International

The Council of Europe today unreservedly condemned the use of poison gas in Syria and called on states which have not yet signed the international treaty against chemical weapons to do so. Poison gas stocks in Syria must be put under international supervision in order to prevent their further use by whatever party. Further violence cannot lead to a sustainable peace, stated the resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which was passed on the initiative of SP Senator Tiny Kox, chair of the United Left group in the Assembly.

From 17th-25th August Members of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation paid a visit to Tanzania and Ethiopia. The main question they wanted to address was whether the government is right to put more emphasis on trade than on development cooperation, a line established by the previous cabinet and continued under the current minister responsible for these policy areas, Labour’s Lilianne Ploumen. The policy is coupled with deep cuts in spending on development cooperation: from 2010 onwards the annual budget was reduced by €2 billion, from around €5 billion to €3 billion.