HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESS BRIEFING BY BRENDEN VARMA, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT MIROSLAV LAJČÁK

United Nations Headquarters, New York

30 October 2017

The President will leave this afternoon on a trip to France, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
He will arrive in Paris, France, on 31 October. While there, he will address the Leaders’ Forum of the 39th United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) General Conference. The theme of the Leaders’ Forum is “SDGs and the role of UNESCO in the multilateral system”. The President will hold bilateral meetings with fellow attendees as well as the Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition of France.
The President will then travel to Manama, Bahrain, to address the World Entrepreneurs Investment Forum on 2 November. The theme of the event, which is being organized by the Government of Bahrain, is “Achieving the SDGs through Promoting Entrepreneurship and Innovation”. The President will also hold bilateral meetings with Bahraini officials.
The President’s last stop will be the United Arab Emirates. There he will hold bilateral meetings with Emirati officials and attend the Bani Yas Forum from 3 to 5 November. The forum brings together international officials for discussions on global and regional affairs.
The President will return to New York on 6 November.
Asked whether the President would be meeting with any leaders from the Balkans while in Paris, the Spokesperson later confirmed that the President was expected to meet with H.E. Mr. Bakir Izetbegovic, Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The President spoke this morning in the General Assembly plenary, which was considering the report of the International Criminal Court.
He said the 1998 Rome Statute is a landmark on the journey to universal justice and rule of law.
He added that ending impunity is an important way to prevent future atrocities. All of us have an obligation to prevent and respond to these grave crimes, he said.

The President met this morning with the Foreign Minister of Peru, H.E. Mr. Ricardo Luna.
They discussed a number of topics, including sustaining peace and the situation in the region.

Asked for the President’s reaction to a Member State representative, who had referred in the Third Committee to the “presumed” Rwanda genocide, the Spokesperson emphasized that the President himself would never refer to the genocide as “presumed”, since it had definitely happened and amounted to a human tragedy.
The Spokesperson had no specific reaction to reports of the Member State representative’s remarks, since he had not heard the remarks himself.