Putin Creates Another Gas Crisis

Transcription

1 TheClarion the newspaper of C MUN, the Model United Nations of Barcelona ISSUE THREE Putin Creates Another Gas Crisis C'MUN NEWS Wednesday, P 08 May 2013 GMT 18:41 MOSCOW resident Vladimir Putin has just ordered the gas company Gazprom to cut supply to Ukraine with immediate effect. In his declaration, he defends Russia's pride, in response to the results of closed-door Ukrainian negotiations described to be oppressive to the Russian population living in Ukraine. By Arnau Busquets The United Kingdom is leaning towards accepting bank control from the European Single Supervisor, which will be established in 2014, provided the country maintains a certain autonomy. During the European Council Summit s fi rst session yesterday, the UK stated they were also likely to be part of not just help pass- the Single Resolution Fund Mechanism. This directive would regulate how to deal with failing banks. Sweden is to follow the UK s path. Up until now, non-euro countries were not Reacting to the Ukrainian decision on removing Russian as a cooffi cial language to Ukrainian, Putin is upset that Ukraine, fosters a culture of hate and discrimination [against Russians] among its inhabitants. Ukraine's exit from the Commonwealth of Independent States was also seen as a blow towards Russia, symbolizing a 180-degree turn away from Russia's sphere of infl uence. Putin defends, the Commonwealth is not a post-colonial entity; it is a community that, above all, has a common past, and whose members work together to progress and move forward. In the speech, Putin also criticizes Ukraine's government as channelling its local chaos to Russia, and warns the neighbouring country not to accuse Russia for Ukraine s shortcomings. As history reminds us, gas deals have always been a matter of contention in Ukraine-Russia relations. Earlier today, prior to the Russian statement, Ukraine's parliament had decided to sit down and talk about the gas deal brokered by former president Yuliya Timoshenko, convinced that provisions stipulated in the said contract are too diffi cult to fulfi l because of unfair pricing. The UK Likely to Accept European Supervision of Banks and to Join Resolution Fund British delegate accepts deeper integration: Before the 2017 EU referendum, we want to be part of the discussion. Sweden to follow suit. Council supports direct bank recapitalisation expected to be under Single Supervision mandate or to contribute to the fund. The delegates reached some agreements yesterday, but fi nal conclusions will not be released until Friday. The European Council suggests speeding up the establishment of the Bank Recovery and Resolution directive and a Treaty change to establish a Single Resolution Authority. But that is a long-term solution that would not fi x the critical situation Europe is currently facing, the European Commission representative explained. In the short term, delegates support direct bank recapitalisation from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). The ESM would include every member of the EU and would be under the power of the Commission as a resolution body, if the UK and other non-euro countries confi rm their position. We could accept this compromise if the European Commission is given power, and if money does not go through Governments, the UK delegate said. INSIDE: Intervention of the Mali Ambassador Regional Prosecutor of Barcelona All Committee Sessions

2 2 EUROPEAN COUNCIL This decision does not change British plans regarding their 2017EU in-out referendum: Before the referendum takes place, we want to be part of the discussion, because what happens in the rest of Europe affects the UK. The UK doesn t want to give a veto, but we want to get something back, the UK delegate specifi ed, noting that the country should maintain certain autonomy if they are to accept both Single Supervision control and the Single Resolution Fund Mechanism: Small banks should be handled by local governments, and only transnational banks should be under EC control, for TheClarion is the daily newspaper for C MUN 2013 Editor Bernat Comes Reporters Arnau Busquets Beatriz Gálvez Emma Harris Carolina Madeleine Alicia Riverola Photographer Pablo Rodríguez-Aguilera Opinions expressed in TheClarion are not necessarily those of the newspaper, C MUN, The United Nations Association of Spain or the United Nations. They are the sole work of the author credited in the byline. Contributions from delegates are welcomed to: bernatcomes@gmail.com instance. In order to accept deeper integration, the UK has other demands: We need more compromises from countries we don t trust. Governments should prove they re stronger if we want people to trust these measures. Sweden, which was initially more inclined to work on a close cooperation agreement that would imply less integration, noted they were probably to follow the UK s decision. If they confi rm this position of Friday, that would be excellent news for countries aiming at higher harmonization. Sacrifi ces have to be made in order to get where we need to get. The banking union is key to ending this vicious cycle, urged the French delegate, while Italy demanded to go further and Germany requested a new step in order to proceed in integration. At press time, delegates were working on a provisional document recapping their agreements, with many key elements still being discussed. Thursday Video Activity This Thursday afternoon's fantastic activity is dedicated to the promotion of the Millennium Development Goals. Soooo, Ladies & Gentleman, are you ready to develope your performance skills? ATTENTION your performance will be graded on the fi nal extraoffi cial C'MUN certifi cate :-) - You will be given several tools to assist you... - You can write, paint, dance, perform... USE YOUR IMAGINATION!! GUIDELINES: - each committee will represent a goal: MDG 1: GA from Angola to Iraq MDG 2: GA from Israel to WHO MDG 3: HRC from Angola to Kazakhstan MDG 4: HRC from Korea, South, to the Organization of the Islamic Conference MDG 5: SC: MDG 6: UNESCO MDG 7: EUROPEAN COUNCIL MDG 8: all C'MUN delegates - Place: plaça Consell de la Vila (Sarrià), 15 minutes walking from CosmoCaixa, we will go all together. - The hard working session will finish one hour earlier, It means the fun will start at 5 p.m and will end around 7. p.m!!!!

3 SECURITY COUNCIL 3 Special Intervention of the Mali Ambassador During the Security Council By Carolina Madeleine The Security Council centred yesterday s session on the crisis affecting security and humanitarian situation in Mali. More precisely the debate focused on defi ning the scope of resolution 2100 that was adopted unanimously by the Council on last 24th of April. During the morning session the Ambassador of Mali was invited to express the view of the Malian transitional government. The Clarion has taken the opportunity to interview the Malian Ambassador. Q: How is the humanitarian situation Mali is facing today? A: The current humanitarian situation is critical, more than 4.3 million Malians are in need of immediate food assistance and an additional 1.3 million are at risk of food insecurity. The refugees situation is of utmost importance, indeed since the beginning of the confl ict almost half a million people have sought refuge inside Mali or in neighbouring countries of Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso. Q: Do you think resolution 2100 will help alleviate the humanitarian situation? A: I think the resolution is the fi rst step towards the stabilisation and security of Mali. However, Mali needs urgent and strong support from the international community to alleviate the humanitarian suffering. As noted in the report delivered to the Security Council on the 22 of March and I quote the Consolidated Appeals Process for Mali in 2013 had received only $73.3 million. This represents a mere 20 per cent of its total requirements, which amount to $386 million. Without the adequate resources there is little hope to overcome the humanitarian crisis and put in place the tools to meet the country s most pressing needs. Q: Could you please express the view of the Malian government about the current situation of human rights in the Northern part regarding Malian security forces against Touareg and Arab? A: The government is aware of this fatal situation, but we actually lack the resources to stop these criminal acts and to properly investigate and prosecute the perpetrators. We lack immediate response to the situation. Q: Do you think terrorism is a threat common to the Sahel that needs additional resources and

4 4 Thursday, 9 May 2013 SECURITY & HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCILS means to be resolved than the one the UN has provided so far? A: As the Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Tieman Hubert Coulibaly, has pointed out, we do need a rapid and permanent armed force to fi ght against terrorism. And above all we need to fi ght extreme poverty and exclusion that are the common ground for terrorism. The people of Mali must have other prospects than the immediate and criminals ones such as: drug traffi c, human traffi c, terrorism, taking hostages, Q: Which are the challenges on the organization of the election in July? Don t you think it is too early? A: Yes indeed it is early. We are not saying that it will be an easy task, there are several challenges to be faced as ensuring high participation in particular of women and refugees and little time to engage in a political debate. However we do need to have an elected government and we need to undergo this process on the agreed date. That s why we ask for international observers to supervise the election process. Q: Could you resume in few sentences the aspects with which Mali needs the most help? A: Mali needs a stable political situation to implement humanitarian action and to fi ght against famine. We also need to solve the situation with refugees and war prisoners and ensure justice to condemn the war criminal. But we also need to focus on the long term and take action to support the transition phase as prepared in the document Cadre Conjoint des Nations Unies d appui à la transition au Mali also known as CCAT that focuses on fostering good governance and peace, basic social services and social assistance. We Are All Equal by Law Or Are We? By Emma Harris There was a buzz of excitement yesterday as the HRC was very privileged to open C MUN 2013 with a speech from the Regional Prosecutor of Barcelona, Miguel Angel Aguilar Garcia. Throughout his speech, Mr Aguilar explained the International, Spanish and European laws referring to human rights, highlighting the lack of specifi c details pertaining to the rights of the LGBT community. Although he did mention articles which allow for their inclusion, such as Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Mr Aguilar s main focus is that any person of a different sexual orientation or gender identity should be considered in the same way as any other minority. He shed light on some advances in this matter, such as the EU LGBT Toolkit and the changes in the legislation here in Spain allowing gay marriage and adoption. Haowever, he stressed the lack of statistics concerning hate crimes against the LGBT community. With fi gures such as those presented in this session - 18% of people report hate crimes, leaving an 82% who do not - his passion and dedication for improving this situation

5 HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 5 is not surprising. Other aspects also included the lack of training for professionals, bullying and fi - nally the challenge to overcome the spread of hateful dialogue through such media as social networking sites. Question time evoked discussion on how some issues can be resolved and fi - nally Mr Aguilar enthusiastically stated he is very optimistic for the future. Following the morning s debates, Agnese Cigliano, Chair of the HRC stated that she was surprised that so many countries were against the protection of human rights in the fi eld of sexual orientation, expressing her hope that some delegations will intervene much more. Having said this, a majority of the delegates conveyed their concerns about the violation of human rights in the LGBT community when confl icting with traditional values. According to some states, although they may not approve of the LGBT society, they are not violating any provisions of human rights in international law. The delegates continued to discuss the importance of religion in reference to gender identity and upon writing, the HRC are in the process of creating draft proposals and comparing them.

6 6 Thursday, 9 May 2013 The UNESCO Starts With Two Main Opposed Blocks By Beatriz Gálvez This year, the UNESCO Committee s delegates chose primarily to reach an agreement about the Freedom of Speech and Religion. Palestine started the speaker s lists with an opening speech stating that they agree with freedom of speech and religion, but insist on limiting these fundamental rights so as not to be disrespectful or blasphemous. Israel also quickly positioned themselves in favour of freedom, but taking into account the possible dangers than can be caused by it. Quickly, Saudi Arabia started to lead the session. China stated that in their country "a lot of collectives live in the same country", so that is why this delegation "respects freedom of speech and defends censorship to save the sensibility of the citizens. After each country expressed their own position about this first topic, the USA considered the necessity of "promoting the Freedom of Speech and Religion as a basis for any country that considers itself a democracy". After the failure of several moderated and unmoderated caucus proposals, Member States started to talk about the limitations and boundaries of Freedom of Speech and Religion. Finally, the Committee agreed to start two different working papers. The draft that passed was sponsored by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan and signed by Palestine, Libya, Iran, Morocco, Ethiopia and Qatar. This document tried to reach a consensus and recommends establishing a legal framework to guarantee respect, but limiting discrimination between religions. The other working paper was proposed by Western countries such as the USA, Israel, the UK, the European Union, Canada, Japan, France and Sweden. These countries call for a consensus to create an international framework to avoid one country mixing law and religion, and, as a consequence, it cannot be criticized. China, Japan and India UNESCO have doubts about their position regarding these two proposals. China adds that the Government should ensure freedom of speech. During the whole session, the Holy See insisted on the necessity to work

7 UNESCO 7 together in order to reach a general agreement. Meanwhile the Russian Federation sent a statement to explain the reasons why it had decided not to take part in this session. It claims that the Russian Federation had been criminalized by several Member States of UNESCO due to the Trial of the Pussy Riot. The Russian Federation found it utterly disturbing and disrespectful towards its country, how the UNESCO session has used this trial for the preparation documents and asked for an apology. The Chair of UNESCO, Anna Ivanova, has expressed to this journal that the Pussy Riot case was not a limitation of Freedom of Speech, but for protecting the feelings of people. Furthermore, it was not the proper way to express their ideas. Russia Is Threatening to Leave the UNESCO! Ambassador Mitrofanova reacted to the Organization s indifference with a shocking announcement. Indeed yesterday, during UNESCO fi rst day of sessions of the committee dealing with Freedom of speech and religion, the Russian Federation delivered a very controversial statement. But on an unexpected reaction by the members of the Organization, Russian claim was received with indifference. Something that has infuriated the highest representatives from the country, that didn t take part of the session. In a press conference, Ambassador Mitrafanova expressed her disappointment regarding the behaviour of the Organization toward the request of apologies formally made by the Russian Federation. When asked about the reasons behind the drastic decision, Mitrafanova said she considered the attitude of UNES- CO as highly inappropriate for an UN specialized agency and extremely offensive for its country. She also remarked that the Organization seems to take part in the position of several states members against the policies of the Prime Minister Vladimir Putin with its lack of action in this matter. Ambassador Mitrafanova urged UNESCO executive director to take the appropriate actions towards resolving the actual situation and threatened that if by the end of the session there is no statement, the Russian Federation will have to leave the Organization and consequently cut off its economical contribution. Russian Federation contributes with 52 million dollars to the general budget of the agency, being one of the biggest contributors.

8 8 GENERAL ASSEMBLY The Difficulty of Finding Common Ground By Alicia Riverola & Carolina Madeleine Yesterday the General Assembly had their fi rst meeting of the 8th C MUN in order to discuss the Millennium Development Goals beyond The wide variety of issues included under the title of Millennium Goals made it very diffi cult for the delegates to establish a clear agenda of how to appropriately treat the issues at stake. During the morning session, the delegates started by expressing their viewpoints on the MDG s successes and failures and pointed out the priorities for their countries. The delegates were very creative in proposing new ideas and came out with the proposal of creating a new body to supervise the implementation of actions to achieve the MDGs. However, this idea was disregarded by Germany who considered the existing institutions to be suffi cient and underlined the current economic crisis which made such expenditure unbearable. On the one hand countries such as the United Kingdom insisted on the importance of achieving the MDGs and expressed their commitment towards more effi ciency. On the other hand countries like Bulgaria, Mexico or North Korea highlighted the necessity to either extend the time limit or reestimate the objectives. The Assembly had not yet agreed upon an agenda in the afternoon. The delegation of Bangladesh tried to impose some order by proposing a draft agenda which would fi x the structure of the next sessions focusing on defi ning UN objectives after However the initiative did not prosper, mainly due to the French delegate, who presented an alternative draft. After so many unsuccessful proposals, the Chair of the General Assembly recommended restricting the Agenda to the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. That last proposal was also disregarded and the Assembly agreed at least to prepare two working papers; one led by the United States and the other one by Brazil. Organized by: with the support of: