citation

This might be curious in contents.
And more so, who says this.
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OTTAWA, April 29 (AFP) - Czech President Vaclav Havel said here Thursday
that human rights supersede the rights of states and justify NATO's attack
on the "genocidal regime" of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
In a wide-ranging address to a joint meeting of Canada's two houses of
parliament, Havel said events of the past century were "gradually bringing
the human race to the realization that the human being is more important
than the state."

Speaking in English, Havel said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had
no option but to take on the "genocidal regime of Slobodan Milosevic" and
that the air campaign against Yugoslavia was "in the interest of principles
and certain values."

NATO is "fighting for humanity," Havel said, adding that though the
19-nation alliance did not have a formal UN mandate for its action, it "has
acted out of respect for the law which recognizes humanity rather than the
state."

Havel criticized Russia for its position on Kosovo, urging it to regard NATO
as a partner rather than an adversary.

He also noted that the recent enlargement of NATO to embrace his country,
Hungary and Poland had been "far from easy" because of "the opposition on
the part of the Russian Federation."

Havel maintained that the world was moving away from the nation-state
concept to regional and global responsibility and this, in turn, meant major
reforms were necessary, especially within the United Nations.

"The Security Council can no longer maintain the power of the conditions of
when it was formed," he said.

Among the reforms he suggested was a review of the veto power of each of the
five permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France,
Russia and the United States.

He also called on the United Nations to be "less bureaucratic and more
effective," saying it must be identifiable by people around the world as
their representative body rather than a collection of state governments.

Havel is half-way through a state visit to Canada, his first as president of
the Czech Republic. He made a state visit nine years ago as president of
Czechoslovakia.

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I personally find these ideas refreshing and promising. A new dimension for
the concept of globalization and a solid foundation for the coming
millenium, which will not last long, I guess, with such ideology.

Respectfully,

Konstantin Borodinsky