Speaker 1 (00:03):
President of the General Assembly, Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General, ladies and gentlemen, heads of state and government, ambassadors, and delegates. I am delighted to once again stand before you to issue an address at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Eight decades ago, we wanted to serve peace, development, human rights, and we've been doing that for 80 years. After that 80 years, we now have to take stock of our progress and ensure that we keep pace with today's world. In 1945 March, we adopted the Charter of the United Nations following two world wars. At that time, war was still raging in Asia, decolonization had scarcely begun. The Soviet Union was extending its empire and we counted deaths in the millions and we unveiled the horror of the Shoah.
(01:07)
Yes, at that stage of the world wasn't yet complete, but at the same time, nevertheless, we were through resolutions and with resolve building our desire to spare succeeding generations from the scourge of war and we declared our faith in the fundamental rights of mankind. And we made a commitment to create the conditions for justice, to foster social progress, to practice tolerance, and to live side by side in peace. We were not dreaming and we invoked our past to help us. And after 80 years, I now have… I want to say before you that we were right to dream. We had the right to dream. Our world today deserves the same resolve we had then in terms of working together. 51 of us were at San Francisco and now 193 of us are gathered here in the General Assembly. The text that created this organization enshrined the principle of collective action and enshrined common values. It defined robust processes. And I know nevertheless how great frustration is.
(02:15)
We see that states are unequally represented, particularly on the security council and that fuels frustration and that's why I unequivocally support its expansion, the reform of the security council, particularly its expansion for the African continent. I also know the extent to which political and social balances and states of plays have changed and different actors have taken on more responsibilities. Many people are asking about whether the United Nations promises have been upheld, whether it's in sync with reality and whether it brings with it any benefits. Let us not kid ourselves. This 80th anniversary is not a fact that we can just accept conflicts. International, national, state conflicts are proliferating, that criminal and terrorist activity is proliferating. And people are deliberately trampling on the Geneva Conventions as if war was just about terror, revenge, and victory. Haiti, Burma, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the list is as long as it is unconscionable. There are more and more cases of violence being weathered by people whose nations are at war. Major transformation is also underway for us all across the globe.
(03:27)
Climate change is not under control. Biodiversity is collapsing. Efforts that the majority of us are ready to make are coming up against the obstacles of the cynicism of a few that can make a difference but refuse to do just that still. And we see the technology picking up pace, they pave the way to horizons of opportunity, but they also pave the way for dangerous forces, dangerous because they're not regulated. Global trade is weathering tariff war and that's another form of imbalance globally speaking. Alarm bells are ringing out loud, but that doesn't extinguish hope. Our divisions do not mean… Lack of hope did not mean Syria wasn't able to free itself from war. Ukraine is staying the course and peace is possible in the Great Lake regions. We've also adopted treaties, ambitious agreements that some people thought were impossible. A treaty on pandemics, a treaty to protect the high seas, another to finance development.
(04:31)
The world's complexity is not a reason to throw in the towel on our principles and our ambitions. To a certain extent, ours is a moment of paradox. We need more than ever before to restore the spirit of corporation that prevailed 80 years ago. And however, in spite of that, we are isolating ourselves. There's more and more divisions and that's plagued the global order. The world is breaking down and that's halting our collective capacity to resolve major conflicts of our time and stopping us from addressing global challenges. France is proud to be among the people of the United Nations and pay tribute to all the people that serve them. Soldiers wearing blue helmets that maintain peace where no one else wants to go. Humanitarian personnel and healthcare workers that come to the aid of the most vulnerable. Legal specialists, observers, reporters that bear witness to the reality, ensure that the rule of law can prevail, that arbitrary whims do not rule the day.
(05:41)
I'm talking, of course, about our NGOs, our nurses, our journalists, and many other people who bear witness to the fact that this organization cannot be replaced. It is for this reason that those that are its harshest critics are also those that want to change the rule of the game because they want to exert domination. And these are people that do not want the common good to prevail. They want to serve their interest and that is the major risk of our time, the risk of seeing the factors they are just become the ongoing state of play. We don't want to see might is right prevail, but that's the risk. We don't want to see the selfishness of some people win the day. That's the risk. The risk is that some people, an elite will decide the course that the world will run and that they will forget that there's an international community.
(06:32)
There needs to be respectful relations between peers. There needs to be cooperation between peers. That alone makes peace possible. That alone makes it possible to address climate change, to have a successful digital transformation or to fight against military proliferation. It is for this reason that 80 years later our priority is to really find the crux of effective multilateralism. To get back to that gem, collective effectiveness, we need to be clear here. The anti-game of some people makes it almost impossible for our organization to be collectively effective. They're playing against us. We need to work together to get back to that collective multilateralism. There's no point here in dividing the North from the South to think that there can be a united West in the face of a Global South. That's a pipe dream. That's a vestige of an era where we wanted to isolate ourselves in blocks, pitting ourselves against each other.
(07:36)
Here at this forum, there are only men and women that don't share the same religion, they have different visions, their civilizations sometimes differ. But they have decided one fine day that building peace, rising up to challenges, particularly the challenge of inequality or the major transitions of the world. They forgot their differences to cooperate together. It's for that reason we need to consolidate existing rules and the institutions that guarantee our collective authority and our collective effectiveness. Human rights remain the very fundamental pillar of the United Nations House and they give coherence to all of the action we undertake. And at that time, at a time when conflicts spread and increase in number, we also have mass human rights crises that we're facing at the same time. Our duty is to ensure that there is a respect for international humanitarian law. We proposed ensuring that as part of the global initiative that we champion alongside a number of counterparts, South Africa, Brazil, China, Jordan, Kazakhstan, and the ICRC.
(08:42)
Let us support the ICC in its fight against impunity. Let us allow the orders of the ICJ to be implemented, their rulings be upheld. The authority, the force of law is our best chance in stopping the rule of might is right from prevailing. Upholding our values is the only way of throwing out a double standards principle. We've always called out that principle since we came together as a global parliament. Peace and security are everything. For that reason, it's so important for Ukraine to resist Russia and have peace, they need to get their territory, their children, their wealth, and their future back. The Russian aggression is not a problem of Europe, but rather a problem which plagues us all. It's our problem. It poses the eternal question of the force of law against mighty is right. Freedom against imperialism.
(09:41)
Ukraine didn't want war. Ukraine wants peace. France too wants peace. The Europeans want peace. The United States of America want peace. As such, Ukraine has a fundamental right that is to live in security and to no longer fear that Russia will attack once more. It is for this reason, France with the United Kingdom built a coalition of the willing bringing together 35 nations to give Ukraine crucial security guarantees for the long term. As such, we are creating the conditions for a robust just piece which will allow the Ukrainian people to really be masters of their own fate. And what happened in recent weeks in Poland's airspace, Mr. President? Romania, the provocations that we saw in Estonia and elsewhere are the proof that all European people are also challenged by threats of Russian destabilization and unity can thwart those. Ukraine has often said it's ready for a ceasefire and can agree to negotiations, it accepts them. It's now up to Russia to prove that it can choose peace even at a time it's stepping up attacks against Ukrainian civilians and the provocations to which I've just referred.
(10:55)
France is ready as we wait to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine alongside our European partners and all those that understand that we need to hold Russia back to preserve the global order. And I welcome the proposal we saw a few hours ago from the President of the United States recalling the gradual weakening of the Russian economy. I welcome what he said, the on-the-ground failures of Russia. In more than 1,000 days, Russia's hardly gained 1% of Ukrainian territory. There've been so much loss, so many civilian victims and few territorial gains. I welcome the fact that the President of the USA believes in Ukraine's ability not only to hold the cause but to uphold and ensure its rights prevail with us. It's because there is this refusal of double standards that France will stand side-by-side with Ukraine as we do for peace in the Middle East.
(11:49)
Yesterday we adopted a credible plan to put an end to the war in Gaza, to preserve a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine, to allow the release of all hostages and to save so many lives. We've charted a cause towards peace, which requires first and foremost that hostage still in Hamas's hands are released. That strikes on Gaza cease. And I am delighted that Saudi Arabia and France have convinced a large number of the members of this Assembly to sign the New York Declaration. 142 members of this Assembly have signed that declaration. We've held out our hands to forge the path towards peace, immediate peace, release of hostages, ceasefire, stabilization of Gaza, the demilitarization and the dismantling of Hamas. And a reciprocal recognition of two states. A Palestinian state, which is demilitarized, which recognizes Israel. And Israeli state, which recognizes a state of Palestine. And all the states of the region that have not yet done so, we hope will recognize the state of Israel through this mutual recognition that is in fact a path towards peace. It's also the stability of the region as a whole that we seek to build.
(13:07)
There cannot be any security or stability for Israel if we have a permanent war being waged with its neighbors. Peace with Palestine in the West Bank, and in Gaza, and throughout Jerusalem, peace in Lebanon. There the struggle against terrorism cannot be waged to the detriment of sovereignty of the Lebanese people. And it's for that reason, I am delighted at the work that we have undertaken hand-in-hand with the United States of America, with the United Nations, and UNIFIL to build this path that will make it possible to restore Lebanese sovereignty to make the Lebanese armed forces once again able with UNIFIL to really anchor their sovereignty and to build this monopoly over weapons. A monopoly that can only be held by the Lebanese armed forces. The Lebanon breathes easier when Hezbollah is weaker. And the rest of Lebanon will breathe even better when all of cashes, when all of the arms held by Hezbollah are back in the force in the hands of the Lebanese armed forces, there's no other choice.
(14:22)
We'll soon hold a support conference for the reconstruction of Lebanon. And will also support the conference that our Saudi friends will hold supporting the Lebanese armed forces. In the same vein, Syria must recover its unity and its sovereignty. Syria is freer since Assad's regime fell. I received the transitional president in Paris. I welcomed him there. I'll see him again tomorrow and with several states of the region. We are striving so that Syria can respect all components of its civil society because that's where its strength lies. At the same time, it's in finding that unity once more they will be able to also fully recover their sovereignty. The region can only be in peace if the Iranian nuclear program that has been partially destroyed is once again fully under control. It is for this reason, France, Germany, the United Kingdom triggered by way of a collective agreement, a process leading to the restoration of all international sanctions previously imposed upon Iran. That Iran alone is responsible for being in breach of its obligations, but they have decided to open the doors to the IEA and allow them to inspect HEU stocks and to conduct inspections.
(15:45)
The next steps to come will be decisive. Either Iran makes a gesture and goes back to the path of peace and accountability that make it possible to get back on calls, and for the IEA to do its work, and for stockpiles to be transferred or sanctions will have to be imposed. I'll have an occasion to meet with the president if needs be tomorrow. On each of these crucial issues, France puts forward concrete proposals, solutions. The plan for the war to stop in Ukraine exists. The plan to make peace in the Middle East is on the table. A plan to put the Iranian nuclear program back under proper control exists. The plan to restore the full sovereignty of Lebanon in the South exists.
(16:33)
We always want to be the partner of all of those who share this demand that everyone take effective action. However, there is a risk that we will stop taking action and look away from too much suffering. The humanitarian tragedy currently in Sudan is undoubtedly the biggest of those facing us to date. It's up to us collectively to rally, to mobilize like we did in Paris in 2024. Let us coordinate our efforts to act together so that the warmongers accept negotiations and put power back in civilian hands. In the same way, in the Great Lakes region, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo must be upheld. We need to return hope to the people of Kivu and to the hundreds of thousands of people that have been displaced. And it's also for that reason that we will meet next month in Paris all of those able to respond to the humanitarian urgency and bring together initiatives of peace.
(17:39)
And I'm delighted at what's been done by the African Union, by so many neighbors, Qatar, USA. But the humanitarian emergency needs be addressed. We cannot forget any of these conflicts. We have no right at any time to lose heart. This capacity to take a leap of action is our source of strength. That's what brought us together 80 years ago. We have no right to get tired, to show fatigue. Well, there are so many crises, one after the other. I'm quite clear sighted alongside you when I look at today's world, everywhere we see the risks of proliferation once again return, and new threats emerge. There is an urgent need to rebuild a credible framework, a verifiable framework to combat any nuclear proliferation, to rebuild a credible framework to once again contain these threats, ballistic threats, ballistic proliferation.
(18:43)
I'm not forgetting, but serological chemical threats or the new risks that posed by AI, cyber technology, space technology, quantum technology. We have common frameworks but they've been weakened in all of these domains in recent years. Sometimes because some people sort of said they were outdated and sometimes because the rules for verification weren't properly observed. Sometimes because the pace of technological development meant that these frameworks, their capacity to innovate was not enough. Technological chain was going too quick. However, we've got no right to give up. We have to build that crucial framework for peace. The same demand for effectiveness, effective multilateralism is one that we need to uphold for our global challenges. The Secretary-General attaches great importance to our organization and he has ambition for it. And that's shown through his initiative, UN80. And I share his concerns about our organization.
(19:50)
Yes, we need at this time of disarray that I talked about as a result of these major issues of war and conflict. We can't forget there are so many global challenges that mean that we must all come together. Let us stare straight in the face global imbalances, all economies affected. All economies and I'm speaking as one of the richest among them. But also middle-income countries, developing countries, and of course the poorest nations among us, all of us. If we can't have organized international debate on major global imbalances, if our response is a fragmented one and we don't work together, we exacerbate these problems. Today, our challenge is to look at how we can help China to develop the internal demand that it really needs. How can we ensure that productive capacities that China's been able to develop in recent years, these technological capacity. Sometimes there's technological transfer and that's good. But they need to be conducted hand in hand with harmonious development and respectfully the environment.
(21:05)
How can we correct US trade imbalances? How can we do that through corrective measures, not through tariffs, that takes the rug out from under international trade? There's Europe that needs to respond to collective needs for collective investment and we need to shoulder that responsibility. These challenges mean that we need to cooperate. There needs to be cooperation between major economies, but we can't pick the G set against the bricks and that's the very rationale behind our agenda for the French G7 of 2026. Of course, we'll work with the Canadian presidency of G7 and the coming presidents of G20. We need to return to that spirit of cooperation. That is vital because that's what will allow us also to have a common agenda to finance our global challenges.
(21:59)
Let's take a look at things today. Everywhere we are reducing, eroding our common ambitions to finance major global challenges. Collective financing for healthcare is plummeting as is financing for food security, as is financing for education. These challenges are however our challenges even more than they were before the pandemic, the COVID-19 pandemic. And so, it is absolutely pivotal that together we prove ourselves able to develop concrete solutions and find new financing to address our challenges. The European Union decided to mobilize. The Commission's president's speech was great in this connection. We are mobilizing financing as Europeans to meet these challenges, but we must do so within a renewed framework. That's what we try to do together during the pandemic itself with our African partners during the financing summit, which we held in 2021. The work we did there was work we continued at the 4P Summit where we developed this pact for the prosperity of peoples and the planet.
(23:16)
Ultimately, the agendas were the same. Together, we need to work together better to address global economic imbalances. We must develop an agenda of growth everywhere. But we must do that to also help countries, to finance education, healthcare, stabilization and food security, and help them to address challenges of biodiversity and the climate. Let us come off the horns of a dilemma. We don't need to choose between growth, climate change, and biodiversity. We can do everything if we mobilize private and public financing within a framework that brings together, reconciles East, West, North, and South. That's the framework we've built. And now what we need to do is expedite the transition that's already underway. And I thank you all, the heads of the World Bank, the IMF have committed on these efforts, but we need to go faster. The frameworks we developed have already become obsolete. We need to mobilize more private financing to accompany transitions in middle-income countries, developing countries, and the poorest nations.
(24:22)
We must develop guarantee mechanisms that losses will be covered and we need to mobilize more private financing to help those countries and help them to grow. That is vital if we want to avoid crises destabilization tomorrow. This agenda is an agenda which brings us together. And in some way, forces some people to cast aside selfishness and avoid a situation whereby others are alone facing their challenges. It is for that reason, we must also continue, whatever the ill winds that blow, continue to mobilize to stop biodiversity loss and help the climate. As I was saying, together we were able to notch up victories recently, the Nice Treaty that entered into force through collective rallying, we finally have a regulation framework for our oceans. That was something we'd been waiting for for decades. The same collective mobilization is what we must see on plastic. We need to develop an international treaty that aims to put an end to plastic pollution.
(25:26)
The same mobilization is what we need to have to mobilize biodiversity credits and give more consistency to our carbon credits. This same rallying needs to be seen as we move towards the Berlin Cup. France and Europe will be at that meeting and we will be in step with the 2030 goals. We will mobilize all financing necessary to usher in this transition, whether that be public or private financing. We have no right to turn away, stray from the cause towards the goals we set ourselves. We have no right to simply crumble and become isolated. As you see, all of these global challenges, education, healthcare, agriculture, food security, biodiversity, climate, the fight ultimately against all inequalities that destabilize our global order require the same spirit of cooperation. The same spirit that I talked about, the spirit we showed in the face of war and destabilization. Our challenge is the fact that crises, there's a plethora of them, they're growing in number.
(26:44)
My speech was long and quite comprehensive, but I do reassure you I'm coming to an end, but I forcefully say to you once more. In spite of all that, in spite of the long list, that sometimes gives the impression that we might be overwhelmed. Our duty is to remain on our feet and to continue to act together. 80 years ago, those that preceded us were facing collapse. The war hadn't finished. The worst had just come to pass. A world already divided was kind of stuttering and it was up to them to build the treasure that is the United Nations. We could overwhelm our Assembly level criticism against it, reproach it by everything. Not all reproaches are fair, some are. This Assembly is us. If it's ineffective, it's because someone, some people are blocking it. Sometimes it's the most powerful. If it's not going fast enough, it's because people don't have enough resolve to make things move forward. The United Nations is all of us.
(27:48)
If there's one thing, is that we don't have a right to be cynical. We don't have the right to get fatigue. We can't have this defeated heart because our world is here before us. And our risk, the risk that we face is that a fragmentation that the law might is right will prevail, the status quo prevailing, cynicism. And to some extent, that we will lose control. Yes, that loss of control, that's what all of our peoples are experiencing. Fear in the face of a future they no longer control. The fear in the face of migrations that they're weathering. A climate that we can no longer control. Fear of inequalities that we can't bring under control. A fear in the face of a war we can't stop.
(28:31)
This fear has one friend, the strongest friend, the mightiest person that was able to prevail, the cynic that was allowed to prevail. We have one responsibility, that is to act together, build this multilateralism once again with the same faith, with the same resolve as the founding fathers of this Assembly. We need to do that with even more effectiveness, but with the same will. We cannot give ground to injustice. We can give nothing to fatality or the sense of the inevitable. We need to act, act, and act. So it's up to us to do just that together. I thank you.