EU eyes talks with Taliban but no plans to recognize them - by Lorne Cook and Kirsten Grieshaber

The European Union has no immediate plans to recognize the Taliban after their sweeping victory in Afghanistan but will talk with the militants to ensure that European citizens and Afghans who have worked with the EU can leave safely, the bloc’s top diplomat said Tuesday.

peaking after leading emergency talks among the EU’s foreign ministers, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also underlined the importance of opening talks with the Taliban to help prevent a new exodus of refugees as a humanitarian crisis unfolds in the conflict-ravaged country.

“We have to get in touch with the authorities in Kabul, whatever they are. The Taliban have won the war, so we will have to talk with them,” Borrell told reporters. “This dialogue will also have to focus on the means to prevent the return of foreign terrorists.”

“It’s not a matter of official recognition, it’s a matter of dealing with” the Taliban, Borrell said.

The EU has decided to suspend development assistance to the Afghan government now that the Taliban has seized power, but the 27-nation bloc is weighing whether to boost humanitarian aid.

Read more at: EU eyes talks with Taliban but no plans to recognize them | World | stltoday.com

The Netherlands: Turkey summons Dutch diplomat over Armenian genocide motion

The Turkish government called on the Dutch charge d‘affaires in Ankara on Saturday to express its anger at two bills proposed by the Christian Union party, the first of which would formally classify the events of 1915, when 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire, as a genocide.

 The second bill would call on a Dutch official to be present during the annual remembrance day in Armenia on April 24. At present, 23 countries, including Russia, recognize the 1915 killings as a genocide. The Turkish authorities, however, dispute the Armenian version of events, arguing that there were atrocities on both sides, and bitterly contest all charges of genocide.

 ead more: Turkey summons Dutch diplomat over Armenian genocide motion — RT Newsline

Spain: Catalonia: Not one country in the world has so-far recognized Catalonia's declaration of independence

Carles Puigdemont: "to be or not to be?

Spain’s Senate on Friday voted to grant Madrid powers to impose direct rule on Catalonia, shortly after the semi-autonomous region’s parliament approved a motion declaring independence
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Herewith are five questions about what it means to make a unilateral declaration of independence:

Known by its acronym UDI, the term was first coined in 1965 when the former Rhodesia’s minority white government declared unilateral independence from British colonial rule.

The process itself is when a new state is established within an existing country, declaring itself sovereign and independent without the consent of the entity, country or state from which it is seceding.

“Any entity has the right to declare its independence. But to become a state that of course requires a territory, a population and authorities,” said Jean-Claude Piris, a Brussels-based international law consultant and former EU legal services director for 23 years.

“But what matters most is recognition by the international community,” he said. “Everyone has the right to issue a declaration of independence, but that in itself has no international consequence.”
Piris said very few countries will recognize Catalonia and “I guarantee you no one will recognize them” in the EU.

“Therefore it will remain an empty declaration: Catalonia will not be represented in international organizations, they will not sit in the EU, they will not be able to do anything and legally they will remain part of Spain,” he said.

Is Catalonia’s UDI legal and what will happen next: -

“What matters now is what will happen nationally and in the streets,” said Piris.

“Are there going to be demonstrations, barricades? Will people accept and submit” if Spain triggers Catalan guardianship . . . “or will there be violence?”

Spain “experienced a civil war not so long ago and just before World War II,” Piris pointed out.

If Catalonia becomes an independent state the implications “cannot be underestimated” said Narin Idriz, a researcher at the Hague-based Asser Institute
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“All European Union member states cherish their territorial integrity, they will not want the same thing to happen to them, therefore it will be very difficult to find any support,” she said.

Bottom-line: at this point deposed Catalan leader Mr.Carles Puigdemont declaration of independence is not recognized by any country, and he personally risks arrest if he continues to defy the Spanish Constitution.

EU-Digest

Netherlands - The Hague-based ICC accepts Palestine's status

The International Criminal Court has accepted the status of Palestine, clearing the way for war crimes in the Occupied Territories to be investigated, Al Jazeera has learned.

Monday's decision amounts to a symbolic victory for the Palestinians who will get a seat at the ICC: in theory, it is now legally possible for war crimes to be investigated in the Occupied Territories if requested.

The ICC, which is governed by the Rome Statute, is the first permanent, treaty-based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.

The court, whose headquarters is at The Hague in the Netherlands, is an independent international organisation and is not part of the UN system.

While its expenses are funded primarily by "states parties", the ICC also receives voluntary contributions from governments, international organisations, individuals, corporations and other entities.

Al Jazeera's Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, said the acceptance happened at an open meeting on Monday of the assembly of states parties of the ICC.

"What this means is that Palestine is now listed as a 'non-state party observer' - exactly the same status as the US or Russia or every other country that is not a signatory of the Rome Statute," he said.

Read more: Hague-based ICC accepts Palestine's status - Americas - Al Jazeera English