Romanian Foreign Minister Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu met American Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on October 31 st in New York in the context of the Romanian Official's participation to the ministerial meeting of the Security Council that he presided, within the last day of his country's presidency of this UN body.

During the meeting, the two sides tackled both topics from the agenda of the Security Council and aspects of the bilateral relations. The talks focused on the situation in the Middle East , especially on the evolutions in Lebanon , on the cooperation of Syria with the members of the International Commission of Investigation, as well as on the perspectives of the Multinational Force in Iraq . A special attention was granted to the future process of consultation on the status of the Kosovo province. In the context, the head of the Romanian diplomacy insisted on the necessity to also involve in these discussions the countries in the region, who are directly interested in providing a durable solution for Kosovo. As far as the bilateral segment was concerned, the two dignitaries convened upon the continuation of their direct dialogue, while the Romanian foreign minister reiterated his invitation for the US secretary of state to visit Romania during the current year.

THE ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER'S MEETINGS IN NEW YORK

New York, October 31st, 2005 – In the context of his participation to the ministerial meeting of the Security Council that he presided, within the last day of his country's presidency of this UN body, Mihai Razvan Ungureanu , the Romanian minister of foreign affairs, also had a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the US and the UK, as well as with the special envoy of the UN secretary general for the application of SC Resolution 1559. The head of the Romanian diplomacy also hosted a working lunch with the participation of all foreign ministers present at the Security Council meeting. 

During his meeting with the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, the two sides tackled both topics from the agenda of the Security Council and aspects of the bilateral relations. The exchange of opinions focused on the situation in the Middle East , especially on the evolutions in Lebanon , on the cooperation of Syria with the members of the International Commission of Investigation, as well as on the perspectives of the Multinational Force in Iraq .

A special attention was granted to the future process of consultation on the status of the Kosovo province. In the context, the head of the Romanian diplomacy insisted on the necessity to also involve in these discussions the countries in the region, who are directly interested in providing a durable solution for Kosovo. As far as the bilateral segment was concerned, the two dignitaries convened upon the continuation of their direct dialogue, while the Romanian foreign minister reiterated his invitation for the US secretary of state to visit Romania during the current year. On this occasion, the bilateral agreement on the placement of US military bases on the territory of Romania could be signed, because the negotiations on this document are almost at the end. 

The meeting with the British counterpart, Jack Straw, also had both a multilateral and a bilateral component. On the multilateral dimension, both sides discussed upon the possibility of extending the mandate of the Multinational Force in Iraq on the basis of the letter sent, during the respective day, by the Iraqi prime minister to the Romanian president of the Security Council, as well as upon the modalities of managing, in the future, the situation created by the contents of the report of the International Commission for Investigating the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister. The exchange of views on the evolution of the progress in the negotiations on the future status of Kosovo highlighted the existence of pretty similar approaches, including on the necessity to have the countries of the region involved in this process. The British foreign secretary informed his Romanian counterpart on the stage of the process of ratifying, within the UK Parliament, the Treaty regarding Romania 's accession to the EU, mentioning that November 1 st is a very important day, because the second hearing on this topic will take place in the House of Commons. Starting from the observations on the debates that took place until now, the British high official considered that there are real chances to have the Treaty ratified with a significant majority. 

Meeting between Foreign Minister Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu and Terje Roed -Larsen, Special Envoy for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004)

The meeting with the special envoy of the UN secretary general for the application of SC Resolution nr. 1559, occasioned a thorough exchange of opinions on this complex dossier, and the conclusion consisted in the decision to continue this dialogue in Bucharest , while Terje Roed -Larsen accepted the invitation addressed by the Romanian foreign minister to visit his country.

During the same day of October 31 st , the head of the Romanian diplomacy participated in the debates of the plenary session of the UN General Assembly devoted to establishing a day for the commemoration of the Holocaust. Within the speech he delivered, Mihai Razvan Ungureanu presented the measures the Romanian authorities have been taking for setting the record straight about the Holocaust, as well as for the reconciliation with the past.

(Source: The Permanent Mission of Romania to the United Nations)

SECURITY COUNCIL ISSUES A RESOLUTION ON SYRIA

New York , October 31st, 2005 – Mihai Razvan Ungureanu , the Romanian minister of foreign affairs, was today in New York , for presiding over the ministerial meeting of the Security Council, devoted to discussing and adopting a reaction to the report of the International Commission for the Investigation of the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafic Hariri . The meeting was attended by the foreign ministers from the United States of America, United Kingdom, Russia, China, France, Denmark, Greece, Brazil, Philippines and Algeria, the other members of the Security Council (Argentina, Tanzania, Japan, Benin) being represented by their ambassadors to the UN.

The two countries directly involved in the topic under discussion, Lebanon and Syria were also represented by the secretary general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and, respectively, by the minister of foreign affairs.

The informal consultations of the Security Council members, that preceded the public debate, led to the finalization of a draft of resolution, that was unanimously adopted.

By the respective resolution nr. 1636, the Security Council endorses the report of the International Independent Commission of Investigation, that documented the involvement of some Syrian citizens in the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister, and supports the proposal of the UN secretary general to extend the activity of the Commission until December 15, 2005, with a view to the continuation of the inquiry. The resolution also urges Syria to fully cooperate with the members of the International Commission of Investigation.

The resolution 1636, adopted on the basis of Chapter VII of the UN Chart, also includes a set of possible collective measures (travel restrictions, freeze of funds and assets) for the persons who will be proved as having had participated in the planning, support or organization of the February 14 th assassination, whose toll involved, alongside the former Lebanese prime minister, 22 other persons.

During the working lunch offered by the Romanian foreign minister, all participants underlined the good results obtained during the Romanian presidency of the Security Council, within the month of October. They also unanimously highlighted the professional and balanced way in which works of this UN body were undertaken, that facilitated the consensus on certain fields and topics with divisive potential at the level of the international community. The concrete example in this respect was considered to be exactly the topic of the last day of the Romanian presidency's mandate, when the consensus was obtained on the resolution adopted as a reaction to the report of the International Commission of Investigation on the assassination of Rafic Hariri , even if, initially, there were very different approaches on the issue.

(Source: The Permanent Mission of Romania to the United Nations)