Fischer (translation): Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome. It's a great pleasure for us to welcome the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, here to Berlin today. This evening a group of us are also going to have dinner at the Charlottenburg Palace. It was a special pleasure today that five hundred final year students from Sciences Po, that is German - French students of politics, were at the Ministry and, completely spontaneously, the Secretary-General was willing to meet with these students so that we had a very good beginning to our talks.
Otherwise, we discussed intensively the Middle East regarding the current situation of the peace effort. We agreed that it is very, very important to proceed now with the implementation of the Mitchell Report, to begin with the mechanism towards building confidence towards ending the violence as well as leading to a lasting ceasefire. It is very, very important that this is supported by all the countries and I was able to thank Kofi Annan once again for the excellent cooperation that I had with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the region on the 2 of June, Mr Larsen.
We talked in detail about the Balkans, about Macedonia, about Kosovo, and about the need to find a political solution based on a silencing of arms and laying down of weapons for good. On this too we hold the same position. We recognise the importance of the elections that will take place in Kosovo in autumn, for the whole region. We also talked about the work of the United Nations and especially the Secretary-General's outstanding initiative for an anti-AIDS fund, a health fund to give the opportunity to the poorer countries to effectively fight this illness in the interests of those who are effected. In this regard the G8 Summit will be a decisive landmark in providing finances for the fund. I was able to once again reassure Secretary-General Kofi Annan, but the Federal Government fully supports this initiative and this will surely be part of his talks with the Federal Chancellor. G8 is imminent and these matters will be addressed accordingly. There were also a number of other issues, which I don't want to go into at the moment but I would like to once again say how happy we are to have the Secretary-General here in Berlin a second time, and last but not least, I would like to take this opportunity, both officially and personally, to congratulate him on his re-election. Thank you.
SG: Thank you very much Mr. Minister and let me say that it is always a pleasure for me to be able to sit and discuss global issues and the crisis spots with you. You've been one of the dynamic foreign ministers on the issues that we are tackling around the world and you've also been hands on going to the Middle East and helping move the cease fire and the process there forward. And you refer to the pleasant surprise you gave me as I walked in, the chance to meet these young people, and I always like to give time to the young people. As I told them, they are the leaders of this 21st century and it is important that they become engaged early and it is important that we give them attention and encourage them to take responsibility and become involved. I think the Foreign Minister has given you indications of what we've discussed. We have very little time and so perhaps we'll take one or two questions and I need to move on.
(One here, one there. First the lady.)
Q: ... to what extent have you discussed the role of Germany in conflict prevention and how do you define your role ....
Fischer (translation): We didn't talk about this because our positions haven't changed. We fully support the United Nations, including the measures towards reform, and of course, for us with our multilateral approach in German foreign policy the United Nations is of overwhelming importance. Also the Security Council, I refer to the contribution of the Security Council in peacekeeping, or even peacemaking, measures, is essential for us. Primarily we talked about crises and about Macedonia, where - I can only reiterate - it is clear to me that NATO has decided and stated that a lasting political framework agreement must be in place, that there must be a lasting ceasefire and thirdly, that willingness to lay down arms is a precondition for NATO deployment. In this regard too there are no changes at present so we talked more about actual attempts at political solutions that are on the table. Now in the interest of gender equality, the next question from Mr. Monert please.
Q: Mr. Secretary General, you have debated on whether Germany should engage more strongly in the peace process in the Middle East. What's your opinion on this? SG: I think, Germany and the international community have a role to play. I think the European Union has been very dynamic and as you all know Foreign Minister Fischer himself was on the ground and his presence made a critical difference. I think the European Union and Germany should stay engaged. The US, the European Union, the UN - all of us have a role to play. And in fact I had the opportunity of discussing this issue with Foreign Minister Fischer and we are going to keep working together and do whatever we can to end the tragedy in the region. Thank you.
Fischer (translation): Thank you all.*****