SECRETARY-GENERAL PAYS TRIBUTE TO UNITED NATIONS FIRST MEDIATOR
Press Release
SG/SM/6747
SECRETARY-GENERAL PAYS TRIBUTE TO UNITED NATIONS FIRST MEDIATOR
19981013 Kofi Annan Gives Toast at Luncheon In Honour of King of Sweden and in Memory of Count BernadotteFollowing is the text of a toast given by Secretary-General Kofi Annan at a luncheon in honour of the King of Sweden and in memory of Count Folke Bernadotte, in New York on 13 October:
It is an honour and a privilege for my wife and me to welcome you to this luncheon, and to pay tribute to a man who still means so much to all of us, half a century after his death.
As we sit down to this meal, it may be of interest to recall that Folke Bernadotte conducted much of his Middle East mediation at the Hotel des Roses in Rhodes, in conditions of some considerable severity. His deputy and successor, Ralph Bunche, was later to say that the hotel's almost inedible food was of great help throughout the negotiations -- because one should beware of well-fed or comfortable negotiators.
But even more than the lack of creature comforts, it is the character of those who are working for peace that counts. As the hotel anecdote implies -- and as the King and the count's sons know well -- Folke Bernadotte was not a man given to high-falutin' philosophy or fancy speaking. Throughout his life, he read his Bible and emphasized the basic values of frankness, honesty and fairness. Yet by his most enduring motto, he set the highest standard for public service that there is. "We have not come to this world", he said, "to be happy -- but to bring happiness to others."
To that belief, Count Bernadotte gave his life. I invite you now, on behalf of the United Nations, to join me in giving thanks for that life; to raise your glasses to Count Bernadotte, our first Mediator. His example lives forever in our hearts.
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