|
At
UN,
Of
Elusive Security Council Reform, EU Special Powers & GA
Revitalization
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September
13 -- Libya's Ali Treki has overseen the past
year's UN General Assembly, which in its concluding session this
afternoon will consider a resolution to give special powers to the
European Union, some GA revitalization and Security Council reform.
What do these proposals mean?
The
EU believes it
deserves the right, in the GA, to propose resolutions and participate
as if a member state. But then why allow each EU state to also
participate? Why not give these rights to the African Union as well?
The
EU says its
Lisbon Treaty sets it apart from the AU. Ah, exceptionalism. Sources
tell Inner City Press that while when the African Union goes as a
group to the EU, they express opposition, African states are being
picked off one by one. It's happened before.
The
GA
Revitalization resolution, in a provision little noticed except by
Inner City Press, would require candidates for Secretary General to
come to the GA and make their case, against competitors. Many hope it
will apply to Ban Ki-moon, in his quest for a second term.
Security
Council
reform,
as usual, is going nowhere. Each major candidate for a
permanent seat has a natural enemy, and the Permanent Five are
unlikely to ever give up power. They can say they support change,
because they know it will never happen.
Ashton of EU, special powers not yet shown
The
GA is supposed
to orally direct that the SC reform process continue. Inner City
Press previously asked the coordinator of the process, Afghanistan's
Ambassador Tanin, who was paying his Danish staffer Jonas.
The
answer given
was murky, but now we can report: at first Jonas was paid directly by
the Danes. Then he was made a JPO, a Junior Professional Officer,
paid by the UN with Danish money. Tanin's other helper, it is less
clear.
Questions
are
arising
about the staffing practices of incoming GA President Joseph Deiss,
including Inner City Press' initial scoop of Deis having to promise
Finland a UN-funded post in order to squeak past Belgium's Louis
Michel and get the Western Europe and Other Group nod for the PGA
position. More on this to follow -- watch this site.
Footnote:
Treki
will
hold a press conference at 12:30, billed as his final one.
But he will stay on to co-chair the MDGs summit, and is expected to
speak again at that time. There are questions...
* * *
At
UN,
Kosovo
Moves into 3rd Floor, Serbia Eviction Bid Ignored, Watered Down
Resolution Passes Unanimously, Vuk Spins
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September
9 -- In the UN General Assembly, Kosovo's top
officials took up positions in the third floor visitors gallery in
advance of the vote on Serbia's already watered down resolution.
Serbia and Russia, sources tell Inner City Press, asked to have the
Kosovars removed. But President of the GA Treki said he couldn't do
it.
On
the GA floor, UK
Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant and France's Gerard Araud rallied the
troops. At 5:22 p.m., they went up to the third floor to talk with
the Kosovars.
Lost
in
all this
is that Serbia already gave up its chance for an up or down vote on
Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence. In order to be
considered for EU admission, they changed the resolution.
Vuk Jeremic in the GA, capitulation not shown
After all
the strong talk, can foreign minister Vuk Jeremic show his face in
Belgrade? Or, as one diplomat wagged to Inner City Press, will Vuk
leave the GA hall naked as after a poker game? Watch this space.
Update
of
5:36 p.m. -- Vuk protested the Kosovars' presence; Treki said they
were invited by, inter alia, the US, UK, France, Italy and others. Vuk
spoke.
Update
of
5:49 p.m. -- Azerbaijan and Venezuela speak in favor of Serbia. In
the cheap seats, UK Lyall Grant is on cell phone, US Rosemary DiCarlo
two seats away. She now takes the floor.
Update
of
6:02
pm -- It's unanimous on the resolution: Serbia giving in to
and for EU. India says it will not recognize Kosovo. UK leaving - to do
stakeout?
Update
of
6:30
p.m. -- Vuk Jeremic tells Inner City Press that at least “the
ICJ process is over.” He says Serbia's fight will continue and --
somehow -- that entering EU can help that fight. Will this be popular
in Belgrade? Watch this site.
Update
of
6:46 p.m. -- Vuk
Jeremic
told
Inner City Press, “There is no change in Serbia's
position... Being a member of the EU is one of the priorities... This
resolution puts an end to the ICJ process. At some point, some
misinterpreted what the court had said, the resolution is very clear
that this was not the confirmation of statehood for Kosovo.”
Stick a fork in it....
* * *
At
Russian
UN
Mission,
Serbia Makes Its Case, Somalia Forgotten, Churkin
Serves Roast Beef
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August
30
-- Serbia's Ambassador to the UN beamed at
Russia's end of Security Council presidency reception Monday night,
joking with the Ambassadors of the UK and Bosnia about his country's
controversial General Assembly resolution condemning Kosovo's
independence.
No
other country,
he told Inner City Press, broke away without consent and yet was
welcomed by such powerful friends at the United States. Where it's
done without permission -- he named Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Northern
Cyprus and Taiwan -- the countries remain in limbo. We don't want to
be the precedent.
Bosnia's
35
year
old
Ambassador joked that if it were just he and the Serb, they could
work it out. The British Ambassador, also laughing, said not to count
on his support in the GA. But the Serb persisted, blaming the
presence on US President Obama's team of former Bill Clinton official
for his country's troubles.
Who,
asked
Inner
City
Press. Hillary Clinton, he answered. Richard Holbrooke. But
what about trying David Alexrod or Valerie Jarrett? He seemed not to
know of them, and offered thanks.
Other
talk
turned
to
Ethiopia's incursions into Somalia. Many had read of it, none
could confirm. US Ambassador Susan Rice walked away as fast as she
could.
Churkin back in the day, Serbian resolution, roast
beef and pilots not shown
Ambassador
Rugunda of Uganda, whose country just lost four
AMISOM peacekeepers to a grenade attack in Mogadishu, vowed to look
into it.
The spokesman
of another Council member predicted a Council
statement on the killing, perhaps on Russia's last day.
Russian
Ambassador Churkin played the host, offering dumplings and roast
beef
and mushrooms in small pots. He drank a toast with Susan Rice, and
smiling worked the room. He told Inner City Press, regarding Russia's
pilots taken in Darfur, that his job and that of Russia's envoy to
Sudan was different. He is not a diplomat, said Churkin. He is doing
his job, and I am doing mine. Good answer. Watch this site.
Click
here
for an Inner City Press YouTube channel video, mostly UN Headquarters
footage, about civilian
deaths
in Sri Lanka.
Click here for Inner City
Press' March 27 UN debate
Click here for Inner City
Press March 12 UN (and AIG
bailout) debate
Click here for Inner City
Press' Feb 26 UN debate
Click
here
for Feb.
12
debate
on
Sri
Lanka http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/17772?in=11:33&out=32:56
Click here for Inner City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
Click here for Inner City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
These
reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis
here
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
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Inner
City
Press
are
listed
here,
and
some are available
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Copyright
2006-2010
Inner
City
Press,
Inc.
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