Activities of Secretary-General in Portugal, 7-9 July

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Madam Ban Soon-taek arrived in Lisbon on Saturday, 7 July.

On Monday morning, he met with Portuguese President Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, with whom he discussed the Middle East, Darfur, Timor-Leste, the Alliance of Civilizations, the Millennium Development Goals and climate change.  Earlier, he had met with former President Jorge Sampaío, his High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations.

Later, the Secretary-General met with Portuguese Foreign Minister Luís Filipe Marques Amado.  In comments to reporters, the Secretary-General said he was especially concerned about Darfur.  He noted that the meeting of the International Contact Group in Paris on 25 June appears to have generated a new momentum, and consolidated international support.

The Secretary-General added that the Middle East remains a source of deep concern.  One immediate priority is securing a permanent and reliable reopening of Gaza crossings to allow in commercial and humanitarian imports.

The Secretary-General also met that day with Portuguese Prime Minister José Socrates, and held separate meetings with the country’s Defence Minister, Nuno Severiano Teixeira; Interior Minister Rui Pereira; and the President of the Parliament, Jaime Gama.

That evening, he departed to Brussels, Belgium.