The
report of the Panel of Eminent Personalities convened by the UN
Secretary-General to study the threats, dangers and challenges that the
International community is facing, and to consider measures to address those
threats, has now become public.
The
report puts forward a broad concept of International collective security
encompassing, alongside inter-state conflicts and internal conflicts within
States, other threats such as infectious diseases in some parts of the world,
environmental degradation, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,
terrorism and organized crime. This starting point seems to us the most
adequate in an increasingly global world where diverse threats reinforce each
other. Building upon the awareness of these dangers and challenges, it should
be possible to generate a broad consensus allowing for the adoption by the
International Community of efficient answers for the strengthening of the
international order which, from so many quarters, has been put into question.
The
several suggestions and proposals contained in this report will now be
considered by the UN Secretary-General who will issue his report next March.
We note, however, that the work of the Panel of Eminent Personalities
constitutes a solid basis of work that will facilitate the international
reflection, paving the way for the forthcoming Summit on September 2005 to
produce results both on the issues addressed by the Report as well as on the
implementation of the Millennium goals established by the United Nations in
2000.
The
Portuguese government acknowledges with satisfaction the fact that the report
recommends the establishment of an intergovernmental Commission aimed at
responding to the dangers that threaten many fragile States facing
post-conflict situations that prevent them from advancing towards peace and
development.
Portugal
has been trying, for some
years, to promote this issue in the international Agenda, especially since its
last participation in the Security Council as a non-permanent member.
Our
thoughts on the matter led former Prime-Minister Durão Barroso to propose to
the General Assembly, in September 2003, the creation of such a Commission
aimed at integrating and strengthening the work done at international level on
the fields of security, State institution reinforcement and development. This
proposal was again supported this year by the current Prime-Minister, Pedro
Santana Lopes, and was now made its own by the Panel.
The
creation of this indispensable instrument, as well as the reform of the United
Nations and the reinforcement of multilateralism in the international order,
will continue to be a priority of the Portuguese foreign policy, pursuing a
path dictated by principles and values strongly rooted in our Country.