Secretary-General's press encounter with European Commission President Romano Prodi
Press events | Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General
We subscribe to an effective UN collective security system and the necessary reform to achieve it. It is our stated policy and goal to strengthen the United Nations. My Commission is giving the highest priority to increasing and improving cooperation between the UN and the European Union. And in the last years, I feel that we achieved good results, but we can do more. We have to expand our cooperation in new areas such as conflict prevention and crisis management. We today covered a wide range of topics at our discussion. In addition to talking about cooperation between us, we had a brief exchange of views on recent developments around the world.
We discussed the many crises in Africa. Together with us, the UN is working hard to bring peace to millions of people who are suffering from war, poverty, disease, hunger and lack of clean water. I explained our preparation for a peace facility as a new strategic instrument to back up African peacekeeping efforts endorsed by the UN.
We talked about sustainable development, migration and current political and regional issues such as Iraq, Iran, Middle East and Afghanistan, and of course Africa. On Africa, I underlined the fragility of the situation in Cote d' Ivoire, which I visited recently, and we agreed that the Linas Marcousis Agreement must remain the basis for all peace efforts. Clearly more pressure must be put on the parties to enforce the agreement before the situation gets out of hand. It is time for a UN peacekeeping operation and there we assured the Secretary-General of our determination to support the mobilization and the reconstruction operation financially.
When it comes to Europe, the one issue where the UN plays a crucial role is Cyprus. I thanked the Secretary-General for his effort to promote a comprehensive settlement and for excellent cooperation between his Organization and the Commission. I recently had very intensive discussions with Prime Minister Erdogan in Ankara. I insisted the Union wants to see an agreement before May 1 so that a united Cyprus can join the European Union. We are convinced a window of opportunity still exists to reach a settlement before accession on the basis of a plan presented by the Secretary-General. The issues are well known but there is a need for more political will on the part of all parties involved. The Commission can provide technical assistance to the UN on issues relating to European law. We are ready to accommodate the terms of a settlement on the basis of the Secretary-General's plan. We are also ready to organize an international donor's conference to mobilize financial support for needs arising for a settlement.
Thank you.
SG: Thank you very much. Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. For me it is a great pleasure to be here today and to have had the chance of discussing so many issues, as you heard from Mr. Prodi, with him and the other Commissioners and Mr. Chris Patten. I have a great deal of respect for the work the European Union does, not only here in Europe but around the world, and the wonderful example of cooperation that they have set for the world.
They believe in effective multilateralism and that is what the United Nations is about. Throughout my term as Secretary-General, they have been very strong supporters and we have worked very, very closely together. And at this critical juncture in world history, it is only fitting that we should come together to put our heads together to see where we are and how we can strengthen our cooperation and where we go from here.
I am also very pleased with the decision of the Commission to support the panel of eminent persons that I have set up to take a look at the new threats and challenges that we face today and how we can devise a collective response to these challenges. I look forward to the Commission's report, because I believe it can help us strengthen our institutions and the norms and the principles which guide our cooperation and relations between states. I do not want to go into the details of what we discussed. I think President Prodi has given you a very clear summary, but let me say that for us, the European Union is a key partner and I am happy to have been able to spend the last couple of hours reviewing our cooperation and strengthening and deepening that cooperation. Thank you very much.
Q: Pour le Secrétaire général des Nations Unies, Nikos Berlos de l'agence de presse chypriote : Monsieur le Secretaire general, je voulais vous demander si après la rencontre que vous avez eu a Davos avec M. Erdogan, vous considérez que les conditions sont réunies pour reprendre les négociations des deux communautés?
SG: Effectivement, j'ai eu une réunion très encourageante avec le Premier Ministre Erdogan. Il y a quatre parties. M.Ergodan m'avait indique que son pays est prêt a résumer les négociations. C'est une bonne décision. Il m'a fait un certain nombre de propositions que je suis en train d'étudier très sérieusement. Je verrai M. Papadoupolos cet après-midi et j'aurai l'occasion aussi de parler avec, j'espere, avec les dirigeants grecs. Et évidemment, je dois aussi entendre de M. Denktash, et bien la quatrième partie. Des que j'ai tous les éléments, je vais étudier et décider si le moment est venu pour recommencer. Les conditions sont claires, les parties doivent etre preparees de montrer la volonte de resoudre cette question, de leur permettre d'aller en avant, parce que, si on commence, tout le monde doit comprendre que l'on doit tout faire pour terminer le processus d'ici au 1er mai. Merci.
Q: Sir, you said that you were waiting for parties to give engagements and commitments that they will find a solution before May 1, but what is the schedule in your mind, bearing in mind that on the one hand there should be a deadline for negotiations, a deadline for you to fulfill the blanks and a deadline to sign an agreement. And in addition, what is also the problem regarding the referendum, should the referendum be before May 1or after May 1?
And for Mr. Prodi, there were particularly the Greek side on the Cyprus side are very keen on having a solution which is being you know in competition with the EU acquis. So do you think that we could find the solution or make arrangements within the EU acquis in the light of the solution?
SG: I have made it clear that my good offices are available provided that parties demonstrate their will and their determination to find a solution. There are four parties, four parties to the, actually let me be a bit more specific. There are two parties, the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots. And then you have the two mother lands, Turkey and Greece, who have a considerable role to play and influence. And there's also a security agreement between them, which will be part of the discussion.
If indeed we are going to try and settle this issue early enough for the expansion on 1 May, then if you work backwards we don't have much time. The plan on the table does envisage that the parties may have a possibility of negotiating changes to the plan. It also indicated that where they were not able to agree, they may give me the authority to fill in the gaps, which means that, if you work backwards, ideally we should try and have an agreement between the parties by the end of March to be able to have the simultaneous referenda in April to meet the May 1 deadline. And I think this should be clear for everyone who approaches me and says let's resume talks; we are determined to go ahead; we want to settle it before the 1st of May. That is the calendar we should be looking at.
EC PRESIDENT: For my part, is very short answer. As I told before, we are disposed to provide not only technical assistance but also financial assistance to the UN on all the issues related to the Acquis Communitaire and all the chapters that can be useful to be dealt in this situation.
Q: J'ai deux questions. Une question pour le Président Prodi, une question pour Monsieur le Secrétaire général. M. Prodi, comment peut-on envisager des élections en Iraq avant que l'occupation militaire ne quitte ce pays dans lequel l'insécurité règne encore. Ma deuxieme question pour Monsieur le Secrétaire général : d'après vous, comment les Nations Unies peuvent elles apaiser la tension qui ne cesse de monter entre Washington et Téhéran ?
EC PRESIDENT : En vérité, toutes les deux questions sont pour le Secrétaire général, car il a parle longuement des problèmes de sécurité, [inaudible] de l'Iraq et des efforts qu'ils sont en train de faire pour examiner si il sera possible d'avoir des élections. Ce sont les Nations Unies qui vont examiner le problème et approfondir le cas.
SG: Comme je l'ai indique hier a Paris, j'enverrai une mission très bientôt en Iraq pour étudier la question si c'est possible d'organiser des élections d'ici fin mai ou bien il faut envisager d'autres mécanismes pour créer un gouvernement provisoire. Mes collaborateurs vont pouvoir parler avec beaucoup de gens sur place et j'espère que les efforts vont aider a calmer la situation et améliorer la relation entre l'une et l'autre. Mais au fond c'est les Iraquiens qui doivent prendre les choses en main. Si les Iraquiens se mettent d'accord sur les méthodes ou les mécanismes pour créer un gouvernement provisoire, ça peut aider tout le monde. Si on arrive pas a se mettre d'accord sur cet mécanisme ou bien une formule pour créer ce gouvernement provisoire et bien je crains que les conflits et divisions vont continuer. Donc on va faire notre maximum et déjà on a engage la coalition et les Iraquiens. On fera tout pour aider, mais pour le moment c'est la coalition qui gère, qui gouverne l'Iraq, donc c'est eux qui ont la responsabilité. Mais on ferait tout pour les aider.
Q : …pour l'Iran…
SG : Vous n'avez pas pose une question sur l'Iran. Ah…
Q : …j'ai pose une question sur l'Iran, comment comptent les Nations Unies apaiser la tension qui monte entre Washington et Téhéran?
SG : La c'est une relation bilatérale entre les deux. Comme Secrétaire général, j'encourage touts les Etats a établir le dialogue et une bonne relation et je continue a faire la même chose avec ces deux pays et j'espère qu'un jour ou un autre ça va venir.
Q: Marie Luis Muller from Reuters. To pick up on the question of Iraq, in August the UN became a target for hostilities in Iraq. I mean, what if anything has changed that situation today? I mean, do you, have you seen any evidence of any changes?
SG: Let me be quite honest and clear. We are still concerned about security. That is one of the reasons why we have established an office in Cyprus and in Amman and we've not returned in full force to Iraq. The Security Council itself in its resolutions is conscious of the security situation and did give me the flexibility to return the staff as and when the security situation permits. I talked of a team going to Baghdad, but that is a team that is going in to give advice and coming out. It is not a full return of the UN. So the security situation is a concern, we are reviewing it daily and even for the team going in I have insisted on appropriate security measures before they go in. So we are concerned. I know the coalition assures me they are doing everything they can, including training Iraqi police and army to pacify the situation. We are preparing ourselves to be able to go back, but security will be determinant.
Thank you.