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Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister participates in the High-Level Segment of the UN General Assembly’s 66th Session
Jean Asselborn, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg, participated in the High-Level Segment of the 66th session of UN General Assembly from 19 to 24 September 2011.
The Minister spoke notably at the first High-level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, welcoming the adoption of the political declaration which shows the way to a coordinated national, regional and international engagement in this area.
Minister Asselborn was also the Co-host of a dinner at the International Peace Institute (IPI) on the Middle East Peace Process and ongoing initiatives on the recognition of a Palestinian State; he participated in a Ministerial consultation of the International Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF) on accompanying political transition in different regions of the world and co-chaired the first round-table of the UN General Assembly’s High-Level meeting on Desertification with the President of Nigeria.
Minister Asselborn also participated in the High-Level Meeting on Nuclear Security and Disarmament, as well as in the “Durban III” conference, before speaking on 23 September at the 7th Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The Minister participated furthermore in the meeting of the Group of Friends of the Alliance of Civilisations, as well as in the Summit on Humanitarian Intervention in the Horn of Africa.
At the end of his visit, the head of the Luxembourg diplomacy intervened at the General Debate of the 66th Session of the General Assembly. In his statement, Jean Asselborn spoke of the socio-political upheaval that took place in North Africa and the Middle East over the last few months and called upon the UN Security Council to assume its responsibilities.
The Minister expressed the hope that the appeal made the day before by the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, at the rostrum of the General Assembly, for a recognition of the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to a State be heard; he underlined the need for recognition of both parties, not only one of them, to live in a sovereign and viable State. In this context, the Minister condemned the illegal construction of settlements, as well as the continued blockade of the Gaza strip. He fully supported the proposal made by the Quartet for a strict timetable for restarting direct negotiations and the conclusion of a comprehensive agreement by the end of 2012.
More generally, the Minister underlined that recent events illustrated once again the importance of an Organisation with solid tools for prevention and mediation, for peacekeeping and peacebuilding.