings will cnublo us from UIO African conUnant, end the Council, to bcwn~ holtor ~quahrtod uot may wit11 trclt pert Of UIO world but also, iuxl obovc Illi, with its probjens. Tjlo l&cm proj~osed by the Govcrnmont of l’anan~ Is floxlblv and will, 1 am’suro, yruvido us with an opporlunlty to cunsjdor muro sj~cjjlcaliy, away from Iloadqunrtors, intcrnatlonrt co~oj~ratlan In l&n Amorlcu ljnkod lo tho ccnsidcration of moasuros to strongthon jntornatlonal poucc and security, whjoh Is the osscntial task of our cOullcll. 68, In concIusion, my dclcgstion supports the propwal mndo by Ambnssndur Uoyd that wo follow UIO same procedures ns wo did for tho Addis Ababa mcotb~gs, and u10t wo SllOUld ndopt all UN l1ecc!Sury meusuros to c11sur0 nlaximum SUCceSS for our l?uuull~ meeUi1gs, ,.j ,. GY. The PRESIDENT: I tjnuik the roproscntativo of Glrlnca for the ldnd words of welcome she has ad&cssod to inb. ‘70, I’&, CHUANG YEN (China) {lra,uLz~brr Finn C’hincsse~: Today ‘the Security Council Is iddhig its fjrst .meotlng in 1973. in the now you, tlvo now Member Ytatos pra takirlg part in tho work of tho Council, ‘Ilto Chincso delcgntion oxpresses a wolcon~o to thorn and is toady to co-dporato wjth them jn accordance with tho purposes and princjples vf the Charter of the United NaUons. 71, WC have listened attontlvoly to UIO Prosjdout’s account of tho result of ids eonstdtations wirlr the Mombor Stntcs on UlO qucsuo!l of 11oldhy Seal&y COuilCU ii1c0tL1gs in UlO capital of Panama and the explanation given by the rogr&cntotivo of Panama, Mr. Boyd of hts Govorm~ont’s brvitation for the Seourity Counrll to mcot al Panama City frnn ES to 21 Mar& 1973. 1 should Uke to make a few co1nmonts Wl this qloPuoll; i ; .- -’ ’ ,-’ :-- .72, km, Arijole 28, paragraph 3, of UX Qurrtor provjdes that “the Security Cound may hold mccUngs nt such places other than the scjlt of the Crgar:in~ ‘Inn as jn its judgment wlii I-*St fwiiital:: its work”. Afte -6 Panan~inn Government hn~r prvpascd that $lre Counc~. .)sld mtiut from IS to 21 h’iarcjr 1973 at Punama City, t!te Lilfin kmricart Group held mcr4inp r,pcc!ally on Ulls nlalter 8&i unanhnousiy dccidcd to r;uyport the above.nrentioncd ~rapmd of the ?anantnian Govcrnmenl. In the oglftion of the C’lh!nese delcgatioa, the Ulnamanian C;overi~man~‘~ proposal and the position uf UIE Lallri Aniorican Group ore in full accord with tJ:a relevant provisions of &he Chartar r+nd meet the [icods of the devehlpnren! of the situation ill Win Anwic~. The Chinese dt!egalicn supports the Fro- COilliilg inecthlgs will make useful contribulions towards suppohg the hth A1naricau countrlcs lu Go11 stru~l~ to safeguard State sovorcignty, natlonal lndcpcndencc and o0unomic rosourws rutd oppose supor#owor a~~ossjon, intorforonco, ,eubvor&on wild control, The Chinos0 doiega. Uon Is ready to work togothor with the justice.upholdjng countrlos ruuY muko its offorts to Uris oud. 74. Tltlrdly, the series of moaljngs to be hold In the capltul of Panama will bo tho first of iti kind hold by the Security Cnuncjl Iri Latin knorlca. Wo must oxort ovoiy offort to make it 0 success. As tjmo Is prossing, the Council, ufter ta; ‘;rg the decjslon, should hnmedjately pfoceod with the political prcparallons for the mcctblg, Tho Socrctuiat did a good job tn the adminjstratlvo and organizatlonal field for tho CONWU itUditIgS in Africa last year, TO oiisuro the success of the forthcomjiig mcotb~gs In Panama, wo hope thnt the Socretnrlat WlU promptly make ail preparations in the lidit of the oxporlcnco of Ulo Afrjcan moetiugs last yoar and carry out its work with ldghor officlenoy and loss cxpndlluro, 75. Ille PRHSIDBNT: 1 thank the representative of Chjna for his words of welcome to the new incmbors of the Councii, jncludjry: lndonosla,

Mr. Prosldont, lot nw first of all cxpross my thanks to you and otlror mombors who IWO welcomed Au&alla, along with your own country and three other associates, as now members of the Cout~oil, On rctwnin~ to tlso Council after an absence of i4 yaars, my d&gatlon can only fee! honourcd by the pdvljoge of membersllip and at tho same time dauntad by the furnlidabie responsib!UUes we iiow ussw1~ is KIQ vital orgri of the lhlled !Wions. 77. Lot me also, Mr. Presjdont, welcome you on your accostion to the Presldency and congratulate you on the admjrablc cahil and pulse with which, as a new member, you havo &eady begun to sot about discharging your responsibjljtier. Havblg been associated wltlr the affairs of your country over a &Mod of soma 25 years, and huviug had the twaour of reprosmting my Government officially la UaiaviP, 23 it thr:n ~89, at the cerenioiiy of’ Ilidonosin’s a~~cssiotr to Independent till0 5’ ~ i and having since ulso sorvod as Ambussailor in Dj&arra, IX is perhaps only naturili thnt i should ret&r a nontalglc affectIon for Indonerja and al:10 a close personal intorest jn its progress snd an undors~idirlg of its problems. 78. jt #es me ;s;WcuIw pleasure Bet you E;~J I, 8.9 c;o&aBucs for many years, wffl be worklng ttigethor again jr* the Sccarlty CwmiI. Our two coun~rier he, I baljeve, oVl!er the pst 25 years, lfamed that Wig togGb.5 as 80. We boliovc thst Article 28, paragraph 3, of the Chertcr ahould be interprot\rd to meal1 that the Council should normslly mcot at its Headquarters but should also be able to moot claewhere when there are very special rc:3sona fur doing so. At the twenty&& acaaion of the General Assembly we were uble to support resolution 2863 (XXVI) and we had no occasion to quoation the doclalon of the Council last year to mcot in Addia Ababa to consider queatlona relating to Africa of which the Council waa than currently aeized, There wore then special and cogent ressona for holding a series of Council meetings in Africa, But we are not entirely convinceJ that laa.t year’s decialon ~~ should be regarded aa a natural precedent for adoption of the preacnl propoanl. It is also in our vlcw particularly important that, sa our colleague from the United Kingdom has already aaid, if the Council b!lou!d decide to meet in Pensma City it should at the ~sme time ensure that it can meet at short notice in Now York if it should be called upon to deal with a sudden emergency elsewhere in the world. 81. We also have some queries about the draft agondn sa suggested by the Minister for Foreign AffaIra of Pnnrunn. As at present formulated, it strikes us aa somewhat broad and general In scope, snd it would seem to need further study by the Security Council Committee on Coundl Meetings away from Headquarters. 82 Having said thst, I would repeat thnt notwilllstanding ita reaorvatlons my delegation wlll support the Pansmanlan proposal in prhdplo. The Australian Govbrnment said people entertain warm feelings of friendship towards Pansma and other countries of Latin Americas with which I nm happy to say we onjoy the beat poaaiblc relations. We are very conscious of their oaplrationa, sa wll aa theh problems, and we can fully underatund their denire to bring those same saplrations and problema more positively to the attention of the Coiicil.

I thsnfr. the representative of Australia for the kind words of welccme he addruaaed to ale with a very kind palsons touch. ua by you snd by epeskera who have prccedcd me, I should ~Ilke also to associate myaclf fully with the tribute pdd by previous apoakera to the ccmsclentioua work-which will s01-v~ as Q model to ua-dunc by tho roproaentutivea of Argentina, Delglum, Italy, Japan snd Sonlplio who prcccdcd us in thIa Co~ncfl. Finally, Mr. Prcaident, on behalf of my dolcgatior~ I should like ta addrcaa to you our congratula. Uons on the h&h rcsponaibflity which you have assumed and to promise you our faithful and loyal co=operation, 65. In aaaumlng these new resl~onaibiIitica, Auatrla is fully aware of the critttris laid down by Article 23 of the Charter conccrnh~g the elcctlon of non-permanent mombora of the Security Council. That Artlclo speaks above all of the coatrlbutlon which a State has made or wU1 make hi the futun “to the maintenance of international peace snd ~curity”, taking Into account also the iniporttilco of contributions which o Member State may make to promote “the other purposes of the Orgstlizatlon”. 86. The Austrlsn Government ia flsnlly col&ccd that the status of permanent neutrality whfch Austria freely chose in October 1955 to ensure Its Independence is P solld baaia for its work in the Security Council. It is uy choodng the atntuJ of permnncne neutrality that Austria was able to bo 3mong the first natlona, w&h, almost 20 yanrs 880, were able to make their modest contribution to fhe process of Europoun and world dbtente wldch was to replace the period of the cold war. It is in the ssme spirit that Austria became a Member of the United Notions end strove to contribute to the implementation of the prIndp!ca of the $@w.- 87. The servicer which this permanent neutrality can render to the international community stem from tho vory origin of the concept of neutrality which aima at preventtng any prollfuration of war. The functions of P neutrality which today hsa been mliversally acccptad have become much wider in our day and age, The tradItional concept of neutrslity applied solely to the csao of war, and was therefore lhdted in thne end apace by ita very nature. Permanent neutrality aa adopted by Auatrlu shns, on the contrary, also to rendcr pernument service to the inter. national community, thst la to ssy, to do escrytldng in its power to prevent the widenhig of confllcta, to achieve a greater mesaure of international co-operation snd, io quote the Charter of the Unltod Nations once n&n, “to muintsin international peace snd security”. 88. This is the ccnccpt CJf ne!ltrslity which the Minister of 17oreign Affairs of AuqtriP, Mr. KIrchachlaeger, had In mind when I~:, add at the twenty-aevcnth session of the Genera? Aaaembly : “ I . * my Covcrrrmont iriterprota neutrnllty na P mesns of preserving Austriu’s Independence and, at the awnc thno, ‘-WI&u-t a colonial past, intends to contrlbuto to the’wcsi posslblc extent -its hnpartial services to this tlg most ,~ poUtlyl of tho,maln bodlc? oft@ Unl@d Nations. : ,~ ., . , the Security, Council has so far doclded only once 89 -to hold mectlngs elsewhcro than at Headquarters: -tn ‘. -. Yanua~~Fobruary 1972 It held 13 nteethigs In Addls Ababato conslher questions relating to Af&a and the ~hnplomentation of its relevant resolutions, Tliusc meet. 89, -The .-third’ criterion ‘of Artlolc ‘23 Is that of tho eqldtablo gcographic;rl ditributlon in UIC Council. Thus Austria was oiocted to the Council as a country of tho European continent! Austria is fully aware of this addiings apparently were highly successfr.d , , 8 “With this successfbl experience in mind the Austrian Government suggests that the Security Counctl, hi the fnturc, consldor, from time to time and whenever conditions seem appropriate, having recourse to Articlc 28 (3) and holding meetings in a difforont environment, If such environment appears In 0110 way or UIO other to be conducive to the expected solution of n given polltlcal issue. The overridlng consideration shall, of course, be that such meetings must be expected to facllltate the Council’s work.” ‘tloilal re~ponalbllity. And I should liku 011co ugain briefly to quote the statement of the Mlnistor of Pore@ Affnirs of +stqlq at the last session of $0 Goneral tiembly: Y’be who10 world has sufferid In the course of tlds century from the consequences of two wnrs which spread Lfrom Europe. Why, tt,un, should UIC whole world not benefit from tho consequences of a peaceful devolopmont in Europe? Thus, the Austrian Government, In contrlbuting to the strengthening of secmity uld co-operation in --Europe, does 80 In the firm hope that such action will also scwo to promote paccful development in other purts of the wo:ld.“l 95. In view of the roferonco made in this document to the mecthlgs of the Council in Addls Ababa, 1 can only ropeat that my delegation sees la them a happy precedent for shnllar cxperlments which could be carried out in future, ruid we consider that the series of meetings in a country of LotIn America would follow this llno. Further, I should Uko to remind nlcmbers that Au&la haa always held the view that every country should have the riglit and the posslblllty of requesting the hlcltion of Items In the agenda of any United NaUons body to make possible the conslderatlon of. these problem,- ,~. .~~.- The European spirit which Austria will try to brhlg to bear in the work of this Council is thus the spirit of detente and FaCOfd CO-OpelaUOn IWO43 IUtiOll8. 90, We wish, fInally, that the ever-increasing uuiversality -of this Orgartixation shall be reflected to the same oxtont in an expansion of the res.ponsibiUtles of the Council, ‘91. It is thus In this spirit of devotion to the principles of the Charter and the fundamental purposes of the United KaUorrs that Austria will undertake this new task. Like the majority of the Membero of the Organlzatlon, Austrin is a amnIl nation whosu existence and role are prcdlcated upon unlver3ol respect for the rules and prlnoiplos of lnternatlonal luw, and especially international law % enshrined 111 the Charter, My country sincerely hopes to be ablo, as a member of the Council, to make a signal contribution to the strengthening of this common basis of internatIonal law and co-operation, a basis which is of paramomit importance for all Member States of the Organlzation, whether they bc large or ,srnaU. 96. For all those reasons, my Government views with favour the invitation extended to the Council by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pamtma, Mr. Juan Antonlo Tack, on behalf of his Government, I should like also to mention thnt the ktln American Group has unanhnously supported this hlvitntlon, and this has exerted a declsivs influence on the posltlon taken by Austria in favour of the Panama&n proposal. It only rom~is for me to express the deep gratltudo of my Governmont for the generous offer of Panallla~ 97, Before co11cMlng, 1 should llke to state that my delegation would be quite ready to adopt in this matter a procedure shnllar to the one followed last year by the Council when a decision had to be taken about meetings of the Council in an African capital. 92,. &a~ ‘I now say a few words abou; the matter on the agenda of the Council. 93, I should like to start by saying that my Government fully supports the proposal of Pimama presented In docu- 9S. The PKESIDBNT: I thank the representative of Austrin for the kind words he has addressed to me. mnt S/lOg!%, uuder which the Couudl should meet in March in Panama City. The reasons wltich motivateG the po@ltlon of my Government very b&fly are as follows. -- 4 A/8847/,Add.l dated 12 Dewnbar 1912. 10 --P -- Prkr: $Ll.ti. I 00 (or l qulvelsnt In othar currcrtcle~) 73.62001-M~r0t~ 1976-1,925 Lltho In Unllcd N~llwr, New York