Erik Solheim
Erik Solheim
Erik Solheimis a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party. He is currently Executive Director of UNEP, the United Nations' Environment Programme. Solheim was leader of the Socialist Youth from 1977 to 1981, party secretary from 1981 to 1985, and member of the Parliament of Norway from 1989 to 2001. He was party leader from 1987 to 1997. He was appointed Minister of International Development in 2005 and also Minister of the Environment in 2007, and sat in both offices until...
april geneva meet parties strongly urge
I strongly urge the two parties to meet in Geneva on April 19 - 21 as planned.
agreed both decide meet sides
Both sides have agreed on the need to meet and decide how the cease-fire can be implemented better.
agreed discuss high improve level meet parties positive security serious
It is very positive that the parties have agreed to meet at a high level to discuss how to improve the serious security situation.
easy entire four island key major meeting religions small solved themselves time
I think there's no other place in the entire world where four major key world religions are meeting themselves on one small island and they all make up a substantial part of the population. If this was easy to solve, it would have been solved a long time back.
agreement both fire importance meet paramount parties start talks toward
It is of paramount importance that both parties should meet urgently and start talks toward consolidating the cease- fire agreement.
agreement hopefully meeting outcome parties
The (hoped-for) outcome of this meeting will be some way of strengthening the agreement on the cease-fire and hopefully that parties will meet again.
crucial expect geneva moment moved peace process talks time
We expect the Geneva talks to go ahead. We are at a crucial moment where the peace process can be moved forward. The time is right now.
expect geneva venue
We expect Geneva to be the venue for such a meeting.
bring donors parties peace process ready soon support track
As soon as the parties bring the peace process back on track (...) donors will be more than ready to support them.
agreed implement sides
Now the two sides will go back to Sri Lanka and implement what they have agreed during the talks.
realistic
Let us keep expectations at a realistic level.
advise complex enthusiasm necessary peace possibly specifics
There is real enthusiasm for peace but possibly not real enthusiasm for the necessary compromises. I would not advise on the specifics of the compromises. It's a complex matter.
expect parties peace positive process putting small step taking towards
The parties are taking a small but very significant step towards putting the peace process back on a positive track. And we expect the negotiations to be tough.
achieved agreement confidence increasing parties
What should be achieved is increasing confidence between the parties and agreement for a new meeting.