Annan pays tribute to memory of ‘great servant’ Cyrus Vance

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan was “deeply saddened” to learn of the death of former United States Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, paying tribute to his service to both the US and the UN.

In a statement released on Sunday by his spokesman, Mr. Annan noted that Mr. Vance “undertook many important missions for the United Nations, notably in the former Yugoslavia.”

The Secretary-General described Mr. Vance as “a very dear friend of mine, and a great servant of his country, of the United Nations and of humanity,” according to the statement.

Among other assignments, Mr. Vance served as Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar’s Personal Envoy to Yugoslavia at the outset of the Balkans conflict. Mr. Vance later served, along with Lord Owen, as Co-Chairman of the Steering Committee of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia, which at the time provided a permanent negotiating forum for seeking a political solution to all the problems of the former Yugoslavia.

In July 1993, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali appointed Mr. Vance to carry out his good offices on the differences between the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece. Mr. Vance held numerous talks while serving in that position until his resignation – for personal reasons – in December 1999. At the time of his resignation, Secretary-General Kofi Annan paid tribute to Mr. Vance as “a great statesman” whose “wise counsel” would be missed.