As has been the case in many sectors of public and private life, diplomacy has also been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The virus has spread all over the world from Alaska to the remote Andaman archipelago and beyond with tremendous consequences. The high-level meetings of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2020, was a video messages spectacle of leaders delivering pre-recorded video presentations. There was certainly no room for boring and unstimulating presentations.
Foreign Ministries without any doubt will learn vital lessons from the pandemic. Consular services, for instance, have surpassed most other business at embassies worldwide in 2020. Consulates played an important role in assisting their citizens by steering them through a world replete with pandemic restrictions. Besides, consular work facilitates opportunities to interact closely with the diaspora.
Due to lockdowns, curfews and other restrictive measures, diplomatic functions such as receptions, conferences, seminars, book launchings and the like have been scaled down and have been reorganized via Zoom conference or other digital platforms. These new measures have served as an avenue for the diplomatic community to pivot and continue networking and explore business opportunities. Additionally, the pandemic has prevented diplomats from gathering in person to celebrate their respective National Days.
Interesting to note that no one can escape video conferencing, not even the Queen of England. Last week HM Queen Elizabeth II took time out of her busy schedule to join a Zoom conference to discuss matters relating to science, technology and space travel. The virtual conference was part of an event to celebrate British Science Week which was held from 5th -14th March 2021. The event celebrated the role played in society by science and aims to inspire a new generation of British scientists. The monarch was joined by space scientist Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocokc, Professor Caroline Smith and schoolchildren from Thomas Jones Primary for the virtual presentation.
No need to give up in despair, digital diplomacy is not the end of diplomacy, rather, it is the re-discovery of diplomacy! Because of the coronavirus, diplomats can interact without meeting face-to-face. Digital diplomacy is now perceived as a medium of diplomacy and involves the use of various digital platforms and features of communication in the exchanging of ideas. Diplomacy had to change and the role of the ambassador continues to change accordingly.
The pandemic and you
There is no doubt that the pandemic has had an impact on your life for over a year now, right? Â Why not try beating the pandemic fatigue by making the best of your current circumstances. Using your time wisely can help you to stay positive and avoid excessive worry. Rather than focus on what you can no longer do, look for ways that you can take advantage of your current situation. For example, are there projects that you now have time for or hobbies that you can now pursue? Can you spend more time with your family and friends?
The COVID 19 pandemic has impacted diplomacy and the lives of diplomats. You may wonder, will digital diplomacy be the way of the future? Well, take courage, sooner or later the pandemic will peter out and life will go back to (a new) normal. Nevertheless, there will be some changes in the diplomatic sphere.
On the historic date of March 08th â International Womenâs Day, a large number of international affairs specialists gathered for the second consecutive summit in Vienna, Austria. This leg of the Vienna Process event titled: âEurope â Future â Neighbourhood at 75: Disruptions Recalibration Continuityâ. The conference, jointly organized by four different entities (the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies IFIMES, Media Platform Modern Diplomacy, Scientific Journal European Perspectives, and Action Platform Culture for Peace) with the support of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, was aimed at discussing the future of Europe and its neighbourhood in the wake of its old and new challenges.
Among other notable speakers there was also a prominent EAF Lawyer of Latvia, Andrejs Pagors. His polemic, but very constructive views and suggestions contributed to the greatly mesmerising flow and outcome of the central conferenceâs panel. Central to his address was the question: A political bias and economic wellbeing – is reconciliation between the two possible? Following lines are his contribution to this highly successful Vienna Process event:
Latvia, like the rest of Europe, is experiencing the consequences of the Covid 19 (C-19) measures, which directly affects the economic state of the country and regions.
Small and medium-sized businesses are especially affected, for which the government has not yet developed a system of assistance, and the criteria for assistance do not allow all enterprises to apply for assistance from the state.
It should be noted that the crisis in Latvia did not begin in March 2020, but at the end of 2019. The drop in GDP was associated with a drop of transit and production sectors. A crisis or an epidemic has become the perfect cover for the lack of an economic development plan for the country.
The inadequate and purely concepted economic conduct of the government has led to the fact that the economic crisis will continue, and a more powerful wave awaits us, experts say. The government was not ready for the second wave of C-19 and the third wave is approaching for which we are not ready again.
Latvia is unique in that we are not trying to apply restrictive measures to save businesses that work in other European countries, but we come up with our own illogical measures that do not work, and we see that the number of cases is growing. Correct and logical measures will help to return to normal life, and this will allow the business to work productively and develop.
In all countries, except for Latvia, the government tried to support and prevent a drop in consumption of the inhabitants of their country, thereby supporting production. In Latvia, an unfortunate measure to ban trade in a number of goods led to the closure of production, which ultimately reduced tax revenues to the state treasury by 18.5%.
White flags at shopping centers symbolize a decrease in turnover and that the safety factor is running out. Enterprises that, due to restrictions, were unable to sell seasonal goods, did not receive working capital to purchase new goods. The government was slow to realize the opportunity to support the business by allocating money for working capital that could be used to pay off rent and pay utility bills.
A political bias and economic wellbeing – you can not have both
At the same time, the current authorities did not take any measures for state economy or rejection of non-priority projects. If we compare with other countries, the reduction of government officials began everywhere. In Latvia, the number of officials has not been reduced, even with a decrease in the amount of work. From every 1 euro of tax paid to the treasury, 0.15 euro is spent on the maintenance of the state apparatus.
At the same time, during the C-19 measures, Latvia turned out to be one of the leaders of the sanctions policy that was deadly for business. For 30 years Russia and Belarus have been using Latvian ports. And objectively for central Russia, Belarus, our three leading ports of Ventspils, Riga and Liepaja are more profitable than the Russian Ust-Luga. The tariffs are 25-30% lower, the speed of cargo clearance is faster.
However, the result of many years of anti-Russian rhetoric was Russia’s refusal to work with Latvia. The Kremlin used the administrative resource, and the goods went bypassing the Baltic countries. At the moment we have lost banking business, transit and trade with our neighbors Belarusians and the Russian Federation. Consequently, the economy became hostage to politics. There was hope for China. Moreover, scientists are sounding the alarm and note the slowdown of the Gulf Stream, which could nullify all the efforts of Russia and China on the northern sea route.
China has a well-known project – “One Belt – One Road”, it is also called the “New Silk Road”. Beijing was ready to work in both Latvia and Estonia. However, following in the wake of American policy, the Chinese were not allowed to enter the Baltic. And now, after the breakdown of the EU-China investment agreement due to the Uyghur agenda, there is no need to wait for investments from China. Hence, due to political problems, port complexes â just few years ago still among the most promising in the Baltics, is now threatened.
At the municipal or city level, the situation is the same as on the state level. Let me use as an example my own birth city: Jelgava (Mitava), 800 years of history and development. Where 20 years ago minibuses of the European level were produced and one of the largest sugar factories worked.
At the end of the 90s, the RAF plant with 4,000 employees was liquidated, and in 2006 the Jelgava âcukurfabrikaâ was liquidated, which produced sugar for the whole country and for export, gave jobs and developed agriculture, which was engaged in the cultivation of sugar beets. The political elites made concessions to the EU in exchange for positions and places in the Brussels apparatus. Now, Latvia buys sugar in Denmark. In 2010, a major investor in the production of railroad cars came to the city, but again political interference prevented the start of large-scale production in the city, although the amount of financial injection into the city was equal to the entire annual budget of the city. This time, the investor was from neighboring Estonia. But politics intervened here too.
Rocky 2020 showed us that things are not changing for the better. In addition to the war of sanctions with Russia and China, the “war of vaccines” was added. At the same time, the old national political establishment continues to live according to the principle âthe state is usâ, prioritizing its own interests, and not the country’s economy. I note that the C-19 measures have demonstrated the weaknesses of the EU. Recently, the European Commission diversified the procurement of vaccines returning it onto the Member States level â each country has the right to purchase it independently.
What will than happen next? If the EU cannot resolve important issues, maybe we, the EU states, need more autonomy in economic matters, in the implementation of national projects, too. And in the change of political teams that turned out to be inadequate to effectively tackle the mounting C-19 induced socio-political and economic crisis.
About Author:
Eugene Matos
Eugene Matos de Lara, publisher of the academic journal Border Crossing, he is an International Private Law specialist of the University of Ottawa, Canada.
On the historic date of March 08th â International Womenâs Day, a large number of international affairs specialists gathered for the second consecutive summit in Vienna, Austria. This leg of the Vienna Process titled: âEurope â Future â Neighbourhood at 75: Disruptions Recalibration Continuityâ. The conference, jointly organized by four different entities (the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies IFIMES, Media Platform Modern Diplomacy, Scientific Journal European Perspectives, and Action Platform Culture for Peace) with the support of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, was aimed at discussing the future of Europe and its neighbourhood in the wake of its old and new challenges.[1]
The event was probably the largest gathering since the beginning of 2021 for this part of Europe.
The problems of the port complex and the creation of new traffic flows in northeastern Europe, raised by the numerous speakers of the Conference on March 8th are relevant for the whole of Europe. The loss of the Baltic countries of Russian transit, the connection, first of all, not with the pandemic, but with the desire of Russia to deprive the Baltic countries of income within the framework of the sanctions war. Rising unemployment and the closure of port facilities will necessitate more funding for these countries from Brussels, and politically could be an economic and political victory for Moscow.
At the same time, officially, Russia’s actions regarding the refusal to use the Baltic ports are not part of the anti-European sanctions and, of course, the issue could be partially resolved in favor of the Baltic States with the appropriate will of all parties to dialogue.
In parallel, Eastern Europe is an object of interest for China, within the framework of its “one belt, one road” project, and this transport corridor simply does not have enough Russian resources either in the Arctic or in a small section of the Russian Baltic. Businesses willing to work with China are not happy with Brussels’ refusal to conclude a financial agreement with China, the signing of which is linked to the human rights situation in China.
At the same time, it is obvious that China will not make concessions to either the EU or the US on this issue, but economic ties with it are important for Europe. Is a unified approach to Chinese investments in the EU and Chinese transport projects through the territory of Russia possible? This is the question that must be resolved for the early recovery of the pandemic-stricken economy in Europe.
Discussions around Nord Stream 2 are primarily of a political nature, exacerbating relations within the EU. Attempts to disrupt this project are no less dangerous for central Europe than for Russia itself, which will find other ways to sell its resources.
The discussions around Nord Stream 2 are primarily political in nature, thus aggravating relations within the EU and, in fact, splitting the single European camp, indirectly playing into the hands of the Kremlin. Attempts to disrupt this project are no less dangerous for central Europe than for Russia itself, which will find other ways to sell its resources.
All this necessitates the emancipated and indigenous, pan-European recalibration of politico-military but also of the economic relations based on reciprocity and unbiased, non-preferential approach. For the EU and Europe as whole this remains the question of all questions â point of failure or success in delivering to its future generations.
About the Author:
Audrey Beaulieu of the University of Ottawa (Globalization and Intl Development Department), specialised in Public and Private International law, international development and global politics.
a Few Things on âThe Great Resetâ and âThe Social Distancingâ
Motto: âWhatever happens in your life is the result of two facts: something that you have done or you havenâtâ â Albert Einstein
By Corneliu Pivariu
The Great Reset
Thereâs a lot of talk lately about The Great Reset[1]. In fact, the idea is not new. At the 2012 World Economic Forum meeting (WEF), the stakeholders considered âThe Great Transformationâ as a solution to the current global challenges. At the 2016 meeting of the same forum there was talk of âThe Fourth Industrial Revolutionâ[2]. In 2019, the WEF meeting was titled âGlobalisation 4.0 â Modelling the new global architecture in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolutionâ. Actually, the Hungarian-American economist Karl Polanyi suggested much earlier (in 1944) a re-thinking of the economy he called then âThe Great Transformationâ, whereby the market economy and the nation-state were understood not as two distinct elements but as a whole Polanyi named âthe market societyâ.
It is worth mentioning that 2019 marked an expansion of the WEF network for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, created in 2017 when more than 100 governments and businesses joined, including 5 members of G7 and some international organizations[3].
Recently, The Valdai Discussion Club published an evocative infograph concerning COVID-19 and the Fourth Industrial Revolution[4] (see below).
Without being impressed by the formulations of the WEF documents, many of which can be considered staggering, we find out, as Naomi Klein[5] says, that the initiatives of the Davos Forum wish to create a plausible impression that the big winners of the world economic system âare on the point of willingly leaving the greed aside and start seriously solving the boiling crises that are radically destabilizing our worldâ. That is not at all the case and statistics abundantly prove the contrary. Even at the WEF meeting of 2016, different interventions mentioned that the poor and rich divide in the world is more and more obvious and that the said inequality increased by 47% during the last five years. In 2016, 1% of the world population owned 99% of the world wealth. The latest data shows that the world billionairesâ wealth reached at 31 December 2020, 11.95 trillion $ (increasing by 3.9 trillion$ between 18 March and 31 December only). The wealth of the first 10 billionaires of the world increased in 2020 by 540 billion $[6].
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 meeting of the WEF was held online during four days. The stated purpose was rebuilding trust and buiulding principles, policies and partnerships for 2021. The event attracted as usual the participation of certain heads of states and governments, prominent international business leaders, leaders of civil society and global media.
A in-person Special Annual Meeting is scheduled between 25-28 May in Singapore. According to Klaus Schwabâs statement, âThe Special Annual Meeting 2021 will be a place for leaders from business, the governments and civil society to meet in person from the start of the global pandemic. Public-private cooperation is needed more than ever to rebuild trust and address the fault lines that emerged in 2020.â Ahead of The Global Technology Governance Summit, a meeting scheduled to find ways for using the emerging technologies in the framework of a public-private collaboration will be held in Tokyo from 6-7 April 2021. The WEF will return to Davos for the 2022 Annual Meeting.
The Great Reset has three components:
a fairer market in accordance with a stakeholders economy, at all social levels;
– investments driven by common objectives such as âequality and sustainabilityâ, according to a new system, more resilient â for instance green infrastructure and industries with better track records of their social and environmental impact;
– the public good should be supported by addressing the social and public health problems based on harnessing the technological innovations of the fourth industrial revolution.
The scenario of âThe Great Resetâ in brief[7]:
perpetual and economically controlled pandemic lockdowns until the population gives in the medical tyranny;
medical passports and monitoring the interpersonal contacts as part and parcel of day-to-day life[8];
censorship of all voices opposing the agenda;
a slowed down economic activity on behalf of reversing the âclimate changeâ;
impoverishment and the loss of private property;
setting up âthe universal basic incomeâ for a generation of dependent and desperate persons;
a cashless society and a digital monetary system where the confidentiality of all transactions is completely removed;
creating a âcommon economyâ where nobody will own anything (apart from the âelitesâ) and the independent production is banned;
removal of the national borders and the end of sovereignty and self-determination;
the global political power will be centralized in the hands of the âeliteâ.
Yet on the WEF site it is said that the situation associated with COVID-19 should not have as a legacy âa tragedyâ only but, âon the contrary, the pandemic represents a rare and narrow window of opportunity for reflecting, reimagining and resetting our world so that we create a fairer, more prosperous and more just futureâ.
An important conclusion drawn at January 2021 WEF meeting is that a key element of the situation is to restore public trust âwhich was eroded by the perception that the Corona virus pandemic was wrongly addressedâ.
Angela Merkelâs speech at the WEF was interesting too and we noticed for this article that the pandemic âshowed us our global connections oraddictionsâ and identified âthe lack of digitalisation in our societyâ as a weak point as well as the necessity to act for âthe climate neutrality by 2050â as the EU was already committed to. I noticed that the German leader raised the issue of The Great Reset: âDo we really need this Great Reset?â, she questioned and added that âisnât it rather obviousthat we need less a new start in establishing the objectives but we need to be more resolute in our actions?â
WEF leadership have presented for some time their ideas and proposals as implacable ones which have to be implemented and that was what Klaus Schwab tried this time too to induce to the audience by insisting on the sentence presented in his latest work âStakeholders Capitalismâand declared he was âamazed by the ideological resistance it arousedâ. The issue needs a broader approach but we confine ourselves to quoting Wall Street Journal which commented on: â… on the sentence that the business leaders make a better world pursuing social objectives additional to the profit we would expect a discussion about the most important counter argument â namely that the business leaders could worsen the world…stakeholders capitalism can be in the end a more profitable version of the classical capitalism â because people are fooled and the field is washedâ.
The President of the European Commission spoke at Davos about the need to regulate Big Tech and said: âThe business model the online social platforms use has had an impact not only on the free and fair competition but also on our democracies, on the security and the quality of information. This is why limiting the huge power of the big digital companies is needed. We want that the values we cherish in the offline world be observed online too. ⊠We cannot accept that decisions with major impact on our democracy be made on a computer softwareâ. âA body of rulesbased on our values â human rights, pluralism, inclusion and privacy protection is neededâ, Ursula von de Leyen added.
Important speeches were delivered by the Chinese President Xi Jinping[9] and by the Russian leader Vladimir Putin[10]. Reading between the lines outlines indeed the specific interests of each of them.
The COVID-10 pandemic is in full swing and at the date of issuing this material one year has passed since the pandemic was declared and a few months from the start of the vaccination campaign.
The UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres declared on 17 February 2021[11], in a UN virtual meeting that the purpose of the vaccination for the entire world population is âthe greatest moral test towards the global communityâ and emphasized that anyone, anywhere should be included in the vaccination process. âSo far, the vaccination process was wildly unequal and unjust as 10 countries administered 75% of the whole COVID-19 vaccine.At the same time, more than 130 countries did not receive even a single doseâ, the UN Secretary General said. On 26 February the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for equity as far as the access to vaccines against COVID-19 pandemic is concerned, a resolution reflecting in a way a certain return to unity of the international community[12]. Let us not deceive ourselves as there is a great distance from words to deeds and the international community did not demonstrate yet the needed maturity for completely and efficiently implementing such a provision.
There is enough lack of confidence concerning the very evolution of the globalisation process and there are voices saying that one cannot arrive at The Great Reset with âthe same old globalistsâ. Plutocracy indeed will play a part of the first magnitute in the process trying to control and limit the power of states, something that seems easily attainable considering the rather precarious condition of the leaders of the present world political class.
A new multipolar world order consensually agreed upon is for sure preferable to a world war waged for the globalisation of any way of life and some would equate that with admitting defeat without fight.
But what would be the possibilities and the guarantees of durability of such an understanding, indeed if the idea is accepted? At a certain moment the world could become again bi or unipolar. It is quite impossible to establish a durable equilibrium in between the hubris of the great powers, especially when plutocracy is putting the pedal to the metal of global changes.
It all looks more and more like an ongoing planetary takeover. The power axis is the leadership in Beijing and a handful of ultrarich American families (who eventually emerged as Big Pharma and Big Tech leaders too). It seems we are witnessing a full-blown war, except fot its classical component (which would be more costly and would suppose a loss of life many a states cannot afford on the background of nowadays demographical evolutions). It is wished that this war culminate with a Final Solution – which I do not want to name â something impossible without a massive crime against humanity.
We witnessed and still witness the misuse in many occasions of this term[14], especially in the media as a result of the provision concerning the observance of a physical distance among persons for preventing the spread of SARS-COV2. You are tempted to ask yourself whether the misuse of these words is not intentional as it is the case with other usages, an interesting topic which is not the intention of this approach.
Fact is that social distancing has become more evident in 2020, when the world billionaires enjoyed a spectacular growth of their wealth, as it can be seen:
In September 2020, Jeff Bezos could have given to all his 876,000 employees a bonus of 105,000 $ and he remained as rich as before the WHOâs declaring the pandemic.
Timid steps were made in 2018 and 2019 for eradicating poverty globally (it diminished by 1.2% and 1.5%, respectively), yet in 2020 poverty increased by 7.1% so the progress registered previously was reversed and the poverty deepened.
According to data published by the World Bank in September 2020, climate changes is another factor that will contribute to poverty increase globally by bringing between 68 and 132 million people into the poor ranks.
At first sight we could say this is a reason why The Green Deal is needed. Definitely, but what about the billionaires who are so worried about the planetâs status and the situation of the people living on Earth? The billionaires are some of the most important polluters as they own multiple polluting sources such as yachts and other means of transportation (planes, helicopters, cars).
At the same time, worldâs billionaires made consistent donations for fighting Covid-19: Mackenzie Scott (Jeff Bezosâ former wife) donated at the end of 2020 4 billion $ to a support fund for fighting the pandemic; Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey donated 1 billion $ for the same cause; Bill and Melinda Gates granted 1.75 billion $ in response to Covid-19 pandemic and for the development and delivery of test kits and vaccines[15].
The media outlets promoting the social distancing may rest assured as a research of a World Bank[16] showed that in 2020 the extreme poverty (people living with less than 1.9$/day) affected 9.1-9.4% of the globe population. The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown between 88 and 115 million people into extreme poverty in 2020 and it is estimated that the total will reach 150 million people in 2021.
It is not about the whole media indeed but just the part of it able to penetrate the targetted mediums and which benefitted from charity donations granted by the billionaires. According to an analysis of 20,000 charity donations made by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the journalist Bill Schwab found out that more than 250 million $ went to journalism[17].
We think that the human society did not reach yet the solidarity and maturity of seriously addressing the mankindâs stringent problems. The World Bank estimates that the number of cancer cases will reach 28.4 million, an increase of 47% as compared to 2020.
Ending the approach of this subject, I will give some examples showing us that the social distancing is well embeded in todayâs human society: 1% of the richest people in the world possess double the amount possessed by 6.9 billion people; 4 cents only of every tax dollar represent the property tax (at the same time the super rich avoid paying around 30% of due taxes); 258 million children (one in five) cannot go to school; 10,000 people die everyday due to the lack of medical assistance; men own 50% more wealth than women.
The widening rich and poor divide affects not only the fight against poverty but also the economic growth and leads to social division.
Inequality is not something unavoidable, it is a political choiceRomania in the global geopolitical context
The start of Covid-19 pandemic and all its economic, political and social implications surprised Romania in a less-than comfortable position[18], due to the almost 31 years that passed since the events of December 1989 and during which the Romanian political class as a whole demonstrated a narrow vision of the development of the country. The limited aims, party connected and sometimes personal ones prevailed in front of the national aims. Except for the main achievements of this period, i.e. joining NATO (2004) and the European Union (2007), Romania was not able until now to establish a country project capable of mobilizing all the forces of the nation for the next two to three decades. Limited objectives are chosen, with no national coverage and with no vision while the indebtness grows in a record-breaking pace and the future of the next generations is pawned without knowing exactly for what.
The lack of transparency was facilitated by the two months lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic and then by imposing on a month-by-month basis the state of alert. Moreover, Romania hurried up to notify the Council of Europe of activating the provision of the European Convention for the human rights allowing by way of exception to violate certain rights under the lockdown rule imposed as a result of the pandemic, accordinf to France Presse quoted by Agerpres. Similar notifications were sent by the Republic of Moldova, Latvia and Armenia but by no other EU member country. That means that with the exception of the right to life and forbidding the torture one can waive any other human right. A unnecessary extreme measure as some magistrates[19] said.
Furthermore, the schools were closed most of the time since the declaration of the pandemic and were reopened nationally on 8 February, 2021 a date after which new restrictions and closure of schools were applied. The obligation for the pupils to wear masks during sport classes was strongly criticized (there are no other EU member countries imposing such a measure).
A controversial episode was the Romanian seasonal workers leaving for Germany for harvesting asparagus during the lockdown (decreed on 16 March 2020 by the Romanian president) when without observing the rules in force thousands of workers crowded the charters bound for Germany from the Cluj, Sibiu and even Bucharest airports, a situation reflected by the international media too. Likewise, a railway corridor was set up in the spring of 2020 from TimiÈoara to Austria for thousands of Romanian women attending carers (more than 33,000 Austrians need to be permanently taken care of 24/24h and part of this assistance is provided by Romanian persons).
This is just part of the problems generated by the migration from Romania which can be summarized this way:
Romania is second in the world (after Syria) as number of migrating population, 9 Romanians per hour, 17% of the active population, one fifths of the entire population;
we have lost 40,000 physicians (2007-2017), 84,000 young people under 36 (2016), of whom 19% with higher education (61% women);
we are suppliers of qualified workforce for Austria, Hungary, France, Germany and super qualified workforce for the US and Canada.
The hospitality industry was badly affected, it registered great losses and it is assessed that the sector was among the first affected industries and among the last ones to recover. The numbers of employees in the sector decreased every month, certain capacities were closed for good while numerous others have a precarious financial position. It is estimated that in 2020 only the HoReCa losses amounted to 7 billion euro.
It is the auto industry and IT[20] that are dominating now in what remained of the 1989 countryâs economy while the agriculture is confronted with serious problems starting with the irrigations systems[21] and going through different crops. Speaking of sugar one sees that before 1989 the imports represented 20% of the consumption while now they top 80% of it, while the potatoes production decreased continuously during the last 10 years. So did the cultivated areas. Ten years ago, 3.5 â 4 million tons of potatoes were harvested on an area of 200,000 â 250,000 ha that has decreased during the last five years below 200,000 ha. Before 1990, potatoes were cultivated on 275,000 ha. Now Romania imports 70% of its potatoes consumption. 40% of Romaniaâs arable land has been sold to foreigners.
Discriminating and difficult to cope with measures have been adopted such as limiting the acces of persons over 65 to stores for buying essential goods to two hours a day (Military Ordinance No.3 /24 March 2020 set the mandatory hours â 11.00-13.00 and Military Ordinance No.10/27 April 2020 modified the hours to 07.00 â 11.00 and 19.00 â 22.00). Although there were expectations that this discriminating measure be strongly opposed and criticized, public positions were sporadic at best. It is worth mentioning the position of the president of the Romanian Academy, academician Ioan Aurel Pop[22] from which I quote: âOld people are (still) humans like all humans. They are now endangered by plague too, yet they are not dangerous. Do not âprotectâ them beyond the measure because you will crush their humanity and tarnish their dignity. You cannot destroy or tarnish their humanity because they have plenty of and pour it relentlessly into this sick world.â
Despite the fact that most of the population have observed and observe the imposed limitations, the political leadership insisted on the coercive branch of the state and gave firm instructions to the police to impose fines on the population. Until the beginning of May 2020 only, more than 300,000 fines have been applied amounting to around 120 million euro.
Data published on the WHO site[23], show that by 6 march 2021 there were registered 816,589 cases of Covid-19 in Romania and a number of 20,684 people died. Until 22 February 2021, 1,274,421 vaccine doses were administered. I underline the EUâs role in securing the vaccine doses proportionally to the population of all its member states. Romania donated to the Republic of Moldova 21,600 veccine doses from the doses it received. Alltogether, Romania promised to deliver to ChiÈinÄu 200,000 vaccine doses.
As occured in other European states, the political leadership committed many communication errors including wrong statistical data and demonstrated lack of transparency which did not contribute to boosting the confidence of the population in the adopted steps. However, the demonstrations and the public manifestations against the restrictions were less numerous or of lesser magnitude as compared to other European states (France, Great Britain, Germany, âŠ). I think that this situation will not last indefinitely and announcing new restrictions as a result of the start of the third wave of the pandemic and declaring the red scenario for new areas (more than 3 cases/1,000 inhabitants), with the already imposed restrictions, all that could trigger a new wave of protests, more powerfull, with which the coalition of the right parties brought to power by president Iohannis at the end of 2020 could be confronted with. The austerity measures adopted and certain political and economic measures[24] that an important part of the political class and population do not agree upon should be added to the context.
Currently we see hope in the Recovery and Resilience Facility set up by the EU at 11 February 2021 (672.5 billion euro ) from which 30.5 billion euro are set for Romania (13.8 billion euro as grants and 16.7 billion euro as loans) that could contribute to the countryâs economic recovery.
The facility is meant to help member states to deal with the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring at the same time that their economies achive the green and digital transitions and become more sustainable and resilient.
In order to receive support from the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the EU countries are requested to set up in their national plans a coherent package of projects, reforms and investments in six policy fields:
green transition;
digital transformation;
intelligent, sustainable growth favourable to inclusion and employment of the workforce;
social and territorial cohesion;
health and resilience;
policies for the next generations including education and competencies.
The EU member states will officially submit their national recovery and resilience plans to the European Commission by 30 April 2021, in order to be assessed and approved. A first version of the plan sent by the government was already rejected as it did not take into account the provisions established for drawing up the plan.
Romania has an enormous development potential if we take into consideration its natural resources. The mineral deposits discovered are estimated at 734.8 billion euro. We are one of the few European countries with known deposits of crude oil and gas. When the national oil and gas company Petrom was privatized, 80% of the onshore blocks with economic potential were leased to the Austrian investors (who now want to turn the Targoviste Combine of Special Steels into scrap). The natural gas reserves are estimated at 660 billion cu.m. in the sub-Carpathian Arc and at more than 200 billion cu.m. offshore, in the Black Sea. Gold and silver deposits are estimated at 225 billion euro and the copper ones at 900 million tons. We have polymetalic ore deposits worth more than 30 billion euro. Coal deposits are estimated at around 190 billion euro yet there are only 4 mines now under exploitation out of the 24 mines in the Jiu Valley and out of the 55,000 miners working there before 1990 only 3,000 remained. The redundant personnel was completely neglected instead of being used for specific works or works needing a minimum requalification (highways and railways construction, etc).
Romania has also tellurium[25], a rare metalloid found in countries like China, the US, Canada and Australia while in Europe Sweden and Romania only have such deposits. A part of these deposits are leased to Canadian companies.
Hydro and Aeolian resources and mineral water have to be added to the mentioned resources. In case of new investments of 10 billion euro, wind mills could deliver around 6,000 MW within the next ten years[26] (the wind mills parks in Romania, most of them in Dobrogea, supply presently 3,000 MW).
Nevertheless, the incumbent government borrowed in 2020 only around 20 billion euro (without being very clear for what the amount was spent) and thus the public debt increased from around 36% of the GDP in 2019 to circa 44%. Or, as the poet said: âOur mountains full of gold and we beg from door to doorâ[27]. An actual addition says: âwe demolish for scrap any industry as it is much easier than investing in modern technologies and if we get upset we let other foreigners to sell our resources and we accept pickings!â. The main strategic resources are already in foreignersâ hands.
This is why 20% of the Romanians who left their country declare they will never return to Romania and 23%of them have foreign citizenship (Hungary, Italy, Spain, Grance, Canada, the US).
We could reach in a short time the point where, even if we wish, we donât have with whom and with what to amend the situation. This is a distress signal the governing class did not seem to have heeded!
âThe Romanian politicians should understand that there are other things too, more urgent and more important, beyond the domestic disputes. Besides the party priorities there is the national interest we have to define, power and oposition, the Romanian society in general since there is no one coming from abroad to bring it to us in a sealed envelopeâ[28].
A mobilization of all responsible political forces for agreeing upon a new countryâs strategic objective whereby the economic development and education must be placed on top is an urgent need.
Brief conclusions
The Covid-19 pandemic has multiple consequences worldwide and in each country. It is for the first time when such comprehensive measures are taken worldwide (for a disease that killed until the date of this article around 2.6 million people) since the Spanish flu (1918-1919 who caused between 50 and 100 million fatalities). For drawing meaningful conclusions, we have to answer the classical question: Qui prodest?
Obviously besides China, the only country which succeeded in maintaining a positive rate of development, the big corporations benefitted (as they did every time under difficult circumstances) and so did segments that grew by rapidly adapting themselves to the new situation or which were already involved in the respective fields such as pharma and medical equipment sector, IT, courier services, etc.
The contest between the big corporations and the political world advanced and entered a new stage whereby the political world that relies on the continuous flow of money is discovering the danger represented by the corporationsâ increased power and tries to preserve its privileges. The corporate elites that control since long time the oil resources, the banks, the steel industry, automotive industry and others have already taken over the control of education (universities), health (Big Pharma), media and IT (Big Tech) and defense.
I think that 2021 proves to be much worse than 2020 â authoritarian lockdowns, the Big Tech censorship, an increase of social hysteria, manipulations and fake news so that the fight for democracy, human rights and psychical health[29] should be continued with even more resolution.
Nothing new under the sun. Here it is what a Romanian writer said almost 100 years ago:
âThree phenomena of our times: the barbariansâ vertical invasion, the rule of the monkey-brains, the betrayal of the decent people.
First: it is not the barbarians from other continents who invade from bottom to top but the scoundrels. These barbarians take over the leadership places.
Second: the monkey-brains and the benighted acceded, plain and simple and in the most cathegorical sense, to power and, despite all economic laws and political rules they are monkeying around as ignorants do.
Third: instead of standing against, the decent people adopt condescending expectations, and by pretending they donât see and donât hear, theyâre simply betraying. They donât do their duty. The unbiased and the confident ones record (what is going on) and remain silent. They are the guiltiestâ.[30]
The conclusions can be much more alaborate yet two questions linger on: why is it so hard to learn the lessons of the past? And especially âQui prodest?â.
Corneliu Pivariu Military Intelligence and International Relations Senior Expert
A highly decorated retired two-star general of the Romanian army, during two decades he has led one of the most influential magazines on geopolitics and international relations in Eastern Europe, the bilingual journal Geostrategic Pulse.
[1] The Great Reset was on the agenda of the 2020 WEF meeting in Davos that brings together not only the the world plutocracy but also heads of states and governments and the globalist elites. Incidentally, Klaus Schwab, the WEF founder and executive chairman has published last year the book âCOVID-19 The Great Resetâ (co-author Thierry Malleret). The book runs through the main global trends in economy, environment and technology in a supposedly distinctive key for the WEF. In fact, Schwab says in the introductory note that the book is placed âon the borderline between an academic research and an essayâ.
[2] The Fourth Industrial Revolution we supposedly are in, refers to the the introduction of technology into the physical, biological and digital world. We are talking about nanotechnology, robotics, 3D printing, biotechnology and much more â cf. Corneliu Pivariu, MutÄri importante pe tabla de Èah a geopoliticii 2014-2017, pag 90-91, Ed. Pastel, 2017.
[5]Naomi A. Klein (born in 1970) journalist, authored more than 15 books, social activist, known for her political analyses and criticism of the corporatist globalisation.
[6] The Inequality Virus Report â Oxfam International, 25 January 2021
[7] According to the article SfĂąrÈitul democraÈiei:âMarea Resetareâ, by Ambrus Bela, Q Magazine 03.02.2021
[8]Already under way of implementation. IATA (The International Air Transport Association), that reunites more than 90% of the airlines had losses of 118 billion$ as a result of the decrease of the number of passangers by around 60%. It tests an app that will be available on smart phones probably by the end of March, 2021 which integrates all the steps needed for air travel in the context of the pandemic.
At the 24 February EU on-line summit, chancellor Angela Merkel said that all states agreed on introducing digital vaccination certificates which will be probably available before the summer of 2021. The Member States will decide shortly how the application will be used and the evolutions concerning the decisions on the subject are presently fluid.
[12]Resolution 2656/2021, unanimously adopted by the 15 UN Security Council members reiterates nevertheless the provisions of the Resolution 2532/2020 calling for a general and immediate cessation of all hostilities, in all the situations to fight the pandemic.
[13] I warmly recommend the article of Prof. Anis H. Bajrectarevic: 2020â A Year when Distancing became Social â Vienna, 20 Dec. 2020 on the same topic.
[14]In a notice of 20 March 2020, even the WHO announced it was distancing itself from the term âsocial distancingâ (initially promoted by the organisation). Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist of infectious diseases with the WHO reiterated this stance in a press conference. âWe said physical distancing because it is important to remain physically separated yet socially connectedâ, she said adding that people should take care of their mental health and of the loved ones during pandemic when social connections are more important than ever.
[15] The Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation is an important funder of the WHO too, covering, according to the organisationâs site, 11.2% of its total budget (December 2020) and during the summer of 2020 it represented 45% of the donations made by non-government entities.
[18] A brief radiography of todayâs Romania can be found in the article RomĂąnia la 101 ani de la crearea statului naÈional unitar and can be accessed on https://corneliupivariu.com
[19] Cristi DÄnileÈ, judge at the Cluj Court and former member of the Higher Magistracy Council declared on Facebook: “Erdoganâs Turkey did that in order to arrest and sentence, by-passing the rule of law, the regimeâs opponents. I do consider Romaniaâs request far-fetchedand and as a judge I am compelled to denounce it publicly. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO DO THAT! We are not at war with people or with a state but with a miserable virus”.
[20] The Romanian company MetaMinds is among the first ten European companies in the cybersecurity field that has had a turnover of 1 million euro in its first year and reached 25million euro in 2019.
[21] Romanian farmers irrigated an area of 508,000 ha of arable land in 2017, more than 6 times less than in 1989 when 3.2 million ha were irrigated.
[22] He published on 14 April 2020 an essay titled The dangerous old people, available on the Academy site and retrieved by numerous media outlets.
[23] See https://covid19.who.int/region/euro/country/ro
[24] It is rumored that shares of state companies such as the Constanta Port, CEC, the only bank with 100% Romanian capital, Hidroelectrica,etc. are to be put up for sale when the international context is not favourable at all and all European countries seek to protect their indigenous capital under difficult circumstances.
[25] Used in the aero-space, energy, military, IT fields.
[27]Octavian Goga (1881 â 1938) the poem Our mountains
[28]Liviu MureÈan â chairman of EURISC, speech delivered at the second edition of the event Black Sea Forum, organized by Financial Intelligence, March 2021.
[29]âDisconnect yourselves from the excessive load of information (especially mass-media), disconnect yourselves from the excess of technologies (attend a digital diet), forget about the smart phone at least one day a week, enter airplane mode whenever you can. Use your brain for creating and not for repeating the fears you have been injected with …â – Ana MarĂa Oliva – engineer with a PhD in biomedicine.
[30]Nicolae Steinhardt (1912-1989), Romanian writer, essayist, jurist and publicist, Paris 1937.
On the historic date of March 08th â International Womenâs Day, a large number of international affairs specialists gathered for the second consecutive summit in Vienna, Austria. This leg of the Vienna Process event titled: âEurope â Future â Neighbourhood at 75: Disruptions Recalibration Continuityâ. The conference, jointly organized by four different entities (the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies IFIMES, Media Platform Modern Diplomacy, Scientific Journal European Perspectives, and Action Platform Culture for Peace) with the support of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, was aimed at discussing the future of Europe and its neighbourhood in the wake of its old and new challenges.
Among other notable speakers was also the International Chancellor of the President University, Schott Younger. Following lines are his contribution to this highly successful Vienna Process event:
I want to address two distinct areas, namely the political sphere and trade.
The USA has been in somewhat of a turmoil in the past few years, marked by the years of the Trump presidency which brought it to a head. It highlighted that there was an underlying white supremacy movement which went back to the Civil War Years, the mid 1800s, and only needed a maverick President, as Trump was, to bring it to the fore. This has not gone away. In fact, the FBI are more worried by the white supremacy movements for domestic terrorism than the international variety. Trump, having survived two impeachments, and with a weak, somewhat docile, Republican party, he will try to take it over and cause problems for the Democrats and Biden.
This will be one significant issue that Biden will face in his 4-year term and he will have to address that. One can only hope that Trumpâs time will be absorbed by defending back taxes owed and shady deals. The USA, however, will re-engage with NATO, WHO and Climate Change and other bodies which Trump withdrew the USA from.
However, Biden is going to struggle whenever he comes up against the stateswide judiciary or the Supreme Court when it comes to having important decisions passed and where Trump has placed arch conservatives. Therefore, I am not hopeful that Biden will be able to attend to as much as he would like on trans-Atlantic matters.
With Brexit done, the new American administration now have two entities to think about., UK and the EU. With Johnson as Prime Minister Trump considered he had a good rapport with the UK, and one could conceive that a top priority would have been a trade deal with the UK, although UK people had misgivings over some important contents of the deal, the outline of which was up for preliminary discussion. The trade between UK and US, although not as high as between Britain and Europe, is significant. But Biden is more ambivalent despite the closeness of the relationship; his forebears are Irish! I think that Biden would be interested in the Europe-US trade option. My caveat would be that there would be many things to discuss and several years to bring anything to a conclusion. Some key standards are different. The two deals, with EU and UK, could be run in parallel but I don ât see them coming to fruition in the near term.
This next puts attention on the EU-UK trade deal which was hastily signed up at the eleventh hour by Johnson, as he promised, although the deal that he signed was little different from that of 6 months previously. This then draws attention to the promises made by the Brexiteers in 2016. Little by little it is coming out that the message that they gave to the British people was full of holes. Not to put to fine a point on it they spoke a lot of terminal inexactitudes, to quote Churchill when he was pulled up for saying that someone was lying in the House of Commons. Unparliamentary language! This is gradually going to come out and there will be a lot of unhappy people. There is much to blame Cameron and other Remainers for.
They assumed that there was no problem and went to sleep and let Farage vent and Brexiteers tell their untruths unchallenged. We have not seen the end of this at this juncture. The demographics are changing in Britain, most of the younger people want change, and the outer parts that make up the UK are restive, particularly in the north, Scotland. That is another story. The UK might be different at the end of the decade!
In summary, Europe and trans-Atlantic relations will be easier with the new US administration pulling in the same direction, with the US rejoining the western World, and behaving more in tune with what most of Europe espouses to be. If the trans-Atlantic link is improving diplomatically this will make it easier to push the important agendas which should exercise the minds of those in positions to do this, namely the ongoing muddle which is the Middle East and the disgrace of a humanitarian situation, an aggressive China with a dictatorial touch but still open to trade with Europe, as well as India and ASEAN and Africa.
Today, Europe is ideally placed to trade with places East. There is an attempt to open up the old Silk Road and China is not averse to promote its use. A railway link has been established between China and right across Europe. This can cut the journey time by sea by as much as 2/3rds. Further the rail connections to ASEAN are improving
The EU has a vital leadership part to play in World affairs and is ideally placed to do it. The question is will they embrace the opportunity?
About the author:
J.Scott Younger
Prof. J.Scott Younger, OBE
International Chancellor of the President University
Amal Clooney owns a Lilli Jahilo classic, a black dress named after her, the ‘Amal’ dress and many others; Princess Sofia of Sweden and the President of Estonia, KerstiKaljulaid also possess Lilli Jahilo dresses, just to name a few personalities dressed up by Lilli. Her brand has penetrated various markets, and is linked through collaborations with brands across the globe – from Finland and Sweden, to the US and Dubai.
Lilli Jahilo is the daughter of an Estonian diplomat father and mother working in the field of media; she grew up in different countries in a cosmopolitan family of four kids, being constantly surrounded by changes, influenced by new languages, and cultures. In fact, she discovered her tailoring talent living abroad at early age, and that her destiny would be linked to pulchritude and quality.
Lilli Jahilo Pictures by Tallinn Design House
âI’ve never really seen myself as a ‘diplomatic kid’ – does anyone?â she declared. âAs a child, you follow your parents and that can take you to different places. This journey teaches you a lot, makes you lose fear of new places and gives you confidence that you can tackle anything.
As eldest out of four kids, I’ve lived abroad during two of my father’s postings. The first time, it was quite a shock moving from the newly independent Estonia to London in 1995. Literally everything was like in the movies – even cereals and orange juice for breakfast!
Lilli Jahilo design. Pictures by Riina Varol
Lilli Jahiloâs memories from London are still fresh and her school at that time made her discovered art at early age. âFor some reason, the smell of chrysanthemums and eucalyptus will always remind me of our life in London. School was so different, and because of the language, was also a struggle at first. My school’s art class was really well equipped and it was during this time that my talent in art started to stand out more. When I returned to my homeland, I took up additional art classes and I guess this was the beginning in laying the foundation for my later studies in design. By the time we moved to Norway three years later and I was in high school, I had already fully decided to pursue studies in Fashion Design.
What I think back to the most in London was definitely the retail scene. We lived in the vicinity to Kensington High Street, and it was blooming with great stores in the 90s. I still remember how classy Jigsaw’s store looked liked, and how good the service everywhere was. It also introduced me to the concept of quality, the woollen suits my mum bought and sense of classic aesthetic. As a kid you absorb life around you and you only see the influences later in life. The studies in Norway taught me the idea of well thought out design, that form follows function. And their love of nature and the outdoors definitely stuck with me. Like Norwegians, I’m convinced that there is no bad weather, only inappropriate clothes! Clothes should be always there to support and bring the best out of you.â
Her decision to go after a career in fashion was natural and for Lilli it was not another possible option; she spent teen years building a strong portfolio.
Lilli Jahilo Pictures by Tallinn Design House
âI was sure by the time I was in high-school that I wanted to pursue studies in fashion design. Hence I dedicated all of this time to perfecting my portfolio, as I had heard so many stories of how impossible it is to enrol in fashion design, as it’s always been a popular choice at art academies. Yet so it happened that I was accepted to all four universities to which I applied, and decided to go Oslo National Academy of the Arts. I didn’t have a plan B, this was the only thing I wanted to do.â
âThe world of fashion is a tough one to be in, so you need maximum motivation and inner drive to do it. Already when I was a kid, I loved drawing and making things, sewing with my grandmothers, working with all sorts of materials, and I’ve always been organising things, so fashion in a way brings together everything that I love doing. There’s a saying there are two type of artists in the world, those who destruct and those who build. I’m definitely the latter – I love creating harmony. All of our products are made with attention to detail and the perfection of fit which have become the hallmarks of my design together with modern and feminine style. We don’t only create the most beautiful dresses in the world, we empower women.
Lilli Jahilo Pictures by Tallinn Design House
I set up my fashion brand two years after graduating from Fashion MA in Tallinn, prior to that I had interned with numerous brands and designers to learn about the craft and trade. I won the best young designer award with my graduate collection and that brought attention and opened doors for me. I also started getting requests from private clients and so setting up my studio to do those things was sort of inevitable. I still worked a full-time job at the Art Academy when I started with my studio. At one point it was all too much, and then decided to fully dedicate on my brand.
My cousin Tene joined me in working with the brand so that I could focus more on the creative work. It’s been ten years now. My family was always there to support me which I’m very thankful for, because being an entrepreneur and artist at once and running a team is a tough journey full of challenges. Out of all the four siblings I’m the only one living in Estonia, my twin sisters are finalising their master studies in Mathematics and Aerospace Engineering, one of them lives in the UK, the other in The Netherlands, and my brother who is an environmental specialist lives in Belgium.
My studio is like a creative hub that includes an atelier, studio for creative work and showroom with fitting rooms that also acts as a store. We are very proud of our in-house atelier with the best tailors so that we can truly guarantee the best quality in our pieces, we also alter dresses quite a lot according to the clients’ measurements and needs and this goes for orders placed either in-store or online. Online business has really grown a lot during this Covid-year as customers are mainly shopping online – and this is true for both small items such as face masks and made-to-order dresses. Therefore managing the online store and shipping is an important part of our management side. I love working on collections but also on creative collaborations – Volvo is our long-term partner, as well as Saaremaa Opera Festival, our latest two collections are done in partnership with the National Art Museum of Estonia and our anniversary event this year was held in partnership with Samsung. Design is a universal language that crosses all borders and cultures and, like politics, everybody has an opinion about it.
Lilli Jahilo design. PIctures by Riina Varol
We truly have clients across the globe. We are currently working on developing the first menswear collection which I’m very excited about. And a very special Ramadan and Eid Collection is also in the works which will hopefully be launched in Dubai next year.
In the picture H. E. Ms. Erika Mouynes, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama.
By H.E. Ms. Elizabeth Ward Neiman, Ambassador of the Republic of Panama.
In the 1960âs, a cigarette company launched a marketing campaign tapping into the beginning of the women empowerment movement. Sixty years later, the shift against cigarette smoking has come a long way, but so has the empowerment of women and gender equality shifted remarkably as well. This shift is especially recognizable within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Panama.
The Republic of Panama is a State Party of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly and has ratified the Equal Remuneration Convention of the International Labour Organization (ILO) of 1951 (Convention No. 100), as well as actively participating in several regional and international forums.
Palacio Bolivar.
In 2012, the World Economic Forum (WEF) created the Initiatives of Gender Parity (IPG) with the objective of accelerating womenâs equality integration in the work force combining public and private sector initiatives. The WEF initiated the awareness of the IPG and implementation in 2012. However, it was not until 2016 that the efforts moved to Latin America with Panama as a frontrunner along with Chile and Argentina.
In constituting public-private alliances including people from public institutions, multilateral organizations and public and private organizations, the goal of Panamaâs Initiatives of Gender Parity (IPG Panama) was directed towards promoting best practices to close the economic gender gap by increasing the number of women in the labor force, reduce the wage gap and promote women in leadership positions.
One of the leaders of the nine institutions that form part of the Panamanian alliance is the governmental National Institute for Women (INAMU). By creating the program, âMujer, Cambia tu Vidaâ (Woman, Change your Life), INAMU has provided the necessary environment and opportunities for women to achieve economic independence aimed at an integral economy and a sustainable social environment in a competitive means that is in line with the current Government Action Plan.
In order to measure achievements aimed towards the international and national gender parity goals, Panama created a system of indicators with focus on gender in Panama (SIEGPA). Data is collected systematically from both the private and public sectors to facilitate the formulation, implementation and follow up of public policies regarding gender parity. The data is divided by sex, age, ethnic background, health measures as well as other relevant factors that affect women.
Panama aims to accelerate Gender Equality in the Public Sector in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Through INAMU the government proposed a Gender Parity Certificate, as an initiative within the framework of the Institutional Strengthening Project of the United Nations Program for Development (UNDP) within the public institutions. The objective of granting this certificate is to support and recognize the effort taking place to achieve gender parity moving forward on the construction of an inclusive State.
In order to achieve the proposed goals, Panama has conscientiously taken important steps in this matter such as training more women to enter the task force as well as employing more qualified women for leadership roles within the government, in addition to creating awareness of gender parity by enforcing the private sector to follow suit.
Although there is a clear shift in gender parity among the labor force in all public institutions as well as in the private sector, nowhere is this as obvious as in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs!
Appointed in December 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MIRE) is currently led by HE Erika Mouynes. It is selected women who accompany Minister Mouynes; HE Dayra Carrizo Castillero and HE Ana Luisa Castro as Vice Chancellor and Vice Minister for Multilateral Affairs and Cooperation, respectively. In addition to the three highest authority positions being occupied by outstanding internationally experienced women, 57% of the 14 appointed Department directors in the Ministry are highly qualified professional women.
The Minister Mouynes promotes the agenda of gender equality and the empowerment of all women with her participation in the campaign â#YoAlzoMiVozâ supporting the generation of equality as part of the collective call to action of the UN Women Decade of Action. She is also committed to the EPIC initiative (Equal Pay International Coalition) as a member of the steering committee, representing 1 of the 8 countries that globally leads actions for equal pay between men and women.
The Foreign Service forms part of the Ministry personnel and great effort has also been made to reach gender parity in this area. Nowadays, approximately 40% of the heads of Diplomatic Missions, whether ambassadors, general or honorary consuls, as well as others, are women.
In addition to this, Panama is represented in several multilateral organizations by women holding commendable positions. Ambassador MarĂa Roquebert is Permanent Representative of Panama to the Organization of American States (OAS), where she has emphasized that women must be represented in all areas equally, including politics. Just recently, Vivian FernĂĄndez de Torrijos was elected to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the Conference of State Parties.
Out of over 1,580 women participating, All About Shipping selected HE Natalia Royo de Hagerman, Ambassador of Panama to the United Kingdom, as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in the global shipping industry. Not forming part of a multilateral organization, nor part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama, but equally relevant on the international scene is Ilya Espino de Marotta, Deputy Administrator of the Panama Canal and Vice President of Operations, who is of influence in almost all international trade.
And last, but not least, I have recently joined the prestigious organization, International Gender Champions, a leadership network that brings together high-level women and men decision-makers determined to break down gender barriers and make gender equality a working reality.
It is with great honor and pride that we, as women, represent our country, the Republic of Panama, around the world as an example to other nations of the importance of gender parity.
A unique opportunity for European governments to reaffirm and strengthen their commitment to transparency
By Lola Servary.
Accessing quality information has never been so challenging, despite or maybe, because of our exposure to tremendous amount of information. The entry into force of the Council of Europe (CoE) Convention on Access to Official Documents (TromsĂž Convention) on 1 December 2020, in a context of concerning deficit of transparency in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic, appears as an opportunity for governments to reinforce transparency culture and restore citizens trust and legitimacy in their institutions, in democracy.
Increasing recognition of the right of access to official documents
The Nordic European States pioneered the development of the right of access to official documents, with the worldâs first law on access to information adopted by Sweden in 1766. It then spread progressively to many other West European countries, before reaching its peak in the 1990s with the creation of legal tools in the new democracies of Eastern and Central Europe. Today, various legal instruments (constitutions, national laws and jurisprudence) across Europe recognize the right of access to official documents. At the international level as well, this right has been increasingly recognized[1].
The CoE Convention on Access to Official Documents, signed on 18 June 2009 in TromsĂž, Norway, is the first binding international legal instrument to recognize a general right of access to official documents held by public authorities. More than ten years later, on 1 December 2020, the Convention entered into force, following the ratification by Ukraine, tenth State to ratify it[2].
The Convention considers that all official documents are in principle public and provides a minimum legal framework for the prompt and fair processing of requests for access to official documents. Only the protection of other rights and legitimate interests can justify the rejection of requests. When requests are denied, it obliges the States to provide âaccess to a review procedure before a court or another independent and impartial body established by lawâ (Article 8).
This development could give a fresh impetus to European efforts towards greater transparency and reinforce democracy in general. It is particularly much welcome in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis and the âinfodemicâ accompanying the pandemic. However, observers stress that much remains to be done to make this ambitious initiative a reality and to bring together all European countries to ratify it.
Making access to official documents a reality
In her comment on the Convention, CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja MijatoviÄ stresses the importance of access to official documents for âtransparency, good governance and participatory democracy and a key means of facilitating the exercise of other human rights and fundamental freedomsâ and calls on CoE member states and non-member states to ratify the TromsĂž Convention as soon as possible. On the same note, Access Info Europe group called on 17 November all member states of the CoE to sign and ratify, with a special call on France, German, Italy and Great Britain, in order to ensure that Europeâs largest countries are taking part in this European effort towards greater transparency of public authorities.
Today, virtually all countries of the Council of Europe have freedom of information laws and some âgood modelsâ exist[3]. But the level of transparency varies between the countries and even across the institutions of each country. In some legal provision, the lack of clarity jeopardizes the enforcement.
In such context of profusion of legal provision, the TromsĂž Convention could help build a stronger, harmonized and more comprehensive legal framework, create a common understanding of access to official documents and guarantee that all European citizens enjoy the same right to information and hold their authorities accountable.
In addition to ratification, promoting and disseminating the legal instruments must be a priority, as states Article 9 of the Convention: âParties shall inform the public about its right of access to official documentsâ. Signatory states must promote this legal instrument and avoid that such a crucial initiative goes unnoticed. It would be paradoxical if such an ambitious initiative on transparency is not truly made public.
Transparency often denied when it is most needed
Access to information is even more vital in times of crisis. In the current Covid-19 pandemic, access to reliable information is not only a matter of public health but also of public trust in health management systems and authorities. Fighting misinformation should be part of the crisis management plans, to fight the âinfodemicâ parallel to the pandemic.
Unfortunately, it is precisely in times of crisis that freedom of information is often denied, on the grounds of national security arguments. The secrecy around the EU vaccines contracts is a blatant illustration of such ambivalent attitude to transparency when it is most needed. On Friday 29 January, five months after the signature and after renewed requests from various European politicians and civil society groups, the European commission finally published the vaccine contract signed on 27 August 2020 with Astrazeneca.
Although the publication of such an important document could have been a great move for the Commission to regain legitimacy, the actual outcome, a redacted document with price and accountability terms kept secret, raises more questions than it answers, contributing to more mistrust. Why is the Commission holding such crucial public health information, denying citizens right to know on issues that directly affect them?
About the author:
Lola Servary is an Information Officer at the Intl Institute IFIMES and was previously attached with the international developmental FORAs in Europe and overseas. She holds a BA in political science and an MA in international development from prestigious French universities.
[2] after Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Moldova, Croatia, Montenegro, Hungary and Lithuania. Eight additional countries have already signed the Convention: Armenia, Belgium, Georgia, Iceland, North Macedonia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia.
[3] In her call on CoE members states to ratify the Convention, Dunja MijatoviÄ names for example Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia which have an independent oversight body responsible for monitoring and enforcing the right to information.
Smaller than Belgium, Albania lies with its 400 kilometers of gorgeous beaches just opposite the Southern tip of Italy on the Adriatic sea. It is a young country with an ancient population that is descended from the Illyrians, who built major cities during the heydays of the Greek civilisation.
Itâs current language, an independent branch of the Indo-European family, is directly descended from the language of the Illyrians. Conquered or dominated by the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Ottomans, and the Italians, Albanians can be Orthodox, Catholic, Shia, Sunni or atheist.
In all their differences, what binds them is their language. Religion has always been less important than the traditional laws and values of the Kanun, an ancient set of twelve books that includes the concept of âBesaâ. Besa is Albanian for the word or promise of an honourable person. These values of the Kanun also contain the Albanianâs extremely important sense of hospitality. Living in a multi religious environment, sharing one language and a strong set of mores, has made Albanians very tolerant of each otherâs religion.
It also meant that when all of Europe had become antisemitic in the extreme, Albania was a safe haven for its small Jewish population, as well as for the three times larger group of Jewish refugees from Nazi occupied lands. As guests they deserved their protection.
Following World War two, Albania entered half a century of strict communism with a regime as strict as that of North Korea today. During the five and a half centuries of Ottoman occupation the country had missed out on development and the building of infrastructure. Now it entered another half century under the glass bowl of dictatorship, separated from the rest of the world and the post war boom. Its dictator Enver Hoxha even refused the help of the Marshall Plan. When in 1990 President Ramiz Alia changed the constitution and allowed Albanians to travel abroad and, among other things, own a private car, the country was impoverished, its industry small and primitive and democratic institutions non-existent.
The current Albanian ambassador to The Netherlands, Ms. Adia Sakiqi (please pronounce this as Sakichy) vividly remembers her bewilderment when in high school, literally from one day to another, the history books were totally changed. All she had learned was now shown to be false and dogmaâs drilled into every child shown as wrong and different.
She finished her high school and got a scholarship for the University of Leuven, Belgium, where she studied philosophy and specialized in EU politics and policies and met her husband. While talking to me, calmly like a docent, in relating the history and geography of her beautiful country, she became fiery and enthusiastic when talking about current developments.
âWe are currently an official candidate for EU membership and working very hard to build our administrative and judicial systems in order to comply with the rules for full membership. We have changed about two thirds of the hastily drafted post communist constitution and are building new administrative systems with the help of EU and American experts. For example with the guidance of the American Department of Justice as well as EU expertise, we are building a new judicial machinery. Judges, prosecutors, and police officers are vetted (on professionalism, ethics and physical condition) and trained in the US.”
She explains that while sheâd like the development to go faster, from her philosophical point of view, it is the movement that counts, not the speed. The country has gorgeous mountains and lakes, lovely beaches, organic Mediterranean fruit and plenty of natural resources. The ingredients for prosperity for its three million plus people are there. All the country needs is good government, good institutions and integration of its economy with Europe.
Ambassador Sakiqi beams with pride when talking about current developments in her country. When asked about what she sees as its future, she is very firm.
âAlbaniaâs future is European. Albanians are Europeans, we are wedged between Greece and Italy with their millennia old civilisations. We are an integral part of Europeâs history and will be proud to be part of its future.â
Trumpâs second Senate trial went without conviction. The US president, Joe Biden, after the trial, that âThis sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile. That it must always be defended. That we must be ever vigilant.â US institutions, once a model for the whole world, were tested to their limits. A sitting president not only refuses to conceded defeat but also incited mob violence against the most revered US institutions, the US Congress, and the duly process of transition of power. One can dismiss all of these as one individual who lost the capacity to distinguish right from wrong!
Some called it the first coup attempt in the US. A coup or not, it certainly shows American democracy backsliding, Harvard Professor Pippa Norris averred! Long before the incident at the Capitol Hill, the US is designated as a flawed democracy by Economist Intelligence Unitâs Democracy Index.
The unfolding events in the US, however, betray serious flaws underlying the structures of modern societies. Societiesâ strength reflects the development of their institutions. The more the institutions are durable the more they can cope with crises. Alas, institutions decay and underperform. Today the problem of decaying institutions is on full display in the US. The US is a very important example of the quintessential modern society. Its institutions long developed and withstood the test of time. The US is an immigrant society, which makes it is an interesting case because it assimilates new groups and perhaps overloads the political system once new groups assert their rights.
The COVID 19 pandemic crisis is a material representation of overloading the system. When hundreds of thousands fell victim to the pestilence, the health system could not manage the waves of patients and modern societies, advanced in medicine and all, dilapidated under the weight of the virus. Health systems of advanced countries like China, the US, Italy, Spain, South Korea, and the UK teetered on the brink.
The historical context of each society matters and the development of institutions takes place within this context. That was the subject taken by the late political scientist Samuel Huntington when he wrote his book American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony published in 1981.
Huntington made the argument that the US society, unlike other societies, was founded on ideals. Those idealsâindividualism, liberty, constitutionalism, democracyâ are in direct conflict with institutions of power that are the antithesis of the ideals. The Ideal vs. Institution gap, according to Huntington, engenders âcreedal passionâ.
Huntington saw US history as a sequence of creedal passions that occurs in sixty-year intervals to rectify the countryâs bearing. The first was the American Revolution in 1776, which led the country to independence. The second, sixty years later, was the Bank War in the 1830s. A movement led by President Andrew Jackson to break the economic power of the Second Bank of the United States (B.U.S.).
The Progressive-era that spanned the years of 1890-1920 was the third attempt to restore the ideals to the institutions. The movement was led by President Theodore Roosevelt to curb the power of the elites and restore direct democracy to the people. The reforms carried by the movement were intended to curtail the political power of local bosses. Finally, it was sixty years later when the last creedal passion outpoured into the open in the streets of America. The Civil Rights Movement and the anti-Vietnam war in the 1960s was the last case Huntington cites to support his claim. Huntington predicted the next creedal passion outburst in the second decade of the 21st century, i.e., 2020.
The adaptability of institutions makes them more robust and persistent. You have only to remember that Lebanon, once hailed as the Switzerland of the Middle East, succumbed to civil strife because its institutions could not adapt to the new circumstances of the day. Persistence and adaptability are not necessarily contradictory but contrapuntal. The two are dialectically interrelated.
What is important for societies is the degree of the autonomy of institutions to discharge their functions unencumbered by narrow interests. A point made poignantly by Fukuyama who bemoaned the fact that âinstitutions create favored classes of insiders who develop a stake in the status quo and resist pressures to reform.â
Interest groups are built-in in the American political system. The system encourages those groups to compete to influence the government. Lobbyists are legally registered and hold Congressâs feet to the fire over various legislations. Representatives of different interest groups are very contentious and target defying politicians in elections.
The National Rifle Association (NRA), for example, represents such a powerful lobby that hampers any gun control reforms. Despite tragedies of gun violence, mass shooting, crimes, suicide, the American government is ineffectual in curbing such phenomena. The NRA armed with the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects the right to bear arms, fought legislation that will instate major firearm reforms like gun registration and banning semiautomatic weapons.
Besides, over the decades, American society has been afflicted by high levels of income inequality. A study by Pew Research Center has shown that over the past five decades âthe highest-earning 20% of U.S. households have steadily brought in a larger share of the countryâs total income.â According to the study, in 2018 twenty percent of high-income households claimed 52% of all US income. This makes the US the highest in income inequality among the Group of Seven (G7). Moreover, the gap between whites and African Americans is consistent over time: in 2018, the average black household income is a mere 61% of median white household income.
These are the underlying causes of the current societal crisis in the US. For how long the US can overcome the recurring crises before yielding to deeper fissure remains to be seen. âA house divided against itself cannot stand,â the Good Book says!
About the author:
Mr. Albadr SS Alshateri, Ph.D. is a retired professor from the National Defence College, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
