Every Monday, the Research Trainees of the CERESE assess the news of the previous week. You can read their opinions below:

I like…

…the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on the status of the Palestinian state’s status in the organization. On 10 May, the General Assembly voted to upgrade Palestine from a non-member observer to a full member. This resolution calls on the Security Council, the organization’s highest authority, to ratify the full accession to the UN. This would allow the Palestinian state to utilize all the diplomatic means offered by the international organization. The US had recently vetoed an attempt to grant full membership to Palestine, but this resolution increases the pressure on Washington. This decision came after comments by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borell, that several European countries will officially recognize the State of Palestine on May 21.

...the European Union’s agreement to use the Russian frozen assets for Ukraine. More specifically, representatives from the EU member states agreed to use 3 billion euros per year from the Russian capital located inside the European borders to help Ukraine’s defensive armament and reconstruction efforts. It is worth noting that since 2022, EU member-states have frozen more than 210 billion euros in assets that belong to Russian citizens and organizations. During the last few months, European officials have been focusing on the subject of utilizing those frozen resources, as Ukraine’s needs for funds remain high while the European economies are being tested by successive crises.

I dislike…

…the threat of sanctions made by US Senators against the International Court of Justice. A dozen US Senators, all belonging to the Republican Party, sent a warning letter to the justices of the ICJ, threatening them with sanctions if the latter issued an arrest warrant against the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The letter declares that the sanctions will not be limited to the justices, but also target their families and associates. This move is a reaction to the rumors that the ICJ has been considering an arrest warrant for war crimes against Netanyahu, as it had done in the case of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. It is an unprecedented attack on International Law by the USA, which intensifies Washington’s long-standing practice of undermining international organizations when their decisions do not align with American interests.

...the meeting between the Presidents of China and France that took place on 6 May. The visit by the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, to Paris turned out to be meaningless, as his talks with the French President, Emmanuel Macron, produced no positive results. Instead, the two leaders agreed to disagree on several issues, including the trade competition between the European Union and China, and each party’s stance towards the Russian–Ukraine war. Other than the two, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was also present at the meeting, but failed to deliver any of her goals for these negotiations.