– CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY –

I speak on behalf the EU and its Member States. The Candidate Countries Albania*, North Macedonia*, Montenegro^*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina^*, the potential candidate country Georgia, as well as Andorra and Monaco, align themselves with this statement.

Excellencies, Co-facilitators,

Today’s world is unfortunately facing multiple intersecting crises and no region has been spared. The Summit of the Future is an opportunity for reform to enable the international community to prevent crises or address them more efficiently when they have already erupted. In doing this, we must renew our commitment to the UN Charter and to rules based multilateralism with the UN at its core. Sustaining peace must be grounded in human rights and must address the root causes of conflict, including the climate, peace and security nexus. Allow me also to stress the EU commitment with Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security as a crosscutting element for achieving peace and security. Women’s rights and their leadership should be at the core of security and political decision-making.

Building on the Secretary General’s New Agenda for Peace, I would like to highlight three main points at the core of this endeavour: First, a renewed focus on conflict prevention and sustaining peace as a universal obligation; Second, a strengthened UN toolbox for peacekeeping and peace enforcement and third, a readiness to counter threats emerging from new technologies.

[conflict prevention and sustaining peace]

First, the UN must be more active in using the tools for conflict prevention and mediation already at its disposal. When tensions are rising and crisis is looming, there should be a more systematic use of the unique legitimacy vested in the UN Secretary General’s good offices including his special envoys, representatives and Art. 99 of the Charter. We should all – especially the Security Council – back him up fully on this. In times of global tensions and blockages in the Security Council, the role of the Secretary General remains all the more crucial. At all levels, the UN must strengthen partnerships with civil society and ensure the full, equal and meaningful participation and leadership of women as well as the meaningful inclusion of youth and marginalized groups.

Capacities for conflict prevention and sustaining peace in the field should also be strengthened. Peace operations, including Special Political Missions have a critical role in promoting human rights, protecting civilians and fostering an inclusive approach across the peace continuum, including in prevention strategies, peace processes and transitional justice.  Resident Coordinators should also make active use of the Peacebuilding Fund, the Peace and Development Advisors, Human Rights Advisors and other tools at their disposal.

We also need to strengthen the UN’s early warning and prevention mechanisms. Such mechanisms must take into account the climate, peace and security nexus and advance its mainstreaming into the regular work of the Security Council.

At the intergovernmental level, the Peacebuilding Commission could serve as a forum to discuss national prevention strategies. This would strengthen the PBC’s focus on conflict prevention and could be linked with incentives through the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF).

Conflict prevention must be adequately resourced. We must finally move forward on assessed funding for the PBF. However, we also have to invest more systematically across the peace continuum. Today, some key components of the UN peacebuilding architecture only rely on voluntary funding.

[Strengthened UN toolbox for peacekeeping]

Secondly, UN Peacekeeping remains a central tool of the UN. While considering the full range of available tools, we should push for convergence of efforts with peacekeeping, a central instrument of international efforts.

Peacekeeping needs adequate resources and standards, including to respond to climate related challenges and ensure human rights compliance. Peacekeeping should be capable of tackling hybrid threats, including the increasingly widespread misinformation and disinformation. We must also end situations where host nations seek support of private military companies to operate next to or even counter to the strategic aims of peacekeeping operations.

Beyond peacekeeping, we need a broader toolbox to respond to new types of threats. Terrorism, violent extremism and radicalization are increasingly fuelling today’s conflicts. We support the SG’s call for a new generation of peace enforcement missions and counter-terrorism operations relying on regional or multi-national coalitions. At the same time, the efforts of various UN offices and initiatives on counter terrorism must become more accountable and results-oriented.

The UN must partner more closely with regional organizations. The EU-UN strategic partnership on peace operations and crisis management will continue to deepen.

The trilateral UN-AU-EU cooperation is another example of networked multilateralism. We also support a stronger role for the African Union. The EU is a steadfast supporter of predictable financing for African-led peace support operations, when mandated by the Security Council, including through UN assessed contributions.

[threats emerging from new technologies]

Finally, the emergence of new and quickly evolving technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, offers new opportunities but also poses new risks for international peace and security. These challenges must be resolved collectively with all stakeholders. They should also be considered within the global architecture for non-proliferation, disarmament and arms control.  In this vein, a crucial point is the military use of AI, which must be in compliance with applicable international law, in particular IHL. Similarly, the legal, ethical, moral and security challenges in the area of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) warrant forward-looking strategies. 

That is why we must continue to uphold the rules-based international order founded on the UN Charter while unlocking the potential of the existing global architecture for arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation. In the same vein, we can only ensure an open, free, global, stable and secure cyberspace if we effectively support the implementation of the agreed framework for responsible state behaviour, and if we improve coordination and complementarity, which is the overarching objective of the proposal to establish a Cyber Programme of Action.

In conclusion, we are convinced that the UN is indispensable at the core of this networked multilateralism for lasting peace and security, providing its unique legitimacy and ensuring that actions by regional organizations are in line with the UN Charter and international law.

* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.