Global

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced last Friday that the EU will provide €100 million in humanitarian assistance to support vaccination programs in Africa that will be led by the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The funding is necessary for countries with critical humanitarian needs and fragile health systems.

"The United States will work closely with our European Union partners and the capitals across the continent — from Rome to Riga — to meet the range of shared challenges we face. We continue to support the goal of a Europe whole and free and at peace."

Portugal's defence minister, João Gomes Cravinho, said in an interview that "European [military] missions are almost all in Africa and yet the political dialogue with African decision-makers is insufficient; we need to build and improve this bridge".

We’ve been hearing a lot recently about multilateral diplomacy in crisis but what does this really mean? Closing the first series of Global Europe Unpacked, Will Murray speaks to Stephanie Liechtenstein, the Web Editor-in-Chief of the Security and Human Rights Monitor, about multilateral diplomacy in the age of COVID-19, challenges for the OSCE, the EU, and more…

Russia tripled its gold exports in 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic had made oil and gas revenues plummet, the Russian newspaper Izvestia writes. However this year is not expected to be so good for gold producers. According to economists at Morgan Stanley weak inflation, coupled with an improving economic outlook, will continue to weigh on gold prices.

After over 70 years at the forefront of Western defence strategy, what is the state of NATO? In this episode of Global Europe Unpacked, Will Murray speaks to Dr Jamie Shea, former NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, about how the organisation is handling modern challenges, what a 'strategically autonomous' Europe means for NATO, and more...

Six world leaders have have published a joint op-ed in which they called for a global conversation on multilateralism. The leaders said in the article published in several languages in media outlets across the world that there was an "opportunity to rebuild consensus for an international order based on multilateralism and the rule of law through efficient cooperation, solidarity and coordination." The signatories of the appeal are French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Senegalese President Macky Sall, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel.