22 August 2022
Thank you, Mr. President.
And I thank the Chinese Presidency for organizing this meeting, a timely opportunity to consider the ways in which dialogue and cooperation – our daily bread and butter – can contribute to maintaining world peace and security, especially at times as these when the world is in turmoil.
We welcome and are grateful for the remarks of Secretary-General, Guterres and the President of the tenth NPT review conference, Zlauvinen.
We share their concern, and that of many others today, that peace and security are under threat, and if these threats are not properly recognized and addressed, we face a bleak future.
Mr. President,
Dialogue and cooperation represent a common and strong aspiration of people around the world. For us, this noble aspiration is not built in a void, but most and foremost, on the norms and laws that we, together, have agreed upon since the establishment of this very body.
Today, the world faces many serious challenges and a multitude of threats in shifting geopolitics. For many countries, peace and security, stability and progress, rights and freedoms are not part of the reality of citizens.
Seizure of power by force, terrorism, cyber-attacks, climate change, trans-border crime and poverty continue to fuel violent and deadly conflicts in many parts of the world. But the erosion of fundamental norms established with the creation of the United Nations constitute a fundamental threat to world peace and security today.
Article 2 of the UN Charter speaks for itself. It prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. Yet, there are those who still defy it, openly, blatantly, repeatedly, unforgivingly.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine stands in flagrant violation of this obligation and of everything we have invested over decades. Its indefensible assault on a peaceful neighbor has undermined the international order rooted in rules and respect. Therefore, this war of choice poses some urgent questions for us all.
Do rules matter?
Does sovereignty have any meaning?
Do we want a rules-based international order or chaos and turmoil?
What remains of dialogue and cooperation in face of an unprovoked invasion?
The answer to these questions will define our future and the future of multilateralism with the UN at its core. Our common response will determine if we stand by International Law or yield to big powers and their imperial appetites over their neighbors, if we stand by and contemplate the might to dictate the right, if we accept the arrogance of “my way or the highway”.
Mistakes made in the past do not give to anyone, to any state, a credit to be used and do the same, now or in the future.
Therefore, let’s not forget: what is happening in Ukraine doesn’t only concern that country and its citizens: it concerns the entire European continent, all of us.
Mr. President,
We also recognize and support the expanded notion of security. This entails an evolved, continued and irreversible shift from the mere classic state security to human security, where the individual, the human person takes centre stage.
But, despite undeniable progress over more than 7 decades, respect for human rights around the world is in retrograde – acts of violence and discrimination occur on a daily basis, and we are witnessing more and more human rights violations and abuses in all corners of the globe.
When human rights are violated, dialogue and cooperation suffer; development and progress stall; peace and security come under threat. When human rights are respected, societies are stronger, more resilient and stable; countries develop faster and this benefits dialogue and cooperation at regional and global levels.
Mr. President,
NPT remains the bedrock of the nuclear disarmament regime. The core objectives of the NPT in its three important pillars, stop the spread of nuclear weapons, achieve universal nuclear disarmament and uphold the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, are key to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
Russia’s actions including its decision to place its nuclear deterrent forces on high alert and the continued saber-rattling of nuclear threat that come from different voices and actors close to the regime go against cooperation, undermine trust and threaten peace.
In this vein, the occupation and the militarization of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant which is being used by Russian forces as a springboard to launch attacks, constitutes an imminent threat, defying all IAEA safeguards and safety protocols.
We reiterate our call for Russia to withdraw its military forces and for the establishment of an immediate secure perimeter around the nuclear power plant.
Mr. President,
With a multilateral global order shaken to the core, it is high time that we stop sleepwalking and bring dialogue and cooperation at the heart of our collective action, come together and take wise decisions benefiting all.
The pandemic has tested our resilience, climate change threatens our very survival and inaction will lead us all right against the wall. As the SG reminded us here, the proposals made in “Our Common Agenda” represent a road map to reaffirm multilateralism, bring back respect for rules and joint efforts for development, with a UN fit for future challenges and crises, at the heart of common action.
We strongly support the ‘New Agenda for Peace’ with a heightened focus on reinforcing human rights and freedoms, international law with a comprehensive and integrated approach to peace and security, including by addressing climate change challenges. We will be able to do better and achieve more by investing in prevention rather than addressing symptoms. For this, dialogue and cooperation are crucial.
Mr. President,
Challenges, crisis and disputes between states, at regional or international level, will not disappear. They have been and will be part of international life. But what may and should change is the way we deal with them.
If we opt for open, frank and genuine dialogue while upholding the core norms agreed by all, we invest in fair solutions, we contribute to a peaceful, secure, and prosperous world.
Through dialogue, States build trust; through cooperation they share mutually benefiting experiences; together they stand always stronger than alone.
It is only through dialogue, cooperation and joint efforts that we can recognize and act upon the common aspirations of all human beings to live a dignified life, free from fear, want or repression.
Let me conclude, Mr. President, by stating what we have learned from our very own past:
peace and security do not come from a vision that is imposed but rather by what is achieved freely and jointly, by acting together, as friends, as good neighbors, as fair partners.
Only then, dialogue and cooperation acquire their true meaning, with shared benefits.
I thank you!