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

PRESIDENT DISCUSSES ASSEMBLY’S WORK WITH FINNISH FOREIGN MINISTER

• The President is currently meeting with the Foreign Minister of Finland.
• They are discussing the work of the General Assembly.
• Asked if President Lajčák would also be meeting with the President of Iceland, who was at United Nations Headquarters today, the Spokesperson later confirmed that President Lajčák had met the President of Iceland the day before.

PRESIDENT HEADS TO THAILAND AND SLOVAKIA

• The President will be in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday 14 May.
• While there, he will deliver opening remarks to the 74th session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
• He will also meet with the Foreign Minister of Thailand, the Asia Pacific Regional Coordination Mechanism, and the United Nations Country Team.
• He will then arrive in Slovakia on Tuesday 15 May.
• There he will open and participate in the GLOBSEC 2018 Bratislava Forum, a prominent strategic conference that brings together international Government officials, academics and civil society.
• While in Slovakia, he is expected to hold bilateral meetings with a number of officials, including the Foreign Ministers of Albania and Poland; the Minister for Defense of Montenegro; the Minister of State for External Affairs of India; the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE); and the Director-General of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

CRUCIAL FOR GROUP OF 77 TO REMAIN ACTIVE AT U.N.

• The President will participate in an interactive discussion with the Group of 77 (G77) this afternoon.
• He plans to brief the Group on the progress made so far in the 72nd session, as well as his upcoming events.
• This will be his 2nd briefing to the G77 since the start of the session. It is part of his commitment to transparency.
• He is expected to say that it is important that the Group remains engaged and active – as this will ensure that the interests of the world’s developing countries remain at the heart of the United Nations’ agenda.

PRESIDENT GETS BRIEFING FROM 5^TH COMMITTEE CHAIR

• Asked why the President was meeting today with the Chair of the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee, which handles administrative and budgetary matters, the Spokesperson said that the Fifth Committee was currently holding its second resumed session.
• In that regard, the President had asked to meet with the Chair in order to receive a briefing on the Committee’s work.