New York, 13/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - The French Minister for Foreign Affairs Hubert Védrine, when speaking on 12 September before the United Nations General Assembly, approved "the importance attached to peacekeeping" by the Millennium Summit, which gathered, in New York, 155 Heads of State and government, and underlined that, with the establishment of a rapid reaction force of 60,000 men the EU, who already acts through considerable economic and humanitarian programmes, would thus have a wide range of means to manage a crisis". Mr Védrine, who added that this action "is naturally part of the full respect for the principals of the United Nations Charter", affirmed that it is especially necessary to establish working links with the UN and that, so as to launch this operation, the EU Troika will for the first time hold talks with the United Nations Secretariat General. On behalf of the European Union, I invite Mr Kofi Annan to come to Brussels for a working session with the Union instances", said Mr Védrine.
The EU Council President also raised, among others, the developments in the Middle East (see above for latest EU declaration), the linking of the Western Balkans to the Europe and this autumn's summit in Croatia (the FRY "will obviously not take part in this meeting", but the Serbs "know that they have their place in the European family", said Mr Védrine), the EU's support to conflict settlement in Africa and the efforts by Mr Razali, UN Special Envoy in Burma, the EU's concern for the situation in West Timor, the desire for a continuation of the talks between India and Kashmir and the continuation of the talks between the two Koreas, the consolidation of agreements for arms control, notably nuclear, and also the summer 2001 conference on the fight against the illegal trade in light arms and the total elimination of antipersonnel mines.