On the first anniversary of the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea, speakers in the Security Council today reiterated their calls for objective and impartial investigations — carried out with a heightened sense of urgency — into the explosions.
Europe
Following is the joint communiqué of the Fourth Trilateral Meeting of the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations, issued today in New York:
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the European Forum Alpbach, in Austria today:
The United Nations Mission Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization in the Central African Republic announced today a plan to dedicate about $3 million to finance quick-impact projects intended to support the reconciliation, political process and peace process, improve security and help restore State authority.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Tatiana Molcean of the Republic of Moldova as the next Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE). She will succeed Olga Algayerova of Slovakia, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her commitment and dedicated service to the Organization.
Bringing the saboteurs of the two Nord Stream undersea gas pipelines to justice will reduce international friction and help prevent future attacks on critical international infrastructure, a journalist told the Security Council today, as delegates discussed both the progress of ongoing national investigations into the incident and the role the Council should play in that regard.
In Sudan, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners are increasing their response to the current crisis. With food insecurity expected to surge to record levels, affecting two fifths of the population, the World Food Programme plans to scale up emergency assistance to some 4.9 million people in the coming months.
Addressing the Security Council today with “a call for an immediate quest for peace”, the Head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) stressed that, while a terrible battle rages in Europe, war is neither a necessity nor destiny, as he outlined the regional group’s focus for 2023.
Despite heightened tensions, the “Agreement on the path to normalisation between Kosovo and Serbia”, reached in Ohrid, North Macedonia in March, marks a historic milestone, the Security Council heard today, as senior representatives from Pristina and Belgrade offered countering perspectives on the drivers of regional insecurity.
The Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) today condemned the arson incident against the Saint Pantelija Orthodox Church in Prizren, which took place earlier this week. She noted that attacks against religious and cultural sites undermine interethnic and interreligious relations.