Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Eighty years ago, the United Nations rose from the ruins of the Second World War to prevent future wars, end colonialism, uphold human rights, advance justice and international law. Its Charter enshrined the sovereign equality of states. Its agencies strived to create a better world, building peace not only among nations, but also with nature.
Eighty years on, many of these achievements are, unfortunately, being undermined. The rule-based multilateral system is now fractured under the weight of growing multipolarity. Being increasingly paralyzed when most needed, the United Nations are drifting dangerously close to a “League of Nations moment”, to a old world order in which the strong do what they can and the weak suffered what they must. Macedonian citizens experienced some of these double standards from the first day of our UN membership in 1993.
Yet, we believe that small countries should be the greatest supporters of effective multilateralism with a reformed and strong UN in its center. We adopted the Pact for the Future as a renewed global social contract, because all parties share a responsibility not just to uphold their rights, but also their duty to care for the system.
This 80th anniversary is a wakeup call to reaffirm our commitment to the UN Charter and its rule-based international order. It is up to us whether the UN will meet the challenges and continue to build a future of peace, justice and progress on a healthy planet.
Happy birthday, United Nations.
