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WORLD
A ‘strong and united Europe’
Sipila’s Government has never been more needed, declares UN chief Guterres the longestTL Bureau, Aachen serving one The Secretary-General was in the ancient continental capital of Aachen, close to the French border, where he received the Charlemagne Prize, awarded each year since 1950, for services towards European unification. As a former Portuguese Prime Minister, and one of the architects of the European Union’s efforts in the late 1990s and early 2000s to strengthen social safety nets, solidarity, and cooperation with Africa and India, Mr. Guterres described himself as a “committed European” who understood that, in bestowing the award, Aachen was paying tribute “to the commitment, service, and sacrifice of the women and men of the United Nations”. The European Union, which grew out of the ashes of two world wars, has forged “an
TL Bureau, Helsinki
exemplary partnership” with the United Nations, said Mr. Guterres, and the breakup of the 28-nation political and economic bloc, “would inevitably be the failure of multilateralism and the failure of a world in which the rule of law can prevail”. “The hard truth is, we collectively have taken too many things for granted”, he added, noting that democratic principles “are under siege, and
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with foreign ministers of France and Germany TL Bureau, Kyiv President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with foreign ministers of France and Germany President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a meeting with Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Yves Le Drian and Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany Heiko Maas. The Head of State noted the special role of France and Germany in resolving the situation in east Ukraine, in particular in the framework of the Normandy format. "I would like to once again express gratitude to President of France Emmanuel Macron for congratulations on winning the elections and for the meeting before I became President of Ukraine.
‘We need to restore trust’ “I wish Europe could stand up more decisively for the multilateral agenda. The United Nations need a strong and united Europe. For this to happen, Europe will need to come to grips with some serious challenges”, said Mr. Guterres.
the rule of law is being undermined. Inequalities are on the rise. Hate speech, racism and xenophobia are fuelling terrorism through social media”. Hailing Europe’s continuing role as a champion of universal values, he said that multilateralism was under fire “precisely when we need it most, and when it has never been so fit to address these challenges”.
On Saturday 1 June, Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s Government will take the lead as the longest-serving Finnish Government. On 1 June Sipilä’s Government will have been in office for 1,465 days. The term of the two Governments led by Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen lasted for 1,464 days. On 8 March 2019, Prime Minister Juha Sipilä submitted his Government’s request for resignation to the President of the Republic. His Government will continue in a caretaker capacity until the new Government is appointed. Finnish Governments ranked by days in office on 1 June 2019 (data retrieved from the Information system on ministers) Government number of days in office (top ten) 74. Sipila | 1 465 66. Lipponen | 1 464 67. Lipponen II | 1 464 64. Holkeri | 1 458 63. Sorsa IV | 1 456 65. Aho | 1 449 69. Vanhanen | 1 396 20. Kivimaki | 1 394 70. Vanhanen II | 1 161 72. Katainen | 1 099
Mozambique: UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom meets the child cyclone survivors who’ve lost everything
Mr Modi takes oath as the Prime Minister TL Bureau, UN Hq
Karamjit Singh Karwana, Foreign Correspondent New Delhi Shri Narendra Modi took oath as the Prime Minister of India, marking the start of his second term as the PM. The Hon’ble President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Eminent personalities including world leaders, captains of industry, Bollywood, media along with a huge number of well wishers were present during the oath taking ceremony.
During the week, the actor travelled to the coastal city of Beira, one of the areas worstaffected by Cyclone Idai, which killed over 600 people and destroyed nearly 240,000 homes when it made landfall in March. Sitting on the sandy floor of a tent at the Samora Machel site for internally displaced people, named after the country’s founding president, Mr. Bloom listened to children recount devastating stories of how they lost everything in the cyclone. Thirteen-year-old Alzina Lopes described the moment
Cyclone Idai made landfall, leaving her stranded in waistdeep floodwaters. Now she wants to go back to school, and dreams of becoming a traffic officer. “It’s remarkable to see children, who have been through so much, gain a sense of normality in the safe spaces set up by UNICEF, where they are free to sing, dance, play and just be children,” said the Goodwill Ambassador. “These are children and young people with dreams, they want to be in school”, he continued “but almost everyone I’ve met here has lost their classrooms, their books
and crucial identification documents due to the cyclones”. Mr. Bloom said that it was “heartbreaking” that without IDs “they are unregistered, almost invisible and vulnerable to exploitation”. In the aftermath of tropical cyclones Idai and Kenneth, 1.1 million children remain in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. UNICEF is supporting families affected by the cyclones to either return home or relocate to safer places. It is also providing healthcare, nutrition, education, sanitation and protection services.
