The fourth Normandy Format meeting took place on Wednesday evening in Berlin. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel met with President Vladimir Putin, President Francois Hollande and President Petro Poroshenko in order to discuss the ongoing armed conflict in the Donbass region of Ukraine. Representatives of four countries debated about the Minsk II agreement which was signed on 12 February 2015 in Belarus. Approval of the document succeed in a significant reduction of the conflict between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian government for many months. After all, nothing has changed since then and small scale fighting is taking place every day. Wednesday’s Summit was a perfect opportunity to analyse the Ukrainian conflict and to discuss the most effective solutions to the problem.
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During a three-day official visit to the Republic of Korea Poland’s Foreign Affairs Minister Witold Waszczykowski concluded an important strategic deal with his Korean counterpart, Lim Sung Nam. The document, namely the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Strategic Partnership for the Years 2017-20, was signed on October 18 and it is supposed to be the basis for future economic and political cooperation between the two countries. While reaffirming the centrality of Poland-South Korean relations in Poland’s strategic view in the Asian continent, Minister Waszczykowski renovated “the Polish involvement in the resolution of the Korean Peninsula conflict.”
Read More Germany`s largest bank, Deutsche Bank, is facing a crisis. After a series of scandals and bad mistakes, some weeks ago, US regulators announced that they seek to fine Deutsch Bank AG $14 billion. This sum is enough to fundamentally threaten the viability of the bank. Now rumors about rescue plans of the federal government and the German industry for the by far largest German money house are making the round. Currently, the bank does not have liquidity nor solvency problems and there are no plans for a capital increase.
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New Zealand’s trade minister Todd McClay established a trade policy dialogue with his British counterpart, Liam Fox. Britain and New Zealand have agreed to establish regular negotiations in the area of trade policy in order to give an incentive for even greater liberalization of world trade and its reform, Fox said. Since the United Kingdom decided to leave the European Union, it has aimed to strengthen trade relations with the countries outside of the Union.
This week the EU will decide about new sanctions against Syria and, possibly, for the first time against Russia, resulting out of its alliance with the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The EU, will discuss entry barriers for up to twelve Russians who are directly involved in the Syrian Civil War. Furthermore, Britain, France and Germany aim for economic sanctions on 20 Syrians who are suspected of directing attacks against civilians. These Syrians would be added to the EU`s existing sanction list.
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2016’s parliamentary election is taking place in Montenegro. Approximately half a million of Montenegrins have been called to choose the composition of the next Parliamentary Assembly of the small Balkan country. Selected candidates belong to 34 different parties gathered in 17 coalition lists. Polling stations, which have been opening since 7 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m., are likely to present a heads up between the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists with its veteran leader and current Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and the pro-Russian and pro-Serbian opposition fronts. According to the Center for Democratic Transition, official turnout was 73.2% at 7 p.m.
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The Scottish government's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, held a speech on Saturday in Glasgow to close the Scottish National Party (SNP) Congress. She said that "Scotland will one day become an independent country" and for her the question is not how Scotland becomes independent but when. In 2014 the nationalists had lost a first independence referendum, but now it is highly probable that a second independence referendum will be held due to the upcoming Brexit. Sturgeon is hoping that a hard Brexit might strengthen support for Scottish independence. In Scotland 62% of voters voted to remain in the EU in June.
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The planned free trade agreement between the EU and Canada (CETA) threatens to be jeopardized after lawmakers from Belgium’s Wallonia voted against it on Friday. The EU and Canada have spent seven years negotiating the terms of this agreement, which would eliminate tariffs on most goods between the EU and Canada. For this agreement to be ratified the EU needs the unanimous agreement of all 28 member states. In Belgium, the national parliament as well as the six regional chambers must agree to the free trade agreement with Canada. The Walloon Parliament voted against CETA with 46 to 16 votes.
Read More Recent Russian military operations in the Kaliningrad exclave have sparked firm condemning reactions by neighbouring governments. On October 10, Poland’s Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski expressed public concern defining the deployment of ballistic missiles in the garrison as “an absolutely inappropriate response to what the North Atlantic Alliance is doing.” These declarations follow those of his German and Lithuanian counterparts, which depicted the current diplomatic situation between Russia and the West even more dangerous than the Cold War.
Read More In case of a “hard Brexit”, the UK can lose about £66 billion a year in government revenues. According to a leaked Treasury paper that was seen by The Times, such economic losses would be possible if London, after talks with Brussels, loses preferential access to the common EU market. In case of the country's exit from the European single market its GDP could fall by between 5.4% and 9.5% in 15 years.
