Plenary meeting: Tuesday, 20 September 2022 - 9:00 a.m.

1. Brazil: His Excellency Jair Messias Bolsonaro, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil

2. Senegal: His Excellency Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal

3. Chile: His Excellency Gabriel Boric Font, President of the Republic of Chile

4. Jordan: His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein: King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

5. Colombia: His Excellency Gustavo Petro Urrego, President of the Republic of Colombia

"We are on the brink of World War III, which the West is compulsively pushing for. And this is no longer a fear or expectation, it is a fact. Russia is at war with the collective West, with NATO and its allies (though not with all of them: Turkey and Greece have their own position and some European countries, primarily but not only France and Italy, do not want to actively participate in a war with Russia). Yet, the threat of a third world war is getting closer and closer.

The Office of the President of Ukraine has published its recommendations for a draft treaty on security guarantees.

The Kyiv Security Compact is a joint document on strategic partnership that unites Ukraine and the guarantor states.

Recommendations

The recommendations provide for a multi-level approach to guarantees. A core group of allies would make commitments to support Ukraine’s armed forces, while a broader group would provide non-military guarantees built around sanctions mechanisms.

The European Commission has adopted a European Media Freedom Act, a novel set of rules to protect media pluralism and independence in the EU. The proposed Regulation includes, among others, safeguards against political interference in editorial decisions and against surveillance. It puts a focus on the independence and stable funding of public service media as well as on the transparency of media ownership and of the allocation of state advertising. It also sets out measures to protect independence of editors and disclose conflicts of interest.

The situation has deteriorated such that Hungary has become an “electoral autocracy”

EU inaction exacerbated the backslide; recovery funds should be withheld until the country complies with EU recommendations and court rulings.

Lack of progress in the Article 7 process would amount to a rule of law breach by the Council

Parliament condemns the “deliberate and systematic efforts of the Hungarian government” to undermine European values and demands results in the Article 7 process.

Authors: Bryan Frederick, Samuel Charap, Scott Boston, Stephen J. Flanagan, Michael J. Mazarr, Jennifer D.P. Moroney, Karl P. Mueller

Source: Rand Corpiation

Pathway 0 Escalation Spiral That Could Have Already Begun.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a a Eurasian political, economic and security organization. In terms of geographic scope and population, it is the world's largest regional organization, covering approximately 60% of the area of Eurasia, 40% of the world population, and more than 30% of global GDP.

The SCO is governed by the Heads of State Council (HSC), its supreme decision-making body, which meets once a year.

Membership

Putin’s regime now faces a difficult choice; the war is dragging on and its undersupplied forces are likely becoming demoralized as they come under pressure from Ukraine’s well-organized and well-armed army. Putin now essentially has three options.

Ranking of EU countries by number of billionaires

1. Germany
2. Italy
3. Sweden
4. France
5. Spain
6. Austria
7. Netherlands
8. Czech Republic
9. Ireland
10. Denmark
11. Finland
12. Poland
13. Portugal
14. Cyprus
15. Greece
16. Belgium
17. Bulgaria
18. Romania
19. Slovakia
20. Estonia
21. Hungary

Germany

As of 2022, there are 43 sovereign states in the world with a monarch as head of state, 13 in Asia, 12 in Europe, 9 in the Americas, 6 in Oceania and 3 in Africa.

Common wealth realms