MULTILATERAL: NATO Head & more – 25th Jun 2024

Saluton from BA! This is the Rorshok Multilateral Update from the 25th of June twenty twenty-four. A summary of what's going down in the world's major multilateral institutions.

To kick things off, Romania, the only member state previously blocking Mark Rutte's candidacy for NATO secretary general, withdrew its opposition and decided to pull its own candidate from the running on Thursday the 20th. With Romanian President Klaus Iohannis no longer a contender, Rutte, the outgoing Dutch prime minister, is now set to assume the role. His nomination can proceed, although the exact date for the official confirmation has yet to be determined. Jens Stoltenberg has been NATO’s secretary general for almost a decade, since October twenty fourteen. As tensions between NATO and Russia are only growing over the Ukraine war, the new leader of the alliance will have a tough job ahead of them.

Speaking of Ukraine, on Friday the 21st, the EU agreed to begin membership discussions with Ukraine and Moldova, a significant step in their efforts to align more closely with Western nations and reduce Russian influence. Belgium, which currently presides over the EU, announced that the negotiations would start on Tuesday the 25th in Luxembourg. Following Russia's invasion in February twenty twenty-two, Ukraine swiftly applied for EU membership, and by June of that year, the EU leaders had unusually quickly granted it candidate status. However, progress has been slower since then, and full membership for both countries remains a long-term goal, potentially taking years or even decades to achieve.

Also on Friday, the World Health Organization, or WHO, cautioned that the intense heat in the Gaza Strip could worsen health conditions for Palestinians displaced by ongoing Israeli bombings and fierce battles with Hamas militants. The World Food Program also highlighted the imminent risk of a major public health crisis in Gaza due to shortages of clean water, food, and medical supplies. The WHO has reported that diseases like cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, and hepatitis A are associated with contaminated water and poor sanitation, so Palestinians are at risk of contracting them. Since Israel shut down the Rafah crossing after attacks on the country in early May, the WHO has been unable to perform medical evacuations from Gaza.

More about the Israel-Palestine conflict, as an official UN investigation into Israel's breaches of international law in Palestine unveiled its findings on Tuesday the 18th. It alleged that Israeli leaders had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the extermination of Palestinians, labeled as a genocide in Gaza. Navi Pillay, the chairperson of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said that the magnitude of these war crimes was "unprecedented." The commission has handed over 7,000 pieces of evidence to Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who has indicted Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, and Yoav Gallan, the Defense Minister, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In other news, Fariz Rzayev, Azerbaijan's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, participated in the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, Malta Chairmanship's High-Level Conference on Climate Change on Friday the 21st. During the conference, discussions focused on the impact of climate change on security in the OSCE region. Rzayev underscored Azerbaijan's own vulnerabilities to climate change and affirmed the country’s endorsement of the OSCE Ministerial Council's twenty twenty-one decision in Stockholm to strengthen cooperative efforts in addressing climate-related challenges.

Moving on, on Friday the 21st, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, and China introduced groundbreaking initiatives to foster media cooperation and deepen cultural exchanges. These initiatives include creating an ASEAN-China media collaboration network to enhance media exchanges, fostering mutual understanding, and supporting information sharing.

Still in Asia, on Thursday the 20th, after holding discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, To Lam, the Vietnamese President, affirmed his country’s endorsement of an inclusive and open trade framework rooted in the principles of the World Trade Organization. Countries in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, such as Vietnam and Russia, supported efforts to reform the World Trade Organization to improve its effectiveness at a summit in twenty twenty-three. They also reiterated their dedication to maintaining a trade and investment climate that is free, open, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, inclusive, and predictable.

Up next, on Tuesday the 18th, at the UN Security Council, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates or UAE clashed over Sudan's remarks that the UAE is supporting a rival faction in their ongoing fourteen-month conflict. The battle began last April between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces over an electoral transition.

Mohamed Abushahab, the UAE's UN Ambassador, dismissed Sudan's allegations as unfounded and diversionary from serious humanitarian violations. In January, UN experts overseeing the arms embargo in the Darfur region of Sudan reported evidence that the UAE was sending weapons to the Rapid Support Forces from northern Chad. On Tuesday, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield reiterated the US call for all other parties involved to stop sending weapons to Sudan.

The conflict has caused immense suffering, with nearly half of Sudan's population, about 25 million people, requiring aid and eight million displaced from their homes amid looming hunger.

More news from Africa as, on Thursday the 20th, The Economic Community of West African States welcomed the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to discuss potential partnerships with the Network of Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa. During the visit, the Chairman briefed the rest of the Economic Community of West African States on the forthcoming Network of Anti-Corruption Institutions Annual General Meeting and requested their support for the upcoming event.

Also on Thursday the 20th, the International Organization for Migration, or IOM, raised serious concerns about the harsh conditions endured by displaced persons in Benue State. On Thursday, during the launch of the Rapid Response Fund in the city of Nigeria Makurdi, Laurent DeBoeck, the IOM Chief of Mission, highlighted the plight of internally displaced persons. The IOM plays a big role in helping internally displaced persons by providing emergency assistance, like food, water, and shelter, to people who have been forced to leave their homes due to conflict or natural disasters. The IOM also helps people find long-term solutions by supporting community rebuilding efforts and offering training programs to improve their job prospects.

The Inter-American Development Bank Group unveiled a novel strategy to aid Latin American and Caribbean nations in confronting the rising challenges of violent crimes on Friday the 21st. This new framework focuses on one of the region’s significant development hurdles, impacting even middle-income countries. The bank pointed out that the region’s economic toll of violence is at least 3.5% of its GDP. A key innovation of the framework is its territorial approach, which identifies areas affected by fragility, conflict, and criminal violence at both national and subnational levels.

And to wrap up this edition, some news from the oil world. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (or OPEC) Fund for International Development will host its third Development Forum on Tuesday the 25th, in Vienna, Austria. The forum will focus on sustainable development solutions and address three main themes, that is, building institutional capacity, increasing investment in smart infrastructure, and enhancing human capital. The goal is to speed up progress on global sustainable development and tackle critical issues like climate change and food security. Some critics argue that OPEC's focus on oil production and maintaining high oil prices conflicts with global efforts to reduce carbon emissions. They say OPEC countries have been slow at investing in renewable energy and often resist policies that reduce fossil fuel consumption. Also, OPEC's influence on the global oil market might undermine international climate agreements by encouraging continued dependence on fossil fuels instead of transitioning to greener alternatives.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Do you know that besides the Multilateral Update, we also do others? Our latest ones are the Arctic Update, about the area north of the Arctic Circle, and the Ocean Update, about the 70% of the world covered in salt water. The other ones are all country updates, we have a selection of countries from Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. Check roroshok.com/updates to see the full list. Find the link in the show notes as well.

See you next week!