Acquiring Patriot Surface-to-Air Missiles & more – 9th Jan 2024

Saluton from BA! This is Rorshok’s Multilateral Update from the 9th of January twenty twenty-four A summary of what's going down in the world's major multilateral institutions.

NATO's Support and Procurement Agency is assisting a coalition of European allies, including Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, and Spain, in acquiring hundreds of Patriot surface-to-air missiles for $5.5 billion dollars. This purchase is in response to Ukraine's use of the US-made air defense system against Russian targets. The contract for this acquisition has been awarded to COMLOG, a joint venture between US company RTX (formerly Raytheon) and MBDA Germany. If all options are exercised, these European nations will purchase a total of 1,000 Patriot Guidance Enhanced Missiles. These missiles are designed to defeat tactical ballistic, cruise missiles, or adversary aircraft. The deal will also expand production in Europe and establish a Patriot production facility in Germany. This move comes after Russia’s new airstrike campaign targeting Kyiv and Kharkiv, with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky reporting hundreds of missiles and drones used against his country.

Moving on, the African Union Transition Mission on Somalia (or ATMIS) continues its troop drawdown, and the United Nations has lifted the thirty-one-year-long arms embargo on Somalia. According to AU Special Representative Mohamed El-Amine Souef and Somalia's Minister for Information, Culture, and Tourism Daud Aweis, this marks a significant development in Somalia's security situation and enhances the capabilities of the Somali Security Forces (or SSF) in combatting al-Shabaab. The lifting of the embargo will also enable Somalia to modernize its armed forces and defend its sovereignty more effectively. Joint operations between ATMIS and SSF continue to target terrorist groups like al-Shabaab in various regions of Somalia.

In other news, lawyers representing victims of the Cizre events, a severe conflict in the Kurdish-majority southeast of Turkey that took place between twenty fifteen and twenty sixteen, plan to take their cases to the European Court of Human Rights. The Turkish Constitutional Court has rejected appeals claiming violations of the right to life. The conflict in Cizre, marked by a state-imposed curfew, led to the deaths of 288 people, with 177 in cellars during a seventy-nine-day curfew. Families of the victims sought justice through domestic legal channels but were denied at local and Constitutional Courts. Hüseyin Tül, of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom, criticized the Constitutional Court's decisions, citing political bias. Human rights organizations and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party reported extensive human rights violations during the conflict, including killings inside homes and targeted attacks. Victims' families seek justice and accountability for the atrocities.

Next up, The Economic Community of West African States (or ECOWAS) has announced plans to relocate former Sierra Leone President, Ernest Bai Koroma, to Nigeria. This decision is based on an agreement reached during an ECOWAS Mission to Freetown on the 23rd of December, led by Ghana's President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Senegal's Macky Sall. The former President has accepted the invitation to be temporarily hosted in Nigeria. However, Timothy Kabba, Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister, opposed the proposal, considering it a unilateral decision by the ECOWAS Commission President. Koroma faces charges related to an attempted coup following a breakout from a military armory and prisons in Freetown in November, which he has denied involvement in. The coup attempt occurred after a disputed election that Julius Maada Bio, the incumbent President, won five months earlier.

In environmental news, The International Atomic Energy Agency (or IAEA) has initiated a mission to study the presence and impact of microplastics in Antarctica. These tiny plastic particles, measuring less than five millimeters in diameter, were first identified in Antarctica in two thousand nine. The IAEA's NUTEC Plastics initiative aims to better understand the origins, movement, and impact of microplastics to address this global problem. The research will be conducted in cooperation with two Argentinian agencies, and the team will collect samples from various sites, including seawater, lakes, sediment, sandy beaches, and even Antarctic animals like limpets, clams, and penguins. IAEA laboratories in Monaco and Buenos Aires will analyze the samples to identify the source of the pollution.

South Africa has accused Israel of genocidal acts in Gaza and has submitted an eight-four-page document to the International Court of Justice (or ICJ), urging the court to order Israel to suspend its military operations in Gaza immediately. South Africa alleges that Israel has engaged in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza. The ICJ’s decisions are legally binding, but it has limited power to enforce them. South Africa has filed the case because both countries have signed the UN Genocide Convention. South Africa wants the ICJ to impose provisional measures, including reparations and reconstruction of Gaza, while the broader case is being considered. Israel's military campaign in Gaza has resulted in significant casualties and displacement. The outcome of the case could have a symbolic impact, even though enforcement of the ICJ's decision may be challenging.

Still in the South but in another continent… South American Mercosur countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, are considering a high-level summit with top European Union officials in Brasília in late January or early February to finalize their long-delayed trade agreement. Earlier hopes of sealing the deal were dashed when outgoing Argentinian President Alberto Fernández, citing concerns for local businesses, withdrew support for the agreement following the election of Javier Milei as his successor. This move surprised both Mercosur and EU allies and raised doubts about the pact, which has been in the works for almost twenty-five years. However, there is now renewed optimism for a breakthrough before the European Commission's mandate expires in June, with Paraguay, despite initial skepticism, allowing Brazil to continue leading negotiations with the European Commission. Meetings at the technical level will take place in January to address remaining differences in trade, sustainability, and procurement.

On another note, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (or ASEAN) issued an unprecedented stand-alone statement regarding the South China Sea, expressing concern about recent developments that may undermine peace and stability in the region. The statement emphasizes a commitment to peaceful dispute resolution, respect for legal and diplomatic processes, and the importance of international law(or UNCLOS). It refrains from mentioning specific countries, such as China and the Philippines, involved in the South China Sea dispute. The statement also encourages the full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and the conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. The ASEAN foreign ministers' statement welcomes recent maritime dialogues between China and the United States and hopes for continued dialogues to strengthen stability and cooperation in the region's maritime sphere.

And to close this edition, the African Union (or AU) and the United States have urged calm in the Horn of Africa after a controversial deal between Ethiopia and Somaliland escalated tensions. The agreement, signed in Addis Ababa, gives Ethiopia access to the Red Sea through Somaliland in exchange for maritime services, a military base, and leasing twenty kilometers (or twelve miles) of coastline for fifty years.

Somalia has vehemently opposed the agreement, describing it as a threat to its sovereignty. The AU called for dialogue to de-escalate tensions and preserve good relations between Ethiopia and Somalia while emphasizing the importance of respecting African Union member states' sovereignty. The United States rejected international recognition for Somaliland and joined in calling for diplomatic negotiations to resolve the conflict.

Aaand that's it for this week!

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