The fifty-fifth regular session of the UN Human Rights Council opened on 26 February in Geneva with a High-Level Segment with the participation of UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, as well as more than 120 high-level representatives of UN Member States, including Heads of State, Heads and Deputy Heads of Government and Ministers of Foreign Affairs. At the opening of the session, Bulgaria was represented by the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Bulgaria to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Yuri Sterk.

In his speech, the Bulgarian representative stressed the importance of supporting multilateralism, the rules-based international order and the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations - especially in the current international context, dominated by the ongoing military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, accompanied by serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, as well as by the aggravated situation in the Middle East. Ambassador Sterk recalled the priorities of the Republic of Bulgaria as a newly elected member of the Human Rights Council and reaffirmed the consistency of our country in its commitments to the promotion and protection of human rights, both in individual countries and regions and along main thematic lines.

The Permanent Representative of the Republic of Bulgaria to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva also participated in the High-Level Segment of the 2024 session of the Conference on Disarmament, chaired by Indonesia and held in parallel with the session of the Human Rights Council.

This important event was attended by more than 57 foreign ministers, deputy foreign ministers, permanent representatives and other high-level government officials who made personal or pre-recorded video statements. The UN Secretary-General also addressed the High-Level Segment on the first day.

In his statement, Ambassador Yuri Sterk stressed that upholding a rules-based international order is now more important than ever, and that Bulgaria, as a responsible and credible member state of the UN and of the Conference on Disarmament, will continue to stand firm in its defence of effective multilateralism, which has the UN at its core. Russia's continued unprovoked, unjustified and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine is a direct threat to the rules-based international order, the UN Charter and international law.

Ambassador Sterk concluded that the international disarmament community in Geneva has an important role to play and is well positioned to contribute valuable insights and proposals to improve the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture in the ongoing discussions on the UN Pact for the Future.