Activities of Secretary-General in Austria, 26-29 April
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, accompanied by Madam Ban Soon-taek, arrived in Vienna on the afternoon of Tuesday, 26 April, after an overnight flight from New York to London and an onward flight to Austria.
Later on Tuesday afternoon, the Secretary-General met with Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz at the Austrian Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, and they then spoke to the media.
On Wednesday, 27 April, the Secretary-General chaired the meeting of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), which, twice a year, brings together the top 30 leaders from across the United Nations system. Wednesday’s meeting was hosted by the Vienna-based United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) at the Vienna International Centre, home to the United Nations family in Austria.
At the Centre, the Secretary-General also attended an event to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, organized by the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. In his remarks the Secretary-General said: “This organization is at the forefront of detecting possible nuclear tests. It has carried out activities far beyond what anyone imagined.” (See Press Release SG/SM/17709.)
The Secretary-General also met with staff based in Vienna.
That evening, the Secretary-General and CEB members attended a dinner with the Mayor of Vienna, Michael Häupl, and other Austrian officials. The Secretary-General and Mayor were joined by CEB members in signing posters depicting the Sustainable Development Goals in English and German.
On Thursday, 28 April, the Secretary-General first met Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann for a one-to-one meeting at the Austrian Parliament before addressing the two Houses, the first foreign leader to do so. He also met President Heinz Fischer, the Speakers of the National Council and Federal Council, Doris Bures and Josef Saller, and other high-ranking representatives of Parliament.
In his remarks to Parliament, the Secretary-General said he recognized the generosity shown so far by the people and Governments of Europe to migrants and refugees, not least in Austria. But, he said he was concerned that European countries were now adopting increasingly restrictive immigration and refugee policies. He said such policies and measures negatively affect the obligations of Member States under international humanitarian law and European law. The Secretary-General also said he was alarmed about growing xenophobia. He said all of Europe’s leaders should live up to the principles that have guided the continent. (See Press Release SG/SM/17711.)
The Secretary-General then transferred across Vienna to the Palais Coburg, where he chaired the second day of the CEB. The United Nations system leaders also met Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz and other Austrian officials over a working lunch.
That evening, the Secretary-General and CEB members attended a reception hosted by President Fischer at the Hofburg Palace. The Secretary-General, accompanied by Madam Ban, then attended the premiere of the opera Turandot at the Vienna State Opera with President Fischer and his wife.
The Secretary-General, accompanied by Madam Ban, left Austria early on the morning of Friday, 29 April, on a flight to Geneva, where he arrived the same morning.