Minister of National Defence Gabriel Les on Wednesday and Thursday will participate in Helsinki, Finland, in the informal meeting of defence ministers from the EU member states, reads a press release of the MApN (Ministry of National Defence).

According to this source, the meeting will be chaired by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, with General Secretary of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, and the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, to participate.

The programme includes a series of working sessions to debate on maritime coordination, artificial intelligence and new technologies, as well as the impact of climate changes and the surrounding environment on security and defence.

A common session with the foreign affairs ministers will be held on Thursday afternoon, to focus topical issues in the hybrid threats field, specified the same source. </s> A delegation of the European Union, headed by Vice-President of the European Commission, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, will visit Uzbekistan on March 26, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan said in a message. </s> Baku. 1 March. REPORT.AZ/ European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, European Commission Vice-President Federica Mogherini is on a visit to Armenia.

According to the information, EU official will meet with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan, as well as the representatives of political parties and civil society in the parliament. </s> Finland and the European Union are considering a ban on the import of Brazilian beef, citing the Latin American country's failed environmental policies, amid record wildfires in the Amazon rainforest, the Finnish government said in a statement on Friday

HELSINKI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd August, 2019) Finland and the European Union are considering a ban on the import of Brazilian beef, citing the Latin American country's failed environmental policies, amid record wildfires in the Amazon rainforest, the Finnish government said in a statement on Friday.

"Finance Minister Mika Lintila condemns the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and informs that the European Union and Finland are considering a ban on the import of Brazilian beef," the statement read.

According to the statement, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Prime Minister Antti Rinne, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and other members of the government have also raised concerns over the situation in Brazil.

Finland is currently chairing the European Union.

Lintila noted that the discussion of the issue would be launched in September if there was no progress by that time.

Serious wildfires have been making their way through the Amazon for three weeks now. According to satellite data provided by the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research, there has been an over 80 percent increase in the number of wildfires between this year and last year, which is an unprecedented rate.

The situation is blamed on the right-wing policies led by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who encouraged deforestation by loggers and farmers.

French President Emmanuel Macron urged the G7 leaders to discuss the issue at the upcoming summit in the French resort city of Biarritz from August 24-26. </s> The European Union piled pressure on Friday on Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro over fires raging in the Amazon basin, with Ireland and France saying they could block a trade deal and Finland urging a ban on Brazilian beef imports.

Bolsonaro has rejected what he calls foreign interference in domestic affairs in Brazil, where vast tracts of the Amazon rainforest are ablaze in what is known as the burning season.

Environmentalists have blamed deforestation for an increase in fires and accuse the right-wing president of relaxing protection of a vast carbon trap and climate driver that is crucial to combating global climate change.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Bolsonaro had been lying when he played down concerns about climate change at the G20 summit in Japan in June and that, in this light, France would oppose the farming deal struck between the EU and the Mercosur countries: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Dublin would vote against the free trade deal unless Brazil acted to protect the rainforest.

Varadkar said he was very concerned at the record levels of rainforest destruction, and that the Irish government would closely monitor Brazil’s environmental actions in the two years until the Mercosur deal was ratified.

“There is no way that Ireland will vote for the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement if Brazil does not honour its environmental commitments,” he said in a statement.

Ireland would need other EU states to help form a blocking minority if it wants to kill the deal, reached in June after 20 years of negotiations.

But the Irish government is under pressure to defend its beef farmers, already suffering from Britain’s looming EU exit and low prices, by seeking to ensure Mercosur countries do not flood the market with cheaper beef.

Finland, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, suggested a ban on Brazilian beef imports.

Prime Minister Antti Rinne said the fires were “a threat to our whole planet, not just to Brazil or South America”.

“We must find out whether the Europeans have something to offer Brazil to help prevent this kind of fires in the future,” he added.

Leaders of the world’s most advanced economies are also expected to discuss the matter when they meet for the G7 summit in France this weekend.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said he would use the gathering to call for international action to protect the world’s rainforests. </s> In this Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, file photo, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini speaks at a news conference during a meeting of Women Foreign Ministers in Montreal. Five world powers and Iran agreed late Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, to establish a financial facility in the European Union to facilitate payments for Iranian imports and exports including oil, a key move sought by Tehran following the U.S. pullout from the 2015 nuclear deal and its re-imposition of sanctions. Mogherini told reporters after the closed-door ministerial meeting that the financial facility is also aimed at preserving the nuclear agreement. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

In this Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, file photo, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini speaks at a news conference during a meeting of Women Foreign Ministers in Montreal. Five world powers and Iran agreed late Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, to establish a financial facility in the European Union to facilitate payments for Iranian imports and exports including oil, a key move sought by Tehran following the U.S. pullout from the 2015 nuclear deal and its re-imposition of sanctions. Mogherini told reporters after the closed-door ministerial meeting that the financial facility is also aimed at preserving the nuclear agreement. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Five world powers and Iran agreed late Monday to establish a financial facility in the European Union to facilitate payments for Iranian imports and exports including oil, a key move sought by Tehran following the U.S. pullout from the 2015 nuclear deal and its re-imposition of sanctions.

Foreign ministers from Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and Iran said in a joint statement that the so-called “Special Purpose Vehicle” will “assist and reassure economic operators pursuing legitimate business with Iran.”

The nuclear agreement is meant to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, but U.S. President Donald Trump announced in May he was unilaterally pulling out because he felt it wasn’t strong enough and didn’t cover other issues of concern to the U.S. and its allies, such as Iran’s military influence in the Middle East and ballistic missile program. The U.S. has also accused Iran of promoting international terrorism, which Tehran vehemently denies.

Iran’s economy is already suffering from the sanctions that Washington re-imposed after walking away from the nuclear agreement, and the U.S. has threatened to punish companies from other nations that continue doing business with Iran.

In sharp contrast, the five other world powers who signed the nuclear deal remain strongly committed to it, and the new financial facility is almost certain to anger the Trump administration.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters after the closed-door ministerial meeting that the financial facility is also aimed at preserving the nuclear agreement. The EU and Iran say the deal is working, and the joint statement notes that the International Atomic Energy Agency has now certified 12 times that Iran is in compliance with its obligations.

“In practical terms,” Mogherini said, “this will mean that EU member states will set up a legal entity to facilitate legitimate financial transactions with Iran and this will allow European companies to continue to trade with Iran in accordance with European Union law and could be open to other partners in the world. ”

She said the agreement follows extensive exchanges and announced that a meeting of technical experts will be held to “operationalize” the new financial facility.

The joint statement said the six countries that signed the 2015 nuclear agreement “reconfirmed their commitment to its full and effective implementation in good faith and in a constructive atmosphere.” They called the agreement “a key element of the global non-proliferation architecture and a significant achievement of multilateral diplomacy.”

The participants reaffirmed their joint statement on July 6, “in particular to pursue concrete and effective measures to secure payment channels with Iran.” </s> EU's High representative for foreign affairs and security policy Federica Mogherini spoke to the press as she arrived on the first day of a summit of European Union (EU) leaders at the EU headquarters in Brussels, on March 22, 2018

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Brussels (AFP)

The EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini held crisis talks with the bloc's ambassador to Moscow Sunday after he was recalled over the poisoning of a former Russian spy in England.

EU leaders summoned envoy Markus Ederer back to Brussels for consultations as international pressure builds on Moscow over the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the British city of Salisbury.

At a summit on Friday, the bloc unanimously backed Britain's assessment that the Kremlin was to blame for the incident -- the first offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since World War 2.

In a brief statement on Sunday, Mogherini's office said she had held "consultations with the Head of European Union Delegation in the Russian Federation".

No further details were given beyond saying Ederer would "continue institutional consultations in the coming days".

A number of European countries are expected to take further steps to punish Moscow on Monday, with the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Denmark and Ireland considering expelling Russian diplomats.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that further coordinated actions were "necessary" to respond to the attack, while French officials have said Paris too was ready to act.

Britain and Russia have expelled 23 of each other's diplomats in tit-for-tat exchanges, while Moscow has also shut down the operations of the British Council cultural organisation in its territory.

Moscow denies any involvement in the attack on the Skripals and has accused Britain of orchestrating a campaign against it.

On Saturday the BBC reported that Skripal had written to Russian President Vladimir Putin several years ago asking for a pardon for selling secrets to British intelligence.

Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter are both in a coma after being poisoned with a nerve agent -- identified as the Soviet-made "Novichok" by the British government -- on March 4.

© 2018 AFP </s> The European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini assured President Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting in Brussels on Monday that the EU supported his ambition to have East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state.

 Abbas in return repeated his call for East Jerusalem as capital as he urged the EU member nations to recognize state of Palestine immediately, arguing that this would not disrupt negotiations with Israel on a peace settlement for the region.

 Mogherini, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, called on those involved in the process to speak and act “wisely,” with a sense of responsibility.

 Abbas made no reference to Trump’s move on Jerusalem or to comments on the issue made on Monday in Jerusalem by US Vice President Mike Pence.

 The European Union’s top diplomat said EU foreign ministers will study ways to support a two-state solution in Israel and the Palestinian territories in talks Monday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

 Federica Mogherini said that the EU is working “to support an international framework to accompany direct negotiations” despite the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

 Mogherini told reporters that “clearly there is a problem with Jerusalem. I would say that this is a very diplomatic euphemism.”

 She said “the only pragmatic, realistic solution for Jerusalem has to come through direct negotiations.”—Reuters </s> BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union and Cuba signed a first-ever agreement on closer ties on Monday, and vowed that the arrival in office of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump would not impact on their future relations.

“This is a historic day, we’ve turned a page. Today we’re starting to write together a new chapter,” said EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini as the 28-nation EU’s top diplomats and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez signed the pact in Brussels.

The accord, aimed at supporting economic development and promoting democracy and human rights on the island, will form the legal platform for future ties between Brussels and Havana. The EU’s official stance toward Cuba dates from 1996.

Rodriguez said the priority would be to develop the Cuban economy, but he noted “one major obstacle to trade relations between the EU and Cuba” — the U.S. economic and financial blockade.

“We’ll have to see how things develop. But we very much hope that relations between the European Union and Cuba will continue to grow and enrich both sides,” he said, adding that ties “between the EU and Cuba do not go by Washington.”

Mogherini said the agreement is the result of a long process and that Trump’s inauguration in January “will not affect in any way relations between the European Union and Cuba.”

She also underlined that “the European Union has raised concerns about the extraterritorial effect of U.S. sanctions on Cuba. We will continue to do so because we believe that this is not only in the interest of the island and its people — all of them — but most of all in our case, it’s in the interest of Europeans to tackle this issue.”

Cuba puts the total cost of the 55-year-old embargo at $125.9 billion, including $4.6 billion last year.

The new pact must now be ratified by national and regional parliaments in all EU member states before it can enter completely into force, although the bloc has decided to provisionally apply parts of it immediately.
Finland, current chair of the European Union, writes to the body's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, urging the use of the EU's "full toolkit" including foreign and trade policy to counter the use of deliberate fires as a means of deforestation in Brazil.