UN General Assembly
2006

I would like to express my deepest appreciation and most sincere gratitude to the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan, for the invaluable work and tireless dedication with which he led this Organization into the twenty-first century. The Secretary-General has led the United Nations well and he will be remembered with praise for it. May I use this opportunity also to state our full support to his successor, who will have to deal with the difficult challenges the United Nations is going to face. Before proceeding to my remarks, I would like to point out that Slovakia fully subscribes to the statement delivered earlier by the President of Finland on behalf of the European Union. It gives me great pleasure to address the General Assembly today, even more so as it is the first time I am speaking from this rostrum as the Prime Minister of Slovakia. My Government — formed only three months ago — is committed to a foreign policy that emphasizes effective multilateralism and promotes democracy, international peace and security, greater