Under Secretary Burns: Travel to France, Austria, and the United KingdomUnder Secretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns traveled to France, Austria, and the United Kingdom October 30-November 2, 2007. The Under Secretary had a series of meetings in Paris, France October 30 -31. He held meetings at the French Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, and with the Presidency to discuss key strategic issues in the bilateral relationship. He delivered a speech at the American University of Paris entitled "The U.S. and France: the Renewal of an Enduring Alliance". On October 31st -November 1st, the Under Secretary traveled to Vienna where he met with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei to discuss Iran and other challenges to the global non-proliferation regime. He also met with the Secretary General of the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Marc de Brichambaut and the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Christian Strohal. He discussed U.S. priorities for the OSCE Ministerial meeting that will be held November 29-30 in Madrid. He also discussed strong U.S. support for the importance of ODIHR’s election monitoring work to ensure free and fair elections. Under Secretary Burns also met with Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Antonio Maria Costa to discuss how to strengthen international efforts in Afghanistan. In London, Under Secretary Burns met with officials from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to discuss a range of strategic issues. He attended a meeting of representatives from countries that operate the Regional Command Southern Afghanistan to discuss security issues in the region. On November 2nd Under Secretary Burns participated in a meeting of political directors from the Permanent Five members of the Security Council plus Germany to work on the elements of the next Chapter Seven resolution on Iran. Under Secretary Burns gave an address at the London School of Economics on November 2nd on America's foreign policy priorities. Remarks by Under Secretary Burns |