Statement by Deputy Permanent Representative Gennady Kuzmin at a meeting of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country
Mr. President,
Mr. Under-Secretary General,
We’ve gathered once again for an extraordinary meeting of the Committee. The meeting was convened at the request of our delegation due to an obvious serious breach by the host country of its obligations to issue visas to delegates of UN Member States.
Before turning to my keynote address, I would like roughly divide our meeting into two parts. The first part will focus on official statements. During the second part, we could have Q&A session: that is, to establish a dialogue between the delegations present here, and you, Mr. President, you, Mr. Legal Counsel, and representatives of the host country. Such dialogue seems to be very important for finding practical solutions.
Let’s go back to the point.
As we have already informed the Committee, 18 representatives of my country were not granted visas for participation in the 74th session of the General Assembly in autumn. Since then, not only have none of those 18 persons obtained visas, but representatives of Russia have been denied visas also for this year's events such as the meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on International Information Security (OEWG); the launch of the United Nations Office for Counter-Terrorism's project of technical assistance to Central Asian countries to combat illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons and their supply to terrorists (no visa granted to Georgy Mikhno, Deputy Director of the Department for New Challenges and Threats of the Russian Foreign Ministry); the session of the Disarmament Commission (UNDC) (no visa granted to Konstantin Vorontsov, Head of the Russian delegation, Head of Section of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control).
The crisis of visa non-issuance for representatives of Member States is growing. The U.S. does not issue visas to representatives of Russia, who are to start working in the mission. Diplomats who already work in the Russian Mission face problems with renewal of their visas. Visas are not granted to Russian citizens who have been selected to work in the UN Secretariat. This policy also applies to other states.
Thus, the right of a number of countries to participate in the work of the United Nations, enshrined in the UN Charter, is being flagrantly violated. We can speak of a systemic violation by the host country of its obligations under the UN Charter, the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN, the UN Headquarters Agreement.
At the previous meeting of the Committee, we heard your assessment, Mr. Legal Counsel. You spoke then on behalf of the UN Secretary-General. According to your conclusion, confirmed by 74/195 GA resolution dated 30 December 2019, “there is an unrestricted right of persons mentioned in section 11 [of the UN Headquarters Agreement] to enter the United States for the purpose of proceeding to the Headquarters district” (para. 8).
Thus, the legal position of the Organization is unequivocally stated. We also see what the US position is, namely the non-issuance of visas to persons mentioned in section 11. Therefore, there is a dispute between the Organization and the United States on this matter.
In paragraph 15 of that resolution, the General Assembly requests the Secretary-General “to remain actively engaged in all aspects of the relations of the United Nations with the host country and to more actively engage in the work of the Committee”. The same paragraph states: “…if the issues raised in the report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country are not resolved in a reasonable and finite period of time, serious consideration will be given to taking steps under section 21 of the Headquarters Agreement…”.
Since the beginning of this session we have sent three letters to the Secretary-General concerning the issue of visa denial and received two replies.
One letter, dated 22 January 2020, signed by you, Mr. Soares. It states that the Secretary General takes the issue seriously and raised it at the level of the Secretary of State and Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN. The letter also highlights that the General Assembly expects the issue to be resolved in a reasonable and finite period of time. You also point out that together with the Chairman of the Committee you will request the host country to cooperate on this matter, which should lead to "tangible improvement", and that you have sent a relevant written request to the U.S. mission. The Secretary-General's letter, dated 14 February 2020, states that he will raise the issue with the host country "as a matter of urgency".
Today is February 25th. No changes so far. The UN meetings mentioned in our letters end one after another. Not a single visa has been issued.
We would like to highlight the issue of the visa denial for Konstantin Vorontsov, which led to the delay of the organizational session of the Disarmament Commission. Let me remind you that the visa was not issued for the last year’s session of the Disarmament Commission. As a result, the Commission session was thwarted. This year, on 17 February, it was decided to postpone the session due to visa problems for Konstantin Vorontsov. The event was postponed to 28 February.
Today we would like to finally address the issue, rather than to continue fruitless conversations.
First of all, I would like to ask the representative of the United States. Will the our visa applications be approved? Will Konstantin Vorontsov - who was to arrive at the UN on February 17, and due to whose absence the beginning of the Committee on Disarmament session has been postponed - finally get his visa? Will Konstantin Vorontsov be able to attend the Commission session to be held on February 28?
A I Come to the end of my statement, I would like to note the following. Today's meeting of the Committee is devoted to the visa issue, but there is one more issue mentioned in resolution 74/195 have not moved forward. A number of working premises of the Russian Mission in Upper Brookville and Long Island remains illegally ceized by the United States authorities. The U.S. State Department is even asking its taxpayers for funds to maintain them in the draft budget. The notorious 25-mile zone restricting the freedom of movement, is still applied to the Russian citizens working in the Permanent Mission and in the United Nations Secretariat.
Thank you.
