Mr. Chairman,

At the very outset, I would like to congratulate Mr. Nalin Surie of India for his able guidance as Chairman of the last Session of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization. May I also express my delegation's gratitude to the other members of the Bureau and to the Secretariat of the Committee, ably headed by Madame Jacqueline Dauchy, for the outstanding contribution and efficient assistance they rendered to the work of the Committee.

Mr. Chairman,

It is worth-while to recall that there is a coincidence between the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations and the twentieth year of the establishment of the Special Committee on the Charter. If we view the work of the Special Committee accomplished during the last couple of years from this angle, we can safely say that the achievements of the Committee are indeed modest. These modest steps, nevertheless, did contribute to the overall achievements of the Organization itself. Let me mention but only a few of them, such as

- The Declaration on the Prevention and Removal of Disputes and Situations which May Threaten International Peace and Security and on the Role of the United Nations in this Field,

- The Declaration on Fact-finding by the United Nations in the Field of the Maintenance of International Peace and Security, and

- The Declaration on the Enhancement of Cooperation between the United Nations and Regional Arrangements or Agencies in the Maintenance of International Peace and Security.

Speaking about the Declaration on the Cooperation between the United Nations and Regional Arrangements or Agencies, the Hungarian delegation attaches great importance to this type of activity, on political and organizational levels, between the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. In this connection, may I draw attention to Agenda item 30 on the "Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe" which will be considered by the Plenary of this Session in the next few days. This delegation wishes on behalf of the Hungarian Chairmanship-in-Office of the OSCE for 1995, to express its confidence that the further enhancement of cooperation between the UN and the OSCE will, in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Charter, greatly contribute to the implementation of the basic objectives of the United Nations.

Mr. Chairman,

May I turn now to the results of the work of the last session of the Special Committee, namely, to the

- Consideration of the question of the implementation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations related to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions under Chapter VII of the Charter;

- Consideration of the draft United Nations Model Rules for the Conciliation of Disputes between States;

- Question of the deletion of the "Enemy State" clauses of the Charter of the United Nations; and, finally, to the

- Review of the Membership of the Special Committee.

Mr. Chairman,

The Hungarian delegation has a great many reasons to follow with keen interest the consideration of the question of the implementation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations related to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions under Chapter VII of the Charter.

On previous occasions and at various fora this delegation has already stated its position of principle on this issue. First of all, Hungary has always and scrupulously observed and implemented all the enforcement measures taken by the Security Council under Article 41 of the Charter.

Secondly, I have to emphasize that those enforcement measures have resulted in considerable damage to Hungarian economy. This has already been the case with regard to those sanction regimes which have been applied against countries geographically further away from Hungary. But in the recent years, Hungary has incurred very substantial economic and financial losses as a consequence of sanctions instituted against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). Our economy has been experiencing serious difficulties as a direct results of the sanctions themselves, but also as a result of the disruption of transit lines with the neighbouring Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). For these reasons, as regards these sanctions Hungary is one of the most seriously affected country in the region. Small wonder, therefore, that we are not satisfied with the present application of Article 50 of the Charter.

Against this backdrop we welcome the report the Secretary-General on the "Implementation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations related to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions under Chapter VII of the Charter" (A/50/361). This report is a useful and concise outline of the proposals and suggestions aimed at minimizing the effect of sanctions on third States. The report also offers a useful survey of proposals on how to improve the methods of work and ensure the transparency of the procedures of the Security Council and the Sanctions Committee.

Mr. Chairman,

Having had the privilege of serving both in, and as Chairman of the Sanction Committee on Libya established pursuant to resolution 748 (1992) of the Security Council, I am convinced that there is no fool-proof method which, on the one hand, would ensure the effective and timely imposition of sanctions in accordance with the prerogatives of the Council under Chapter VII, and, on the other hand, would bring full remedy to third States concerning the practical effects and consequences on them of those sanctions.

The Hungarian delegation is, therefore, fully aware of the difficulties we are confronted with as we are trying to strike a proper balance between considerations of preserving international legality and the corresponds overriding responsibilities of the Security Council under the Charter, on one side, and the legitimate concerns and requests of third States, based on Article 50, to get reasonable assistance to cope with their "special economic problems arising from the carrying out of those measures".

Mr. Chairman,

In view of the foregoing we appreciate all efforts which have been exerted by individual delegations and by the Working Group on the implementation of Charter provisions related to assistance to third states affected by the application of sanctions, chaired very ably by Ms. Maria Flores of Uruguay. As we see it, the positions of the delegations are still quite apart. Although my delegation would like to see more effective measures to help affected third States, we are ready to accept - on the basis of realism and pragmatism - a "middle-of-the ground" document as a compromise solution. In the view of the Hungarian delegation, the proposal CRP.2 tabled by the European Union in the Working Group is the one which is the closest to this compromise and offers a good basis for reaching an agreement. Hungary, as a severely affected third State, would indeed find it disturbing if the Working Group, and, in its turn, the Sixth Committee would be unable to produce a compromise formula at this session on this very important question.

Mr. Chairman,

The delegation of Hungary would like to lend its support to the adoption of the Model Rules for the Conciliation of Disputes between States. The delegation of Guatemala should be commended for its initiative and for its untiring work on this subject-matter. The rules, in their final forms, represent a reasonably flexible approach which takes into account those provisions which already exist in other multilateral instruments in this field. As we did last year, we would also like to take this opportunity to remind ourselves that there is a plethora of declarations and instruments, starting from the Manila Declaration of 1982 on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes to the Convention on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes of 1993 concluded within the framework of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, to name but a few, which offer ample opportunities to be resorted to, if the political will of the parties concerned is so established. However that may be, this new document to be adopted could still play a useful role in promoting the peaceful settlement of disputes under Article 33 of the Charter.

I would like to turn now to the question of the deletion of the "Enemy State" clauses from the Charter of the United Nations.

My delegation fully endorses the major thrust of the recommendation of the Special Committee, as contained in paragraph 65 of its Report, that the "Enemy State" clauses should be deleted from the Charter, because they have become obsolete. We also share the view that the States against which these provisions had been directed became a long-time ago full-fledged members of the United Nations and have, since then, greatly contributed to the implementation of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Consequently, the Hungarian delegation, during the last couple of years, has been supporting initiatives that were aimed at the deletion from the UN Charter of the clauses in question. At the same time, we are also of the opinion that the respective amendments to the Charter should be taken up by the General Assembly at its appropriate future session.

Mr. Chairman,

Speaking on the Review of the Membership of the Special Committee, the Hungarian delegation would like to make the following very brief comment. My delegation, as a long-standing member of the Special Committee has accepted the recommendation of the Special Committee, contained in paragraph 67 of its report, that "the Committee will henceforth be open to all States Members of the United Nations and that it will continue to operate on the basis of the practice of consensus". At the same time, we have to add, in all fairness, that the practice of the last couple of years clearly showed that the work of the Committee had been conducted in a way which gave ample opportunity to any non-Member of the Committee to fully participate, as an observer, in its proceedings. We are not fully convinced that the proposed formula will greatly promote the efficiency of this Committee. Nevertheless, in view of the strong interest expressed by a number of delegations to participate in the Committee, Hungary is ready to join the consensus. At the same time, we would like to state that the conversion of the Special Committee in to an open-ended body cannot be construed as a precedent for other similar subsidiary organs of the General Assembly or other main organs of the United Nations.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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