EUHR Solana meets with UN SG Ban in New York

Javier SOLANA, European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), had a meeting with UN Secretary-General BAN KI-MOON in New York today to discuss a range of major international issues concerning Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans.

They exchanged views on events in Somalia and the need to stabilise the situation there; they discussed the need to revitalise efforts to solve the Darfur conflict; and they agreed on the importance of giving economic support to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mr SOLANA and Mr BAN KI-MOON also discussed the Middle-East peace process and the importance of the Quartet and agreed on the need to settle the status of Kosovo as soon as possible.

After the meeting, Mr SOLANA told reporters that he had suggested to Mr BAN KI-MOON that a UN peacekeeping force might be needed to guarantee security and stability in Somalia. The African Union was, he said, already shouldering a "very heavy" peacekeeping burden in Sudan and the UN might have to step in and take over the next stage. The EU and the US had pledged to finance an initial African peace-keeping force, said Mr SOLANA, but they probably needed "a little bit more help to deploy those forces". He also stressed that the Somali government must become "more inclusive".

Another priority in Africa was the conflict in Sudan / Darfur, said Mr SOLANA, stressing to journalists that the EU and the UN must work together to "reinvigorate" the efforts to bring all the parties to the negotiating table. Mr SOLANA also pointed to the deteriorating situation in the north of Chad and to the danger of destabilisation in the south of Sudan. He said that he and Mr BAN KI-MOON had discussed the transition process in the Democratic Republic of Congo and had agreed on the importance of giving the DRC economic support following the recent elections. Mr SOLANA was to take part the following day in the UN Security Council debate on the DRC, where the EU operation EUFOR had given military support to the UN Mission, MONUC, during the election period.

Mr SOLANA said that he and Mr BAN KI-MOON had discussed the peace process in the Middle East, which was "a priority of great significance". He hoped that the UN's new Secretary-General would help to "dynamize" the Middle-East Quartet, which could, he said, meet in the margins of the Lebanon donors' conference in Paris on 25 January. He said efforts to resolve the territorial dispute over the Shebaa Farms area on the Lebanon-Syria-Israel border must be made and "the sooner the better".

Mr SOLANA said he had also exchanged views with Mr BAN KI-MOON on the situation in the Balkans.

He had underlined the vital importance of resolving the status of Kosovo and hoped that progress could be made following the Serbian elections on 21 January.

During their meeting, Mr SOLANA and Mr BAN KI-MOON had also agreed on the importance of a multilateral approach to conflict resolution in the world. Mr SOLANA said "productive" cooperation between the UN and the EU was important and that "we need the political will to solve conflicts. More important than talking about the problems is solving them".

| Arriba |

• EUHR Solana meets with UN SG BAN  (10/7/2007)
• UN Secretary-General Ban and EU Parliament President Poettering hold talks in EU Parliament (25/1/2007)
• EU Commission President Barroso meets with UN Secretary-General Ban (24/1/2007)
• Joint Press Briefing: EUHR Solana and UNSG Ban (24/1/2007)
• EUHR Solana's Presentation on Democratic Republic of Congo/EUFOR at UN Security Council  (9/1/2007)
• EUHR Solana visits New York, 8-9 January  (8/1/2007)