Schulz on the meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Met dank overgenomen van Voorzitter Europees Parlement (EP-voorzitter) i, gepubliceerd op donderdag 3 april 2014.

Following his meeting with the UN Secretary General Ban-Ki moon i, the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz i stated:

"I thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his visit to the European Parliament today. The presence of the Secretary General to the EU-Africa Summit is testament to the central work of the United Nations to advance stability, democracy and prosperity in Africa.

The presence of the Secretary-General also signals the strong relation between the United Nations and the European Union. The European Parliament is a strong supporter of the United Nations as the central instrument to advance effective multilateralism, human rights and the rule of law in the international system.

The role of the United Nations is central to fix the flaws and threats that come with globalisation. This is true whether we look at political and military crisis or terrorism, environmental challenges or pandemics. I thank Secretary General Ban-Ki moon for the work he had done to strengthen the United Nations.

Today, we discussed chiefly about the crisis spots in Africa and looked broadly at the scenario post-2015 Millennium Development Goals. In particular we debated the highly volatile situation in the Central African Republic, the path to restore State authority and national reconciliation, political transition, and continued humanitarian and development aid. I commend the AU-led peacekeepers (MISCA) and the French peacekeeping operation. But the international community has to do more to pull the Central African Republic away from the brink.

I also welcomed the vote on a UN resolution last Thursday on non-recognition of the referendum in Crimea and its illegal and illegitimate annexation by the Russian Federation.

I also took the opportunity to pay tribute to the work of the UN staff and agencies who continue to work under extremely difficult conditions in Syria and in the neighbouring countries to limit the humanitarian fallout of this deadly conflict."

Meer over ...