Secretary-General's comments to media after his meeting with the EU High Representative, Mr. Javier Solana

SG: Thank you very much. Good morning ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure for me to visit the European Union again. I have been here twice during the last six months. This is a reflection of my strong commitment to work very closely with the European Union. The European Union is an essential partner for the United Nations and I also highly value my personal relationship with High Representative Javier Solana, the very friendly and cooperative relationship between his office and my office. You should realize how such personal relationships really help and contribute to smooth working, in addressing these global challenges. As he has just outlined, we have covered in a very limited time, a number of issues which are of the most interest to all of you, to all of the international community. I am committed to contribute myself to the early resolution of theDarfur issue and also I encouraged him to expedite his efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue and we agreed to again, closely co-operate on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation issues. We have discussed how to promote the peace process in the Middle East and Somalia, how to step up the national reconciliation process through strengthening AMISOM [African Union Mission in Somalia] and on all these issues I am very happy to have a very close co-operation with the High Representative Mr. Solana. Thank you very much.

Q: First question for the Secretary-General. Is there any way for Kosovo to get around Russia if it continues to block a resolution in the Security Council and secondly do you see any chance of more talks between the Kosovar side and the Serbian side??

SG: This morning of course we discussed at length the Kosovo issue. It is one of the most serious issues we face these days. Because of the lack of progress in taking action on the recommendation of my Special Envoy for the future status of Kosovo, my position is that any further delay or prolongation of this issue will not be beneficial, not only for the Balkan states but for the unity of the European Union. I strongly urged, while I as Secretary-General will continue to discuss this matter with major stakeholders, the unity of European Union and leadership of the European Union is fundamentally important at this time and I strongly urged him to take such leadership. At the same time, I will take this opportunity to ask the parties concerned not to take any premature unilateral actions which may further complicate this already complicated issue. I would count on the European Union's continued leadership on this matter.