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SUBJECT [Feb 13] Joint Statement from speakers of Cyprus, Greece, and Egypt, Macedonian Speaker visits Slovenian counterpart, Second Trump-Kim Summit updates
DATE 2019-02-13
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Joint Statement from speakers of Cyprus, Greece, and Egypt

 

PHOTO: the Associated Press

Cypriot Parliamentary Speaker Demetris Syllouris, center, with his counterparts Ali Abdel-Aal of Egypt, right, and Nikos Voutsis of Greece, left, talk during a press conference in the parliament house in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Monday, Feb. 11, 2019.

 

On February 11, the parliament speaker of Cyprus, Demetris Syllouris, his Greek counterpart Nikos Voutsis and Egyptian counterpart Ali Abdel Aal, issued a joint declaration pledging to further strengthen the cooperation of their countries in the fields of energy, tourism, education and culture. They "agreed to fully exploit the potential of parliamentary diplomacy and to consider the possibility of cooperating with other Parliaments of countries in the region which share the same principles".

 

Cyprus and Greece have developed tripartite cooperation at governmental level with Egypt, Israel and Jordan, holding annual meetings of their leaders dealing with political, military, economic, agricultural, educational and cultural cooperation.

 

Cypriot government sources have said that a fourth tripartite cooperation agreement with Lebanon is in the making.

 

 

Macedonian Speaker Talat Xhaferi visits Slovenian counterpart Dejan Zidan in Slovenia

 

PHOTO: STAnews

Macedonian Speaker Talet Xhaferi (left) meets with his counterpart Dejan Zidan (right) on February 11, a day before the Slovenian National Assembly ratifies the NATO Accession Protocol for North Macedonia.

 

On February 11, Macedonian Speaker Talet Xhaferi visited his Slovenian counterpart Dejan Zidan in Ljubljana. In the joint press conference, Zidan spoke of a “historical moment” with the Macedonian parliament speaker. The Slovenian National Assembly ratified the NATO Accession Protocol for North Macedonia, by 72:12 on February 12, making Slovenia the second NATO country after Greece to endorse the document

 

About the Prespa Agreement with Greece changing Macedonia’s name, Xhaferi said the deal set forth that the new name applies with the ratification of North Macedonia’s NATO Accession Protocol in the Greek Parliament, which happened on February 8. However, procedure-wise, the agreement stipulates that after the ratification in Greek parliament Macedonia needs to notify the United Nations on the name change, after which all UN countries need to implement internal legislation to use the new name.

 

 

Second Trump-Kim Summit updates

 

PHOTO: Yonhap

Korea’s National Assembly Leader Moon Hee-sang (right) meets with US. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (left)

 

 

South Korean Parliamentary Speaker Moon met with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan on February 11, and reaffirmed the ironclad alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea. They pledged to maintain close coordination to ensure the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea.

 

 

Kuwait Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim meets founders of Ban Ki-moon center for Global Citizens

 

PHOTO: Kuwait News Agency

National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim (right) with former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left)

 

Kuwait’s National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim received on February 12 the founders of Ban Ki-moon Center for Global Citizens, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former President of Austria Heinz Fisher. The meeting was held during the third board meeting of the Women Empowerment Forum in Kuwait.

 

 

BY: MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr)