Royal Dutch Horse Carriage Take Indonesian Ambassador To Hand Over Credentials To HM.The King of Netherlands
The Royal Dutch horse carriage gallantly stopped in front of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia to in the Netherlands on Wednesday morning, November 25, 2020. A Chamberlain wearing a morning dress (tailcoat) got off the horse carriage to be greeted by the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indonesian Embassy Pak Fikry Cassidy to pick up Ambassador Mayerfas accompanied by his spouse, Virna Mayerfas, to the Noordeinde Palace.
Arriving at the Palace, the Indonesian Ambassador inspected the palace guards. The tunes of the national anthem, Indonesia Raya echoed along with Ambassador Mayerfas’ steps towards the palace to submit letters of credential to the King of the Netherlands, HM. Willem-Alexander.
Ambassador Mayerfas conveyed the warm greetings of President Joko Widodo to the King and his appreciation for the visit of the King and Queen of the Netherlands to Indonesia in March 2020. The visit resulted in a US $ 1 billion business commitment in the fields of health, maritime, agriculture and water management.
Besides discussing bilateral relations between the two countries, Ambassador Mayerfas also expressed his hope to strengthen cooperation in the economic field. Also, cooperation in dealing with pandemics and post-pandemic economic recovery is an issue raised by Ambassador Mayerfas.
After handing over the credential to the King, the Indonesian Ambassador is also scheduled to hand over the credential to the Director-General of the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) tomorrow, Thursday, November 26, 2020, in The Hague.
By Second Secretary Curtis Tuihalangingie, High Commission of the Kingdom of Tonga in the Commonwealth of Australia.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Commonwealth of Australia,
Her Royal Highness Princess Angelika LātūfuipekaTuku’aho, High Commissioner of the Kingdom of Tonga in Australia and His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia exchanged congratulatory messages on Saturday, 3 December 2020 celebrating the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The event started with a video message of the Governor-General on behalf of the Government and the People of Australia to His Majesty King Tupou VI, the Government and the People of Tonga, conveying his warmest wishes on the occasion of the 50th years of formal Australian and Tongan ties.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, safety measures were taken to ensure this milestone occasion was commemorated with a restricted number of guests from the Australian Government, the Diplomatic Corps, the Tongan Community as well as the private sector.
Interventions from both countries highlighted the enduring partnership founded on shared democratic values, their commitment to a secure, stable and sovereign Pacific and a shared Pacific culture.
Tonga’s relations with Australia go back to the beginning of the 19th century with the arrival of explorers, whalers, traders and Australian missionaries. Tonga participated alongside Australia and New Zealand during both World Wars, which is commemorated each year at ANZAC Day.
In 1980, Australia opened its High Commission in Nuku’alofa; 28 years later, the opening of Tonga’s High Commission in Canberra in 2008 further enhanced the need of both countries to strengthen their ties through various partnership programmes; education, sports, health, defence, maritime security, climate change, economics and trade.
Senator The Honorable Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia noted that today, there are more than 35,000 people of Tongan descent living in Australia, contributing to the country’s economy, the community, church, sport and in many other aspects of Australian life.
Recently, Tonga received its second Guardian class Patrol boat from Australia, a result of long defence cooperation towards shared goals for sovereignty, security and prosperity in the Pacific.
HRH Princess Angelika LātūfuipekaTuku’aho acknowledged the ties between Australia and Tonga have developed strongly in the last couple of decades: “Both Australia and Tonga have made big progress in developing our relations, not only in diplomatic affairs, defence cooperation and capacity building among others, but also in terms of playing a vital role in each other’s economy”.
Tonga was one of the first Pacific Island States to take part in this Seasonal Worker Programme, which now sees thousands of Tongans travelling each year to work in Australian farms. For the year 2019-2020, the seasonal workers brought home A$36M, on average 5.6 times the local income according to the World Bank report.
With harsher restrictions being imposed, and the fruit industry in Australia in danger of collapsing, Australian farmers and the Tonga High Commission arranged the secure flights of 300 seasonal workers from Nuku’alofa to Brisbane and Tasmania.
Her Royal Highness The High Commissioner adds; “We have made the most of the Seasonal Worker Programme since its inception. This is so important to us, it is a national priority; especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have to keep our economies afloat. Our workers return home satisfied with hard-earned wages, at the same time we are satisfied in knowing Tonga contributes strongly to the economy of a partner and major power in the region. It’s a testament to the excellent relations Tonga and Australia have”.
Saturday, 2 December 2021, Nur-Sultan, Republic of Kazakhstan: the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aimed at abolishing the death penalty was signed by Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The death penalty’s application in Kazakhstan was completely suspended on 17 December 2003, albeit courts still issued verdicts in this regard. President Tokayev instructed the Foreign Ministry to begin the procedure for Kazakhstan’s accession to the Second Optional Protocol in 2020. In accordance with the instruction of the President, the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN, Kairat Omarov, signed the Second Optional Protocol on 23 September 2020.
By joining the agreement, Kazakhstan pledges not to apply the death penalty, and to take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty within its territorial jurisdiction.
The only exception is the death penalty is allowed in case of wartime. Such a sentence is applicable only after he has been found guilty of committing especially grave crimes of a military nature, which he committed in wartime.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was adopted in 1966, entered into force in 1976, and currently 173 states have acceded to it.
The Second Optional Protocol to it, aimed at the abolition of the death penalty, was adopted on December 15, 1989. In 1991, the document came into force, 88 states are members of the agreement.
The Republic of Azerbaijan, also called from ancient times as “Land of Fire”, is the biggest country of South Caucasus and is located on the historic “Silk Road” connecting Eastern World with Europe. Azerbaijan, with capital city of Baku, is neighboured to Georgia, Russia, Iran, Turkey and Armenia, as well as bordered through Caspian Sea with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Because of these reasons, Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani people are known with their tolerance, multi-confessional and multi-cultural character.
Being a secular country with predominantly Muslim population, Azerbaijan is also motherland to almost 300.000 Christians, as well as many Christian communities of various denominations – Russian Orthodox, Georgian Orthodox, Albanian-Udin, Slavic Molokan, Roman Catholic, German Lutheran, Baptist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Adventist, Evangelical Churches, Non-Denominational and Charismatic churches, and others.
Azerbaijan actively contributes to preservation of Christian religious sites both within the country, as well as worldwide. Heydar Aliyev Foundation of Azerbaijan, governed by First Vice-President of Azerbaijan, H.E. Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva, is one of the main implementing agencies for execution of such noble projects in Italy, France, Russia and other countries in the world.
Just recently – in 2020, Azerbaijan restored the bas-relief “Meeting of Pope Leo I with Hun Emperor Atilla” in the Saint Peter Church in Vatican. This temple is one of the most famous examples of the Italian architecture of Renaissance era. The Saint Peter Basilica is also a famous place of pilgrimage and ceremonies. In fact, Pope usually holds several religious ceremonies over the course of a year, in the Basilica or on the square before it.
During the last decade, several catacombs in Italy and Vatican were also restored by Azerbaijan. Among them, Saint Sebastian catacombs in Vatican deserve special attention. These catacombs, which host more than 8.000 tombs of significant importance to Christian World, were discovered in 1578 and some of the monuments here date back to the 3rd century. Restoration of these sacred shrines of Christianity gives opportunities to modern day people to witness and experience the history and rise of Christianity.
Saint Marcellino and Pietro’s catacombs are also among the restored catacombs by Azerbaijan. Out of some 60 catacombs located around the city of Rome, just these catacombs are considered among the most significant monuments for the Christian World. It is for this reason, funding of this project by Azerbaijan was highly appreciated by the Holy See.
It should also be noted that Azerbaijan also paid attention to restoration of Christian sites in France. In particular, we can emphasize restoration of 7 churches related to the 10-12th centuries in Saint-Hilaire, Fresnaye-au-Sauvage, Saint-Hilaire-la-Gerard, Tanville Courgeout Reveillon and Male settlements of Orne Department, France. Also, necessary financial assistance was allocated by Azerbaijan to Strasbourg Cathedral Church of 14th century, for restoration of five stained-glass windows of the church which depict lives of Virgin Mary and Jesus Christs.
Azerbaijani government spared no efforts to preserve both Catholic and also Orthodox religious sites. It is to this effect that a monument to Prince Vladimir was erected by Azerbaijan at a square before the Saint Vladimir Church in the Russian city of Astrakhan. Erection of this monument is devoted to the 1025th anniversary of Christianity in Russia, and the 455th anniversary of laying the foundation of Astrakhan.
For Azerbaijan, bridging Islamic and Christian world is also of significant importance. It is in this capacity that Azerbaijan, together with France, Kuwait, Oman and Morocco, funded creation of new halls in the Louvre Museum of Paris, dedicated to Islamic Art. The Islamic Art section in the museum represents examples of architecture, painting and other cultural creativity of Islamic Art. Here are displayed over 5 thousand whole art examples, including various items made of glass, ceramic and metal, as well as carpets, garments and miniatures, and over a thousand incomplete and damaged works of creativity.
These projects once more demonstrate contribution made by Azerbaijan to the monuments and shrines of different religions. By implementing this project, Azerbaijan showed its respect to the art and spiritual treasures of Christianity. Pope Francis, in his visit to Azerbaijan in 2016, praised Azerbaijan’s tolerance and multiculturalism. Moreover, President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation of Azerbaijan – H.E. Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva was honoured in 2020 with the highest degree of the Pontifical Order of Knighthood – Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX – for her contribution to the development of mutual relations with institutions of the Holy See.
Friday, 1 January 2021, Geneva, Swiss Confederation: HH Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saqr bin Khalid Al Qasimi became the first woman in the Arab world serving as President of the International Publishers Association (IPA) since the founding of the organisation back in 1896.
With her appointment as IPA President, Sheikha Bodour becomes the second woman globally to occupy the position after the Argentinian Ana Maria Cabanellas who had served as Vice President and President of the Association from 2004–8.
For the past two years, Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi has been serving as the Vice President of IPA following her election to the position at the 2018 IPA General Assembly.The appointment of Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi to one of the most significant and influential positions in the book industry, marks the culmination of her years-long efforts in developing the publishing industry and boosting the prospects of publishers in the UAE, across the GCC, and in the wider Arab region. Her relentless efforts in launching several regional and international initiatives has enabled the regional and global publishing sectors enhance the quality of their output and service delivery, and turned the spotlight on the need to offer emerging markets with the tools and resources they need to realise their full potential.
IPA is one of the world’s most prestigious federations of national and regional publishers’ associations. Through its members, IPA represents thousands of individual publishers worldwide. Founded in 1896 in Paris, IPA is based in Geneva, Switzerland, with members comprising of more than 83 organisations from 69 countries around the world.
Wednesday, 23 December 2020, Ankara, Republic of Turkey: Salvadoran ambassador presents his credentials to President Recep TayyipErdoğan.
Previously HE Ambassador Agustín Vázquez Gómez served as El Salvador’s head of mission in The Netherlands, spending six productive years in The Hague. He was co-accredited to the OPCW whilst serving in the Dutch kingdom.
Ambassador Vázquez Gómez was received for the ceremony of accreditation in Turkey alongside his family at the Presidential complex in Ankara.
Monday, 28 December 2020, Ouagadougou, Republic of Burkina Faso: President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré (born 25 April 1957) was re-sworn into the Burkinabè presidential office after having the first round of a general election with 57,87% for a second mandate.
His swearing-in ceremony took place before the Constitutional Council at the Ouaga Sports Palace 2000 with a limited number of participants, and a shortened duration of one hour in view of the pandemic-related restrictions.
Amongst the foreign counterparts partaking at the investiture were President Alassane Ouattara – Ivory Coast; President Mahamadou Issoufou – Niger; Marshal Idriss Déby Itno, President of Chad; President Nana Akufo Addo – Ghana; President Georges Weah – Liberia; President Alpha Condé – Ghinea; President Macky Sall – Senegal; President Faure Gnassingbé – Togo; President Mohamed Ould El-Ghazouani – Mauritania; President Umaro Sissoco Embalo – Guinea Bissau; Prime MinisterMoctar Ouane – Mali, etc.
During his first presidential mandate President Kaboré spent a lot of his energy fighting against terrorism, improving national security, and he wishes to continue to focus on the latter topics whilst engaging with the political opposition for a ‘national reconciliation. Under his aegis the country fête sixty years as an independent nation since 5 August 1960, when the country was still named High Volta (up to 1984).
Karobé was inagurated president on 29 December 2015 for his first term. His second term runs until 2025. He longs to the People’s Movement for Progress (MPP) party.
As head of state he resides at Kosyam Palace, appoints a prime minister and serves as the Grand Master ex officio of the Burkinabè state orders.
Monday, 28 December 2020, Nuku’alofa, Kingdom of Tonga: The Prince Claus Award 2020, an international recognition, honouring outstanding achievements in the field of culture and development, was presented to the Dowager LadyTunakaimanu Fielakepa at a special ceremony held at Liku’alofa Resort, Tonga National Cultural Centre in the kingdom’s capital.
HRH Princess Pilolevu, The Honourable Lady Tuita of ‘Utungake, presented the award at a function hosted by the Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The annual awards are usually presented in the Grand Hall of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam by HRH Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, the Honorary Chair of the board of the Prince Claus Fund, however travel was not possible this year due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions.
The Honorary Consul, Mrs Petunia Tupou KC, said that 83 nominations had been submitted from around the world. Forty five were short-listed. “Only seven laureates were selected based on their inspirational leadership, and this is the very first laureate for the Pacific islands,” she said.
Tunakaimanu Fielakepa was honoured for her immense contribution to the ongoing vitality of women’s textile arts, demonstrating that koloa is a living cultural form and an integral part of Tongan culture.
She received the award in an online ceremony from the Royal Palace in Amsterdam on 2 December for being a committed activist for Tonga’s living cultural heritage, its language, traditions, values and customs. The awards are supported by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and thus non-resident Dutch Ambassador Mira Woldberg in dispatched a video message to Tonga for the event from the embassy based in Wellington, New Zealand.
MENA in the First Half of the XXI Century. Eventual Possibilities of Cooperation Among Different Players
Corneliu Pivariu
The current landscape of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), after all the political, military and geopolitical evolutions the Arab world went through during the last two decades provides the image of a venue placed at the center of a complex and conflictual geostrategic area targeted by an ample offensive of the outside interferences which intensity is comparable only to the colonial period of the process of crystallization of the Arab world’s nation states.
After the end of the Cold War and the provisional establishment of the monopolarism in the world order the Arab community’s concern for the issue of its collective security devolved into a regresive path and the said concept of collective security was replaced by a sustained orientation of the Arab states towards national isolationism, towards the devaluation of the old unionist vision of the “joint Arab action”. Consequently, such an option exhibited progressively led to the dilution of the security potential of each Arab state with direct negative impact on the idea of establishing and bolstering the collective security.
One may assess that, as never before, the Arab community of the Middle East, its state and socio-political entities are in a situation of being targeted by an outstanding amount of outside challenges and threats manifested simultaneously and in a competitive manner from numerous directions of the regional and extra-regional political geography. And that either directly or by proxies or by conjectural alliances with regional state and non-state players as it can be easily traced today when looking at the political map of the area.
Iran, Turkey, the Russian Federation, the United States, Great Britain and France are acting militarily and politically in Syria; Iraq hosts Iranian, American and Turkish presence while Libya is targeted by Russian, Turkish, French and Italian interests and Iran and Saudi Arabia are waging a brutal war by proxies in Yemen; France gets ready for a comeback to Lebanon on humanitarian and solidarity reasons and so on and so on.
On this background, mention should be made on Syria which has a particular geopolitical importance in the Middle East and where a regime – the Assad one, believed to vanish soon after the so-called Arab Spring broke out in 2011 celebrated, on November 13, 50 years since the family rules the country. Bashar al-Assad who took over completely unprepared Syria’s leadership 20 years ago witnessed during the last 10 years the civil war that ravaged the country. Keeping the Assad’s regime in power when the loyalist army was almost annihilated was possible as a result of Russia’s and Iran’s (with the Lebanese Hezbollah, its loyal ally) military and of other nature interventions. The final price the Assad regime will pay for that backing is almost visible yet the evolutions in Syria will depend also on other regional or geopolitical players, even if the Kremlin appears now as being the main winner.
A fierce and substantial arms race is unfolding since many years in the Arab region with its Mashreq and Maghreb, whereby states such as Saudi Arabia (first place with 3.84 bill $), Egypt (the fifth place with 1.48 bill $), Algeria (the sixth place with 1.32 bill $), the United Arab Emirates (the eighth place with 1.1 bill $), Qatar (the ninth place with 816 mil $) are all among the frontrunners of the military equipment purchasers. So, five of the first ten arms importers globally are from MENA (2018 figures). That is not an exclusive consequence of some of the Arab states’ involvement in the various regional conflicts which torch the Middle East but express the states’ acute feeling of insecurity when the tensions among the regional states intensify and the number of non-state actors strongly armed and used as proxies in the wars and conflicts increases.
This situation is more or less compensated by the dependence on the military presence (air, land and naval bases etc) of the great regional and global powers which balance to different degrees the Arab defense and security shortcomings and represent, at the same time, a factor of restricting the “protected” states’ national sovereignty and of impeding the autonomy of the military institutions of the respective regional states.
The numerous regional conflicting fractures and fault lines will represent in the future too not only tension sources but also an competitive attraction point for the great players and the emerging powers on the regional and global chessboard.
Temporizing the processes of solving chronic conflicts such as the Palestinian problem, in spite of the recent American successes concerning the normalization of the relations with Israel by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrein and the Sudan will contribute to that, too.
As far as the Palestinian cause is concerned, a cause that was used more in time by many Arab countries for attaining their own strategic goals, I note the recent criticism addressed to the Palestinian leaders by the Saudi prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz who said: “The Palestinian cause is a just cause but its advocates are failures, and the Israeli cause is unjust but its advocates have proven to be successful. There is something that successive Palestinian leadership historically share in common: they always bet on the losing side, and that comes at a price”. Is it really about the exaustion of those fighting for the Palestinian cause? Or it is heralding something bigger.
The change of the US administration could bring some moderation and a relative cooperation climate and rationalism in the competition among the great powers for regional control and influence with positive effect as regards the coming back to the fore of the “Nuclear Treaty“ (JCPOA) with Iran and the advancement toward peace in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen.
The future of the security situation and the rush for energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean remain in limbo.
China’s political, diplomatic, economic and strategic offensive in the MENA area will continue with possible great strategic surprises.
One may assess for the time being that the regional powers – Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran – have antagonistic or conflicted relations including with other geopolitical powerful players and that further complicates the situation in the region. Russia, Turkey, Iran seem to be the stage winners and, on a long run, Israel as always.
Let us monitor the developments in Lebanon, the revelator of the situation in the Middle East; when the country will evolve positively and in an irreversible way, the stability in the Middle East will be achieved. However, major changes will take place in the MENA region during the next 30 years, be it only due to the global economic, scientific and social developments.
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Presented at the International Conference Post –Pandemic: A new Order or a new Chaos? The Middle East and North Africa Perspectives. – Webinar, Bucharest – ROMANIA 19 November 2020, organized by MEPEI and EURISC Foundation.
About the author:
Corneliu Pivariu. Photographer: Ionus Paraschiv.
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.
Wednesday, 16 December, 2020, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman: Doha shall host the Olympic Council of Asia’s (OCA) 21st Asian Games in 2030 after it won the highest number of votes in a secret ballot of the OCA’s 45 National Olympic Committees held in Muscat. The voting took place on the sidelines of the 39th OCA General Assembly.
The assembly was attended by the President of Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and Chairman of Doha 2030,HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the CEO of Qatar Foundation, HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani as well as Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, HE Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Qatar Foundation’s CEO, Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani – Picture by OCA.
The voting took place in the presence of HH Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Oman’s Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, OCA President, HE Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al Sabah (State of Kuwait), and several other dignitaries. Riyadh will now host the 22nd Asian Games in 2034, meaning the next four Asian Games are in place and the next available hosting year is 2038 , that is, 18 years away.
