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En raison de travaux d’entretien, le Consulat général d’Espagne à Oran annonce la fermeture temporaire de ses services d’accueil présentiel jusqu’au 7 juin 2026 inclus. […]

L’article Consulat d’Espagne à Oran : fermeture temporaire, les demandeurs de visa concernés ? est apparu en premier sur .

Credit: Adobe Stock Photo / Source: UN News
 
A staggering 55 million people across West and Central Africa are expected to suffer crisis levels of hunger, or worse, during the lean season from June to August as funding cuts to humanitarian operations continue amid rising violence and displacement. UN News January 2026

By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW, Jun 3 2026 (IPS)

Within the framework of the Expert Council on Africa at Russia’s State Duma, the lower chamber of parliamentarians, during its annual round-table conference, held in late May 2026, focused concretely on food security in Africa.

The Expert Council has further outlined a strategic roadmap to raise collaboration in the sphere of food security, emphasizing the necessity to address policy inconsistencies that have generally dominated Russian-African relations since the Soviet collapse.

Under the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker of the State Duma, Alexander Babakov, the council’s round-table session on—Russian-African cooperation in the field of ensuring food security, introduction of closed cycle technologies in agricultural and bioeconomy projects—was held in the State Duma.

Opening the meeting, Alexander Babakov, noted the importance of continuing cooperation with African countries already in the new convocation of the State Duma, to which elections will be held in September 2026.

“I am sure that right from the beginning of the work of the new convocation, the theme of cooperation between Russia and African countries will work as an example for circulation and use in other areas,” he said.

A member of the Committee on the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, deputy chairman of the Expert Council on Africa, Nikolai Novichkov, in his speech stressed the importance of a gradual transition to trade with African high-tech countries. “Our African partners are interested in producing and processing food locally, including earning a living on it,” the parliamentarian stated.

The Director of the Department of Partnership with Africa at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Tatiana Dovgalenko, drew attention to the continued importance of the humanitarian component of Russian-African cooperation, which, despite efforts, “unforeseen including and along the lines of specialized UN agencies, the number of hungry people in the world, has been growing over the past few years.” According to Dovgalenko, the food crisis is localized in about 10 countries, four of which are in Africa.

There are still a few points to underline here: Russia is committed to supporting African countries in need of humanitarian assistance, while strengthening the prospects of developing and expanding aspects of bilateral cooperation. Russia has offered many African countries with food supplies over the years.

As traditionally expected, Africa can leverage for Russia’s food supplies. It is essential to acknowledge that serious efforts are being directed at coordinating mechanisms in advancing political dialogue and pursuing other sectoral cooperation with African partners.

At the same time, Foreign Ministry’s records show stages of supporting food security and African beneficiaries such as Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, Madagascar, Libya, Sudan and South Sudan, and Zimbabwe. Mostly, ethnic-conflicting African countries are the beneficiaries, and many reasons are assigned for Russia’s engagement in this aspect of diplomacy.

Reasons for Development Assistance

Russia’s humanitarian and development assistance to Africa is primarily driven by its geopolitical ambitions to expand its global influence, counter Western isolation, secure access to vital natural resources, and foster dependency among African nations.

Countering Western Influence: Russia seeks to position itself as an alternative to Western powers, often advocating for a “multipolar world” and non-interference in the domestic affairs of African states. This approach is particularly appealing to authoritarian regimes on the continent.

Securing Diplomatic Alliances:
African nations represent a significant voting bloc at the United Nations General Assembly. Humanitarian outreach, such as free delivery of grains, helps Russia secure diplomatic support, strengthen food security and votes on key international resolutions.

Leveraging “Grain Diplomacy”:
By providing humanitarian food aid, Moscow mitigates the effects of the global food shortages and supply chain disruptions caused by its own military actions in Ukraine. It uses these provisions to maintain African countries within its geopolitical orbit.

Food Aid Deals:
Aid serves as an entry point for deeper strategic ties. Russia utilizes this assistance as part of its diplomacy to project an image of a benevolent global power. Funding and providing food assistance helps build long-term relationships with the continent’s future leaders and local populations.

As first deputy chairman of the Committee on International Affairs, Alexei Chepa noted at the State Duma, the food crisis and a number of other serious threats on the African continent are today exacerbated by a complex international, United States and Israel vs. Iran causing rising energy prices worldwide.

“This has also reflected on the cost of fertilizers that needed to be purchased previously. Even if prices fall in a few months, the yield still won’t. And there will be problems in Africa. At the same time, we understand that population growth in the coming years will be at Africa’s expense,” Chepa underlined in his contribution at the meeting.

Chepa also mentioned the special role of security enhancement in Africa, including in countering extremism and terrorism.

As part of the continuation of the work of the roundtable to promote cooperation with African countries in ensuring food security, the introduction of closed-loop technologies in agricultural and bio economics projects was discussed. As traditional procedure, some recommendations are addressed to the Government of the Russian Federation.

In addition to representatives of the State Duma, the State Duma’s deputy chairman Alexander Babakov, brought also representatives of ministries, related-agencies and departments, and the expert community to develop concrete steps directed toward raising connectivity between Russia and Africa, the main reason for establishing the State Duma’s Expert Council on the Development and Support of Comprehensive Partnerships with African Countries.

Kester Kenn Klomegah focuses on current geopolitical changes, foreign relations and economic development-related questions in Africa with external countries. Most of his well-resourced articles are reprinted in several reputable foreign media.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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AMENDMENTS 408 - 660 - Draft report Establishing Global Europe
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on Development
Robert Biedroń, Michael Gahler

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

AMENDMENTS 408 - 660 - Draft report Establishing Global Europe
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on Development
Robert Biedroń, Michael Gahler

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Combattu par les Croisés, Saladin, les guérilleros palestiniens et l'armée israélienne, le château de Beaufort est devenu un champ de bataille majeur en 1982 et conserve aujourd'hui une importance stratégique.

At first glance, the French DGSE foreign intelligence service's plans to recruit a key source in Georgia, a country considered [...]

L’épidémie qui sévit en République démocratique du Congo est liée à la souche Bundibugyo de la maladie, or le seul vaccin disponible est adapté à la souche Zaïre. Les spécialistes sont partagés sur l’utilité que ce produit pourrait néanmoins offrir.

Dauer des Videos : 15'

Haftungsausschluss : Die Verdolmetschung der Debatten soll die Kommunikation erleichtern, sie stellt jedoch keine authentische Aufzeichnung der Debatten dar. Authentisch sind nur die Originalfassungen der Reden bzw. ihre überprüften schriftlichen Übersetzungen.
Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

Length of video : 15'

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

En Italie, quatre ouvriers agricoles migrants, trois Afghans et un Pakistanais, ont été brûlés vifs le 1er juin 2026 dans un véhicule à Corigliano-Rossano, en Calabre, dans le sud de l'Italie. Deux suspects pakistanais, présentés comme des « caporali » – ces contremaîtres qui contrôlent une main-d'œuvre précaire – ont été arrêtés. Ce quadruple meurtre remet en lumière le phénomène du « caporalato » et les limites de la lutte contre l'exploitation des travailleurs migrants.

La coopération militaire entre Kinshasa et Prague prend forme avec un nouveau partenariat.

L’ambassadeur tchèque, Petr Selepa, et le vice-Premier ministre de la Défense nationale, Guy Kabombo Muadiamvita, ont échangé sur cette question mardi 2 mai à Kinshasa.

This paper argues that Europe’s renewed focus on defence since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exposed and, in many cases, extended deep structural dependencies, particularly on the United States. It contends that traditional notions of strategic autonomy are no longer viable in an era defined by complex, globalised and commercially-driven supply chains. Instead, the paper proposes a more pragmatic framework in which autonomy is achieved through the management, rather than elimination, of dependencies. The paper introduces the concept of “strategic indispensability” as a novel way forward. In so doing, the paper calls for Europe to cultivate critical capabilities and leverage asymmetric interdependence to enhance both resilience and influence. Ultimately, the paper argues that European defence policy should shift from a form of reactive dependency to the proactive shaping of interdependencies that align industrial policy, capability development and partnerships to strengthen Europe’s position within global defence ecosystems.     

À télécharger

• ARES Group #131 – Policy Paper (PDF)

L’article Security of Supply and Interdependency: A New Approach to Strategic Autonomy and Indispensability est apparu en premier sur IRIS.

Criminal network allegedly used fake subsidy declarations to siphon EU funds

Dauer des Videos : 60'

Haftungsausschluss : Die Verdolmetschung der Debatten soll die Kommunikation erleichtern, sie stellt jedoch keine authentische Aufzeichnung der Debatten dar. Authentisch sind nur die Originalfassungen der Reden bzw. ihre überprüften schriftlichen Übersetzungen.
Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

Length of video : 60'

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Anciennement surnommé le « Davos russe », ce rendez-vous économique annuel se déroule désormais sous l’ombre portée de la guerre en Ukraine. Des visiteurs étrangers qui n’étaient pas venus depuis 2022 sont annoncés ; ils sont souvent proches des vues du pouvoir russe. Le forum se déroule sous une pression sécuritaire nouvelle, avec des drones ukrainiens qui ont touché des sites énergétiques à Saint-Pétersbourg ce mercredi.

The US plan has sparked public anger and led to demonstrations near the site of the proposed treatment facility.

EU will Herstellung von Photovoltaikanlagen durch neue Gesetzgebung resilienter und unabhängiger machen – Mitgliedstaaten dürfen Förderung an nicht preisbezogene Kriterien wie CO₂‑Fußabdruck knüpfen – Ansätze sind EU-weit sehr heterogen und Modellanalyse zeigt, dass dadurch hohe Kosten entstehen – ...