UN chief says ‘unlikely’ world leaders will meet in-person for General Assembly in September

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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said this week that it is “unlikely” world leaders will be able to gather at the annual U.N. General Assembly in September because of the coronavirus pandemic -- and that the world body is looking at digital alternatives.

“It is unlikely that thousands of representatives from around the world will be able to gather in New York,” Guterres told Paris-Match. “However, we are studying the different alternatives that digital technology offers us to hold this general assembly which will correspond to the 75th anniversary of the United Nations."

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He added that it would be “up to the member states to make a decision.”

The U.N. headquarters in New York has been shuttered since mid-March due to the pandemic, and is situated in the city that has become the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S.

But the statement by the secretary-general indicates the realities that leaders and diplomats are facing that extreme social distancing measures are unlikely to be lifted before the fall.

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The annual General Assembly is the highlight of the U.N.’s year, where world leaders meet and make speeches to the global body.

President Trump, in particular, has appeared to relish the annual event, using his time at the podium to make headlines. In 2017, he famously called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man” and said he was on a “suicide mission.”

In 2019, he took to the globalist body to give an unapologetic defense of nationalism.

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“The future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots,” he declared. “The future belongs to sovereign and independent nations who protect their citizens, respect their neighbors, and honor the differences that make each country special and unique.”