Eastern European States: toward peaceful restructuring ... free of ideological prejudice.

International security and cooperation, disarmament and European security were dominant themes in statements by representatives of the Eastern European States. Ways to enhance the role and efficiency of the UN, solve regional conflicts, protect the environment, overcome imbalances in the world economy and establish equitable economic relations among States were other pre-eminent concerns.

Most speakers said they were heartened by what they saw as a diminished threat of a nuclear war, the continued development of an East-West dialogue, a steady improvement in Soviet-United States relations and progress towards solution of various regional conflicts. However, a few speakers warned against complacency, citing the continuing arms race, persistence of several regional "hot spots" and aggravation of global problems.

Detente is far from being universal as wars are still being waged in many parts of the world", noted Janez Drnovsek, President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia. "Political detente along East-West lines has not been followed by economic detente along North-South lines. The process of the pauperization of the South is continuing."

The need to consolidate positive changes in world politics and make them irreversible was stressed. Calls were made for peaceful restructuring of relations between States, for their democratization, demilitarization and humanization. Those renewed relations, speakers said, should be free of ideological prejudice and be based on the recognition of the supremacy of universal human values, the principle of freedom of choice and the primacy of international law.

Most speakers stressed the need to abandon old, stereotyped notions of security and to take non-traditional and non-confrontational approaches.

Many speakers felt that in a world of growing interdependence, where political, military, economic, environmental and humanitarian problems were closely interrelated, the international community could solve them only by acting jointly and in a comprehensive way.

There was general agreement that the UN could and should assume a more active role in the maintenance of international peace and security and the solution of regional conflicts and global problems. Wide support was given to activating the Organization's potential for preventing possible armed conflicts. A few speakers stressed the need to enhance the United Nations law-making capacity, to strengthen the role of international law and to bring national legislations and practices of States in line with their international obligations. Some speakers called for strengthening the role of the International Court of justice.

Wide support was given to the continuation of the all-European Helsinki process, the development of dialogue and co-operation among European States and unification of efforts in building a "common European home".

There was a widespread call for strengthening global co-operation to protect and improve the environment. Czechoslovakia and the Ukrainian SSR proposed developing UN potential in monitoring, assessing and predicting threats to the environment and in providing relief assistance in case of environmental emergencies.

Calls were made for joint efforts to overcome the external debt crisis, to eliminate underdevelopment, to enhance international economic security and to establish equitable economic relations among States.

ALBANIA Foreign Minister Reis Malile said the
   present relaxation of tension between the United
   States and the Soviet Union was no guarantee that
   the threat of war had been eliminated. Today, interference
   in the internal affairs of others had increased
   "under various pretexts" and threatened to
   upset the balance, "with incalculable consequences".
   Peoples and States must be free to choose their own
   paths to sovereign development.
BULGARIA Foreign Minister Petar Mladenov said
   that in Europe, where the competition between the
   two military alliances had left the most substantial
   traces, "a new consciousness is now taking shape".
   The "common European home is already regarded
   as an attainable goal ... The rule of force should give
   way to the rule of law in civilized legal processes in
   an atmosphere of peaceful and interdependent coexistence".
BYELORUSSIAN SSR Foreign Minister Anatoly
   Gurinovich said the ongoing fundamental changes in
   the world signified "the end of the cold war and the
   dawning of an era of peace and mutual trust". The
   UN itself must change in response to new challenges
   and difficulties. "It cannot serve merely as a
   repository of unrealized ideas. It should rather
   become a generator of new ideas and blaze the trail
   of change."
CZECHOSLOVAKIA Foreign Minister Jaromir
   Johanes said that in the present nuclear and space
   age it was necessary to build international relations
   on "deeply moral and ethical principles". Only
   common security would serve the interests of all.
   Disarmament, development and the environment
   were becoming its organic components. "The position
   and place of man in society are increasingly
   becoming the central focus of world attention. The
   pan-Europe process has introduced a new notion-the
   human dimension-into international practice."
GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC Foreign
   Minister Oskar Fischer said: "Stable security for all
   can grow only from a policy that takes account of
   the intertwining of military political, economic and
   humanitarian factors and seeks further to push back
   military might  in favour of shared political
   endeavours." The UN "brings together the collective
   spirit and will of nations and pools their efforts into
   a single stream", harmoniously combining national
   and international security interests.
HUNGARY Foreign Minister Gyula Horn said that
   as the bloc mentality receded into the background,
   there was a growing awareness of an all-European
   identity and a common interest in breaking down
   divisions that had persisted now for decades. "We
   are striving to ensure that walls-both symbolic and
   real-separating peoples be removed as soon as
   possible and that a common European home be
   built in which the free movement of individuals,
   ideas and goods ... will be taken for granted and
   ensured by guarantees."
POLAND Foreign Minister Krzysztof Skublszewski
   said Poland had a  vision of peace and freedom" in
   a region which had been too often one of conflict,
   division and domination. "If Poland is free and
   democratic, then its geopolitical and geostrategic importance
   could and should be turned into an asset
   that supports freedom." The changes taking place in
   Poland should be seen as an clement of the
   disengagement of the super-Powers from their "long
-   standing confrontation in the heart of Europe".
ROMANIA Foreign Minister Ioan Totu proposed
   that the General Assembly adopt concrete measures
   concerning the observance by all States of the principles
   of peaceful coexistence among States with
   different social and political systems and the
   elimination of all forms of interference aimed at
   changing the social and political system of other
   countries. He also called for measures concerning
   the elimination in international economic relations
   of policies to privatize the public sector or impose
   free-market and other structural changes  proper to
   the capitalist economy".
UKRAINIAN SSR Foreign Minister Vladimir
   Kravets said a "new world order" was taking shape
   based on the primacy of international law, and
   renunciation of confrontation and enmity in favour
   of confidence and good-neighbourliness. "We needed
   new thinking that would give us a view of the world
   not in the light of confrontation and a balance of
   forces, but in the light of a balance of interests." A
   State's participation in UN humanitarian activities
   and its rejection of double standards was a clear indication
   that it cared about people and was striving
   to preserve universal human values.
USSR Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze said:
   "Freedom of choice continues to crown the hierarchy
   of a nation's supreme values. Every nation is
   free to choose the ways and means of its own development,
   but to do so in a responsible manner. It
   must not lock itself in the dark rooms of national
   selfishness." Freedom must not be sought at the
   expense of others. "We are more aware today than
   ever before that Soviet-United States relations
   cannot be built outside the global context, divorced
   from the problems common to all mankind."
YUGOSLAVIA Janez Drnovsek, President of the
   Presidency, said the world economy was hard to
   manage on the basis of agreements reached in a
   narrow circle. The more favourable international
   political climate, the greater awareness of interdependence
   and the years of relatively stable
   growth by developed countries "could indeed be
   fertile ground for a new beginning in the North
-   South dialogue and co-operation".