New York, 22/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - France's Permanent Representative at the UN, Jean-David Levitte, told the press that the European Union had suggested that the United States' contribution to the United Nations budget should be reduced from 25% to 22% of the total (as the US requests, on condition that Washington pays up its arrears, which, according to the UN amount to $1.5 billion, and according to the United States 926 million). Ambassador Levitte, who noted that the European contribution to the ordinary UN budget is 36%, felt that the American requests are unjust, but also strongly hoped that accounts could be settled and good positive relations re-established between the United Nations and the United States.
We recall that the UN's ordinary budget is $1.08 billion annually, while the budget for peace operations was 2.2 billion this year.