Spindelegger: "Vienna further strengthened as UN seat"

UN Security Council affirms the important role of UNODC Vienna, 24 February 2010 – As a UN seat, Vienna is home to important and well-known UN organisations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). "We have achieved another progress in our efforts to strengthen and further develop Vienna as a UN seat. Today, the Security Council issued a declaration in which it not only affirmed the important role of the UNODC in the fight against organized crime and terrorism, but also expressed the wish for a more regular exchange of information between the UNODC and the Security Council. This is a positive recognition for the work of the UNODC and its Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa, but also for our persistent lobbying in New York", said Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger, commenting the result of today’s session of the UN Security Council. During today’s Security Council debate, UNODC Director Costa pointed out to the threat to peace and security posed by organized crime. Several crises facing the Security Council are caused or further accentuated by illegal arms trafficking, money laundering, illegal money flows, corruption, human and drug trafficking and sometimes even linked to international terrorism. With UNODC and its terrorism prevention office as well as the future International Anti-Corruption Academy to be established in Laxenburg, a competence centre for security, peace, and cross-border crime control respected worldwide has been established in Austria. "The quality of the UN agencies based in Austria is outstanding. As an official seat and as a member of the United Nations, we are keen on making the best possible use of this know-how today and in the future", said Spindelegger.