UN Secretary-General in Brussels for two day visit

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Brussels yesterday for a two day visit. Today the Secretary-General meets with Senior EU officals and addresses a major conference on Sustainable Energy for All.

Yesterday Mr. Ban had a meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo where the discussed a wide variety of subjects, including the situations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Afghanistan and the issue of sustainable development and the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil, the so-called Rio + 20 conference.

“We discussed in length about how we can work together to make this sustainable development a great success for humanity and this is a once in a lifetime, once-in-a-generation opportunity to address; starting from climate change, the water issue, the energy issue and global health, gender empowerment, healthy oceans and all other global challenges, “ the Secretary-General told a press conference after his meeting with Mr. Di Rupo.

Ban´s visit is his third since his election as UN Secretary-General in 2007 but the first since Elio Di Rupo became Belgium´s Prime Minister. “We are very happy to have such a strong support and generous contribution of the Belgian government. I regard Belgium as a very strong Partner of the United Nations and that is why when I was first elected as Secretary-General, this is the first country I visited in early 2007 in January, and I’m also very happy to visit Belgium at such an early stage of my second term as Secretary-General. That means I attach great importance in maintaining such a good relationship with Belgium, “ Mr. Ban told the press conference.

The last stop of Mr. Ban’s trip will be in Luxembourg, where he will meet the Henri the Grand Duke, Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker and other senior officials. He will also address the Luxembourg Parliament.