EU & Europe

Photo: A glimpse of Brussels conference participants. Credit: Eritrea Press

EU Urged to Evacuate Eritreans from Libyan 'Death Camps'

By Ramesh Jaura

BRUSSELS (IDN) – When the Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed in July a peace deal after two decades of war and ensuing violent border clashes, "a new era of peace and friendship" was felt to have begun in the Horn of Africa comprising Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia.

Six months on, African leaders and close observers of the situation in the region, attending the Eritrean diaspora conference in Brussels, have expressed grave concern that "peace and friendship" have yet to dawn on relations between the government in Asmara and Eritreans.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Africa; 13 December 2018

Photo: Manchester Brexit protest for Conservative conference, October 1, 2017. CC BY-SA 4.0

UK's May Should Announce a New Referendum Immediately

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The whole debate about Brexit has had a weird quality about it from beginning to end. Prime Minister Theresa May voted in the referendum two and half years ago to remain in the European Union but then as a quid pro quo for being made prime minister she has led the charge to implement Brexit.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, voted to remain but has made it clear that he too prefers out, albeit keeping the UK in the Customs Union.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 11 December 2018

Photo: President Barack Obama in a New START Treaty meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on November 18, 2010, flanked among others by former Secretaries of State James A. Baker III and Dr. Henry A. Kissinger.

It is High Time for the U.S. and Russia to Get Off the Treadmill to Catastrophe

Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball

The author is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. He wrote this editorial for the December issue of Arms Control Today.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – Earlier this year, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “[t]he Cold War is back...but with a difference. The mechanisms and the safeguards to manage the risks of escalation that existed in the past no longer seem to be present.”

Indeed, the United States and Russia are planning to spend trillions of dollars to replace and upgrade their nuclear arsenals at force levels that far exceed what is required to deter nuclear attack. China is also improving its nuclear weapons capabilities.

: Daryl G. Kimball; OPINION; 06 December 2018

Photo: A general view of the NATO meeting on December 4, 2018. Credit: NATO.

U.S. INF Treaty Termination May Once Again Trigger Nuclear Arms Race

By Daryl G. Kimball and Kingston A. Reif

The following is the text of the analysis in Issue Brief (Volume 10, Issue 10, December 4, 2018) by the Arms Control Association (ACA). Daryl G. Kimball, is the executive director and Kingston A. Reif the director for disarmament and threat reduction policy of ACA. – The Editor

WASHINGTON; DC (IDN-INPS) – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared [on December 4] Russia in material breach of the landmark 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and announced that the United States plans to suspend U.S. obligations under the treaty in 60 days unless Russia returns to compliance.

In a new statement on the INF Treaty also released [on December 4], NATO foreign ministers collectively declared for the first time “that Russia has developed and fielded a missile system, the 9M729, which violates the INF Treaty". The ministers also stated: “It is now up to Russia to preserve the INF Treaty.”

: Daryl G. Kimball; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 05 December 2018

Photo: The 35th plenary session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Brussels from June18-20, 2018, in the presence of MEPs and their counterparts from the national parliaments of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Credit: multimedia.europarl.europa.eu

Towards an Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – As negotiators inch towards updating the most comprehensive but 20-year old partnership agreement between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, they have a broad array of issues on their plate.

These include the name change to the 'Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACP)', ensuring the consistency of participation in parliamentary assemblies, establishment of the ACP Information Centre for South-South and Triangular Cooperation, and enhancing ACP's financial stability.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 03 December 2018

Photo: Russian President Vladimir with Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong. Credit: en.kremlin.ru

Behind Russian President Putin's First Visit to Singapore

By Chris Cheang

The author is a Senior Fellow with the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He served three tours of duty in the Singapore Embassy in Moscow between 1994 and 2013. A version of this article was first published on RSIS and then reproduced by the EastAsiaForum on 23 November 2018.

SINGAPORE (IDN-INPS) – Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first-ever state visit to Singapore on November 13, 2018. Coinciding with the 33rd ASEAN summit, 3rd ASEAN–Russia summit, 13th East Asia Summit (EAS), and 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and Singapore, the visit marks an important step in Russia’s efforts to broaden its pivot to the East.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 27 November 2018

Photo: Ambassador Hans-Peter Jugel, Germany’s deputy envoy to the United Nations in Geneva, and UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General Isabelle Durant signed the official funding document on 22 November 2018.

Germany Backs UNCTAD to Help Africa Implement Continental Trade Deal

By Rita Joshi

BERLIN | GENEVA (IDN) – Eight months after the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), the first pan-African agreement of its kind, Germany has donated 1.6 million euros to UNCTAD, to help the UN's trade and development body work with African partners to implement the landmark continental pact on cross-border commerce.

"This is a big new step forward in the economic development of Africa," said Ambassador Hans-Peter Jugel, Germany’s deputy envoy to the United Nations in Geneva, adding that the African Union had sought UNCTAD's support to meet the aims of the AfCFTA.

: Rita Joshi; THE WORLD; Africa; 25 November 2018

Photo: A landscape in the Serengeti national park, Tanzania. Credit: iStock. Source: ACP-EU NDRR Activity Report 2017-2018.

EU-ACP Initiative Leads to Natural Disaster Risk Reduction

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The African, Caribbean and Pacific-European Union Natural Disaster Risk Reduction Program (ACP-EU NDRR) launched in 2011 has worked to build climate and disaster resilience in ACP countries, where the impacts of climate change are increasingly visible, says a new report.

The Program is an initiative of the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Group of States, in partnership with the European Union (EU), and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 21 November 2018

Photo: The new Evolutionary Pressurised Reactor, built by a Franco-German consortium, on Olkiluoto Island in southwestern Finland. It is expected to provide 10 per cent of Finland’s electricity when it becomes operational, probably in late 2018. Credit: S. Slavchev/IAEA

Finland Eyes Nuclear Power to Hit Climate Targets

By Jeffrey Donovan

The author is Press and Public Information Officer of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), based in Vienna. This article first appeared on the IAEA website on November 16, 2018.

VIENNA (IDN-INPS) – Along the pine-lined shores of Finland’s bucolic western coast, a clean energy vision of the Nordic country’s future is quietly taking shape. On the tiny island of Olkiluoto, workers are applying the finishing touches to a new Evolutionary Pressurised Reactor (EPR) set to supply 10% of Finland’s electricity needs. Like all nuclear power reactors, the massive 1600 MW unit will emit virtually no greenhouse gases (GHG) even as it churns out a steady stream of baseload electricity capable of providing power to millions of homes.

: Jaya Ramachandran; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 17 November 2018

Photo: Zahir Tanin, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), briefs the Security Council. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Reconciliation Continues to Evade Serbia-Kosovo Relations

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – One hundred years after the end of the First World War, which was triggered by a crisis in the Balkans, peace in the region is nowhere within reach yet. This has been highlighted by a senior United Nations official in his regular briefing to the UN Security Council on November 14.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Zahir Tanin, told the Security Council that President Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia and President Hashim Thaçi of Kosovo have confirmed their "mutual intention" to continue working towards a negotiated settlement but the situation on the ground remains marred by "frequent adversarial actions," with real consequences for people on the ground.