Belarus’ FM on why UN tools fail to bring order to the world
The universal law of the United Nations gives everyone, without exception, equal rights to development and equal non-discriminatory access to common goods, technologies and resources but this approach is not acceptable for the West – as stated by Belarus’ Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov in his speech at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly
Photo: video screenshot
Belarus’ Foreign Minister said, “For 79 years now, our countries have been meeting in this hall to convey their truth, exchange best practices and support important initiatives. All this is being done under the motto to make the world better. Is the world really getting better? Is it becoming more predictable, secure and stable? There are old-timers among us, and they remember the days when the UN platform played a special role in this process. Unfortunately, we – the younger generation – know this only from textbooks.”
Mr. Ryzhenkov noted that, many years ago, the UN Charter was something unshakable, it was a true guarantor of compromise and future-oriented solutions, “At that time, many remembered the victims and horrors of WWII, and no one wanted a repeat of that terrible tragedy. Therefore, we jointly formed a unique tool for collective dispute resolution and strengthening the architecture of international co-operation. True, as history has shown, this tool is not always perfect – like all of us. However, it is undoubtedly the best out of the ones that the world had before and has now.”
The Foreign Minister added that not all issues (even on which there were unambiguous solutions) had been brought to implementation, they are still relevant. “Among them is Palestine, for example. It is experiencing a real humanitarian catastrophe now, and tens of thousands of civilians are dying,” he said.
However, as noted by the Belarusian diplomat, this does not detract from the 20th century achievements. “The colonial system was broken, and many peoples received the hard-earned right to independent development. The points of economic, industrial and financial growth emerged on all continents, and entire regions began to get rid of famine and epidemics. The UN peacekeeping activity was able to prevent bloody conflicts or contribute to their cessation. The blue colour of the United Nations was present in all places where development problems were successfully solved. What has happened recently? Why did we have to create our Group of Friends in Defence of the UN Charter? Why are we forced to defend a document that already has the highest legal force for everyone? Why cannot we fully use the UN tool to restore order in the world? This is happening because a number of countries do not live according to the norms envisaged by the Charter. Moreover, they have no plans to follow them, since living according to international law is similar to a slow extinction for them,” Mr. Ryzhenkov stated, adding that these states refer to the Charter when delivering speeches at the UN, but not in a universal sense, but in relation to their selfish interests and claims (often towards others).
