ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN SWEDEN, 5 - 7 SEPTEMBER 2001
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Mrs. Nane Annan arrived in Sweden from Africa in the morning of Wednesday, 5 September.
The Secretary-General began his official visit to Sweden on Thursday morning, with a call on the Speaker of Parliament, Birgitta Dahl, at the Parliament building in Stockholm. The Secretary-General asked the Speaker for her support in the effort to bring into force the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court. He said he hoped the Statute would be ratified by the requisite 60 countries by the end of next year. The Speaker said there would be no problem with Sweden.
The Speaker talked of the need to explain to the general public the global aspects of every day issues, like agriculture, transport and communications. They discussed the anti-globalization protests, and Ms. Dahl said her first experience with Parliament was as a protester forty years ago in favour of aid to poor countries.
They also touched on upcoming United Nations conferences -- on sustainable development in South Africa and on financing for development in Mexico. The Secretary-General underlined the link between development and migration as a horizon issue that must be addressed.
The Secretary-General then walked to the Foreign Ministry to meet with Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindt. The Minister said that the outlook for the Durban Conference against Racism was a bit more hopeful that day. They discussed the issues that divided the Conference, and their consequences whether or not the Conference is successful.
They also talked of the European Union-United Nations relationship, the role of the United States in contemporary international relations, the effort to get the Palestinians and the Israelis back to the negotiating table and to restart the Cyprus talks.
Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson then hosted a working luncheon for the Secretary-General, at which they reviewed the status of the Durban negotiations. They also discussed in depth the situation in the Middle East as a whole, including Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, as well the Palestinian-Israeli crisis. They also discussed the situation in the Balkans and current global economic trends and their impact on international security.
Outside the Prime Minister's residence, a journalist asked the Secretary-General if he thought it was a mistake to hold the Racism Conference now. "If it were a mistake," he replied, "then by implication we are saying that racism and intolerance do not exist".
"Look around you," he said. "It's very much an issue. It is unfortunate that the Member States could not organize themselves to discuss it in a calmer and more constructive manner without all the divisions."
The Secretary-General was then driven to Uppsala where former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld grew up and where he is buried. Having placed a wreath on Hammarskjöld's grave, he then walked to the Hammarskjöld Centre, where he participated in a discussion, led by Olle Nordberg, head of the Hammarskjöld Foundation, of Hammarskjöld's work as well as that of the Foundation. Professor Peter Wallensteen of Uppsala University also addressed the group.
The party then moved to the University itself, where 4,000 people were lined up, hoping to get into a lecture hall which could only accommodate 1,800, to hear the Secretary-General deliver the Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture.
"It will not surprise you to hear that Dag Hammarskjöld is a figure of great importance for me," he said at the outset. "His life and his death, his words and his actions, have done more to shape public expectations of the office, and indeed of the Organization, than those of any other man or woman in its history."
"There can be no better rule of thumb for a Secretary-General" he told the audience, that on approach to each new challenge or crisis he ask himself, "how would Hammarskjöld have handled this?"
The Secretary-General insisted on his own right to speak out. "There must be freedom of speech for governments, as well as for international officials!, " he declared.
"No doubt Dag Hammarskjöld would also disagree with some of the specific positions I have taken," he added. "But I suspect he would envy me the discretion I enjoy in deciding what to say. And I have no doubt he would strongly endorse the principle that the Secretary-General must strive to make himself an authentic and independent voice of the international community" (see SG/SM/7941).
After his address, the Secretary-General was presented with the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal by Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University, Professor Bo Sundqvist. He then met with the press, and later attended a dinner held in his honour by the Foundation.
The Secretary-General departed Stockholm for New York on Friday morning, 7 September.