Press encounter with Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh after meeting with Prime Minister Goran Persson of Sweden at the Prime Minister's office

SG: I am very happy to be back in Stockholm on such a beautiful day, and on top of this, as the Minister said, we had very constructive and very useful discussions. We know that there is a strong relationship between the United Nations and Sweden and I appreciate the support and the input of Sweden in the work of the United Nations. This morning we were able to talk about the Middle East, UN reform, crisis spots in Africa and of course the issue of economic development and humanitarian issues.

Q: What can the international community do to help the people of India?

SG: I think what happened in India is very tragic. I think the international community has an obligation to provide all the assistance that we can. And in particular, those of us with capacity must give and give generously and promptly. I send my deepest sympathies and condolences to those who lost their loved ones and to the entire Indian people.

[There was a question about what the EU can do to respond to the Indian disaster. The Foreign Minister responded by saying that the Commission was already trying to help with financial resources.]

Q: The Middle East?

SG: I think the last talks between the Palestinians and Israelis went on very well [inaudible] good atmosphere and from the reports I have read, both parties worked very seriously, very constructively, and they are very close on almost all the issues. There are certain issues that still need to be bridged but I am encouraged and I hope that as soon as the elections are over they could go back to continue their work. The Prime Minister and myself have discussed this and of course both of us support the process and are working closely with the parties.

Q: Do you see a role of the United Nations in the Middle East in terms of soldiers..?

A: As you know, the United Nations is already on the ground. We have troops on the Golan Heights, the Lebanese-Israeli border and there has been a discussion of sending a UN observer mission to Palestine but this has not been approved yet by the Security Council, and it is quite likely that the Palestinian authorities will bring the issue up again in the Security Council.

Q: Yesterday you chose to criticize the European Union on refugee asylum matters.

SG: I encouraged the EU to adopt the right approach to refugee matters [inaudible] that because of the popular resentment towards immigrants, some governments have taken approaches which are not in strict conformity with the 1951 Geneva convention on refugees. And as we move forward, Europe is going to need more and more immigrants to sustain economic development. It is right that we have the right approaches, the right policy and the right understanding of the role of immigrants in society.

Foreign Minister: The Ministers of Justice and Foreign Affairs in just one or two weeks to come would be a very decisive meeting for the EU to follow up what we have been saying about a generous policy on asylum and refugees. Therefore I think that it was very important to be reminded of this by the Secretary-General.*****