First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić told the press at today’s conference that the Croatian government had decided to nominate her for the post of UN secretary-general.
Pusić said that the UN should adopt a resolution on 11 September to define a procedure for the election of the next secretary-general that would differ to some extent from the election procedure so far. Based on that resolution, member-states will be called on to nominate their candidates by November, by December the candidates will be interviewed and the final decision on electing the new secretary-general will be reached in one year’s time, Pusić said.
According to an informal agreement between the Security Council member-states, for the first time a candidate from Eastern Europe will be looked for, Pusić said, adding that so far there had been no UN secretary-general from that region. Croatia has never had a candidate for that post and that fact in and of itself does not guarantee success, she said, but it does give Croatia an opportunity to present itself to the world and become more visible. The candidacy alone is a big plus for Croatia, Pusić said, while the election would truly be a remarkable achievement.
“I hope that President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović will support my nomination, as the president’s support would be very important and useful. She told me she believed that it would be very good for Croatia to have a candidate,” Pusić said, adding: “Based on our two conversations on that topic, I expect that the president will support me, notably during her stay for the opening of the UN General Assembly session in New York at the end of this month and early October, when she will have the opportunity to hold talks with a number of foreign statesmen and heads of state.”