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Mr Secretary-General, Mr President,

Distinguished colleagues,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia*, Montenegro^*, Albania, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina^* and Georgia, as well as San Marino align themselves with this statement.

Mr Secretary-General, as always, we are grateful for your annual report and for sharing your priorities for 2025. We fully share your view that while some important progress has been made, including the recent adoption of the Pact for the Future and the important and welcome unity to the UN membership that this brought about, the world is still grappling with increasingly complex, interconnected, and multiplying crises in a deteriorating geopolitical environment.

On the outset, we would like to praise the UN staff across the globe, who are instrumental in delivering the Organization’s mandates while upholding its principles and values.

However, their task, and that of us all, to uphold those binding values is becoming increasingly daunting in today’s fractured world. The UN Charter and the Geneva Conventions should be our collective compass, yet international law, including international humanitarian law, is increasingly being violated with impunity. The devastating impact of these violations is evident across multiple conflicts spread across regions and countries with increasing intensity. In Ukraine, where Russia’s illegal war of aggression continues to violate the UN Charter and endanger civilian lives and rights. In the Middle East, where humanitarian actors are facing unprecedented challenges, including to their own safety, while providing life-saving measures in Gaza to alleviate hunger and destitution.  In Sudan, where civilians are facing the most devastating humanitarian crisis in decades. In Afghanistan and elsewhere, where women’s rights are dangerously backtracking. And in so many other crises, from the Sahel and the Great Lakes to the Horn of Africa to Myanmar to Haiti, where the suffering of the most vulnerable continues to escalate.

Today, disinformation is increasingly weaponized to fuel division, escalate conflicts, and undermine peace efforts and social cohesion. This makes our work in upholding truth, justice, and human dignity even more difficult and even more critical.

February 24 will mark the 3^rd anniversary of Russia’s war of aggression and brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This unilateral act of aggression openly violates the UN Charter and the international rules we rely on. It also has visible and global consequences for our food and energy security, disproportionally affecting the most vulnerable that are hit most devastatingly.

The ongoing climate crisis, the loss of biodiversity, and widespread pollution are ravaging the planet, affecting mostly those who are least able to cope and future generations, undermining livelihoods and deepening food insecurity. In spite of all our efforts to tackle climate change, with the European Union and its Member States at the forefront, we now know that 2024 has been the hottest year on record.

Progress for socioeconomic development and human rights is also under threat, endangering core civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, including women’s rights and gender equality.

Dear Colleagues,

We are facing an inflexion point in history, but by no means a point of no return. If we start joining forces to face the future, we can still embrace the multiple opportunities ahead of us in 2025. We can change course.

This year, the UN, as it celebrates its 80^th anniversary, remains an unparalleled forum for dialogue and action. Our collective focus should be on restoring trust, fostering partnerships, and finding compromises that address the interconnected crises facing us.

2025 must be the year of the Pact for the Future implementation, as a key opportunity to strengthen multilateralism. It must be the year in which we translate those commitments into concrete actions. The EU is already taking concrete steps to implement all of them. Your guidance to all of us, Mr. Secretary-General, will be instrumental.

Looking ahead, we are optimistic about key upcoming milestones: The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, COP30, the World Social Summit, revamping peace operations and our peace-building framework, and the UN Ocean Conference are amongst them. They are all our chance to further advance the Sustainable Development Goals.

1. On peace and security

We fully support your call in the New Agenda for Peace to recommit to the UN Charter and your assertion that conflict prevention is a universal obligation of all member states and something we need to invest more in. Our approaches to conflict prevention should be climate sensitive and gender responsive. In the Pact for the Future, we collectively urged you, as UN Secretary General, to actively use your good offices for mediation and preventive diplomacy. We will support you and the whole UN system in this. In 2025, we will also engage in a Peacebuilding Architecture Review. This will be an opportunity to focus on nationally driven, bottom-up approaches to conflict prevention as expressed in national prevention strategies and approaches.

In 2025, we will also be discussing how to adapt peace operations to better respond to existing challenges and new realities, and look forward to your holistic review of all forms of peace operations in this regard.

Moreover, the disarmament and non-proliferation architecture built over decades is facing considerable pressure. The viability and effectiveness of disarmament, arms control, and non-proliferation agreements require that those agreements be fully implemented, complied with, and enforced and where possible strengthened and equipped to handle new and emerging challenges.

And finally, the upcoming 25^th anniversary of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda provides a unique opportunity to set goals for achieving key objectives of the agenda, including the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women in peace and security processes.

2. On Human Rights and humanitarian issues

2025 will require us to refocus on protecting and properly funding the UN’s human rights pillar, and to stand by the side of human rights defenders and all those who are committed to promoting, defending, and protecting all human rights.

And it will be yet another year of increasing humanitarian needs and stretched resources. The EU and its Member States remain a leading humanitarian donor. In 2024, we contributed with over USD 9 billion for life-saving humanitarian assistance worldwide. The EU will remain a strong supporter of the UN’s critical role in providing coordinated humanitarian responses, based on the principles of humanity, impartiality and independence. International humanitarian law must be unconditionally upheld. And as man-made crises intersect with climate risks and disasters of increasing intensity, the most vulnerable continue to face adaptation and mitigation challenges, with new patterns of humanitarian needs emerging as a consequence. In this respect, the EU will continue to support multilateral and multi-sectoral actions that address these combined risks.

3. On sustainable development

As we celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the SDGs and with only 5 years remaining to achieve them, we must now build on the Pact for the Future to turbo-charge the 2030 Agenda. The EU will advance its positive contribution to achieving the SDGs, notably through its global leadership in ODA and climate financing, and through the Global Gateway infrastructure initiative, and will continue to promote a more inclusive and effective multilateral system.

The 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) in June in Spain will seek to address the  USD 4.3 trillion funding gap to meet global development goals, building on existing mechanisms, boosting efforts, and fostering innovative solutions to maximize synergies between development cooperation, private investments, trade, and innovation. In order to achieve this, driving national reforms to create favourable conditions for development will also be crucial. Every government must ensure their own development, including by fostering rule of law, effective institutions, and freedom from corruption.

Almost 30 years after the first World Summit for Social Development, where leaders adopted the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration, the World Social Summit in November in Qatar will offer us the opportunity to enhance our efforts in tackling inequalities and to renew the social contract.

The UN Ocean Conference in June in France will be particularly important to strengthen international cooperation, raise our collective ambition, and drive concrete commitments for ocean conservation, ultimately ensuring the health and sustainability of ocean ecosystems for current and future generations.

One of the key topics on the agenda in 2025 will continue to be the growing role of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), and thus the need to achieve progress in the implementation of the Global Digital Compact. We must champion a human-centric and rights-focused approach in the digital world, and address and narrow the digital divide between and within countries.

Civil society, women, and youth have a crucial role to play in contributing to and monitoring all those processes and fora. We stand firm on their participation in the work of the UN at all levels. And the same goes for dialogue with the private sector, whose know-how, innovative solutions, and commitment for development will be key for the green and digital transitions.

4. On promotion of justice and international law

In a world ravaged by blatant violations of international law, we must redouble our efforts to ensure accountability, prevention, and protection. The GA just took two historic steps, launching the processes towards legal instruments on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity, and the protection of persons in the event of disasters. We must seize the momentum and contribute to a successful outcome of these processes.

Peaceful settlement of disputes is one of the foundations upon which the international community cooperates. Last year, the International Court of Justice dealt with an unprecedented number of cases, underscoring the increasing reliance on this principal judicial organ. While we must ensure that the Court has the tools to fully implement its mandate, it is our shared responsibility to also ensure effective compliance with its decisions.

Mr Secretary-General,

Achieving our shared priorities requires a UN system that is efficient, effective, accountable, and, above all, one that inspires trust among member states.

The EU and its member states support the UN’s reform agenda, including UN Security Council reform, General Assembly revitalization, and ECOSOC reform. Furthermore, we will continue to lead in efforts to strengthen the Resident Coordinator system to enhance its effectiveness on the ground.

Secretary-General, Distinguished colleagues,  

Let me conclude with a final appeal: The EU Member States are the largest collective financial contributors to this Organization. We consistently honour our responsibility to pay in full, on time, and without conditions. All Member States must do the same, especially the largest contributors. We will continue working to support the Organization with flexibility and responsibility; to advocate for sustainable solutions to the liquidity “downward spiral,” which ultimately harms the Organization’s capacity to deliver and undermines its reputation and relevance; and to insist that others do the same.

Mr Secretary-General,

In 2025, greater trust will be essential to tackle all the challenges and opportunities we will face. The EU and its Member States are committed to collaborating with all regions and partners, including civil society, to build this trust, to bring success to our UN work, and to bring much-needed hope to our world.

Let us, dear colleagues, especially during these dark hours, make every effort to join hands.

Thank you.

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