General Assembly President, Albanian official discuss Balkan stability
28 January 2008 - The need for regional stability in South-Eastern Europe topped the agenda during talks today at United Nations
Headquarters in New York between General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim and Albania's Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha.
Mr. Kerim and Mr. Basha discussed the most recent developments across South-Eastern Europe and the efforts of the
region's countries to achieve greater Euroatlantic integration, according to a statement released by the Assembly
President's spokesperson.
Mr. Kerim commended Albania for its "constructive engagement in efforts to promote regional stability in the Balkans."
He also noted the nation's willingness to serve as one of eight pilot countries for the "One UN" project, where all
existing UN development operations in an individual State are consolidated under a joint office to avoid overlap between
agencies and to encourage streamlining and greater efficiency.
The One UN project - established following the release of the report of the High-Level Panel on system-wide coherence -
is also designed to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the targets for combating
poverty and other ills that world leaders have set for the year 2015.
Improving progress towards the MDGs is one of the priority issues of the current Assembly session, and Mr. Kerim and Mr.
Basha today discussed the MDGs, along with some of the other key concerns - climate change, financing for development
and Security Council reform.
ENDS