Mr. Lukashenko noted that, on the eve of the summit, the UN’s ambitious agenda had been approved for the coming 15 years. The final document focuses on five strategic areas vitally important for all of us: people, the planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. These notions are the logical continuation of efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goals. However, he believes that these efforts cause conflicting emotions.
“Yes, there are certain shifts in reducing global levels of poverty, increasing protection and health care for mothers and children, and ensuring access to education. Yet, we should recognise that we have not achieved a significant breakthrough for the benefit of human civilisation,” underlined the Belarusian Head of State. “Moreover, we see that the world is being engulfed by ever new challenges, while old problems become more acute. These challenges and problems do not concern just one area, but all of the most important areas of human activity.”
Mr. Lukashenko emphasised that the world is facing absolutely new geopolitical phenomena and military conflicts. He stated, “The current level of tension in international relations is almost unprecedented. Unanswered threats are coming to the fore with ever greater clarity. Focusing on minor disputes over secondary issues, the global community has overlooked the emergence of aggressive terrorist states.”
The President of Belarus asserted that efforts to impose a certain development model on other countries continue unabated. “Where does this lead to? As a result of foreign intervention, the export of ‘colour’ revolutions and controlled regime change, previously stable countries have been plunged into chaos and anarchy, all under the canopy of ‘democracy’.”
At the reception honouring heads of delegations of the 70th session of the UN General
Assembly on behalf of the President of the United States of America
The Belarusian Head of State continued, “We’re increasingly dependent on each other. The actions of one country have direct implications for the interests of many others. There are no more invulnerable countries.”
“We must honestly admit that no effective system of checks and balances exists. States that claim global leadership cannot, unfortunately, escape the temptation to use force and economic blackmail to promote their own interests. The world has come dangerously close to de-facto renunciation of the principles of international law enshrined in the UN Charter,” stressed the Belarusian leader.
“This is why I’m strongly convinced of the need to have a broad discussion in the UN about the principles of future coexistence of states and peoples. I’ve mentioned it before, but I want to stress it once again: the Organisation must not become a place for mutual accusations and confrontation of states.”
Mr. Lukashenko added, “There is no alternative to dialogue! We must deal with our problems collectively. We can certainly build new walls and draw division lines, but this won’t make problems disappear,” the Belarusian Head of State is convinced.
Speaking at the general debate of the UN General Assembly’s 70th session, Mr. Lukashenko proposed embodying an integration of integrations in the world economy, to counteract global economic threats.
“Currency wars, sanctions, re-division of material resource markets, unfair competition and other negative phenomena are aggravating the global crisis. Attempts by a number of leading states to solve their problems at the expense of other countries only add to confrontation and estrangement.”
According to the President of Belarus, only one way exists out of this deadlock: all-round co-operation of economies and sustainable development for the benefit of the entire world community, rather than for separate states. The support of poor countries is of utmost importance in this respect.
“Only through common efforts will we be able to forge a new formula of universal mutually beneficial collaboration. As the foundation of such interaction, Belarus proposes an integration of integrations, as the most topical trend in the modern world,” stated Mr. Lukashenko.
He emphasised that a number of new integration entities have emerged in recent years. “Today, we speak of prospects of co-operation between the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union, about the major Great Silk Road project, about creating the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Free Trade Zone, among dozens of others,” said the Belarusian leader.
“If we succeed in avoiding unnecessary and dangerous competition among integration models, and instead make them compatible and complementary, we’ll be able to establish a global integration structure encompassing the entire planet, and closely connecting regions and continents. Such a paradigm would enable peaceful coexistence of nations and states, united by common purpose of progress and prosperity,” Mr. Lukashenko advocated.
“The value of the integration process lies in its democratic nature. To a certain extent, it equalises opportunities for all stakeholders and enables small and medium-sized countries to develop their potential and become an important link in this process,” underlines the President of Belarus. According to him, the most vital condition for integration is mutual benefit.
The Belarusian Head of State noted that global threats in the social, humanitarian and ecological spheres cause concern. “In recent times, resounding calls for maximum freedom have tested the basic foundations of human society, including family, good moral values and virtue.”
“We’ll do everything that we can to enable our grandchildren, great grandchildren and their descendants to preserve our nation’s moral values, kind traditions of spirituality and culture,” asserted Mr. Lukashenko.
He believes that the same selfish attitude is characteristic of mankind’s approach to nature. “The international community has been trying to meet the challenge of climate change for many years. Many simply prefer to shift the burden onto others.”
“Thinking about such problems, one cannot help arriving at one particular conclusion. There is one deep-lying root to all these crises: an artificial cult of individual rights and freedoms to the detriment of collective social interest,” the Belarusian Head of State underlined.
“I can assure everyone with absolute confidence that anarchy, lawlessness and violence will never take root on Belarusian land, under any slogan, including that of democracy. We are strong enough and self-assured enough not to let them in from the outside,” stressed the President of Belarus.
“Paradoxically, humanity has entered the 21st century with a large number of failed and ineffective states. What is a failed state? It basically means the absence of law and stability, outrageous inequality and extreme poverty, lack of motivation and healthy moral values among youth,” asserted the Belarusian leader.
He stressed that people in Belarus understand all of this very well. “Over the past two decades, we’ve been purposefully building a sovereign independent state, with a socially oriented economy. We have paid utmost attention to policies that strengthen the family and help young people fully realise their potential.”
“It’s only through self-restraint that we can ensure well-being and protection for all: the powerful and the vulnerable alike. This is precisely the essence of international law, that is the only alternative to the ‘law of the jungle’,” believes the Belarusian Head of State.
“Regarding our national experience of development, I’d like to draw the following conclusion: only the union of powerful, responsible and efficient states, united by a system of international law, can adequately counteract global challenges and threats.”
The Belarusian President is certain that the role of the United Nations Organisation is vital in this respect. “We sincerely believe that the answer lies in the realm of ideas proposed to the world 70 years ago, by the UN founding fathers. First and foremost, we must unconditionally condemn violence,” he emphasised.
At the end of his speech, the President of Belarus quoted Nelson Mandela. “Addressing his contemporaries, this unbroken fighter for justice in the world once said: ‘Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. You can be that generation’. I hope very much that such a destiny will fall on our generation. I’m confident that we’ll find strength and common sense to do whatever it takes to change the world for the better.”
By Vladimir Khromov
