Activities of Secretary-General in Belgium, 9-10 July

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, accompanied by Madam Ban Soon-taek, arrived in Brussels from Lisbon, Portugal, in the evening of Monday, 9 July.

The following morning he addressed the Inaugural Global Forum on Migration and Development taking place in Brussels, saying that, as we have grasped migration’s powerful potential for good, old stereotypes have crumbled, and new opportunities have captured our imaginations.

He said that migration continues to increase — driven by the age-old pursuit of a better life, as well as by increasingly understood phenomena such as climate change.  The Secretary-General stressed that we can do a great deal to build a better migration experience, including by ensuring that people move in a way that is safe and legal, and which protects their rights.

The Secretary-General added that he will remain deeply committed to the Forum’s work, and pledge to maintain its link to the United Nations through his Special Representative for Migration and Developments, Peter Sutherland, who was reappointed that day.  (See Press Release SG/SM/11084.)

The Secretary-General also met that day with the European Union’s High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana.

At a press encounter later that day, he was asked by a reporter about Kosovo, and responded that any further delay or prolongation of that issue will not be beneficial — for the Balkan States or for the European Union.  At the same time, he asked the parties concerned not to take any premature unilateral actions which may further complicate this already complicated issue.

The Secretary-General also held a press conference, in which, in response to a question, he said that the ongoing situation in Pakistan should be resolved peacefully, with respect for human rights.

Other meetings held that day included Guy Verhofstadt, Prime Minister of Belgium; Regine De Clercq, Head of the International Task Force for the Global Forum on Migration and Development; Esteban B. Conejos, Jr., Under-Secretary for Migrant Workers of the Philippines; and Fatmir Sejdiu, President of Kosovo.  He also met with his Special Representative for Migration, Peter Sutherland.

The Secretary-General departed to London that afternoon.