Photo: (left) Zijad Bećirović, Miguel de Serpa Soares, Irena Mernik Knee
Press release
NEW YORK, March 14, 2019 - Director of the International Institute for Middle-East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) Assist. Prof. Zijad Bećirović, accompanied by IFIMES Main Representative at ECOSOC/UN Irena Mernik Knee, met with UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel Miguel de Serpa Soares at UN Headquarters in New York.
Director of the Institute Assist. Prof. Bećirović presented to the Under-Secretary-General the work of the Institute in the region of the Balkans and the Middle East, with a special emphasis on projects related to the special consultative status of IFIMES whit the ECOSOC/UN.
IFIMES Main Representative to ECOSOC/UN Irena Mernik Knee stressed the importance of international law, which is facing contemporary challenges, and in particular highlighted respect of international law.
Under-Secretary-General of the UN Soares emphasized the UN's commitment to the enforcement and respect of international law, and stressed in particular the strengthening of confidence in international law and the courts operating under the UN.
At the end of the talks Under-Secretary-General Soares and Director Bećirović agreed that it is very important to ensure a strong international legal system that will also strengthen the role and significance of the UN as a global organization.
New York, 14 March 2019
