Washington / New York, 02/05/2000 (Agence Europe) - Secretary General of the EU Council/High Representative for CFSP Javier Solana took part in a conference in New York on Tuesday, organised by the EastWest Institute, on the theme "Moving Towards an Integrated Europe: Investment Opportunities in South-eastern Europe". Those taking the floor mainly included US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisari and George Russell, Co-Chairmen of the Institute, as well as George Sorors, Chairman of the Open Society Institute. Furthermore, Mr Solana took part in the presentation of the Institute's Statesman of the Year Award to the Turkish and Greek Foreign Ministers Ismail Cem and George Papandreou, for their contribution to stabilising the situation in South East Europe and for improving relations in the region. Also present at the ceremony were Erhard Busek, South East Europe Cooperative Initiative Coordinator, and President Rexhep Meidani of Albania.
During his visit to New York, Mr Solana also attended a working lunch with the heads of the missions of European Union Member States at the United Nations.
Mr Solana has been in the United States since Sunday evening. Upon his arrival in Washington, he held a working dinner with Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and, on Monday, a working breakfast with Enrique Iglesias, Director of Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, as well as a meeting with Sandy Berger, of the National Security Council, a working lunch with Ambassador James Dobbins, Ccordinator for the Balkans, a meeting with the ambassadors of the EU Member States in Washington, and a working dinner with Madeleine Albright.
During his visit to Washington, Mr Solana was questioned by the press on the subject of the American plan to deploy a National Missile Defence (NMD) system, which is very disputed by the Russians but also by most of the European allies. If the system is set in place, "we would like to see it done in such a manner that it does not strain the transatlantic link (…) and in such a manner that the basic agreements, like the ABM, are not disturbed to the effect that we have a crisis with Russia", said Mr Solana, as reported by Reuters.