SECRETARY-GENERAL COMPLETES THREE-DAY VISIT TO SWEDEN, LEAVES FOR FINLAND

Press Release
SG/T/2106

SECRETARY-GENERAL COMPLETES THREE-DAY VISIT TO SWEDEN, LEAVES FOR FINLAND

Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Mrs. Annan arrived in Stockholm late on Saturday (9 August) at the start of an official visit to Sweden.

On Sunday, the Secretary-General met with Prime Minister Göran Persson, at the Prime Minister's summer residence in Harpsund. The Prime Minister handed the Secretary-General the "Carlsson Report", an endorsement of the Secretary-General's reform efforts by 16 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Côte d'Ivoire, Czech Republic, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Republic of Korea, South Africa, and Sweden. They discussed United Nations reform in detail and also reviewed the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Many refugees from that region have fled to Sweden. Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lena Hjelm-Wallén, and the Minister of Defence, Björn von Sydow, were also present at the meeting.

In the evening, the Secretary-General and his wife attended a dinner hosted by Prime Minister and Mrs. Persson.

On Monday, the Secretary-General met with Carl Bildt, former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and had further talks with the Foreign Minister, and with the Minister for International Development Cooperation, Pierre Schori. They discussed a wide number of development and political issues. At a subsequent press conference, the Secretary-General answered questions about Cyprus, obstacles to United Nations reform, the humanitarian situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and genocide, among other issues.

The Secretary-General then travelled to Uppsala, where he laid a wreath at the grave of Dag Hammarskjöld. At Uppsala University, he took part in a seminar on "New challenges for the United Nations". The seminar was chaired by the University's Dag Hammarskjöld Professor of Peace and Conflict Research, Peter Wallensteen. (For text of the Secretary-General's address, see Press Release SG/SM/6300-DEV/2167 of 11 August.) In the evening, he met with former Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson and attended a dinner hosted by Prime Minister and Mrs. Persson.

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Today, the Secretary-General had a breakfast meeting with Birgitta Dahl, Speaker of the Swedish Parliament, and then visited the Swedish Armed Forces International Command, accompanied by Björn von Sydow, Minister of Defence. The party witnessed enactments of real-life situations with which peace-keepers might be faced in a field operation.

Later, the Secretary-General and Mrs. Annan attended a luncheon hosted by King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia at their residence at Solliden, after which they departed for Helsinki.

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