In Moscow on 20 July, President Macky Sall held talks with the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov. The meeting extended his diplomatic consultations, and at its close the candidate for United Nations Secretary-General thanked his host for the quality of the exchanges.
Several matters of common interest shaped the discussion, foremost among them the challenges facing the United Nations in a rapidly changing international environment. According to President Macky Sall, the talks covered the issues of multilateralism as well as the reforms and actions needed for the Organization to respond more effectively to the challenges of the present and the future. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the central coordinating role of the United Nations in world affairs.
Moscow completes a cycle that began a few weeks earlier. The candidate has engaged with the representatives of the five permanent members of the Security Council: China, the United States and France, whose Permanent Representatives he met in New York on 6 July, and then Russia. His method is to speak to permanent and elected members of the Council alike. He excludes no one and aligns with no one, placing his candidacy at the service of every member state.
His vision makes this requirement a rule of conduct. The next Secretary-General will have to engage the one hundred and ninety-three states of the United Nations, in all their diversity, while keeping an equal distance from each. The vision expects that person to act as a facilitator and a bridge-builder.
Three days after Moscow, on 23 July, President Macky Sall will present his vision to all member states. The calendar will then enter its decisive phase, with the Security Council's first straw polls expected in the last week of the month. From New York to Moscow, his approach remains the same: Africa at heart, the world in sight.
The full vision statement is available at www.mackysall.net.