effectively and successfully. These congratulations are also addressed to all your predecessors, including my colleague Azikiwe, who have helped our proceedings run smoothly. It is true that since my last statement to this august assembly on 25 August 1988 many distinguished colleagues have left and their eminent successors have arrived to continue this noble task in this sole multilateral negotiating forum for disarmament. Amongst those who have left, how could one forget our dean and friend Garcia Robles, an outstanding figure in Mexican diplomacy, depositary of the values of Latin American humanism, strategist of the Treaty of Tlatelolco, fervent incarnation of hope, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and the witness of history at the end of this century? We call upon Ambassador Marin Bosch, his worthy successor, to be kind enough to convey to him our great admiration and our wishes for good health and CD/PV.553 19 (Mr, Sene. Senegal ) happiness in an intellectually rich, intense and fruitful retirement. Finally, I would like to address my thanks to Ambassador Miljan Komatina, Secretary-General of the Conference, and Ambassador Vicente Berasategui, Deputy Secretary-General of the Conference, and the entire secretariat for their kind and efficient co-operation. Today, after 40 years of cold war, we are witnessing unprecedented geopolitical and strategic change. The speed of change in Europe has taken even the wisest political observers by surprise. We have before us a process whose outcome we do not know but whose repercussions go far beyond the European continent. In any event the new politico-military order to which these changes will give rise has not been forged yet. It is finding its way and becoming organized and what is now involved is the disintegration of the international order that was inherited from the Second World War and was based 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be a speech or statement from a high-level official, likely from a diplomatic or international organization. The content focuses on international relations, disarmament, and geopolitical changes, with references to specific individuals, events, and organizations. The tone is formal and ceremonial, suggesting a significant event or milestone.

**Category**
International relations, Culture