“The international order is at breaking point.  Too few defend it.  Too many have lost faith in it,” underscored Luc Frieden, Prime Minister of Luxembourg.  However, for his country, “the UN still represents the highest of mankind’s ambitions”, he said, adding that the UN's establishment was the beginning of the journey to peace, which must be “made anew every single day”.  Calling war “the final expression of that radical unwillingness to compromise”, he stressed:  "It is this uncompromising spirit that starts wars, creates divisions and hinders progress, leaving all of us worse off.”  However, the UN stands for “the relentless pursuit of compromise, for the formidable power of reconciliation”.

But the Organization’s success “depends on all of us”, he underscored. He urged Member States to adopt this spirit of compromise and reconciliation, as they work for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire and full humanitarian access in Gaza, as well as for the release of all hostages. That spirit is also needed to realize the two-State solution, he said, recalling his country's formal recognition of the State of Palestine this week.  Luxembourg will be a reliable partner in these efforts, including in work to ensure equal rights, educate all children, eradicate hunger and disease, protect cultural heritage and create a United Nations that is fit for purpose.

Underscoring the value of a stable, multilateral world order, he noted that Luxembourg is one of the largest per capita donors to official development assistance (ODA), consistently contributing 1 per cent of its gross national income.  This week, it signed four new strategic partnership frameworks with “crucial UN agencies”.  He noted that, "when the war ends and the dust settles on ruined cities and unnecessary cemeteries”, that uncompromising spirit must still give way. “We must still live together.  We must still talk and work with each other.  We still share a common planet and a common humanity,” he said.

He called on all countries to “seek peace by taking a new approach”, one that places dialogue first and makes every effort to settle differences peacefully and through mutually acceptable compromises.  “Let’s do it to honour those working here and across the world in the interest of all of humanity […] those generations before us who built this institution […] and above all, the generations yet to come, who have every right to expect growing up in a world of peace, freedom and prosperity,” he urged.