State Secretary Waldner meets Italian and British counterparts

Vienna, 16 February 2012 - Austrian State Secretary Dr. Wolfgang Waldner held bilateral talks with his Italian and British counterparts Staffan de Mistura and Alistair Burt on the sidelines of the third Paris Pact Ministerial Conference in Vienna today.

"Austria, Italy and the United Kingdom are pursuing similar interests in the context of a sustainable implementation of all the guidelines of the Paris Pact aimed at reducing the cultivation, production and trade in opiates from Afghanistan on a continuing basis", Waldner said.

"In addition to the commitments of the international community of nations in Afghanistan, I also held intensive discussions on the Arab Spring and the current situation in Syria with my Italian colleague Staffan de Mistura", Waldner said and added: "De Mistura has a wealth of experience for this area with his background in multilateral diplomacy, not least because he was the UN special emissary for Afghanistan in 2010/2011."

Austria maintains a special close friendship with Italy due to its common border and history and also as close cooperation partners in the United Nations and in the UN headquarters in Vienna. The head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna was for many years an Italian and Italy has long been one of the major contributors to and supporters of UNIDO.

"In reference to the current domestic situation in Italy and the efforts of Prime Minister Monti, I was told that despite first successes, Italy has a long and hard way ahead", the State Secretary said.

State Secretary Waldner also held discussions with his UK counterpart Alistair Burt on the current situation in Syria and the Middle East. The issues were the Austrian focus fields in the UN Human Rights Council and the potentials for cooperation in the newly founded International Anti-Corruption Academy in Vienna, and international disarmament efforts.

Tomorrow Waldner and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon are to open the Vienna UNODA office (UN Disarmament Bureau) after which they will be joined by Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt to mark the 15th anniversary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO).

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