EU at UN General Assembly: standing in for a credible rules-based global order
The European Union on Wednesday at the 72nd UN General Assembly demonstrated a strong commitment to multilateralism and joint solutions for global challenges. President of the European Council Donald Tusk, speaking on behalf of the EU at the General Assembly, underlined the EU’s support for the United Nations. First Vice-President Frans Timmermans at a high-level ministerial event on the Role of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the Economic Empowerment of Women stressed that violence against women is a challenge for every society and that fighting for the rights for women is the way forward. He as well as High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini also spoke at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum which brought together the public and private sector. High Representative/Vice-President Mogherini, most notably, chaired the E3/EU+3 and Iran Ministerial Meeting on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). On top of a number of bilateral meetings, she also addressed a high-level event on Libya under the auspices of the UN Secretary General, participated at a trilateral EU-UN-African Union meeting and delivered a statement on behalf of the European Union at the ministerial meeting of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBT), urging the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to make credible progress on its obligations to denuclearise. She also hosted an informal session with Western Balkans leaders, where she was joined by Commissioner Johannes Hahn, who earlier in the day met with the Foreign Ministers of the region. Commissioners Hahn and Neven Mimica presented the European External Investment Plan as part of the EU’s contribution to Global Goals at an event with UNDP, while Commissioner Christos Stylianides spoke at humanitarian event on South Sudan. Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos spoke at the event marking one year of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, at the GCTF Ministerial Meetings as well as at a high level event Preventing Terrorist Use of the Internet, where he highlighted the EU action in this field. On the agenda on Thursday a meeting of the Libya Quartet and a high level event on Syria.
