President Drnovšek in New York
New York, USA, 01/18/2006 | press release
The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Janez Drnovšek, held a meeting today in New York with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The Secretary-General welcomed President Drnovšek’s initiative concerning the crisis in Darfur with thanks, adding that it arrived at the right time to enhance the endeavours of the international community. He stressed that President Drnovšek’s initiative was complementary to the goals set by the UN Security Council of intensifying political action in order to achieve peace in Darfur. The Secretary-General went on to add that, for this purpose, African Union forces must be supplemented with forces from countries capable of effectively contributing to international action for peace in Darfur, to enhance the mobility of these forces and provide state-of-the-art equipment. In the opinion of the Secretary-General, it is necessary to strengthen the negotiations between the parties to the dispute who are consistently failing to fulfil their commitments and agreements, further aggravating the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
President Drnovšek informed the Secretary-General of the activity underway in recent weeks, stressing that it involved international humanitarian action on the one hand and a contribution to the solution of political problems on the other. He welcomed the Security Council’s position on the extension of the African Union Mission mandate and provision of supplementary forces to deal with the tragic developments in Darfur. The President stressed that apart from countries that clearly were unwilling to contribute military forces to the peace mission in Sudan – such as the US and EU countries – there were indeed other countries that could do so and that have specific interests in Sudan, such as the People’s Republic of China. Dr Drnovšek mentioned to the Secretary-General that he had already contacted Chinese top political authorities through diplomatic channels. President Drnovšek also repeated the intention of his initiative, sent to a number of influential international politicians, to convene a peace conference in Darfur with the participation of representatives of the most important countries and of all countries and organisations directly involved. He informed the Secretary-General of the scope and goals of the humanitarian action entitled “The World for Darfur” that he had launched in Slovenia and abroad. At the request of the Secretary-General, Dr Drnovšek outlined his initiative for the solution of the status of Kosovo and his views on the talks about the future organisation of Serbia and Montenegro.
President Drnovšek also held a number of individual meetings today: with the Head of the Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations; with Juan Mendez, the United Nation’s special adviser on the prevention of genocide; and Suliman Baldo, Africa Program Director of the renowned International Crisis Group from New York. President Drnovšek also had a long telephone conversation with former US President Bill Clinton, who promised his support for the Darfur initiative.
President Drnovšek will continue his talks on Thursday, when he will be meeting representatives of the media and non-governmental organisations.