The Escazú Agreement

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The Escazú Agreement

First COP (Conference of States Parties) of the Escazú Agreement (2018): some reflections from Costa Rica

By Nicolas Boeglin

On April 20-22, 2022,  the first meeting of States Parties to the Escazú Agreement (or “COP1” for “Conference of Parties 1“) was held in Santiago, Chile (see details here and some pictures here). The place chozen for this first COP has to do with the localisation of the Head Quarters of  the United Nations Economical Commission for Latin America (better known as ECLAC in English, CEPAL in Spanish).

The Escazú Agreement (see full text in English, French and Spanish) was adopted in Costa Rica in 2018, after an extremely long negotiation process. 

Its official name is “Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean” (see final the Acta Final of the ninth round of negotiations, held in March 2018 Costa Rica). 

Ffirst meeting of States Parties to the Escazú Agreement.

A Bureau that completed its task in Chile

This last document quoted specifies that the Bureau of the Negotiating Committee will remain integrated until the first COP: this Bureau is composed of Chile and Costa Rica, as co-chairs, as well as Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. 

Adopted in March, and as co-chairs of the negotiations process, both Chile and Costa Rica celebrated the International Environment Day in June 2018, and stated in a joint Declaration (see full text) that:

“Both co-chairs invite all thirty-three governments in the region to sign this important treaty and contribute to a more comprehensive protection of the environment and the strengthening of human rights through its implementation. Likewise, they reiterate that the Escazú Agreement inaugurates, from the particularities of Latin America and the Caribbean, a new standard for the construction and consolidation of environmental democracy. Costa Rica and Chile firmly believe that the early entry into force of the Escazú Agreement will be an unequivocal sign of our region’s vocation to make progress towards meeting the Sustainable Development Objectives of Agenda 2030 and represents an important contribution to multilateralism“.

A Bureau co-chaired by two States that four years after its adoption still have not ratified the Escazú Agreement and one of them signed it only last March 18? This is unfortunately the spectacle – somewhat peculiar – offered to the region and the world by Chile and Costa Rica. On Caribbean side, it must be added that Trinidad and Tobago has not (still) signed the text.

This regional instrument extremely innovative from different perspectives (Note 1) has been signed to date by 24 Latin American and Caribbean States, of the 33 belonging to the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC): of these 24 States that have signed it, 12 have already ratified it, the last ones to do so being Argentina and Mexico (January 2021). Chile recently (March 2022) began its accession process to this regional treaty; Costa Rica continues to raise very valid questions (Note 2). To be clear, of the aforementioned Bureau, only Argentina, Mexico and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are States Parties to the Escazú Agreement.

To complete the picture of signatures, ratifications or future accessions, the following States are absent among signatories of this regional treaty: Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, El Salvador, Honduras, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago as well as Venezuela.

This meeting in the Chilean capital, attended by the 12 States that are already Parties to the Escazú Agreement (see official status of signatures and ratifications), coincided with the celebrations of International Mother Earth Day (April 22) and was accompanied by a list of side events (see official list) organised by academia and civil society that were extremely varied and very diverse: in a way, the Chilean capital was dressed in green and hope, and this after many years. 

2016, extracted from a GAIPE (“Grupo Asesor Internacional de Personas Expertas”): an international investigation group formed to clarify her assassination and in particular the political-corporate plot responsible for her death, which the Honduran State itself initially tried to cover up and disguise (see in this regard the report entitled “Represa de Violencia. El plan que asesinó a Berta Cáceres”)

A celebration for very diverse entities

As it is known, the Escazú Agreement was adopted in Costa Rica on March 4, 2018, the date of March 4 being chosen as a region-wide tribute to the birthday of Berta Cáceres, Honduran Lenca leader, assassinated in 2016 (see Amnesty International press release published -in Spanish – in March 2022 on the commemoration of 6 years since her assassination and – in English– in March 2021, on the commemoration of 5 years). 

In the framework of the celebrations observed in Chile on April 20-22, 2022, the “Legislators for the Environment” circulated a strong call to their colleagues in Latin America who have not yet managed to approve this innovative regional instrument, among many initiatives of very diverse nature including those of several NGOs and regional organisations of indigenous communities (see official list of documents that circulated in the section “Insumos del público / Inputs from the public“).

The official delegations of Costa Rica and Chile, as well as those of Brasil, Colombia and Peru, participated in the meeting as observer States, invited to attend the event: concerning the participation of Colombia, through its ambassador in Santiago de Chile  – a very well known person for activists and street protesters in Colombia as well as relatives of those killed and injured in protests in Colombia in 2019 and for Colombian NGOs in favour of Escazú (Note 3)- we refer our esteemed readers to this interesting note published in the Colombian press (El Tiempo, edition of 04/23/2022). Days after this note was published, the European Union (EU) Commissioner for the Environment in person, during his visit to Colombia, indicated (see note in El Espectador of 04/28/2022) that:

“On a continental scale, I believe that the Escazú Agreement is a great step forward for Latin America and the Caribbean in the area of environmental and human rights policies. We will lend our full support to projects that facilitate its implementation. And we certainly hope that the Colombian Congress will ratify it as soon as possible”  / Free translation by the author of “A escala continental, creo que el Acuerdo de Escazú es un gran paso adelante para América Latina y el Caribe en el ámbito de las políticas medioambientales y de derechos humanos. Prestaremos todo nuestro apoyo a los proyectos que faciliten su aplicación. Y por cierto, esperamos que el Congreso colombiano lo ratifique lo antes posible“.

It is quite feasible that, if the outrageous level of violence against physical integrity and lives of community leaders, peasants, environmentalists and indigenous people who raise their voices in some Latin American States (starting with Colombia) continues, the EU will have to consider the idea of conditioning some of its actions in the Americas with the degree of compliance with the Escazú Agreement. It is not yet known what effect on EU’s policy could have the fact that main corporative chambers of some tropical products an fruits oppose a regional treaty that seeks to protect the rights of those who defend the environment. 

It should be recalled that the 2018 Escazú Agreement follows closely in its content and internal structure the Aarhus Convention, adopted for Europe in 1998 (and which never drove away foreign investment or caused negative effects on European economies), with three main pillars: the first pillar of Aarhus establishes a set of rules and requirements for State´s authorities concerning the disclosure of environmental information; the second pillar seeks to establish a legal framework for citizen participation in environmental decision-making; and a final pillar deals with the right of individuals or groups to have recourse to an effective justice on environmental issues, particularly when non-compliance with the legal obligations set out in the first and second pillars is observed (Note 4).

As a point of detail on Colombia, a few days after the conclusion of this first COP, in Colombia a first move was registered in its Senate, regarding the approval of the Escazú Agreement (see note of ElEspectador of 04/26/2022). The coincidence of this decision with the presence of the high emissary of the EU may remind some of the fact that during the COP26 in Glasgow, the President of Colombia “submitted” urgently the Escazú Agreement to the Congress as a matter of priority, to then ignore its fate (see press release of ElTiempo, edition of 11/1/2021).

Environmental defenders in the spotlight

This very first formal meeting of the Escazú Agreement reaffirmed the importance of provisions that seek to protect environmental defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean: as it has been written and publicised since its adoption, the Escazú Agreement is a pioneer in the world, being the first international instrument in the entire history of international human rights law containing a provision (Article 9) that seeks to protect environmental defenders. This specific provision is due to a joint initiative of Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay and Peru, which shaped what became Article 9 of the Escazú Agreement adopted in 2018 (see the official note – in Spanish-  presented by this group of States to the other delegations during the negotiation process): a provision that is fully in line with the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Note 5).

Very recently, on United States´s State Department DRL website publication (see it here) , it has been written that:

“In 2020, Global Witness and its partners documented 227 murders of land and environmental defenders around the world, making it the deadliest year on record for advocates seeking justice in environment matters. Nearly three quarters of these killings (165) took place in Latin America, with Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, and countries in Central America accounting for most of them. Available data also reveals the disproportionate number of attacks targeting indigenous peoples who often live in remote locations and have limited access to resources to seek justice and redress.  Additionally, women environmental defenders face intersecting and reinforcing forms of discrimination and violence rooted in misogynist gender norms and socioeconomic and political marginalization, which create additional barriers to participation in decisions impacting their communities“.

At the meeting in Santiago, Chile, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights jointly reiterated the urgent need to protect environmental defenders and to implement the Escazú Agreement without further preludes (see joint communiqué, in English and in Spanish, poorly publicised in the press), stating that:

“It is worth stressing that the Escazú Agreement is a powerful instrument to prevent conflict by improving access to participation, information, and justice on environmental issues. The Escazú Agreement is a milestone, because it stresses protection for defenders and their role: its spirit reminds us that, to protect the environment, we need to start by protecting the people who defend it“.

The head of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stated at the closing ceremony of the meeting that: 

“The Escazú Agreement is undoubtedly a milestone because the protagonists are the defenders. We could summarise the spirit of Escazú by saying that if we want to defend the environment we must begin by protecting those who defend it. However, according to data from our office, three out of every four murders of people who defend the Earth and the environment currently occur in Latin America and the Caribbean” / Free translation of the author of “El Acuerdo de Escazú es sin duda un hito porque los protagonistas son las personas defensoras. Podríamos resumir el espíritu de Escazú diciendo que si queremos defender el ambiente debemos iniciar por proteger a quienes lo defienden. Sin embargo, según datos de nuestra oficina, tres de cada cuatro asesinatos de personas defensoras de la Tierra y el medioambiente ocurren actualmente en América Latina y el Caribe” (see ECLAC final communiqué in Spanish).

The protection of environmental defenders was also the subject of a draft decision (see full text of the Conference of the Parties, which reads – resolution point 4) that: 

“4. Invites the Parties and all countries of the region to increase their efforts to develop and strengthen all necessary measures at the national level to guarantee the rights of human rights defenders in environmental matters ” Free translation translation of the author of “4. Invita a las Partes y a todos los países de la región a incrementar sus esfuerzos para desarrollar y reforzar todas las medidas necesarias a nivel nacional, para garantizar los derechos de las defensoras y los defensores de los derechos humanos en asuntos ambientales.”

This invitation is already made, and not only to the States Parties, but also to the other States that are not yet Parties. From this perspective, it is worth noting the adoption in Peru a year ago, on April 22, 2021, of Supreme Decree 004-2021 (see full text) of the Ministry of Justice, establishing a mechanism for the protection of human rights defenders, including environmental defenders (see also this press release published in Actualidad Ambiental): this is a very first initiative of a State that is not yet a State Party (Peru has signed the agreement, but its approval in Congress has been shelved due to pressure from various corporative sectors, including military), and which has already established a public policy in line with the objectives of Escazú. This kind of initiative deserves to be strengthened and replicated in various parts of the American continent.

It is also worth mentioning that a State that is a Party to the Escazú Agreement, such as Nicaragua, has registered a series of murders of Mayagnas community and indigenous leaders (see article in La Vanguardia of 19/03/2022, this FIDH report of 2021 and this extremely complete report of December 2021 of the digital media Divergentes entitled “Journey to the hell of the Mayagnas. “Here a pig is worth more than one of us!” “) without knowing of a single State initiative to stop and investigate these assassinations. 

The other called “draft decisions” of this first COP on procedural and financial matters are all available at this official ECLAC link (see documents in English and in Spanish). It was also agreed that the second COP will be held again in 2024 in Chile, with an intermediate meeting to be held in Argentina in 2023, reaffirming Chile its undisputed leadership in Latin America on environmental and human rights issues.

Ffirst meeting of States Parties to the Escazú Agreement.

Some interesting details about the States Parties

The Conference of the Parties (or “COP”) brought together official delegations from the following States: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia and Uruguay, the latter being the State that presided over this first COP. 

In this interview conducted by the media Diálogo Chino (and published in the edition of 27/04/022), the first impressions of the Uruguayan diplomat who served as President of this first COP of the Escazú Agreement can be read.

It should be noted that some States Parties began with a rather surprising proposal: Bolivian NGOs had to make their authorities reconsider their proposal for limiting the participation of civil society in the framework of this summit. Something totally unacceptable and finally rejected by all other States Parties (see the communiqué reproduced in this note from the Peruvian digital media Servindi).

For the moment, the COP of Escazú Agreement  didn´t not include the formal participation as States Parties of the two States that promoted it during the previous phase of the negotiation that culminated in March 2018 with the adoption of the final text of the treaty: Chile and Costa Rica. An absence that we already had the opportunity to analyse (Note 6) and that deserves an update.

The case of Chile: a coming rectification very soon

As it must be recalled, on March 18, the new President of Chile signed the Escazú Agreement, thus launching the campaign for Chile’s prompt approval and ratification of the Escazú Agreement. In his official statement (see full text in English), we read that:

“this agreement represents a milestone on the road to a new relationship between the State and its inhabitants in environmental matters, and it requires a commitment from everyone. We are faced with the challenge of building a new model for development that will allow us to live in a healthy environment, develop in a more sustainable way, conserve our biodiversity, stop land degradation, adapt to climate change, and build a country in which our children can grow up safe and happy“.

In a very emotional ceremony, the highest Chilean authority also stated (see this CNN Chile report) that “We have taken longer than we should have“, thus allowing Chile to amend an astonishing reading error of his predecessor in office, who stubbornly presented indefensible and unsustainable “arguments” for not signing this important regional international instrument. As of this date, the two chambers of the Chilean Legislative branch are both dedicated to the early approval of this instrument (see this article of El Desconcierto, edition of 18/03/2022), so that Chile may rectify as soon as possible the total incoherence of the previous administration. 

This wonderful ceremony at the Palacio de la Moneda in Santiago allowed to close the sad parenthesis for human rights and the environment that meant for Chile the period (2018-2022), and to open a new stage that reaffirms its undisputed leadership in the region in environmental and human rights matters.

As a point of detail remaining to be clarified in Chile, the following episode deserve to be mentioned: in the face of strong criticism from the social and academic sector in Chile against the alleged “reasons” put forward (in a light and evasive manner) by its authorities since 2018 for not signing the Escazú Agreement, in September 2020  a “documento” (see full text) without signature, nor indication of the departments from which it originates, nor consecutive number, nor other details that any good public administration includes in any of its offices, was disclosed by the Chilean authorities, reaffirming their “reasons” justifying, according to them, the non signature by Chile of Escazú Agreement. Instead of the signature, in the final part of the “documento“, our readers will notice that it simply says “Ministerio del Medioambiente – Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores” (Ministry of the Environment – Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Who drafted it? Who devised and ordered such originality to present untenable arguments to public opinion? It is all a mystery to date in Chile.

The case of Costa Rica: a sky full of storm clouds

With regard to the other State that co-led with Chile the negotiations of the Escazú Agreement for long 5 years, 7 months and 7 days, Costa Rica, the situation is quite different: to an Executive Branch that is not very consistant and committed to the Escazú Agreement, and to a Judicial Branch stubborn in unnecessarily complicating its approval, we must add a Legislative Branch in which its current congressmen (who began work in May 2018 until next May 2022) have been pressured by the Costa Rican business chambers, who since 2020 have opposed the Escazú Agreement head-on based on so-called “arguments” (Note 7). 

Concerning the Judicial Branch, to date, neither in the 12 States that have already ratified the Escazu Agreement, nor in Peru (see official document), nor in Chile has a Judicial Branch “discover” an argument as strange as the one found by the Costa Rican Judicial Branch: according to its “Corte Plena” (Supreme Court session with all the judges of the different Chambers sitting), and then according to 6 judges out of 7 that make up the Constitutional Chamber (see decision 06134-2020 and in particular the dissenting vote of Judge Paul Rueda), paragraph 5 of Article 8 of Escazú Agreement would oblige the Judicial Branch to have additional economic resources to those it has for its implementation.The other human rights treaties that contain a very similar provision have never been the subject of such a “discovery” by the Judiciary when examined in Costa Rica: an explanation and clarification from the Corte Plena would be more than welcomed.

Recently (February 25, 2022) the National Chamber of Pineapple Producers and Exporters (CANAPEP), the National Banana Corporation (CORBANA) and six other national chambers, several of them linked to the Costa Rican agro-export sector, reiterated to the deputies their firm opposition to the Escazú Agreement (see full text of the letter) stating that:

“said Agreement contains unconstitutional flaws, inaccuracies and substantive errors that are highly risky for the stability of the productive sector” and concluding their letter by requesting that “the rejection of project 21. 245, due to the risks it represents for the competitiveness of the private sector and for being highly inopportune for the country” (free translation of the author of  “dicho Acuerdo contiene vicios de inconstitucionalidad, imprecisiones y desaciertos de fondo altamente riesgosos para la estabilidad del sector productivo”  and ” se proceda con el rechazo del proyecto 21.245, ante los riesgos que representa para la competitividad del sector privado y por resultar altamente inoportuno para el país“.

In this regard, it should be noted that several attempts to publicly discuss these alleged “arguments” (in April 2021 with a public debate sponsored by the Costa Rican digital media Delfino.cr, in May 2021 with a debate organized by the UCR, and in June 2021 a forum organized by the College of Biologists of Costa Rica) with academics and specialists in environmental matters have failed. It seems that sending communiqués to congressmen against the Escazú Agreement and constantly avoiding public debate on its supposed “arguments” seems to be the trend of some sectors in Costa Rica. However, some Costa Rican jurists have devoted themselves to decipher and explain the scope of these true “myths” and what they call “fallacies” on Escazú that have circulated in some corporative sectors (Note 8).

Taking into consideration the US State Department´s programme before mentioned, its programme officers could also include a very specific training programme to explain the importance of Escazú Agreement to political and economical circles usually very close to US embassies in Latin America: this kind of initiative would also help the region to better protect its environmental defenders. In Costa Rica, the Costa Rican – American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) has also opposed the Escazú Agreement approval by Congress (see this press note of La República of April 24, 2021).

A documentary of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) from 2021 entitled “UCCAEP and the Escazú Agreement /UCCAEP y el Acuerdo de Escazú” portrays quite comprehensively the position of these chambers and some of their political cards (see video availabe in You Tube); this video was completed by another on environmental defenders entitled “The Escazú Agreement and environmental defenders / El Acuerdo de Escazú y los defensores del ambiente” which is also recommended (see video) and which includes an interview with an indigenous leader assassinated in February 2020 in Costa Rica and a leader who has been denouncing the senseless expansion of pineapple in the Guácimo region for many years.  In 2019, a very complete report published in the Costa Rican media Delfino.cr, whose reading is recommended, evidenced the scope of the negative effects of pineapple in Costa Rica (about which the authorities and several press media conveniently omit to refer). For some reasons that are not very clear to us, these two videos that were produced in August 2021 from the Vicerrectoría de Acción Social (VAS) of the UCR – and which include an interview with the Rector himself – are still waiting (still) to be disseminated by the institutional networks of the UCR. 

As for the electoral result in Costa Rica last April 2022, it indicates that the possibilities of seeing the Escazú Agreement approved soon have been fading away. In recent days, a very complete article published in the digital media Divergentes (edition of 04/19/2022) on Costa Rica and the Escazú Agreement (whose reading we recommend) showed the great debt that Costa Rica has accumulated in relation to another sector, whose legitimate claims were totally ignored by both contenders during the second electoral round: the Costa Rican indigenous communities. 

On March 4, the date on which the Escazú Agreement celebrated its fourth anniversary amidst a notorious silence in Costa Rica, both in the media and in others sectors, we indicated (see our note) that Costa Rica was still in time to reconsider the fact that it is not a State Party to the Escazú Agreement.

Demonstration against the Ministry of Health, August 21, 2008, with the presence of the Minister of Health, Maria Luisa Avila, on the attempt – somewhat original – of the health authorities to legalize the bromacil in drinking water (it is not a joke, just as you read – see article – to legalize bromacil in drinking water) of several communities affected by the senseless expansion of MD2 (or “Sweet Gold”) pineapple in the region of Siquirres. In 2011, health authorities shunned a public debate at the same UCR (see note). In 2017, Executive Decree 40423 (see full text) finally banned the use of bromacil in Costa Rica. Photo belonging to the author’s archives.

A few days after, an important event (see final press release) took place in Costa Rica, held by ECLAC itself  on March 8, 2022 on the Escazú Agreement: CABEI, IDB, EIB, World Bank and OECD were associated for this occasion in order to explain the scope of the Escazú Agreement to the delegates from Latin America and the Caribbean present at the meeting, including representatives of Costa Rican business chambers (see link with invitation and detailed program). For some reason that, from our point of view, should be explained and made known – or at least investigated -, both the ECLAC press release (see full text) and the official communiqué of the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (see full text) on this important meeting went totally unnoticed in the Costa Rican media.

On silences and questions thrown into the air without answers in Costa Rica

Beyond the silences that sometimes seem to be achieved in the Costa Rican media spectrum, recently, from the Costa Rican digital media Delfino.cr, we asked some very simple questions to various Costa Rican business chambers and their political tokens (see our article): questions that, to date, have not received answers. It seems that discussion and debate are not the way to be used for some people in Costa Rica. We have recently asked them again in the very same Costa Rican media (Note 9).

What is noteworthy is that we are not aware of any business chamber that has publicly denied or modulated the assertions against the Escazú Agreement made by several of its influential counterparts: it would seem that we are facing something more than a simple trend, and that would (also) deserve to be investigated. It is also worth noting that the Costa Rican authorities in charge of foreign trade and the economy – as well as of environment – have felt no special need since 2018 to publicly take their distance with these assertions, particularly regarding the alleged negative effects on foreign investment that the approval of the Escazú Agreement would have.

In an article published last March 18 in Costa Rica (see article of Semanario Universidad), date on which is also commemorated, in Costa Rica, the death of Sergio Rojas, an indigenous leader murdered in Salitre on March 18, 2019 (see article published also in Semanario Universidad), we pointed out that:

“For those who, in Costa Rica, but also in Colombia, in El Salvador, in Honduras, in Paraguay and in Peru continue to doubt the Escazú Agreement, they will be able to observe that as of tomorrow, foreign investment will not flee Chile, nor will legal insecurity be created, nor will the reversal of the burden of proof in environmental matters invade Chilean criminal law, calling into question the principle of innocence and the rule of law. None of what the business chambers foresee will happen if Costa Rica ratifies the Escazú Agreement was observed in any of the 12 States that have already ratified the Escazú Agreement: neither in Argentina, nor in Bolivia, nor in Ecuador, nor in Mexico, and much less in Panama ” (free translation of the author of “Para quienes, en Costa Rica, pero también en Colombia, en El Salvador, en Honduras, en Paraguay y en Perú siguen dudando del Acuerdo de Escazú, podrán observar que a partir de mañana no sale huyendo de Chile la inversión extranjera, ni se crea inseguridad jurídica, ni la inversión de la carga de la prueba en materia ambiental  invade el derecho penal chileno poniendo en entredicho el principio de inocencia y el Estado e Derecho. Nada de esto que prevén las cámaras empresariales que va a ocurrir si Costa Rica ratifica el Acuerdo de Escazú se observó en ninguno de los 12 Estados que ya han ratificado el Acuerdo de Escazú: ni en Argentina, ni en Bolivia, como tampoco en Ecuador, ni tampoco en México, y mucho menos en Panamá“.

First effects of the COP ?

As said before, just a few days after the conclusion of this first COP, a first advance was apparently registered in Colombia’s Senate, in relation to the approval of the Escazú Agreement (see note from ElEspectador of 04/26/2022). Is it a real direct effect of  Escazú s first COP, or a simple political move due to the presence of the higher ranked EU official on environmental issues in these days in Colombia?

In Costa Rica, no initiative has been observed in Costa Rica by its outgoing legislators (at office until April 30, 2022) in relation to the Escazú Agreement. The newly elected environmental authorities, whose designation has provoked strong reservations in the environmental sector (see note from Semanario Universidad of 04/22/2022) are apparently already straining (unnecessarily) relations with several environmental groups due to some of their statements (see note from Surcos Digital of 04/26/2022). Regarding news from international agencies, this cable from the Spanish agency EFE illustrates from its very title the total inconsistency that Costa Rica exhibits before the rest of the international community.

More generally speaking, in relation to Costa Rica but also to the other States in Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras), in South America (Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela) and in the Caribbean (Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Haiti,  Dominican Republic as well as Trinidad and Tobago) that still maintain their distance from the Escazú Agreement, despite observing in some of them how leaders of small peasant or indigenous communities who raise their voices are intimidated and physically eliminated, we make our own the reflections of a valuable article written by two Chilean jurists entitled “The need for an environmental democracy in Latin America: The Escazú Agreement  / La necesidad de una democracia ambiental en América Latina: el Acuerdo de Escazú ” in which they point out, with a meridian clarity that can leave no one indifferent, that:

“It has been rightly emphasized that the Escazú Agreement is both an environmental instrument and a human rights treaty. Thanks to this double dimension, the commitments that the States have assumed in favor of sustainable development -as well as those derived from international human rights law- are reinforced thanks to new standards that aspire to greater prosperity, dignity and sustainability. Undoubtedly, in the most unequal region in the world and the one with the greatest attacks on human rights defenders in environmental matters, the Escazú Agreement enjoys even greater justification”   Free translation of the author of “Con justa razón se ha destacado que el Acuerdo de Escazú es tanto un instrumento ambiental como un tratado de derechos humanos. Gracias a esta doble dimensión, los compromisos que los Estados han asumido en favor de un desarrollo sostenible —así como aquellos derivados del derecho internacional de los derechos humanos— se ven reforzados gracias a nuevos estándares que aspiran a una mayor prosperidad, dignidad y sostenibilidad. Sin duda, en la región más desigual del mundo y de mayores ataques a los defensores de derechos humanos en asuntos ambientales, el Acuerdo de Escazú goza aún de una mayor justificación” (Note 10).

By way of conclusion

It is very likely that the absence of Chile and Costa Rica among the States Parties to the Escazú Agreement has influenced decision makers of other latitudes in the region, by offering its main detractors a new argument, unexpected for many.  A lack of political vision in both States, whose effects transcend the borders of their respective territories, leaving in a situation of total defenselessness many environmental defenders who live a much harsher and critical reality than the one that environmental defenders face in Costa Rica and Chile.

However, in this 2022, Chile seems to be on the verge of correcting this error. We would not like to conclude these brief lines without expressing to the Chilean jurist Constance Nalegach, with whom we had the privilege of sharing several spaces and forums, in particular a recent interview on university television (see video available on You Tube), our deep admiration for her tireless work and unwavering commitment in favour of a true environmental democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

The Escazú Agreement and all environmental defenders in Latin America owe much to this great Chilean figure. We wish her every success in his new functions in the administration of President Gabriel Boric, whose emotional and committed speech at this first COP (see text) did not go unnoticed: we are sure that Chile will be the next State to approve this innovative regional treaty. 

On May 3, 2022 (see Swissinfo note of an EFE ´s cable ), the first step was taken in this direction in Chile. On the other hand, this May 4, from Germany (see note of DW) it was reported what it has been heard in Costa Rica, which, as expected, goes exactly in the opposite direction. 

– -Notes – –

Note 1: On Escazú Agreement, we refer to these two extremely comprehensive publications from Colombian and Argentinian universities: BARCENA A., MUÑOZ AVILA L, TORRES V. (editors), El Acuerdo de Escazú sobre democracia ambiental y su relación con la Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible, CEPAL /Universidad del Rosario de Colombia, 2021 (298 pages), full text available here;  and NAPOLI A., PRIEUR M., SOZZO G. (editors), Acuerdo de Escazú : hacia la democracia ambiental en América Latina y el Caribe, Universidad del Litoral (Argentina), Colección Ciencia y Tecnología, 2020, 330 pages, full text available here. For recent articles on Escazú in English,  see CIESIELCZUK J. & LOPEZ PORRAS G. “Public Participation and the Escazú Agreement: Implementation Challenges for Vulnerable Groups Amid a Global Pandemic“, IUCN eJournal, April 2021, pp 12-33, available here and PÁNOVICS A., “The Escazú Agreement and the Protection of Environmental Human Rights Defenders“, Pécs Journal of International and European Law, 2021, pp.23-34, available here.  A bibliography on Escazú Agreement (thesis and academic articles) prepared by GNHRE (at the date of October 2021) is also available here.

Note 2: See BOEGLIN N., “¿Escazú sin Costa Rica? Así como lo oye, por más extraño suene“, Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) s´website, Section “Voz Experta”, edition of May 8, 2021, available here.

Note 3: The now diplomat Guillermo Botero was Defense Minister in Colombia in 2019, an extremely tense period. After his resignation as Minister (November 2019), NGOs and social movements negotiated with Colombian authorities the conditions to put an end to massive streets protests at national level,  and obtained, among others, from the Colombian Executive Branch, the signature of Escazú Agreement (December 2019). Since then, a strong campaign against the Escazú Agreement has slowed down its approval. Among many efforts to counter it from civil society, LaPulla’s talented team of Colombian communicators produced a very complete video of 15 minutes in which the various political maneuvers of Colombian political and economic sectors opposed to the Escazú Agreement are extreely well identified and explained, entitled “The new trap that congressmen want to set for us / La nueva trampa que nos quieren hacer los congresistas” (available here).

Note 4: On the relations between  Aarhus (1998) and Escazú (2018), see JIMENEZ GUANIPA H., “El Acuerdo de Escazú y el Convenio de Aaarhus  en el marco de la democracia ambiental“, Ideas Verdes, Heinrich Böll Stiftung /Colombia, December 2020, text available here. On the possible interaction between Aarhus and Escazú before the adoption of the definitive text in 2018, see DELZANGLES H. “L’accès à la justice dans le projet de convention sur l’information, la participation et l’accès à la justice en Amérique du sud et aux Caraïbes : analyse comparée avec l’article 9 de la Convention d’Aarhus”, in BETAILLE J. (directeur), Le droit  d´accès a la justice en matière d´environnement”, Toulouse, Presses de l´Université de Toulouse Capitole,2018, pp.79-90, full text available here.

Note 5: See for exemple, among other decisions, the Inter-american Court of Human Rights indicating in 2013 that :”123. The Court recalls that there is an undeniable link between the protection of the environment and the protection of other human rights and that the “recognition of work undertaken in defense of the environment and its relationship to human rights is even greater in the countries of the region, where a growing number of threats, acts of violence and murders of environmentalists have been denounced.” In this regard, the Court considers that States have the obligation to adopt all necessary and reasonable measures to guarantee the right to life of those persons who find themselves in situations of special vulnerability, particularly as a consequence of their work, whenever the State is “aware of a situation of real and imminent danger for a specific individual or a group of individuals and has reasonable possibilities of preventing or avoiding that danger.” Furthermore, States should provide the necessary means for persons who are defenders of human rights, or who perform a public function, so that when they encounter threats or situations of risk or report violations of human rights, they can “freely carry out their activities; protect them when they receive threats so as to prevent attacks on their lives and integrity; create the conditions to eradicate violations by State agents or other individuals; refrain from hindering their work and seriously and effectively investigating violations committed against them, combating impunity” (see decision of Inter-american Courth of Human Rights on “Carlos Luna Lopez vs Honduras“, 2013, paragraph 123). See also Advisory Opinion OC-23 of 2018 of the inter-american judge of San José (see full text and particularly paragraphs 211-241).  

Note 6: See BOEGLIN N., “Chile está a punto de rectificar su postura frente al Acuerdo de Escazú, mientras que Costa Rica se limita como los demás a … ¿mirar?” UCR´s website, Section “Voz Experta”, edition of March 4, 2022, available here. 

Note 7: See BOEGLIN N., “El Acuerdo de Escazú: a propósito de recientes comunicados en contra de su aprobación“, Delfino.cr, edition of November 29, 2020, full text available here

Note 8: See in particular PEÑA  CHACÓN M., “Desmitificando el Acuerdo de Escazú“, DerechoalDía, edition of November 28, 2020, available here;  as well as MADRIGAL CORDERO P. y GONZALEZ BALLAR R., “Acuerdo de Escazú: desmitificando falacias y construyendo argumentos“, Collection of Papers “Perspectiva“, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, August 2021, available here. A very similar effort coming from academia and civil society took place in Peru in relation with identical so-called “arguments” (see the report SPDA, “Diez mitos y verdades sobre el Acuerdo de Escazú: democracia y defensores ambientales”, available here) as well as in Colombia (see the publication entitled “Mitos y verdades del Acuerdo de Escazú” available here). An interesting exercise on the balance of information would consist, in the case of the Costa Rican press, as well as in the case of the Colombian and Peruvian press, in analysing the number of references in the main media to these efforts, to be contrasted with the number of references reproducing the so-called “arguments” against Escazú disseminated by corporate sectors. 

Note 9: See BOEGLIN N., “Acuerdo de Escazú: primera COP1 (sin Costa Rica)“, Delfino.cr, edition of April 20, 2022, available here. 

Nota 10: See  ASTROZA P. & NALEGACH C., “La necesidad de una democracia ambiental en América Latina: el Acuerdo de Escazú“, Fundación Carolina, Serie “Documentos de Trabajo”, Number 40, 2020, p. 28. Full text available here. 

Note of the autor: A Spanish version of this text is avaible here. Nota final: una versión en español de este mismo texto está disponible aquí.

About the author:

Dr. Nicolas Boeglin.

Nicolas Boeglin is a Professor of Public International Law, Law Faculty, Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR)

On the prospects and growth points of the Republic of Karakalpakstan

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On the prospects and growth points of the Republic of Karakalpakstan

Interview with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan Mr. Kahramon Sariev.

— Kahramon Ramatullayevich, 2021 was one of the turning points in the history of the New Uzbekistan. Despite the pandemic, the country’s GDP grew by 7.4%. The contribution of the Republic of Karakalpakstan to this success is also significant. What are the results of the Republic of Karakalpakstan over the past year?

— If we pay attention to the main macroeconomic indicators of the socio-economic development of the Republic of Karakalpakstan for 2021, the following results were achieved last year: gross regional product increased by 107.4%, industrial production — by 107.4%, agricultural production — by 103.7%, construction — by 110.5% and the service sector — by 119.3%. Foreign investments in the amount of $64.6 million have been mastered in our republic. Last year, goods worth $123.7 million were exported and, compared to 2020, the volume of exports amounted to 122%, and the number of exporting enterprises exceeded 50.

— In 2021, the total foreign trade turnover of the Republic of Karakalpakstan amounted to about $657.2 million. This is 21.9% more than in 2020. In your opinion, which industries have the potential to increase regional exports?

— In 2021, exports of chemical and petrochemical products amounted to $284 million, and exports of light industry products amounted to $105 million. These industries exported goods worth a total of $389 million. In 2022, there are opportunities to increase the volume of exports of goods from these industries to $420 million.

It is also expected that in 2022 licorice root will be exported in the amount of $38.1 million (in 2021 the export volume amounted to $33.3 million), artemia cysts in the amount of $15.1 million dollars (in 2021 — $11.9 million), fruits and vegetables in the amount of $20.5 million (in 2021 — $12.2 million).

— How is tourism developing in the Republic of Karakalpakstan? Will Karakalpakstan be able to become a major center of the extreme tourism in the Central Asian region in the future?

— In recent years, much attention has been paid to tourism in our country. In order to develop this sector and attract a large influx of foreign tourists, the Government has adopted a number of resolutions, and major projects are being implemented. Like all regions of Uzbekistan, the Republic of Karakalpakstan is distinguished by its unique features that are attractive to visitors. The history, culture, traditions, as well as the unique nature and landscape of Karakalpakstan play an important role in further increasing the tourism potential of the region.

Currently, there are 33 hotels, 35 family guest houses, 16 hostels, 23 tourist class vehicles, more than 200 tourist attractions (craft workshops, amusement parks, museums, water parks and water attractions) in the region.

In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated January 27, 2022 PP-104 “On additional measures for the development of the service sector”, loans in the amount of 35 billion sums were allocated in the Republic of Karakalpakstan in 2022 as part of the family business development programme.

Thus, in 2022, 69 new family guest houses will be built in the Ellikkalin, Muynak, Chimbay, Kungrad and Khojailiy districts of the republic. At the same time, 6 dormitories, 10 yurt camps, 3 car camps, 30 eco-houses, 10 container and 10 tent camps will be organized, 10 tour operators will be created, as a result – more than 500 people will be provided with jobs.

In 2021, 200 thousand tourists visited the Republic of Karakalpakstan as a part of ecotourism. The projects of the Aral Sea, Sudochye Lake, Urga village, Nizhneamudarya State Biosphere Reserve, Ustyurt Plain, Barsakelmessky Salt Marsh, Akchakul Lake, Karatereng Lake and the Innovation Center are the ecotourism projects.

In 2022, Jasmine Gold Group LLC is implementing an ecotourism project (for accommodation of guests, food, recreation, sports, quad biking and boating) on the shore of the Aral Sea with a total cost of $4 billion sums. As a result of launching the project, 15 new jobs will be created.

— From this year the work on the makhalla method has begun in Uzbekistan. The assistants to the khokims also joined the work with local population. How do you rate their work? Which of the assistants can you note as an example to follow?

— As you know, by Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan UP-29 dated December 3, 2021 “On priority directions of state policy for the development of entrepreneurship, employment and poverty reduction in the makhalla” and in accordance with Resolution PP-31 “On measures to organize the activities of assistants to the khokims on entrepreneurship development, employment population and poverty reduction in the makhalla” the post of assistant to the khokim was established.

We have studied candidates for these positions and 424 candidates were nominated for 424 makhallas among the heads and officials working in the fields of economics, finance, tax complex, commercial banks, housing and communal services, social sphere and agriculture according to the results of the competition. Currently, 424 appointed assistants work in makhallas, and 19 heads of ministries and departments in the districts (cities) organize field work to provide them with practical assistance.

In the Republic of Karakalpakstan, in a short period of time, i.e., over the past two months, a number of measures have been carried out on the new “Makhallabay” system, positive changes have been achieved and the assistants is well appreciated. This is evidenced by the fact that the work of Bakhtiyar Menglibekov, an assistant to the khokim of the Madeli makhalla in the Buynak district, was highly appreciated, and he was appointed as khokim of the same district. Special measures have been defined for the appointment of those assistants who will achieve high results to such positions, and in the future the implementation of these measures will be ensured.

As a result of such approaches, the “Mahallabay” system, created in the regions for the socio-economic development of makhallas, expansion of family business, increase in income of the population and reduction of unemployment, will surely bear fruit.

Understanding current Dominican-Haitian relations: A meeting with H.E. Mr. Faruk Miguel Castillo

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Understanding current Dominican-Haitian relations: A meeting with H.E. Mr. Faruk Miguel Castillo

In an interesting conversation at his residence in Port-au-Prince, H.E. Mr. Faruk Miguel Castillo, the Dominican Ambassador to Haiti, exchanged with Diplomat Magazine some insights about his mandate, the relationship between the two countries and the current situation in Haiti.

To understand Dominican-Haitian relations, we have to look at them from a geographical, historical and evolutionary perspective. These bordering countries have experienced political crises, natural disasters, an armed conflict in 1844 that resulted in the independence of the Dominican Republic, but also successful border and labor agreements, commercial exchanges and a relationship of cooperation and permanent exchange on topics that concern both countries. Between the two countries, there is always an open communication.

“We are obliged, as a diplomatic mission and as a country, to have as interlocutor the authorities in office in Haiti. Currently, the authority in office in Haiti is Prime Minister Ariel Henri and his ministerial cabinet, with whom we maintain excellent relations and constant exchanges. We also relate and communicate constantly with different political, socio-professional, cultural and business organizations, as well as with the different diplomatic missions accredited in this country. We have a very important economic and migratory relationship with this country, which is our second commercial partner. We are committed to maintain a harmonious relationship, based on agreements and on fundamental aspects of environmental preservation. It is a process that does not end, it is constant, it is lifelong” – the Ambassador said.

One of the main responsibilities of the Dominican diplomatic mission in Haiti is to give the necessary follow-up to the agreements that have been signed between the two countries. “There is an important number of Haitian workers working in the Dominican Republic in agriculture, construction, tourism, the sugar industry and many other areas of national production. This represents an important contribution for Haiti because these workers send money to their country and support their families in Haiti, but also Haiti buys many products from the Dominican Republic”, Mr. Faruk Miguel Castillo continued.

Last year, the presidents of both countries – Jovenel Moise for Haiti and Luis Abinader Corona for the Dominican Republic – met in a mountainous area of the border called Calimet and signed a nine-point agreement. Their discussions included issues related to migration, the environment, trade, border security, health, and energy issues. In this context, the Dominican Republic offered assistance to Haiti for the construction of three maternal and child hospitals. This is a sensitive issue, in light of the large number of Haitians who go to give birth in the Dominican Republic, as well as of the problems tied to human trafficking that have arisen in this context.

“With the death of the president, all these agreements were put on hold, but they must continue because they are agreements signed by both sides. We understand that the situation of insecurity that the country is living has not given them the tranquility nor the time to take care of following up on these things. But I have the certainty and the hope that this year the Haitian society will follow these agreements that will help the stability of the country” – the Ambassador said.

Another important task of the Dominican mission is to provide consular services. Currently, the mission maintains five active consulates in different points of Haiti, since the demand for visas is very large. There is a great demand for business visas, tourism visas and visas for workers who work in the Dominican Republic. There are between 10 and 12 thousand regular students going to universities and higher education centres in the Dominican Republic. In the border zone the populations are very confused: people cross from one side to the other, the border is very permeable and there are communities that live in a harmonious relationship.

During the conversation, Ambassador Miguel also explained the delicate conditions of his mandate in this country “The first thing is the state of the situation in Haiti, to know in what environment we are operating. This is a mission that I have been given in very difficult conditions, because I arrived precisely at a time when there was a lot of political instability in the country, during the government of Jouvenel Moise.  During his term as president, the chamber of deputies ran out of time and was not renewed; 2/3 of the senate also ran out of time and was not renewed either, so that today only 1/3 of the senate remains. On the other hand, it is the opinion of many that they should have handed over in January. At the moment, there is no president, because as we all know, the president was assassinated in his residence on July 6 last year. Even before that, there were already problems with the Chamber of Accounts in crisis and also in the Ministry of Justice with a situation of dismissed judges”.

“The country is very divided and faces a situation of deep insecurity. The armed groups of the parties control many parts of the national territory. Even in the capital of the country, where political decisions are made, these groups show more strength than the Haitian police forces. They are heavily armed. These groups are often in conflict with each other and attack each other, they attack the population and the police headquarters, which increases the violence.  Kidnappings are the order of the day, not only of nationals but also of foreigners” – the Ambassador explained.

Ambassador Faruk at his residence in Port-au- Prince.

“From our point of view, the main problem in Haiti is insecurity. Haiti must be pacified to be able to hold its elections and to be able to develop citizen life with tranquility; to make life flow normally, so that children can go to school, and common people and businesses can carry out their activities without fear of attacks by armed gangs, kidnappings or assassinations. In that sense, there have been many important advances, including meetings of traditional opposition groups seeking agreements. PM Ariel Henri has provided a space in his ministerial cabinet to the opposition and that is a big step forward, it is a unitary effort. I believe that Haiti is on track in the coming days to continue these dialogues, in order to agree on the solution to the most important challenge, which is to pacify the country and organize free democratic and participatory elections”.

The Ambassador also explained the role that his country foresees for the international community vis-à-vis the situation in Haiti. “The international community has to lend all its support so that the Haitians can reach the necessary agreements for their political stability. The Dominican Republic is and will always be in an attitude of collaboration, of cooperation, respecting Haiti’s independence and its self-determination, cooperating to the extent that Haiti requires it and requests it. In all international fora, the Dominican Republic advocates for the support that Haiti needs. We want the situation to improve in Haiti, that Haitians manage their problems and that the international community gives them the necessary means and assistance so that Haitians can manage their own problems”.

The security situation, according to the Ambassador, has strong repercussions for all other aspects of society, including in the economic sector. “At the moment, many Haitian businessmen, due to the insecurity situation in their country, are requesting to move their companies to the Dominican Republic. This is not good, neither for Haiti nor for the Dominican Republic, because Haiti needs more companies to maintain the labor market active, so that more people can find work. If the companies migrate to the Dominican Republic, there will be less job offers in Haiti, so Haitians will  have to go to work in the Dominican Republic. It is better if the companies are established in Haiti, and that generates jobs, wealth and development for the country. When Haiti does well, the Dominican Republic does well too” – the Ambassador concluded.

Azerbaijan celebrates 104th anniversary of its Independence

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Azerbaijan celebrates 104th anniversary of its Independence

By H.E. Mr. Fikrat Akhundov, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

On 28 May, Azerbaijanis worldwide celebrate the “Independence Day”. 104 years ago on this significant day, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) – predecessor of the modern Republic of Azerbaijan was proclaimed.

The establishment of the ADR was a historic event for Azerbaijan in many regards:

  • It was the first democratic republic in the Muslim East. Declaration of Independence, which was adopted by this young republic on 28 May 1918, was an exemplary policy document, reflecting true principles of democracy and rule of law.
  • For the first time in Islamic world, Azerbaijan granted suffrage to women. This happened in 1918, which was way ahead of many western countries. In comparison, several European countries like the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg granted women right to vote in 1919, France in 1945.
  • The first Parliament of Azerbaijan was established in 1918. Azerbaijani Parliament was a forum where representatives of many religious and ethnic groups could freely, indiscriminately and equally voice their opinions. The Parliament united members of different ethnicities: Azerbaijanis, Russians, Jews, Armenians and even one German.

The territory of ADR in 1918 was much larger than the current territory of Azerbaijan. It consisted of 114 thousand km². In comparison, Azerbaijan’s current territory is only 86.6 thousand km².

ADR succeeded in implementing many progressive reforms in Azerbaijan, despite the geopolitical challenges. However, independence of ADR came to an end after 2 years. In April 1920, Red Army entered Azerbaijan. However, Azerbaijani people never forgot the ideals and principles of democracy taught by their ancestors and still celebrate 28 May as their National Day.  

BAKU- JULY 20: Heydar Aliyev Center on July 20, 2015 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Heydar Aliyev Center won the Design Museum’s Designs of the Year Award in 2014

Modern Republic of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan was able to restore its independence on 18 October 1991, after almost 71 years. Today, Azerbaijan is a member of many international and regional organizations, including UN, Council of Europe, OSCE and so on. During 2012-2013, Azerbaijan was also a non-permanent member of UN Security Council. Since October 2019, Azerbaijan has also been presiding Non-Aligned Movement, which consists of 120 countries. This chairmanship has opened a new chapter in its international relations. Azerbaijan has also become a donor country.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, Azerbaijan has allocated more than 10 million USD to World Health Organization, for combating coronavirus. Azerbaijan has provided financial, medical and humanitarian assistance to more than 80 countries in their fight against COVID-19 pandemic and is committed to continuing this activity and has been the strong supporter of just distribution of vaccines among the world countries.

After the restoration of its territorial integrity in 2020, Azerbaijan proclaimed its green energy policy in its territories. It includes smart cities and smart villages.

It should also be mentioned that Azerbaijan was one of the first countries to provide and continue to assist humanitarian aid to Ukraine in the light of the current situation in this country. Since the outbreak of the crisis Azerbaijan has allocated about 15 million euros humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

The current Republic of Azerbaijan is a reliable international partner and initiator of large-scale infrastructure, transport and energy projects in the South Caucasus.  Azerbaijan has become a key investment destination in the region for the past years, due to a number of factors, including abundant resources, favourable location, competitive cost of production and of course, friendly laws and hospitality of Azerbaijani people. Due to its geographical position Azerbaijan became a principal transportation hub between East-West and North-South. Azerbaijan has built one of the biggest ports at the Caspian Sea and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway route has been realized. These two projects serve to connect Caspian Sea region with Black Sea. Azerbaijan also continues to be the strong partner of EU, in particularly contributing to the energy security of the region.

In the recent decades, Azerbaijan has hosted many international events, such as Eurovision, Formula 1 Grand Prix races, European games, 2021 European Football Championship and many more.  The country also regularly provides scholarships for students from developing countries to pursue their higher education in Azerbaijan.

Baku, Azerbaijan.

Some interesting facts about Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani culture, music, art and cuisine are very unique. Here is a compilation of some interesting facts about this beautiful country:

  • Fire is the symbol of ancient and modern Azerbaijan and you can see it everywhere in Azerbaijan. For instance, the ancient Fire Temple “Atashgah” is Zoroastrian temple located in Baku; “Burning Mountain” is a unique mountain which burns throughout the year, regardless of the weather, from the natural gas that escape from its core. “Flame Towers” modern trio of skyscrapers designed and lit in the shape of a flame in Baku.
Lahic. Main central street of Lahij – a town in the Ismailly region, Azerbaijan. Lahij is a notable place in Azerbaijan. Winter day in Lahij
  • Azerbaijan has unique, unprecedented and ancient oil history. The first oil well in the world was built in 1846 in Bibi-Heybat, Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan was also a pioneer country in production of oil in the sea. Not surprisingly, this beautiful country hosts the first city built on stilts – Oil Rocks. This amazing structure has been registered in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest and most unique sea oil platform in the world. Azerbaijan has long traditions of producing oil. In fact, in 1901 Azerbaijan was producing more than half of the oil in the world. Roughly 12 percent of Nobel Prize, which was established in 1901, was drawn from Alfred Nobel’s shares in Nobel Brothers’ Petroleum Company in Baku. You can visit Nobel villa – “Villa Petrolea” to see the traces of Nobel brothers in Baku.
  • In the Muslim and Eastern World, the first opera – “Leyli and Majnun” (January, 1908) and the first ballet – “Maiden Tower” (April, 1940) were staged in Baku, Azerbaijan.
  • Azikh Cave, located in Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, is a habitation site of prehistoric humans. Discovered in 1960, this is one of the most ancient locations of proto-human presence in Eurasia.
Mud volcano in Azerbaijan country as one of attraction place. Famous travel destination in the East of Caucasus.
  • Azerbaijan is the mud volcano capital of the world. This country hosts the biggest number of active volcanoes in the territory of Absheron peninsula.
  • Azerbaijan has also today amazing architecture. Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku’s cultural hotspot, was designed by late Zaha Hadid and won the London Design Museum’s Design of the Year in 2014. This architectural masterpiece is the symbol of Azerbaijan’s modernism and development.
Baku September 16, 2016: Carpet Museum on September 16 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Carpet Museum is one of the newest Baku landmarks
  • Azerbaijan is a unique centre for carpet weaving. The country hosts seven different regional schools, bearing different styles of carpet weaving. Carpet Museum – located in Baku and designed in the shape of a carpet – hosts the worlds’ biggest collection of Azerbaijani carpets.
  • The world’s first private miniature book collection museum is located in Baku, Azerbaijan. There are more than 5.500 miniature books in the museum, which is registered in Guinness Book of Records.
  • This year Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2022 will once again held in Baku. Baku City Circuit will start on 10-12 June. The Baku City Circuit is considered to be one of the most spectacular and complex tracks and it is always remembered with interesting outcomes.
Baku, Azerbaijan.

This year Azerbaijan and the Netherlands celebrated 30 years of the establishment of their diplomatic relations. For the 30 years Azerbaijan and the Netherlands built their relations on mutual respect to territorial integrity and sovereignty and Azerbaijan believes that these relations will further grow and contribute to the prosperity of two nations.

New Uzbekistan is a socially-orientated state

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New Uzbekistan is a socially-orientated state

By Khurshid Asadov, Deputy director of Center for Economic Research and Reforms under the Administration of the President of Uzbekistan

The video conference held on April 29, 2022, chaired by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, was devoted to taking measures to further strengthen the social protection of vulnerable segments of the population.

Last year, in congratulation to the people of Uzbekistan on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the adoption of the country’s Constitution, the President made a number of proposals to amend the Basic Law. In particular, it was proposed to consolidate the principle of “New Uzbekistan – a socially-orientated state” as a constitutional norm. In addition, the remaining points of the speech directly or indirectly also related to measures and plans to strengthen the social protection of vulnerable segments of the population, including children, orphans, disabled people and representatives of the older generation. The proceedings voiced then on behalf of the building a fair socially-orientated state were reflected in dynamic and large-scale reforms, which were immediately and in targeted way followed.

“Of course, we must comprehensively and deeply think through such an important, strategic task as updating the Constitution, hold a broad public discussion, carefully study the best domestic and world experience and only then make a concrete decision on this issue,” the President said at the time. It is expected that the adoption of the updated document will take place during the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The strategy continues

As known, last year the “Strategy of Actions on five priority directions of development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021” was successfully completed. During its implementation, the foreign exchange market was liberalized, tax reform was carried out, protection of private property and support for entrepreneurship were strengthened, structural changes in the economy took place towards the production of goods with higher added value, and the development of regions accelerated. The economic success of the reforms adopted at that stage made it possible to strengthen the social protection of citizens and deepen the fight against poverty. It was possible to significantly reduce the unemployment rate, raise the incomes of the population, improve the quality of medical and educational services, and improve people’s living conditions.

It should be noted that in world practice, basically, two approaches are distinguished in the provision of social assistance: a universal approach, when assistance is provided to every resident of the country and a targeted approach, when assistance is sent only to the needy and socially vulnerable segments of the population. Uzbekistan has adopted a targeted approach that allows purposefully allocating funds directly to where they are most needed – to help vulnerable segments of the population. The expansion of material support and social services for the elderly, pensioners, and persons with disabilities will contribute to the sustainable improvement of the well-being of vulnerable segments of the population and poverty reduction in the country. The state must ensure the effectiveness of social policy, that is, it must choose the neediest among the population and provide them with assistance first of all. If the amount of the benefit is determined at a level higher than optimal, then it will be difficult for the state to determine who really needs help and who does not. And it is necessary to take into account the fact that benefits are paid at the expense of tax revenues and an increase in the amount of benefits may entail an increase in the level of taxes. Therefore, in Uzbekistan this issue is taken into consideration very carefully.

To continue the ongoing reforms in all areas, the “Strategy for the Development of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026” has been developed in seven priority directions. In particular, during the ongoing reforms, much attention is paid to the development of human potential. As known, the development of human abilities occurs from early childhood. That is why in recent years so much attention has been paid to the development of preschool education, which will continue to be in the spotlight for the coming years. Thus, it is planned to bring the level of coverage of the preschool education system for children aged 6 years to 100% by the end of the 2024/2025 academic year. For this purpose, more than 7 thousand new non-governmental preschool educational organizations are being created by attracting funds from the private sector. The field of education is not the only important area. The new strategy includes the reform of all vital spheres of public and business activity.

Priorities are getting stronger

The main and the strongest side of the social protection system in Uzbekistan is the availability of a wide range of various programs covering the entire life of a person. However, during the last meeting, the President noted that according to the results of the house survey, it was found that 2.2 million people in the country still need social assistance. With this in mind, a wide range of measures was targeted to strengthen the social protection of vulnerable segments of the population.

In Uzbekistan, more than 3 million people, or about 9% of the population, are older people. To provide financial support to the elderly, to provide them with daily care and attention, a system will be created at the makhalla level. In particular:

– more than 16 thousand lonely elderly people in need of care will be treated in sanatoriums annually;

– medicines, prostheses and orthopedic products for 25 thousand low-income elderly people will be provided by the state, and the cost of surgical operations will be covered from the budget;

– they will be provided up to 540 thousand sums of monthly subscription for visiting sports facilities, such as stadiums, tennis courts, gyms, swimming pools;

– the cost of tickets to theaters and museums for the elderly will be reimbursed in full.

Also, from May 1, trips to holy places, new parks, cultural complexes and centers will be organized for the elderly.

Speaking about children and orphans, it should be noted that 376 state social institutions operate in the country, including 324 children and 52 adults for 39.1 thousand and 9.7 thousand people respectively.

Now funds from the state budget for the purchase of food, clothing, hygiene products and other basic necessities for pupils of family-type orphanages will be allocated in a simplified manner. In particular, the money, based on the expenses for one pupil, will be transferred to plastic cards to parents who have adopted a child. At the same time, funds for the payment of utility costs (electricity, water, gas) will be charged at prices set for the individuals.

All employees of specialized educational institutions for children with disabilities of physical or psychological development will be paid an allowance of 50% to their salary. For this purpose, an additional 30 billion sums are allocated this year. 5 billion sums per year will be allocated to the library funds for the purchase of fiction books.

In addition, it is worth noting that 600 billion sums are allocated as part of the targeted program for 2022-2023 for the performance of repair and construction works and equipment for all 376 state social institutions.

The President pointed out that the system of support for low-income segments of the population with disabilities will continue to expand. From May 1, enterprises employing people with disabilities will be receiving a subsidy of 400 thousand sums for each such employee for 6 months. Self-employed persons and disabled people engaged in handicrafts will receive subsidies for the purchase of equipment and tools, and will also be trained in professions at public expense.

From January 1, 2023, a system of state subsidies will be introduced to pay salaries to employees of the Society of the Disabled, the Society of the Blind and the Society of the Deaf of Uzbekistan and their territorial divisions. In order to attract blind and visually impaired children to full-fledged education, 850 additional classrooms and 1,200 places in the dormitory will be created at the new “Nurli Maskan” school. Based on the state order, the libraries of this school will be fully equipped with textbooks and manuals, fiction and children’s literature in Braille, and from 2023 the task is to introduce this experience in all regions of the country.

Budgeting

Social protection expenditures in Uzbekistan are increasing from year to year, for example, in 2018 they amounted to 35 trillion sums, in 2019 – 61.3 trillion sums, in 2020 – 74.2 trillion sums, in 2021 – 85.3 trillion sums, and expenditures of 105.5 trillion sums are planned for 2022. In particular, in 2022, the expenditures of the education sector will amount to 46.9 trillion sums, healthcare – 22.8 trillion sums, culture and sports – 3.4 trillion sums, and the costs of measures for the further development of science – 1.5 trillion sums.

In 2022, about 3 thousand hearing-impaired children studying in specialized institutions will be provided with modern hearing aids worth 11 billion sums. Last year, in cooperation with international foundations, more than 2 thousand children received hearing aids.

By October 1, 20 exoskeletons, 880 wheelchairs, 4,000 sound thermometers and tonometers, 6,000 smart watches will be purchased and delivered to the regions. 31 billion sums will be allocated for this. Modern prosthetic and orthopedic products by individual standards for 5.8 billion sums will be provided to 123 Afghan veterans with disabilities. In addition, on the eve of May 9, the participants of the Second World War will receive a one-time monetary reward in the amount of 15 million sums.

Students of non-state universities left without parental care will be allocated 10 million sums per year for the purchase of food, clothing and hygiene items. At the moment, such payments are received only by students of state universities. In addition, state fees for notary and cadastral services (up to 2 million sums) for registration of housing provided by the state in favor of children left without parental care are canceled.

According to the Presidential Decree “On additional measures for material support of segments of the population in need of social protection and assistance” dated April 29, 2022, the practice of paying 20% of the corresponding pension for personal expenses to elderly citizens who do not have the necessary work experience and live in “Sakhovat” houses will be introduced.

At the meeting, the Head of State again touched upon the issue of ensuring social protection of women, in particular, ensuring payments to women going on maternity leave, regardless of their work in the public or private sector. According to the current legislation, pregnant women are granted maternity leave and child benefit upon reaching the age of 2. At the same time, many private employers, in order not to pay maternity benefits, employ women informally, without registration. As a result, the proportion of women working in the informal sector is 57%. Starting from September 1, 2022, the state will partially compensate ‘maternity payments’ to the private sector. To do this, a ‘Social Insurance Fund’ is being created under the Ministry of Finance, where 170 billion sums will be allocated this year.

In conclusion, for comparison, it is proposed to consider the international experience of organizing social protection of the population, in particular, the use in foreign countries of such a staff unit as a professional social worker, who is a key figure in the system of providing social assistance and protection to the population there. Based on the approach of social monitoring of persons in need, a social worker performs an initial assessment of their needs and organizes the provision of social support to them. A professional social worker can provide social services based on his own qualifications or, if necessary, refer a person in need of social services to an appropriate specialist.

A system of social protection of the population has been created in Uzbekistan, taking into account our specifics and the presence of such a unique public institution as the makhalla, which has no analogues in other countries.

By the way, back in 2020, according to a report prepared by experts from the ILO, UNICEF and the World Bank on the assessment of the social protection system in the republic based on the diagnostic tool (CODI), “Uzbekistan has a relatively clearly formulated and comprehensive social protection system consisting of social insurance, social assistance and labor market activities“.

This conclusion was also made by international experts due to the fact that on January 17, 2019, the Presidential Decree “On measures to further improve the system of working with the problems of the population” was issued. This decree established that the people’s reception offices, together with the sectors for the integrated socio-economic development of territories, state bodies and other organizations, identify the real problems of the population by visiting households, studying social and other objects, and also provide their solution.

It is on the basis of visiting households a database has been formed, which is popularly called the “Iron Notebook“. It is to identify, solve and monitor the problems of vulnerable segments of the population in order to receive social, economic, legal and psychological support. Also, in a similar fashion, “Women” and “Youth” notebooks were formed at that time.

Since April 1, 2021, a new mechanism for accounting for the poor has been introduced by including them into the information system “Unified Register of Social Protection“, which allows low-income families to receive the social assistance they are entitled to by law automatically (allowances for children under 14, child care up to 2 years, financial assistance and compensation payments for individual products meals) without additional provision of documentation. Persons or families recognized as low-income and included into the information system in accordance with the established procedure are also entitled to receive other services and benefits.

Thus, the measures taken to provide social support to those in need are designed to ensure the achievement of the goal set in the “Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan” – to cover at least 85% of the entire population in need by 2026 with social assistance programs that meet the criteria for assigning social benefits, as well as to reduce poverty by at least half.

“Of course, we must comprehensively and deeply think through such an important, strategic task as updating the Constitution, hold a broad public discussion, carefully study the best domestic and world experience and only then make a concrete decision on this issue,” the President said at the time. It is expected that the adoption of the updated document will take place during the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The strategy continues

As known, last year the “Strategy of Actions on five priority directions of development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021” was successfully completed. During its implementation, the foreign exchange market was liberalized, tax reform was carried out, protection of private property and support for entrepreneurship were strengthened, structural changes in the economy took place towards the production of goods with higher added value, and the development of regions accelerated. The economic success of the reforms adopted at that stage made it possible to strengthen the social protection of citizens and deepen the fight against poverty. It was possible to significantly reduce the unemployment rate, raise the incomes of the population, improve the quality of medical and educational services, and improve people’s living conditions.

It should be noted that in world practice, basically, two approaches are distinguished in the provision of social assistance: a universal approach, when assistance is provided to every resident of the country and a targeted approach, when assistance is sent only to the needy and socially vulnerable segments of the population. Uzbekistan has adopted a targeted approach that allows purposefully allocating funds directly to where they are most needed – to help vulnerable segments of the population. The expansion of material support and social services for the elderly, pensioners, and persons with disabilities will contribute to the sustainable improvement of the well-being of vulnerable segments of the population and poverty reduction in the country. The state must ensure the effectiveness of social policy, that is, it must choose the neediest among the population and provide them with assistance first of all. If the amount of the benefit is determined at a level higher than optimal, then it will be difficult for the state to determine who really needs help and who does not. And it is necessary to take into account the fact that benefits are paid at the expense of tax revenues and an increase in the amount of benefits may entail an increase in the level of taxes. Therefore, in Uzbekistan this issue is taken into consideration very carefully.

To continue the ongoing reforms in all areas, the “Strategy for the Development of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026” has been developed in seven priority directions. In particular, during the ongoing reforms, much attention is paid to the development of human potential. As known, the development of human abilities occurs from early childhood. That is why in recent years so much attention has been paid to the development of preschool education, which will continue to be in the spotlight for the coming years. Thus, it is planned to bring the level of coverage of the preschool education system for children aged 6 years to 100% by the end of the 2024/2025 academic year. For this purpose, more than 7 thousand new non-governmental preschool educational organizations are being created by attracting funds from the private sector. The field of education is not the only important area. The new strategy includes the reform of all vital spheres of public and business activity.

Priorities are getting stronger

The main and the strongest side of the social protection system in Uzbekistan is the availability of a wide range of various programs covering the entire life of a person. However, during the last meeting, the President noted that according to the results of the house survey, it was found that 2.2 million people in the country still need social assistance. With this in mind, a wide range of measures was targeted to strengthen the social protection of vulnerable segments of the population.

In Uzbekistan, more than 3 million people, or about 9% of the population, are older people. To provide financial support to the elderly, to provide them with daily care and attention, a system will be created at the makhalla level. In particular:

– more than 16 thousand lonely elderly people in need of care will be treated in sanatoriums annually;

– medicines, prostheses and orthopedic products for 25 thousand low-income elderly people will be provided by the state, and the cost of surgical operations will be covered from the budget;

– they will be provided up to 540 thousand sums of monthly subscription for visiting sports facilities, such as stadiums, tennis courts, gyms, swimming pools;

– the cost of tickets to theaters and museums for the elderly will be reimbursed in full.

Also, from May 1, trips to holy places, new parks, cultural complexes and centers will be organized for the elderly.

Speaking about children and orphans, it should be noted that 376 state social institutions operate in the country, including 324 children and 52 adults for 39.1 thousand and 9.7 thousand people respectively.

Now funds from the state budget for the purchase of food, clothing, hygiene products and other basic necessities for pupils of family-type orphanages will be allocated in a simplified manner. In particular, the money, based on the expenses for one pupil, will be transferred to plastic cards to parents who have adopted a child. At the same time, funds for the payment of utility costs (electricity, water, gas) will be charged at prices set for the individuals.

All employees of specialized educational institutions for children with disabilities of physical or psychological development will be paid an allowance of 50% to their salary. For this purpose, an additional 30 billion sums are allocated this year. 5 billion sums per year will be allocated to the library funds for the purchase of fiction books.

In addition, it is worth noting that 600 billion sums are allocated as part of the targeted program for 2022-2023 for the performance of repair and construction works and equipment for all 376 state social institutions.

The President pointed out that the system of support for low-income segments of the population with disabilities will continue to expand. From May 1, enterprises employing people with disabilities will be receiving a subsidy of 400 thousand sums for each such employee for 6 months. Self-employed persons and disabled people engaged in handicrafts will receive subsidies for the purchase of equipment and tools, and will also be trained in professions at public expense.

From January 1, 2023, a system of state subsidies will be introduced to pay salaries to employees of the Society of the Disabled, the Society of the Blind and the Society of the Deaf of Uzbekistan and their territorial divisions. In order to attract blind and visually impaired children to full-fledged education, 850 additional classrooms and 1,200 places in the dormitory will be created at the new “Nurli Maskan” school. Based on the state order, the libraries of this school will be fully equipped with textbooks and manuals, fiction and children’s literature in Braille, and from 2023 the task is to introduce this experience in all regions of the country.

Budgeting

Social protection expenditures in Uzbekistan are increasing from year to year, for example, in 2018 they amounted to 35 trillion sums, in 2019 – 61.3 trillion sums, in 2020 – 74.2 trillion sums, in 2021 – 85.3 trillion sums, and expenditures of 105.5 trillion sums are planned for 2022. In particular, in 2022, the expenditures of the education sector will amount to 46.9 trillion sums, healthcare – 22.8 trillion sums, culture and sports – 3.4 trillion sums, and the costs of measures for the further development of science – 1.5 trillion sums.

In 2022, about 3 thousand hearing-impaired children studying in specialized institutions will be provided with modern hearing aids worth 11 billion sums. Last year, in cooperation with international foundations, more than 2 thousand children received hearing aids.

By October 1, 20 exoskeletons, 880 wheelchairs, 4,000 sound thermometers and tonometers, 6,000 smart watches will be purchased and delivered to the regions. 31 billion sums will be allocated for this. Modern prosthetic and orthopedic products by individual standards for 5.8 billion sums will be provided to 123 Afghan veterans with disabilities. In addition, on the eve of May 9, the participants of the Second World War will receive a one-time monetary reward in the amount of 15 million sums.

Students of non-state universities left without parental care will be allocated 10 million sums per year for the purchase of food, clothing and hygiene items. At the moment, such payments are received only by students of state universities. In addition, state fees for notary and cadastral services (up to 2 million sums) for registration of housing provided by the state in favor of children left without parental care are canceled.

According to the Presidential Decree “On additional measures for material support of segments of the population in need of social protection and assistance” dated April 29, 2022, the practice of paying 20% of the corresponding pension for personal expenses to elderly citizens who do not have the necessary work experience and live in “Sakhovat” houses will be introduced.

At the meeting, the Head of State again touched upon the issue of ensuring social protection of women, in particular, ensuring payments to women going on maternity leave, regardless of their work in the public or private sector. According to the current legislation, pregnant women are granted maternity leave and child benefit upon reaching the age of 2. At the same time, many private employers, in order not to pay maternity benefits, employ women informally, without registration. As a result, the proportion of women working in the informal sector is 57%. Starting from September 1, 2022, the state will partially compensate ‘maternity payments’ to the private sector. To do this, a ‘Social Insurance Fund’ is being created under the Ministry of Finance, where 170 billion sums will be allocated this year.

In conclusion, for comparison, it is proposed to consider the international experience of organizing social protection of the population, in particular, the use in foreign countries of such a staff unit as a professional social worker, who is a key figure in the system of providing social assistance and protection to the population there. Based on the approach of social monitoring of persons in need, a social worker performs an initial assessment of their needs and organizes the provision of social support to them. A professional social worker can provide social services based on his own qualifications or, if necessary, refer a person in need of social services to an appropriate specialist.

A system of social protection of the population has been created in Uzbekistan, taking into account our specifics and the presence of such a unique public institution as the makhalla, which has no analogues in other countries.

By the way, back in 2020, according to a report prepared by experts from the ILO, UNICEF and the World Bank on the assessment of the social protection system in the republic based on the diagnostic tool (CODI), “Uzbekistan has a relatively clearly formulated and comprehensive social protection system consisting of social insurance, social assistance and labor market activities“.

This conclusion was also made by international experts due to the fact that on January 17, 2019, the Presidential Decree “On measures to further improve the system of working with the problems of the population” was issued. This decree established that the people’s reception offices, together with the sectors for the integrated socio-economic development of territories, state bodies and other organizations, identify the real problems of the population by visiting households, studying social and other objects, and also provide their solution.

It is on the basis of visiting households a database has been formed, which is popularly called the “Iron Notebook“. It is to identify, solve and monitor the problems of vulnerable segments of the population in order to receive social, economic, legal and psychological support. Also, in a similar fashion, “Women” and “Youth” notebooks were formed at that time.

Since April 1, 2021, a new mechanism for accounting for the poor has been introduced by including them into the information system “Unified Register of Social Protection“, which allows low-income families to receive the social assistance they are entitled to by law automatically (allowances for children under 14, child care up to 2 years, financial assistance and compensation payments for individual products meals) without additional provision of documentation. Persons or families recognized as low-income and included into the information system in accordance with the established procedure are also entitled to receive other services and benefits.

Thus, the measures taken to provide social support to those in need are designed to ensure the achievement of the goal set in the “Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan” – to cover at least 85% of the entire population in need by 2026 with social assistance programs that meet the criteria for assigning social benefits, as well as to reduce poverty by at least half.

Putin’s War on Europe: Where lies South Asia?

Diplomat Magazine
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Putin’s War on Europe: Where lies South Asia?

HRWF (03.05.2022) – On April 22, 2022, South Asia Democratic Forum (SADF) held a webinar entitled “Putin’s War on Europe – Where Lies South Asia?”. 

The event was moderated by Paulo Casaca, Director of SADF, with two invited guests, namely Dr. Siegfried O. Wolf, Director of Research at SADF, Affiliated Senior Researcher at South Asia Institute at Heidelberg University in Germany, and Dr. Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, Assistant Professor at National Dong Hwa University in Hualien, Taiwan, Expert Consultant on China, Taiwan, India and the Korean Peninsula at Human Rights Without Frontieres, and former Political Advisor in the European Parliament. Speaking on Pakistan, Dr. Wolf first presented the recent developments in domestic politics in the country, in light of the demise of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

In power since 2018, Khan has had to face many challenges, enjoying the support of the army, until now. According to observers, relations with the United States were a factor leading to his fall, although not the most important one. Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Khan travelled to Moscow on an official visit, seeking to expand bilateral cooperation in the energy sector and to reinforce trade relations more broadly. Khan also refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, suggesting this was proof of the country’s independent foreign policy.

In contrast, prior to Khan’s fall, General Bajwa of Pakistan condemned Russia’s aggression, making a parallel between Ukraine, as a country threatened by a large aggressive neighbor, and Pakistan. He also stressed that Pakistan’s army does not support Moscow’s war. 

In her remarks on India’s stance on the war in Ukraine, Dr. Ferenczy first stressed that the war against Ukraine, as well as Beijing’s political support for Moscow are pushing the EU to re-evaluate its relations with both Russia and China, as well as its own self-perception as a geopolitical power in the Indo-Pacific. Since the war started, Ukraine, while under attack, has been strengthening its democracy, while Russia has grown increasingly isolated, and NATO and the EU more united than ever. The EU’s ties with China and a focus on the Indo-Pacific are the central pillars of the EU’s efforts to redefine its role, the Indo-Pacific being a region that has become the key driving force of trade-led growth, but also a region where China’s coercion has been the most acute.

In the past years, Australia, Korea, Japan, Taiwan have all been victims of China’s economic coercion. While the idea of an Indo-Pacific region is not new, the EU has only recently embraced the concept with its own Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, in a response to the changing balance of power in Asia. The Strategy is based on the understanding of the fact that although the region may seem far away from Europe, a conflict in the Indo-Pacific will have an impact on European prosperity and security. Europe has an interest in maintaining a rules-based order in the region, Dr. Ferenczy stressed, and relies on partnerships with like-minded partners. India, as well as Taiwan, are important partners in this regard. 

Concerning India’s stance on the war against Ukraine, Delhi has been seeking to balance its position. It has for years maintained its longstanding friendship with Russia, while growing closer to the EU and US. But the geopolitical reality is that India sits in a tense security environment and essentially seeks to look out for its own strategic interests. India is also dependent on Russia in terms of its defence, and given that its biggest concern in the region is China, defence remains crucial for Delhi. India’s ambivalent posture on the war should therefore be understood in this context.

Seen from this perspective, for India to seek a diplomatic balance on Ukraine it is an uncomfortable necessity. It is important for the EU to consider and understand this reality, given India’s relevance in the Indo-Pacific to the EU’s geopolitical ambitions. Europe sees India as crucial for maintaining the balance of power in the region, Ferenczy stressed, but it is also in India’s interest to stay close to the EU and support European countries as they face Russia’s aggression. Such support is something Europe expects, as it expects the same from China. Yet, relations with China are at present in a very different stage, as the EU-China bilateral summit in April suggested. Beijing’s political support to Moscow, and their rhetorical alignment are not helping EU-China ties get back to ‘business as usual’, which is certainly what Beijing might want to see.

This is not what Brussels would welcome, given the imbalance in bilateral ties at the expense of European interests. Going forward, the China factor will remain central to how India relates to Russia’s war against Ukraine. It will be important however that the EU and India find a way to strengthen their cooperation. The EU should elevate India in its own approach to the Indo-Pacific, and India should equally proactively support ongoing cooperation with the EU, in areas such as maritime security, AI, digital transition, climate change. 

The EU and India should also cooperate more and better in multilateral initiatives. As such, there is value in exploring cooperation within the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative, that India, Australia and Japan have put forward in order to build sustainable, diverse and secure post-pandemic global supply chains that take the focus away from Chinese manufacturing. This could also create more space for Taiwan’s participation and contribution, Dr. Ferenczy concluded. 

Photo credits: BBC \ Published by Human Rights Without Frontiers

China in the Middle East: More Strategic Partnerships and Cooperation

Diplomat Magazine
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China in the Middle East: More Strategic Partnerships and Cooperation

By Dr. Mohamad Zreik 

China has become a strategic partner for many countries in the Middle East. China’s role has expanded greatly with Chinese President Xi Jinping‘s announcement in 2013 of the Belt and Road Initiative, which is the cornerstone of the modern Chinese strategy.

Egypt became the first Arab country to recognize the People’s Republic of China, after establishing diplomatic ties with it in 1956. In 1958, Iraq established diplomatic relations with China. In 1971, China established diplomatic connections with Turkey and Iran. Between 1990 and 1992, China established diplomatic ties with a number of Arab and Middle Eastern countries.

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China convened on October 18, 2017, with President Xi Jinping delivering his report. International relations need to be rethought in his view in order to foster an environment of mutual respect, fairness and justice that benefits both parties, as well as the creation of a global community dedicated to building an open and prosperous world for all its members. These ideas should be taken into consideration while discussing Chinese policy in the Middle East.

In 2004, the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum conducted a ministerial meeting. Sino-Arab collaborative expansion of the strategic relationship was agreed to during Tianjin’s Fourth Ministerial Meeting in 2010 between China and Arab nations. There were three breakthroughs during the Sixth Ministerial Meeting: nuclear energy, space satellites and alternative energy sources were all mentioned by the Chinese President Xi Jinping as the three pillars of a ‘1 + 2 + 3’ cooperation pattern

Sino-Arab future-oriented strategic partnership of comprehensive cooperation and mutual development was agreed upon by the two sides in July 2018. The most crucial document in China’s Middle East policy was President Xi’s address to the Arab League’s headquarters on January 22nd.

Arab-Chinese relationship has long been seen strategically by China. China’s diplomatic principle has traditionally been to strengthen and promote the longstanding friendship between China and the Arab world. Rather than forming an alliance, China wants to create a network of connections across the region. A “strategic partnership” between China and Turkey was established in October 2010; a “strategic partnership” between China and Israel was founded in March 2017.

After visiting Kazakhstan and Indonesia in 2013, President Xi launched the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. China urged Arab countries to join the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road during the 2014 CASCF meeting. For this reason, the Arab Policy Paper states, “China is ready to coordinate development plans with Arab governments, establish international production capacity, and boost cooperation in various industries”.

Economic growth has taken place in the Suez Canal Economic Zone in Egypt, the Khalifa Industrial Zone in Abu Dhabi as well as Duqm and Jizan. Solar energy collaboration is on the table. In May 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was invited to attend the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF). Second BRF in Beijing in April 2019 brought together Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and UAE Vice President Muhammed bin Rashid.

The Belt and Road Initiative is more than simply a series of land and maritime linkages; it is a network of partnerships and projects. The Middle East is the China’s principal source of crude oil. Among the top ten oil suppliers to China are Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Oman and Kuwait. CNPC and CNOOC signed 25-year contracts with Qatar in April 2008 to buy 3 million tons of LNG per year each. Qatar signed a new 22-year contract with CNPC to provide 3.4 million tons of LNG in September 2018. Besides nuclear and solar energy, China is also looking to cooperate in these fields with the Middle East.

Chinese involvement in the Middle East is also motivated by economics because the region is now a major export market for Chinese commodities and a profitable building industry for the country. The amount of Chinese construction contracts in the Arab world has increased by eight times from 2004 to a total of USD 3.28 billion. Tehran and Turkey are the two countries’ most important commercial partners and importers from China.

To protect Chinese interests and combat terrorism, China has stepped up its engagement with Middle Eastern countries. It provides UN peacekeeping forces; in 2006, China dispatched an engineering battalion to South Lebanon for the first time in the Middle East.

China has always been drawn to the Middle East because of the region’s long history and diverse cultural heritage. China is a staunch advocate of cultural exchange and respect for one another. China and Arab countries have formed a platform for civilizational dialogue under the CASCF.

Due to geopolitical competitions, the Middle East is regarded to be challenging and chaotic. So, China is very cautious in the Middle East, especially in dealing with unstable countries. In January 2016, Chinese President Xi visited both Saudi Arabia and Iran. President Xi visited the United Arab Emirates in July 2018, while Vice President Wang Qishan returned to the country in October 2018. Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE met in Beijing on May 2 and resolved to form a bilateral intergovernmental committee for cooperation.

The Chinese government also set up a high-level committee in January 2016 to direct and coordinate bilateral cooperation with Saudi Arabia. Wang Yi and Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met for the first time on December 12th, 2018, for the first round of strategic consultations between the two countries. During this summit, China and Qatar established an intergovernmental strategic dialogue framework.

China’s foreign policy in the Middle East appears to be firmly founded in an “all-friend” or “zero-enemy” approach. China is looking to work with major global powers in the Middle East. China deals with the Middle East according to Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence include respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-intervention, and diplomatic and peaceful settlement of disputes and conflicts.

China’s reaction to the Syrian crisis was shaped by these principles. China believes that a political solution is the only one that will last. There is no other way out of this situation than through political action. When it comes to finding a solution acceptable to all Syrian parties, the international community must assist the Syrian parties in quickly restarting engagement and negotiations under UN mediation. China hosted Syrian opposition groups four times in Beijing between 2012 and 2017, donating 680 million RMB in humanitarian aid to Syria and Syrian refugees abroad. According to China, in order to stabilize Syria, it is necessary to put an end to the bloodshed, counter terrorism, engage in an inclusive political process, provide humanitarian assistance, and rebuild.

China’s Middle Eastern strategy is guided by an emphasis on economic cooperation. President Xi Jinping believes that boosting economic growth is the best approach to overcome obstacles. Growth is vital for everyone’s well-being and dignity in order to end the conflict in the Middle East. It’s a race against the clock and a battle of hope over despair. In order for young people to have hope in their hearts, they must be able to live their lives with dignity and fulfilment.’ In China’s view, the BRI is a critical framework for economic cooperation between China and the Middle East. Collaboration is conceivable in the fields of infrastructure development, industrialization and industrial parks, energy, and facilitation of investment.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization counts China as a major member. The Shanghai Five Group was established on April 26, 1996, and the SCO was established on June 15, 2001. Following the SCO summit in July 2005, Iran sought for full membership in March 2008, becoming an observer member. The SCO welcomed Turkey in 2012. Several countries, including Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Qatar, and Israel, have shown an interest in participating in the SCO as observers or dialogue partners.

China might use the SCO as a new platform to cooperate with Middle Eastern countries. The cooperation would reduce competition between Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union and increase SCO’s strategic influence if the SCO was expanded to South and West Asia.

About the author:

Dr. Mohamad Zreik


Dr. Mohamad Zreik has PhD of International Relations, he is independent researcher, his area of research interest is related to Chinese Foreign Policy, Belt and Road Initiative, Middle Eastern Studies, China-Arab relations.

The author has numerous studies published in high ranked journals and international newspapers.

_____________________

Previously published by the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies

Panama: Catalyzing climate and conservation action through green diplomacy

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Panama: Catalyzing climate and conservation action through green diplomacy

By Erika Mouynes, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama

In April 2021, the UN’s Intergovernmental Report on Climate Change provided the latest in a long line of dire warnings, telling the world what many already know: climate change is real, and the international community is squandering its chance to limit the consequences. World leaders need to approach this crisis with the urgency it deserves. As climate change is a global problem, it cannot be solved by isolated countries – the only way forward is through collaboration and diplomacy.

Too often, climate is treated as a diplomatic afterthought, forgotten in favor of whichever crisis is occupying the moment. By the time that climate change becomes the singular foreign policy catastrophe of our lifetimes – through massive natural disasters, unprecedented waves of migration, disruption of supply chains, wildfires that sweep away entire communities, and more – it will be far too late to stop it. The international community needs to make climate change its collective prerogative today – and not through empty words, but with consistent action.

Minister Erika Mouynes, visits Coiba National Park at the COIBA AIP Scientific Station and its laboratory, the only one of its kind in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. January 2022.

As foreign minister of Panama, I am proud to say that Panama has been a standard-bearer for this philosophy, putting climate at the center of our policies and discussions on the global stage. This is not just for altruistic reasons – Panama has a personal stake in halting climate change. According to the University of Hawaii’s Pacific Disaster Center, Panama’s extended coastline puts our country at particularly high risk from sea level rises, potentially impacting one million people and $31 billion in capital.

Indirectly, climate change and its accompanying natural disasters will accentuate mass migration and economic instability, both of which stand to uniquely impact Panama, a passageway for migrants and a major international trade artery. To avert these consequences and preserve our local biodiversity, Panama is bringing fresh resolve to the international effort to limit global temperature rises.

Our goal has been two-fold. First, we are focused on introducing Panama’s climate story to the international community – as one of only three carbon negative countries in the world – and cooperating with partners to ensure our model is sustainable in the long-term. Second, we want to translate Panama’s domestic climate momentum to the international stage, working through international mechanisms – or creating new ones – to catalyze meaningful global action on climate change.

Panama has reached carbon negativity through a combination of steadfast conservation commitments and an ambitious clean energy transition program. Our country has already extended safeguards to at least 30% of its land and sea territory, nearly a decade ahead of schedule. By creating national parks on land and extending protections to over 98,228 square kilometers of water, Panama is doing its part to ensure that its natural beauty and biodiversity will be maintained for future generations. Just this year, Panama approved an innovative policy giving legal rights to nature, protecting its right to exist, persist, regenerate, and be restored.

Foreign Minister Mouynes represents Panama at the debate on the ocean and Sustainable Development Goal 14: ” Life Below Water” June 2021.

Beyond the face-value benefits of preserving natural ecosystems, conservation on land and at sea protects carbon sinks which draw CO2 out of the air. Panama has already committed to restore 50,000 hectares of forest land nationally, which will contribute to the removal of approximately 2.6 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere by 2050.

While conserving carbon sinks is essential in fighting climate change, any plan to tackle temperature rises is incomplete without addressing the reduction of carbon emissions at the source. Already, in 2021, Panama produced 82% of its electricity from renewable resources. Our government is also providing tools to organizations looking to make the switch to renewables – through our National Reduce Your Footprint Program, public and private organizations alike can access tools to monitor and reduce their carbon output.

The Panama Canal also plays into Panama’s sustainability story. Most know it as a vital artery for international commerce, enabling the passage of roughly $270 billion worth of cargo per year and serving as the backbone of Panama’s economy. Fewer people know that by cutting the distance ships have to travel, the Canal reduced CO2 emissions by 16 million tons in 2021 alone when compared to alternative routes. Through its Green Route strategy, the Canal also incentivizes transiters to comply with the highest environmental performance standards.

Minister Mouynes joins President Guillermo Lasso of Ecuador, Colombia and former US President Bill Clinton, to announce the creation of the Galapago’s Hermandad Marine Reserve. January 2022.

Together, these initiatives have made Panama a country which emits less carbon than it absorbs. I am proud to be a leader in a country that is showing the world what is possible when governments take climate change seriously. But the difficult truth is that none of my country’s innovative climate actions will save our people, economy, or biodiverse ecosystems from the consequences of climate change if the international community fails to cooperate on this issue. This is a fight that we can only win together. That is why steering Panama towards a policy of green diplomacy abroad has been such a priority, putting climate at the heart of our international work and extending our domestic progress on climate to international fora.

Whether through working with likeminded partners in existing international institutions, like annual UN COP conventions, or creating new instruments to drive climate action, Panama is committed to making a difference on a regional and global scale. For instance, we’ve launched a Carbon Negative Alliance with Bhutan and Suriname, the only other carbon negative countries in the world. Together, we are demonstrating how countries with different demographic, environmental, and economic make-ups can make meaningful contributions to the fight against climate change. As an alliance, we are sharing best practices with other countries and advocating for larger global climate ambition.

The Foreign Minister of Panama at the COP 26 in Glasgow, Scotland. November 2021

Last year, Panama partnered with Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ecuador, members of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (ETPMC), to expand our collective marine protections, creating the largest protected marine area in the world. By connecting each country’s protected marine areas, the ETPMC preserves vital migratory routes for biodiverse marine species. This April, Panama assumed the presidency of the ETPMC. As President Pro Tempore, for the first time in the organization’s 20-year history, we are promoting renewed involvement from ETPMC countries’ foreign ministers, seeking to throw new diplomatic weight behind global conservation efforts. This will help the ETPMC not only make good on the conservation commitments we have already promised, but find new avenues of international collaboration and new alliances to ensure the conservation and protection of our planet as a whole.

In March 2023, Panama will host the eighth Our Ocean conference, convening governments, industry, civil society, and academia to forge deeper ocean protection measures. This is a prime example of the kind of work necessary to build a healthier, sustainable world: bringing together all involved parties to address a global problem.

When I speak about climate change, I do not pretend that the path before us will be easy. The challenges are real, but Panama is living proof that with sufficient political will, investment, and creative thinking, it is within our capacity to significantly reduce them.

Panama will continue to serve as a model, leading the world in conserving our carbon sinks while transitioning to clean energy. I will continue to put climate at the core of my diplomatic work, championing Panama’s success story and convening international actors to inspire climate action worldwide. For Panama, the world’s coastal nations, and an entire generation of young people, I call on my colleagues around the world to join us. The future of our planet very literally depends on it.

On diplomats during the Holocaust: the case of the Romanian Constantin Karadja

Diplomat Magazine
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On diplomats during the Holocaust: the case of the Romanian Constantin Karadja

By Floris van Dijk

At the end of 1942, almost all European countries were occupied by the Nazis, supported the Nazis, or stayed neutral; only the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and Iceland fought among the Allied Powers. Romania was a German ally and therefore has difficulties in coping with its role during the Second World War. The complex history of the country also shows that antisemitism was paramount before and during the wartimes. All the more remarkable that a senior official of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs actively opposed to the pro- German and antisemite policies of his own government and thus saved thousands of Jews.

The Holocaust

Beyond any doubt the Second World War was the most gruesome low point of human civilization. Never before have people been killed on such a scale, and part of them because of who they were. Never before have citizens on both sides been seen as important targets for mass killings, like bombardments. The deaths were the result of industrialized ethnic extermination of Jews, Roma, Sinti, and Slavic people; other causes of death were forced labor, direct acts of war and military operations, exploitation, forced migration, hunger and malnutrition, and state-organized terror against resistance fighters, political opponents, prisoners of war, homosexuals and Jehova witnesses.

Even a new generation of weapons of mass destruction was required to end the war with Japan. Shaken confidence and fear of repetition, mainly caused by the weak international cooperation at the time, led to post-war decolonization and the creation of international institutions like the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Union. In short, the Second World War has touched upon everyone, has set the new world order and remains the basis for a society of peace, security and human dignity.

The events between 1939 and 1945 are linked inextricably to the decades that preceded it. That epoch was marked by many international tensions and regional wars, such as the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), the Russian-Ottoman War (1877-1878), the two conflicts in the Balkans (1912 and 1913), the two Chinese-Japanese wars (1894-1895, 1937- 1945), the First World War (1914-1918), the Spanish civil war (1936-1939) and the Soviet- Finnish winter war (1939-40). All these military conflicts have contributed to, or cumulated in, the Second World War. Growing nationalism and racism in Europe and Asia, aggressive foreign policies, German annexation of adjacent areas, social unrest and extreme poverty, and the economic crisis in Germany eventually led to the biggest war ever, with an estimated number of casualties of 50 to 85 million worldwide.

The Holocaust or Shoah is an integral part of the Second World War. Seven specialized extermination camps were established by the Nazis to annihilate Jews, Roma, Sinti, and Slavs: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Maly Trostenets, Sobibor and Treblinka. These camps were part of a huge system of places, more than 42,000 in total, where people were brought together under military compulsion and where millions of people died under appalling conditions. The Holocaust counts six million mortal victims, of which two million were not killed in gas chambers, but in mass shootings. The Holocaust was the most effective genocide ever and directed against the foundations of Western humanist civilization: unique because it was purely driven by ideology, and unique because of its incredible size and state-imposed industrialized destruction of fellow humans.

Resistance

In these anxious times of Nazi suppression, some showed courage notwithstanding the constant threat of violent punishment. Forms of resistance arose in the occupied regions. Among Jews armed resistance saw light: Mordechai Anielewicz and Marek Edelman led the uprising of 1943 in the Warsaw ghetto. Together with his army of partisans Tuvia Bielski was able to hide 1200 Jewish refugees from the Nazis successfully in the Belarus forests. Jewish militias were formed, some of them in uniform, such as near the Lithuanian Vilnius. In Auschwitz and Treblinka unsuccessful revolts took place, but the outbreak of the Sobibor uprising in October 1943 led to the closure of the camp. Jewish volunteers were parachuted into occupied territory to organize resistance, such as Hannah Szenes. Under General Wladyslaw Anders over one hundred thousand Polish soldiers and civilians, including many Jews as Menachem Begin, marched in 1942 under terrible conditions from Siberian Tashkent to Palestine; having arrived there, many joined the Allied armies.

Despite their own nationality others got involved in resistance against Nazi rule too. Examples are the German students Sophie and Hans Scholl, the theologian Dietrich Bonhöffer, the army officers Claus von Stauffenberg and Hans Oster, the head of the Abwehr Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, and possibly Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.

A few managed as alleged Nazis to save Jews from a certain death, such as the Sudeten German businessman Oskar Schindler who successfully dragged 1200 Jews through the war as indispensable workers. Using his status Albert Göring (indeed, brother of) saved several Jews and dissidents. The head of the registration of Jews in the Netherlands, Hans- Georg Calmeyer, approved 3700 official complaints, consciously preventing people to be sent to extermination camps. The German captain of the Wehrmacht Wilm Hosenfeld suffered until his death in 1952 in Russian captivity near Stalingrad, having saved a number of Polish Jews, such as the radio pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman. Having witnessed the gassing of Jews in Belzec, the pious SS-doctor and engineer Kurt Gerstein repeatedly tried to warn the Allied forces about the Holocaust from as early as 1942.

Some heads of state also opposed successfully. The Moroccan sultan Mohammed V refused to implement the racial laws imposed by Vichy France and ignored the demanded extradition of Jews to the extermination camps. The Bulgarian King Boris III, having joined the Nazi’s in March 1941, refused to impose anti-Jewish measures and to send army divisions to the Eastern Front. During a lunch with a furious Hitler Boris persisted that Jews were indispensable to the construction of internal roads and railways. Shortly afterwards Boris died unexpectedly, probably due to poisoning. Many military commanders and police officers in Italy refused to persecute and extradite Jews, and the Finnish government did so too.

Diplomats in wartime

Diplomats had the professional contacts and sometimes the resources to help persecuted people and refugees; in any case, they had access to much-needed travel documents. In July 1938 the international conference in Evian took place, intended to discuss the European refugee problem, to encourage the emigration of Jews and to establish an international organization. It soon became clear that the countries present were not prepared to increase immigration quotas, referring to the high unemployment figures in their own countries; only the Dominican Republic declared to accept them, while claiming remuneration in return.

Against this background, some diplomats in the years that followed refused to provide assistance to Jewish refugees, but others did it anyway.

The American Hiram Bingham IV, son of the explorer and scientist who stood model for Indiana Jones, worked as vice-consul in Marseille closely together with journalist Varian Fry. Bingham issued so-called Nansen passports, designed for stateless persons who could not get any identity document from local authorities. Fry hid the refugees, mostly well- known intellectuals and artists, awaiting for their journey to Portugal or Martinique. The Chinese Consul General in Vienna, Feng Shan Ho, witnessed the desperation among Austrian Jews after the Anschluss and Kristallnacht in 1938. Despite a strict ban he gave hundreds, possibly thousands of visas for Shanghai to Jews, thus enabling the possibility of legalized escape.

Many diplomats from neutral countries did what they could. The biggest orchestrated action to protect Jews took place in Budapest, which was in a spiral of violence against Jews in 1944 and 1945. Eventually, half the Jewish population would survive. The Swiss vice-consul Carl Lutz gave 8,000 letters of protection, proclaimed many houses with refugees under Swiss protection and negotiated directly with Adolf Eichmann. His performance was so openly that the German ambassador in Hungary, Edmund Veesenmayer, asked permission to murder Lutz. Lutz was supported by other diplomats of neutral countries, such as the Portuguese Carlos de Liz-Branquinho Teixeira and Carlos Sampaio Garrido, the Spanish Minister Angel Sanz Briz, the Swiss envoy of the Red Cross Friedrich Born and the Swedish consul Raoul Wallenberg. Wallenberg is almost certainly the most famous diplomat, having handed over tens of thousands of protection letters in Budapest in 1944 and having provided thirty shelter homes to Hungarian Jews. He personally followed a death march to Austria in order to claim as many Jews as possible under Swedish rule. Wallenberg died in Russian captivity, probably in 1947.

As a diplomat of the Vatican City in Bulgaria, Angelo Rotta provided baptismal certificates to Jews. When appointed papal nuncio in Budapest, he protested fiercely to the Hungarian government against the violence against Jews in 1944 and 1945. He also took the initiative to establish the so-called “international ghetto” (where eventually 25,000 Jews would survive the war) and was active in the international Red Cross Committee, established at the initiative of Carl Lutz. Angelo Roncalli did the same in Greece, being an old friend of the Bulgarian King Boris III and former papal nuncio in Sofia (1925-1934), Istanbul (1934- 1937) and Athens (1937-1944). He became known in 1958 as pope under the name John XXIII.

The Swiss vice-consul in Bregenz was Ernst Prodolliet, who supplied 300 Austrian Jews with transit visas. He was disciplinarily moved to Amsterdam but continued his assistance to Jews there. Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the pious Portuguese consul in Bordeaux, provided – against the explicit orders of his government – more than 1500 Portuguese entry and transit visas to Jews in June 1940. After he was recalled for disciplinary reasons, he passed the consulate in Bayonne, saw groups of desperate refugees at the consulate there too and again – on his own initiative – issued visas.

The Mexican consul in Marseilles Gilberto Bosques rented two chateaux to provide exit visas to nearly 40,000 Jewish and Spanish refugees. Bosques was arrested by the Gestapo in 1944 and exchanged against German prisoners of war. Later he became ambassador in European countries and in Cuba. Jose Castellanos Contreras was Consul General in Geneva in 1942 for El Salvador. He gave thousands of visas, even false ones, thus allowing Jewish refugees to travel to South America. He also issued 13,000 certificates stating the registered citizenship of El Salvador. The Brazilian Aracy de Carvalho Guimaraes Rosa was employed as diplomatic clerk in Hamburg. From the Kristallnacht onwards , she gave thousands of visas to Jews, but without the signature “J”, until Brazil joined the Allied Forces in 1942.

Selahattin Ülkümen was Turkish consul in Rhodes. In 1944 he tried to get the 1,700 Greek Jews, gathered for deportation, under the neutral Turkish authority, threatening with an international scandal. He failed, but was successful with the Turkish Jews. In retaliation the Turkish embassy was bombed, killing Ülkümens pregnant wife.

Even some diplomats belonging to the Axis powers helped Jews. The Christian Chiune Siguhara is the only Japanese who has been acknowledged by Yad Vashem. As consul in Lithuania, he did not wait for the required permission from Tokyo and gave 3,500 transit visas through Russia and Japan to Jewish refugees – even after the official ban. He collaborated with the Dutch consul Jan Zwartendijk, who issued the entry visas for Curaçao without the permission of the governor. The Italian Giorgio Perlasca worked as a meat buyer for the Italian Army on the Eastern Front. He maintained close contact with the Spanish Minister Sanz Briz and appointed himself as his deputy when Sanz Briz was called away from Budapest. It enabled him to smuggle thousands of Jews out of Hungary, on the basis of a law dating from 1924 according to which Spanish citizenship could be granted to Sephardic Jews. Perlasca always stayed silent about his role and was tracked by grateful survivors only in 1987, after years of searching.

Romania during the Second World War

Romanian memories of the Second World War are a painful subject. Between 2002 and 2005, a Commission established by President Ion Iliescu, investigated Romania’s involvement in the Holocaust. The impetus was the storm of criticism in reaction to the statement by a minister that no Holocaust had taken place on Romanian soil. The chairmanship of the committee was accepted by the Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel. The commission Wiesel came up with a figure of possibly 500,000 victims: between 280,000 and 380,000 Romanian and Ukrainian Jews were killed in Romania and in the territories under Romanian control; in addition, 135,000 Romanian Jews from Hungary and Transylvania (which was controlled by Romania); 5,000 Romanian Jews living outside Romania, and 11,000 Romanian Roma. This was double the number of victims the Romanian Holocaust was previously set at. Thus, the Romanians would have more deaths on their conscience than any other collaborating country, according to the commission.

Romania today is facing this dark period under the Nazi ideology. In Bucharest a multi-day pogrom was organized in January 1941, in which naked Jews were killed in a slaughterhouse. Another example is the infamous pogrom in the eastern town of Iasi: 13,000 Jews were murdered on June 27, 1941, when another group was being driven around in two death trains and dying due to exhaustion, suffocation, dehydration and suicide. Other systematic killings found their way into Bukovina, Odessa, Moldova (then known as Bessarabia) and Transnistria. In August 1941, Hitler praised the Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu for his radical approach. From October 1941 to January 1942 in and around the Ukrainian city of Odessa tens of thousands of Jews and Roma were murdered by Romanian and German troops. In other places the Einsatzkommandos were assisted by Romanian units.

Jewish mass graves with victims of death trains, outside Iasi (F. van Dijk)

Some nationalistic and fascist organizations threw themselves wholeheartedly into the mass murder of Jews, such as the Arrow Cross in Hungary and the Hlinka Guard in Slovakia. Romania had its Iron Guard (Garda de Fier). This movement was founded in 1930 by the German and French-educated antisemite Corneliu Codreanu. Originally named the Legion of the Archangel Michael (Legiunea Arhanghelului Mihail), it was a mixture of cultural nationalism, fascism, antisemitism, traditionalism, rejection of modernization and a unique religious orientation.

Codreanu went as a prophet on horseback across the country and proclaimed his militant rhetorics. In the turbulent thirties there were major tensions between the charismatic Codreanu and the government around King Carol II. The fact that Codreanu was maltreated during his arrest was answered with the murder of the responsible police prefect, a deed that was not prosecuted. The movement used provoked pogroms and political murders by death squads, called Decemviri and Nicadori. A short-lived reign of the Iron Guard resulted in a violent chaos. In 1938 Carol II took action: Codreanu was sentenced to ten years hard labor and killed during transport to another prison.

Since 1939 Romania was the largest oil supplier to Germany, although the country was officially neutral. On November 23, 1940 it joined the Axis powers. Under dictator Antonescu the Iron Guard, with their the new leader Horia Sima, got a second chance. But leather-clad Iron Guardsmen on motorcycles terrorized public life, and especially Jews. Now it was Antonescu’s turn to deal harshly with the rebels in January 1941, with the approval of Hitler – although the Iron Guard flirted openly with Nazi Germany. In return, a thankful Antonescu sent no less than fifteen army divisions to the Eastern Front.

Constantin Karadja

On 24 November 1889 Constantin Jean Lars Anthony Demetrius Karadja (some family members chose for Caradja) was born in an upperclass environment. His father was the Ottoman prince Jean Constantin Alexandre Othon Karadja Pasha, born in 1835, a well-known diplomat, army officer, society figure, but also a virtuoso pianist and composer. His bloodline went back to the Venetian Doge family, the Byzantine nobility and rulers of Wallachia. His military and legal training he had gone through in Athens and Berlin. After embassies in Berlin, Brussels, The Hague, Turin, Ancona and Brindisi, he became director of the oldest high school in Turkey in 1879, founded in 1481, the Galatasaray Lisesi. Among the students would be formed later one of the leading Turkish football clubs. Karadja could now also carry the Ottoman noble title “Pasha”. Although only 46 years old, but after a diplomatic career of 31 years, he was appointed special envoy in The Hague and Stockholm in 1881. He took his temporary residence in Hotel Paulez in The Hague, while looking for a majestic house somewhere in the city.

Birth certificate of Constantin Karadja (Haags Gemeentearchief)

From the first marriage of Karadja senior with Caroline Durand a daughter was born, but the marriage had ended soon. He remarried in 1887 to Marie Louise Smith, better known as Princess Mary Karadja of Sweden, daughter of the wealthy beverage producer and politician Lars Olsson Smith. From that marriage at 2:30 PM on November 24, 1889 Constantin was born at the address Nassaulaan 1. Karadja senior, “residing in Constantinople”, signed birth certificate number 4934 on 26 November in the presence of witness doctor Jan Coert. As profession he mentioned “buitengewoon gezant en gevolmachtigd Minister van Turkije bij het Nederlandsche Hof”, to be translated as “special envoy and plenipotentiary Minister of Turkey at the Dutch Royal Court.” An older brother of Constantin lived only for ten months, and he had a younger sister by the name of Despina, born in 1892.

Mother Mary Karadja published in 1892 a well-reviewed bundle of 150 pages of philosophical musings in French, such as “God created man and woman, but who created the mother-in-law?”, “The god is for the unfortunates, as the medicine is for sick ” and “Prejudice is a wall of ice; one must melt it down.” The booklet costed 3,50 Dutch florins, which can be regarded as rather expensive at the time. Other books from her hand would follow, such as Spiritistische Phaenomene und Spiritualistische Offenbarungen (1900) and Sieben Sakramente (not dated). With such a broad international and intellectual background a promising career lay ahead for Prince Constantin Karadja. But he would surpass his colorful father and his sophisticated mother by obtaining fame by his acts during the war in many respects; even more remarkable that he is so unknown still.

Nassaulaan 1 (1867) (Haagse Beeldbank)
Naussaulaan (1868) (Haagse Beeldbank)

According to insurances of real estate Karadja senior was registered at the address Nassaulaan 1. It was the first in a row, right next to the bridge across the canal, at the corner of the Mauritskade. It was built in 1846-47 as ordered by King Willem II, but number 1 was torn down and reconstructed in 1897. The houses were originally meant for cavalry officers of the King’s riding school at number 12; in 1863 the stables were renovated to the biggest church in the Netherlands at that time with more than 2,000 seats.

In the newspaper Nieuws van de Dag from February 2, 1889 a diplomatic riot was feared because of the stench of the open water in front of the Karadja’s place. Karadja senior, also being envoy in Stockholm, went abroad regularly. On February 11, 1890 in the Leydse Courant a removal was announced, most likely to the castle of Karadja senior in Bovigny, near Luxembourg; there he died on August 11, 1894 according to his obituary of August 13, 1894 (and not in The Hague, as stated erroneous until now). On April 10, 1890 an advertisement in the Haagse Courant announced the disposal of the household effects from Nassaulaan 1: birds, including peacocks (a strange phenomenon for a town house, as these are noisy animals), and a wine collection of some importance. Any connection between the stench and the removal to Bovigny cannot be proven.

After Karadja senior had deceased – Constantin was four years old – his mother returned to Sweden and Constantin went to high school there. For an education based on humanist principles he was sent to England: he attended Framlingham College in Suffolk from 1906 to 1908 and studied from 1908 to 1910 international law at the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in London. Although a member of the Order of British lawyers, he then worked in the Ottoman Foreign Ministries’ Political Affairs Department. In October 1912 he returned to Sweden and worked in 1914 and 1915 for the “Private Sveriges Central Bank”.

Karadja 1913
Karadja 1916
Karadja 1922

One of his many talents was a great aptitude for languages: as a diplomat he would speak English, French, German, Romanian, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian. In addition, he mastered the extinct languages Latin and Greek. In 1916 he married a distant cousin, the Romanian princess Marcela Elena Karadja (1896-1971), and the couple settled in Bucharest. The city was then called “Micul Paris (“Little Paris “) because of its historical buildings, beautiful architecture and cosmopolitan atmosphere. Soon they had two children, Jean Aristide Constantin Georges Caradja (1917-1993) and Marie-Marcelle Naděje Karadja (1919- 2006); she would later become a nun in Jerusalem. Constantin Karadja was granted the Romanian nationality in 1920 and he started on an impressive career: Romanian consul in Budapest (1921-1922); adviser to the Ministry of Finance, including head of the Romanian delegation at the International Economic Conference in Geneva (1927); Director of International Policy (1927); Consul General in Stockholm (1928-1930); Consul General in Berlin (1932-1941) and Director of Consular Affairs at the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest (1941-1944). In the latter two functions, he acquired a good knowledge of the Nazi regime and its antisemitic ideology.

But Constantin Karadja was much more than a diplomat. He was an avid lover of literature. He was soon regarded an expert of incunabula, European prints dating from before 1501. Next to the well-known Bible by Johannes Gutenberg dating from 1455, the incunabula concern editions of manuscripts, printed in almost three hundred cities from Westminster to Constantinople and from Lisbon to Lübeck. The contemporary collections are stored worldwide in hundreds of libraries. Karadja was also the author of several works on the history of Romania, such as Die Ältesten gedruckten Quellen zur Geschichte der Rumänen, Gutenberg Jahrbuch 1934. In the early forties he also published one of the very first consular handbooks, an exceptional and systematic work still on the desks of many Romanian diplomats. This Diplomatic and Consular Handbook brings together laws, regulations, documents, instructions and excerpts of legal doctrine, accompanied by explanations designed to provide diplomatic and consular personnel with landmarks in their routine work.

From 1932 on, Karadja was Romanian Consul General to Germany. Berlin was the capital of the Nazis, the political center of the totalitarian regime. The events and locations are almost infinite: the rise of the NSDAP, the speeches of Hitler to the Reichstag, the blaze of the same building on February 27, 1933, the death sentence of the supposed perpetrator Marinus van der Lubbe, the massive book burning on May 10, 1933 at the Bebelplatz, the hunting of communists, the harassment of Jews, the designing and construction work to change Berlin from 1935 into Welthauptstadt Germania, the annexations of Saarland and Sudetenland, the Olympic Games of 1936, the Anschluss of Austria, the Kristallnacht of November 9, 1938, the political prison Plötzensee, the invasion in Poland, the removal of tens of thousands of Berlin Jews from railway station Grunewald, and so on. Karadja has seen them all from a very close distance. During the war, Berlin became increasingly more affected by allied bombings. Despite stubborn resistance from the SS foreign volunteers and soldiers of the Volkssturm the ruined city finally fell on April 30, 1945.

In a stream of memos, letters and reports, filed in the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., Karadja repeatedly asked for action from the central authorities in Bucharest, referring to the violation of the civil rights of Jews. He pointed out that “all Romanian citizens deserve our protection, regardless of their ethnic origin or their religion” (1938). In the summer of 1938 he proposed to protect the Jews “with all diplomatic means” together with the British and Americans, invoking the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation of August 17, 1925. After the Kristallnacht of November 9, 1938, he sent a detailed report to Bucharest about antisemitic violence and reflected ominously over the foreseeable future for Jews in Nazi Germany. In a subsequent letter, he stated that it was impossible for Jews to stay any longer in Germany (1938). Karadja was very well aware of the growing anti-Jewish measures and stricter legislation in Romania (for instance with regard to the issuing of Romanian passports), but continued to defend and call for help for the Jews, “that requests from Jews of Romanian nationality, asking to return to Romania, will be processed without delay on humanitarian grounds. “

By Decision No. 2650 of August 8, 1940 the legal status of Jews was changed. The “Jew” designation in Romanian passports had to be added. Karadja protested successfully in writing directly to Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonescu (no relation with the state leader Antonescu) and referring to the logical consequences for the Jews. “From a humanitarian point of view, we will further aggravate the situation of the poor souls, unnecessary obstacles will be created to be put in the way of their exodus”, and “We will make the situation worse and after the war, we will be accused publicly because we participated in such an atrocity. ” Karadja proposed to re place te word “Jew” with the nondescript letter ‘X’. Only the Romanian authorities would carry this knowledge so that no “distinguishing characteristics” were recorded for public traffic (1941). Countless Jews remained outside the transports to the gas chambers. And for those who had not yet understood in Bucharest: “All Romanians should be protected abroad without distinction” (1941).

Constantin Karadja has experienced the advance of the Soviet troops in Bucharest, where he was transferred to on June 15, 1941. The city was bombed heavily from 1943 onwards. But he continued drawing attention and asking for action to save Jews. In a letter to Minister Davidescu he stressed that “every minority, like the Jews, has to submit not only to the laws of the country, but also has the right to diplomatic and consular protection” to escape (1943). Karadja also wrote: “In international law, the principles of universal ethics and the fundamental rights of mankind are not taken into account by the German authorities” (1943).

But Karadja did not only write letters and memos. On request, he also supplied the necessary travel documents to refugees with the notification “Bon pour se rendre en Roumanie”. The German Foreign Ministry protested in vain against this overt mutiny of this representative of their supposed ally. In April 1943 Karadja arranged with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Jews with Romanian nationality “were allowed to stay in Romania until it is possible for them to emigrate to Palestine”. By granting this nationality he managed to thwart the deportation of many thousands of Romanian Jews from Vichy France and Hungarian Jews. Others from Germany, Greece and Italy fled to Romania as well.

In April 1941 SS Haupsturmführer Gustav Richter, the right hand of Adolf Eichmann, was sent to Romania with a special mission. In collaboration with the German Ambassador to Romania, Manfred Freiherr von Killinger, he had to prepare the deportation of 300,000 Romanian Jews. Although there were mass killings, this coordinated plan did not materialize: after the Battle of Stalingrad, from February 1943 the tide turned irreversibly for the Nazi powers.

During the spring of 1944 the Soviet Armies launched the offensive against Romania. This was followed in August by Ukrainian attacks on Iasi and Tiraspol, where the Romanian army offered little or no resistance. On August 23, 1944 a coup was committed by royalist supporters of King Mihai I against Antonescu, who was then locked up in the room with the royal stamp collection. The new government immediately switched to the Allied forces and suddenly the Embassy of former ally Germany was a besieged fortress. It can easily be imagined how the Soviet soldiers behaved against the civil population of the former Nazi ally. Romania thus ended the war with heavy fighting losses against Germany and Hungary, but was forced by the peace treaty of Paris to remunerations to the Soviet Union and had to renunciate Moldova. On June 1, 1946 Antonescu was executed. In December 1947 King Mihai was forced to resign and seek asylum in Switzerland.

After the war Constantin Karadja was not spared by the new communist regime. On October 17, 1944 he was dismissed from the diplomatic service, but shortly thereafter re- appointed by the new minister. He was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences on July 30, 1946. His uncle Aristide was at that time still attached to the academy and had composed a huge collection of 125,000 Asian butterflies and moths. The diplomatic career of Constantin Karadja was terminated a second time on September 1, 1947. His state pension was taken away. To provide in his own maintenance he had to sell his beloved collection of books. In an environment of uncertainty and power changes within the new communist regime, but also of rising antisemitism and Jewish mass emigration to Israel, Karadja died on December 28, 1950, at the age of 61, possibly in a prison.

During his career as a diplomat, Constantin Karadja showed great courage and tenacity, evidenced by numerous diplomatic documents. His decisive actions against the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust were not in line with the government he served. His youth, education and the international influences he experienced made him a pan- European with strong humanist and intellectual bias. Human rights took center stage, only then came political and other interests. His scientific activities reflect his versatility and wide orientation.

Numbers are not important, when every life counts. The Holocaust is characterized by such incredible numbers, that one might forget too often that every single number represents a unique individual. He or she who saved one man or woman, risking his or her own life, showed courage. Those that saved tens or hundreds of people, showed courage. Constantin Karadja, diplomat by profession, lawyer by education, scientist by heart and human rights activist avant la lettre rescued 51,000 Jews from Germany, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Romania. There is no grave known to commemorate him. On September 15, 2005 he was awarded posthumously the title “Righteous among the nations” by the Yad Vashem Institute.

Bibliography

  • J. Bank, Churches and religion in the Second World War, London (2015)
  • Y. Bauer, Rethinking the Holocaust, New Haven (2002)
  • D. Deletant, Hitler’s forgotten ally; Ion Antonescu and his regime, Romania 1940-1944, Basingstoke (2006)
  • F. van Dijk, “Held in Roemenië”, NC Magazine, pp. 34-36 (2016)
  • D.J. Goldhagen, Hitler’s willing executioners; ordinary Germans and the Holocaust, New York (1996)
  • J. Govrin, “Romania’s Raoul Wallenberg: the untold story of Constantin Karadja”, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs 8-3, pp. 95-99 (2014)
  • R. Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews, New Harbor (2003)
  • A. Huiu, “Îngerul celor 50,000 the evrei Romani. Constantin Karadja, diplomatul care ith a pe păcălit nazişti în timpul Holocaustului”, Puterea 12-11 (2014)
  • P. Iancu, “Drept între Popoare”, Dilema Veche 90, 7-10 (2005)
  • R. Ioanid, The Holocaust in Romania; the destruction of Jews and Gypsies under the Antonescu regime, 1940-1944, Chicago (2000)
  • C. Karadja, Diplomatic and consular handbook, Bucharest (1941-1944)
  • C. Karadja, “Die ältesten gedruckten Quellen zur Geschichte der Rumänen”, Gutenberg-Jahrbuch, Mainz (1934)
  • C. Karadja “Incunabule povestind cruzimile despre lui Vlad Tepes” Cluj, Cartea Romaneasca (1931), în volumul “Inchinare lui Nicolae Iorga cu prilejul împlinirii vârstei 60 ani”
  • M. princesse Karadja, Etaincelles, The Hague (1892)
  • K. Lowe, Savage continent; Europe in the aftermath of World War II, London (2012)
  • T. Lutz, D. Silberklang, P. Troianski, J. Wetzel, M. Bistrovic, Killing sites – research and remembrance, Berlin (2015)
  • M. Paldiel, Diplomat Heroes of the Holocaust, Jersey City (2007)
  • I. Radu, The Holocaust in Romania: the destruction of Jews and Gypsies under the Antonescu regime, 1940-1944, Chicago (2000)
  • E. M. Schatz, “Incunabule din Judeţul Mureş între lista lui Constantin Karadja şi “Libraria “,Targu Mures 1, pp. 64-70, Bucharest (2002)
  • D. Simonescu, “Un mare bibliolog român: Constantin I. Karadja”, in: Analele Universitatii Bucureşti, Limba şi literatura română, Bucharest (1971)
  • T. Snyder, Black Earth; the Holocaust as history and warning, New York (2015)
  • T. Snyder, Blood Lands; Europe between Hitler and Stalin, Philadelphia (2010)
  • I. Stanculescu, “Constantin Karadja – European diplomat,” in: Rev. at. Pol. Rel. Int., X 2, Bucharest (2013), pp. 28-42
  • M.D. Sturdza, Grandes Familles de Grèce, d’Albanie et de Constantinople, Paris (1983)
  • O. Trasca, S. Obiziuc, “Diplomatul Constantin I. Karadja şi situaţia Evreilor Cetăţeni Romani din Statele controlate / ocupate the Germania Nazista cell in the al-doilea război mondial”, in: Anuarul Institutului the Istorie “George Baritiu» din Cluj- Napoca XLIX, pp. 109-141, Cluj-Napoca (2010),
  • P.I. Virgil, “The Diplomat Constantin Karadja, Romanian Wallenberg,” Romania Libera 8 (1994)
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  • International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania, Bucharest (2004) http://www.oldframlinghamian.com/images/articles/PRINCECONSTANTINKARADJA1906-08.pdf http://www.framlingham.suffolk.sch.uk/news/details?contentid=24185

Leonardo’s Faces – Gabor Balint

Diplomat Magazine
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Leonardo’s Faces – Gabor Balint

The Leonardo Royal Hotel Den Haag Promenade is represented by both new and more experienced employees working together with passion as one team, to deliver great service and to depict the hotel’s values. In these monthly written pieces, there is a focus on their values and their approach to our international clients. Who are the employees as an individual? Allow us to introduce you to Gabor Balint

  • Nationality: Hungarian
  • Function: Employee
  • Department: Food and Beverage

When did you start working at the Promenade Hotel?

June 2021

What was your first impression of the Promenade Hotel?

That it was a beehive, where everybody is a busy bee. It has to do with the fact that I have joined the Promenade Hotel during the peak of the summer vacation frenzy.  

What makes the Promenade Hotel suitable for welcoming people from all around the world?

Allow me to name just a couple of reasons, first things first:

  1. All employees are fluent in English. They will provide every bit of necessary information to make our guests’ stay pleasant and optimize their convenience.
  2. The kitchen can cater to and satisfy the palate of even the most sophisticated guests. The menu mirrors the hotel’s philosophy where all-encompassing and inclusiveness are the main objectives.  Inspired by International Food Festivals and traveling, the visitors will be taken on a journey full of flavors, where a variety of authentic dishes will be represented from all around the globe.
  3. Located in the heart of the Embassy district, the hotel provides the satisfaction to those who like to visit the beach at Scheveningen, or take a nice walk in next to the hotel.
  4. Our hotel is pet friendly. You do not need to leave your favorite pet at home. Traveling, taking care or walking your animal has never been so easy.   

What do you value most in the organization of diplomatic events at the Promenade Hotel?

It is easy to answer: connections and learning. Establishing connections and meeting people from different countries and walks of life broadens ones’ horizon.  Every event is a priceless possibility to get acquainted with cultures and customs that normally would be out of reach. It is therefore a valuable chance to educate yourself. Diplomatic events are the perfect opportunity to learn about essential trait for a modern inquisitive mind, such as: diversity, universal, across the board etc.

What did you learn so far by working with diplomats? Some tips, rules or values to share?

I have had the opportunity to work during several diplomatic events ever since I started working in  the Promenade Hotel. According to my observations, diplomats value precision, punctuality and some ‘’sweet and short’’ conversation. I definitely had to push myself into rethinking and optimizing my time managing skills. Multitasking and flexibility turned out to be my most trusted aids. What does it take to work with diplomats, or what are the essential attributes of a well versed and skilled staff? See all of the above-mentioned skills and, of course, a pinch of humor.

Which Food Festival has been your favorite so far or would you like to experience?

So far, I only had the opportunity to witness the Peruvian Food Festival. Just in two days the Peruvian chefs transformed our kitchen into an exotic taste haven. They presented, colorful dishes with unusual spices, richly adorned in the most elaborate way, at our restaurant’s tables. It was a delightful sight to behold.

In terms of what I personally would like to experience, it probably would have to be the Japanese Food Festival. I have been fascinated by Japan and its culture ever since my young adult age. Every aspect of their gastronomic heritage has an air of sophistication and/or is accompanied by an elaborate ceremony. Here, food and history go hand in hand and testify about ingenious and innovative spirits of the people from the Land of the Rising Sun.

What local food(s), from abroad, have you tried already?

In terms of local, Dutch, food I have tried: stamppot, stroopwafel, patat, poffertjes, oliebollen etc.

From Japanese cuisine I have tasted sushi, mochi and matcha tea.

What is your favorite drink or dish at LEO’s International Flavors?

I really like our falafel. It is a tasty dish that can satisfy vegetarian and adventurous omnivores as well.

What sustainable development goal do you value most? Why this one?

For me, ‘’no poverty’’ is the most important development goal for the near future. Poverty is directly interlinked to a vast amount of other serious issues, such as: crime, corruption, hunger, healthcare, education etc. It is a complex subject that concerns the well-being of the whole planet. By practicing mindfulness everybody can contribute a little bit to the cause. Support the local, or fair trade strive to non-consumerism.

What piece of good advice did you receive, and from whom, that you would like to forward?

There is a valuable piece of advice that I received from Yuni, one of my former colleagues in the hotel. ‘’Don’t leave thing for tomorrow that can be cleaned today.’’

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