New British leader vows his nation will reengage on global leadership

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — New British Prime Minister Keir Starmer took the international stage at the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday for the first time with a message: His nation is returning to “responsible global leadership.”

The Labour Party leader, who won a landslide election victory in July, told the annual gathering of world leaders that with him as prime minister, “the U.K. will lead again tackling climate change at home and internationally, and restoring our commitment to international development.”

Working with other nations, Starmer said, Britain will also tackle conflicts from Gaza and the West Bank to Ukraine and Sudan where immediate cease-fires are urgently needed.

He said nations must also work together “to make the world less dangerous.”

“We have to face some hard truths,” the prime minister said. “The institutions of peace are struggling, underfunded, under pressure and outpoliticized.”

He said the entire global system of arms control and combating the proliferation of weapons which has been constructed over decades “has begun to fall away” and needs global action.

“We will also change how the U.K. does things,” Starmer said. “Moving from the paternalism of the past towards partnership for the future — listening a lot more, speaking a lot less."

He said the U.K. will also be offering other countries “game-changing British expertise,” and will work together with nations “in a spirit of equal respect.”

Starmer told assembled ministers and diplomats that “a sense of fatalism has taken hold” in an age people describe as polarized and full of impunity and instability.

“Well, our task is to say: No. We won’t accept this slide into greater and greater conflict, instability and injustice,” he said. “Instead, we will do all we can to change it.”

Edith M. Lederer, chief U.N. correspondent for The Associated Press, has been covering international affairs for more than 50 years. See more of AP’s coverage of the U.N. General Assembly at https://apnews.com/hub/united-nations

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024 at the United Nations. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer viewed on a screen above as he addresses in person below to the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, at U.N. headquarters. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, at U.N. headquarters. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, at U.N. headquarters. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, at U.N. headquarters. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium’s prime minister blasted Pope Francis for the Catholic Church’s horrific legacy of clerical sex abuse and cover-ups, demanding “concrete steps” to come clean with the past and put victims’ interests ahead those of the institution in a blistering welcome at the start of Francis’ visit on Friday.

The speech by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo was one of the most pointed ever directed at the pope during a foreign trips, where the genteel dictates of diplomatic protocol usually keeps outrage out of the public speeches. But even King Philippe had strong words for Francis, demanding the church work “incessantly” to atone for the crimes and help victims heal.

Their tone underscored just how raw the abuse scandal still is in Belgium, where two decades of revelations of abuse and systematic cover-ups have devastated the hierarchy’s credibility and contributed to an overall decline in Catholicism and the influence of the once-powerful Catholic Church.

“Today, words alone do not suffice. We also need concrete steps,” De Croo said. “Victims need to be heard. They need to be at the center. They have a right to truth. Misdeeds need to be recognized,” he said in front of an audience of royals, church officials, diplomats and politicians at Laeken Castle, the residence of Belgium’s royal family.

“When something goes wrong we cannot accept cover-ups,” he said. “To be able to look into the future, the Church needs to come clean on its past.”

Revelations of Belgium’s horrific abuse scandal have dribbled out in bits over a quarter century, punctuated by a bombshell in 2010, when the country’s longest-serving bishop, Bruges Bishop Roger Vangheluwe, was allowed to resign without punishment after admitting he had sexually abused his nephew for 13 years.

Francis only defrocked Vangheluwe earlier this year, in a move clearly designed to remove a lingering source of outrage among Belgians before his visit.

Francis applauded at the end of De Croo’s speech, and was expected to meet with victims in private later Friday.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Pope Francis meets with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde in the Castle of Laeken, Brussels, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Belgian Royal Escort wait for the arrival of Pope Francis on the occasion of his visit to King Philippe and Queen Mathilde in the Castle of Laeken, Brussels, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis touches the belly of a newly married woman during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Belgian Royal Escort wait for the arrival of Pope Francis on the occasion of his visit to King Philippe and Queen Mathilde in the Castle of Laeken, Brussels, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis arrives on the occasion of his visit to King Philippe and Queen Mathilde in the Castle of Laeken, Brussels, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis meets with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde in the Castle of Laeken, Brussels, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis meets with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde in the Castle of Laeken, Brussels, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis meets with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde in the Castle of Laeken, Brussels, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis meets with King Philippe and Queen Mathilde in the Castle of Laeken, Brussels, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)