Gerapetritis in New York: he chairs two UN Security Council meetings, meets Guterres, and Mitsotakis presides over the maritime-security debate

Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis is travelling to New York for the work of the UN Security Council. The visit runs from October 25 to 30, at the end of the month in which Greece holds the Council’s presidency. The Foreign Ministry published the programme of the visit.

His first appearance will not be at the UN building but among the Greek diaspora. On Sunday, October 25 the minister will attend the celebration for October 28 organised by the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York.

The week at the Council

The diplomatic part starts on Monday. On October 26 Gerapetritis will chair, as part of the Greek presidency, the open high-level meeting on children in armed conflict. The next day he will chair a second open high-level debate, this time on “Women, Peace and Security”, as well as a side event on the same issue that Greece is organising with UNESCO and UN Women.

On Wednesday, October 28, the day of the national anniversary, the minister will meet UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The meeting comes at a time when Athens has already written to the UN about the unlawful Turkish-Libyan memorandum, in a letter to Guterres himself.

The climax comes on Thursday, October 29. In the open high-level debate linking maritime security with new and emerging technologies, the presidency will be taken by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself, with Gerapetritis taking part in the meeting. According to the Foreign Ministry, the visit ends on October 30. The detailed programme of the meetings has been published by ERT.

Groundwork already laid

The agenda for October 29 has already been prepared during the month. On October 23 the Greek mission to the UN announced the launch of the Council’s informal expert group on Technology, Peace and Security, on the reasoning that new technologies are changing conflicts, the information environment and the protection of civilians. The same day the Council issued, with Aglaia Balta as president, a press statement condemning the October 19 drone attacks in the Abyei area between Sudan and South Sudan; see our report.

The Greek presidency in New York is exercised by Permanent Representative Aglaia Balta. Earlier in October came the Council’s presidential statement on the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and the debate on Syria, where Greece asked for protection for Orthodox Christians and every other community.