Diplomacy

The UN General Assembly has begun its 79th session in New York. World leaders gathered to underline their goals, although many voices against the UN structure could not be overheard. Amid ongoing conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and most recently Lebanon, the session focused largely on the UN's ineffectiveness in its primary role - peacekeeping.

China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao has expressed concern that the European Union's decision to impose tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs) will "seriously hamper" trade and investment cooperation and negatively affect both China and Germany. During talks with German Vice-Chancellor and Economics Minister Robert Habeck on Tuesday (17 September), Wang stressed the importance of finding a solution in line with World Trade Organization rules to avoid escalating trade tensions between China and the EU. The European Commission is considering final tariffs of up to 35.3% on Chinese-made electric vehicles, on top of the standard 10% import duty on cars.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, two republics in the South Caucasus, has never been solely about their bilateral relations. Regional and distant powers have long sought to influence the conflict, pursuing their own strategic interests. This dynamic persisted even after the Second Karabakh War (27 September – 10 November 2020), which ended the core dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan by bringing an end to the occupation of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region. As the fourth anniversary of the war’s onset – also known as the 44-Day War – approaches, Baku and Yerevan continue to struggle with the peace process. Meanwhile, the most significant post-war initiative, the reopening of regional transportation and communication links, is facing increasing complications. Today, the often destructive involvement of external powers has become a major obstacle to the normalisation of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations and the implementation of regional transport projects.

Since the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have gone through a series of ups and downs that often resemble a rollercoaster. Periods of heightened optimism have been followed by abrupt breaks in talks, as seen in late 2022 and 2023. After Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a joint statement in December 2023, early 2024 brought renewed hope to the process. In March-April 2024, Yerevan accepted Azerbaijani demands concerning four villages along the northern part of their shared border. Azerbaijan announced its intention to make the COP29 United Nations Climate Summit in Azerbaijan in November 2024 a “COP of peace,” fostering a growing belief that an agreement might be reached by that date. However, the new or reinforced sine qua non-preconditions by President Aliyev—such as amendments to the Armenian constitution and the dissolution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group established to seek a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict—have significantly dampened expectations that even a framework agreement outlining basic principles could be signed by the end of 2024.

Finland and Morocco discussed cooperation in water, renewable energy, green hydrogen, cybersecurity and telecommunications in the Finnish capital Helsinki on Tuesday (6 August).  Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen received her Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita, who is on a working visit to Finland. Both countries see opportunities in digitalisation, especially in cybersecurity and 5G networks.

The Council of the European Union decided on Monday (5 August) to impose restrictive measures against a further 28 individuals for their role in the ongoing internal repression and human rights violations in Belarus. These sanctions are adopted ahead of the fourth anniversary of the fraudulent presidential elections in August 2020. 

France is urging its citizens to leave Lebanon. An update on the French foreign ministry's website warns of "the risks of military escalation in the Middle East" and advises people to book another commercial flight to France "as soon as possible" while flights are still available. The ministry also reiterated its "urgent" advice against travelling to Lebanon.