My statement will be very brief. Its sole objective is to express France’s continued interest in the work begun three years ago on the expansion of the Security Council. This important endeavour, upon which we embarked in 1993 in the awareness that it would entail difficult negotiations, must be bro…
In 1879 the Sociéte de géographie de Paris
The Panamanian Government has now taken the initiative of convening in Panama in 1997, 118 years after the Paris Congress, another Universal Congress on the Panama Canal. This international meeting will aim to continue the effective use of the Canal as par…
The French delegation appreciates the initiative of the Russian Federation and the other delegations that called for a public Security Council debate on the situation in Afghanistan. The recent developments in the situation in that country justify the Security Council holding such a debate. On sever…
The French delegation would like first of all to welcome the ministerial delegation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which requested the holding of this debate. We have listened very attentively to the statements made the by the members of that delegation, who represent the coun…
The United Nations operation in Haiti is without doubt one of the great success stories of the Organization in recent times. It has made it possible to consolidate the democratic transition in that country by helping the Government to establish a public force that respects the law and is capable of …
Allow us first of all to express our satisfaction at seeing you, Mr. President, guiding our work and for the opportunity to congratulate the Ambassador of China for his outstanding guidance of the Council last month.
The French delegation supported the resolution that has just been adopted, as it b…
The French delegation was a sponsor of the resolution that has just been adopted. We voted in favour of it because the text reproduced the Secretary-General’s sound recommendations.
The extension for six months of the identical mandate and composition of the United Nations Preventive Deployment For…
France is seriously concerned over the present situation in Lebanon. The spiral of violence, the increasing number of victims, mostly civilians, the serious risks to the continuation of the peace process, the violations of territorial integrity and the harm done to Lebanon’s reconstruction efforts a…
The Council is discussing the question of Lebanon three days after our previous meeting on the same subject. Fighting has continued. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have been forced to take to the roads. Men, women and children have been mown down. The French Government has expressed its feelings …
Today’s meeting of the Security Council, the convening of which was supported by France, must, in our view, pursue an essential aim: to support the peace process in the Middle East.
We can all see that this process is passing through a very difficult period, marked by the recent attacks that took p…
This meeting of the Security Council is a necessary one. It could have been held earlier, as Lebanon, with the support of France, had proposed. Members of the Council cannot remain silent in the face of the deterioration of the situation, which affects the security of Lebanon and of Israel, threaten…
Mr. President, allow me first of all to congratulate you on your assumption of the presidency, and to commend the Permanent Representative of Botswana on the high calibre of the presidency under him and his colleagues last month.
I should like to begin by thanking you, Mr. President, for taking the…
The Security Council was first seized of the situation in Somalia at the beginning of 1992. The action taken by the Council at that time had two main objectives: to promote national reconciliation and to put an end to the very serious humanitarian crisis besetting that country as a result of the war…
The French delegation supported the draft resolution that has just been put to the vote. This resolution will enable the Secretary-General to create, with the agreement of the Rwandan authorities, a political office that will succeed the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), whose m…
Allow me very sincerely and warmly to join those who have praised you, Mr. President, and your predecessor.
In late December last, the Secretary-General drew the Security Council’s attention to the danger threatening Burundi of a humanitarian catastrophe on the scale of that experienced by Rwanda i…
The French delegation has carefully studied the fifteenth progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL). This document, for which we would like to thank our Secretary- General, prompts us to make the following comments.
The Security Council will…
Allow me to congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council and to congratulate you on the remarkably effective and precise manner in which you have been guiding our work. Allow me also to associate myself with the unanimous tribute which has been paid to your predecessor,…
Upon the announcement of the death of Mr. François Mitterrand, former President of the French Republic, Mr. Jacques Chirac, President of the French Republic, made the following statement:
“President François Mitterrand passed away this morning. I have just come from paying him my final respects. I …
There are subjects, there are tragedies, where words are too weak to describe the horror and revulsion that every human being feels when they are described. The memory of the victims demands restraint.
The report the Security Council requested of the Secretary-General damningly shows that the atroc…
It is always a good idea to follow closely the introduction of new procedures, which is why today’s meeting seems to us to be useful.
It was in May 1993 that the first meeting of troop contributors took place. The Secretary-General had taken the initiative for that meeting, which concerned the Unit…
