In spite of the criticism levelled against the United Nations, there is no other such platform for cooperation or a multilateral mechanism based on “equal and respectful attitude towards each and every country and their needs,” the foreign minister of Belarus told the General Assembly.

All parts of the United Nations “must embrace this opportunity to change and create real improvements to the benefit of the people,” Ulla Tørnæs, Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation, said on Friday, stressing that the world body’s Member States had thrown their support behind the Secretary-General's ambitions reform agenda and now it was time to make those proposals a reality.

Recalling the challenges confronting Greece not so long ago, and the calls at the time from various quarters urging unilateral steps and disengagement with the international community, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras underscored at the United Nations on Friday the importance of collective action and wisdom to overcome complex problems.

Reminding the General Assembly on Thursday that Macedonia had been a co-founder of the United Nations, Gjorge Ivanov, President of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, strongly rejected a referendum on changing the name of his country, calling it “a flagrant violation” of sovereignty.