european union

EU member states have signed a joint strategy for the future of European development which includes several mentions of the co-operative movement. The new European Consensus on Development, which sets out an agenda to eradicate poverty and promote sustainable development, applies to all EU institutions and member states. In its three mentions of co-operatives, the document highlights their role as key actors in international development and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This week’s PD News headlines explored education and its impacts on public diplomacy, from female empowerment to terrorist prevention. 

Three years into the war in Ukraine, international attention and aid to displaced people has waned. In an area near the war zone, Natasha Bluth reports on volunteer groups trying to fill gaps in support for one of the world’s largest internally displaced populations.Many Ukrainian community organizations, inspired by the Euromaidan protests that called for improved human rights and better ties with Europe, have expanded since the conflict began, including local NGO Ulybka rebenka, or Smile of a Child, which was founded a year earlier to aid disadvantaged children.

President Trump's Trip Abroad
June 2, 2017

Mark Dillen on the negative image of President Trump's first trip overseas.

The 4th “transatlantic dialogue” took place at the University of Luxembourg on Campus Belval in Esch-sur-Alzette. The theme was “creating human bonds through cultural diplomacy”. 320 attendees and 100 cultural actors from Europe, the United States, Mexico, Japan, South Africa and Saudi Arabia discussed and performed around the notion on how cultural diplomacy has a vital role to play in international relations.In 55 discussions and workshops, participants studied inter-sectionalism and common bonds; and how to bridge differences by understanding cultural identities. 

Ukraine’s bid to eventually join the European Union wins a critical vote, a victory in its war against Russia and for democratic values. [...]  At a time when three major countries are pulling away from Europe, Ukraine’s eagerness to embrace the EU and its values shows how much other countries want in. [...] For others outside the EU, however, the allure is a deeper theme, that of civic values such as equality and openness. And they are willing to make big sacrifices to join the Continent’s biggest club.

Moldova's foreign ministry on Monday expelled five Russian diplomats, ordering Moscow to remove them in a move that outraged the country's pro-Russian president. The foreign ministry declared the diplomats "personae non grata," giving the relevant note to the Russian ambassador to Moldova Farit Mukhametshin on Monday, a foreign ministry aide, Artur Sarbu, told AFP, without explaining why they were being expelled.

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