SECRETARY-GENERAL MEETS WITH PRESIDENT OF FINLAND

The following was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali:

At 4 p.m. Friday, 20 October, the Secretary-General met the President of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari. The Secretary-General thanked the President for his support and presence in New York to attend the Special Commemorative Session of the General Assembly marking the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations.

The Secretary-General and President Ahtisaari reviewed the financial crisis of the United Nations.

They discussed the situation in the former Yugoslavia and President Ahtisaari underlined that it was important that the United Nations should be involved in any solution to the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

President Ahtisaari apprised the Secretary-General of the latest developments in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) efforts through the Minsk Group to work out a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Ngorno Karabakh. The Secretary-General briefed Mr. Ahtisaari on his Special Envoy Aldo Ajello's mission to the region, emphasizing that its purpose was not to establish an alternative negotiating formula. The Secretary-General and President Ahtisaari agreed on the importance of effective coordination between the United Nations and the OSCE in these matters.

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