body under your presidency. I do not want or need to qualify you or your stewardship because we have known each other too long not to be fully aware of how much there is mutual respect and friendship and on my side the recognition of your particular intellectual capacity. The month of April is normally not a month in which a President can make himself felt, but you always do and you do it well, even in the month of April. You may even find yourself in the Guinness Book of Records for having three colleagues depart in one day. The months of March and February are more prone to allow a President to make his mark, and I think Ambassadors Azikiwe of Nigeria and Wagenmakers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands did an exemplary job, appreciated by all. We owe to those two Ambassadors the fact that we have made progress in our work. As I am leaving after almost four years, I of course regret - as so many others have done before me - that I did not have a chance to stay long enough to become the dean of the Conference on Disarmament, having had wide-ranging ideas of what I would have done, had I had this chance. But perhaps the thoughtful way and restraint and wise neutrality of our two longest-serving colleagues, Ambassador Bayart of Mongolia and Ambassador Benhima of Morocco, was more helpful for our work. My country is currently not - as one says - at a crossroads; it has traversed a long-standing road-block to a new life, and as we hope, a future that is better for Germany as it will be better for its neighbours. We could not have done this alone. We gladly acknowledge the decisive help and guidance CD/PV.554 3
**Analysis**
The text appears to be a farewell speech or a statement by a representative of a country, likely a diplomat or a politician, discussing their experience and accomplishments during their tenure. The speech touches on topics such as international cooperation, diplomacy, and the work of the Conference on Disarmament. The language used is formal and diplomatic, suggesting that the speech may be related to international relations or foreign policy.

**Category**
International relations, Humanitarian aid and relief