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Q&A with the President of the United Nations

Re-posted from the original publication on NorthJersey.com

By , Staff Writer, @CattCarrera

SOUTH ORANGE – What keeps the president of the United Nations General Assembly up at night?

The possibility of the United Nations becoming obsolete.

That’s what Miroslav Lajcak, president of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, told a packed room of aspiring diplomats, international studies professors and global affairs leaders at Seton Hall University’s Chancellor’s Suite on Friday.

“What keeps me awake at night is the issue of relevance of the United Nations,” said Lajcak, a Slovak diplomat and foreign affairs minister who began his one-year term as general assembly president in September. The university’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations was the first stop in his college tour during his term.

“I really don’t want to live in a world where the UN will not be relevant, will not be seen as the enterprise we turn to when we have a problem,” Lajcak said. “There are other platforms, other formats, who would be eager to step in but none of them is inclusive.”

As the head of UN General Assembly, Lajcak leads the 193-member countries in policy-making discussion on critical international issues related to the organization’s three pillars: peace and security, development and human rights.

One critical issue he intends to address during his term is the lack of water in some parts of the world.

“People are saying that the next war will be about water,” Lajcak said. “Let’s make sure there will be no next war and let’s make sure that we treat water the way it deserves.”

After the event, Lajcak stuck around for a brief interview with The Record and NorthJersey.com to talk more about preventing a war over natural resources, President Donald Trump’s effect on the UN, how a possible change in U.S. foreign policy leadership could be perceived by world leaders, and the UN’s role with North Korea.

Q: What responsibility do nations have to prevent a “war about water” from happening?

A: The United Nations is here to provide global guidance and also to help with global frameworks, and to set the policies right. But then, it’s the member states who have to implement those policies. So, UN’s role is to help member states so that we all share the same philosophy, the same principles. And then we expect member states to implement it because it’s the member states where there is power to turn these policies into their national legislation.

Q: How has President Donald Trump had an effect or influence in the UN?

A: Well, President Donald Trump speaks positively about the United Nations. He engages with the Secretary General [Antonio Guterres]. I met with him when he was before the General Assembly and he said that he sees a lot of potential in the United Nations and he hopes the UN will be able to use all its potential. So, it’s a motivation for the United Nations.

Q: There are reports that the United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson might be removed from his position. In your perspective as a world leader, does a potential shake-up in foreign policy leadership make the United States’ role in the UN unstable?

A: It’s not for me to speculate as a diplomat, as a foreign minister, as the president of the general assembly. I see he is working. And that’s important because the United States is a very important member of the United Nations.

Q: In your words, the United Nations has missed opportunities in the past to be “stronger,” do you think the UN is using all of its potential when it comes to the threat North Korea is posing on the world?

A: I think the UN is acting. You have several security council resolutions. The UN has reached out to the DPR [Democratic People’s Republic] several times. The UN is doing its part but it takes two to tango. Right now, the other partner for the tango is the DPR and we are still waiting for them to come and to say that they are willing to engage in a meaningful dialogue.

Photo: un.org

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