UNGA80 4th Committee
Explanation of Vote (EOV) regarding draft resolution “International Day against Colonialism in All Its Forms and Manifestations”
Delivered by H.E. Michal Daniel Miarka, Deputy Permanent Representative of Poland on behalf of Poland, Belgium, Czechia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, the Republic of Moldova, the Netherlands and Romania
New York, 16 October 2025
Mr. Chair, Distinguished Colleagues,
Poland, Belgium, Czechia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, the Republic of Moldova, the Netherlands and Romania decided to abstain on the resolution on “International Day against Colonialism in All Its Forms and Manifestations”.
Our position on colonialism is well known and does not have to be repeated.
Nevertheless, we have decided to abstain on this resolution considering the following facts:
In July, General Assembly adopted the resolution 79/318 on Secretary‑General’s UN80 Initiative. The text, which has been agreed by consensus, stresses the need for “strengthening the impact of the UN and enhancing its agility, responsiveness and resilience while addressing the issue of duplicative efforts and ensuring effective and efficient mandate delivery across all three pillars of the work of the UN”;
In September, through resolution 79/327 on revitalization of the work of the General Assembly UN members expressed their concern about “the significant increase in the number of proposals to proclaim international days, weeks, months, and years”;
In December 2020, resolution 75/123 dedicated to the “4th Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism” was adopted;
In December 2019, the General Assembly passed resolution 74/113, whereby it already requested the Special Committee to adopt necessary measures “to observe annually the Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories.”
Mr. Chair, Distinguished Colleagues,
Instead of announcing new initiatives, the UN should focus on implementation of existing declarations and provisions. In this context, we look forward to the UN Secretary General’s report on implementation of the above-mentioned resolution 75/123, that is scheduled to be delivered during this session of the GA.
There is a strong feeling in this room, among majority of the member states, on the need to make UN more effective. How can we expect the UN80 initiative to deliver meaningful solutions, if we engage in promotion of new political initiatives that only duplicate existing mechanisms and do not offer any new and useful solutions?
The UN should concentrate on practical actions, not on empty, political declarations.
Last, but not least it is a tragic paradox—and a clear example of hypocrisy—that Russia, an aggressor with evident neo-colonial ambitions both in its immediate neighborhood and in other parts of the world, is among the co-sponsors of the project we are voting on today. Among tragic victims of Russia’s colonialism remain also the oppressed Bashkirs, Circassians, Kalmyks, Buryats, Tuvans, and other peoples within Russia. These groups continue to endure ethnic, linguistic, and cultural eradication, now further compounded by forced conscription of their male population for the ongoing war effort against Ukraine.
Thank you.
