ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN SLOVAKIA, 14-16 JULY

Press Release
SG/T/2195

ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN SLOVAKIA, 14-16 JULY

The Secretary-General arrived in Bratislava from Algeria on the evening of 14 July. This was the first visit by a United Nations Secretary-General to Slovakia since it became independent in January 1993.

On 15 July, his first meeting was with the Foreign Minister, Eduard Kukan, who is also his Special Envoy for the Balkans. They reviewed the situation in Kosovo. The Foreign Minister said that Slovakia had been a regular participant in United Nations peacekeeping and was willing to consider a contribution to new United Nations forces for Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Minister also said Slovakia was an active candidate for a non-permanent seat in the Security Council for the period 2000-2001. The Secretary-General thanked the Minister for Slovakia's prompt payment of its United Nations dues, despite the fact that the United Nations owes Slovakia more than $20 million for its past peacekeeping contributions. In a press encounter after the meeting, the Secretary-General said, "I was hoping that some countries, which have stronger economies, will learn from their example".

The Secretary-General then visited with United Nations staff, was briefed by them on their activities in Slovakia and urged them to work more closely together.

In a session with the Speaker of the Parliament, Jozef Migas, he was told that Parliament had just passed a law protecting the languages of minorities. The Speaker also said he would participate in the Inter-Parliamentary Union's meeting to prepare for the United Nations Millennium Forum in September 2000.

The Secretary-General then met with Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, who described Slovakia's plans to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The United Nations, he said, was central to the nation's foreign policy. The Prime Minister also announced that the Government had donated premises in Bratislava for a United Nations House, where all United Nations agencies could work.

In a luncheon hosted by the Prime Minister, there was wide-ranging discussion, including a briefing by Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, describing his

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efforts to deal with the increased threat of trafficking in drugs and human beings through Kosovo.

The Prime Minister and the Secretary-General then gave a press conference. The Secretary-General thanked Eduard Kukan for having agreed to serve as his Special Envoy on the Balkan crisis which, he noted, had now moved into another phase with the United Nations running the civilian aspects of the international presence. He said that Eduard Kukan together with Carl Bildt "continue to advise me on the issues and will periodically be required to come and take assignments from me or see me in New York or Geneva whenever I need them".

After the press conference, the Secretary-General proceeded to Comenius University, the oldest university in Slovakia, where he received an honorary doctorate and gave a speech where he praised Eduard Kukan's contribution as his Special Envoy for the Balkans and thanked the Government and people of Slovakia for their gift of a statue to the United Nations.

In the evening, he met with the President of the Republic, Rudolf Schuster, and then attended a reception hosted by the Foreign Minister.

The Secretary-General left Slovakia on 16 July to begin his official visit to the Czech Republic.

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