SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN GERMANY, MEETS WITH PRESIDENT HERZOG, CHANCELLOR KOHL; INAUGURATES NEW UNITED NATIONS CENTRE
Press Release
SG/T/2066
SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN GERMANY, MEETS WITH PRESIDENT HERZOG, CHANCELLOR KOHL; INAUGURATES NEW UNITED NATIONS CENTRE
19960621 (Received from the spokeswoman travelling with the Secretary-General.)BONN, 20 June -- On the second day of his official visit to Germany, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali today attended, together with the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Klaus Kinkel, a special session of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag, which was chaired by the Chairman of the Committee, Karl-Heinz Hornhues.
On behalf of Committee members, the Chairman expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Secretary-General for his interest in maintaining a regular dialogue with parliamentarians. The Secretary-General stated that the United Nations, more than ever, needed the support of the "peoples of the world" and would continue efforts to open up as much as possible to civil society. Turning to the financial crisis of the United Nations, the Secretary-General recalled that Germany, the third largest contributor to the United Nations regular budget, had been the first country to pay in January part of its assessment to the 1996 regular budget. He also noted that Germany's entire regular budget assessment had now been paid in full.
Regarding the ongoing reform of the Organization, the Secretary-General stated that he would continue to use all the means available to him in achieving the goal of an efficient, effective and professional organization.
Later in the morning, the Secretary-General had a one-hour meeting with the President of Germany, Roman Herzog. The President stated that Germany would continue its efforts to strengthen the United Nations and that the Secretary-General could fully rely on Germany's support in that regard. The Secretary-General expressed his gratitude for Germany's immense contribution to the United Nations.
Following this meeting, the Secretary-General proceeded to "Haus Carstanjen", the new United Nations centre, which he officially inaugurated. The Secretary-General was welcomed by the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Carl-Dieter Spranger. In his address, Mr. Spranger said that Germany was proud to host two United Nations
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institutions -- the United Nations Volunteers and the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change -- which were focusing on two of the central challenges facing humankind, development cooperation and the protection of the environment. The Federal Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Angela Merkel, stressed the importance of the Framework Convention for the future.
The Secretary-General then participated in the signing ceremony. He signed the Transfer Protocol and received the documents giving effect to the agreement between Germany and the United Nations concerning the headquarters of the United Nations Volunteers programme. He then signed the agreement among the United Nations, the German Government, and the secretariat of the Framework Convention concerning the headquarters of the Convention secretariat.
At the end of the ceremony, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kinkel, said that it was an honour for Germany to become one of the headquarters of the United Nations. He recalled that, next October, the new International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, would be opened in Hamburg, and he thanked the Secretary-General for having accepted to come personally to take part in the swearing-in ceremony of the judges.
The Secretary-General then delivered a statement marking the inauguration of the common premises for the United Nations Volunteers and Framework Convention secretariat. At the end of the ceremony, the flag of the United Nations was raised in front of "Haus Carstanjen" in the presence of the Secretary-General and representatives of the German Government.
In the afternoon, the Secretary-General met with Chancellor Helmut Kohl. He then delivered a statement at the invitation of the German Society of Foreign Affairs and the German United Nations Association entitled "The United Nations, Looking towards the Future".
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