Djibouti calls on Security Council to act to resolve border dispute with Eritrea

The Security Council must take steps to solve the border dispute between Djibouti and Eritrea, Djibouti said today, warning that if the row is allowed to fester it will set a dangerous precedent for other crises around the world.

Assembly President heralds ‘new era of engagement’ as high-level debate wraps up

Wrapping up the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate today, the 192-member body’s President today welcomed the “new era of engagement” based on respect among Member States, underscoring that the vision of nations coming together to tackle common challenges is at the heart of the United Nations.

Iran’s new uranium plant violated UN resolutions, Ban says

A newly revealed Iranian uranium enrichment facility violates United Nations Security Council resolutions because of the delay in its disclosure, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

Paying people to tell you what you want to hear

Just received a ridiculous survey to fill in from Gallup Europe, which is working on behalf of ‘Friends of Europe’ - a Brussels-based outfit that gets most of its funding from the European Commission.

The survey asks questions about the EU’s ‘communication policy’, with a view to producing a new report on the subject to feed back into the Commission and “improving communication about Europe.”

Apart from the obvious issues with the Commission paying organisations to come up with policy ideas to feed back into the Commission, the problem is that all the questions are asked on the assumption that the respondant believes there should be an EU Communication Policy in the first place, which we do not (click here to read why).

Clearly the Friends of Europe wishes to help the Commission’s DG Communications department in its ongoing efforts to convince people of the benefits of EU integration. Judging by its last effort along these lines, which was a report for the institutions called Can EU Hear Me?, (resulting in a letter to the EU Commission recommending it “Promote the benefits of EU Membership”), it has no intention of improving people’s knowledge of the EU but instead wishes to improve its popularity.

If this survey is to be the basis of the future direction of EU ‘communication’ policy, we should be very worried indeed. Questions focus on such things as what the Commission should be doing to improve ‘communication’ about Europe in schools and in the media, making use of the internet to persuade people of the benefits of the EU, creating a ‘Europe’ brand, and creating a ‘Commissioner for Citizens’.

Having commissioned many polls in the past, we imagine this online questionnaire is not coming cheap. Hopefully they will take note of some of our suggestions, such as scrapping EU Communication Policy altogether and allowing people a direct say on the big EU questions like treaty change. Is anyone in any doubt that Irish people will be the best informed about the Lisbon Treaty and the EU in general than any of their European neighbours, as a direct result of the recent referendums?

At UN, Greece hits out on name issue with former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Greece today voiced frustration at the lack of progress in United Nations-backed talks for resolving its long-running dispute with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia over the latter country’s official name.

Moldova spotlights breakaway region in address to UN Assembly

Hope for a peaceful solution to the separatist conflict in Moldova’s Transdniestrian region lies in its demilitarization and democratization, the country’s ambassador to the United Nations told the General Assembly today.

Darfur: Ban deplores attack resulting in death of African Union-UN peacekeeper

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today strongly condemned an attack on an African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) convoy that resulted in the death of a peacekeeper, and appealed to Sudanese authorities to ensure that those responsible are held to account.

Iranian Nukes and Muhammad Ali’s Dukes

Saint Vincent speaks out at UN debate on efforts to clamp down on tax havens

The efforts of major and industrialized economies to crack down on so-called tax havens are just an excuse to spread the blame for the global financial crisis on small nations’ legitimate attempts at development, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines told the General Assembly today.

UN welcomes Sudanese order to lift censorship on newspapers

The United Nations today welcomed the reported decision by President Omar Al-Bashir to immediately lift censorship on Sudanese newspapers.