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Security Council

Fifty-fourth year

by NATO and the United States of America — entered history with his prophetic outcry that the League of Nations and international peace would be fatally wounded if the aggression did not stop. The United Nations is at the crossroads today, as the League of Nations was then. I hope that, this time, the United Nations chooses the right path.

The President (spoke in Chinese): The next speaker is the First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Mr. Sergei N. Martynov. I welcome him and invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Martynov (Belarus): Belarus was among the three States that urged, several hours ago, that an immediate meeting of the Security Council be convened. The President of Belarus issued earlier this morning a statement strongly denouncing the decision of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to use military strikes against a sovereign State.

Belarus stresses that the use of military force against Yugoslavia without a proper decision of the only competent international body, which is undoubtedly the United Nations Security Council, as well as any introduction of foreign military contingents against the wish of the Government of Yugoslavia, qualify as an act of aggression, with all ensuing responsibility for its humanitarian, military and political consequences. Under these circumstances, no rationale, no reasoning presented by NATO can justify the unlawful use of military force and be deemed acceptable.

As a United Nations Member, Belarus is extremely disturbed by the fact that the unlawful military action against Yugoslavia means an intentional disregard for the role and responsibility of the Security Council in maintaining international peace and security.

Let us take a moment and some courage to look into the face of truth. Ignoring the primary and principal body for collective decision-making on maintaining international peace and security — and, in fact, the system itself, which was created and nurtured as a result of the Second World War — means obstructing the system, signing it off and effectively destroying it, thereby ignoring the lessons of the bloodiest-ever war, which the leaders of the Member countries, and above all the permanent members of the Security Council, a generation ago vowed to respect.

Tt was said today that diplomacy failed. But will lethal military force succeed in fine-tuning a delicate political solution? Is a just settlement in Yugoslavia closer today than it was yesterday?

Belarus calls for an immediate stop to the use of force against and in sovereign Yugoslavia. It calls also for the immediate resumption of the negotiating process on a peaceful settlement, including through the Contact Group efforts. Belarus also insists on restoring the Charter role of the Security Council in maintaining international peace and security.

We are convinced that even now, even today, opportunities for renewing the political and diplomatic dialogue can and must be found on the basis of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Yugoslavia and of respect for the rights of its ethnic groups.

The President (spoke in Chinese): The next speaker inscribed on my list is the representative of India. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Sharma (India): Earlier today, after it became known that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was contemplating military action against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Ministry of External Affairs issued the following statement in New Delhi:

"The Government of India has closely been following developments in Kosovo. It recalls its statement of 9 October 1998 and reiterates that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the international border of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is inviolable. That must be fully respected by all States.

"We are of the firm conviction that the resolution of this crisis can only be through peaceful means, through consultation and dialogue, and not through either confrontation or any military action, unilateral or otherwise. In this regard we wish to reaffirm commitments to the United Nations Charter, which clearly stipulates that no enforcement actions shall be undertaken under regional arrangements without the authorization of the Security Council."

The attacks against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia that started a few hours ago are in clear violation of Article 53 of the Charter. No country, group of countries or regional arrangement, no matter how powerful, can arrogate to itself the right to take arbitrary and unilateral military action against others. That would be a return to anarchy, where might is right. Among the barrage of justifications that we have heard, we have been told that the attacks are meant to prevent violations of 15