Slovenian President Milan Kucan Visits New York

Slovenian President Milan Kucan arrived to New York on Tuesday, 10 September to attend the 57th UN General Assembly. Slovenian President also joined his counterparts from around the world in attending a number of commemoration ceremonies on the first anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.

Victims of 11 September terrorist attacks in the U.S. were remembered at a commemoration in front of the United Nations palace, which was also attended by Slovenian President Milan Kucan, head of the parliament's foreign affairs committee Jelko Kacin and marathon swimmer Martin Strel, who has dedicated his recent record-breaking swim of the entire Mississippi to the victims. Strel attended a reception at the Slovenian Consulate in New York. He received a thank-you letter from NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg for dedicating the swim to the victims of the attacks. Strel became the first person in history to swim the entire length of the Mississippi, a feat he finished on 9 September.

During his visit, Kucan separately met UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and EU's high representative for foreign policy Javier Solana. He also held a meeting with Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, which touched on succession to former Yugoslavia, especially the issue of account holders in a former Slovenian bank and the issue of archives. The Slovenian president held bilateral talks with his Lithuanian and Latvian counterpart, Albanian President Alfred Moisiu, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher. BR>
Kucan and Annan discussed the role of the UN in assuring global peace and stability, with Kucan commending the UN's role in assuming responsibility for global issues, and progress made towards establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Slovenian president assessed that the role of the UN needs to be strengthened and that dialogue should be promoted within the organisation. Talks with Solana focused on the situation in SE Europe, with Solana expressing optimism about the progress made in relations between Serbia and Montenegro.

On Friday, 13 September - ten years after addressing the United Nations General Assembly for the first time - Slovenia's President Milan Kucan held a speech at the 57th UN General Assembly, praising the UN for its role in preventing social injustices and global differences in the last decade. He also called for new foundations in global ethics.

According to Kucan, the United Nations defied the terror of a state regime over people by promoting values of a democratic world, which do away with a notion of non-interference with domestic affairs, in cases where the state exercises systematic and mass violations of human rights.

As to the fight against terrorism, Kucan suggested that not even the most sophisticated weapons could fight "the social roots of this evil" that makes good use of "the apathy, anger and wrath of people and countries with no future". This evil can be rooted out only with joint action of democratic countries under the sponsorship of the UN, Kucan said. He was convinced that the UN is being put to test in this matter.

Kucan also underlined that Slovenia, which was admitted to the world organisation ten years ago, firmly supports the fight against terrorism.

Suggesting that globalisation is a fact, Slovenia's president called on the participants of the General Assembly to do more to conform the globalisation process to the peoples' needs, thus safeguarding their individual and collective rights. Forcing different people, countries, cultures and religions, and placing them under a common denominator of global identity would have catastrophic consequences for the humankind, Kucan also told the assembly. After speaking to the 57th UN General Assembly in New York, Slovenian President Milan Kucan met with Yugoslavian President Vojislav Kostunica. The pair discussed bilateral co-operation and assessed that the relations are evolving well in all areas. They touched on the succession issues of the former Yugoslavia, especially the issue of account holders in a former Slovenian bank and the issue of archives.

Kucan was happy to assess that the situation in the Balkans is no longer one of the main crisis points in the world that the United Nations have to deal with. He and Kostunica exchanged views on the regional processes in which Serbia plays a crucial role.

The Yugoslavian president informed Kucan on the talks regarding the constitutional foundations of future relations between Serbia and Montenegro and gave his account of the situation in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The pair also discussed the Macedonian situation.

Source: Slovene Press Agency STA