Well here we are. First question, please.
Q: Mr. Secretary-General, first question: what is the main challenge for the Security Council in 2018?
SG: I think it’s clear that we live in a normative great tension, we live in a period of mistrust within the international community and also within the Security Council. But at the same time, we face dramatic challenges. We face the nuclear threats now with the North Korean crisis. We face a very complex situation in the Middle East. We face many conflicts around the world that are multiplying without solution. And so the unity of the Security Council is more important than ever. And our hope is that the Netherlands, joining the Security Council, will be a very important contribution to build bridges, to create trust and to make the Security Council be able to overcome differences, recognizing that the threats that we face today, namely this dramatic combination of conflicts interlinked with each other and linked to a threat of global terrorism, that these threats that we face today are much more important than the eventual divisions that might exist among countries. The unity of the Security Council is essential to face today’s challenges and I hope the Netherlands will play a very important role in helping to build that trust.
Q: It’s still a powerful council? It’s still powerful, it has power?
SG: The council is irreplaceable in its role to guarantee peace and security in the world. And that is why it is so important to reestablish the unity without which it is impossible for that mission to be accomplished.
Q: Can I add one more question please? Sometimes all people see about the Security Council is diplomats talking. Can you explain to the Dutch audience why it is so important that the Dutch are playing a role in the Security Council?
SG: Well, diplomats need to talk but it’s important that the results of that talk is the capacity to take forceful decisions to implement peace in the world. So, it is essential that the dialogue in the Council leads to unity and unity leads to the capacity to create the conditions for conflicts to be solved or, even better, conflicts to be prevented by early action. And that is where I believe a country like the Netherlands, that has always been an important pillar of multilateralism, a country like the Netherlands can be a very important tool helping to create the conditions of unity for the Council to be effective.
Q: Today, before the UN Security Council there is a vote to impose stricter sanctions on North Korea. I just wanted to know what your opinion is on this. Do you think it’s the right way to go and how do you see this crisis resolved?
SG: It is clear to me again that in relation to the North Korean situation, it is essential to preserve the unity of the Security Council. And I believe that unity is very important for two reasons. First, to put clear pressure on North Korea, making North Korea understand that denuclearization of the Korean peninsula is an absolutely essential objective that needs to be fulfilled. And second, the same unity of the Council is necessary to create the opportunity for a diplomatic engagement for that denuclearization to be achieved through peaceful means.
Q: Mr. Secretary General, I would like to raise another current issue: there was some statement of the US Ambassador to the United Nations. She said about America that is planning to place its embassy in Jerusalem. Well, no vote will make any difference on that. But this vote will make a difference on how Americans look at the UN and how we look at countries who disrespect us in the UN. Maybe you could react on this?
SG: My reaction is simple: we will persist in our commitment to have a constructive relationship with all members of the United Nations, including the United States.
Q: The Netherlands formulated its priorities and one of them is accountability. The minister just mentioned to get DAESH prosecuted. So what would be a way to go about this, this accountability?
SG: Well, accountability starts with the national capacity to prosecute those who misbehave and to condemn and punish those who do not respect international humanitarian law or who commit other violations of human rights, especially in conflict situations. We know that in many cases, national capacities do not exist and that is why it is so important to have the International Criminal Court, to strengthen the International Criminal Court and for the Security Council to be able to use its powers to cease the Court whenever there is a strong reason for that to be needed.
The Hague, 22 December 2017