Statement from EU Ambassador Carl HALLERGARD

at the high-level

"Multilateralism in a Complex Era:  A Call for Renewed Commitment and Collective Action"

Vienna, 25 June 2025

Dear President, 
Dear Secretary General, 
Excellencies, 
Dear colleagues and friends,

First of all, it is my pleasure on behalf of the European Union Delegation to welcome you to this important event that we have the honour to organise together with the Vienna Chapter of the Group of 77 and with the Ban Ki-moon Centre.

Let me thank President Fischer and CEO Monika Froehler of the Ban Ki-moon Centre and of course my good friend Ambassador Maurice Makoloo, Chair of the Group of 77 for truly excellent cooperation. 

And of course – thank you Mr Secretary General for doing us the honour of your presence here today.

Your strong leadership and your impressive legacy continue to inspire us as we try to navigate these troubled times. 

You remind us of the importance of multilateralism, of how the United Nations can come together and take bold and strong decisions. 

And that what unites us is stronger than what divides us.

Of your many achievements as Secretary General, the one that really stands out is the agreement reached under your leadership in 2015 on the Sustainable Development Goals. [You mentioned it just now].

Here in Vienna we sometimes forget about the SDGs and focus on technical issues. On nuclear. On drugs and crime, on space issues.

We are therefore grateful to you for reminding us today that a key purpose of the United Nations and of our work is to make the benefits of peace and security, human rights and development available to the many.

The SDGs also remind us of the how peace and security, human rights and sustainable development are intrinsically linked. How they need to go hand in hand.

The European Union remains a predictable, reliable and credible partner of the United Nations, committed to finding global solutions to common challenges.

We remain committed to the 2030 Agenda and to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG5 on gender equality.

As we said two years ago in the summit in New York, this will require accelerated action.

Financing for this remains indispensable. 

It is therefore welcome and important that world leaders will meet in Seville next week for the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development to endorse a strong agenda for the coming years.

It shows that the United Nations Member States can still come together and find common resolve and common solutions even in these difficult times.

The same can be said about the fight against climate change, perhaps the most important and urgent of our priorities. 

Of course peace and security is a necessary condition for success. 

We as European Union will continue working for an end to the Russian aggression against Ukraine and for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, in accordance with international law. 

We welcome the ceasefire between Israel and Iran and hope it will lead to de- escalation, in the interest of all. We will continue to work on a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, as we have for many years.

We continue calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and for immediate and full humanitarian access. 

We continue to support efforts towards in peace in Sudan and in other conflicts around the world. 

We remain convinced that conflicts are best resolved through diplomatic negotiations and not through military means.

And we are committed to continue working with the United Nations in helping the many millions affected by conflicts and disasters around the world.

Yes, these are troubled times.

But it is in times like these that your example and your legacy, Secretary General, are all the more important. 

It inspires us and shows us the strength we have when we come together and join forces for the common good. Of the importance of multilateralism. 

That we stand here together with the Group of 77 is in itself a strong message.

Thank you for your presence here today. Thank you for your words. We will carry them with us.