Latest news with #OrganizationforSecurityandCooperationinEurope
09-05-2025
- Politics
Komeito Calls for Security Dialogue in Northeast Asia
Tokyo, May 9 (Jiji Press)--Komeito, the junior member of Japan's ruling coalition, proposed the establishment of a framework for multilateral security dialogue in Northeast Asia, in its peace-building vision adopted Friday ahead of the 80th anniversary this August of the end of World War II. Komeito made the proposal, looking to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe as a reference. It expects the dialogue framework to include at least Japan, the United States, South Korea, North Korea, China and Russia. In the vision, the party said it is essential to build trust through dialogue among countries, including hostile states, to prevent conflicts in Northeast Asia. As a first step, it suggested starting discussions on common issues such as disaster prevention and climate change. The vision also calls for restricting the use of artificial intelligence for military purposes and creating an environment for Japan to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. "Showing the international community our clear path as a peaceful nation will lead to peace and security," Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito said at a press conference. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Washington Post
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
As a diplomat, Pope Francis won breakthroughs and faced frustrations
Pope Francis, who died Monday at the age of 88, was not just a spiritual leader on the world stage, but a practical diplomat. The Vatican, tucked within Rome, is the world's smallest country by population (882 at the end of last year) and area (0.17 square miles). But the pope heads its governing structure, the Holy See, as an absolute monarch, on diplomatic footing with other world leaders. As a diplomat, Francis pursued ambitious goals, meeting with some breakthroughs, while also running up against the limits of his influence as conflicts mounted and environmental degradation proceeded. It's difficult to measure a pope's power in absolute terms, said Timothy Byrnes, a political science professor at Colgate University. But the pope has several vehicles for global influence: soft power and moral appeals, the collective influence of the some 1.4 billion Catholics and the Holy See's diplomatic apparatus. The Holy See holds diplomatic relations with 183 countries. Those Holy See diplomatic missions are similar to conventional embassies, led by 'apostolic nuncios' who are ranked as ambassadors. The Holy See also participates in dozens of intergovernmental organizations, bodies and programs, including as a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and as a permanent observer to the United Nations. In his 12 years as pope, here are some of the diplomatic efforts Francis pursued. In perhaps his best known diplomatic project, the church under Francis secretly helped mediate a thaw in relations between the United States and Cuba. After more than five decades of Cold War hostilities, the Obama administration and the communist government of Cuba under Raúl Castro turned to the Holy See, trusted by both sides to mediate. What followed was a period of behind-the-scenes, back-channel maneuvers between Washington and Cuba via Vatican intermediaries, including messages carried by Cardinal Jaime Ortega, archbishop of Havana, who became a secret courier. 'Perhaps the most important part of my mission came when President Raúl Castro asked me to convey a message to President Obama, by being the bearer of the Holy Father's letter to the president in the White House,' Ortega said, according to reporting by the Miami Herald. The White House kept Ortega's name off visitor logs, and a talk at Georgetown University served as a 'cover story for his presence in Washington,' historians wrote. The Vatican also hosted Cuban and U.S. delegations. Announcing the breakthrough at a joint news conference in 2016, Obama thanked Francis and Ortega, who he said 'did so much to support the improved relations between our governments.' Under the thaw, Obama visited Cuba and the countries began to normalize relations. The Holy See has 'a new emphasis, which is to build bridges between persons, groups and nations,' Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said at the time. How history will see the thaw remains to be seen: In his first term, President Donald Trump revered many of the reforms, and although the Biden administration loosened restrictions, relations remain strained, and all the more so since Trump's return to office. With China, Francis oversaw an agreement in 2018 — the details of which remain murky and have not been released — over who has the right to nominate bishops. The Holy See does not maintain direct relations with Beijing and is one of about a dozen countries that officially recognizes Taiwan. The practical deal, which drew criticism for allowing China's government to interfere in church affairs but also brought millions of Catholics in China closer to the fold, gives the Vatican a role in the appointment of state-sanctioned Chinese bishops. In an institution known for moral absolutes, it was an embrace of the gray. 'Pope Francis hopes that, with these decisions, a new process may begin that will allow the wounds of the past to be overcome, leading to the full communion of all Chinese Catholics,' the Vatican said in a statement at the time. Francis's first official trip outside Rome as pope in 2013 was to the small Italian island of Lampedusa, a key landing point for migrants, to pray for refugees lost at sea. It was during that visit where he denounced the 'globalization of indifference' — the idea that in a globalized world, people have become 'used to the suffering of others' and can no longer 'weep over the cruelty of our world, of our own hearts.' The defense of migrants would become a central theme of his pontificate. In 2016, he made headlines by washing the feet of asylum seekers in Italy. After a trip to a detention center in Greece in 2016, Pope Francis brought a dozen Muslim refugees from Syria on the papal plane back to Vatican City. It is the responsibility of 'welcoming the stranger,' Francis has said. In a February letter to U.S. bishops, he addressed mass deportations in the U.S., denouncing 'walls of ignominy' and calling for his readers 'not to give in to narratives that … cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters. While its full impact is difficult to measure, Francis's advocacy put pressure on governments to accept migrants amid a global migration crisis that has been met in some parts of the West with nationalist backlash. The pope has taken on an 'outward-looking role as a moral spokesman,' Byrnes said. Ahead of the signing of the landmark Paris agreement on climate change in 2015, Francis helped frame the climate crisis as a world-historic moral and spiritual issue by publishing an encyclical devoted to the environment. He spoke of 'climate change as a moral scandal perpetrated upon the poor by the wealthy,' said Byrnes. In 2022, the Holy See became a formal party to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, pledging to meet the same emissions requirements as other parties. Under Francis, the Holy See moved from the sidelines to engage directly as a full participant in key climate talks. The papacy and the Vatican could be seen as 'out of step with the modern world,' said Jodok Troy, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. But from his unique position, the pope is able to conceptualize politics from the perspective of 'those who suffer from inequalities, those who suffer from climate change, those who suffer from war.' Francis has called repeatedly for peace between Russia and Ukraine, but has stopped short of calling out Russia for its invasion. In 2022, the pope warned the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church not to be 'Putin's altar boy.' Francis sent prelate Matteo Zuppi to Kyiv, Moscow and Washington in an effort to broker a path to peace to no avail. During the war in Gaza, Francis held a nightly video call with a parish in the Gaza Strip, even has his health waned. The Holy See in 2015 recognized a State of Palestine under Francis. He condemned Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, and also Israel's military response in Gaza. His Easter remarks the day before he died included a final appeal for peace.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine initiates UN Security Council meeting over deadly strike
Ukraine has initiated an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council following a Russian strike on Kryvyi Rih that killed 20 people, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Monday. Twenty people, including nine children, were killed when a Russian ballistic missile hit the south-eastern city of Kryvyi Rih on Friday. Sybiha said this was the largest number of Ukrainian children killed in a single attack since 2022, the year that Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine starting the war. "Russia must cease its terror against Ukrainian children and civilians, respond to US full ceasefire proposal, which Ukraine has accepted, and end the war," he wrote on X. Ukraine had initiated an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council and a special meeting of the permanent council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Sybiha said. The meetings were expected to take place on Tuesday. "A robust international response to Russian atrocities is critical. Such terror should never be normalized. We call for both strong condemnation and firm action," the minister added. In another post he said he had spoken with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock about the Kryvyi Rih attack. "We discussed strong international responses—appropriate to the murder of nine kids by a cluster warhead. I thank Germany and personally Annalena for all the support," he wrote. Moscow has confirmed the attack, but spoke of a "high-precision strike," which it said hit Ukrainian commanders and their Western instructors. The Ukrainian General Staff in Kiev have described the Russian claim as a lie. Images of the scene of the attack published by the Ukrainian side showed no evidence of any military targets. Ukraine has been defending itself against a large-scale Russian invasion since February 2022.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Germany's Steinmeier campaigns in Baku for peace deal with Armenia
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Baku on Wednesday, pushing for a peace deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia to be signed. At a press conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Alyev, Steinmeier said he was campaigning for "a journey accompanied by many difficulties and obstacles to be completed." "That requires the courage to compromise, decisiveness and the political will to implement and enforce the negotiated peace agreement," he added. The neighbouring countries announced in March they had agreed on the text of a peace deal to end decades of hostilities centring on the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Shortly after declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the two countries went to war over the territory, which is legally part of oil-rich Azerbaijan. The conflict was long frozen, but fighting resumed in 2020 and escalated in 2023, when Azerbaijan took full control of the region, leading many ethnic Armenians to flee. Aliyev on Wednesday named two conditions for his signature. Armenia must amend its constitution to give up claims on Azerbaijani territory, he demanded. And the Minsk Group, set up by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to find a solution to the conflict, must be dissolved, Aliyev added. The Azerbaijani president denied that he was placing obstacles in the way of peace. Steinmeier's trip to Baku followed a two-day visit to Armenia, in which he highlighted the need for peace in the South Caucasus region.
Al Arabiya
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Azerbaijan insists Armenia must meet its demands before peace treaty can be signed
Azerbaijan on Wednesday insisted that arch-foe Armenia must meet Baku's 'legitimate demands' before the Caucasus neighbors can sign a peace treaty, the text of which they agreed upon last month. The two ex-Soviet republics announced on March 14 they had wrapped up talks aimed at resolving their decades-long conflict, with both sides agreeing on the text of a possible treaty. A deal to normalize ties would be a major breakthrough in a region where Russia, the European Union, the United States and Turkey all jostle for influence. Baku and Yerevan fought two wars for control of Azerbaijan's Armenian-populated region of Karabakh, at the end of the Soviet Union and again in 2020, before Azerbaijan seized the entire area in a 24-hour offensive in September 2023. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Wednesday that Baku 'is not putting forward any additional conditions' for signing the treaty. 'Our demands are well known to Armenia, they are not new. We have been voicing them for a long time, but have yet to receive any serious response from Armenia,' he told a news conference alongside visiting German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. 'The OSCE Minsk Group must be dissolved,' he said, referring to the now defunct group of international mediators – France, Russia and the United States – set up in 1991 under the aegis of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to encourage a negotiated resolution to the conflict. He also reiterated Baku's longstanding demand to remove from Armenia's constitution a reference to its declaration of independence, which asserts territorial claims over Karabakh. Any such amendments to Armenia's constitution would require a referendum. 'Once these two conditions are met, there will be no obstacles to signing the peace treaty,' Aliyev said. 'The ball is in Armenia's court. If Armenia truly wants to sign the peace agreement, it must accept these two legitimate demands of Azerbaijan.' Yerevan has said it is ready to sign the peace treaty without delay and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced a referendum to amend the constitution for 2027. Pashinyan has recognized Baku's sovereignty over Karabakh after three decades of Armenian separatist rule, a move seen as a crucial first step towards a normalization of relations. Armenia also last year returned to Azerbaijan four border villages it had seized decades earlier.
