Diplomacy

The eighth High-Level Political and Security Dialogue between the European Union and the countries of Central Asia - Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - took place on Thursday (1 July) in the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, with the participation of Afghanistan as special guest. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss regional dynamics and advance region-to-region cooperation on a broad spectrum of issues, including border management, security and the promotion of sustainable connectivity.

Slovenia took over today (1 July) the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union. The country takes over the EU Presidency from Portugal. This is the second time Slovenia holds the EU presidency since it joined the European Union in 2004. It held the presidency the first time in 2008. The Presidency of the European Union changes every six months.

Pope Francis will today (1 July) meet in the Vatican with ten Lebanese Christian leaders to reflect on the dire economic and political situation in their country, which he hopes to visit soon.

The UAE foreign minister, Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, and his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid, on Tuesday (29 June) signed the 12th agreement between the two countries, covering economic and trade co-operation. Lapid is on his first official visit to Abu Dhabi to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relations in light of the agreement between the two sides, as well as the situation in the Middle East region.

The EU has condemned the decision of the Belarus government decision to suspend the country's membership in the Eastern Partnership, and said it would continue to co-operate with the people of Belarus.

China was on everyone's lips at numerous summits and international gatherings in the last days and weeks, writes Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed for commonspace.eu. "China will be among the key world players throughout the 21st century; it will be the number one economic power, and all have to accept and adapt to this reality. No one has the necessary capacity to contain China, despite the fact that many want to, for the moment for doing that has passed." 

The Egypt-Jordan-Iraq summit comes within the framework of the tripartite co-operation mechanism between the three countries, which held its first round in Cairo in March 2019. Whilst not mentioned in official statements, the trilateral relationship established between Egypt, Iraq and Jordan is seen partly as an attempt to neutralise Iran’s influence across the region.

The foreign ministers of Austria, Romania and Lithuania visited Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia 25-26 June as special emissaries of the EU High Representative Josep Borrell. commonspace.eu political editor said in a comment that this was a small but important gesture with the purpose of sending a clear message to the region, and to others interested in it, that the European Union remains committed and engaged.