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Ban Ki-moon undertaking official visit to Portugal

Xinhua, May 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with the Head of Portugal's Diplomacy Augusto Santos Silva on Thursday.

They discussed Portugal's cooperation with UN peace operations, Santos Silva told Portuguese Lusa News agency.

He added that Portugal will be involved in two important peace operations. The first one is in Mali with 47 soldiers and the other in the Central African Republic with 160 soldiers.

Ban and Santos Silva discussed preparations ahead of the Conference of Seas which will take place on June 2 and 3 in Lisbon.

The leaders also discussed the refugee crisis, analyzing Portugal's proposals for receiving asylum-seekers, and the current situation in Guinea-Bissau, particularly regarding safety along the West African coast and the Gulf of Guinea.

During his two-day visit to Portugal, Ban will meet former president Jorge Sampaio and Prime Minister Antonio Costa, with whom he will have a private dinner.

On Friday, Ban will meet President of Parliament Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues and President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

A key topic during his visit will be the Portuguese government's proposal of Antonio Guterres, a former UN high commissioner for refugees, as a candidate for the job of secretary general of the United Nations. Endit