Mesdames et Messieurs les journalistes, merci bien de votre présence.

Nous vivons dans un monde avec des défis de nature globale, des menaces de nature globale pour lesquelles il n’y a pas de solution qui ne soit pas une solution globale. C’est pour ça que j’ai salué l’extrêmement importante contribution de l’Union européenne à la gouvernance multilatérale, son engagement dans le multilatéralisme. 

Mais aussi, j’ai fait appel à une Europe unie et forte pour mieux soutenir les Nations Unies qu’on veut aussi fortes et efficaces dans la promotion des valeurs essentielles de la Charte : la paix, la sécurité, les droits de l’homme et le développement inclusif et durable.

La coopération entre l’Union européenne et les Nations Unies est un pilier essentiel de notre ordre multilatéral et c’était pour moi une excellente opportunité de m’adresser aux députés européens, de discuter avec eux quelques uns des défis essentiels auxquels nous faisons face.

La multiplication de conflits avec l’énorme difficulté de la communauté internationale pour les prévenir et pour les résoudre ; les défis pour maintenir les droits de l’homme dans l’agenda global de façon positive ; et en même temps l’évolution, la tendance qui engendre une fragilité croissante dans un monde où les changements climatiques sont devenus un facteur extrêmement dramatique du point de vue économique, social, environnemental et du point de vue d notre futur collectif.

Et finalement, le besoin de trouver une globalisation plus juste qui puisse permettre aussi une réconciliation entre les opinions publiques, les [dirigeants] politiques, les organisations internationales et les approches multilatérales pour résoudre les problèmes globaux.

Je remercie le Président du Parlement de m’avoir donné cette opportunité.

Question about Cyprus (in English)

The leadership of the process remains in the hands of the two Cypriot communities. The United Nations has a role of support for the two communities to be able to come together to an agreement allowing for the reunification of the island. And at the same time, an agreement that needs to be endorsed by the guarantor powers. Greece and Turkey have, as you know, a very important role.

I was this weekend both with President Erdogan and Prime Minister Tsipras and I appealed for a flexible and constructive approach of the two countries in order to be able to address effectively the problem of security and guarantees that, as you know, is the central question in what relates to the guarantor powers.

My Special Envoy has been working closely together with the two leaders of the two communities in order to see if the remaining problems related to – I would say – internal questions can be addressed.

We are ready to convene a new Conference when the parties believe that we can do it in an effective way. I [am not saying] that we will only convene it when we are sure about success because the obligation of the United Nations is not to only act when there is a perspective of success but to act in all situations to promote peace and to promote understanding among peoples.

So we are working closely with the parties and as soon as the parties believe that there is a scope for reconvening the Conference to try to find a global solution for the outstanding problems, we will do it very much hoping that this opportunity will not be missed.

Question sur l’autorité morale des Nations dans le contexte de la crise des réfugiés en Europe  (en français)

Premièrement, c’est évident qu’en Europe et partout dans le monde – on ne peut pas réduire les problèmes à une dimension européenne – partout dans le monde, on assiste pour les raisons que j’ai évoquées, notamment les inégalités engendrées par la globalisation : les communautés qui se sentent démunies, la gestion pas toujours efficace des mouvements de population, le terrorisme…  tout ça a engendré dans beaucoup de communautés cette idée que les gens sont abandonnés, que les dirigeants politiques ne sont pas capables de prendre en charge leurs problèmes et leurs difficultés, que les organisations internationales sont inefficaces, que la globalisation est un facteur négatif, qu’il faut se replier à l’intérieur des pays…

Tout ça a engendré un climat favorable au développement des formes de populisme politique, de xénophobie, d’antisémitisme, de haine antimusulmane… mais aussi en créant des difficultés pour d’autres minorités dans d’autres régions du monde, par exemple les minorités chrétiennes au Moyen-Orient.

C’est une dimension qui malheureusement se répand un peu partout dans le monde et je crois qu’il faut en même temps défendre les valeurs fondamentales de la tolérance, de la primauté de la raison, mais aussi le besoin que les gens puissent se respecter, se comprendre et travailler mutuellement.

Mais il faut aussi adresser les problèmes qui favorisent le développement de ces sentiments. Il faut qu’il y ait une globalisation plus juste. Il faut qu’il y ait des politiques économiques et sociales qui s’adressent aux problèmes de communautés qui sont marginalisées par la globalisation et les progrès techniques. Il faut répondre aux problèmes de ceux dont les capacités sont mises en cause par une évolution technologique extrêmement rapide.

Il faut en même temps combattre en affirmant nos valeurs et combattre aussi pour éliminer les causes qui favorisent ceux qui mettent en cause ces valeurs.

Et la question de l’autorité morale est très importante. Il y a partout des violations des droits de l’homme. Il faut qu’il y ait une autorité morale pour faire des droits de l’homme, une fois de plus, une affirmation prioritaire dans le cadre des organisations internationales.

Et là, évidemment, il faut voir les droits de l’homme dans toutes leurs dimensions : les droits des réfugiés, les droits des migrants sont aussi des droits de l’homme. Et si ces droits ne sont pas respectés, vraiment, ceux qui ne les respectent pas perdent l’autorité pour dire aux autres qu’il faut qu’ils respectent d’autres droits de l’homme. 

C’est cette vision qui, je crois, est très importante, et c’est un appel que je fais aussi à l’Europe, d’être un partenaire dans le rétablissement du système de protection internationale pour les réfugiés qui a été largement mis en cause ces dernières années, et pour participer d’une façon constructive à l’approbation d’un « compact » pour une migration qui soit… maintenant en français on va voir si j’arrive à traduire les trois mots « safe, orderly and regular », en sécurité, d’une façon organisée et d’une façon légale.

Question on relocation programme for refugees (in English)

I was High Commissioner for Refugees when the relocation programme was defined and it is clear for me what a very dramatic problem Europe faced – I remember in 2015 – more than about one million people coming to the shores of Europe.

That problem would have been manageable if Europe had been able to [act] with full solidarity among Member States, and in an organized way. Relocation was a very important for that. I have always been a strong supporter of relocation and I called European countries to manifest their solidarity to the countries of first entry in order to make sure that Europe as a whole is able to handle that problem.

One million people is a lot of people but let us not forget that it represents about three percent of the population in the European Union. Lebanon has one third of its population [which are] refugee.

So again, with solidarity, all problems can be solved. Without solidarity, leaving one country alone – obviously the countries of first entry are in the most difficult position – leaving one country alone [makes] it much more difficult to solve the problem.

So my appeal if for European solidarity to address the problem that, together, European countries, in my opinion, can manage. Not forgetting that even more important is to first stop the war, second, to support refugees in their countries of first asylum and to support these countries of first asylum. 

We need to have a much stronger international solidarity, not only European solidarity but international solidarity, with Jordan and Lebanon - to speak about Syria, but we can mention other countries around the world – I order to allow them to be able to give refugees conditions for a dignified life. 

And that will dramatically reduce the number of people trying to move onwards in circumstances that are appallingly dangerous, as you know, with traffickers and smugglers being the main [people benefitting] from this tragedy.

If a lot more is done to allow countries like Lebanon to be able to provide, with international solidarity, the conditions of a dignified life for Syrian refugees, there will be much less pressure on other parts of the world. 

So we need to combine everything: conflict resolution, support to refugees and countries of first asylum, solidarity with them, and at the same time, management in solidarity by Europeans as a whole of a problem that Europe together can solve relatively easily – but that one country will face in dramatic circumstances [if facing it alone].

And of course Italy is currently under a lot of pressure. I am fully aware of that.

Question on the deaths of refugees on the Mediterranean (in Portuguese)

Em relação à sua pergunta sobre o que é que falhou, suponho que, de alguma forma, respondi na pergunta anterior. Em primeiro lugar, teria sido muito importante se a comunidade internacional tivesse sido capaz de dar uma resolução atempada aos conflitos que geraram um tão grande número de refugiados e, ao mesmo tempo, de estabelecer políticas de cooperação para o desenvolvimento capazes de atenuar a pressão migratória. Em segundo lugar, não houve suficiente apoio, não tem havido suficiente apoio, aos países de primeiro asilo – falei da Jordânia, falei do Líbano, poderia falar da Turquia, poderia falar do Quénia ou da Etiópia em outras situações; é necessário criar condições para que as pessoas não se sintam tão desesperadas que tenham que arriscar as suas vidas cruzando o Mediterrâneo nas circunstâncias precárias que são conhecidas.

E depois acho que há outra combinação que tem que ser mais eficaz. Por um lado, maior capacidade de coordenação dos esforços para combater o tráfego e o contrabando de seres humanos – o tráfego de seres humanos que hoje gera em certas situações verdadeira escravatura é, na minha opinião, o mais hediondo dos crimes a que fazemos face no mundo actual. Mas a coordenação desse combate ao tráfego e ao contrabando de seres humanos tem que ser acompanhada pela criação de mais oportunidades quer de acolhimento legal de refugiados quer de acolhimento legal de migrantes. Essa combinação de políticas migratórias e de refugiados com uma maior abertura e ao mesmo tempo o mais eficaz combate aos criminosos que se aproveitam da situação actual que nós poderemos reduzir esta tragédia quotidiana no Mediterrâneo.

E aqui quero prestar homenagem não apenas ao esforço da União Europeia mas em particular ao esforço da Itália que eu pude acompanhar. Quer a guarda costeira, quer a guarda de finança têm desenvolvido um trabalho extraordinário desde as costas da Líbia salvando milhares e milhares de pessoas e é bom não esquecer quando vemos a tragédia daqueles que perdem a vida que há, graças a essa acção, muitos que felizmente puderam ser salvos e acho que não tem sido dado suficiente valor ao trabalho extraordinário que, conjuntamente com outras entidades inclusive do sector privado e da sociedade civil, tem sido feito para salvar vidas.

[Unofficial English translation: On your question about what failed, I suppose I already answered it somehow. First of all, it would have been very important if the international community had been able to find a timely resolution for the conflicts that generated such a large number of refugees and, at the same time, to have established development cooperation policies capable of alleviating migratory pressure. Second of all, there wasn’t enough support, there hasn’t been enough support, for first asylum countries - I mentioned Jordan, I mentioned Lebanon, I could have also mentioned Turkey, I could have also mentioned Kenya and Ethiopia (depending on the situations); it is necessary to create conditions so that people do not feel desperate to the extent of risking their lives crossing the Mediterranean in well-known precarious circumstances.

And then I think that there is another combination that needs to be more effective. On the one hand, a greater capacity to coordinate efforts to fight trafficking and smuggling of human beings - the trafficking of human beings that today creates in certain situations true slavery is, in my opinion, the most heinous of crimes we face in today’s world. But the coordination of this fight against trafficking and smuggling of human beings has to be accompanied by the creation of more opportunities for both the legal reception of refugees and the legal reception of migrants. This combination of migratory and refugee policies with greater openness and at the same time the most effective fight against criminals who take advantage of the current situation can reduce this daily tragedy in the Mediterranean.

And here I want to pay tribute not only to the efforts of the European Union (EU) but in particular to the efforts of Italy, which I had the opportunity to follow. Both the Coast Guard and the Finance Guard have been doing an extraordinary work all the way from the shores of Libya, saving thousands and thousands of people; it’s good not to forget when we see the tragedy of those who lose their lives that it is thanks to this kind of intervention, which also brings together the private sector and civil society, that many lives are saved.] 

Question on the reform of the European refugee policy and on the situation in Venezuela (in Portuguese)

Em primeiro lugar, não me compete opiniar sobre os métodos que a União Europeia adopte em relação à concretização do seu programa de relocalização, compete às instituições da União Europeia definir qual a melhor maneira de o fazer. Aquilo que me compete como Secretário-Geral das Nações Unidas é pedir que, qualquer que seja a metodologia utilizada, o direito internacional sobre os refugiados seja respeitado e que o nosso sistema de protecção internacional aos refugiados seja restabelecido na sua plenitude, coisa que infelizmente recentemente não tem acontecido com consequências que são naturalmente muito preocupantes. E a minha opinião é que isso será tanto mais fácil de fazer quanto maior a solidariedade e a justiça na repartição das responsabilidades a esse nível.

A Venezuela é para mim uma grande preocupação – tive ocasião aliás de visitar a comunidade portuguesa na última vez que estive na Venezuela – mas não apenas por causa da comunidade portuguesa, é uma grande preocupação dada a situação extrememente difícil que o país atravessa e não apenas as dificuldades políticas que são conhecidas e a violência que já tem ocurrido mas também as gravíssimas dificuldades económicas e sociais. Tenho acompanhado com grande interesse a situação, tenho desenvolvido um conjunto de contactos com diferentes mediadores, quer os ex presidentes quer a Santa Sé, e contactos com vários líderes da região apenas com o objectivo de facilitar que se encontrem as formas de mediação indispensáveis para que esta crise política possa ser resolvida e com a resolução da crise política se possam encontrar também soluções para os aspectos que têm penalizado muito o povo venezuelano no plano social, no plano económico, no plano da saúde e em todos os outros.

[Unofficial English translation: First of all, it is not my place to have an opinion on the methods that the EU adopts with regards to the implementation of its relocation programme, it is up to the EU institutions to decide how best to go about it. As the Secretary-General of the United Nations, I ask that, regardless of the methodology used, international refugee law be respected, that our system of international protection for refugees be restored to its full potential, something that unfortunately hasn’t been happening with very worrisome consequences. In my opinion, this will be easier the greater the solidarity in the distribution of responsibilities at that level.

Venezuela is for me a matter of great concern – as a matter of fact, I had the opportunity to visit the Portuguese community the last time I was in the country – but not only due to the Portuguese community; it is a matter of great concern due to the extremely difficult political situation the country is going through – there are well known political difficulties, violence has already been reported, and also grave economic and social difficulties. I have been following the situation with great interest, I had contacts with different mediators – be it the former Presidents, be it the Holy See; I also had contacts with regional leaders. And the goal is to facilitate the finding of forms of indispensable mediation to solve the political crisis. With a resolution of the political crisis, we might also be able to find solutions to the issues afflicting the Venezuelan people economically, socially, healthcare-wise, etc.]