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70.

For the Enhancement of a Mutually Enriching
Partnership in Both Qualitative and Quantitative
Terms between the United Nations and
Switzerland

WELCOMING ADDRESS
BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE
AT GENEVA MR. VLADIMIR PETROVSKY
BEFORE THE SWISS PRESIDENT AND A DELEGATION OF SWISS
DIPLOMATS

Palais des Nations, Assembly Hall, Thursday, 26 August 1999

Madame la Présidente de la Confédération,
Federal Councillor Deiss,
President of the State Council of the Republic and Canton of Geneva
Brunschwig Graf,
Your Excellencies,
Dear Friends,

I t is my great pleasure to welcome you here to the Palais today on

the occasion of the annual Swiss Ambassadorial conference. For
the United Nations, Switzerland is not just a host country. It has
been and continues to be our good partner and supporter for more than half a
century. Recent times have witnessed a number of commemorative events
which provide both a retrospective and forward-looking view to our relation-
ship. The l50th Anniversary of the Swiss Confederation and the 50th Anniversaries
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of the Geneva Conventions
are all themes of political, legal and moral significance for both the UN and
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