They said it: Leaders at the UN, in their own words

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at the United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at the United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
photo President of Mauritius Paramasivum Pillay Vyapoory addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at the United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Lots of leaders saying lots of things about lots of topics - topics that matter to them, to their regions, to the world.

That's what the speechmaking at the U.N. General Assembly invariably produces each year. And each year, certain enormous topics and certain louder voices dominate.

Here, The Associated Press takes the opposite approach and spotlights some thoughts you might not have heard - the voices of leaders speaking at the United Nations who might not have captured the headlines and the airtime on Friday, the fourth day of 2019 debate.

___

"Nowadays politics is often perceived as a zero-sum game. Middle ground has become difficult to find, and common sense has become the least common of senses."

- Edi Rama, president of Albania

___

"Exclusion in all its forms hinders development."

- Paramasivum Pillay Vyapoory, president of Mauritius

___

photo Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Bin Mohamad addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters Friday, Sept. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)

"I believe in capitalism. But capitalism has gone mad."

- Mahathir Mohamad, prime minister of Malaysia

___

photo Antigua and Barbuda's Prime Minister Gaston Alphonso Browne addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters Friday, Sept. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)

"There is only one common homeland and one human race. There is no Planet B or viable alternative planet on which to live."

- Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, an island nation threatened by climate change

___

photo Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at the United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

"For those who are caught in the middle of wars and revolutions, the U.N. is the only bulwark of safety they can count on. And to the millions of refugees around the world to whom it provides food and shelter, it is their only beacon of hope."

- Kyriakos Mitsotakis, prime minister of Greece

Upcoming Events