MINSK, 27 September (BelTA) - There is a need to take a close look at the role of the UN in the modern world, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei said during an online briefing for the press on the sidelines of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Given a huge number of challenges and threats that arise constantly and unexpectedly, taking into account the growing confrontation in relations between states, in the international arena, in view of the politicization of the basic principles enshrined in the UN Charter, we really need to take a close look at the role of the UN in the modern world, in shaping the future world order and the future international order," the minister said.
He noted that the UN is criticized a lot today, and for a good reason. "The UN, unfortunately, does not always respond to emerging challenges and problems adequately and promptly. Whether it is Afghanistan, the Middle East or other regions,” Vladimir Makei noted. "The UN is not always up to the challenges it is supposed to tackle."
"Nevertheless, Belarus' position has always been that the UN should remain the backbone organization in the modern world order, and in building the future fair world order. The common task of all states is not to erode the fundamental foundations of the UN but to strengthen them," Vladimir Makei emphasized.
Today we see the departure from the fundamental principles enshrined in the UN Charter, Vladimir Makei noted with regret. "Belarus had to deal with the politicization of a number of issues related to the internal situation. We see that the UN, or rather a number of UN structures dominated by Western states and the European Union member states, speak with the voice of the West, the voice of the European Union. Unfortunately, this cannot be changed at once," the minister said.
Vladimir Makei pointed to another dangerous trend. “While the UN Charter enshrines the fundamental principle "one state - one vote", today we see the attempts to depart from this principle and expand the spheres of influence of non-governmental organizations in the UN General Assembly, to give these organizations a status equivalent to the status of a state,” he said. "In our opinion, this is absolutely unacceptable, because we know who sponsors these non-governmental organizations and how they work. We know whose interests they will defend".
According to Vladimir Makei, all the speeches that were made from the high rostrum of the UN General Assembly these days manifested different approaches of states, including those speeches that contained mainly accusations and no constructive content. "But a number of heads of state have made very serious proposals related to the current situation in the world, and offered proposals for solving those problems that are ripe and are on our agenda. These include the pandemic, the vaccination drive, and the fight against terrorism, extremism, the efforts to end hunger and so on and so forth," the minister said. “Therefore, of course, I cannot say that everything that we hear from the high rostrum of the UN General Assembly merits attention. But the UN should remain an important place for discussing problems, developing common approaches to these problems on the basis of those principles that at one time were developed through great effort and enshrined in the UN Charter. "
The minister also assured that Belarus will fully contribute to the effort to strengthen the role of the UN as a backbone organization in ensuring peace and stability on the planet.
