Undertones in Pakistan: Military, Women, Blasphemy

What was talked about in Pakistan in 2022?

Written byCivic Media Observatory

Posted 12 December 2022 

Illustration showing a map of Pakistan's 2022 floods, by Global Voices

This story is part of Undertones, Global Voices’ Civic Media Observatory‘s newsletter. Researchers are reflecting on their country’s media ecosystems, strongest narratives of the year, and what we can expect in 2023. We are kicking off this series with Pakistan. Whenever you click on a narrative, you will be able to see more analysis and related media posts upholding it. Subscribe to Undertones.

In 2022, Pakistan lived through historic floods, the ousting of its Prime Minister (who was then also nearly killed), and an uptick in religious violence.

Anti-military narratives on the rise

One of the most interesting twists this year was the growing anti-military sentiment in the country, a trend that is expected to persist in 2023. Pakistan’s top military brass is considered the most powerful actor in the country, as generals have governed Pakistan for half of its existence and have molded its politics behind the curtain during the other half.

In April 2022, Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from power in a parliamentary vote of no confidence a few weeks after he fell out of line with the army’s leadership. Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) and an extremely popular and polarizing figure, has openly blamed the military for his deposition, taking his immense following with him on his anti-military crusade. Apolitical commentators and journalists have also openly criticized the military’s omnipresence in Pakistani politics. We have covered this unprecedented trend in Pakistan in this newsletter: “Anti-army hashtags gain rare visibility in Pakistan.”

This narrative may get stronger in 2023 as the country faces general elections between July and September, says Ali Osman, one of our researchers on Pakistan. Another hypothesis is that Khan might soften his stance towards the military to win back their support. It would not be that surprising, as Khan has already backtracked on his tough stance against the United States.

The most vigorous narrative here is “Pakistan's military must stop meddling in the country's politics.” Similarly, Pakistanis have also been pointing out the military’s economic stronghold on the country by stating that “Pakistan’s military is an unaccountable business enterprise.”

Women’s activism is challenged

Life for women journalists in Pakistan is hard. This year, they have faced unprecedented online attacks and harassment by Khan supporters and government officials. One accusation leveled against them is that these women journalists are being paid by opposition politicians to smear Khan’s reputation. The narrative here is that “female journalists are out to get the PTI.” 

“Women also saw sexism being normalized in the broader political discourse,” says Ramsha Jahangir, another researcher. Misogynistic remarks by political leaders made the headlines for Pakistan’s Women’s Day march on March 8 2022, called the Aurat March. One of the main narratives circulating at the time was: “Feminists are trying to foist western values on Pakistan.”

 “Misinformation and a battle of narratives are central to the struggle for gender rights in Pakistan,” Osman says.

Women activists, on their part, say that “women journalists in Pakistan are unfairly targeted and subjected to criticism and abuse.” These narratives are expected to continue in 2023, as the military establishment continues to crack down on journalists and civil society members.

Outrage over anachronistic blasphemy laws

Ever since its inception in 1947, Pakistan was meant to be a secular country, but today, the country is perceived by most of its citizenry as an Islamic state, with secularists being in the minority. Secularist principles eroded due to Islamist influence exerted throughout time. In particular, Islamist military dictator Gen. Zia-ul-Haq inserted into Pakistan’s Penal Code the harshest and most controversial blasphemy laws among Muslim-majority countries in the 1980s.

“As these laws do not care for evidence, they have become the worst oppressive tools. They have taken many lives and have also become a boon to the rise of religious extremism in Pakistani society,” Osman says. Many Pakistanis have spoken out against these laws by stating that “blasphemy laws in Pakistan are arbitrary, unjust and lethal” and“violent religious mobs are treated with impunity in Pakistan.”

In 2022, there have been additional lynchings and extrajudicial killings in Pakistan, where punishment is enacted by mobs who take the law into their own hands before arrest or trial. Those supporting extrajudicial violence state that  “mob justice against criminals is an act of bravery and righteousness.”

Other noteworthy narratives that are circulating in Pakistan:

• “The government is incapable of governing Pakistan“

• “Western democracy is not suitable for Pakistan“

• “Pakistani politics are rooted in sexism“

 

View Pakistan's entire 2022 dataset

LGBT Community Fearful as Russia Toughens Law on "Promotion" of Sexuality

by Jay Beecher | 12 Dec, 2022


Members of Russia’s LGBT community have told American news outlet CNN of their growing fears amid Russia’s recent ramping-up of legislation, which the community considers to be harsh and bigoted.

Russia’s Upper House, giving its final approval to a new legislative package cracking down on what it called “LGBT propaganda” in November, it handed the legislation over to President Putin, who signed it into law without hesitation.

The legislation, expanding on Russian law adopted in 2013, added restrictions on the promotion of what it calls "non-traditional sexual relations and/or preferences," giving Russian officials the power to hand out heavy penalties, including prison sentences to members of the LGBT community.

"We are citizens, the same as everyone else," Yaroslava, a young mother in a lesbian relationship told CNN on Sunday, Dec. 11.

"We pay taxes, support charities. But the government is doing everything to force us to leave the country. Honestly, it is scary to stay."

"We are the most vulnerable category within LGBT," she added. "We have a child, and they (the Russian authorities) can put pressure on us."

"Our mere existence is illegal for our state and even for our child. According to the law, we are people of non-traditional sexual orientation and children should not see us or that we exist at all. Our son sees us. By that logic, our very existence is 'propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations' within our family. That means we are illegal."

Yaroslava and her partner Yana, both from St. Petersburg, said they are having to take extra measures to protect themselves and their family. This includes using anonymous or private accounts on social media and sending their son to a private playschool more tolerant of the LGBT community, and using a private hospital where there is less risk of a doctor reporting them to child protection authorities.

The legislation has led to persecution and a rise in the display of discriminatory views by some Russians.



OpenDemocracy reported on Nov. 16 that LGBT human rights organisation Nash Svit (Our World) had documented an increase in attacks on members of the gay community by Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

After interviewing numerous victims, Nash Svit claimed that, during the ongoing invasion, Russian troops had subjected members of Ukraine’s LGBT community in Kherson and Mariupol to a string of homophobic abuse, including sexual violence and imprisonment.

Oleksandr, one of the men the organisation interviewed, said he was detained at a Russian filtration checkpoint in March whilst attempting to leave Mariupol.

Russian soldiers looked through his mobile phone and, discovering that he was gay, he was jailed on "trumped-up terrorism charges".

Upon prison administrators being told of his sexual orientation, he was subjected to repeated sexual violence by other inmates, with no help being offered by prison staff.

"The prisoners began to harass me," he said.

"For a while I resisted, but after a few days I was forced to do what they said. Almost every evening, 10 to 15 men raped me, until I was released by representatives of the administration."

Friends Ilya and Mykola told Nash Svit they were detained at a Russian checkpoint near Kherson in March whilst trying to deliver medicine and food to local people suffering from Russia’s ongoing invasion.

After finding a pornographic video on Ilya’s phone, Russian soldiers punched both men several times before stealing some of the medicine, food, and the small amount of cash the men carried in their wallets.

Ilya and Mykola were released after a two-hour ordeal, with soldiers shouting homophobic insults and firing bullets at their car.

Nash Svit has a network of staff operating as monitors across Ukraine, documenting anti-LGBT attacks committed by Russian soldiers.

"The monitors have been working in the network for quite a long time and LGBTIQ representatives know that there is a network of monitors, so if there is a case, they immediately contact a representative of the network," Oleksandra Semenova, a long-time member of the organisation told OpenDemocracy.

"Psychologically and morally, it is hard for everyone and as all monitors of the network are open LGBTIQ people and, of course, can be attacked," she added.


Jay Beecher is a British journalist now living in Kyiv. Having written for top British newspapers such as the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror, his favorite topics to cover are crime and politics. Beecher came to Ukraine in May and spent time on the front lines in the east reporting on Russian war crimes.

'TRADITIONAL'FEMICIDE AND MISOGYNY

‘Traditional’ narratives continue to roll back women’s rights in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Emerging Europe Staff

December 14, 2022

Governments across Eastern Europe and Central Asia are increasingly promoting ‘traditional values’ and equating the protection of gender equality and women’s rights with a loss of cultural and traditional identity, as part of efforts to secure broader support for their anti-human rights agenda.

The Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and a pervasive focus on “traditional values” have contributed to a deterioration in human rights and rising levels of domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, according to a new report from Amnesty International.

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The report, Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Protect Women from Violence in Crises and Beyond, exposes the institutional, social and cultural challenges faced by survivors of domestic violence in the region and demonstrates how disinterested and ill-adapted state institutions are in regard to their needs.

Institutional, legal and other safeguards against such violence are largely inadequate and are being eroded even further due to a surge in traditional, patriarchal and openly misogynistic political rhetoric.

“Amnesty has documented the damaging effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown measures on safeguards against domestic violence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Crucially, these cannot be divorced from ineffective legal and institutional frameworks in the region, and deeply harmful political and social dynamics,” says Natalia Nozadze, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia researcher.

“The pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the unspeakable horrors of conflicts, and their ramifications across the region have made it more difficult for those experiencing domestic violence to report it. It’s also now more difficult to flee unsafe situations, access shelters and other critical support services, obtain protection orders (if at all available) or rely on effective legal remedies.”
Promotion of ‘traditional values’ undermines protections for survivors

According to recent data from the World Health Organisation, around 20 per cent of women in Eastern Europe and 18 per cent of women in Central Asia have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.

At the same time, most countries in the region have failed to take a stance against such violence or take effective steps to protect women’s rights.

Recent years have seen protections of the rights of women and girls, including those who are survivors of domestic violence, eroded across the globe, as exemplified by the US Supreme Court’s decision to roll back abortion rights and Turkey’s withdrawal from the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention).

Many governments in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have followed this general trend.

“Governments across Eastern Europe and Central Asia are increasingly promoting ‘traditional values’ and equating the protection of gender equality and women’s rights with a loss of cultural and traditional identity, as part of efforts to secure broader support for their anti-human rights agenda. As a result, patriarchal attitudes, misogyny and homophobia have not only become more entrenched, but have flourished,” adds Nozadze.

The Russian authorities offer a prominent example, having introduced state-sponsored homophobia and an unrelenting crackdown on human rights and women’s rights. In 2017, the Russian parliament even decriminalised some forms of domestic violence. The constitutional amendments adopted in 2020 promoted “protection of the family” and “protection of marriage as a union between a man and a woman”.

Similarly, in 2017 Kazakhstan decriminalised “intentional infliction of minor injury” and “battery”, while also weakening protections for survivors of domestic violence. In both Russia and Kazakhstan, activists reported a spike in cases of domestic violence following decriminalisation.

Belarus considered a draft law on domestic violence yet rejected it in October 2018 after President Alexander Lukashenko said it was against “Belarusian, Slavic traditions” and added that a “good belting could sometimes be useful” in domestic settings.

Belarusian women are discouraged from reporting domestic violence because doing so may trigger a process that would see their family entered into a “social risk” register, which could result in the loss of parental rights and the institutionalisation of their children.

Other leaders, including President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, in 2019, openly supported “a state based on traditional values” as opposed to a society that “does not distinguish between men and women”. Azerbaijan continues to force the survivors of domestic violence to go through mandatory mediation with their abusers for the “resumption of family affairs”.

Istanbul Convention

Only three non-EU countries in the region, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, are state parties to the Istanbul Convention, while these same three and Kyrgyzstan have directly criminalised domestic violence.

While most countries in the region have made some progress by adopting or reforming their laws to address domestic violence, the region lacks effective protection and support mechanisms for survivors of domestic violence as existing laws and policies remain inadequate.

Even in countries where domestic violence is criminalised, burdensome legal hurdles often leave survivors without effective protection or access to justice.

In Ukraine, domestic violence meets the threshold of a criminal offence only if it has been officially documented as “systematic,” which means the perpetrator must have faced administrative proceedings for domestic abuse on at least three separate occasions.

“It is absolutely crucial that protection and empowerment of women play a central role in public health policies, yet for many countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, this ideal remains an entirely unachieved goal,” says Nozadze. “But there is a tool for establishing an effective and comprehensive legal framework on domestic violence — the ground-breaking Istanbul Convention. It is open to Belarus, Russia and countries in Central Asia, along with those within the Council of Europe.”

“Nonetheless any institutional changes will be feeble unless governments address the surge in ‘traditional’ narratives, which continue to roll back women’s rights. Instead of exploiting these attitudes for political gain, governments in the region should place women’s rights at the centre of their policies.”

Corruption is no longer a tenable dividing line between East and West

Saahil Menon
Investment Analyst

December 16, 2022

The arrest of MEP Eva Kaili over Qatar-linked bribery charges goes to show that kickbacks and shakedowns are just as brazenly entertained in Brussels as elsewhere in Europe.

Ever since the EU enlargement in mid-2004, a palpable ‘them and us’ culture has reigned supreme between the bloc’s founders and its newcomers to the East.

Needless to say, the latter are othered to this very day as a result of historical injustices beyond their control. Transitioning from Leninism to free market economies in such a short span of time has given rise to unimaginable wealth disparity across emerging Europe.

Their societies are characterised by a coterie of overprivileged magnates in cahoots with the government while the rest of the population contends with mediocre living standards and stifled earning potential.

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The inability to land well-paid jobs and work one’s way up on merit is precisely why there has been such an acute brain drain from ex-Soviet republics and satellites alike. The main downside of this phenomenon is the extent to which Western legacy nations have been psychologically empowered by the influx of emerging Europe’s best and brightest.

Not only do these migratory trends lay claim to the superiority complex France, Germany and the Benelux boast over their worse off Eastern neighbours, but they lend credence to how pervasive graft and nepotism remains throughout the ex-Warsaw Pact space. This stigma continues to plague the union’s most recent members and be used as a pretext to move the goalpost for candidate countries.

In a timely twist of fate, we now learn that the EU’s buttoned-up bureaucrats are not as squeaky clean as they make themselves out to be. Greek MEP Eva Kaili, also a European Parliament vice-president, was caught red-handed by Belgian authorities with bags of cash stashed away in her house, as were four other ex-officials, also allegedly on the take.

The 44-year-old Greek Social Democrat was arrested in Belgium last Friday over allegations she was part of a group accepting bribes from Qatar in exchange for promoting policies friendly to the Gulf state. Both Qatar and the lawmaker have denied any wrongdoing.

The return on investment Qatar was allegedly seeking was for high-profile parliamentarians to sing its praises and polish its tarnished image over human rights violations. More importantly, however, Doha is hellbent on securing visa-free access for its citizens to the Schengen Zone. Passing such legislation would catapult its passport to the GCC’s most powerful travel document, on par with their near-peer Emirati rivals.
Keeping the Gulf at arm’s length

It is no coincidence that Europe finds itself cozying up to the Gulf monarchies as energy insecurity reaches a tipping point. Qatar, in particular, is known for punching above its weight whenever the opportunity to do so arises.

The tiny peninsula often resorts to soft power tools as a means of making its presence felt both regionally and globally. The biggest takeaway from this scandal is that corruption knows no boundaries. The East draws heavy flak for organised crime and misappropriating funds even though Mediterranean policymakers are just as receptive to side hustles which ultimately line their pockets. It is high time the same degree of scrutiny were applied across the board rather than being skewed towards a certain geography.

Besides Qatar, a visa waiver agreement was also in the offing with neighbouring Kuwait, where the death penalty is still in effect and religious pluralism is not recognised. Should a deal of this kind materialise, the European Union will have a lot to answer for.

Preaching respect for humanity to the rest of the world while aligning itself with both theocracies is frankly the height of double standards. The Gulf’s notoriety for denying its inhabitants the most fundamental civil liberties is well known by now, not to mention anything of how abysmally women and minorities are treated.

Forging closer alliances with malign actors whose values are totally incongruous with those of the West warrants far greater introspection, especially as they attempt to shore up worldwide support for Ukraine in the name of defending democracy.

Europe’s outreach to the Gulf is a self-serving endeavour that will admittedly reap fruit in the form of affordable LNG. This short-lived succour, however, is more than offset by the loss of face wrought upon the establishment as further findings of Qatargate unravel.

Its ruling elite will have an especially hard time convincing the public why Russia and China pose a threat to their way of life while these inherently repressive Middle Eastern regimes get a free pass. Palm-greasing controversies implicating a Muslim-majority third country serve as cannot fodder for the bloc’s right-wing conservatives. The Visegràd Group is renowned for taking an overtly anti-Islamic stance when it comes to inbound migration. Accusations of its most prominent members, Hungary and Poland, failing to enforce rule of law domestically have all but turned on their head in the past few days.

To truly come clean and absolve itself of any wrongdoings, the European Union needs to conduct a full-fledged investigation into the abolition of entry requirements for the UAE back in 2014. It is somewhat unjust that the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) nations are appraised annually on how closely their governance models and policies dovetail with the EU whereas other Annex II states are not subject to similar checks and balances.

Their latest Visa Suspension Report warns the countries included against offering so-called “Golden Passports” and liberalising visa regulations. Meanwhile, the UAE is still harbouring countless high-profile Russians thanks to its Golden Visa residency scheme. Two Dubai-based companies have also been involved in facilitating the supply of Iranian-made UAVs to Russia, as per the US State Department.
Romania and Bulgaria shortchanged

Consigning Bucharest and Sofia to half-baked membership was an ill-thought-out move on the part of Brussels. At a time when it is of the utmost importance that the European Union demonstrate solidarity and expand its geopolitical influence, the exact opposite has transpired courtesy of a few internal spoilers.

On the one hand, keeping both Romania and Bulgaria out of Schengen could be down to their proximity to Turkey. The marked surge in irregular arrivals via Southeastern Europe and Asia Minor undoubtedly had something to do with these peripheral states receiving the cold-shoulder.

That said, Croatia is now officially part of the free movement area in spite of sharing a 932 kilometre-long border with Bosnia and Herzegovina – a chokepoint for thousands of Afghan and Syrian economic migrants masquerading as asylum seekers.

The agenda behind this regrettable decision centres on preserving the current status quo over and above any apprehensions of another refugee crisis in the making. It is no secret that emerging Europe has fared much better than Western counterparts when it comes to safety, social harmony, the ease of doing business and fiscal attractiveness. In light of these shifting sands, the French and Germans will stop at nothing to cut the up-and-coming Eastern bloc nations back down to size.

The Schengen vote is a classic case of divide-and-rule intended to stir up animosity between three nations on an equal footing with one another. Corruption only goes so far in credibly justifying why the Romanians and Bulgarians must now hold out a decade longer for admission, even though they had begun cleaning up their act prior to Zagreb.

EU corruption scandal puts democracy under attack - European Parliament head

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IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS

Image caption,

Eva Kaili was arrested on Saturday and has reportedly had her assets frozen

By James Gregory

BBC News

The president of the European Parliament has warned that "European democracy is under attack", following allegations that Qatar bribed EU officials to win influence.

Roberta Metsola said that "open, free, democratic societies are under attack".

Belgian police have arrested four people, among them European Parliament Vice-President Eva Kaili.

The four have been charged with corruption and money-laundering. Qatar has denied wrongdoing.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the accusations were "very serious" and called for the creation of a new ethics body to oversee the bloc.

The BBC's Brussels correspondent, Jessica Parker, says details released by Belgian authorities in the last few days left many people's jaws on the floor.

MEPs who spoke to our correspondent say they are shocked by both the scale and blatancy of the accusations.

Belgian police seized cash worth about €600,000 ($632,000; £515,000) in 16 searches in Brussels on Friday. Computers and mobile phones were also taken.

No suspects have been publicly named, but Ms Kaili is understood to be among those who have been indicted.

Ms Kaili - an MEP for eight years - was suspended from her duties as one of 14 vice-presidents by Metsola.

She has also been suspended from the parliament's Socialists and Democrats Group and expelled from the Greek centre-left Pasok party.

Prosecutors in Greece have reportedly frozen all of Ms Kaili's assets.

Since Friday, IT-resources of 10 parliamentary employees have been "frozen" to prevent the disappearance of data necessary for the investigation.

Watchdogs and opposition MEPs said the bribery investigation could represent one of the biggest corruption scandals in the parliament's history.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose country is a member state but who has frequently clashed with the bloc, mocked the EU after the allegations surfaced.

Tweeting a photo of former US presidents Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush that is often used as a meme, he referred to the European Commission's recommendation to freeze billions of euros in funds earmarked for Hungary.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

Prosecutors said they suspected a Gulf state had been influencing economic and political decisions of the parliament for several months, especially by targeting aides.

Local media has named the state as Qatar, although the Qatari government said any claims of misconduct were "gravely misinformed".

Ms Kaili's responsibilities as vice-president include the Middle East. She has been a defender of Qatar in the past.

The European Parliament is the EU's only directly elected institution. Some 705 members of parliament, elected by voters in the 27 nations which make up the EU, meet to scrutinise proposed legislation and vote through European law.

More on this story

• Four charged in EU Parliament corruption case

  11 December

  

• Top MEP arrested over alleged bribery by Gulf state

  10 December

  

Renewables, not gas, key to South Caucasus role in Central Europe’s energy security

December 12, 2022
Craig Turp-Balazs


An electricity cable on the floor of the Black Sea might soon bring cheap, renewable energy from Azerbaijan to the heart of Europe, as the EU’s Global Gateway begins to bear fruit.

European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, confirmed on December 11 that the EU was ready to mobilise 2.3 billion euros for the construction of the Black Sea Strategic Submarine Electricity Cable, which will facilitate the transmission of Azeri energy to Central Europe through Georgia and Romania.

Varhelyi’s announcement came a day before foreign ministers from the EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries met in Brussels to discuss how the EaP can further contribute to strengthening stability and prosperity in the region.

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The money for the Black Sea cable is part of a wider, 17 billion euros programme for the EaP countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine; Belarus has been suspended since 2020) that encompasses several transport and communications projects, and which is itself part of the EU’s so-called Global Gateway, an initiative to develop new infrastructure in developing countries.

First announced in December last year, Global Gateway aims to mobilise 300 billion euros in public and private infrastructure investment by 2027, and has been touted as an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which was launched in 2013 to fund infrastructure projects in developing countries but which critics say traps recipients in debt.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the begetter of the Global Gateway initiative, made no attempt to hide its geopolitical importance on December when she convened the first meeting of its board.

“Global Gateway is above all a geopolitical project, which seeks to position Europe in a competitive international marketplace,” she said. “It is a critical tool because infrastructure investments are at the heart of today’s geopolitics. Partners around the world want to work with Europe.”

Von der Leyen is expected to be in the Romanian capital Bucharest later this week to sign a framework agreement for the Black Sea submarine cable with the governments of Romania, Hungary, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

 
Azerbaijan’s untapped potential

According to the International Energy Agency, Azerbaijan has a significant untapped potential for renewable energy, as it is relatively sunny and windy and also has sizable and hydro, biomass and geothermal resources. The country plans to increase the share of renewables in its energy mix to 30 per cent by 2030 and it is currently developing a five-year Renewable Energy Sources strategy.

When complete, the cable will total around 1,195 kilometres in length and will also be equipped with a fibre optics that will provide a high-quality internet connection between Romania and Georgia.

In July, the European Union and Azerbaijan signed a new energy agreement to double gas imports from Azerbaijan to Europe. Under the agreement, an additional four billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas will be delivered to the EU by the end of this year (bringing the total to 12 bcm) with a view to increasing supplies to a minimum of 20 bcm annually by 2027.

While this comes nowhere near replacing the around 150 bcm Europe imported from Russia prior to its invasion of Ukraine, the agreement presented longer-term opportunities for Azerbaijan to tap into the EU’s growing demand for green energy and attract interest in the country’s renewable energy agenda, according to Ilayda Nijhar, a global risk analyst.

‘It all depends on connectivity’

Other Global Gateway commitments include the Trans-Balkan Electricity corridor to connect the transmission system of Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina to Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Italy, with 41.2 million euros estimated total investment, as well as photovoltaic plants in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia and wind parks in North Macedonia and Serbia.

The EU has also signed green hydrogen and critical raw material partnerships with Namibia and Kazakhstan and a green hydrogen partnership with Egypt and in a Team Europe approach will support the Just Transition Partnership with Indonesia and South Africa with 2.4 billion euros and three billion euros respectively.

When it comes to strategic transport corridors, investments include the rehabilitation of a 34-kilometre section of railway from Beljakovce in North Macedonia to the Bulgarian border worth 565 million euros in total investments and 279 euros million in total investments for a section along Corridor X on the Belgrade-Niš railway line.

According to Commissioner Várhelyi, the future prosperity and stability of the EU and its neighbourhood largely depends on connectivity.

“This is where our relations should be the strongest, and this is where we have already started laying the foundations for more resilient economies and creating growth and jobs locally,” he says.

“The connectivity agenda of the European Union is being implemented with the Western Balkans and the EU’s neighbourhood regions to enable cutting traveling times, providing more and faster trade routes, faster digital connections, and building new energy partnerships. This is how Europe can help the region to grow faster and provide a more attractive investment climate which will bring jobs and a future for its people.”

Why heiress Marlene Engelhorn wants most of her fortune to be taxed away 

• FRANCE 24 English

What would you do if you inherited millions of dollars? Would you reimburse your debts? Go on a travelling spree? Or lobby your government to take it away from you in the name of tax justice?

Austrian heiress #MarleneEngelhorn was left with millions of euros from her family #business. But as co-founder of the organisation Tax Me Now, she wants the government to take around 90 percent of her wealth through a more equitable taxation system. She joined us for #Perspective.