This week is moderately popular among New Yorkers: heads of state and heads of government from all over the world travel to the UN General Assembly in September. The streets around the UN headquarters on the East River are largely blocked – with corresponding consequences for traffic in Midtown Manhattan.
After two years of reduced openings due to the pandemic, the program is full again this year. The General Assembly opened on Tuesday with speeches by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro. The big topic this year is inevitably the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
Austria is represented by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.
Even before the opening, Nehammer had spoken out in conversation with Austrian media representatives in New York about the EU’s sanctions against Russia. At the same time, he called for them to “evaluate and see if they are accurate”. Sanctions are “the most peaceful form of protesting against war and suffering and showing that things cannot go on like this,” said Nehammer. However, the sanctions should not “weaken us any more than those to whom they are intended to apply”. That’s why there is no gas embargo.
Nehammer asked for patience. The sanctions would have “serious consequences for the Russian economy”. At the same time, the goal must be “to find a way to reach a ceasefire.” This requires both Ukraine and Russia to be willing to talk. “It’s not foreseeable at the moment, but you can’t give up.”
In his speech, UN Secretary-General Guterres also addressed the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine – and its dramatic consequences for the world’s food situation, due to fewer grain exports and a lack of fertilizers. Progress, including in the fight against hunger, would be held hostage by various political crises and “geopolitical tensions. Our world is in great danger – and paralyzed,” he warned.
At the same time, there is “another battle that we must end: our suicidal war against nature,” said Guterres, calling for progress in the fight against the climate crisis, which is threatening the food situation in the long term. Unfortunately, the international community is “not ready or willing to tackle the great dramatic challenges of our time,” said Guterres, dissatisfied.
Among other things, he called on the industrialized countries to tax unexpected additional profits from energy companies separately – and to use the proceeds to fight global warming and inflation.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro provided the contrast to Guterres’ warning for more climate protection. In his speech, he defended the globally criticized clearing of parts of the Amazon rainforest, pointing out that this would create agricultural land for the production of food.
Bilateral talks of the Austrian delegation
Federal President Van der Bellen, Chancellor Nehammer and Foreign Minister Schallenberg use the UN General Assembly for numerous talks. Among other things, Van der Bellen will meet the Turkish President on Wednesday Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Chancellor Nehammer met former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger upon arrival Monday. Bilateral talks with the prime ministers of Norway, Pakistan and Iraq and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic were scheduled for Tuesday. A meeting with New York Mayor Eric Adams was also on the agenda. Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg had scheduled meetings with counterparts from Armenia, Azerbaijan and India. On Wednesday, Van der Bellen, Nehammer and Schallenberg will meet UN Secretary General Guterres.
Source: Nachrichten
