Foreign Minister Joe Borg meets with his Russian and Slovak counterparts at the UN in New York

Foreign Minister Dr. Joe Borg yesterday morning attended the opening session of the General Debate of the 54^th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

On the fringe of the General Assembly, Minister Joe Borg held a bilateral meeting with the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Mr. Igor Ivanov. The thirty minute meeting focussed primarily on Eastern European and Mediterranean Security issues particularly in view of the upcoming OSCE summit scheduled to take place in Istanbul, in November.

The Russian Foreign Minister stressed the importance that his country attached to this meeting. He stated that he was hopeful for a successful outcome of the Summit particularly with regard to the proposed Charter for European Security.

Minister Dr. Joe Borg maintained that there exists an inextricable link between Eastern European and Mediterranean Security. He expressed the hope that this would be reflected in the Summit's conclusions.

The meeting also dealt with bilateral issues with both Ministers expressing the wish to expand on existing good relations in the political, economic, cultural and educational fields.

On the request of the Slovak Government a meeting was also held between Minister Dr. Joe Borg and the Foreign Minister of Slovakia Mr. Eduard Kukan. The Ministers, who have met very recently in Valletta, agreed to press ahead with the implementation of the newly concluded bilateral agreements. The Ministers also kept each other abreast of the most current developments in the process of EU enlargement.

The General Debate was opened by UN Secretary General Mr. Kofi Annan. He was followed by interventions from the Prime Minister of France and the Presidents of Georgia, South Africa, Algeria and Namibia.

Later in the day the Minister was expected to hold further bilateral meetings with US Under-Secretary of State Mr. Tom Pickering, Spanish Foreign Minister Mr. Don Abel Matutes, Latvian Foreign Minister Mr. Indulis Berzins and the Jordian Foreign Minister Mr. Abdel Elah Khatib.