(Photo: Vatican Media)Swiss Guards in the Vatican, 2021.
Often labelled the world’s smallest army and founded under Pope Julius II, the Swiss Guards have celebrated 515 years guarding the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
It was Pope Julius II that founded the Swiss Guards in 1506. Often dubbed as “the world’s smallest army”
Founded in 1506, the Swiss guards – a separate entity to the Swiss Armed Forces – are hired by the Roman Catholic Church, under the leadership of the Pope, Vatican News reports.
Member of the all-male unit swear loyalty to the Pope in a ceremony at the Belvedere Court in the Vatican.
This ceremony takes place every year on May 6 – to mark the anniversary of the Sack of Rome in 1527.
That year over 150 Swiss Guards were killed defending Pope Clement VII – who escaped to neighboring Castel Sant’Angelo, escorted by 22 remaining guards.
WHY SWISS?
It is said that during the Middle Ages, Switzerland gained a reputation for having the most reliable mercenaries in Europe.
(Photo: Joanna Lindén-Montes)Swiss guard salutes as Pope Francis step from his plane on arrival in Geneva for a visit to the World Council of Churches on JUNE 21, 2018.
Then Pope, Julius II, who had long admired the Swiss soldiers who defended the King of France.
He requested 200 Swiss mercenaries of his own to use as bodyguards and to defend his palaces. After months of marching, 150 swiss guards arrived in Rome on Jan. 21, 1506 to serve the Pope.
SWISS GUARDS TODAY
In 2015 the contingent was made bigger, from 110 guards to 135 to meet requests.
Each recruit is required to complete, military training in Switzerland.
This is followed by a five-week induction training course in Rome, and finally a period dedicated to training to use the primary weapons that the mercenaries used in the 16th century.
After this, the guards are sworn in and their families are invited to a private audience with the Pope.
Along with the Pontifical Gendarmerie, the Swiss Guards are responsible for ensuring the safety of the Pope both within and outside the Vatican.
They also accompany Pope Francis as he moves around among the people.
It says the modern guard is connected to his 16th century predecessors by his “firm conviction that he serves Christ’s Church and his Vicar on Earth, the successor of Saint Peter, that he will sacrifice his own life, if necessary, to protect the Pope.
Recruits to the guards must be Catholic, single males with Swiss citizenship who have completed basic training with the Swiss Armed Forces and can obtain certificates of good conduct, writes David Alvarez author of The Pope’s Soldiers.
Recruits must have a professional degree or high school diploma and must be between 19 and 30 years of age and at least 174 cm (5 ft 8.5 in) tall and they must be able to speak Italian.
(Photo: Ecumenical News / Peter Kenny)Pontifical Swiss Guards have guarded the Pope for centuries and also take care security at the Vatican as well as assisting tourists visiting the Holy City as this photo taken on June 3, 2008 shows.
Event marking World Religion Day brings religious communities together around what binds them all together. (Footage by Laurence Korup)
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — Under a tent in the peaceful environs of a nature park in Port Moresby, leaders and representatives of the diverse religious communities of Papua New Guinea (PNG) achieved on Monday what they had long hoped for: to gather in unity around what binds them all together.
The interfaith gathering marked World Religion Day and was a joint effort among many faith communities in the country. The idea for the event was suggested by the Bahá’ís of PNG last month, which struck a chord with the country’s religious leaders.
Gezina Volmer, Director of the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs of the country says, “The intention for World Religion Day was to create a space in which we could focus on the sharing of Holy writings around the one point that all agree on—the golden rule of treating others as one would wish to be treated, and, by doing so, highlighting that the purpose of religion is to foster love and harmony. Despite the initial trepidation, this focus allowed everyone to feel quite comfortable in participating.”
Preparing for the occasion and building consensus
Ms. Volmer explains that preparatory meetings were necessary in the lead up to the occasion in order to build consensus.
“The very first meeting was simply about bringing people together,” says Ms. Volmer. “It wasn’t more complicated than that. Because, if we don’t know how to come together, then this is the first step.”
Slideshow 5 imagesIn-person gatherings were held according to safety measures required by the government. Since the event, government mandates now require the wearing of masks. Gezina Volmer, Director of the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs of the country, explains that preparatory meetings in the lead up to World Religion Day were necessary in order to build consensus among faith communities. “The very first meeting was simply about bringing people together,” says Ms. Volmer. “It wasn’t more complicated than that. Because, if we don’t know how to come together, then this is the first step.
Ms. Volmer continues to explain how the preparatory meetings strengthened bonds of friendship by allowing participants to contribute to some aspect of the program and to be of service to each other. “It was a collective effort”, she says. “There was a lot of joy. We all worked shoulder-to-shoulder.”
As friendships grew stronger, the warm and welcoming environment attracted new participants each week. Ms. Volmer says, “When a new person joined, we would pause to make sure they would be brought up to speed. Everyone embraced new representatives as they got on board.”
A first-of-its-kind gathering
Imam Busaeri Ismaeel Adekunle, head of the Islamic Society of Papua New Guinea, says “As everyone expressed that day, this was a unique occasion and a first in our country.”
Commenting on the atmosphere of the World Religion Day gathering, Zha Agabe-Granfar of the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs says, “This was a gathering under the ‘tent of unity’, as everyone listened to each other in an atmosphere of love, respect, and tolerance.”
After weeks of collaboration, the Monday event was an expression of what the religious communities had achieved together. In a peaceful setting in Port Moresby, holy texts from different religions were recited in several languages. When a representative of the Jewish community was unable to attend, a member of another faith who was fluent in Hebrew stepped forward to ensure scriptures of the Jewish faith would be heard.
Cardinal Sir John Ribat, Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese in Port Moresby who collaborated with the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs in organizing the World Religion Day event, offers his observations about the occasion, stating:
“Everyone was sharing the same message [of love] but from a different perspective. What does this mean? For me, the way I understand it is that with love one does not hold anything against another. It’s really the giving of one’s self fully for the good of the other. That it is about sacrificing for the other.
“We are all happy with how things turned out.”
The event was covered by a national newspaper and several online publications, as well as broadcast live on radio.
Walking together on a new path
The participants of the gathering, seeing new possibilities for further collaboration, have already planned to meet next week to reflect on future progress. Ms. Volmer says, “All of those involved have seen this as a precursor to a more profound dialogue on the role of religion in society.
“The reason for this is that in our society religion is an important part of the life of every individual, every family, and even institutions. Yet, people sometimes find it difficult to relate to one another because of the differences in their religious beliefs and practices. As a nation, we talk about being one, but how can we come together as one? The process leading up to World Religion Day and the event itself have given us a powerful example of how this is possible.”
Slideshow 5 imagesIn-person gatherings were held according to safety measures required by the government. Since the event, government mandates now require the wearing of masks. The participants of the gathering, seeing new possibilities for further collaboration, plan to continue to meet and reflect on future progress. Ms. Volmer of the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs says, “All of those involved have seen this as a precursor to a more profound dialogue on the role of religion in society.” (Credit: Roan Paul)
Imam Ismaeel explains that the faith leaders hope that the mode of interaction among them in these gatherings will inspire the members of their communities to act in the same way. “[The event] has come and gone”, he continues, “and now we are going to the next stage. The going is good now.”
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of PNG sees a new path emerging before the faith communities of the country. Confucius Ikoirere, Secretary of the National Assembly, says, “The greater degrees of unity achieved among the religious leaders over the past month represents greater degrees of unity among entire religious communities, and signifies, however imperceptible it may be now, greater unity in our country.”
Ms. Agabe-Granfar says that the connection among those who have walked together through this process is profound. “Just months ago, many religious leaders and representatives barely knew or had yet to meet each other prior to this process. But as is common in Melanesian culture, once we know and understand each other, all arms are wide open.”
Religion News Service (RNS), thanks to a grant from the Guru Krupa Foundation, is pleased to announce that Dr. Khyati Y. Joshi has joined RNS as a columnist covering Hindus and Hinduism. Her first column focuses on Vice President Kamala Harris’ “embodied diversity” and how Harris and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff offer a model for interfaith families.
Joshi is a professor of education at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey and a social science researcher whose work focuses on the intersections of race and religion in the United States.
“I’m looking forward to writing about current events and emerging issues that illuminate how religion is lived in America. My writing will combine my scholarship with stories from the daily experiences and sensations of being neither White nor Christian in a country where both are normative,” said Professor Joshi.
Joshi’s work has informed policy-makers, educators, and everyday people about race, religion, and immigration in 21st century America. She has lectured world-wide and published ground-breaking scholarly and popular work in her field, while also serving as an advisor to policy-makers and as a leader in the South Asian American community.
“We are excited by Khyati Joshi joining RNS and thank the Guru Krupa Foundation for making this possible. Her column will help RNS cover Hinduism and tell the many stories of the million-plus Hindus living in the U.S. and the many millions who live throughout the globe. Such storytelling is essential for RNS to fulfill its mission of covering the broad landscape of religion, faith and spirituality” said RNS’s publisher Deborah Caldwell.
All join legacy columnists Tara Isabella Burton, Charles C. Camosy, Thomas Reese, Jana Riess, Jeffrey Salkin, Mark Silk, and Simran Jeet Singh.
“Khyati combines her wide-ranging expertise as a scholar of religion with the perspective of a person living her faith in a multi-religious, multicultural world. I look forward to reading her month to month as she brings a ground-level look at the trends that are defining religion in America,” said RNS’s Editor-in-Chief, Paul O’Donnell
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ABOUT RELIGION NEWS SERVICE Religion News Service is an independent, nonprofit source of global news on religion, spirituality, culture and ethics, reported by a staff of professional journalists. Founded in 1934, RNS informs readers with objective reporting and insightful commentary, and is relied upon by readers, listeners and viewers in the United States and around the world. Visit ReligionNews.com.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenia attaches great importance to the fact that the European Parliament condemned that Turkey transferred foreign terrorist fighters from Syria and elsewhere to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan, in response to a question from ARMENPRESS, especially emphasized the European Parliament’s stance on humanitarian issues, namely the need for an immediate repatriation of Armenian PoWs who are still in Azeri custody.
ARMENPRESS: Yesterday, the European Parliament adopted the annual report-resolutions on the “Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)” and the “Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP)”, which also include provisions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Turkey’s role. How do you assess them?
A. Naghdalyan: There are a number of important provisions enshrined in the report-resolutions adopted by the European Parliament, which are related to the Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh and Turkey’s involvement in it, the committed war crimes, as well as the steps to be undertaken to eliminate the consequences of the aggression, especially to address humanitarian issues. We particularly emphasize that the European Parliament not only condemned the war crimes, including the targeting of civilian population and infrastructure, places of worship, but also stressed that these crimes should not remain unpunished. We agree with the European Parliament’s call for Turkey to refrain from any intervention in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including offering military support to Azerbaijan, and to desist from its destabilizing actions. In this context, it is especially important that the European Parliament has also condemned the fact that Turkey transferred foreign terrorist fighters from Syria and elsewhere to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. I would like to especially emphasize the position of the European Parliament on humanitarian issues, particularly regarding the immediate repatriation of prisoners of war. It should be noted that the issues of security of the people of Artsakh, protection of historical-cultural and religious heritage were properly highlighted in the resolution. It is crucial that the European Parliament expressed its position of providing unhindered humanitarian assistance to Artsakh. We emphasize the importance of the efforts of international community, in the form of such resolutions, to contribute to the elimination of the causes and consequences of the war, which in accordance to the resolution, supposes the lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the determination of the future legal status of Artsakh on the basis of the Basic Principles proposed by the Co-Chairs. As it was once again emphasized by this respective international body, right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination and security lies at the basis of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
YERECVAN, JANUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of Artsakh commented on the European Parliament Resolutions – Annual Reports on the Implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and Common Security and Defense Policy, expressing satisfaction over the position of the European Parliament on Azerbaijan-Karabakh war, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Artsakh.
”We note with satisfaction the position of the European Parliament on the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict, expressed in the resolutions on the Implementation of Common Foreign and Security Policy as well as on Common Security and Defense Policy of January 20, 2021 – the annual reports 2020.
We share the assessments of the European Parliament related to the events caused by the use of military force by Azerbaijan, as well as the ways out of this situation. In particular, we consider it important to stress the viewpoint of the European Parliament on the need to ensure the security of the Armenian population in Nagorno Karabakh, to preserve the Armenian cultural heritage, to ensure the safe return of internally displaced persons and refugees to their former places of residence, and to exchange the prisoners of war and the bodies of the deceased without delay.
We acknowledge the importance of duly investigating all the alleged war crimes and bringing those responsible to justice. It is noteworthy that the European Parliament also specifically called for an international investigation into the alleged presence of foreign fighters, terrorists and the use of cluster munitions and phosphorus bombs.
We welcome the European Parliament’s support for the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen for a comprehensive settlement of the conflict founded on the Basic Principles proposed by the international mediators.
We join the European Parliament’s condemnation of the destabilizing role of Turkey, which seeks to undermine the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group for the sake of its ambitions of playing a more decisive role in the conflict settlement process.
We share the view of the European Parliament that a lasting settlement has not been found yet We are convinced that a comprehensive and just settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict can be achieved on the basis of the recognition of the right to self-determination realized by the people of Artsakh and the de-occupation of the territories of the Republic of Artsakh”, reads the statement.
“The virus can still travel from the vastly unvaccinated massive population of the Global South to the Global North, including in its increasingly mutating forms”, Obiora Okafor, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and international solidarity, said in a statement.
He explained that with mutations constantly evolving, only inoculating rich countries would likely “complicate or delay” the eradication of the virus.
The last few weeks of 2020 witnessed the approval of several COVID-19 vaccines by regulators in various countries, “offering much hope to billions of people worldwide”, according to the UN expert.
And while several States, mostly in the north, have already secured large quantities of vaccine and have begun inoculation campaigns, this has not been the case for most of the Global South, where close to 90 per cent of the world’s population lives.
“The world, therefore, faces a sharp and highly problematic vaccine-divide in which the much richer Global North States, which host a very small percentage of the global population, have so far cornered the vast majority of available COVID-19 vaccines, leaving the bulk of the world’s population with almost no access to these medicines”, Mr. Okafor said.
“A globally coordinated vaccine distribution programme is highly preferable to the individualized approaches adopted by all-too-many of the richer States”, Mr. Okafor said.
International vaccine solidarity
He said it was vital that States and non-State actors cooperate – such as through the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX), which, led by the World Health Organization (WHO), is part of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator – or risk a stalled recovery.
While noting that COVAX aims to fairly distribute two billion vaccine doses by the end of 2021, Mr. Okafor emphasized that “international vaccine solidarity” be favored over “international vaccine competition”.
“Given the great urgency of ensuring for everyone, everywhere, as rapid and effective access to COVID-19 vaccines as possible, I, therefore, urge urgent and strong action by States and other actors toward a course correction”, he said.
Click here for the names of the UN experts who endorsed the statement.
Fair access for migrants
Separately, UN independent experts González Morales and Tlaleng Mofokeng have urged States to ensure that migrants are also included in national COVID vaccination programmes, saying that global immunization access for everyone who needs them “is the only solution” to ending the pandemic.
This includes priority groups of vulnerable people “regardless of who they are” or their migration status, said the rights experts.
They also called on world leaders to refrain from discriminatory discourse that could lead to the exclusion of migrants in irregular situations from the global public health response.
Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council and are neither UN staff nor paid for their work.
Leyla Abdullayeva, the spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, commented on the latest resolution adopted by the European Parliament, Trend reports citing the ministry.
According to Abdullayeva, the reporting document again reflected the EU’s unequivocal support for the territorial integrity of the Eastern Partnership countries (including Azerbaijan) within their internationally recognized borders.
“As to some unfounded and belated issues, reflected in the resolution, firstly, our position on the future status of the region, security, and heritage of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh is clear and has been unambiguously stated many times,” she said.
“We once again bring to the attention of the deputies unfamiliar with this position that the President of Azerbaijan has declared the status issue as left in the past. As for the security of the Armenian population and heritage, the rights of all citizens on the territory of Azerbaijan, regardless of nationality and religion, are ensured by the Constitution of Azerbaijan, and historical and cultural monuments are protected at the state level,” noted the spokesperson.
Sikyong congratulates US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on inauguration
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By Bureau Reporter
Sikyong congratulates US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on their inauguration.
The democratically elected leader of Tibetan people Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay congratulated United States President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on being sworn in as the 46th President and 49th Vice President of the United States.
The inauguration ceremony took place on Wednesday at the US Capitol.
Dr Sangay expressed hope that the new administration under the leadership of President Joe Biden, will continue the United States’ steadfast support for Tibet and the Tibetan people.
“On behalf of the Central Tibetan Administration and the Tibetan people, I would like to congratulate you on your inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America,” Sikyong said in a congratulatory message.
“For decades now, the US has supported the Tibet cause on various fronts, and we are always grateful to the US and its people. However, today the concern no longer remains only for the Tibetan people; instead, today the concern is for the global democracy and the universal ideals that have come under threat from authoritarian regime such as China.”
Sikyong welcomed President Biden’s message of hope, unity, and democracy in his inaugural speech and said, “I genuinely admire your decades of service to the nation, and your victory is an affirmation of the trust people of the United States places in you and the values that you stand for.. My sincerest congratulations and wishes on a successful term.”
Congratulating the first woman Vice President Kamala Harris, Sikyong said her ascension to America’s second-highest office as the first woman and the first woman of color is pathbreaking and her becoming the highest-ranking woman in the history of American government marks a new era for women in global politics and leadership.
Sikyong also referenced Harris’ Indian heritage, adding that it was a matter of immense pride and inspiration for Indians across the world.
‘As you work towards the imminent challenges of restoring human rights, equality and climate change around the world, we hope that you will lend your pivotal voice to the just cause of Tibet and further strengthen decades-long US-Tibet ties.’
Source: Authors’ calculations based on PCT data from PATSTAT (Worldwide PATent STATistical Database) and ECOOM (the Centre for Research and Development Monitoring) in Belgium
In 2019, EU investment in climate change mitigation increased gradually. In the EU-27, this investment grew 2.7% from a year earlier to EUR 175 billion. EU investment in climate change mitigation is well behind that of China, but ahead of the United States – although the contexts are very different. China invested 2.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) in climate change projects, ahead of 1.3% in the European Union and 0.8% in the United States. However, the European Union has already gone much further in reducing emissions per unit of GDP. It has already picked much of the low-hanging fruit, and its efforts will increasingly have to focus on harder-to-reduce emissions.
However, according to the European Commission, the gap between the European Union’s climate objectives and actual climate investment is growing. Investments in the continent’s energy system would need to rise from an average of 1.3% of GDP per year over the last decade to 2.8% of GDP over the next decade if the European Union is to meet its goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. Adding investments in transport brings the total over the next decade up to 3.7% of GDP per year. EU investment in climate change mitigation is thus still insufficient.
The adoption of digital technologies by EU firms is growing, but the gap with the United States has not yet been closed. By 2020, 37% of EU firms had not adopted any new digital technologies, compared to 27% in the United States. Encouragingly, the proportion of digital firms in the European Union grew by nearly 5 percentage points over the 2019 level, albeit the United States saw a comparable increase. The gap with the United States is particularly wide in the construction and service sectors, and in the adoption of technologies associated with the internet of things.
EU firms may have to reduce investment by at least 25% because of the pandemic. To repair balance sheets, firms will have to cut investment. The EIB Investment Report estimates that the crisis might lead to cumulative firms’ net revenues declining by as much as 13% of EU GDP. To absorb such loss, firms will have to cut investment and increase external finance, which is mostly available only in the form of debt. A trade-off between leverage and investment might thus emerge. Our latest EU-wide survey of firms shows that 45% of businesses expect to cut investment in the coming year, while only 6% expect to increase it.
Moreover, uncertainty about the future grew to become a major deterrent to investment. Uncertainty indicators spiked at the beginning of the pandemic. Although the European Union’s determined economic policy response succeeded in calming short-term fears, a high degree of uncertainty about the future course of the pandemic and the resulting economic crisis remains. 81% of EU firms cite uncertainty as the most serious barrier to investment.
The EIB annual report on Investment and Investment Finance is a product of the EIB Economics Department, providing a comprehensive overview of developments and drivers of investment and its financing in the European Union. It combines an analysis and understanding of key market trends and developments with a more in-depth thematic focus, which this year is devoted to European progress towards a smart and green future in a post-COVID-19 world. The report draws extensively on the results of the annual EIB Investment Survey (EIBIS) and the EIB Municipality Survey.
It complements internal EIB analysis with contributions from leading experts in the field.
About the Economics Department of the EIB
The mission of the EIB Economics Department is to provide economic analyses and studies to support the Bank in its operations and in the definition of its positioning, strategy and policy. The Department, a team of 40 economists, is headed by Debora Revoltella, EIB Chief Economist. Find out more about the EIB’s research here.
Anna Naghdalyan, Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia, on Friday responded to the question of Armenpess.
Question: Yesterday, the European Parliament adopted the annual report-resolutions on the “Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)” and the “Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP),” which also include provisions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Turkey’s role. How do you assess them?
Answer: There are a number of important provisions enshrined in the report-resolutions adopted by the European Parliament, which are related to the Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] and Turkey’s involvement in it, the committed war crimes, as well as the steps to be undertaken to eliminate the consequences of the aggression, especially to address humanitarian issues.
We particularly emphasize that the European Parliament not only condemned the war crimes, including the targeting of civilian population and infrastructure, places of worship, but also stressed that these crimes should not remain unpunished.
We agree with the European Parliament’s call for Turkey to refrain from any intervention in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including offering military support to Azerbaijan, and to desist from its destabilizing actions. In this context, it is especially important that the European Parliament has also condemned the fact that Turkey transferred foreign terrorist fighters from Syria and elsewhere to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.
I would like to especially emphasize the position of the European Parliament on humanitarian issues, particularly regarding the immediate repatriation of prisoners of war. It should be noted that the issues of security of the people of Artsakh, protection of historical-cultural and religious heritage were properly highlighted in the resolution. It is crucial that the European Parliament expressed its position of providing unhindered humanitarian assistance to Artsakh.
We emphasize the importance of the efforts of international community, in the form of such resolutions, to contribute to the elimination of the causes and consequences of the war, which in accordance to the resolution, supposes the lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the determination of the future legal status of Artsakh on the basis of the Basic Principles proposed by the Co-Chairs. As it was once again emphasized by this respective international body, right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination and security is at the basis of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
.jpg?w=696&resize=696,0&ssl=1 "Azerbaijani President declared Nagorno-Karabakh status issue as left in past - MFA's comment on European Parliament's resolution")
