Official Visits by the OPCW Director-General
Riga, Latvia, 30 September – 1 October 2008
The OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter paid an official visit to Riga, Latvia from 30 September to 1 October 2008 for a series of meetings with high-level government officials.
Director-General Pfirter met with State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Normans Penke, State Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Mr Guntis Puķītis; Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Ēriks Zunda, and other high-level ministerial officials.
Vilnius, Lithuania, 1 – 3 October 2008
Director-General Pfirter, paid an official visit to Vilnius, Lithuania from 1 to 3 October 2008 where he met with the President of the Republic of Lithuania, H.E. Mr Valdas Adamkus.
During the visit, Director-General Pfirter also met with Mr Alfredas Pekeliūnas, Deputy Chairman of the Lithuanian Parliament (Seismas); with Mr Jaroslav Neverovič, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, with Mr Vytautas Naudužas, Vice-Minister of Economy, and with other high-ranking officials.
New York, United States of America, 15 October 2008
Director-General Pfirter on 15 October 2008 addressed the First Committee of the 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Sofia, Bulgaria, 21 – 23 October 2008
Director-General Pfirter, paid an official visit to Sofia, Bulgaria from 21 to 23 October 2008 where he met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Mr Ivailo Kalfin.
While in Sofia, Director-General Pfirter also met with the Minister of Economy and Energy, H.E. Mr Petar Dimitrov, who also serves as Chairman of the Inter-ministerial Commission for Export Control and Non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction as well as with the Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations, Mr Angel Chakarov.
New York, United States of America, 3 November 2008
On 3 November 2008, Director-General Pfirter addressed the 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, on the theme “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)”.
At the United Nations, Director-General Pfirter met with H.E. Mr Sergio Duarte, UN Secretary-General’s High Representative for Disarmament Affairs and the Acting Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic (A State not Party to the CWC), Ambassador Enriquillo del Rosario.
On 3 November, Director-General Pfirter also visited the East-West Institute in New York and met its President and CEO Dr John Edwin Mroz.
Berlin, Germany, 13 November 2008
Director-General Pfirter visited Berlin, Germany on 13 November 2008 to address the North Atlantic Alliance’s Seminar on “Present and future proliferation risks and threats: the adequacy of the international non-proliferation efforts to address these challenges”.
In connection with his visit to Berlin, Director-General Pfirter met with H. E. Mr Reinhard Silberberg, State Secretary, Federal Foreign Office of Germany, with Ambassador Klaus-Peter Gottwald, Commissioner of the Federal Government for Arms Control and Disarmament, with Dr Alexander Olbrich, the Head of the Bureau for CW and BW Affairs (National Authority of Germany) and with other senior officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 19 November 2008
Director-General Pfirter visited Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 19 November 2008 to address the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) on the status of implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the work of the OPCW.
During this visit, Director-General Pfirter met with the Chairperson of the AU Commission, H.E. Mr Jean Ping, the Deputy Chairperson of the AU Commission, H.E. Mr Erastus Mwencha and the PSC Chairperson, H.E. Mull Sebujja Katende, the Ambassador of Uganda to Ethiopia and to the AU.
Visits to the OPCW
14 October 2008
H.E. Mr Masaru Tsuji, Director-General for International Affairs, Ministry of Defence of Japan
17 October 2008
Mr Gholamhossein Deghani, Head of the National Authority of Iran (Islamic Republic of)
12 November 2008
Delegation from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre