Former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has called for “much tougher action” to combat human rights abuses in China, writes Philippe Lejeune. His plea comes after the EU, earlier this year, passed new laws which allows it to impose sanctions on those guilty of serious human rights abuses, including against China. The so…
The Austrian Vice-Chancellor, Werner Kogler, insists to reject the EU-ercosur Agreement in a letter to Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa. The Austrian government calls to reject the EU Mercosur Agreement because it is in contradiction with the objectives of the Green Deal and the Paris Agreement. The Portuguese EU Presidency had announced that it would…
Nearly two million people worldwide registered for the 5th Rally of Hope, with viewers reaching 320 million people on more than 400 digital platforms. UPF co-founder Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon shared an inspiring message of hope in her Founder’s Address, as speakers focused on key global issues—like COVID-19, race relations, poverty, and inequality—under the theme “Building Partnerships for Peace based on Interdependence, Mutual…
International human rights organisations are urging states and athletes to condition their participation in the February 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on specific improvements in China’s human rights practices. “Decisions about participation should not only be punitive, but also constructive,” according to Dr. Jianli Yang, a leading Chinese dissident and president of the Washington DC-based Citizen Power Initiatives for…
Global revulsion at the continued persecution of China’s Uyghur minority, a Turkic Muslim people in the NorthWest of the country, is growing amid calls for the situation to be declared a “Genocide”. The Netherlands recently became the first EU member state to pass a resolution to this effect, and Belgium appears to be following the…
Climate ambition is going in the right direction, says Confederation of Finnish Industries’ Director General Jyri Häkämies. On Friday, Hakamies told this site, “Last year was a turning point: for the first time, all the major economic powers; the EU, the US and China committed to the goals of carbon neutrality by the middle of the…
The Council this week decided to prolong for one more year, until 6 March 2022, the existing asset freezes directed against 7 individuals identified as responsible for the misappropriation of Ukrainian state funds or for the abuse of office causing a loss to Ukrainian public funds. The restrictive measures against one person were prolonged until 6 September 2021, and those…
The parliament’s Environment Committee this week adopted a strong report on the implementation of EU air quality legislation. A progressive majority of Socialists, Liberals, Greens and the Left (43 votes in favour, 33 against, 3 abstentions) adopted ambitious demands for clean air. The result was negotiated by the Socialist rapporteur Javi López from Spain with…
To mark International Women’s Day 2021, the S&D Group held a two-day online event, organised by the Sixth Progressive Youth Forum in co-operation with its partners. In a full day of workshops on Thursday for young people, the S&D MEPs working on gender equality issues and the EU Commissioner for equality, Helena Dalli, discussed how to tackle…
“I was glad to speak to President Biden this afternoon – the first of many exchanges and the start of a good personal partnership.” “As a symbol of this fresh start, President Biden and I agreed to suspend all our tariffs imposed in the context of the Airbus-Boeing disputes, both on aircraft and non-aircraft products,…
