Mr. Prime Minister, Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are approaching the conclusion of this Conference; the fourth Stockholm International Forum, devoted to the task of prevention of genocide. A forward looking and future oriented task, that takes the 1948 UN Convention as its point of reference. One should keep in mind that this Convention was drafted in the aftermath of the Holocaust, the genocide of Jews during the World War II.

The events of the 1990's made us aware of the unwelcome fact that both the global genocide ideologies are very much alive and whole populations are targeted by atrocities from mass murder to ethnic cleansing.

With this background in mind, we have to discuss the issue in a forward looking way to arrive at a common understanding on possible preventive measures so that hopefully we will not witness similar crimes in the 21 5t century. In this context, I particularly commend the statement delivered by Professor Yehuda Bauer, the academic chair of this Conference, which urged us not to dwell upon past and ongoing conflicts, but to help create the tools and mechanisms that may prevent, or at least diminish genocide dangers in the future.

However I regret to say that such a wise advice has not been fully heeded.
First, a biased and one sided paper prepared by two Swedish academicians was included in the background material of this Conference. I do not want to go into the details of this paper nor of the circumstances in which it was distributed, but I would nonetheless emphasize that scores of distinguished scholars focusing on Ottoman history conclude that speaking about the so-called "Armenian genocide" is inaccurate, inappropriate and unjustified. As the paper I am referring to was prepared by Swedish academicians, I can for example mention another prominent Swedish researcher Dr. Bertil Dunér, who has a completely differing view.

Second, the Prime Minister of Armenia referred in his speech to a Statement by the Swedish Parliament dated 29 March, 2000 which he claimed recognized the Armenian genocide. However, he failed to mention that the Swedish Parliament has later retracted this statement. I refer to the minutes of the Swedish Parliament dated 20 March 2002, when no less a personality than Mr. Urban Ahlin, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, among others, has clearly stated that the statement of March 2000 was based on false information, as there was no decision by the UN on the issue in question neither in 1985, nor at any other time.

If we can not truthfully reflect developments which took place only two years ago, how can we pass judgement on historical events?

I wish a successful conclusion of this Conference for a better future for all of us. Thank you.