The Subcommittee on Security and Defence and the Committee on Foreign Affairs will hold a debate with Dr Amanda Sloat, Special Assistant to US President Biden and Senior Director for Europe, National Security Council of the United States, on 24 June. Dr Sloat was part of the delegation accompanying President Biden during his first overseas trip since taking office in January 2021. The debate will look back and reflect on the outcome of the EU-US Summit that took place 15 June.
The meeting will be held in association with the European Parliament delegation for relations with the United States.
On 24 June 2021, twenty-eight participants, including 12 women and 16 men, from Parliament, local authorities, private companies and civic organizations participated in a roundtable discussion on the main ecological challenges of the region in Petropavl, northern Kazakhstan. The OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan organized the event, in partnership with the Association of Environmental Organizations.
The roundtable discussion focused on major environmental challenges in the city of Petropavl and the surrounding region, and ways to tackle them considering the newly passed environmental code. The new legislation will enter into force on 1 July 2021. Participants also visited ecologically polluted areas outside the city and examined the situation at the Petropavl’s sewage facility, wastewater treatment plant and waste recycling site.
The event is the first in a series of three environmental monitoring visits outside the capital to identify ecological problems and bring them to the attention of local decision-makers. Another objective of the event was to explain the main provisions of the newly enacted environmental code to the invited stakeholders. Follow-up events will take place later this year in the Zhambyl and Pavlodar regions.
The event was part of the Programme Office’s long-term efforts to strengthen environmental security in Kazakhstan by promoting green economy and sustainable development principles.
Le 25 juin 1991, la Slovénie et la Croatie proclamaient leur indépendance, engageant le processus de démantèlement de la Yougoslavie. Depuis longtemps, les aspirations démocratiques slovènes se heurtaient à l'intransigeance de Slobodan Milošević. L'ancien président slovène Milan Kučan revient sur ces années cruciales. Entretien exclusif.
Propos recueillis par Jean-Arnault Dérens et Simon Rico
Né en 1941, Milan Kučan prend la tête de la Ligue des communistes slovènes en 1986. Il devient président de la (...)
Az uniós ügynökség májusi bevándorlási adatokat rögzítő jelentése szerint az illegális határátlépések száma elérte a 10 500-at, ami több mint kétszerese az előző év azonos időszakának adataival.
A Földközi-tenger középső medencéjében kialakult, főként Olaszországot érintő útvonalon az előző év azonos időszakához képest májusban kétszer annyi, mintegy 4200 illegális határátlépést jeleztek. A területen illetékes hatóságok az előző hónapban 1550 illegális bevándorlóról számoltak be. Az első öt hónap migrációs adata szintén közel kétszerese a tavalyinak, januártól május végéig több mint 15 700-an próbáltak meg itt Európába jutni. A bevándorlók között főként tunéziaiak és bangladesiek voltak.
A Földközi-tenger nyugati medencéjében húzódó, Spanyolországot érintő migrációs útvonalon májusban, az előző év adatainál 50 százalékkal több, mintegy 1350 illegálisan érkezőről számoltak be a hatóságok, amíg áprilisban 300-ról. Ezen a migrációs útvonalon az év első öt hónapjában 4500 körül volt a feljegyzett illegális határátkelők száma. Ez 21 százalékkal több, mint az előző év azonos időszakában. Ezen az útvonalon elsősorban algériaiak és marokkóiak próbáltak Európába jutni.
A Spanyolországhoz tartozó Kanári-szigeteken májusban körülbelül 550, önmagukat legtöbb esetben mali és marokkói állampolgároknak valló emberek által elkövetett illegális határátlépést jegyeztek fel. Az adat közel azonos az egy évvel ezelőtt feljegyzett számoknak. A január és május közötti időszakban közel 5250 illegális bevándorló érkezett a Kanári-szigetekre, kétszer annyi, mint tavaly.
A Földközi-tenger keleti medencéjében, Görögország tengeri és szárazföldi határán a múlt hónapban mintegy 1400 illegális határátkelési kísérletet észleltek, ez több mint háromszorosa az előző év azonos hónapjában feljegyzett számoknak. Az év első öt hónapjának összesített adatai azonban az egy évvel ezelőtt feljegyzett számoknak mintegy felére, 6200-ra csökkent. Itt főként szír és török állampolgárok próbáltak bejutni az EU területére.
A Nyugat-Balkán országaiban az előző hónapban 2900 illegális határátlépésről számoltak be, ami kétszer magasabb a tavaly májusi adatoknál. Az idei év első öt hónapjában azonosított illegális bevándorlók száma az EU nyugat-balkáni országokkal közös határán meghaladta a 14 700-at, ami több mint kétszerese az előző év azonos időszakában feljegyzett számoknak. Az esetek többségében szíreket és az afgánokat állítottak elő a régióban.
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Written by Tania Latici with Mathilde Betant Rasmussen.
Achieving peace and security in the world is an increasingly complex task that relies on managing a number of changing and compounding threats, ranging from violent conflict and terrorism to global pandemics and climate change. The 2021 Peace and Security Outlook maps these threats in a global context and assesses the EU’s contribution to addressing a constantly changing global security landscape. To mark the 2021 edition of this publication, the EPRS organised an expert roundtable on Thursday 17 June 2021, entitled ‘Peace and security in the world today: what difference is Europe making and how can we make its impact even bigger?’ chaired by Etienne Bassot, Director of the Members’ Research Service at EPRS. Following an introduction to the topic and context for the event by Anthony Teasdale, Director-General of EPRS, David McAllister, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, opened the event with a keynote speech highlighting the need for the EU to speak with one voice on foreign policy issues. To increase the EU’s impact on peace and security globally, Mr McAllister emphasised the importance of aligning EU foreign policy goals with other policy areas, including trade, development and the environment. He also recommended wielding the EU’s human rights sanctions powers, as well as conducting thorough threat assessments. Finally, Mr McAllister outlined key foreign policy priorities for the EU, such as boosting the transatlantic partnership, strengthening security in the eastern and southern neighbourhoods, upgrading relations with Taiwan and implementing a new EU-China strategy.
Isabelle Arradon, Director of Research at International Crisis Group, launched the discussion that followed, by analysing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on peace and security in the world. The Crisis Group report ‘COVID-19 and Conflict: Seven Trends to Watch‘ reports that the pandemic has led to armed actors strengthening their grip over territories, particularly in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa; governments perpetrating increased human rights violations against their populations; and strained diplomatic relations, for example between China and the USA. Despite these trends, Ms Arradon emphasised that the pandemic has had little effect on the world’s major conflicts, such as in Yemen and Somalia, and that ceasefire commitments have not lasted. She concluded that foreign policy priorities should focus on increasing humanitarian assistance and international cooperation to address the continuing needs of conflict-affected populations.
René Van Nes, Head of Division for Conflict Prevention and Mediation Support at the European External Action Service reaffirmed that conflicts across the world have indeed been resilient to the pandemic. He outlined worrying trends arising from the crisis, namely the increase in online disinformation and gender-based violence globally. He then outlined the EU’s peace and security toolbox, including the new Global Europe Instrument, strong partnerships, and the EU’s strength in the peace and security sector as a widely recognised conflict mediator.
Deputy Leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and author of The EU as a small power: After the Cold War (2010), Dr Asle Toje, took a more historical perspective on the EU’s role in peace and security, stating that EU involvement in the security sector has become involuntary due to the pressing nature of ongoing conflicts at its borders. Evaporating trust in powerful neighbouring states such as Russia and Turkey, as well as increasing migration from neighbourhood, were seen as central issues for the EU’s foreign policy agenda. Dr Toje also stressed the importance of a unified EU voice on foreign policy matters, adding that timely reaction to external developments is greatly needed.
Finally, Elena Lazarou, Acting Head of the External Policies Unit at EPRS and co-author of the Peace and Security Outlook, discussed the lessons learnt on peace and security in the past year and ways forward to improve the EU’s impact as a security actor. She highlighted the increasingly complex and multidimensional nature of the peace and security landscape, including rising threats such as energy insecurity, disinformation and climate security. She also noted that the most vulnerable regions of the world, such as sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Central Asia, are those where most of these threats coincide. As responses to such threats, she highlighted the role of the new Global Europe Instrument, the EU’s human right sanctions regime, as well as the forthcoming Strategic Compass, while emphasising the need for foresight and anticipation, particularly in light of the pandemic, to address current threats while increasing resilience against future risks.
Tania Latici, Policy Analyst at the External Policies Unit of EPRS and co-author of the Peace and Security Outlook, opened the Q&A session by reflecting on the concept of resilience as an increasing part of security and defence policy and its implications for conflict resolution efforts. She introduced the new European Peace Facility into the debate and asked how it might contribute to the EU’s conflict mediation efforts. In light of a week of multiple international summits, she asked Elena Lazarou to weigh the implications of this renewed multilateralism on peace and security and then raised the concept of strategic autonomy in the context of peace promotion, asking Dr Asle Toje for his views.
The event can be viewed online on the EPRS YouTube channel.
David McAllister, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament