General Assembly

Opening the general debate of the eightieth session of the General Assembly, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged leaders to choose between “a world of raw power — or a world of laws”.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ address to the General Assembly, in New York today:

A high-level General Assembly conference on the future status of Palestine concluded today with groundbreaking momentum as Heads of State and Government and other senior officials from 10 countries announced their recognition of an independent State of Palestine.

Ahead of its most high-profile week, the General Assembly today overwhelmingly voted to permit Palestine’s representatives to participate virtually in its eightieth session, following the denial of their entry visas by the host country.

Amid rising tensions across the Middle East, the General Assembly today adopted a text endorsing a landmark declaration concerning the realization of an independent State of Palestine, while Israel’s delegate rejected it as a “carefully staged performance for headlines”.

Calling the eightieth session of the General Assembly “non-ordinary”, the new President, Annalena Baerbock (Germany) urged action over celebration under the theme “Better Together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights”.

Before presenting a UN report on global military spending, the Secretary-General said he had just learned about the Israeli attacks in Qatar. He condemned this flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar. All parties must work towards achieving a permanent ceasefire, not destroying it, he said.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the opening of the General Assembly’s eightieth session, in New York today:

On 2 June 2025, the United Nations General Assembly elected Annalena Baerbock of Germany as President of its eightieth session, which runs from September 2025 until September 2026.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the closing of the seventy-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York today: