Horn of Africa faces most severe drought in more than two generations – UNICEF

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22 December 2022

The number of children suffering from dire drought conditions across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia has more than doubled in five months, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday.

Around 20.2 million children are under threat of severe hunger, thirst and disease – compared to 10 million in July – as climate change, conflict, global inflation and grain shortages devastate the region.

“While collective and accelerated efforts have mitigated some of the worst impact of what had been feared, children in the Horn of Africa are still facing the most severe drought in more than two generations”, stated UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Lieke van de Wiel.

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Millions hungry

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Climate change
Conflict
Global inflation
Grain shortages

A COMBINATION OF CRISES HAVE DOUBLED THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN AT RISK OF HUNGER, THIRST AND DISEASE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA.

THEY NEED ACTION NOW. HTTPS://T.CO/IHVJZPEKMT

UNICEF

UNICEF

DECEMBER 22, 2022

Nearly two million children across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are estimated to need urgent treatment for severe acute malnutrition, the deadliest form of hunger.

Meanwhile, water insecurity has more than doubled with close to 24 million people now confronting dire water shortages.

At the same time, drought has internally displaced over two million people and driven approximately 2.7 million children out of school, with an additional four million others at risk of dropping out.

“Humanitarian assistance must be continued to save lives and build the resilience of the staggering number of children and families who are being pushed to the edge – dying from hunger and disease and being displaced in search of food, water and pasture for their livestock”, said Ms. van de Wiel.

Teetering on the edge

As increased stress is driving families to the edge, youth are facing child labour, child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM).

And widespread food insecurity and displacement are triggering sexual violence, exploitation, abuse, and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV).

“We need a global effort to mobilize resources urgently to reduce further devastating and irreversible damage to children in the Horn of Africa”, continued the senior UNICEF official.

On hand to lend a hand

Thanks to the generous support of donors and partners, UNICEF continues to provide life-saving services to children and families across the Horn of Africa, as it prepares for further shocks, builds resilience and strengthens key services.

This year, the UN agency and its partners reached nearly two million children and women with essential healthcare services; vaccinated against measles almost two million between the ages of six months and 15 years; and provided safe water for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene to over 2.7 million people.

UNICEF’s 2023 emergency appeal of $759 million to support children and their families will require timely and flexible funding, especially surrounding education, water and sanitation, and child protection – all of which were severely underfunded this year.

An additional $690 million is required to support long-term investments for children and their families to recover and adapt to climate change.

“As governments and people across the world prepare to welcome a New Year, we urge the international community to commit to responding now for what might hit the Horn of Africa next year, and in the years to come”, Ms. van de Wiel appealed.

“We must act now to save children’s lives, preserve their dignity and protect their futures”.

Russia – Four Jehovah’s Witnesses sentenced to prison for up to seven years

By

Willy Fautre

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21 December 2022

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Four Jehovah’s Witnesses sentenced to prison for up to seven years — In the photo: Valery Krieger, Alam Aliyev, Dmitry Zagulin and Sergey Shulyarenko (Credit: Jehovah’s Witnesses)

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About 40 Jehovah’s Witnesses have been sentenced to heavy prison terms since 1 January

On 19 December 2022, Four Jehovah’s Witnesses sentenced to prison for up to seven years by Judge Yana Vladimirova at the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region for supposedly organizing and financing extremist activities while they were in fact merely exercising their right to freedom of religion and assembly.

The investigation and trial lasted an unprecedented four years and a half. The litigation lasted over two years. The prosecutor requested a punishment of four to nine years in prison in a colony.

Sentencing

Sergey Shulyarenko, 38 years, and Valeriy Kriger, 55 years (7 years)
Alam Aliyev, 59 years (6.5 years)
Dmitriy Zagulin, 49 years (3.5 years)

Operation “Judgment Day”

On 17 May 2018, a large-scale operation under the code name “Judgment Day” was conducted in Birobidzhan with the participation of 150 security forces. More than 20 families of Jehovah’s Witnesses were victims of the raid (e.g, Newsweek; Kyiv Post).

During this crackdown, Alam Aliyev was arrested and spent eight days in a pre-trial detention center. Later on, three more believers appeared in Aliyev’s case: Valery Krieger, Sergey Shulyarenko and Dmitry Zagulin. They were accused of holding joint worship services, which the investigation considered to be the organization of the activities of an extremist organization and its financing.

In total, 23 Jehovah’s Witnesses in the region have already been persecuted for the practice of their beliefs. Among them are the wife of Alam Aliyev—Svetlana Monis, the wife of Valery Krieger—Nataliya Krieger and the wife of Dmitriy Zagulin—Tatyana Zagulina.

The European Court of Human Rights, in its judgment of 7 June 2022, condemned the repression of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, stating: “The European Court reiterates that only religious expressions and actions that contain or call for violence, hate or discrimination can serve as a basis for suppressing them as ‘extremist’ […] The courts did not identify a single word, deed or action of the applicants, whose motive would be violence, hatred or discrimination against others, or which would have a connotation of violence, hatred or discrimination” (§ 271).

Mass Raids

Since the 2017 Supreme Court ban, Russian authorities have raided 1874 homes of Witnesses, including 200 this year

Mass raids in 2022 (10 or more homes)
- Dec 18, Crimea, 16 homes
- Oct 6, Primorye Territory, 12 homes
- Sept 28, Crimea, 11 homes
- Sept 8, Chelyabinsk Region, 13 homes
- Aug 11, Rostov Region, 10 homes
- July 13, Yaroslavl Region, 16 homes
- Feb 13, Krasnodar Region, 13 homes

Official Statement

Jarrod Lopes, a spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses, states:

“There are over 110 Jehovah’s Witnesses in prison in Russia. It’s unthinkable that peaceful Christian men like Alam, Dmitriy, Sergey, and Valeriy would be accused of extremist activity and given harsh, lengthy prison sentences usually reserved for violent criminals.(*)

Russian authorities have continued to use a substantial amount of State personnel and resources to conduct mass home raids and imprison Jehovah’s Witnesses simply for the practice of their beliefs.

The escalating discriminatory assault against Jehovah’s Witnesses is putting a huge burden on a growing number of wives and children to support themselves without the help of their husbands and fathers who were often the family’s primary source of income. Innocent children have had their fathers ruthlessly taken away from them at the most critical point in their physical and emotional development. It’s hard to believe such gross injustices would happen at all, and even more inconceivable that the systematic persecution—at times including beatings and torture—has continued for more than five years.”

(*) In comparison, according to Article 111 Part 1 of the Criminal Code, grievous bodily harm draws a maximum of 8 years sentence; Article 126 Part 1 of the Criminal Code, kidnapping leads to up to 5 years in prison; Article 131 Part 1 of the Criminal Code, rape is punishable with 3 to 6 years in prison.

Rev. Samuel Chiang New Deputy Secretary General for Ministries

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Guest Author

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20 December 2022

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The appointment by the Secretary General followed a months-long search process that included the senior leaders in the WEA.

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Rev. Samuel E. Chiang as the new Deputy Secretary General for Ministries.

Together with Secretary General Bishop Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher and Deputy Secretary General for Operations Dr. Peirong Lin, the three leaders form the Office of the Secretary General that oversees the day-to-day work of the WEA as it serves its global constituency of some 600 million evangelicals in more than 140 countries.

The appointment by the Secretary General followed a months-long search process that included the senior leaders in the WEA.

Announcing the decision, Schirrmacher commented: “It gives me great pleasure and comfort to inform you about the appointment of Reverend Samuel E. Chiang, originally from Taiwan and ordained with the People’s Church in Toronto, as my new Deputy Secretary General of Ministries. Samuel has been building up and heading up the Global Evangelism Network within the Global Witness Department and comes with the unanimous endorsement of his department head and the whole Senior Leadership Team who have gotten to know him over the past months.”

“Samuel comes with the gift of networking and a deep love for all cultures, languages, and especially oral cultures, as helping to launch Bible translation and facilitating the orality network of the Lausanne movement have covered quite some time of his life. Being born in Taiwan and having worked in Hong Kong for a long time, as well as his education in Canada and work in the United States gives him a special access to the multi-ethnical teams that are so typical for our work in the WEA,” Schirrmacher said, and added: “Samuel, Peirong and I are three quite differently gifted and experienced people, and it is our hope that our close working relationship will bear fruit for our global family of brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.”

Upon his appointment, Rev. Chiang expressed that he is “very humbled to steward this role, with utter dependence on our Heavenly Father, and looking forward to meeting the larger family uniting in prayer, uniting in voice, and uniting in advocacy.”

While he assumes additional responsibilities in his role as deputy, Rev. Chiang will continue to serve as Executive Director of the Global Evangelism Network, which he was appointed to last year. Highlighting evangelism as a heartbeat of WEA, he said: “I am grateful to also steward the Global Evangelism Network portfolio with a team of trusted partners.”

About Rev. Samuel E. Chiang:

Born in Taiwan and educated in Canada, Samuel first worked with Ernst & Young before graduating from Dallas Theological Seminary, where he currently serves on the board. Samuel lived with his family in Hong Kong for 25 years, where he served the Church in China and later the global Church. He has traveled to 90 countries, teaching, coaching, and consulting in nearly 40 of them. He has written extensively on orality and published widely across multiple disciplines. He has been instrumental in co-founding 16 different companies ranging from artificial insemination to artificial intelligence, and he previously served as the CEO of Seed Company.

Certified in Systemic Team Coaching and also as Lego Serious Play facilitator, Samuel focuses on tending generously to senior leadership teams and executives, coaching them in the areas of collaboration, leadership, negotiation, systemic processes, and conflict management. He is cofounder of Global Centre for Giftedness and has since last year served as the inaugural Executive Director of the WEA’s Global Evangelism Network.

Samuel is married to Robbi and together they have three grown children, two wonderful daughters-in-law, and two lovely grandchildren.

TAIWAN – UN Human Rights Day and the Tai Ji Men Case

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NewsdeskTET

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20 December 2022

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TAIWAN – UN Human Rights Day and the Tai Ji Men Case — UN Human Rights Day and the Tai Ji Men Case

The Tai Ji Men Case falsely accused the Tai Ji Men and Dr Hong of tax evasion, led hundreds of armed police officers to search the Tai Ji Men as well as the private residences.

HRWF (20.12.2022) – The 10th of December is the day when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948 and it is commemorated worldwide since then by the international community. It was then a day of hope in the future after the terrifying Second World War which killed dozens of million people on the battlefields of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

However, there is another date in December that is not commemorated as a day of hope in Taiwan but that is remembered as a day of sadness by Tai Ji Men and the dizi. It is the 19^th of December, that fateful day in 1996, when Prosecutor Kuan-Ren Hou, after falsely reporting Tai Ji Men and Dr Hong of tax evasion, led hundreds of armed police officers to search all chapters of the Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy as well as the private residences of several Tai Ji Men dizi.

This is when a long series of human rights violations started to hit Tai Ji Men.

It was a human rights violation to fabricate false charges and to organize a police crackdown on 19 December 1996 because two prosecutors had ruled a month earlier that the suspicions were unfounded and that they were closing the case.

It was a human rights violation to reopen the case without any legal reason.

It was a human rights violation to arrest Dr Hong nine days after the commemoration of the UN Human Rights Day in Taiwan and to keep him in detention for almost four months. It was proven to be illegal as Dr Hong was later exonerated of all charges and even granted a national compensation for unlawful imprisonment.

It was a human rights violation to detain his wife and two dizi a few days later.

On 23 December, all assets of Dr. Hong and his wife were illegally frozen, including those unrelated to the activities of Tai Ji Men.

On Christmas Day, Prosecutor Hou promoted the establishment of a “victims’ association” for those allegedly defrauded by Tai Ji Men. It will later be revealed that some of the so-called “victims” had in fact never been part of Tai Ji Men, and the association was basically a fraud.

Prosecutor Hou broke the law when he summoned and pressured tax collector Shih Yue-Sheng (who died in 2020) to falsely claim that Qigong Academy was a “cram school” providing students rapid tuition, with the consequence that the money given by the dizi to their master in the so-called “red envelopes” was a taxable tuition fee rather than a non-taxable gift. Before he died in 2020, the tax collector publicly testified that he did corporate with the prosecutor in perjury.

He was cooperating with the prosecutor in perjury

One year later, in April 1997, Prosecutor Hou, overstepped his authority and wrote to the Ministry of Interior demanding the dissolution of Tai Ji Men. This unacceptable harassment clearly showed that he wanted to destroy Tai Ji Men.

On 21 May 1997, Prosecutor Hou again overstepped his authority and wrote to the government of the counties and cities where the twelve Tai Ji Men Qigong Academies were located, demanding the dissolution of all of them.

On 26 May, the first hearing of the Tai Ji Men case was opened in the 7^th Criminal Court of Taipei. The case lasted for more than six years. On the same day, Dr. Hong and his wife were finally released from detention and later on declared innocent. But the persecution went on unabated.

On 18 June 1997, Prosecutor Hou overstepped again his authority and wrote to the Public Works Departments of Taipei City and Taipei County asking that water and electricity supply to Tai Ji Men be terminated.

In October–December 1997, based on Prosecutor Hou’s indictment, the National Taxation Bureau (NTB) issued tax bills for the years 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996, claiming that the money received by Dr. Hong in the “red envelopes” in those years should be considered as derived from tuition fees rather than gifts. Two branches of the NTB were involved, of Taipei (for 1996) and of the Central Area (for the other years). This happened although at the same time, Taiwan’s Ministry of Education stated that Tai Ji Men is not a cram school. And the same statement was reiterated again in the years 1999 and 2000.

On this day of commemoration of the signing of the UN Human Rights Declaration, I could enumerate for hours dozens of violations of human rights perpetrated against Tai Ji Men by Prosecutor Hou or instigated by him so that Tai Ji Men could be persecuted by the NTB and other institutions.

In 2002, the Control Yuan, the nation’s top watchdog body, investigated the management of the Tai Ji Men case by Prosecutor Hou, accused him of abuse of authority and referred his case to the Justice Ministry for sanctions.

According to the Control Yuan’s report, Hou was guilty of

Initiating an investigation based on fabricated charges
Violating the principle of confidentiality during the investigation
Interrogating the defendants without prior notice to their attorneys as required by law
Treating the defendants improperly and rudely when interrogating them
Freezing the defendants’ assets without any evidence of illegal gains
Overstepping his authority by issuing letters on his own, requesting the dissolution of Tai Ji Men
Calling for the establishment of an association of alleged victims of Tai Ji Men, blindly siding with them and failing to verify the credibility of their claims, hereby damaging his own image of an impartial law enforcement officer

In 2009, the Control Yuan carried out another investigation on the NTB in relation to their misconducts for handling Tai Ji Men case. Seven instances of serious misconduct were found.

Despite these thorough reports and the documented serious charges, no directors, officers or prosecutor were ever penalised by any disciplinary actions.

For 26 years, Prosecutor Hou’s coup attempt against a charitable spiritual movement training generations of young people spending their time and their money to become good Taiwanese citizens and make Taiwanese society more humane has remained unpunished.

The violations of human rights by Prosecutor Hou against Tai Ji Men are innumerable and nobody will ever be able to establish an exhaustive list of them but what matters is to go on fighting against impunity.

Impunity cannot prevail in deliberately repeated cases of violations of human rights by a recidivist. The fight for justice needs to go on unabated in the Tai Ji Men case.

10 December, a day of hope, and 19 December, a day of sadness, are two milestones that need to be commemorated in a specific way.

My message to Tai Ji Men and all dizi is today to have faith in their peaceful but determined war against injustice, to go on fighting for their own case, to help other victims of the tax administration in Taiwan and to be living examples of human rights defenders while spreading peace and love.

First published at HRWF.

Brussels my love: EU Parliament corruption scandal and global corporate tax

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Newsdesk

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19 December 2022

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Euronews’ Brussels bureau brings you its seventh episode of a new talk show that aims to break down European news and politics to make it more accessible to viewers.

The episode featured Irish Minister for European Affairs Thomas Byrne, Michiel van Hulten, the head of Transparency International EU and Jacob Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund.

The talk show was taped as EU heads of state and governments met in Brussels for their end-of-year EU summit.

Read full at euronews

Why we shouldn’t yell at our dog

By

Gaston de Persigny

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19 December 2022

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Most likely, at least once you have lost your temper and yelled at your dog, even though you were well aware that it was hurting the innocent creature. Everyone loses their temper. However, a new study shows that we should do everything we can to prevent this from happening.

After analyzing over 90 dogs, a team from the University of Porto discovered that yelling can have lasting negative effects on the animals’ mental state. Although they sometimes make whites, dogs are some of the most good-natured creatures and they don’t deserve this.

A concise answer to the question, why you should never yell at your dog:

The scientists, led by Dr. Ana Catarina Vieira de Castro, conducted their study on service dogs to determine whether yelling and mistreatment of dogs had a negative effect on them.

To do this, they selected 92 companion dogs and divided them into 2 groups: those trained using reward-based methods, such as games and treats, and those trained using more aggressive methods, such as yelling or pulling on the leash.

The test measures signs of nervousness in dogs.

The scientists set out to observe the behavior of the animals during training, both in positive and negative groups. In this way, they could detect the signs of stress in dogs such as yawning, leg lifting, licking, as well as the level of relaxation.

In addition, they took saliva samples from the dogs in both groups to identify chemicals associated with anxiety and nervousness, such as cortisol. Using these samples, they were able to calculate the stress level of the dogs in the two groups. Not surprisingly, the dogs that were trained with punishment and yelling had higher levels of stress than those in the other group, but the findings of the study went further.

The results are not surprising, but the consequences are.

A month later, the researchers visited the dogs to observe the extent of the impact their type of training had had on them.

According to the researchers, training with treats and rewards has a much more long-term effect than that with yelling and aggression. The stress dogs are subjected to during training remains in the long term

“Our results show that companion dogs that have been trained using harsher methods have poorer welfare than companion dogs trained using reward-based methods, both in the short-term and in the long-term.”

The dogs in the first group were more stable, calm and positive, while the dogs in the second group showed higher levels of cortisol, stress and negativity, which had a detrimental effect on their well-being that lasted for weeks or even longer.

Photo by Pixabay

Corruption scandal: MEPs insist on reforms for transparency and accountability

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European Parliament

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18 December 2022

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Parliament has reacted to recent allegations with immediate changes and demands for measures to close loopholes in existing transparency rules.

Following Tuesday’s debate, Parliament has adopted a resolution on the suspicions of corruption by Qatar and the broader need for more transparency in the EU institutions, with 541 votes in favour, two against, and three abstentions.

MEPs are appalled by the recent allegations that MEPs, former MEPs and EP staff are involved in corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organisation, and support the full cooperation of the House with the ongoing investigation, noting that internal systems failed to prevent corruption. They also denounce the alleged corruption attempts by Qatar, which would constitute serious foreign interference in European democracy.

Immediate suspension of all legislative work related to Qatar

As an immediate measure, MEPs have decided to suspend all work on legislative files relating to Qatar, particularly concerning visa liberalisation and the EU aviation agreement with Qatar, as well as planned visits, until things become clearer. They also ask that security passes for representatives of Qatari interests be suspended until the judicial investigations provide clarity.

Reforming Parliament’s rules

The House is concerned about potential conflicts of interest caused by “side jobs”, especially where some MEPs serve as managers, on the board of directors or on advisory boards of, or as consultants to banks, multinational companies or publicly traded companies. MEPs support a system of asset declarations, at the beginning and end of each mandate. These declarations could be accessible only to relevant authorities and would be checked if there are substantiated allegations.

They also commit to ensuring full transparency regarding their additional income and to prohibit any external financing of MEP and political groups’ staff. Parliament will seek to establish an EU-level ban on donations from third countries to MEPs and political parties and asks the Commission to prepare a proposal to this end. A “cooling-off period” should be introduced for the end of an MEP’s mandate, to tackle the “revolving doors” phenomenon, MEPs say.

MEPs want to make the EU Transparency Register mandatory, extend its scope to representatives of third countries and former MEPs, and strengthen it so that it can be used to verify information more thoroughly. To help address other related issues, they also seek to set up an inquiry committee following the outcome of investigations and trials, to look into cases of corruption and improper actions by third countries, and a special committee to find flaws in Parliament’s framework and make proposals for reforms. Moreover, an EP Vice-President should be tasked with verifying integrity, and fighting corruption and foreign interference.

Recognising that parliamentary friendship groups must be properly regulated and monitored if they are to continue to exist, MEPs instruct the Quaestors to implement existing rules and put together an accessible, up-to-date register. They also call for information on “legislative footprints” to be disclosed for proposed texts and amendments.

Working with other EU institutions and agencies

Parliament urges the Commission to finally come forward with a proposal to set up the Independent Ethics Body that Parliament proposed in September 2021, and recommends improvements to the EU staff regulation in order to align it with the Whistleblowers Directive, which it will implement internally anyway. It also emphasises the role of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, Eurojust, Europol and the EU’s anti-fraud agency OLAF, and calls for the capacities and cooperation of EPPO and OLAF to be bolstered further, as well as for common anti-corruption rules for members and staff of EU bodies.

The importance of the Western Balkans for the EU during a war in Europe

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News desk

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17 December 2022

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The prospect of accession is important because of Putin and China.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has finally awakened the European Union to the strategic importance of the Western Balkans and the potential for Moscow to use unresolved disputes in the region to undermine the West.

EU leaders must now seize the geopolitical moment to change the integration of the six small, economically unstable countries with a combined population of less than 18 million into the Union, or risk seeing them used by Russia and China in their power games. writes Paul Taylor for Politico.

Despite deep disappointment at the snail’s pace of progress since the EU formally gave them the prospect of membership in 2003, joining the Union remains the best possible outcome for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, as and for the rest of Europe.

If the EU continues to keep them at bay, the alternatives could be closer rapprochement with Russia, the emergence of an illiberal, non-aligned zone that could stretch from Hungary to Turkey, or – even worse – a downward spiral towards a new armed conflict involving a toxic mix of organized crime and armed migration.

In some Western European capitals, particularly Paris and The Hague, where EU enlargement fatigue is strongest, there is a complacent assumption that the status quo is manageable and poses no serious risk to European security. Certainly people in the Western Balkans are war-weary after the horrors of the 1990s.

The situation may appear under control, but it is unsustainable indefinitely. There is no guarantee that the unresolved conflicts in Bosnia or between Serbia and Kosovo will remain frozen with small outbreaks, or that localized political violence will not escalate, attracting outside players and fueling new flows of refugees, weapons and drugs to the EU. The recent skirmishes over the number plates of Kosovo Serb cars show how a small spark can ignite dry grass.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine has angered many in the region, fueling ultra-nationalism among hardline pro-Russian Serbs and bringing back painful memories of death and destruction among those who lived through the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.

Moscow is trying to inflame Pan-Slavic Orthodox nationalism and exploit the division wherever it can. Backs Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik in his threats to secede from Bosnia and spreads disinformation to fuel Kosovo Serb hostility to the government in Pristina.

For its part, China is primarily seeking economic investment, using the 14+1 framework under the Belt and Road Initiative to engage with local leaders seeking ambitious infrastructure and defense projects. In the UN Security Council, he followed Russia’s lead in the Western Balkans and used his financial power to dissuade Balkan states from supporting resolutions critical of human rights abuses in Xinjiang or Hong Kong.

Serbian pro-government media are feeding the Russian narrative of the war in Ukraine, and Russian-owned media are contributing to the war hysteria against Kosovo. Russia and China have contributed to the rearmament of Serbia. Moscow also has powerful energy leverage, as Serbia gets 80% of its gas from Russia, while Bosnia is 100% dependent. Partly as a result, Serbia has refused to join EU sanctions against Russia, causing irritation in Brussels.

The EU has more powerful long-term leverage if it wants to use them, given the widespread public desire to join the bloc across the region, except for Serbia. However, France and the Netherlands have since resisted further expansion, mainly due to fears of migration and organized crime.

Neighboring EU member states Greece and Bulgaria have long blocked the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s bid for EU and NATO membership, demanding that it change its name and accept Sofia’s narrative of its own history and the Bulgarian minority.

Even after it agreed in 2018 to change its name to North Macedonia, France vetoed the opening of negotiations with Skopje and Albania to demand reform of the accession process to include the principle of reversibility in cases where retreat. Talks finally began in July this year, but North Macedonia is still required to change its constitution next year to incorporate the terms agreed with Bulgaria, a potential political pitfall as the government does not have a supermajority.

When EU leaders rushed to grant Ukraine and Moldova candidate status in June in response to Russian aggression, Western Balkan elites understandably feared their countries were being pushed further back in the membership queue. Similarly, when German Chancellor Olaf Scholz demanded that the EU reform its decision-making system so that national vetoes on sanctions and tax policy are removed before new members are admitted, it sounded like an even longer wait.

So what should the EU do now?

Primo, more visible political engagement.

This year, the EU began to pay more attention to this long-neglected region. Two high-level meetings between the EU and the Western Balkans were held – one of them for the first time in the region – as well as a revival of the Berlin Process to support regional economic integration in preparation for joining the EU single market. Leaders from the Western Balkans attended the inaugural summit of the new European political community in Prague in October, dreamed up by French President Emmanuel Macron.

This commitment must continue.

Secundo, to accelerate benefits and participation in the accession process.

The EU needs to overhaul its cumbersome accession process to distribute more of the financial and market access benefits of membership up front as applicants move forward with reforms. They currently receive only a small proportion of pre-accession aid until the time of their accession.

The EU should invite ministers from the region to attend informal Council meetings on matters of common interest. It should encourage Western Balkan countries to elect observers to the European Parliament at the same time as the 2024 European elections, so that they have a say, if not a voice, in EU law-making.

Of course, the main work has to be done in the candidate countries, most of which fall far short of the basic conditions of democracy, rule of law, freedom of expression and the fight against corruption in order to apply for membership.

As always, it’s a chicken and egg problem. Why should Balkan politicians make painful reforms that could weaken their power and money for such a distant and uncertain prospect? The EU will need to work harder from below, supporting civil society, women’s organizations and small businesses as drivers of change, while offering incentives and applying pressure from above.

At this geopolitical moment, the EU simply cannot afford to let the region erode.

Photo by Michael Erhardsson:

Foreign language lecturers demand an end to discrimination in Italian Universities

By

Henry Rodgers

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17 December 2022

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Foreign language lecturers demand an end to discrimination in Italian Universities

Foreign language lecturers(Lettori) from universities all over Italy gathered in Rome last Tuesday to protest against the discriminatory working conditions to which they have been subjected for decades. The protest was staged outside the offices of the minister with competence in the case, Minister for Higher Education and Research, Anna Maria Bernini.

Undaunted by heavy and persistent rainfall, the Lettori, in the rota and in their mother tongues, called on Minister Bernini to put an end to discrimination against non-national teachers in the universities. Placards and banners in all the languages of the Union referenced the sentences of the Court of Justice of the European Union(CJEU) in favour of the Lettori, sentences that Italy has never implemented.

In September 2021 the European Commission opened infringement proceedings against Italy for its failure to implement the 2006 CJEU ruling in Case C-119/04 , the last of 4 rulings in favour of the Lettori in a line of jurisprudence which dates back to the seminal Allué ruling of 1989. Pilar Allué Day. a piece published in The European Times in May of this year recounts how Italy has managed to evade its obligations to the Lettori under each of these CJEU rulings from 1989 to the present.

Implementation of the 2006 ruling merely required the universities to pay settlements for the reconstruction of career from the date of first employment to the Lettori based on the minimum parameter of a part-time researcher or more favourable parameters won before Italian courts, as provided for under the terms of a March 2004 Italian law, a law which was approved by the CJEU. In the immediate aftermath of the 2006 ruling, local courts routinely awarded Lettori such settlements.

But, in the most brazen of its attempts to evade the Lettori case law of the Court, Italy then enacted the Gelmini Law of 2010, a law which retrospectively interpreted its March 2004 law in a restrictive manner which placed limits on the reconstruction of career due to the Lettori, limits nowhere condoned in the 2006 ruling. Subsequently, a 2019 interministerial decree of byzantine administrative complexity similarly undervalued and circumscribed the settlements due under the Court sentence.

Asso.CEL.L, a subscription-free association formed at the “La Sapienza” University of Rome, Europe’s largest university, is a complainant in the Commission’s infringement proceedings against Italy. To prove the existence and persistence of an infringement the evidence supplied by complainants is of crucial importance. With the help of FLC CGIL, Italy’s largest trade union, Asso.CEL.L conducted a national census of the Lettori employed in or retired from Italian universities. University by the university the census documented to the Commission’s satisfaction the non-payment of the settlements due under the 2006 ruling.

The Lettori, who came to Italy to teach the language and culture of their countries in the universities, are nationals of almost all the member states of the EU. Many have by now retired without ever having worked under conditions of parity of treatment over the course of their careers. The pensions they receive based on the paltry and discriminatory salaries earned over their careers place them below the poverty line in their home countries. Retired Lettori turned out in force for Tuesday’s protest.

In a well-received address to his assembled colleagues, national FLC CGIL Lettori co-ordinator, John Gilbert, a lecturer at Università di Firenze, recalled the legal and legislative history of the Lettori and outlined the recent initiatives of his union on the Lettori’s behalf. These include the campaign which lobbied all of Italy’s MEPs for their support and the letters from Secretary-General Sig. Francesco Sinopoli to Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicholas Schmit, making the case for moving the infringement proceedings to the reasoned opinion stage. With this advocacy, FLC CGIL is in effect calling for the prosecution of the national government for its discriminatory treatment of non-nationals.

Placing the right to parity of treatment in the context of the overall rights of European citizens, the commission states that the right “is perhaps the most important right under community law and an essential element of European citizenship”. What should be an automatic right has been withheld from the Lettori for decades due to Italian intransigence.

That existing arrangements permit a state of affairs whereby Italy can ignore the Lettori rulings of the Court of Justice with impunity is a cause of concern for Irish MEP Clare Daly. Her parliamentary question to the Commission, co-signed by 7 other Irish MEPs, highlights the Treaty obligations that come with the benefits of membership of the EU.

The pertinent passage of the question is worth quoting verbatim:

“Italian universities receive generous funding from the EU. Italy has received the biggest share of the Recovery Fund. Surely, the ethic of reciprocation demands that Italy obey the rule of law and implement the most recent CJEU ruling in favour of the lettori: case C‑119/04.”

While acknowledging the initiatives and support of the Commission, there was impatience among the Lettori present at the Tuesday protest over the slow pace of the infringement proceedings. In the press release of September 2021 announcing the opening of the proceedings, the Commission stated that “Italy now has two months to address the shortcomings identified by the Commission.” By now, it has had an additional year over that deadline, a year in which no concrete progress has been made, a state of affairs which further prolongs the duration of discrimination first condemned in the seminal Allué ruling of 1989.

Given the ease of the solution, Italy’s long inaction and procrastination rankle with Lettori. As speaker after speaker at the Tuesday protest pointed out, all that is necessary to implement the ruling in Case C-119/04 is to identify the beneficiaries of the Allué jurisprudence and reconstruct their careers with reference to the salary scale of part-time researchers or the more favourable parameters awarded by the local Italian courts. In essence, it is a matter of simple arithmetic that an efficient organization could easily accomplish in a few weeks.

Kurt Rollin is Asso.CEL.L representative for the retired Lettori. His teaching career from 1982 to 2017 at “La Sapienza University”, Rome ran parallel to a period of ever-increasing integration within the EU. Yet, in common with his retired colleagues, his Treaty right to parity of treatment was withheld for all the years of his service.

At the protest outside the Ministry of Education in Rome, and echoing the sentiments of the Irish MEPs, Mr Rollin said: “In the interests of consistency with Treaty values, compliance with EU law should be an absolute pre-condition to member states receiving EU funding. It is wrong that a member state can withhold with impunity the Treaty right to parity of treatment. At this point, the Commission should immediately advance proceedings to the reasoned opinion stage”.

In infringement proceedings, exchanges between the Commission and member states in perceived breach of their Treaty obligations are protected by a procedural requirement of confidentiality. In response to recent letters from Asso.CEL.L and FLC Secretary-General Sig. Francesco Sinopoli calling for the advance of proceedings to the reasoned opinion stage, the Commission diplomatically replied that it would soon take a decision on the Lettori case.

Gwen Stefani will become a mother again at the age of 53

By

Gaston de Persigny

-

17 December 2022

0

Gwen Stefani will become a mother again at the age of 53 — Stefani performing “Wind It Up” during The Sweet Escape Tour in 2007 at the Jones Beach Theatre in Wantagh, New York, United States / Public Domain

American singer Gwen Stefani and her husband Blake Shelton are expecting a child. The couple decided on an IVF procedure to give birth to another beautiful baby.

The celebrities themselves have not yet commented on the happy event. But insiders are happy to share details of the star couple’s personal life.

For example, an inside source told The International Business Times that 53-year-old Stephanie has already had several IVF procedures, but they have all been unsuccessful. Until now. The source claims that Gwen’s fourth pregnancy is a real miracle for the couple and hinted at the gender of the unborn baby.

“Gwen and Blake say it’s definitely a Christmas miracle that she’s finally pregnant. Shelton has already bought himself pink cowboy boots and a hat,” he revealed.

“She was hopeful after every attempt and disappointed when it didn’t work out. She was so desperate to have a child with Blake that she was falling into despair, which he had to deal with. He hated seeing Gwen like this,” the source added.

All this was “too emotionally exhausting”. Stephanie decided to give it another try and this time their prayers were answered. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

“Shelton is coming to the end of his tenure as a judge on ‘The Voice,’ and that means he’ll have more time to devote to their baby,” the insider said.

Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton started dating in 2015. Six years later, they decided to legalize their relationship. The two are getting married in July 2021 at the singer’s ranch. The baby-to-be will be Shelton’s first child with Stefani.

The No Doubt singer already has three children from her previous marriage to musician Gavin Rossdale – sons Kingston James McGregor Rossdale, Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale and Apollo Bowie Flynn Rossdale.

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Gwen Stefani will become a mother again at the age of 53

American singer Gwen Stefani and her husband Blake Shelton are expecting a child. The couple decided on an IVF procedure to give birth to another beautiful baby.

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