On the picture EC’s President Donald Tusk and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al Sissi. 19 September 2015, Cairo: The EU seeks to develop a particular close relationship to Egypt, its geographical neighbour, and to support its domestic and political reforms. The relationship emphasises close cooperation on democratic reform, economic modernization, social reform, and migration issues. In Cairo the President of the Council of the European Union Donald Tusk met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. For more information:  President of Egypt: www.presidency.gov.eg Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: www.mfa.gov.eg/english/Pages/default.aspx Mission of Egypt to the EU, Belgium and Luxemboug (HE Ambassador Ehab Mohamed Fawzi): www.mfa.gov.eg/english/embassies/Egyptian_Embassy_Belgium/Pages/default.aspx  Mission of Egypt to the Kingdom of the Netherlands (HE Ambassador Taher Ahmed Farahat): http://www.mfa.gov.eg/english/embassies/Egyptian_Embassy_Netherlands/Pages/default.aspx

During the summer President Tusk also paid a visit to Azerbaijan On 22 July 2015, the President of the Council of the European Union, Donald Tusk, made the following in statement in Baku, during a high-level visit to Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev: “Azerbaijan is our reliable and strategic partner in the energy field, and we want to take this partnership further. One aim of the European energy union is to exclude the possibility of using gas as a threat. The conflict in Ukraine shows that such threats are still possible. This is why the EU is dedicated to diversifying our supplies. And Azerbaijan is a main partner in this endeavour. Today, we agreed to stand united on developing the Southern Gas Corridor – a project which is in our common strategic interest – and to make sure it is completed on time, whatever our competitors do. For Europe, it is a question of diversifying supply. For Azerbaijan, it is a question of diversifying demand.

Azerbaijan has the potential to become one of the EU’s major commercial partners in the region. The EU is already Azerbaijan’s main trade partner and one of its most important investors. We will expand these commercial relations further in the coming years. I recalled that good governance and rule of law are important for creating a favourable commercial and investment climate. The EU stands ready to assist here, if needed. Finally, we discussed the mobility of people and our strong common wish to facilitate travel and direct contacts between our peoples. I applaud the entry into force of the Visa Facilitation Agreement and the Readmission Agreement in the autumn of last year. This was an important step.” Last year there were 70,000 visitors from Azerbaijan to the Schengen area. An increase by almost 20% from the year before. And one third of the visas we issue are now long-term multiple entry visas. For more information: Mission of Azerbaijan to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg headed by HE Ambassador Fuad İsgəndərov: www.azembassy.be ———- Text and pictures by Council of the European Union

On the picture Alhaji Abba Kyari. On 27 August 2015 Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari appointed former United Bank for Africa chief Alhaji Abba Kyari his new chief of staff, as part of his first senior government appointments since taking office. Kyari, who has degrees in law and sociology from Cambridge and Warwick universities in the United Kingdom, has held a number of roles in the private sector, including at Unilever and Mobil. The chief of staff is a non-ministerial role but its holder is typically an important fixer and influential presidential aide.

The role of government secretary went to Babachir David Lawal, an engineer with experience in telecoms, whereas retired Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali becomes head of the Nigerian Customs Service. Former lawmakers Ita Enang and Suleiman Kawu were appointed as advisers on parliament while the Nigerian Immigration Service is to be headed by Kure Martin. Buhari came to power on 29 May 2015, vowing to crush Boko Haram, the Islamist insurgency in the northeast, and crack down on endemic corruption. For more information: President of Nigeria: www.statehouse.gov.ng, www.thisisbuhari.com United Bank for Africa: www.ubagroup.com Mission of Nigeria to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg: www.nigeriabrussels.be Embassy of Nigeria to The Netherlands and the OPCW: www.nigerianembassy.nl  

By Baron Henri Estramant. Astana, Kazakhstan: Dariga Nazarbayeva (b. 7 May 1963), the eldest daughter of Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, has moved into the political spotlight once more after been appointed by her father as “Deputy Prime Minister”. Up until 2004, she directed Khabar Agency, a major media company which broadcasts daily in Kazakh and Russian and controls Kazakh TV. In 2003 she founded a political party that merged with the country’s dominant party, her father’s Nur Otan in 2006. During her first foray into politics properly, she served in parliament as deputy speaker. But in 2007, she stepped down. Meanwhile she left parliament to head her father’s charity fund. In 2012, Nazarbayeva returned to politics, rejoining parliament under Nur Otan and in April 2014 she took up office as deputy speaker of parliament. Moreover she is an accomplished opera singer who has performed at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. The 75-year-old President Nursultan Nazarbayev has ruled over Kazakhstan since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 but he has begun to hint that he is considering standing down after the end of his current term as president in 2020. Former British prime minister Tony Blair has been advising President Nazarbayev since 2011. For more information: President of Kazakhstan: www.akorda.kz/kz Mission of Kazakhstan to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg (HE Ambassador Almaz Khamzayev): http://kazakhstan-embassy.be/ Embassy of Kazakhstan to The Netherlands and Mission to the OPCW- HE Ambassador Mainyura Murzamadiyeva: www.kazembassy.nl/index.php/en/

Statement of the Prosecutor on the Agreement on the Creation of a Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia Today, I have learned of the latest developments in Havana where the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP have jointly taken a significant step towards ending the decades-long armed conflict in the country. Any genuine and practical initiative that achieves this laudable goal, while paying homage to justice as a critical pillar of sustainable peace, is of course welcomed by my Office. Our hope is that the agreement reached by the parties on the creation of a Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia does just that. I note with optimism that the agreement excludes the granting of any amnesty for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and is designed, amongst others, to end impunity for the most serious crimes. The Office will carefully review and analyse the agreed provisions in detail as part of its on-going preliminary examination of the situation in Colombia. To this end, my Office will be engaging in extensive consultations with the Government of Colombia and other stakeholders, including victims and relevant civil society organisations.

Statement of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, following the transfer of the first suspect in the Mali investigation: “Intentional attacks against historic monuments and buildings dedicated to religion are grave crimes”. The surrender by Niger authorities of the suspect, Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi and his transfer earlier today to the custody of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or the “Court”) is a welcome development. It represents an important step forward in the fight against impunity, not only in Mali but also in the broader Sahel and Sahara region of Africa, whose populations have in recent years been subjected to unspeakable crimes. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, also known as “Abou Tourab”, is accused of allegedly committing the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against ten buildings dedicated to religion and historic monuments in the ancient city of Timbuktu, Mali. A zealous member of an armed group, self-proclaimed “Ansar Dine”, he played a predominant and active role in the functioning of the local structure put in place during the group’s occupation of Timbuktu in 2012, as detailed in my Office’s application for the warrant of arrest which led to his surrender. The people of Mali deserve justice for the attacks against their cities, their beliefs and their communities. Let there be no mistake: the charges we have brought against Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi involve most serious crimes; they are about the destruction of irreplaceable historic monuments, and they are about a callous assault on the dignity and identity of entire populations, and their religious and historical roots. The inhabitants of Northern Mali, the main victims of these attacks, deserve to see justice done. Intentional attacks against historic monuments and buildings dedicated to religion are serious crimes under the Rome Statute – the founding treaty of the ICC, adopted by more than 120 states from around the world. No longer should such reprehensible conduct go unpunished.   It is rightly said that “cultural heritage is the mirror of humanity.” Such attacks affect humanity as a whole. We must stand up to the destruction and defacing of our common heritage. This is the first time that on the strength of the evidence collected my Office has brought such charges against a suspect in proceedings before this Court. We will continue to do our part to highlight the severity of such war crimes with the hopes that such efforts will deter the commission of similar crimes in the future. I am grateful to the authorities of Mali and Niger for their cooperation in this surrender, as well as other regional and international actors who facilitate the work of the Court in the region. This is our first significant step in Mali, built on the heels of our investigations. I am confident that our close collaboration with the Malian authorities will continue to generate positive results for our common cause of holding to account those most responsible for perpetrating atrocity crimes in the country.