23 April 2020
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
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Can you confirm that the Secretary-General followed, today, a meeting on the Middle East and the question of Palestine and the Security Council?
Spokesman: No.
Correspondent: The meeting…
Spokesman: He’s… I mean, he knows what Mr. Mladenov said. You know, the Secretary-General does not attend these meetings. He is briefed… he is represented by Mr. Mladenov. Whether he watched it on the webcast in his office or in residence, I don’t know, but he is… Not only does he know what Mr. Mladenov was planning to say, because that does not come as a surprise to him, but, as always, he will get a recap of the meeting from his political staff.
Correspondent: I followed the meeting, Mr. Stéphane. Mr. Mladenov mentioned this disagreement between the two parties in Israel and about annexing more land on 1 July. However, he just mentioned the old rhetoric of that — violation of international law and a unilateral decision which will jeopardize peace process and a two-State solution.
But there was no clear-cut position that this should be stopped and condemned. The word, the “rejection” of this plan, has not been expressed explicitly.
Spokesman: I… well, you know, you and I will have to live with our differences on this. Even though the rhetoric, as you say, you consider it old, I think Mr. Mladenov could not have been more direct and clear as to the risks of what would happen if the annexation went through.
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For information media. Not an official record.
Document Sources: Secretary-General, Security Council, United Nations Department of Global Communications, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO)
Subject: Annexation
Publication Date: 23/04/2020
URL source: https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/db200423.doc.htm