LISBON, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Antonio Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister who served as UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said he felt "gratitude and humility" on Thursday after being tipped as the next United Nations secretary-general.
"To describe what I feel at the present moment, two words are sufficient: gratitude and humility," he said during a press conference at the ministry of foreign affairs here.
"Gratitude, first of all, in relation to the members of the security council for the confidence they expressed, but also to the general assembly and all member states, for having decided in a process of transparency and openness," he said.
He also praised his candidates for their "intelligence" and "competence" and "enormous dedication" that contributed to credibility of the UN.
"I was moved when I saw the security council act in unity and consensus and in a quick way," he said.
He said he felt not only gratitude, but humility to face "dramatic problems in today's dramatic modern world" and "to serve those most vulnerable; the victims of conflict, terrorism, violation of rights, poverty, and injustices of this world."
Guterres, who made his speech in four different languages (Portuguese, English, French and Spanish), said humility was also required "to find inspiration from so many UN workers, doing all they can in the most dangerous places in the world in service of the international community."
Finally, he pointed out that he was not yet secretary general of the UN and appealed to all member states to strongly support the UN's current Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's initiatives.
In his speech directed to the Portuguese, he said he wanted to transmit his "profound gratefulness" to the president of the republic, the government, diplomats, political parties, and social forces for having carried out an "extremely effective campaign."
On Wednesday, Guterres received 13 "encourage" votes and two "no opinion" votes by the UN Security Council, making Guterres a unanimous choice to become the next UN secretary general.
The UN Security Council formally approved Guterres on Thursday. The decision will now be sent to the 193-member General Assembly for final formal approval.
