 As European Union Ambassador to the United Nations here in New York, it is my duty but also my honor to defend and promote human rights every day. I do it on the basis of my personal experience. I lived for 17 years under a dictatorship, a police state, where freedom and democracy were denied to me, to my family, to the entire people of my country. But I'm also inspired by what the European Union and the United Nations have in common, values, the fundamental values of human rights. And this inspiration, both personal and institutional, drives me every day. That's why I will always be standing for your rights, even when I disagree with you. I will take action. I will use my voice. I will stand up. I will stand up, because when anyone's rights are denied, everyone's rights are undermined. That's why I stand up for human rights. I will take action. I will use my voice here in New York, here in the United Nations, and elsewhere to promote and defend human rights.