Athens News Agency: News in English, 06-07-18

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] UNSG candidate Tharoor: Middle East a 'grave crisis' that must not be underestimated

[01] UNSG candidate Tharoor: Middle East a 'grave crisis' that must not be underestimated

Tharoor, who was meeting with foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis Tuesday morning, further pledged to do his best to take the process of efforts for a solution of the long-standing Cyprus forward, "in close consulttion with all those concerned". He also described himself as a long-time friend and admirer of Greece.

Tharoor, India's candidate to succeed Kofi Annan at the UN helm, is a veteran diplomat, public communicator and well-known author with a long and distinguished record of service in the UN, and, as Special Assistant to the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations in the period 1989-1996, he assisted two successive heads of UN peackeeeping operations in managing the challenges of unprecedented growth and evolution in peacekeeping at the end of the Cold War while, from 1991-1996, he led the team in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations responsible for the UN peacekeeping operations in the former Yugoslavia.

The Under-Secretary-General winds up his four-day Athens visit on Tuesday. On Monday night, Tharoor met with senior officials at a dinner in his honour at the home of Indian Ambassador to Greece, ÔÝëïòöüñìáòÁñ÷ÞöüñìáòDr. Bhaskar Balakrishnan.

Below is the exclusive interview with Tharoor:

ANA-MPA: What is your overall impression following your contacts in Athens with government and political leaders during visit here?

ST: I met some senior officials at a dinner in my honour at the home of the Indian Ambassador, and I am looking forward to seeing the Foreign Minister this morning. The agenda is to discuss my candidacy for the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations. As a long-time friend and admirer of Greece, I have no doubt my overall impression will be a positive one.

ANA-MPA: You are a candidate to succeed Kofi Annan as Secretary General of the United Nations in elections to be held later this year. What are the priorities you have set if elected to the UN helm?

ST: Competence, continuity and change.

Competence: The challenges to the UN are enormous. The threats of the 21st century are what we sometimes like to call âproblems without passportsâ - problems that cross all frontiers uninvited (climate change, drug trafficking, terrorism, epidemics, refugee movements and so on) - and whose solutions also can have no passports because no one country or group of countries, however rich or powerful, can tackle them alone. My first priority would be to ensure that the UN is ready to tackle these problems effectively, and be ready for new and unpredictable ones - three years ago, who had even heard of the grave risk of avian flu?

Continuity: There is a lot we do well that we must do even better. I would strengthen the UNâs operational capacity for development, improve our capacity to conduct effective peace-keeping operations, and build on our proven record of excellence in responding to humanitarian crises. Continuity with the finest traditions of the UN is a must. As the head of the UN, I would ensure the strengthening of the international civil service, insisting that staff of both sexes, of the highest competence and integrity, are appointed to responsible positions, and that due regard is paid to geographical and gender representation so that the Secretariat fairly reflects the cultural diversity of our planet.

Change: The UN must embrace sensible reform, not because it has failed but because it has succeeded enough over the years to be worth investing in. Mahatma Gandhi once said, ?you must be the change you wish to see in the world?. What is true for individuals applies also to institutions. The UN is no exception. If we want to change the world, we must change too.

ANA-MPA: How would you describe the present situation in the Middle East, following the recent escalation of tension and violence in the region?

ST: It is a grave crisis, which we would be unwise to underestimate. There is an urgent need for a cessation of hostilities so that calmer heads can prevail. We must not allow extremists to provoke a situation that has resulted in the destruction of the infrastructure of a UN member state, and the daily toll in lives and damage must not be allowed to continue. A UN team is in the region as we speak, so I would not wish to say more, so as not to get in the way of my colleaguesâ attempt to find a solution.

ANA-MPA: On Saturday, after an emergency meeting of the Arab League foreign ministers, League secretary general Amr Mussa said that the Middle East peace process "is dead". Do you share that opinion, or do you believe that the initiatives of the Quartet -- the UN, the European Union, US and Russia -- roadmap for peace in the Middle East is still viable and poses hope for a workable, lasting and peaceful settlement acceptable to all sides concerned?

ST: The UN can never afford to give up on peace. Clearly, the peace process is the farthest thing on peopleâs minds in the region right now, but war and destruction cannot deliver lasting solutions. Eventually, peace must be built on the existing Security Council resolutions and on the basis of the ?road map?, though details may have to be amended to take into account the realities on the ground.

ANA-MPA: How tangible is the risk of the hostilities spreading, in your opinion?

ST: Clearly, if the hostilities continue unchecked, there is a danger they could ignite a wider conflagration, and we must all do our best to prevent that.

ANA-MPA: Do you believe that intercessions by individual countries, especially those in the wider region, could contribute to advancing the Mideast peace efforts by the international organisations, and what role could Greece play in this direction?

ST: Greece enjoys the respect of both sides of the Arab-Israeli divide and I am sure it will play a vital role in the Security Council deliberations on the matter.

ANA-MPA: Another long-standing problem in the wider area is that of the Cyprus issue. The ongoing efforts of the UN and the EU have yet to bring about results, and the island republic, a member of both the UN and the EU, remains divided, with its northern sector under Turkish occupation, for more than 30 years. Do you have some ideas, a plan of action perhaps, that would give new impetus to resolving this international issue?

ST: At the moment there is already a UN plan of action - the Annan Plan - and as a UN official I stand behind the Secretary-Generalâs efforts to resolve this long-standing issue. My colleague Ibrahim Gambari (UN Under-Secretary-General for political affairs) made encouraging progress recently when he brought the leaders of the two Cypriot communities together. I hope we can build on that, and if elected Secretary-General, I pledge to do my best to take the process forward, in close consultation with all those concerned.

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