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UN chief to embark on Scandinavia trip

06 October 2011 01:02 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon will embark on a three-country visit in Scandinavia on Sunday, a UN spokesperson said here Wednesday, APA reports.

Ban will depart New York on Sunday for the visit that will take him to Norway, Denmark and Sweden, Martin Nesirky, the UN spokesperson, said in a daily press briefing.

"In Norway, the secretary-general will attend the ’Energy for All -- Financing Access for the Poor’ conference and participate in a high-level panel on the theme, ’Energy and the Road Towards Rio+20’," said Nesirky.

While in Oslo, he will join King Harald V of Norway in the 150th anniversary celebrations of the birth of Fridtjof Nansen, the renowned Norwegian explorer. Nansen was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and served as the League of Nations’ first high commissioner for refugees.

"The secretary-general will also hold talks with (Norwegian) Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and meet with members of the Norwegian Parliament," said Nesirky. He will visit the site of the July 22 bomb attack in Oslo, which killed 77 people.

"The secretary-general will then travel to Denmark, where he will attend the 3G Global Green Forum, a high-level public-private partnership which brings together leaders from government, business, finance and civil society," said Nesirky.

Ban will meet Danish Queen Margrethe II, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and other senior officials, said Nesirky. He will also visit the site of the new UN City in Copenhagen, which is being constructed.

"The last stop on the secretary-general’s trip will be in Sweden, where he will visit Dag Hammarskjold’s grave in Uppsala," said Nesirky. September marked 50 years since his tragic death. Hammarskjold, who was born in July 1905, served as the UN secretary-general from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961.

"In Stockholm, he will meet with Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and other top officials," said Nesirky.

Ban will return to New York on Oct. 12, added Nesirky.