SECRETARY-GENERAL'S ACTIVITIES IN GERMANY, 25-28 APRIL
Press Release
SG/T/2175
SECRETARY-GENERAL'S ACTIVITIES IN GERMANY, 25-28 APRIL
19990430 The Secretary-General arrived in Berlin on Sunday, 25 April, to begin his second official visit to Germany.On Monday morning, he met with the President of the Federal Republic, Roman Herzog. After military honours, the Secretary-General and the President spoke for 45 minutes, including a 10-minute one-on-one session. The main topic of conversation was Kosovo -- the risk of the conflict spreading, its social, economic and environmental impact, efforts by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to deal with it, and the possible future role of the United Nations in it.
He and the President then went to the restored Adlon Hotel, near the Brandenburg Gate, where the Secretary-General delivered the third annual "Berlin Address", inaugurated by the President in 1997. In his speech, entitled "Europe's World Role in the 21st Century", the Secretary-General said: "If the inhabitants of Kosovo can live in conditions of peace and security, with full respect for the civil and political rights of all, it will be a victory for Europe, for the United Nations and for humanity. Anything short of that may be considered a failure." (See Press Release SG/SM/6970.)
The President hosted a luncheon in the Secretary-General's honour.
After lunch, the Secretary-General visited Berlin's "New Synagogue", built in 1866 in what was then Berlin's Jewish Quarter. When it opened, it was the largest synagogue in Europe. Its reconstruction was completed in 1995. He was greeted by the Chairman of the Jewish community in Berlin, Andreas Nachama, and by the Director of the New Synagogue Berlin - Centrum Judiacum, Hermann Simon. The Secretary-General flew in the afternoon to Dresden, Saxony, for a one-day visit to one of Germany's "new Federal States". The Secretary-General wanted to witness the progress of German integration in a place where it was advancing rapidly. On arrival, he discussed Saxony's development with Minister President Kurt Biedenkopf.
The following morning, he visited the Frauenkirche, a church that was destroyed, along with most of central Dresden, in a bombing raid in the final days of the Second World War. The early eighteenth century structure is in the middle of a 12-year reconstruction programme.
Later in the morning he went to the Technical University of Dresden where he was awarded an honorary degree by the Faculty of Economics. In his acceptance speech, the Secretary-General said, "Dresden can serve as a global beacon of peace, of opposition to fanaticism, of learning from the past."
He was then the guest of Minister President Biedenkopf for lunch. In an impromptu toast, the Secretary-General said: "When it comes to war, we all have to be very careful. For a long time, I accepted the common adage that war is too serious a matter to be left to the Generals -- until I started working with the Generals as head of United Nations peacekeeping. The most difficult questions, about operations, about military conflict, were posed by the Generals. 'Do you guys know what you're doing?' 'Do you politicians and diplomats realize the risks you're putting my men into?' So I walked away with another saying -- 'Declarations of war, and the decision to use force, is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians and the diplomats.' So let's be open, let's talk to each other, let's listen to the Generals, and to the politicians, and let's work things out together."
Mr. Annan returned to Berlin in the afternoon, where in the early evening he was to meet with members of the Federal Parliament, or Bundestag, including Ulrich Klose, the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
On Tuesday evening, he was the dinner guest of Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.
The Secretary-General began the third and final day of his official visit to Germany with a meeting with United States Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, who reported to him on his recent talks in Moscow concerning the Kosovo crisis.
He also met with the heads of United Nations agencies and programmes in Germany, as well as with board members of the German-United Nations Association.
He then held a meeting and a working lunch with Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. In a subsequent press encounter, in response to a question, the Secretary-General confirmed that a candidate for one of the positions for special envoy for the Balkans was Eduard Kukan, Foreign Minister of Slovakia. Candidates for the other position were Former Austrian Chancellor Franz Vranitzky, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, and Swiss Foreign Minister Flavio Cotti.
At the temporary headquarters of the Foreign Ministry, he met with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, with whom discussions focused primarily on Kosovo. The Foreign Minister also handed to the Secretary- General the signed Memorandum of Understanding Agreement governing Germany's participation in the United Nations standby arrangements for the rapid
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deployment of peacekeeping forces. In response to the Minister's request, the Secretary-General also gave an overview of African issues.
At a joint press conference with Mr. Fischer, the Secretary-General, again responding to a question, said that while we have been consumed since the beginning of the Kosovo crisis with the tragedy of the Kosovo Albanians, as the conflict has escalated, its negative impact has spread throughout the subregion. In a formal statement issued later, he said, "once again, innocent civilians are paying the price for unresolved political conflict". He called for boldness and imagination in the search for a lasting political solution, "which cannot be won on the battlefield". (See Press Release SG/SM/6972*.)
He and the Foreign Minister then jointly opened the NGO Forum, newly established by the German Foreign Ministry, for a group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which support dialogue between the Government and NGOs on global issues. The Secretary-General praised the work of NGOs and urged their support for next year's Millennium Assembly. "We have entered an era of ever greater partnership", he concluded. "I look forward to testing those boundaries with you in the years ahead. (See Press Release SG/SM/6973.)
The Secretary-General departed for Moscow in the evening of Wednesday, 28 April, to meet with Russian authorities on the situation in Kosovo.
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