Daily Multilateralism
Thursday, October 15, 2020
International efforts, including by NATO, to ease the dispute between Greece and Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean appear to be faltering. A Turkish research vessel has returned to sea and appears set to continue surveying work in waters claimed by Greece. Via Newsweek.
The ship has previously entered these waters in August, resulting in rival military drills before both sides agreed last month to de-escalate. A NATO deconfliction mechanism was established earlier this month, just as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Greece, but diverging views between Athens and Ankara gave way to the ship's return.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s foreign minister bristled at what he described as European lectures on international law and human rights.
World Bank president David Malpass wants donors to contribute more to the Bank’s lending arm for the poorest countries, the International Development Association (IDA):
While IDA operates on a three-year replenishment cycle — with the last funding round concluded in 2019 — the fund will have committed more than a third of its resources this year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Malpass said that leaves the World Bank’s shareholders with two choices: contribute more resources or “recognize that the amounts available in the second and third year of IDA will be diminished.”
IDA’s largest borrowers in 2020 were Nigeria, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, and Ethiopia.
The European Union has imposed sanctions on six senior Russian officials for the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The analysis accompanying the sanctions decision noted “it is reasonable to conclude that the poisoning…was only possible with the consent of the Presidential Executive Office.” The EU has imposed a spate of individualized sanctions recently, including against officials in Belarus deemed responsible for the crackdown on protesters.
In other Mediterranean news, Israel and Lebanon have begun to negotiate their maritime boundary dispute. The talks are taking place at a United Nations facility in Lebanon and are being mediated by U.S. officials.
Briefly noted:
The World Trade Organization has approved European measures against the United States related to the long-running Airbus/Boing subsidies dispute.
Russia is gearing up for its 2021 chairmanship of the Arctic Council.
The World Health Organization’s lead official for Europe urged governments in the region to take strenuous measures to combat the rise in coronavirus cases.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation’s monitors in eastern Ukraine report a lull in ceasefire violations.