UN General Assembly Week over but the questions live on

“It's not quite over yet,” says Ambassador Anders Lidén as the UN General Asssembly Week comes to an end in New York, referring to the fact that more work awaits the General Assembly during the remaining part of the Swedish Presidency.

Inside Anders Lidén’s office at the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations, 46 floors up in the Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, he has a view over Manhattan. Yet it is not these heights that have given him a helicopter view of the UN, but rather the contribution of his five years as head of the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations here in New York.

Anders says that he thinks he can see a change of attitude at the UN towards the European Union.
“The presence of Reinfeldt, Bildt, Carlsson and Carlgren here make the Swedish Presidency visible at the UN. This helps people understand that one particular country represents the EU, and in this case it is Sweden. Then, not to mention all the side events our ministers are participating in during the General Assembly Week, this helps to make Sweden’s Presidency visible here.”

The past UN General Assembly Week

“It is an unusally interesting week at the UN. Partly because so many heads of state and government are here, but also because of meetings that have covered such important issues. There has been the climate summit, the meeting of the Security Council arranged by President Obama on the spread of nuclear weapons, then there are all the other meetings on various issues; the Middle East, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Burma/Myanmar, Somalia, Haiti and many more.”

Apart from all these meetings, there are all the EU meetings with various groupings and organisations. 
“A series of different contacts at global level are in progress during the entire week. By and large you meet the whole world and then it is specially exciting that Sweden is the holder of the Presidency and that we are leading this important regional organisation that is the EU. There we can speak out and lead the global dialogue on the most important issues of the day. So it is a pretty fantastic week,” says Anders about the past week.”

High expectations – some progress

Expectations ahead of the climate summit have been high both in terms of the Swedish Presidency and getting an international agreement in place. Anders agrees that expectations have been high and concedes that there were no breakthroughs at the meeting itself, though he emphasises that some progress was made.

“We must nevertheless look on the positive side. I think that above all, the Americans - despite their policies not being quite ready, and not yet having formulated them in all respects - have given a number of signals from President Obama. Take the fact that he takes part in the UN General Assembly and devotes so much time and attention to the UN. That is extremely positive for the UN. The fact that Chinese President Hu Jintao has also come here is also important, and that these two leaders are meeting together here. To a great extent the success of the climate summit in Copenhagen lies in their hands.

The time ahead

Now the UN General Assembly Week is over. The week was important for our entire Presidency. It is a matter of Swedish visibility and EU visibility.

“A great deal of hard work remains for us,” says Anders, as he takes off his glasses, leans forward and continues: ”The General Assembly is now proceeding with its ordinary activities with a hundred or so resolutions to be adopted on various matters, from human rights to legal questions, security issues, development aid and development issues. Plus this year, the UN budget for two years on must be adopted, also settling how much various countries must pay. Then, as I said, we are also continuing to speak for the EU. We do this not only in the General Assembly but also in the Security Council. On the one hand we negotiate for the EU and on the other we must also bring the EU together, which is not always an easy task,” says Anders Lidén.