Fresh from his graduation from the Moscow Institute of International Relations, Sergei Ordzhonikidze began work at the Soviet foreign affairs office in 1969. What followed is a career filled with transatlantic voyages, between the USSR’s permanent mission at United Nation headquarters in New York, and the foreign affairs ministry in his native country. From 1969 to 2002, Sergei Ordzhonikidze spent fifteen years – three five-year mandates – in New York. He was named Director-General of the UN in Geneva in March 2002.
We met with him at his office, where we talked about his work, the challenges facing the UN for the Millenium Development Goals, as well as relations between Switzerland and Russia.
Did you ever think that you would become Director-General of the United Nations in Geneva? Sergei Ordzhonikidze: I frankly did not expect to be offered that position. I took it by chance and am truly glad I did, because it is a very interesting job.
In which way is this post different from the other ones which you occupied during your career? It is a totally different world. I am now working inside the UN, which is very different from being in the Foreign Ministry. For example, a bilateral Ambassador works with a specific country and that’s all. The director of the UN has to deal with very many different things. I have to interact with a multitude of countries, and attend many meetings, seminars, and symposiums. This is very time consuming.
Apart from that, I have to deal with protocol matters. In Geneva there are 155 ambassadors, most of them present their credentials, which are addressed to Secretary-General Kofi Annan through the Director-General. I find this position very refreshing and challenging.
Can you give us an example of an ordinary day for the Director- General of the UN? Thursday, June 1st was “Peacekeeping Day”. We celebrated it outside, and then we held a symposium with former UN soldiers. We shared our views on how to make peacekeeping more effective. It was also the day when Dr. Hans Blix presented his report of the Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction. I hope that it will be helpful for many delegations at the Conference of Disarmament.
Finally, I had a meeting of the Conference on Disarmament. Strategic disarmament is an issue on which we are having very many talks right now.
It is a very important issue to me. Progress on it will help to improve relations among states and will save billions of dollars for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.
what do you make of the whole reform process which is currently under way within the United Nations? This is the most vivid process of reforms in the history of the UN. During my career I have participated in the implementation of some reforms, but the Organization never saw such a huge package of important reforms as the one which is being implemented today.
How do you see Geneva’s future position within this reform process? We are pleased and happy that the Council on Human Rights is going to work in Geneva. The Member States also decided to create a Peace Building Commission, because, unfortunately, once the peacekeeping operations are over, we tend to witness a resurgence of hostilities among parties.
This Commission is meant to create political, economic, social, humanitarian and other conditions that will enable affected countries to live in a peaceful situation. Now that we have created the Council on Human Rights and the Peace Building Commission we will see how they work. They have not started yet, but I hope that it will be a very significant progression in the role of the United Nations Office at Geneva and in particular in the promotion and protection of human rights.
What is your opinion about the enlargement of the Security Council? The Member States could not agree on that proposal.
They could not agree which country should be in, on what basis, and which country should be a permanent member, a semi-permanent member or not a member at all. But I am optimistic that we will find some kind of agreement sooner or later. It is a matter of time.
What about the reform of the United Nations itself as an organization? We have not found an agreement on that issue yet.
To me it is evident that reform inside the organization is needed. It is of course up to the Member States, who are the real masters of the United Nations. The reform proposals of the Secretary General should be looked at once again with a view of reforming the secretariat of the United Nations to make it less expensive, more lenient, and more efficient. For example it should no longer happen that some people work and live all their life in New York, Geneva or Vienna, while some others have to live in difficult socio-economic and political conditions all their lives in places suffering from conflict, such as Western Sahara or DR Congo. One of the main ideas to avoid this situation is to introduce mobility of the UN staff. I strongly support this idea, because it is the only way to create a truly international staff. All my life I have been rotating between my capital and foreign countries. It is the usual procedure of any diplomatic service, in any country. Of course the reforms have many other aspects. I hope that the Member States will finally agree on the proposals of the Secretary General.
You are very much involved in the process of disarmament. This is obviously a serious issue. You have to take into account the fact that strategic disarmament is a very complicated geopolitical problem that has on its agenda such issues of critical security to states like: nuclear problems, demilitarization of outer space and others. Progress on drafting treaties on disarmament so far elude us, unfortunately. It is only natural that every country or group of countries has their own interests. For example, developing countries consider nuclear disarmament as their top priority. A group of western states are the proponents of Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty while Russia and China have a very serious interest in the demilitarization of outer space.
Actually, when you look at the Conference on Disarmament, you can clearly identify the different groups. The balance is difficult to find.
In the course of this action for disarmament, do you ever come against the Russian position? I try always to be guided by the principle that if you work for one organization, you serve that organiza tion and no other. UN employees should follow the policy formulated by the Member States and by the Secretary-General. In that case, it does not matter whether I am Russian, Swiss or anybody else. I think that this is a guideline that all staff members of the United Nations should follow.
How is Russia considered today within the UN and within the world community in general? Since the first of June, Russia is the rotating president of the Conference on Disarmament. In the light of that, I think that Russia is considered a responsible Member State, actively pursuing the process of disarmament.
As a Russian living in Switzerland, how do you think Russia is perceived in this country? There is a tradition of good bilateral relationships between the two countries, starting with the friendship between the Swiss Admiral François Lefort and the Russian Tsar Peter the Great. These ties were reinforced in 1813 when the Russian Tsar Alexander I sent his Envoy Kapodostria (aka John Capodistria, ndlr) to Switzerland. He helped the country to write its Constitution, focusing on its Neutrality. Today the relations are less sentimental and much more down to earth. They are economic relations. Many Russian tourists come to Switzerland, especially during the winter season. Switzerland has an interest in selling its goods to Russia, as well as Russia to Switzerland. I am not a specialist of the bilateral relationships between the two countries, but their basis is very good. You cannot have relations based solely on emotion. Relations should always have a very solid economic basis to be stable and good. A good economic tie is synonym of good relationships for many years. As for myself, I saw when I came to Geneva that the relations between the two countries were very good, which is very pleasing. The UN is always happy when Member States have good relationships!
Do you have the feeling that recent «clashes» such as the Adamov case or the Ueberlingen airplane crash have somewhat tarnished Switzerland’s image in Russia? Unfortunately clashes always happen. I believe that thanks to the good bilateral relationship between the two countries, these unfortunate cases did not have a long lasting negative effect. If the basis of relations between two countries is an emotional one, such events can raise huge waves of emotion that start from the people, go to the parliament and from the parliament up to the government.
These can lead the countries to worsen their relations. However, both cases have now been settled.
I am very happy that they have been settled.
I hope that nothing of this kind will happen in the future. Paradoxically, the wider the relationships you have, the more such cases can happen. What is important is that they do not spoil the flow of good bilateral relations.
You are a Russian citizen but your parents are Georgian. What do you think of all the recent developments in Georgia? My name is Georgian, but all the rest is Russian! I am a Russian citizen and I do not speak the Georgian language. I have visited Georgia once, twenty-five years ago. To me, it is one of the former republics of the Soviet Union. I do not have any special affection or relation with this country. By the way, more than a thousand people have the name Ordzhonikidze. It comes from two small villages in the Western part of Georgia. All the people who originally came from that place had it. The vice-mayor of Moscow for example is also called Ordzhonikidze, but I do not know whether or not he is a relative. Many Russian citizens do not have a typical Russian name. During the country’s long history, foreigners were always welcome, as you see from the Swiss-Russian relations. Russia is such a big country with a lot of opportunities! u UN, New York.
SERGUEI ORDZHONIKIDZE,THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF UN GENEVA PORTRAIT Sergei Ordzhonikidze, a transatlantic biography March 14th 1946 was born in Moscow.
1969 graduates from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and joins the diplomatic service.
1969-1975 posted to the Permanent Mission of the Soviet Union to the United Nations in New York
1975-1978 Serves as Assistant to the Deputy Foreign Minister in Moscow.
1978 completes his post-graduate studies in international law at the Diplomatic Academy of Moscow.
1978-1983 returns to the Permanent Mission of the USSR at the United Nations in New York, first as a Councilor and then as a Senior Councilor.
1983-1991 goes back to Moscow. He is appointed Deputy Chief of the International Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
1991-1996 moves back to New York, where he serves as Deputy Permanent Representative of the USSR, and then for the Russian Federation, at the United Nations.
1996-1999 back in Moscow, he holds the position of Director of the Department of International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
1999-2002 still in Moscow, he is appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
March 1st 2002 takes up the post of Director-General of the United Nations in Geneva.
