European Union

US emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner spent five hours on Monday trying to negotiate a peace deal with Vladimir Putin on Ukraine. But according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, there was agreement only on 'some points' and 'a lot of work lies ahead' for Washington and Moscow. US President Donald Trump said his delegation had been left with the impression that Putin was interested in peace. Commentators examine what this might mean for Europe?

The EU is set to ease its labelling requirements for genetically modified foods. Negotiators from the European Parliament and member states have agreed that products where existing genes have been "modified" but no foreign genes have been inserted will no longer require mandatory labelling. What are the ramifications?

The path is now clear for Andrej Babiš to become the Czech Republic's new head of government. President Petr Pavel has agreed to appoint him prime minister on Tuesday, after the multi-billionaire announced that he is transferring his company Agrofert to an independent trust to resolve the existing conflict of interest. Pavel had made this a precondition for the appointment. The Czech press takes stock.

Digital Services Act penalty follows a two-year Commission look at X's blue check system, ad repository, and data access for researchers – but other probes continue

Le président américain Donald Trump a rencontré le président rwandais Paul Kagame et le président de la République démocratique du Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, à l'occasion de la signature d'un accord de paix entre les deux pays africains.

Controversial proposals to boost cross-border capacity could set put Brussels on collision course with national operators

Kenya becomes the first African country to secure US health funding since cuts to foreign aid by Trump.

On Thursday, 11 December 2025, the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) will organise a public hearing on "Illegal Settlements in the West Bank". This hearing will provide an opportunity to assess recent developments on the ground. The discussion will inform the next steps of the European Parliament in holding the EU institutions accountable for the effective implementation of its positions on settlements.
Over 700,000 Israeli settlers live across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, covering an estimated 14% of the territory. These settlements are illegal under international law, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention, and stand in contradiction with UN Security Council Resolution 233 (1967). Settlement expansion is a major obstacle to the viability of a two-state solution, the only path to sustainable peace endorsed by the European Union and the international community.
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AFET hearings
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

On Monday, 15 December, the Committees on Foreign Affairs and on Development and the Subcommittee on Human Rights will hold a joint exchange of views with representatives of the 2025 Sakharov Prize laureates Andrzej Poczobut from Belarus and Mzia Amaglobeli from Georgia.
Andrzej Poczobut is a journalist, essayist, blogger and activist from the Polish minority in Belarus. Known for his opposition to Alexander Lukashenko's regime, he has become a symbolic figure in the struggle for freedom and democracy in Belarus. Detained since 2021 and sentenced to eight years, he has endured solitary confinement. In a resolution adopted on 15 March 2023, the European Parliament called Andrzej Poczobut's immediate and unconditional release. Mzia Amaglobeli, a Georgian journalist and director of online media outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, is the first female political prisoner in Georgia since its independence, and a fighter for freedom of expression. Detained in 2025 and imprisoned for two years, Amaglobeli has become a prominent symbol of Georgia's pro-democracy protest movement. The European Parliament demanded on 19 June 2025 Mzia Amaglobeli's immediate and unconditional release and condemned the Georgian Dream authorities.
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Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

La fin de semaine s’annonce agitée sur le plan météorologique. Plusieurs wilayas du pays subissent déjà un temps froid et très humide, et les prévisions […]

L’article La météo en Algérie ce 05/12 : quelles sont les wilayas touchées par la pluie, la neige et le froid ? est apparu en premier sur .

The UN General Assembly in session. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias

By Anwarul Chowdhury
NEW YORK, Dec 5 2025 (IPS)

From its inception, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has been engaged in improving its working methods, mindful of, as early as in 1949, “… the increasing length of General Assembly sessions, and of the growing tendency towards protracted debates”.

Since the leadership of legendary Ambassador Samir Shihabi of Saudi Arabia as President of the General Assembly (PGA) during the 46th session in 1991 and thereafter, the Assembly’s agenda has included a dedicated item on the revitalization of the work of the Assembly and its Main Committees.

Since the 60th session in 2005, under the guidance of its articulate and forward-looking President, Ambassador Jan Eliasson of Sweden, the Assembly has established the Ad Hoc Working Group on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly. Its mandate was to “to identify ways to further enhance the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the General Assembly”.

Till now, more than 200 outcomes have been recorded in 30 different areas. The incumbent President of the landmark 80th session, Annalena Baerbock of Germany has now taken the initiative to move forward substantively on this perennial exercise of the world’s most universal multilateral body.

Election of a Woman as the Next Secretary-General

I would strongly suggest that her forward-looking leadership would restore the operational credibility of the United Nations by including in its revitalization exercise the role of the Secretary-General, facilitating the election of a woman as the next Secretary-General, transparency of the UN’s budgetary processes, addressing the current and future liquidity crises, and meaningful inclusivity of civil society in the Assembly’s work.

The role, functions and leadership of the Secretary-General need special attention of the Assembly as the appointing authority. The 75th PGA in 2020 Volkan Bozkir has rightly identified that “the Secretary-General is the engine and the transmission system”.

It is unfortunate that questions have been raised about the reticence of the Secretary-General in getting his hands dirty and in getting more proactively involved in and in mobilizing his senior management team towards ending the ongoing global conflicts and wars and promoting peace and reconciliation.

In a recent op-ed, a former UNICEF Deputy Executive Director and a longtime UN watcher Kul Chandra Gautam even exhorted the SG “not to hide behind the glasshouse at Turtle Bay and go beyond invisible subtle diplomacy to more visible shuttle diplomacy.”

After choosing nine men successively to be the world’s topmost diplomat, I strongly believe that the United Nations should have the sanity and sagacity of electing a woman as its next Secretary-General.

In its resolution A/79/372 adopted as recently as on 5 September this year, the Assembly in its paragraph 42(c) says that “ Noting with regret that no woman has ever held the position of Secretary-General, encourages Member States to strongly consider nominating women as candidates” and it also asserted in its paragraph 42(k) that “The Secretary General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council, in accordance with Article 97 of the Charter”.

The same resolution (79/327) committed the UNGA “ … to the continued implementation of … its resolution 76/262 of 26 April 2022 on the veto initiative, to enhance the work of the General Assembly, taking into account its role on matters related to the maintenance of international peace and security …”. In the current exercise, this area, of course, needs further attention and elaboration.

Transparency and accountability are essential in the budget processes of the UN.

Two other areas which need more scrutiny are extra budgetary resources received from Member States and consultancy practices including budgetary allocations for that by the Organization. Special attention in these areas is needed to restore the UN’s credibility and thereby effectiveness and efficiency for the benefit of the humanity as a whole.

Future financial and Liquidity crises

Tough decisions needed to avoid future financial and liquidity crises needed genuine engagement by all sides, yes, ALL sides, in particular the major “assessed” contributors.

Peacekeeping operations also face increasing liquidity pressure as the outstanding contributions for that area are reported to be $3.16 billion. These accumulations have been building up for some years. Why was no extra effort made by all sides well ahead of time to avoid the recurrent panic about the Organization’s liquidity crises?

Today’s financial and liquidity crisis is not caused by recent withholding of payments by a few major contributors for political reasons. Outstanding contributions for UN’s regular budget reached $2.27 billion last month.

At the UN, though the “process is an intergovernmental one and thereby Member States-driven”, absence of civil society involvement would seriously undermine the role and contribution of “We the Peoples …”. PGA Bozkir asserted that “civil society is the pillar of democracy, and we must, after some time, find a way that civil society is (re)presented here”.

Enhancing the UN’s credibility

Also, I am of the opinion that a formalized and mandated involvement of and genuine consultation with the civil society would enhance the UN’s credibility. The UN leadership and Member States should work diligently on that without fail for a decision by the on-going 80th session of the General Assembly.

Under the bold, upbeat and clear-sighted leadership of the incumbent PGA Annalena Baerbock whose proactive and forward-looking role has already drawn wide appreciative attention, the international community needs to wish her best of luck in this very important endeavor to revitalize the apex body of most universal multilateral entity – the UN General Assembly – in a positive way.

For that, now is the time to discuss and to decide on the urgent, focused and meaningful areas of action. The UN’s long-drawn revitalization efforts in reality should not end again in the repetitive regularity of an omnibus of redundancy.

Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury is former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations; Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN; Initiator of the UNSCR 1325 as the President of the UN Security Council in March 2000; Chairman of the UN General Assembly’s Main Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Matters and Founder of the Global Movement for The Cultural of Peace (GMCoP

IPS UN Bureau

 

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