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The fourteenth meeting of the Accession Conference with Montenegro at Ministerial level was held on Monday 13 December 2021 in Brussels.

The Council imposed sanctions against the Wagner Group, a Russia-based private military company, targeting the Wagner group itself, and eight individuals and three entities connected to it.

Council adopts conclusions on new plan to safeguard Europe’s food supply

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

Press briefing ahead the European Council meeting of 16 December 2021

A Tanács következtetéseket fogad el a polgári KBVP területére vonatkozó paktumról, amelyekben újólag biztosít arról, hogy elkötelezett a közös biztonság- és védelempolitika polgári ágának megerősítése iránt.

The President of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, has sent a letter to the President of the Euro Summit, Charles Michel. The letter takes stock of the progress achieved in the Eurogroup on key policy issues relevant for the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Tanács a jegyzékbe vétel új kritériumait határozta meg a mali helyzetre tekintettel hozott korlátozó intézkedések keretében. Az elfogadott határozat és rendelet célpontjában azok a személyek és szervezetek állnak, akik és amelyek akadályozzák a politikai átmenetet, illetve a hatalomnak a megválasztott hatóságokra való átruházását.

Stolichna obshtina, rayon "Pancharevo"
Citizenship of the Union
Child, being a minor and a Union citizen, whose birth certificate was drawn up by the host Member State and designates as parents two persons of the same sex: the Member State of which the child is a national is obliged to issue an identity card or a passport to that child without requiring a birth certificate to be drawn up beforehand by its national authorities

Stolichna obshtina, rayon "Pancharevo"
Uniós polgárság  
Uniós polgársággal rendelkező olyan kiskorú, akinek a fogadó tagállam által kiállított születési anyakönyvi kivonata a gyermek szüleiként két azonos nemű személyt tüntet fel: a kiskorú állampolgársága szerinti tagállam anélkül köteles a kiskorú számára személyazonosító igazolványt vagy útlevelet kiállítani, hogy megkövetelné, hogy a saját nemzeti hatóságai előzetesen születési anyakönyvi kivonatot állítsanak ki

Stolichna obshtina, rayon "Pancharevo"
Citoyenneté européenne
Enfant mineur citoyen de l’Union dont l’acte de naissance établi par l’État membre d’accueil désigne comme ses parents deux personnes de même sexe : l’État membre dont il est ressortissant est obligé de lui délivrer une carte d’identité ou un passeport, sans requérir l’établissement préalable d’un acte de naissance par ses autorités nationales

L’année 2021 marque le 70e anniversaire du début des activités d​u HCR, l’Agence des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés, dont le siège est à Genève.

“Enforced and involuntary disappearances in dictatorship and authoritarian past and contemporary settings: a social, legal and historical appraisal of transitional and transformation polices and mechanisms,” was the topic of an international conference held in Tirana and online, from 13 to 15 December 2021.

The OSCE Presence in Albania and the University of Tirana’s Centre for Justice and Transformation jointly organized the event with the financial support of the German Government. Academics, practitioners and policy-makers who experienced authoritarian regimes and dictatorships discussed the issue of missing persons in transitional justice and transformation settings and ways to foster human rights and rule of law.

In his opening remarks, Vincenzo Del Monaco, Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania said: “Not one single case of enforced disappearances seems to have been solved successfully to date. Justice and reconciliation is still pending for the missing persons’ relatives. Evidence suggests that they are often compelled to undertake identification and, in some cases, perform arduous excavation of suspected mass graves single-handedly. Working closely with the Albanian institutions and civil society, the Presence has been involved in enhancing institutional capacities, supporting legislative and policy-making efforts and promoting academic and policy debate on the issue of missing persons in Albania.”

In his online address, Ulsi Manja, Minister of Justice said that the issue of enforced disappearances should be dealt with the utmost of care and sensitivity. He also mentioned steps taken by Albania’s Government over the last years, especially focusing on establishing a common database on missing people. The database will enable the collection of accurate and reliable information on missing persons.

“Nothing belongs to the past, everything is present and has the potential to become the future,” said the German Ambassador, Peter Zingraf, quoting Fritz Bauer, public prosecutor of the first of the Auschwitz trials in the 1960s. “Germany financially supports the OSCE project on transitional justice because we know about the importance of coming to terms with even the darkest sides of Albania’s history, and just like Fritz Bauer, I truly believe that facing one’s past is fundamental for the wellbeing of the society, today and in the future.”

Around 6,000 Albanians have gone missing during the communist regime, and their whereabouts are still unknown. This human rights violation deeply and constantly affects the families of the missing. The OSCE Presence in Albania stands alongside the authorities in their efforts to identify and recover those who have gone missing during the communist regime.

By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
BANGKOK, Thailand, Dec 14 2021 (IPS)

Transport ministers from across Asia and the Pacific are meeting this week to consider a potentially transformational agenda for how people and goods are moved around the region and across the globe.

Pre-COVID-19 transport connectivity weaknesses in the Asia-Pacific region became even more apparent during the pandemic: landlocked developing countries, least developed countries and small island developing States were particularly affected. Therefore, it is imperative that we accelerate meaningful change in transport systems as countries seek to put their development agendas back on track.

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

It is against this backdrop that officials meeting at the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific for the fourth Ministerial Conference on Transport are debating a Regional Action Programme for 2022-2026: a new roadmap for a transport system needed to attain the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The new RAP would address such issues as increasing freight and passenger volumes, reflecting rising demand for freight transport and mobility. Indeed, two-thirds of global seaborne trade is concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region, which also is home to nine of the world’s busiest container ports. The region is currently responsible for more than 40 per cent of the global surface freight transport flows and by 2050 the continent’s demand for freight transport is projected to triple. Asia and the Pacific is expected to face greater trade exchanges, further substantial demographic growth and rapid urbanization coupled with high motorization rates in coming years.

To cope with such changes and demands, the RAP would encourage greater digitalization and innovation for transport; as the pandemic unfolded, we saw that accelerated adoption of digital technologies helped governments and private enterprises keep activities going amid border closures and other containment measures. Further deployment of smart transport systems to improve efficiency, resilience as well as social and environmental sustainability is undoubtedly a key priorities for building back better.

Other key provisions of the RAP include speeding up transitions to low-carbon transport systems. The transport sector is one of the highest contributors to climate change and Asia and the Pacific remains among the highest CO2 emitting regions in the world. There is a strong need for rapid decarbonization of the regional transport networks and related operations, including urban and public transport. Shifting to railways would also greatly boost sustainability of international freight transport and move to a more sustainable post-COVID-19 world. An abundance of renewable energy in some countries is an opportunity to switch to electric mobility in public transport. To support these efforts, ESCAP last month unveiled at the climate change conference in Glasgow plans for an Asia-Pacific Initiative on Electric Mobility.

In this vein, the outbreak of COVID-19 also had a profound impact on urban transport, accessibility and mobility. These challenges provide new momentum to transport and city planners to rethink forms of mobility as a service that is affordable, accessible, reliable and safe. Furthermore, gender gaps and inequalities in terms of access to transport and related opportunities persist, further inhibiting the capacity of the sector to equally address the social dimensions of sustainable development.

In the context of sustainable development, we cannot disregard the fact that 60 per cent of global road crash fatalities occur in the Asia and Pacific region. The General Assembly has proclaimed 2021 to 2030 as the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety, with a goal of cutting by half road traffic deaths and injuries; in response, ESCAP is preparing an Asia-Pacific Regional Plan of Action.

International freight transport remained largely operational throughout the pandemic, as countries took policy measures to preserve freight transport connectivity to support supply chains. The Asian Highway, Trans-Asian Railway and dry port networks established under ESCAP auspices serve as the backbone for land transport infrastructure connectivity and logistics in the region. They are also increasingly integrated with inter-regional transport corridors and port and shipping networks. In 2020 and 2021, these links brought countries together to capture and analyze their responses to the pandemic and the impacts of those actions on regional connectivity. Moving forward, they can be further leveraged to promote infrastructure and operational connectivity reforms in support of a seamless integrated web of intermodal transport connections underpinning the regional and global economy.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted progress in Asia and the Pacific towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals and, in some cases, reversed years of achievement. The transport sector, which is instrumental to attaining the SDGs, took a significant hit during the pandemic, but countries demonstrated an ability to move swiftly towards automation and innovation to maintain functionality and resilience, and support access to social inclusion. This also points to the capacity of the sector to take bold new steps towards low-carbon development. A new Regional Action Programme can prove to be pivotal in addressing the region’s lagging performance and enhancing resilience to future crises by reducing deep-rooted social, economic and environmental challenges.

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

 

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À quelques jours du lancement de la saison 2021-2022, Magic Pass propose deux nouveaux partenariats pour faciliter le trajet jusqu’aux pistes de ski.

A keddi ülésén enyhítheti a kormány a karácsonyi családlátogatási tilalmat, amit nem is a konzílium javaslatára rendelt el valaki. Már 3 hónap után beadható lesz a COVID-19 elleni védőoltás harmadik adagja. A pandémia még az útlevélkérelmek számára is kedvezőtlenül hatott. Sok az elhunyt – egyre hosszabb a várakozási idő a temetésre és a hamvasztásra.