On this day, we mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations to commemorate the entering into force of its founding Charter in 1945, which laid the foundation for this global organization dedicated to preserving peace and security in the world. At the commemorative meeting of September 21, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković delivered a virtual address. The UN Day provides a new opportunity each year for the organization and the international community as a whole to advance their efforts and activities in order to respond to the present and future challenges in all three pillars of the UN – peace and security, development and human rights.
In 2020, the world was faced with a new challenge of unprecedented proportions – the COVID-19 pandemic, so this year’s General Assembly was dedicated to the joint fight against the virus under the title “The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism - confronting COVID-19 through effective multilateral action”. On behalf of Croatia, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković addressed the world leaders and the public on September 25. In addition, on 30 September the prime minister addressed the UN Summit on Biodiversity under the theme “Urgent Action on Biodiversity for Sustainable Development”.
The importance Croatia attaches to the issue of human rights was underlined by Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman’s participation in a high-level meeting on the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.
In its foreign policy, Croatia continues to support strongly the main activities of the UN and actively engages in the further strengthening of the UN system in dealing with important issues. Croatia has also underlined its commitment to the strengthening of multilateralism by supporting the work of the Alliance for Multilateralism through participation in a virtual ministerial meeting on “Our Commitment and Contribution to Building Back Better”, dedicated to reinforcing the multilateral “health architecture” in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and infodemic.
This year, Croatia also marked 28 years of UN membership, during which it has continuously advocated the strengthening of international cooperation and multilateralism, and has achieved a number of prominent results by being a member of and participating in the activities of numerous UN bodies, such as the Security Council, ECOSOC, Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council.
Croatia’s last great contribution was precisely in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, when the General Assembly of September 2020 adopted the Omnibus Resolution on the COVID-19 Pandemic, with Croatia’s Permanent Representative Ivan Šimonović as a coordinator of the General Assembly’s initiatives concerning COVID-19 and its consequences.
Croatia supports international courts as an important element of multilateralism and international law. That is why we are proud that one of the candidates for election to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the 2021-2030 period is Maja Seršić, an esteemed international law professor at the University of Zagreb.
Other candidacies for membership of ECOSOC (2022-2024), Peacebuilding Commission (2026-2027) and Security Council (2030-2031), underscore Croatia’s growing activeness in the UN and contribute to the international reputation of our country.