An archive photo
MINSK, 29 September (BelTA) – In his speech at the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maksim Ryzhenkov suggested a way to bolster the foundations of this organization, BelTA has learned.
“First. The UN should free itself from the dictate of individual states that believe they have a free hand and are above everyone. The UN is all of us,” the foreign minister emphasized.
He noted that the UN Secretariat staff should keep in mind that they should work in the interests of the entire Organization without favoring the countries of their citizenship, and therefore they should be objective, impartial and independent.
“Second. The Organization should support regional processes, since regionalism is a key reality of today. We are seeing a surge in regional integration processes in various parts of the world,” Maksim Ryzhenkov noted.
Thus, the associations of the Global Majority countries are gaining momentum. These are BRICS, SCO, CIS, EAEU, African Union, ASEAN and many others. “The UN needs to integrate into these processes, facilitating their development and alignment,” the foreign minister remarked.
“Third. Last year Western countries staged a smear campaign to prevent the election of Belarus as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. They were very afraid of our honest voice in this body. However, even outside the Council, we will keep voicing our stance on the entire spectrum of international problems. Moreover, we will continue to push for a fair reform of the Security Council, because the voice of the Global Majority countries in the Council is our voice too,” said Maksim Ryzhenkov.
Therefore, the Belarusian side believes that the UN Security Council should be reformed to allow greater representation for large developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. “These countries take the brunt of major global problems. They know better than others how to deal with wars and conflicts in the developing world. And their weight in global affairs today is much greater than it was 80 years ago,” the foreign minister remarked.
Fourth, the UN should explicitly condemn unilateral restrictive measures. “We have the right to expect meaningful and objective assessment from the Organization of the negative impact of sanctions on sustainable development, which we all care about so much. Moreover, the efforts within the UN to counter illegal sanctions should become systemic and consistent,” the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
He emphasized that all such incidents should be assessed in a fair and objective manner.
Fifth, it is necessary to use the UN platform to effectively tackle the growing transnational threats.
“Belarus has always advocated a collective approach to addressing common global problems. Migration, pandemics, natural disasters, human trafficking, famine and many others. There is a timer outside this hall that counts down in real time the money spent on weapons. Trillions of dollars! And this is only what the UN knows,” said Maksim Ryzhenkov.
He advised the “golden billion” countries to use these trillions not to unleash and fuel more wars and conflicts, but to address existential threats facing people. “Many global problems will then be solved immediately. The UN will receive the resources it so desperately needs for development that are constantly in short supply (donors have no money). And the world will finally see that those who call themselves hegemons are ready to deal with global problems, not create them,” the foreign minister noted.
“And one more thing, the UN should be the voice of states; thus, various non-state structures should not have an impact on its decision-making. After all, it is the member states that make decisions in the Organization that affect the lives of all people on the planet, and they are fully responsible for their implementation,” Maksim Ryzhenkov remarked.
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