Grußwort von Botschafter Dr. Wolfgang Schultheiss, zur Eröffnung von „Model United Nations“ in der Deutschen Schule Athen
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Botschafter Dr. Wolfgang Schultheiss
Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you at this conference here in . I am particularly pleased to see delegates from so many participating countries.
The primordial role of the UN can hardly be exaggerated. The UN represent an old dream of mankind: to have an international body which deals with global problems including war and peace in a collective way, thus giving its decisions highest possible legitimacy.
Unilateral actions have to seek another justification under the rules of international law, whereas in the UN the interests of the community of nations find a synthesis which is acceptable for all. I am pleased to see that the trend in international politics is towards multilateralism again.
In the beginning, multilateral agreements mainly dealt with the question of war and peace. The League of Nationas was designed to prevent wars like the First World War, into which European nations had been drawn by some automaticisms like the general mobilization without the political leaders really meaning it. But procedures to buy time and to provide for mediation did not work. 20 years later was confronted with an outright war of aggression.
Therefore, in 1945, the UN Charter banned each war of aggression and provided for action of the Security Council in all cases where there was a threat against international peace and security. This is the system which still works, and has worked successfully, if there was political will of the community of states.
But, in a troubled world with conflicting political, economic and cultural interests, the UN’s task goes much beyond securing peace. A just economic world order, the fight against poverty, diseases and underdevelopment, the fight for a clean environment, the fight for human and democratic rights, the fight for freedom of expression and freedom of creed, and the fight for equal rights for all, irrespective of gender, race and belief, all these aspects make out a much bigger part of the UN’s work than the narrow question of military security.
Think only of the Millenium Development Goals.
What a tremendous challenge awaits us there! They are of utmost importance for the life, the welfare and the basic education of billions of people and thus they also concern us in directly
Today you deal with a fascinating topic, and I can only support your efforts to work for a better world – or be it only a world able to survive – by putting your efforts in the service of the UN. A UN, by the way, which is not exempt of criticism. Like in all big administrations, decisions are taken slowly, not always with the effectiveness we would wish, money might be spent better – but there is no alternative . We have to work for improving the efficiency of the UN, and this is the goal of the reform debate which we witness today. This work will not be done in a year or a decade – there still will be enough to do for you.
You all, coming from so many different countries, are the best proof that the basic UN principles which are trans-national dialogue, the culture of compromising and the promotion of tolerance and mutual understanding, do actually work.
I am convinced that your time here will be of great value for every single one of you and possibly also for the world of diplomacy and multilateralism. I wish the conference every possible success and I hope that you will have a pleasant time in this exciting city of .
Finally, I would like to thank the organizers of this conference for all the work they have done and for the great enthusiasm with which they prepared once again this unique event.
Thank you very much!
