TRANSCRIPT OF PRESS CONFERENCE BY GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT HENNADIY UDOVENKO (UKRAINE) AT UN HEADQUARTERS, 14 NOVEMBER

Press Release
GA/SM/12

TRANSCRIPT OF PRESS CONFERENCE BY GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT HENNADIY UDOVENKO (UKRAINE) AT UN HEADQUARTERS, 14 NOVEMBER

THE PRESIDENT: I am very glad to meet with you again, especially right after the meeting of the Secretary-General with you. And as we approach the end of the second month of the fifty-second session, one can see that the session is beginning to fulfil its promise of a milestone event in United Nations history.

The Assembly has already made a number of important decisions, but I will postpone until December a broad review of its highlights. Instead, I want to focus today on the Assembly's most recent and, perhaps, most eagerly anticipated action -- the adoption of a reform resolution on the report of the Secretary-General. At the outset of the session, I felt that, on the reform front, there were positive signs of the Organization's leaving the "quicksand of the doubtful" and moving on to the "firm ground of the possible". I think that we have now reached another crucial phase, where possibilities are beginning to turn into reality.

I think that the successful conclusion of the first stage of the consideration of the report of the Secretary-General and the adoption of a consensus resolution was a very important step forward. There are several reasons for that. The resolution signalled the strong political commitment of the entire membership to reform the United Nations, and it showed that existing differences among Member States do not stand in the way of meaningful transformation. It gave unprecedented exposure to the positions of individual Members and groups of States on a broad range of practical matters related to the reform process. Those views will now be taken into account as the Organization proceeds on the path of reform. It represented a clear endorsement of the Secretary-General's efforts and initiatives aimed at modernizing the Organization. It helped develop synergy and solidify the partnership between the Secretary-General and the membership on an issue of direct and vital interest to every State. And finally, the Assembly's decision helped to build a solid foundation for future progress in the challenging task of reforming the world body.

But as we focus on the importance of the end result, we should not overlook the significance of the process. And I would like to emphasize that the reform of the United Nations is a process and not a single action -- and this was also emphasized by the Secretary-General himself in his report.

I would like to reiterate that the General Assembly broke new ground when it decided to tackle the package of measures and proposals in a novel format of open-ended informal consultations of the plenary. This setting provided an excellent opportunity for an open, substantive and action-oriented consideration of the report at a very high level of representation. The significance of the process lies in the fact that decisions were made, not in the proverbial smoke-filled rooms, but in a suspicion-free and -- thankfully -- smoke-free atmosphere of universal participation. Each delegation, be it from a major Power or a tiny nation, had a chance to get directly involved in the process.

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You will recall that there were close to 200 statements and interventions during the informal meetings of the plenary. The resulting resolution is the result of a truly collective effort. It reflects the reality of existing differences, and often vastly divergent views. It is all the more important that it managed to bridge those gaps and allowed us to move ahead.

And on a final note, before we go to your questions: I have seen references in the press to the General Assembly presidency as a largely ceremonial post. After two months on the job, I would beg to differ. Beyond the surface gloss of gavel-wielding and protocol functions lies tremendous responsibility, compounded by long hours of exhausting behind-the-scenes negotiations, planning and decision-making. And besides, and no ceremonial job in the world can give you such a strong sense of accomplishment.

QUESTION [Barely audible]: I wonder about your reaction to the congressional decision to postpone action on the funding of the United States' back dues. What impact is that going to have on the Organization?

THE PRESIDENT: The adoption of actions took a long time. Their consideration took more than a month. And finally -- as I stated in my introductory remarks -- it resulted in the adoption of a resolution, by acclamation, by consensus. But I would like to emphasize that this is only the first stage of the consideration -- either of actions suggested by the Secretary-General or recommendations suggested by the Secretary-General. Now, the General Assembly will enter into the second stage. I have already met with the Ambassadors of Botswana and Ireland and I have asked them to help me in negotiating the recommendations suggested in the Secretary-General's report, how we should further proceed. We now have good experience with negotiations on the actions suggested by the Secretary-General.

The schedule is now to have a couple of informal meetings of the plenary. Then, we shall proceed with drafting a draft resolution on recommendations. Then, the matter will also be considered by the Fifth Committee, the financial implications of both actions and recommendations. I hope that in the Fifth Committee, there will be no debate on the substance of the actions suggested by the Secretary-General. They will be dealing with the financial implications.

QUESTION: Do you think that the action by the American Congress will have an impact on the General Assembly's decision to lower the ceiling for payments? Also, the Secretary-General said that he would be turning to you and to the special high-level working group on finance to come up with some ideas to help cope with the pending crisis. Could you share some of those ideas with us?

THE PRESIDENT: I would like to emphasize that the discussions themselves on actions led to the formation of a good atmosphere on these issues among the Member States because, first of all, everybody had the possibility to express their views on these issues -- be it a small nation, or

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a big nation. This is very important. By reaching a consensus on this issue, we formed a very good foundation and the basis for further action on recommendations. This is very important. At the beginning, there was suspicion regarding some of the proposals made in the report. After the Secretary-General himself clarified his position, after a number of distinguished Secretariat staff members made an appearance before informal consultations, this contributed greatly to the overall atmosphere and is having a positive effect on the work of the General Assembly as a whole.

Regarding the decision of the United States Congress, I do not know whether the Secretary-General covered this issue here just before me. If yes, you received his answers. I can only quote what Mr. Gingrich said in his letter, as it is quoted in The New York Times: "We believe firmly that we should be able to meet our United Nations obligations and strengthen our international financial tools, even while we disagree over taxpayers' subsidies ... ." [The New York Times, November 14 1997, p. 10]

This is a very encouraging statement, and I hope that this will be implemented in practice.

QUESTION: Could you just repeat who you have asked to help with consultations on recommendations. Argentina? You said you had asked two people to help.

THE PRESIDENT: The Ambassadors of Botswana and Ireland agreed to act as friends of the President or facilitators, and we shall have a meeting on Monday afternoon and we shall proceed with the preparation of a draft resolution. I hope that, in view of the experience we have already gained, it will be -- and I keep my fingers crossed -- easier to proceed now with the preparation of the draft resolution on recommendations.

QUESTION: Do you have any sense of what issues it might be necessary to leave beyond the end of this year.

THE PRESIDENT: There are a number of recommendations which relate to activities of the Economic and Social Council, the Disarmament Commission and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Therefore, I hope there will be a decision to request the ECOSOC, to request the Disarmament Commission, to go into in-depth consideration of issues which are recommended in the General Assembly. Therefore, I would like to emphasize again that this is a process. We cannot simply say, "Change this or that thing." There are a number of proposals which relate to the merging of some ECOSOC organs, but ECOSOC is also one of the main organs of the United Nations. The General Assembly cannot take a decision instead of ECOSOC. Therefore, the General Assembly will ask corresponding organs to look into some of the recommendations, and then we shall ask the Secretary-General to prepare a report for the next session of the General Assembly. This will be the process.

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QUESTION: A question to you as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. There is going to be an international conference on the decommissioning of the Chernobyl sarcophagus at the end of this month. Can you tell me what are the expectations of the Government of Ukraine connected with this conference? What is the aim of the conference and what do you expect from it?

THE PRESIDENT: This conference is initiated by the United States of America in its capacity as presiding country of the G-7 and by the European Commission, and this is a response to the commitment of the President of Ukraine to close up and decommission the power station by the year 2000. But the most important problem now with the Chernobyl nuclear power station is what to do with the shelter of the damaged reactor. We call the shelter the "sarcophagus". The shelter was built very quickly, immediately after the nuclear disaster, and after 10 years a problem now arises as to how to provide better safety. And the problem is that there are almost 200 tons of nuclear fuel beneath the damaged reactor and nobody knows what processes are taking place.

The safety of the present nuclear power station lies not in a reactor which is in operation now, but in this shelter. What to do? We need to have better international expertise to decide what to do with the shelter. Secondly, a new shelter needs to be built in order to provide better safety.

This will be a pledging conference, and the Government of Ukraine and the President of Ukraine have repeatedly stated that, first of all, we, as independent Ukraine, do not feel responsible for what happened in Chernobyl. This is not our responsibility. We inherited this tragedy from the previous regime, and Ukraine, being in an extremely difficult economic situation, cannot afford with its own resources to close down the nuclear power station and provide the necessary safety -- not only for Ukraine, but for many countries. Therefore, we expect from this conference that there will be many substantial financial contributions to allow us to proceed with this project.

QUESTION: On reform, you have been proceeding by consensus. Is there a reason why you have been proceeding by consensus rather than by taking votes? Does this not enable a small number of countries to take a relatively obstructionist line and have more of a say than they would otherwise get?

THE PRESIDENT: The reforms suggested by the Secretary-General are of great importance to all Member States. Therefore, it was necessary to achieve a consensus. I think from the very beginning there was understanding from all corners of the General Assembly Hall that a resolution should be adopted by consensus. Every consensus agreement is the result of a compromise. I think the most important part of the resolution is that it strongly commends the Secretary-General for his initiatives and proposals, and it actually authorizes the Secretary-General to proceed with implementation. However, a consensus takes into consideration views expressed by Member States during the informal plenary meetings. But any decision is more important for the General

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Assembly, for its implementation, when it is adopted by consensus. That is a general philosophy.

QUESTION: On the next resolution, if consensus proves too difficult, would you consider going to a vote?

THE PRESIDENT: It seems to me that it will be easier to proceed on the next resolution because the Member States will draft the recommendations themselves. Therefore, some recommendations will be drafted, redrafted and changed, while the actions are within the scope of the responsibility of the Secretary-General. But the Member States expressed their views concerning the actions, since all the actions were listed in the report of the Secretary- General.

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