ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN GREECE, 14 - 21 APRIL
Secretary-General Kofi Annan departed New York in the evening of Monday, 14 April, and arrived in Athens the following morning.
He was invited by the European Union to address the European conference on Thursday, the 17th, and took advantage of the presence of European leaders in the Greek capital on Wednesday to hold a series of bilateral meetings.
He began with a session with the Prime Minister of Sweden, Goran Persson, for a discussion of Iraq and the Middle East. At a press encounter afterwards, the Secretary-General stressed that European leaders are strongly behind the United Nations, adding, “The main thing is we should heal the divisions, and we are going to try to do our best to heal them in the UN, and I am sure it will be done here, too.”
He then went to the United Nations Information Centre in Athens, where he reviewed country programmes with the representatives of United Nations agencies, funds and programmes. Afterwards, he spoke to the United Nations staff and thanked them for their fine teamwork.
He and Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom then had a focused discussion on Iraq and how to define a United Nations role there. Mr. Annan emphasized the need for the Security Council to assess the tasks that need to be done and then the capacity of different organizations to do each of those tasks. The United Nations role could then be considered in concrete terms. He urged the coalition partners to share their strategic vision with other members of the Security Council, and urged the Council to deal with Iraq in a unified way. When they met with the press at the end of their meeting, the Secretary-General told reporters that he and the Prime Minister were confident they would be able to work with other leaders, including those in the region, and with Security Council members to find a way forward.
His next meeting was with the Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar, with whom he again discussed a cooperative approach by the Security Council on Iraq. He then saw the Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, who was accompanied by Foreign Minister Louis Michel. In addition to Iraq, they also discussed ways to get the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo back on track.
In the late afternoon, he met with Igor Ivanov, the Russian Foreign Minister. Their talks focused on Iraq and also the Middle East.
Iraq was again the sole topic of conversation in the meeting with the Prime Minister of Ireland, Bertie Ahern. He then met with the Prime Minister of Denmark, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller.
Later that evening, he saw the Chancellor of Germany, Gerhard Schroeder, and then at 9 p.m. that night, the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, Russian Federation, Spain and the United Kingdom. All those discussions focused on post-war Iraq.
On Thursday morning, the Secretary-General met with French President Jacques Chirac before the opening of the European conference. The President raised the situation in Côte d’Ivoire before turning to Iraq. They discussed approaches to post-conflict Iraq and the prospects for the broader region. At a press encounter afterwards, the President affirmed France’s support for a central United Nations role in restoring stability to Iraq and to the region. The Secretary-General said he hoped that in a short while details of the United Nations role in Iraq could be defined and that the Security Council would work together to help the Iraqi people rebuild their country and a peaceful future.
The Secretary-General then joined some 40 European leaders for the opening of the European conference. Referring to the war in Iraq, he said, “No issue has so divided the world since the end of the cold war.” But, he added, “The world cannot afford a long period of recrimination.”
He proposed defining a set of principles around which all could rally in order to advance the well-being of the Iraqi people.
Future policy on Iraq, he said, should be guided by the following principles:
-- the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of Iraq;
-- the right of Iraqis to determine their own system of government and control their natural resources;
-- the need to help Iraqis end their isolation and return to normal life; and
-- the need for any United Nations role to be established by the Security Council and given the necessary resources.
Should the international community unite behind these principles, he concluded, the Iraqi people would have the chance of a brighter future. See Press Release SG/SM/8671.
Costas Simitis, the Prime Minister of Greece, who, as President of the European Union, chaired the meeting, then read out a presidential statement approved by European Union members welcoming the presence of the Secretary-General. The statement said, in part, “the UN must play a central role, including in the process leading towards self-government for the Iraqi people, utilizing its capacity and experiences in post-conflict nation building”.
In the margins of the European conference, the Secretary-General met with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and then with the Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi. Iraq dominated both of those discussions.
The Security-General attended an official luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Simitis, and then, in the evening, had a meeting with him and his Foreign Minister, George Papandreou. At a press encounter afterwards, the Secretary-General congratulated the Prime Minister for Greece’s smooth management of the historic Summit paving the way for the expansion of the European Union from 15 to 25 members.
On Iraq, he again emphasized the need to heal the divisions in the international community and work together to help Iraq rejoin the family of nations. He also stressed the need to work with the leaders of the region towards this end.
Concerning the Middle East, the Secretary-General urged Israelis and Palestinians not to set conditions for each other, “but really open up and reach out for peace”.
In response to a question on Cyprus, he said, if “I sense a real determined will and change of heart to move forward, I will do whatever I can to assist.”
The Secretary-General and his wife Nane were later the dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. Simitis.
The Secretary-General rested in Greece over the weekend, before departing Monday to Vienna, Austria.