Polish president Lech Kaczynski has addressed the 63rd UN General Assembly Session in New York.

Slawek Szefs reports            

Poland's head of state devoted major attention to countering hunger and poverty, dangers inherent in global climatic change, energy security and the Russian-Georgian conflict.

President Kaczynski assured the gathered UN member country leaders and guests of Polish support for the idea of a joint discussion concerning the world nutrition crisis and reform of UN structures. He underscored the importance of the Organization's ability for coherent action in effectively combatting this problem with a global dimension.

Lech Kaczynski voiced approval for maintaining the principle of equal status of every member country, but advocated streamlining of the decision making process in various UN agendas. The Polish president stressed the necessity of speeding up the reform of Security Council operations, because the existing form does not adequately reflect the alignment of power in the contemporary world. 

'The number of non-permanent members of the Council should be increased to better reflect the actual realities. We must remember that certain rules governing this had been agreed in an entirely different reality,' he said. 

Speaking on dangers posed by global climatic change, Lech Kaczynski said he hoped for a compromise on CO2  gas emissions, which is the main topic of an international conference hosted by Poland in December, the aim of which is to create a sound basis for next year's climatic conference in Copenhagen. Such a solution could even replace the Kyoto Protocol sometime in the future, he added.

The Polish president also pointed to the importance of efforts to protect the natural environment running parallel to actions aimed at energy security guarantees, especially in Europe which is highly prone to crisis situations in this field due to a premeditated policy of one of its countries, as he put it:

'Polish anxiety is compounded by some countries' method, specifically one very powerful country, of using energy delivery as a way of attaining political goals in relations with neighbors and other countries dependent on its sources.'

A remedy for this would be searching for alternative sources of energy, expanding transit infrastructure and creating clear principles governing gas and oil trade, Kaczynski said.

Another issue discussed by the Polish president at the UN General Assembly Session had been the Russian-Georgian conflict. Lech Kaczynski appealed to the entire international community to respect basic principles of the UN Charter. In his opinion, the August developments in the Caucuses have been a prime case of aggression. Russian actions there should evoke the greatest concern of all, Poland's head of state alarmed:

'The problem of Georgia is the problem of all countries which experience difficulties in maintaining territorial integrity or the domination of more powerful neighbors. And that means the majority of countries in the world.' 

This view had been reiterated by president Kaczynski during his meeting with leading representatives of US business and politics at the Foreign Policy Association in New York. The Polish president spoke of a real danger of the re-emergence of Russian imperialism. He pointed to Russian policy adopting quickly and accordingly to the latest changes in geo-political alignment of forces, including the enlargement process of the EU and NATO. And though membership in the North Atlantic Treaty, or the European Union, is not an absolute guarantor of security against Russian threats as many have initially thought, including himself, president Kaczynski said he remains an avid supporter of the Alliance:

'There is nothing better. My definition of NATO is an exporter of relative stability and peace. That is why I'm such an enthusiast of NATO enlargement and its increased responsibility. That is also why I would very much like Ukraine and Georgia to become a part of NATO.'