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Panama did not cede sovereignty to the US, foreign minister says

Panama did not cede sovereignty to the US, foreign minister says

Euronews15-07-2025
Following US President Donald Trump's repeated threats to take control of the Panama Canal, arguing that the US-built trade passage is key to national security, a memorandum has allowed Washington to carry out a series of military exercises with the Panamanian police.
Three helicopters arrived in the area on Sunday to train for a possible scenario to protect the canal.
Amid concerns over a possible US takeover, Panama has defended the security agreement reached with Washington and denied that sovereignty has been ceded.
"There will be no permanent presence of foreign forces in our territory. This is temporary," Panama Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha told Euronews.
"We have no presence of troops of any nationality. We have signed a memorandum of understanding, as we have with other Latin American countries, to carry out joint exercises to prepare ourselves for asymmetric threats, to prepare ourselves in case we have to act jointly to contain organised crime, drug trafficking," Martínez-Acha said in an interview.
Relations with Washington were strained after Trump accused Panama of ceding control of strategic infrastructure to China.
However, the foreign minister claims that the tensions have dissipated.
"We understand that we have a privileged region with the United States. At times it has been complex, but today we are cooperating very well based on respect for Panama's integrity and sovereignty," Martínez-Acha said.
Some 6% of the world's maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal each year.
More cooperation on tax matters
Martínez-Acha has travelled to Brussels to take part in the European Union-Central America Association Council on Monday.
One of the issues that has caused the most controversy over the years is the inclusion of Panama on the list of non-cooperative countries in tax matters.
Martínez-Acha denied that his country is a tax haven and pointed out the assurances he has given to Brussels.
"We are a responsible country. We are a country committed to transparency and tax cooperation", he explained, while acknowledging that there is still work to be done.
"We will do them. We are considering reforms in the way tax cooperation is transmitted," Martínez-Acha said.
Following a vote in the European Parliament ratifying a European Commission proposal, Panama has now been removed from the blacklist of countries with weak controls on illicit money flows.
However, the Central American country remains on the list of non-cooperative states for tax purposes, which also includes Russia and Trinidad and Tobago.
Among the pending tasks is the elimination of preferential tax regimes to avoid the existence of offshore structures without genuine economic activity.
"We have to make a reform from a tax point of view so that if these multinational companies have economic substance in Panama, or if these foreign incomes are repatriated to Panama, they are subject to tax," Martínez-Acha explained.
"If they are repatriated to third countries, then they will not be subject to tax".
For Europe, Panama is not only strategically important economically, but also essential in preventing sanctions violations against countries such as Russia.
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Trump blurs business and politics at new golf course opening in Scotland
Trump blurs business and politics at new golf course opening in Scotland

France 24

timean hour ago

  • France 24

Trump blurs business and politics at new golf course opening in Scotland

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Thailand declares martial law in eight districts bordering Cambodia
Thailand declares martial law in eight districts bordering Cambodia

Euronews

time2 hours ago

  • Euronews

Thailand declares martial law in eight districts bordering Cambodia

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What does France's decision to recognize Palestine mean?
What does France's decision to recognize Palestine mean?

Euronews

time6 hours ago

  • Euronews

What does France's decision to recognize Palestine mean?

Whether seen as reckless or bold, French President Emmanuel Macron's decision to recognize Palestine as a state could have some consequences in the future. The French president said in a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and posted on X that he will formalize the decision at the U.N. General Assembly in September. 'France will rally in favour of the implementation of the two-state solution, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security,' Macron wrote. 'This solution is the only path forward which allows us to respond to the legitimate aspirations of Israelis as well as Palestinians,' he added. But what does recognizing Palestine mean? Why does it matter? And what is likely to happen? WHAT DOES IT MEAN? France is the most powerful country in Europe to have said it would recognize a Palestinian state, soon joining 147 states that have already done so. It will also join the 11 European countries, which officially recognize Palestinian statehood, including Spain, Ireland, Sweden, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria. For many of these countries, the act of recognition means acknowledging the sovereignty and independence of Palestine in its pre-1967 borders (i.e. in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem) and establishing full diplomatic relations with the country. France would then join the countries that already host a full-fledged Palestinian embassy. WHY IT (SOMEWHAT) MATTERS? France has Europe's largest Jewish population, as well as the largest Muslim population in Western Europe. As one of the founding fathers of the European Union, its voice carries a lot of weight not only in Europe but also around the world. Its decision to recognize Palestine is likely to put additional pressure on Israel at a time when the word genocide is used by a growing number of historians and legal experts to designate Tel Aviv's war in the Gaza strip. Earlier this week, more than 100 leading organizations including Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International and Oxfam said that famine is widespread across Gaza. Yet, the humanitarian situation on the ground is unlikely to improve. US-sponsored ceasefire talks in Doha failed after Washington withdrew, saying Hamas was not acting 'in good faith.' 'France's recognition of Palestine sends a signal to Israel that it is paying a political price among its allies for its actions in Gaza,' said Martin Konecny, who runs the European Middle East Project in Brussels. 'It also counters the Israeli effort to erase the possibility of a Palestinian state.' It is also unlikely that such move would have any legal knock-on effect, including on trade relations with Palestine. But Konecny said it could be used in court procedures in the future, at the International Criminal Court or national courts 'where this argument could play a role.' 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Add to that, President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017, prompting the US embassy to move there from Tel Aviv. The two-state solution advocated by Macron seems highly symbolic and unfeasible as things stand on the ground. On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also slammed Macron's move to recognise a Palestinian state, calling it a 'reckless decision' that 'only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace.' By contrast, many EU governments already support a two-state solution but argue that an official recognition of Palestine should go hand in hand with a long-term solution to the conflict in the Middle East. 'We can no longer accept massacres and famine,' Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani told Ansa, the country's press agency on Friday. 'Italy is favourable to the solution of two people and two states but the recognition of a new state of Palestine should be done at the same time as the recognition of a state of Israel by the Palestinians.' While the Palestinian Authority does recognize Israel, Hamas does not. 'What interests us is peace, not the victory of one over the other,' Tajani said. Pressure for a recognition of Palestine has intensified in the UK, with British prime minister Keir Starmer scheduled to hold an emergency call with Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz later today. WHAT IS NEXT? But many political analysts also say Macron's move is a largely symbolic foreign policy tool that would boost the French president's profile but is unlikely to result in any changes to the situation on the ground. 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But the EU is far too divided on the issue. Earlier this month, the EU's foreign affairs ministers decided to delay agreeing on a list of 10 options to respond to Israel's action in Gaza during a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. They also agreed to 'keep a close watch' on Israel's compliance with a recent agreement to improve humanitarian aid access into Gaza. Last but not least, a shift in position would need to come from Germany, a country that has so far been governed by the so-called 'Staatsraison,' a sense of responsibility towards Israel which comes from the legacy of the Nazi Holocaust. So far, Germany has no plans to follow in on Macron's footsteps in the short term. On Friday, Stefan Kornelius, a government spokesman told German media that Germany continues to regard the recognition of Palestine as "one of the final steps on the path to achieving a two-state solution." At the same time, the German government is also "prepared to increase the pressure" if no progress is made in resolving the conflict, Kornelius said.

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