If the integrity of states is not respected, the international system crumbles

USPA NEWS - The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, said on the anniversary of Spain's entry into the UN that Spanish law is "fully" embedded in international law. He added that "those who do not respect the Spanish Constitution have to be aware that they also undermine the international community."

The president of the Spanish Government intervened in the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the UN and the 60th anniversary of Spain's entry into the organization, an act which was chaired by the Kings of Spain and had the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Rajoy recalled the pillars of the Charter of San Francisco - the founding treaty of the UN - approved now 70 years ago: sovereign equality of States, peaceful settlement of disputes and non-interference in internal affairs. Along with these three, he said, he stands a room that is "the keystone of the whole": the territorial integrity of states.

According to the president of the Spanish Government, both the founding Charter of the UN as the legal body of the international organization "are very clear about it" and only allowed some exceptions such as colonies, occupied by force or areas territories where no human rights are respected. Rajoy said that if the territorial integrity of states is not respected, "the international system collapses," adding that "the greatest catastrophes of the twentieth century and the most heartbreaking conflicts of this century have had and have as origin or aggravating the violation of this principle."

Rajoy was forceful: "Those who despise or ignore the rules governing the coexistence in democratic states and law also violate the basic principles enshrined in the Charter and the coexistence among nations is based." Therefore, "they can not aspire to be admitted in an international community governed by law" because it "does not welcome them in his bosom."

The Primer Minister stressed that Spain, as stated in the Preamble to the Spanish Constitution of 1978, is a nation "firmly committed" to "international law" and the "strengthening of peaceful relations and effective cooperation between all the peoples of the Earth." Therefore, "those who do not respect the Spanish Constitution have to be aware that they also undermine the legal foundations of the international community," he added.

Sixty years

Spain joined the UN on 14 December 1955. In these six decades, Rajoy said, "has become a reference country in the three pillars of the UN: peace, human rights and development." He said also Spain "aims to contribute with humility and with determination to a more prosperous and more just, more free world." According to the Spanish Prime Minister, "international society requires us to confront together the major challenges and threats of the century" because "otherwise is to go against reason, the sense of history and against the UN Charter itself."

At this point, Rajoy said Spain's contribution "in the prevention of conflicts and maintenance of peace" 140,000 members of the Armed Forces and the Forces of State Security have participated in more than fifty peace operations and humanitarian missions in all regions of the world. The Prime Minister also had a few words of remembrance for the 167 Spaniards who have given their lives in these missions.