SECRETARY-GENERAL ARRIVES IN BONN FOR HIS FIFTH OFFICIAL VISIT TO GERMANY
Press Release
SG/T/2065
SECRETARY-GENERAL ARRIVES IN BONN FOR HIS FIFTH OFFICIAL VISIT TO GERMANY
19960620 Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali arrived in Bonn at midday yesterday for his fifth official visit as Secretary-General to Germany. He was accompanied by the Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, Karl Theodor Paschke, and by the Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Rafeeuddin Ahmed. The Secretary- General was welcomed by the Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations, Tono Eitel.His first appointment was with the Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Klaus Kinkel. The Secretary-General expressed his gratitude to the Foreign Minister for the sustained German support for the United Nations in all areas, including political, economic, humanitarian, and financial. Recalling the special relationship between Germany and the United Nations, the Secretary-General stressed that a strong participation of Germany in the United Nations was essential as a means to strengthen and democratize the Organization. The Foreign Minister pledged Germany's continued support for the United Nations, the only Organization addressing the global challenges faced by mankind, he said.
The two leaders discussed the establishment of a new European centre for global United Nations activities, with the official opening tomorrow of the Bonn United Nations Office, headquarters of the United Nations Volunteers, the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the new United Nations Information Centre. They also discussed a number of areas in which the United Nations has played a role, including Cyprus, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Nigeria. They expressed their concern regarding developments in the Great Lakes region of Africa, particularly in view of the deteriorating situation in Burundi, and the Foreign Minister thanked the Secretary-General for his personal commitment to promote peace and reconciliation there. He also expressed Germany's support for the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa. They also reviewed progress made in the implementation of Security Council resolution 986 (1995) in view of the urgent need for humanitarian aid to Iraq.
In the afternoon, the Secretary-General had a 45-minute meeting with the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Carl Dieter Spranger, during which they reviewed the issue of development assistance and
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agreed on the need to find new approaches to that problem. They also discussed the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa, for which the Minister expressed his Government's full support. The Secretary- General invited him to take part in a donors consultation on the Special Initiative, which will take place on 2 July in Geneva. The Minister assured the Secretary-General that Germany would send a high-level representative to that meeting.
The Secretary-General then met with the German Federal Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety, Angela Merkel. They discussed the follow-up to the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, in light of the special session of the General Assembly, which will be held next year to review and appraise the implementation of Agenda 21, the programme of action adopted by the Conference. They both stressed the importance of cooperation in the field of sustainable development.
In the evening, the Secretary-General attended a dinner hosted in his honour by the Foreign Minister of Germany, Mr. Kinkel. They exchanged toasts. (See Press Releases SG/SM/6006 and SG/T/2064, issued today, for copies of statements made at the dinner by the Secretary-General and by the German Foreign Minister.
Later in the evening, the Secretary-General had a 40-minute meeting with the President of Namibia, Sam Nujoma, who was also making an official visit to Germany. They discussed the situation in Africa, with a particular focus on Angola.
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