Brussels, 09/04/2003 (Agence Europe) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has been invited by European Council President Costas Simitis to attend the signing ceremony of the Accession Treaty by the ten new EU Member States, to be held in Athens on 16 April. The ceremony will be attended by the Heads of State and/or Government of the former and future Member States. It will also allow Mr Annan to exchange views with European leaders on the subject of the UN's role in Iraq.
Mr Annan, who has cancelled all the visits he was to make this week in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Russia, will also meet President Putin at the European Conference convened by the Greek EU Presidency on 17 April in Athens.