The Chronicle INTERVIEW.

H.E. Mr. Harri Holkeri

President of the Millennium Assembly

The President of the fifty-fifth session of the Unite Nations General Assembly -- the Millennium Assembly -- brings to the office a wealth of political experience, as well as a reputation as a skilled mediator and consensus-builder. Mr. Harri Holkeri was Finland's Prime Minister from 1987 to 1991, heading a coalition government of conservative and social democrats. The most renowned and prestigious conservative political figure in Finland over the last few decades, he has served his country and the international community in several political and economic posts.

From 1995 to 1998, as a member of The International -- a group set up by the Governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland overseeing the decommissioning of illeqal weapons in Northern Ireland -- Mr. Holkeri was one of the three independent chairmen of the multi-party peace negotiations and contributed to furthering the peace process. Born in 1937 and raised in the small town of Toijala where his father was a police office, Mr. Holkeri bolds a Master of Political Science degree from the University of Helsinki and was a member of the Furnish delegation to the General Assembly from 1963 to 1965. Him political philosophy -- "You cannot make easy decisions unless you first commit yourself to hard solutions" -- has quided his entire political life.

Horst Rutsch, Inga Eggers and Sven T. Siefken of the UN Chronicle spoke with Mr. Holkeri on 5 July.

This is a very special moment to preside over the General Assembly.

I really do hope that the Millennium Summit gives new impetus to the work of the United Nations, especially to the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly. In light of the Secretary-General's Millennium Report, I had very high expectations of the Summit. And I hope the Millennium Assembly will see to the implementation of the ideas contained in the Summit Declaration.

Of course, I already know there are some problems I have to face. For instance, if we take the budgetary questions, especially the scale of assessments, this is a sensitive issue which nevertheless must be decided before the new year. And then there are big issues like the reform of the Security Council--these kinds of questions are something the President of the General Assembly must at least keep his eye on. It remains to be seen which are the real problems, but there are many challenges, there are many obstacles; let us try to change the obstacles to advantages for the Organization.

We Finns represent a very transparent and open-minded way of reaching political decisions. I think I can regard myself as a political decision-maker. Serving as a Chairman here or elsewhere, what is the main challenge in chairing a meeting? It is not the discussion--discussion is just a tool. You have to aim; the final goal must be a decision. And your personal view on the subject is...