Ban Ki-Moon Meets With EU Leaders

Ban Ki-Moon Kicks Off First Foreign Trip as UN Chief With Talks With European Leaders

New York, Jan 24 2007 11:00AM

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today began his first overseas trip since becoming the world's top diplomat, meeting in Brussels with European Union (EU) High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, with whom he discussed a whole raft of global issues.

"I am very appreciative of all that the European Union has been contributing to all the activities of the United Nations," Mr. Ban <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=969">told reporters after the meeting, which covered issues ranging from the situation in the Balkans and Africa, in particular the crises in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, Somalia and Côte d´Ivoire, to climate change and human rights.

"Our positions are on the same page," he added. "In fact this is not only for the United Nations, but all the common good of the international community; where we are experiencing a lot of regional conflicts and poverty issues and abuses of human rights, we need to cooperate fully toward mutual prosperity and peace and prosperity."

Mr. Ban was also meeting today with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner and other Commission members.

Mr. Ban, who succeeded Kofi Annan as UN chief on 1 January, will tomorrow attend a donors' conference in Paris, which will seek to help Lebanon recover from the ravages of last summer's between Israel and Hizbollah.

>From Paris he will go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for talks with President Joseph Kabila and other senior government officials as well as peacekeepers and staff of the UN's largest mission. He will also address the National Assembly and make a brief visit across the river to Brazzaville to meet with President Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo.

Mr. Ban will then go to Addis Ababa for the African Union (AU) Summit before ending his Africa trip with a stop in Nairobi, where he will meet with the Kenyan President and the UN staff, followed by a trip to the Netherlands, where he will visit the International Court of Justice (<"http://www.icj-cij.org">ICJ), the International Criminal Court (<"http://www.un.org/law/icc">ICC) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (<"http://www.un.org/icty">ICTY) in The Hague.

After that, he will go to Washington for a meeting of the Middle East Quartet comprised of the UN, United States, Russian Federation and European Union, which is seeking a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace.

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