Michel at UN Security Council: ‘It is a war against all that we have built over generations since World War II’
The EU will continue to back Ukraine and pressure Russia and confront it with the truth, said European Council President Charles Michel, addressing the UN Security Council on 6 June.
“The Kremlin may prohibit and prosecute the use of the word ‘war’, but that does not change the heartbreaking reality. Thousands of dead Ukrainian women, children and men. Atrocities. Rapes. Countless Ukrainian cities bombed into rubble. This is a war. A barbaric war waged by a permanent member of this Council,” said Michel.
Addressing the current Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, Michel noted that the Kremlin is using food supplies as a “stealth missile” against developing countries, and that Russia is solely responsible for the upcoming food crisis: the war “is driving up food prices, pushing people into poverty and destabilising entire regions”.
“I have seen it with my own eyes. A few weeks ago in Odesa, millions of tons of grain and wheat were stuck in containers and ships because of Russian warships in the Black Sea and because of Russia’s attack on transport infrastructure. And it is Russian tanks, Russian bombs and mines that are preventing Ukraine from planting and harvesting,” said Michel.
The European Council President also said the Kremlin was targeting grain storage and stealing grain in Ukraine while shifting the blame on others.
Source: https://euneighbourseast.eu
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Charles Michel meets Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili
President of the European Council Charles Michel met today with Georgian President Salome Zarubishvili in Brussels.
“Reaffirmed EU’s commitment to Georgia’s European path to President Zourabichvili and welcomed her role in advancing Georgia’s people aspirations,” Charles Michel wrote on Twitter.
He added that the decision of the European Council to grant a European perspective to Georgia is “a historic opportunity not to be missed”.
“Progress on reforms remains crucial,” said Charles Michel.
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European Commission proposes tenth package of sanctions against Russia and Iranian drone suppliers
The European Commission is proposing a tenth package of sanctions against Russia to further weaken Russia’s ability to maintain its war machine, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament Plenary in Strasbourg today.
The suggested package contains trade bans and controls on technology exports worth €11 billion.
The Commission proposes, among other things, export restrictions on multiple electronic components used in Russian armed systems, such as drones, missiles, and helicopters.
The Commission is also proposing – for the first time – to sanction Iranian entities including those linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, producing drones.
Ursula von der Leyen said there were hundreds of Iranian-made drones used by Russia on the battlefields in Ukraine. “These Iranian made drones kill Ukrainian civilians – this is atrocious!” said the European Commission President. “It is our duty to sanction them, and confront Iran about the supply of drones and the transfer of know-how to build production sites in Russia.”
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Two Georgia v. Russia interstate cases: Committee of Ministers says Russia must execute the European Court’s judgments, despite its exclusion from the Council of Europe
Strasbourg, 09.12.2022 – The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has deeply deplored again the absence of response of the Russian authorities to its earlier appeals to implement the Georgia v. Russia (I) judgment from the European Court of Human Rights concerning the arrest, detention and collective expulsion of Georgian nationals in 2006-2007, and strongly exhorted the Russian authorities to pay the long-overdue just satisfaction. The Committee has also urged the Russian authorities to start executing the judgment in the case Georgia v. Russia (II) related to the armed conflict in Georgia in 2008.
In the Interim Resolution (*) published today on the Georgia v. Russia (I) case the Committee of Ministers recalled that, despite ceasing to be a member of the Council of Europe on 16 March 2022, the Russian Federation is still required to implement judgments of the European Court, and the Committee of Ministers continues to supervise their execution.
According to the European Court’s judgment of January 2019, Russia inter alia had to pay to the Georgian government 10 million euros in respect of non-pecuniary damage suffered by a group of at least 1,500 Georgian nationals. The Committee deeply deplored the continued absence of the information from the Russian authorities and reiterated again its most profound concern that the payment of the just satisfaction and default interest accrued has not been made despite the passage of over three years since the deadline for payment expired on 30 April 2019.
The Secretariat of the Committee of Ministers will create and publish a register of just satisfaction owing in all inter-state cases against the Russian Federation and will keep it regularly updated as regards the default interest accrued so that both the issue and the sums due can remain under close public scrutiny.
The Committee of Ministers has also adopted the Interim Resolution on the second interstate case, Georgia v. Russia (II). The European Court’s judgment on this case has become final in October 2021 and concerned various violations in the context of the armed conflict between Georgia and the Russian Federation in August 2008.
The Committee has urged again the Russian authorities to submit to the Committee of Ministers a plan on the execution of this judgment and to investigate the serious crimes committed during the active phase of hostilities as well as during the period of occupation. It has firmly reiterated again its profound concern about the inability of Georgian nationals to return to their homes in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and its insistence that the Russian Federation, which has effective control over these regions, ensure without delay safe return of persons wishing to return to their homes. The question of just satisfaction in this case remains pending at the Court.
The Committee of Ministers will restart the examination of the execution of both cases in March 2023.
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(*) An Interim Resolution is a form of decision adopted by the Committee of Ministers aimed at overcoming more complex situations requiring special attention. -
European Council president to visit China!
BEIJING, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President of the European Council Charles Michel will visit China on Dec. 1, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced Monday.
Source: Embassy of The People's Republic of China in Georgia
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Michel: Armenia and Azerbaijan agree to move forward on bilateral peace treaty
On 31 August, European Council President Charles Michel met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The fourth discussion in this format focused on recent developments in the South Caucasus and relations between the EU and the two countries. All sides agreed to step up substantive work to advance on the peace treaty governing inter-state relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and tasked the Foreign Ministers to meet within one month to work on draft texts.
“Our exchanges were open and productive – and I would like to thank both leaders for that,” said Michel. “It is positive to see that quite a few steps have been taken to take forward the agreements reached during our last meeting.”
Michel, Aliyev and Pashinyan also had a detailed discussion on humanitarian issues, including demining, detainees and the fate of missing persons.
They also reviewed progress on all questions related to the delimitation of the border and how best to ensure a stable situation.
The next meeting of the Border Commissions will take place in Brussels in November. By the end of this month, the next, fifth meeting in a similar format will take place.
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