Monday, 2 March 2020, Emirate of Sharjah, UAE: His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Emir of Sharjah, patronised the official opening Al Faya Retreat and Al Badayer Oasis, part of Sharjah Collection; a Shurooq hospitality arm managed by Mysk from Shaza. Projects that are transforming the central region in Sharjah, changing historical edifices and creating a destination for people that would like to discover the landscape of the UAE, being far from a busy city.
The retreat is located near the Fossil Rock and is a 10-minute drive away from the Mleiha Archaeological and Eco-tourism project, another destination developed by Shurooq offering visitors a remarkable set of adventurous activities such as desert tours, thrilling dune bashing experiences as well as a number of desert experiences for all family members.
The Emir of Sharjah was accompanied by Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chair of Shurooq; Sheikh Faisal bin Saud Al Qasimi, Director of the Sharjah International Airport Authority; Khalid bin Jassim Al Midfa, Chairman of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA); Mohammed bin Obaid Al Zaabi, Head of the Protocol and Hospitality Department; Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, Executive Chairman of Shurooq; amongst other personalities.
H.E Mr. Gamaliel Nkurunziza, Ambassador of the Republic of Burundi.
The Embassy of Republic of Burundi together with the Burundian Community in The Kingdom of Netherlands had the pleasure to organize the celebration of the New Year 2020 on February 22nd.
The Burundian embassy would like to give big thanks to each and everyone who attended this New Year’s reception. We can honestly say that it was a successful event.
On the image: Ambassador Sopharath Touch (Cambodia) signs the Golden Book of Bremen as her colleagues from Australia (Lynette Wood), the Philippines (Theresa Dizon de Vega), Nepal (Ramesh Khanal) and Singapore (Laurence Bay) await their turn.
Friday, 28 February 2020, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, Germany: the East Asian Association Bremen (OAV) hosted its traditional foundation festival for the 119th time.
On this occasion, the President of the Senate, Mayor Dr. Andreas Bovenschulte received ambassadors and representatives of the states from the Asia-Pacific region (i.e., Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Cambodia, Laos, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka) as well as the guests of honour.
The traditional temple gong called the approximately 300 guests to the Upper Hall of the City Hall for a festive dinner, where they were solemnly welcomed by OAV Chairman Thomas Kriwat (Chief Executive Officer of the Mercmarine Group and Honorary Consul of Sri Lanka) in a short speech.
Cooperation makes a better world possible Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte underlined the importance of international trade and advocated fair trade relations: “We must work together. Cooperation makes a better world possible.”
The mayor thanked: “For well over 100 years, the East Asian Association Bremen has been doing extremely commendable work – not only when it comes to organising and supporting concrete contacts between Bremen and its Asian partners. Above all, the mutual understanding for each other and mutual tolerance is strengthened by this work. This is of crucial importance, because only if the traditions and values of another culture are met with respect and understanding, a prosperous and profitable cooperation is possible.
Dr. Reiner Haseloff & Ambassador Florencia Vilanova de vo Oehsen – Picture by B. Rulf, State Chancellery of Saxony-Anhalt.
Thursday, 27 February 2020, Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany: Premier Dr. Reiner Haseloff was paid an official inaugural visit to the State Chancellery by the Ambassador of the Republic of El Salvador, H. E. Florencia Vilanova de von Oehsen.
The ambassador and the Premier exchanged views on current developments in their countries. In addition, a planned project to recruit nursing specialists for the Wittenberg region was the subject of the discussion.
In 2018, Saxony-Anhalt’s companies exported goods to the Central American state to a value of just under 800,000 euros.
This is not the first visit of Ambassador Vilanova de von Oehsen to Saxony-Anhalt. Among other things, she already stayed in the Lutheran City of Wittenberg in November 2019, where the embassy held a reception on the occasion of “El Salvadorian Day”. On this occasion, musicians from El Salvador also performed.
Saturday, 29 February 2020, Tel Avic, State of Israel: NRW Premier Armin Laschet officially opened the new office of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Tel Aviv.
Moreover on the agenda was a visit to the Yad Vashem Memorial in Jerusalem and bilateral talks with the Israeli President. Furthermore, Premier Laschet encountered the grandchildren of David Ben-Gurion and Konrad Adenauer in the Ben-Gurion House to commemorate the famous meeting of the two statesmen 60 years ago.
On his second trip to Israel, the Premier Laschet was accompanied by a delegation of about 30 people, including representatives from business, society and churches. On the part of the state government, the Minister for Children, Family, Refugees and Integration, Dr. Joachim Stamp, and the Minister for Federal and European Affairs and International Affairs, Dr. Stephan Holthoff-Pförtner, were part of the delegation.
The new office of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for business, science, education, youth and culture in Israel is headed by Dr. Gil Yaron, who grew up in Düsseldorf, worked most recently as a correspondent for the WELT in Israel and is considered a proven expert on the region.
At the heart of the start-up scene, in the “BE ALL” co-working space, the North Rhine-Westphalian office is intended to create connections and structures that cannot exist without a direct presence of the state. At the same time, the new office will be a contact point for delegations from North Rhine-Westphalia.
In the picture top experts from Uzbekistan providing exclusive insights on the actualities of the country. The panel was formed by Eldor Tulyakov, Director of the Development Strategy Centre (DSC), Member of the Parliament of Uzbekistan; Umid Abidkhodjaev, Deputy Director of the Centre for Economic Research and Reform (CERR) for the President of Uzbekistan; Bakhtiyor Mustafayev, Head of the Centre Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies (ISRS) for the President of Uzbekistan.
Wednesday, 26 February 2020, Embassy of Uzbekistan to Germany: The association Go East Generationen e.V. and the Forum Neue Seidenstraße e.V. organised a discussion event at the invitation of the Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Germany, H.E. Mr. Nabijon Kasimov, at the Uzbek Embassy in Berlin.
Top experts from the Central Asian country provided exclusive insights into the current development processes of the country.
The panel that was held in Russian with simultaneous translations to German, was firstly opened by brief welcome remarks by Ambassador Kasimov. The speakers panel was formed by Eldor Tulyakov, Director of the Development Strategy Centre (DSC), Member of the Parliament of Uzbekistan; Umid Abidkhodjaev, Deputy Director of the Centre for Economic Research and Reform (CERR) for the President of Uzbekistan; Bakhtiyor Mustafayev, Head of the Centre Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies (ISRS) for the President of Uzbekistan.
On the German side, representatives from the German Bundestag provided their own insights into the developments, and transformations being spearheaded by the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
H.E. Mr. Nabijon Kasimov, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Germany.
Uzbekistan’s economy distinguishes itself as the one of the most populous country in Central Asia, growing by five to seven percent per year. With reforms and new strategic approaches, enormous progress is being made in the economy and society as well as in tourism and agriculture.
Because of its location and history the country is much relevant for Russia, whilst it likewise joggles outstanding relations vis-à-vis the PRC, Turkey and the USA.
In the picture Premier Dr. Reiner Haseloff & Ambassador Elena Shekerletova – Picture by B. Rulf, State Chancellery of Saxe-Anhalt.
Thursday, 6 February 2020, Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany: Premier Dr. Reiner Haseloff welcomed the Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria, Elena Radkova Shekerletova, for her inaugural visit to the State Chancellery. Honorary Consul of Bulgaria, Ralf Hesse, responsible for Saxony-Anhalt, also partook in the meeting.
They discussed possibilities for the development of bilateral relations, especially in the economic field.
In 2018, companies from our state exported goods worth about 33.5 million euros to Bulgaria, while imports reached almost the same volume at 33.3 million euros. Since 2001, companies from Saxony-Anhalt have been regularly represented at the Technical Fair in Plovdiv.
At present, there are three town twinning arrangements:
Barleben with Tzarevo
Oebisfelde-Weferlingen with Svilengrad
Wolmirstedt with Sredez
Almost all universities maintain cooperation with Bulgarian universities. Currently there is a school partnership between the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium Sangerhausn and the Foreign Language High School in Veliko Tarnovo.
In the picture, H.E. Sheik Mohammed Belal, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and his wife, Dr Dilruba Nasrin.
By Roy Lie Atjam.
The Hague, 22 February 2020, the Embassy of Bangladesh celebrated “Mother Language Day 2020” with a program full of cultural performances. The Embassies of India, Indonesia, Nepal, Belarus, Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Russian Federation made artistic contributions.
The Theme this year is “Languages without borders”. The theme focuses on cross-border languages and helps to preserve indigenous heritage. The main purpose of celebrating this day is to promulgate the awareness of language and cultural diversity in the world. Linguistic diversity is increasingly threatened because several languages are disappearing, think of Garifuna, Creole-French, Tupi and many others.
According to UNESCO, a 40% population of the world does not have access to an education in a language they speak or understand. Therefore, it is necessary to make progress in mother tongue-based multilingual education.
On the 22 February the Bangladesh Embassy in the Netherlands put up a grand Ekushe program involving Embassies of as many as seven other countries in The Hague and immersing them in the deeper renditions of Bangladeshi culture and traditions. The event was made to commemorate Immortal Ekushe and International Mother Language Day 2020 to disseminate multilingualism and culture of peace.
More than 200 guests comprising Ambassadors of India, Indonesia, and diplomatic representatives from the Embassies of Belarus, Afghanistan, Thailand, Brazil, Uruguay and Afghanistan, country head of IOM and former Deputy Mayor of The Hague, junior diplomats from Bangladesh, members of expatriate Bangladeshi community, students, Dutch nationals, media among many others joined the program.
Ambassadors and diplomas representing their country, together with the Ambassador of Bangladesh on Mother Language Day 2020 in The Hague.
The program of the day began with observing one-minute silence for the language martyrs of 1952. While recalling with deep reverence the language martyrs namely Shaheed Salam, Barkat, Rafiq, Jabbar, Shafiur and so many unknown and unsung language heroes of 1952 who laid down their lives for the cause of mother tongue, Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands Sheikh Mohammed Belal in his welcome address highlighted the significance of International Mother Language Day for furthering culture of peace in the world and urged all to celebrate humanity in the spirit of International Mother Language Day.
The Ambassador encouraged spreading of linguistic diversity and cultural traditions to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue. He expressed profound gratitude to the Government of Bangladesh and to The Hague Municipal authority for extending necessary cooperation for the construction of the first-ever International Language Monument in Zuider Park of The Hague, which was inaugurated on 21 February 2019. The Ambassador also underscored the importance of being empathetic to the deaf and dumb people of the world who can’t express their good ideas and thoughts in their mother tongue.
The Ambassadors of India and Indonesia and their spouses, members of diplomatic corps and former Deputy Mayor of The Hague were made to participate in the event themed “Language of Peace” which was moderated by Dr Dilruba Nasrin, wife of Ambassador Belal. In this segment, participating Ambassadors and their spouses and diplomatic representatives reiterated the theme of peace in their own languages as well as in Bangla. The Indonesian Ambassador performed a popular Indonesian dance while the former Deputy Mayor of The Hague recited a poem of our rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Mother Language Day 2020.
On this occasion, a befitting cultural program was organized, where members of families of the officials and communities of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Russian Federation, Afghanistan, Indonesia, and Vietnam as well as African Students groups put up songs, dances and poems commemorating the spirit of Shaheed Dibash and the International Mother Language Day and representing their rich cultural ethos and traditions.
The guests mesmerized with the performances and praised the initiative of Embassy of Bangladesh for organizing the program involving performers of other countries which showcases cultural integration and harmony.
The program ended with lunch where traditional Bangladeshi foods were served.
Earlier, on 21 February 2020, Embassy officials along with members of expatriate Bangladeshi community and students paid their tributes to the heroes of the Language Movement by placing floral wreaths at the first-ever Shaheed Minar built in The Hague in 2019. They stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of profound respect to the memories of the language heroes.
Chef Norman Musa and the Minister of Primary Industries H.E. Ms. Teresa Kok.
An event entitled “Cooking Demonstration with Chef Norman Musa, featuring Special Dialogue on Sustainable Malaysian Palm Oil with The Honourable Teresa Kok, Minister of Primary Industries of Malaysia” was held on 14 February 2020 at the Malaysian Ambassador’s Residence, Rumah Malaysia in Wassenaar.
The event was organised by the Embassy of Malaysia with support from the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), Tourism Malaysia Office in The Hague and the Ladies Association of the Embassy of Malaysia (PERWAKILAN), in conjunction with the Working Visit of the Minister to the Netherlands from 13 until 15 February 2020.
Meet-and-Greet Session with Chef Norman Musa
Before the event commenced, the guests had the opportunity to have a meet-and-greet session with Chef Norman Musa, a Malaysian chef currently based in the Netherlands. He informed the guests that it is his mission to promote Malaysian culinary in the Europe, especially in the Netherlands. He was wearing an apron with the Visit Malaysia 2020 (VM2020) logo, as if to add force to his words. This logo will be displayed on Tram 1 in The Hague during the months of March and April.
The guests responded enthusiastically when they were told that he will appear on a new cooking show in which he will be cooking with well-known personalities from the Dutch world of culinary. Food is also the main attraction in Malaysia’s tourism campaign that promote Malaysia as a home to a tapestry of flavours.
Dr. Mohd. Norhisyam Mohd. Yusof, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Malaysia in the Netherlands, Chef Norman Musa and Minister of Primary Industries
Teresa Kok.
Cooking Demonstration by Chef Norman Musa
Upon the arrival of Minister Teresa Kok and her delegation, the guests were invited to the Residence’s kitchen to watch the cooking demonstration by Chef Norman Musa. He showed the guests how to make net pancake (Roti Jala), a traditional Malaysian snack that Malaysians usually have for special occasion.
Using a kitchen utensil that looked like a funnel with narrow tubes at the bottom, Chef Norman Musa demonstrated his cooking skill by pouring the batter slowly in circular movements into a pan thinly greased with red palm oil. He subsequently showed how to fold the pancake that was then served with chicken curry. The first cooked Roti Jala earned the guests’ applause. Then it was the Minister’s turn and she also managed to make a beautiful Roti Jala.
The guests also had a go at making their own Roti Jala. When Chef Norman Musa said that other than the usual chicken curry, you could also eat the Roti Jala with durian sauce, one of the guests could not help but saying that he was glad that there was no durian in the kitchen. Everyone burst into laughter. When the Roti Jala and chicken curry were served, we could hear the ‘aahhh’ and ‘uuhhh’ expression from the guests enjoying the great taste of the famous Malaysian snacks.
Sitting at the table are Jeroen Douglas, Executive Director of Solidaridad Network and Dr. Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir, Director General of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). The minister and Dr. Mohd. Norhisyam Mohd. Yusof, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Malaysia in the Netherlands are in the background.
Presentation on Sustainable Malaysian Palm Oil and Dialogue Session with Minister of Primary Industries of Malaysia
After the cooking demonstration, Dr. Mohd. Norhisyam Mohd. Yusof,Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Malaysia in the Netherlands, ushered the guests to the main hall for the dialogue session and introduced Minister Teresa Kok. The Minister informed that her visit to the Netherlands was part of the Malaysian palm oil economic and promotion mission to Europe. This mission constitutes Malaysia’s ongoing efforts to promote sustainable palm oil and palm-based products to key markets as well as to engage and address anti-palm oil sentiments in the region.
The dialogue session began with a presentation given by Dr. Kalyana Sundram, CEO of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC). He started with some general information about palm oil, including the fact that palm oil tree originates from West Africa, was introduced into the Malay Peninsular by a Frenchman in the 19th century and can only grow 10 degrees north and south of the Equator. Today, palm oil can be found in many products. European consumers often do not realise that the products they use on a daily basis contain palm oil, including hygienic or cosmetic products/toiletries such as toothpaste, body lotion, shampoo and many more.
Dr. Kalyana Sundram, CEO of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC).
He then went on to say that palm oil is a functional and versatile product. Unlike, for example, sunflower oil, is not a genetically modified organism (GMO). Furthermore, the palm oil tree has the highest yield compared to other vegetable oil crops, thus less land is needed to produce palm oil. Palm oil yields 3.56 tonne/hectare while soybean oil yields 0.45 tonne/hectare, sunflower oil yields 0.50 tonne/hectare and rapeseed oil yields 0.77 tonne/hectare.
In addition, the MPOC CEO touched upon the health benefits of red palm oil. The large amount of Vitamin A Carotenoids in red palm oil may help prevent blindness and cancer, while the large amount of Vitamin E Tocotrienols may help boost brain health and prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Dr. Sundram also addressed the European criticism of the Malaysian palm oil industry. In response to this criticism, Malaysia developed the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) Certification. This certification is mandatory throughout the entire supply chain of palm oil. As part of MSPO, the palm oil industry players have to replant forest trees and contribute to wildlife conservation.
Another European point of criticism is deforestation. According to Dr. Sundram, only 0.4 cubic metres per hectare is used for palm oil trees. He also pointed out that Malaysia has adopted a new government policy, i.e. that the extension of the palm oil industry will be limited. He reiterated the Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s pledge at the Rio Earth Summit 1992 that Malaysia would maintain at least 50% of the tropical rainforest and today 55.3% of the rainforest remains, which is more than the 30% of primary forest that remains in Europe.
Although producing fully sustainable palm oil is an ongoing effort, Dr. Sundram gave assurance that Malaysia is fully committed to it. The Cabinet of Malaysia on 22 March 2019 endorsed important principled policies toward sustainable oil palm cultivation, namely, to ban the conversion of forest reserved areas for oil palm cultivation; to ban future planting of palm oil in peat land areas; and to cap total palm oil cultivated area to 6.5 million hectares.
He also emphasised the socio-economic importance of the palm oil industry for Malaysia, which among others, is an effective tool to overcome poverty among the underprivileged. To date, it has alleviated 2 million Malaysians out of poverty and it employs more than 500,000 small farmers. In this regard, the palm oil industry possesses a strategic value in the government’s efforts to achieve an equitable development and in fighting poverty, two main components of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Dr. Sundram ended the presentation with a brief explanation about the “Love MY Palm Oil Campaign,” which is meant to inform Malaysians about sustainable palm oil and make them proud ambassadors of it. In short, Malaysia is ready to provide Europe with sustainable palm oil. Guests also watched a short BBC documentary entitled “The Truth about My Make-Up” which told the story about palm oil use in cosmetic industry and the underprivileged people who rely heavily on palm oil for their livelihoods.
After the presentation, the guests were invited to ask questions to the Minister and her delegation about palm oil. Among the delegation were representatives from the Palm Oil and Sago Industry Development Division, Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) and Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council. One of the guests commended the presentation as it thoroughly explained the issues using compelling arguments and that the presentation had left her speechless.
Closing
The dialogue on the issue continued during lunch when the guest had the opportunity to savour sumptuous Malaysian buffet spread (which used palm oil), including coconut-flavoured rice, chicken Kapitan curry, northern Malaysian-styled beef in soy sauce, tofu & mushrooms stir-fry, cassava pudding, curry puff and seri muka layer cake.
And, of course, the guests were not sent away empty-handed – they received a goody bag with a bottle of ‘Harvist’ extra red palm fruit oil of premium quality, books and pamphlets about Malaysian sustainable palm oil, food products, Visit Malaysia 2020 mug as well as tourism magazine ‘Maleisië’.
On the same day, MPOB has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with two organisations to accelerate Malaysia’s aspirations in regard to sustainable palm oil production. The first MoU was signed with a Netherlands-based organisation which promotes sustainable trade — IDH The Sustainable Trade Initiative titled Sustainable Climate Smart Palm Oil Productionby Smallholders in Malaysia. The second MoU was with an international network organisation which promotes capacity building — Solidaridad Network Asia Ltd titled National Initiative for Sustainable and Climate Smart Oil Palm Smallholders (NI-SCOPS).
IDH The Sustainable Trade Initiative and Solidaridad are implementing partners for the Netherlands in the NI-SCOPS programme. The projects funded by the implementing partners will provide assistance to smallholders in Malaysia and increase the adaption of the sustainable certification scheme of the smallholders through enhancing sustainable practices.
———————
Text and photos, courtesy Embassy Malaysia The Hague.
“Domestic policy can only defeat us; Foreign policy can kill us”. John F. Kennedy
By Corneliu Pivariu.
A brief description of the current geopolitical situation and its prospects
In the last decade the strategic, political, economic, military, enery and technological balances were strongly affected by global challenges, strategic, political, juridical and technological disruptions each one impacting on one or several fields. Human society is in a evolutionary crisis which the main international traditional players are not able yet to manage properly and each one of them seeks to position itself as profitable as possible in anticipation of a new world order in a globalised world. The developments are fast and often momentuous, and as one of the attendee noted – important geopolitical events that occured in the last two months are equaling the ones that took place in the last decade.
Geopolitics should be reformed. The economic maps are no longer overlapping the political ones. The emergence of digitalisation with an extraordinary importance, means an era and a space that the states do not control any longer, will bring hard to foresee developments on the world’s stage. The truth according to which states live in markets and not the markets live in states, although acknowledged, is not fully understood and politics did not identify yet valid solutions for taming the globalised capitalism.
A recent analysis[2] put forward briefly the 2020 and further on global geopolitical challenges and groups them in four great cathegories: geopolitical/economic (economic showdowns; trade/investment protectionism; great powers downturn); environmental (global warming; natural systems breakdown; water crisis); technological (cyberattacks on infrastructure and financial institutionsins; losing privacy by companies and governments); societal (domestic political polarization; deepening social divide; losing trust in media sources, domination of fakenews).
However, the globalizing world is encountering now a new threat, the outbreak of a pandemic, inflicted by COVID-19, and for which it is not sufficiently well prepared.
The European Union and its foreign policy
Under the circumstances, the idea that the European Union (EU) is lacking a clear vision about its future is prevailing and visionary leaders with popular appeal are missing. As a German friend said, Ursula von der Leyen knows how to submit interesting projects yet she is not able enough to implement them. It is the case of TheEuropean Gren Deal project[3] which is supposed to be finalized by 2050 and devised to unite all European capabilities for a shared objective and has hindrances since its launching as a result of the costs and social and technological implications it presumes.
On the other hand, the EU has other stringent problems, too such as the new threat of Syrian and North African migrants[4], Russia’s and Turkey’s expansionist policies, the threats represented by techological evolutions and especially the Artificial Intelligence (AI). A Compact concerning Europe’s future is needed more and more yet there is a reservation of its states with regards to promoting an institutional reform.
There is no document between the EU and China on economic relations but a strategic outlook devised in 2019. There is no dialogue between the EU and the US on China’s issues. Securing the neighbourhoods is a priority and the EU cannot be a global player unless it becomes involved.
One of the attendees said at the end of his speech that these are but some major examples of important actions the EU should have in mind and added that the Union is “an economic giant, a political dwarf and a military little mouse”. The wording includes indeed upward and downward exaggerations in all three fields.
Not in the least, the position of EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy created in 1999 by the Treaty of Amsterdam and thereafter enhanced through the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009 when the holder became vice-president of the Commission too, is important for achieving the European foreign policy. If Javier Solana (1999 – 2009) was well experienced in foreign policy, same cannot be said of his successors: Catherine Ashton (2009 – 2014 was previously a European Trade Commissioner and a leader of the House of Lords only) and Federica Mogherini (2014 -2019 was before Italy’s Foreign Minister for eight months and member of the Chamber of Deputies for one and a half year only). From 1st December 2019, the position is held by Spain’s Josep Borell Fontalles whose experience in the field of foreign relations we hope to be useful during his just begun mandate.
Did a question attributed long time ago to the former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger: whom shall I call if I want to talk to Europe (the EU)? has finally found an answer? Probably yes, formally speaking. Yet it is not clearly enough to whom the US president should speak.
Romania and its foreign policy after joining the EU and the perspectives
Defining the national interest and the objectives of the foreign policy should be done by the parliament. We use to that purpose the past experience so that Romania could become an as convincing as possible voice internationally. The government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be the main artisans of the Romanian foreign policy and the president should observe (just like the rest of the state’s institutions) the constitutional duties.
After joining the EU, Romania suffered an identity crisis in its foreign policy. We had “a cheap approach” folded on Germany’s and US’s approaches. Our attitude of permanently being concerned with getting a better appreciation by the EU’s leadership is a wrong one. I believe that in this regard, Nicolae Titulescu’s position[5]who said: ”A country’s foreign policyis devised by rational assessment of the national standpoint, by defending it firmly and and in a dignified way internationally and not by signatures provided by the fear of differentiating yourself, signatures that might spell today but which bind you tomorrow.”
It seems that this quote was forgotten alltogether today by the Romanian politicians as the positions they adopted externally and the UE’s actions, too, left the impression that Romania is a Union’s second class member, something that should be changed. The EU;s recommendations concerning Romania expired in 2010 and were not updated while the EU’s leadership and its members seem to be content with that as long as they do not update it.
It is necessary we regain the sovereignty within the EU and an equal position with the other states. In this respect, we should get closer to other states having similar problems with ours.
Romania’s rotating presidency of the European Union Council during January 1st – June 30th 2019, proved its capacity to deliver in very good conditions (according to the UE’s bodies appreciation. We should devise from now on and, at the same time, to implement the resolutions.
Romania should adopt a more active position within the EU, support the strategic partnership with the US, put forward our standpoint concerning the American peace plan in the Middle East, have more initiatives in approaching the main issues and UE’s political decisions including following up its national interest as the other member states do.
Romania could further contribute to the development of the EU’s relations with countries of the Middle East given the former’s experience until 1989 with numerous Arab countries. Unfortunately, during the last 30 years that area has been extremely neglected by the Romanian policy and diplomacy, give aways and compromises have been made without any clear gains we might have obtained[6] so that, if we do not act now we will be forgotten in the Middle East within the next 5-10 years. The generation of the Middle East’s politicians under 40 years old are no longer familiar with Romania.
Under today’s geopolitical circumstances, we have to add substance to the US’s strategic partnership yet, at the same time, we should not stay away from defining our partnership with China, which we have traditional relations which seem to cool and follow the same course as the one with the Middle Easts’s.
The article includespersonal opinions and standpoints similar to those with the undersigned positions expressed on this occasions and other mentions in recent analysis and documnts do not reflect in any way the opinion of the Commission on the European Affairs of the Romanian Senate.
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.
[1] This article has been caused following the author’s invitation and attendance of the round table ”Romania’s Role in Redefining the European Foreign Policy”, organized by the Committee on Foreign Affairs (headed by Gabriela Crețu) of the Romanian Senate on February 25th, 2020. The invitation was extended through dr. Liviu Mureșan, Chairman of EURISC.
[2] Global Geopolitical Challenges -2020, Valdai – https://valdaiclub.com, 04.03.2020
[3] The European Green Deal (Green Deal) aims at transforming the European economy into a neutral one in what concerns the impact on the environment by 2050. This ambitious program provides for investing 1tn euro during the next 10 years. Some experts estimate that the effects of this initiative on a global scale will be rather limited since Europe is not an important polluter globally.
Romania will benefit from 757 ml euro (non-reimbursable EU grants) for supporting the mono-industrial areas which will be affected by the passage to a non-polluting economy.
Experts in the field estimate that Romania will have to annually allocate around 4bl euro for implementing this project which requires giving up roughly 25% of the country’s energy capacities and replacing them by green ones.
[4]Turkey’s attempt to send a new migrants wave to Europe met for the time being with Greece’s and Bulgaria’s refusal to open their borders and the High Commissioner Josep Borell declared that the EU’s borders stay closed and the migrants should know that. In its turn, Germany declaread that the 2015 situation will not repeat itself and the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz blames president Erdogan for using the migrants close to the Greek borders as weapons against the EU.
[5]Nicolae Titulescu, a brilliant Romanian diplomat, Romania’s foreign minister between 1928-1936, president of the League of Nations between 1930-1931.
[6]In 2005, for instance, Romania voluntarily adhered to the Paris Club’s reccomendation and diminished its then Iraqi outstanding debt of $2.6 bn by 80% and accepted Baghdad’s payment of the remaining in annual instalments until 2028 with a 5 years grace period.
Romania observed Lybia’s embargo, although during the 1980s the commercial exchanges between the two countries exceeded annually $1bn and gave up exploiting oil bloks where it had successful oil prospections and annuled even the direct air links between Bucharest and Tripoli, while European important countries were convening and carring out important contracts with Qaddafi.
