UN upgrades EU status: what does it mean for Europe?

by the Gsaad Project

On May 3, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution A/RES/65/276 on the participation of the European Union in the work of the UN, formally upgrading the status of the EU participation at the UN 192-member body.

On a practical point of view, the Resolution — rejected by only 10 countries and abstained by only Syria and Zimbabwe — allows senior EU representatives to present to the Assembly the common positions of the European bloc.

The search for the next EU President

Source: BBC News

The executive search for the two top European jobs is proving difficult. There has been a first and inconclusive round of phone calls. There are more potential candidates than jobs. And just beneath the surface are fierce currents and rivalries. There could well be public disputes before the names are chosen at dinner in Brussels a week on Thursday.

The next EU President after Lisbon

Source: BBC News

The European Union is close to deciding who will be appointed to a new post of president to chair EU summits and represent the bloc on the world stage. The way was cleared by the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty by the Czech Republic. Speculation is already mounting about potential candidates.

President Obama debut at the United Nations

Source: YouTube

Obama sets busy schedule at UN

Source: Boston Globe | By Farah Stockman

President Obama has planned a whirlwind 2 1/2 day schedule at the United Nations later this month, going well beyond the traditional routine for US presidents.

U.S. joins U.N. Human Rights Council

Source: The New York Times | By Neil MacFarquhar

The United States won a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday, joining a group that the Bush administration had pilloried. The controversy surrounding the 47-member body, which assesses the rights records of United Nations member states, was underscored by the General Assembly’s re-electing other nations condemned by human rights organizations for abusing their own citizens. They include Cuba, China, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Cameroon.

Obama and the EU: an Atlantic agenda for globalization

Source: EU Delegation to the US

The inauguration of incoming President Obama is not just an American event, it is a global event and Europeans are following it with interest and fascination. In a letter sent to the incoming President of the United States, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso outlined his vision for a more outward-looking and engaged transatlantic partnership.

U.S. to airlift supplies to Darfur

Source: The International Herald Tribune | By Sheryl Gay Stolberg

With just 15 days left in office, President George W. Bush announced that he had ordered an immediate airlift to deliver vehicles and equipment to the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan to bolster a struggling international peacekeeping effort there.