EU & Europe

EU and 79 ACP Countries Aim at New Partnership to Address Global Challenges

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The heads of state or government of the 28 EU member states, constituting the European Council, have authorized the European Commission to open negotiations for a new partnership agreement with 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). The Group's Secretary-General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes has greeted the decision.

The European Commission announced the Council decision on June 22, two days after the conclusion of the June 18-20 ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, where representatives of the European Commission stressed that future partnership should be "a genuine, open and constructive dialogue, and not just going through the motions".

: Robert Johnson; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 23 June 2018

Photo: Jacek Czaputowicz (left), Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland and President of the Security Council for the month of May, chairs the Security Council meeting on 29 May 2018. At right is Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe.

Kazakhstan Pleads for Resolving Ukraine Conflict Through Peaceful Means

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Kazakhstan has expressed concern for "the unpredictable and volatile situation" in eastern Ukraine and the frequent ceasefire violations, which have a direct impact on the civilian population. "These violations result indeaths and injuries, along with many humanitarian consequences," said Ambassador Kairat Umarov, the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations headquarters in New York.

He was addressing the Security Council meeting on May 29, 2018 which discussed the situation in Ukraine in the face of civilians bearing the brunt of four-year-old conflict in Ukraine, bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively.

: J Nastranis; CENTRAL ASIA; 21 June 2018

Photo: Joseph Owona Kono. Credit: La Tribune Afrique

Playing A Decisive Role In Shaping Global Governance

By Joseph Owona Kono

The author is Co-President of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States. Following are extensive excerpts from his statement opening the 35th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 19 June 2018 in Brussels. – The Editor

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – I have been associated with the Joint Parliamentary Assembly for a while. I have found this assembly to be a great opportunity for parliamentary exchanges on development and democratic processes. As representatives of our various peoples and as policy and decision makers overseeing government functions, we are in a unique position to engage with policy makers in ACP and EU institutions.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 21 June 2018

Photo: Neven Mimica. Credit: EU Commission

ACP and the EU Should Stand United, Shoulder-to-Shoulder

By Neven Mimica

The author is EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development. Following are extensive excerpts from his statement opening the 35th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 18 June 2018 in Brussels. – The Editor

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – First and foremost, 2018 is a defining year as we get ready to discuss together the shape and direction of the partnership between the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries and the European Union beyond 2020.

Uniting over a hundred countries and around one and a half billion people, our longstanding partnership is unique one not only in terms of its cultural richness and diversity, but also in terms of its geographical scope and potential.

: Jaya Ramachandran; OPINION; 20 June 2018

Striving For Modernized Partnership

By Yuri Sterk

The author is Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria. Following are extensive excerpts from his statement opening the 35th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 18 June 2018 in Brussels. He represented the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. – The Editor

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The 35th session of the Joint ACP-EU Parliamentary Assembly is of particular importance. The opening of negotiations on our future ACP-EU relations, after the expiry of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, is fast approaching and negotiations are due to start by September 1, 2018. The outcome of parliamentarians' deliberations will feed into the shaping of our future ACP-EU relations.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 20 June 2018

Photo: EU trade mission led by Brussels-based Trade Affairs Officer of the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission, Roberto Cecutti visited the Kingdom of Lesotho's capital, Maseru, from 14-15 March 2018. Credit: European Union.

Lesotho Looks Forward To Post-Cotonou ACP-EU Agreement

By Ntsoaki Nkoe

MASERU (ACP-IDN) – Lesotho, a landlocked kingdom encircled by South Africa, like many other member states of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group, has benefited from partnership with the European Union (EU) through financial assistance from the European Development Fund (EDF) and trade under preferential conditions, says Finance Minister Dr Moeketsi Majoro.

The current ACP-EU partnership agreement adopted in 2000 in Cotonou, Benin, to replace the 1975 Lomé Convention and Georgetown Agreement – expires in February 2020. Work has begun to lay the groundwork for the future partnership between the ACP countries and the EU. The current agreement provides for the opening of negotiations by the end of August 2018 at the latest.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 16 June 2018

Photo: 43rd ACP-EU Council of Ministers Meeting on 31 May 2018 in Lomé. Credit: ACP Press

Why 79 ACP Countries and EU Must Enter Into New Partnership

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS | LOMÉ (ACP-IDN) – The Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA) between the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of 79 States and 28 European Union (EU) members expires on February 29, 2020. Formal negotiations for a successor Agreement should commence by August 2018.

With a view to underpinning preparations and execution of the negotiating process for a successor Agreement, the Council of Ministers of the ACP Group of States adopted on May 30, 2018 in Lomé, Togo, the core principles, a common approach and a policy framework document.

In pursuit of the implementation of the Council’s decisions, the Committee of Ambassadors initiated a number of activities, to guide preparations for the negotiations.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 03 June 2018

Photo: Joint Press Conference with Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Ekaterina Zaharieva (second from left), and Jamaica's Minister of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade, Kamina Johnson Smith (third from left), flanked by ACP Secretary General Dr. P I Gomes (second from right). Credit: ACP Press.

107 ACP-EU Countries Walk The Talk On Global Governance

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS | LOMÉ (ACP | IDN) – African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and the European Union will walk the talk on global governance by organising joint activities during United Nations conferences this year, according to co-presidents of the Joint ACP-EU Council of Ministers.

The Council issued a joint declaration reaffirming its commitment to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and to the attainment of the long-term goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

The joint activities ACP and EU have agreed are: the UN high-level political forum (HLPF) on sustainable development in July, the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in September, and the 24th Conference of Parties (COP24) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December.

: Robert Johnson; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 03 June 2018

Photo: British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush shake hands after their press conference in the White House on 12 November 2004. From the start of the War on Terror in 2001, Blair strongly supported Bush's foreign policy, participating in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and 2003 invasion of Iraq. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Why Tony Blair Should Be Prosecuted Over Iraq

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – President Barack Obama was not a war criminal despite US involvement in wars in Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and against ISIS. His predecessor George W. Bush was. Apart from anything else his administration tortured captives. Was the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, the closest ally of Bush also a war criminal? And should he now be prosecuted and tried for war crimes?

Did Blair lie over the reason for going to war with Iraq – the supposed stockpile of weapons of mass destruction that he alleged Iraq possessed? It depends on how you define lie.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 29 May 2018

Image: Mirjam van Reisen in YouTube on Human Trafficking in the Sinai.

Dutch White Paper on Development Cooperation Beacons a New Discourse of Hope

Viewpoint by Mirjam van Reisen

Prof. Mirjam van Reisen, Ph.D. is member of the Dutch Council on International Affairs and author of Human Trafficking and Trauma in the Digital Era: The Ongoing Tragedy of the Trade in Refugees from Eritrea. She is Professor International Relations, Innovation and Care at Tilburg University and Professor Computing for Society at Leiden Centre for Data Science, at the University of Leiden. She is also the founding director of Europe External Policy Advisors and the Secretary General of Europe External Programme with Africa. – The Editor.

THE HAGUE (IDN) – A refreshing set of directives are offered by the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, Sigrid Kaag, in the policy document entitled 'Investing in a Perspective. Good for the World – Good for The Netherlands', approved by the Dutch cabinet on May 18, 2018.