Tag: Foreign Office

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 8 October 2024.

The UK calls on OSCE participating States to build mutual understanding and combat intolerance based on religion or belief.

Thank you, Madam Moderator, good morning colleagues.

Human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent, mutually reinforcing and crucial to securing lasting peace and security in the world. With more countries engaged in conflict than at any time since the Second World War, we must work harder to ensure respect for human rights.

Vibrant and diverse civic spaces where people can access and enjoy their rights to the freedoms of peaceful assembly, association, and expression are foundational to governance and democracy. A world where civic space continues to decline is one which is less secure.

Similarly, religious intolerance and persecution fuels instability, impeding both conflict prevention and resolution. However, when freedom of religion or belief is respected, and interreligious dialogue is promoted, we can build trust and understanding between communities, helping to secure sustainable peace.

Last year, the UK was pleased to lead with the UAE a landmark UN Security Council resolution on “Tolerance and International Peace and Security,” which directly addresses, for the first time, the persecution of religious minorities in conflict settings.

In putting into practice our commitment to Freedom of Religion or Belief, we must learn the lessons of the past. The global surge in both antisemitism and Islamophobia since October 7th 2023 highlights that there is still much work to be done. All forms of religious hatred are completely unacceptable.

Antisemitism has no place in society, and the UK is determined to tackle it in all its forms. We have committed further funding to the Community Security Trust, enabling them to continue their vital work in protecting UK Jewish communities until 2028.

Alongside domestic action, the UK proudly holds the presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance this year. Our presidency’s theme is “In Plain Sight”, drawing attention to the fact that the Holocaust did not happen in a dark corner. Our presidency is focussing on safeguarding remembrance of the Holocaust, securing the narrative for the future and tackling Holocaust distortion.

We are also taking action to support Muslim communities in the UK. Islamophobia is abhorrent and has no place in society. Our Protective Security for Mosques Scheme provides physical protective security measures in both mosques and associated Muslim faith community centres. The Government is also committed to supporting programmes which monitor and support victims of Islamophobia.

The UK welcomes the work of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to foster tolerance and non-discrimination.  We proudly support the Office’s programme combatting hate crime in our region.

We must all, individually and collectively, work to build mutual understanding and combat intolerance based on religion or belief.  Thank you.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 8 October 2024.

Russian troops involved in the abhorrent use of inhumane chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine have been targeted by new UK sanctions.

• Russia’s Radiological Chemical and Biological Defence (CBR) troops and their commander have been sanctioned for the deployment of barbaric chemical weapons in Ukraine
• UK calls out Russia’s flagrant violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and urges Russia to immediately cease all such activity
• action continues the Foreign Secretary’s personal mission to target the full spectrum of the Kremlin’s malign activity through our arsenal of sanctions

Russian forces have openly admitted to using hazardous chemical weapons on the battlefield, with widespread use of riot control agents and multiple reports of the use of the toxic choking agent chloropicrin – first deployed on the battlefields of WW1.

Russia’s flagrant disregard for the Chemical Weapons Convention is a serious violation of international law. Agents of Putin’s mafia state were also responsible for deploying the deadly nerve agent Novichok on the streets of Salisbury in 2018, and against opposition leader Alexei Navalny in 2020.

Among those sanctioned today are the Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence Troops of the Russian Armed Forces and its leader Igor Kirillov, responsible for helping deploy these barbaric weapons. Kirillov has also been a significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation, spreading lies to mask Russia’s shameful and dangerous behaviour.

Foreign Secretary, David Lammy said:

The UK will not sit idly by whilst Putin and his mafia state ride roughshod over international law, including the Chemical Weapons Convention. I have made it my personal mission to challenge this malign activity, and I will not back down.

Russia’s cruel and inhumane tactics on the battlefield are abhorrent and I will use the full arsenal of powers at my disposal to combat Russia’s malign activity.

Let me be clear; Putin and those who carry out his will have nowhere left to hide. We will continue to use sanctions to directly target and counter the Kremlin’s attempts to sow fear, division and disorder.

Defence Secretary, John Healey said:

Our message to Putin and his regime is clear: you cannot break international law without facing the consequences.

We will not allow such blatant violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention and rules-based international order to go unpunished.

The UK is cracking down on those responsible for these horrific chemical attacks in Ukraine. Our support for Ukraine is ironclad and will continue for as long as it takes.

Also sanctioned today are two Russian Ministry of Defence laboratories for providing support for the development and deployment of these inhumane weapons for use on the frontlines.

The UK is steadfast in supporting Ukraine’s fight for freedom, liberty and victory in the face of these barbaric attacks. We have provided Ukraine with vital equipment and training to protect its people against chemical weapons.

The UK has also committed to delivering £3 billion of military aid to Ukraine every year for as long as they need. The UK’s military, financial, diplomatic and political support for Ukraine is iron-clad. We cannot and will not let aggressors like Putin succeed.

Background

Today’s action comes as the UK delivers a statement to the Organisation’s Executive Council laying out the UK’s commitment to the Chemical Weapons Convention and the OPCW in the face of those who act to undermine it. The full speech can be found here.

Those sanctioned today are:

• the Radiological Chemical and Biological Defence Troops of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation
• Igor Kirillov, Head of the Radiological Chemical and Biological Defence Troops of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation
• the Russian Ministry of Defence 27th Scientific Centre
• the Russian Ministry of Defence 33rd Central Scientific Research and Testing Institute

These targets have been designated under the UK’s Chemical Weapons (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. The individual will be subject to an asset freeze and travel ban, and entities subject to an asset freeze. The asset freeze will apply to all persons within the territory and territorial sea of the UK and to all UK persons, wherever they are in the world. It also prevents funds or economic resources being provided to or for the benefit of the designated person. An individual subject to a travel ban must be refused leave to enter or to remain in the United Kingdom.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 8 October 2024.

Statement by UK Permanent Representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Joanna Roper, at the 107th Executive Council.

Mr Chair, Director General, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates,

I would like to express my thanks to His Excellency, Ambassador Parral, for his continuing strong leadership of this Executive Council. I would also like to thank the Director General, His Excellency, Mr Fernando Arias, for his comprehensive report detailing this organisation’s continuing determined efforts to rid the world of chemical weapons. The achievements are even more remarkable considering the growing challenges presented by a difficult international security environment.

Mr Chair,

The United Kingdom’s national statement will be posted online but I would like to take this opportunity to comment on the appalling situation in Ukraine and the UK’s response.

Russia used the lethal nerve agent, Novichok, on the streets of the UK in 2018, ultimately leading to the death of Dawn Sturgess. Russia used Novichok again to poison Alexei Navalny in 2020. And now we are witness to Russian breaches of the Chemical Weapons Convention on the frontlines in Ukraine. Russia is making systematic use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian forces, including multiple reports of the use of the choking agent chloropicrin, with complete contempt for its legal and moral obligations to uphold the CWC.

The UK will hold all those who use these barbaric weapons to account. Today, my government has therefore announced sanctions on Russia’s Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence Troops and their commander Igor Kirillov, and 2 of their subordinate laboratories, for their role in Russia’s use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.

We call on Russia to immediately cease its use of these appalling weapons and to meet its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy has sent a clear message to President Putin – and I quote – that “Russia’s cruel and inhumane tactics on the battlefield are abhorrent and I will use the full arsenal of powers at my disposal to combat Russia’s malign activity.”

Alongside these sanctions, we remain committed to working through this Council and other international forums to reduce the growing threat to international security posed by Russia’s chemical weapon use. We reiterate our request to the Executive Council under Article IX paragraph 3 to assist in clarifying reports that Russian armed forces have repeatedly breached the Chemical Weapon Convention in Ukraine.

The UK is committed to supporting Ukraine’s fight for freedom, liberty and victory in the face of these inhumane attacks. The UK has now committed £12.8 billion in military, humanitarian and economic support to Ukraine. As part of this package of support, we have recently announced a further voluntary contribution to the OPCW’s Assistance to Ukraine trust fund. The UK welcomes the recent OPCW technical assistance visit to Ukraine – delivering vital equipment and training to ensure Ukraine can protect its people.

Mr Chair,

The OPCW remains one of the foremost arms control bodies, fundamental to international security. Yet, the challenges it faces are growing. The UK is fully committed to working with other states and the Technical Secretariat to meet these challenges to achieve a world free of chemical weapons.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 8 October 2024.

Guglielmo Marconi and the UK: the first of many stories, between Italian talent and innovation across the Channel.

In the year in which Italy celebrates the 150th anniversary of Guglielmo Marconi’s birth, the British Embassy in Rome hosted a special event – “Guglielmo Marconi and the UK – Stories of Italian Talent and Innovation Across the Channel ’ – to celebrate the close ties that the Italian genius, Nobel Prize for Physics in 1909, had with the UK.

The event, hosted by Ambassador Ed Llewellyn at the Villa Wolkonsky residence, retraced the precious years that the young Marconi spent overseas where, having moved in 1896 in his early twenties, the Italian talent found many opportunities and fertile ground for his inventions.

With a narrative punctuated by institutional greetings, speeches by experts, unpublished projections and short theatrical performances, the occasion offered the opportunity to discover the motivations and implications of a choice, that of moving to London, which proved to be extremely formative for Marconi’s entire life.

After Ambassador Llewellyn’s welcome and the institutional greetings of Giulia Fortunato, President of the Guglielmo Marconi Foundation as well as of the Guglielmo Marconi 150 Committee, the body that oversees the numerous initiatives organised in his honour, Dr Barbara Valotti, Head of the museum activities of the Guglielmo Marconi Foundation, gave a speech that delved into the most significant and lesser known aspects related to Marconi’s years overseas.

Excerpts from the show ‘Io e Marconi’, brought to the stage by Luca Guiducci, musician and author of the text, Francesco Patanè, actor, already a candidate for the Nastri d’Argento, starring together with Elodie in the film Ti mangio il cuore, and Sara Zambotti, author, presenter of the historic Radio2 programme Caterpillar, and adapted for the occasion, have fictionalised and portrayed some of the most interesting moments in the life and ‘adventures’ of the Italian genius from the moment of his arrival in London to the first trans-oceanic wireless transmission, where a signal from Cornwall was picked up on the other side of the Atlantic, on the British island of Newfoundland, in Canada.

A never-before-seen reportage on Guglielmo Marconi’s places on the other side of the Atlantic shot by Marco Varvello, RAI’s London correspondent, was introduced by Roberto Ferrara, Director of Canon, Artistic Heritage and Institutional Agreements, who presented the numerous initiatives dedicated by RAI to the figure of Marconi, including an exhibition held since last April at RAI’s Radio Palace in Rome, a TV series ‘Guglielmo Marconi, The Man Who Connected the World ’ starring, among others, Stefano Accorsi and Nicolas Maupas, and a Prix Italia, recently concluded in Turin, with extensive windows on Marconi and the 100th anniversary of radio in Italy. Much biographical information on Marconi can be found on Wikipedia.

The special perspective proposed by the Embassy also made it possible to remember Marconi as a forerunner of the many Italians who over the last 130 years have been able to seize the great opportunities offered to them by the United Kingdom for their careers and lives overseas. Testifying to Guglielmo Marconi’s incredible legacy are two of the 600,000 or so Italians currently living and working in the UK, Sara Bernardini, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Oxford and the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, and Teresa Castiello, President of Cardiology at the Royal Society of Medicine and founder/CEO MIAL Healthcare, illustrated the latest achievements in the application of wireless communication to two key areas of our times: Artificial Intelligence and Digital Health, i.e. Digital Medicine.

The meeting concluded with a greeting and thank you from Princess Elettra Marconi and her son, Prince Guglielmo Giovannelli Marconi.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 8 October 2024.

UK Statement for the Interactive dialogue on technical cooperation in Honduras. Delivered by the UK’s Human Rights Ambassador, Eleanor Sanders.

Thank you Mrs Vice-President,

We welcome the openness of Honduras in its request for technical assistance made last year. However, we share the disappointment that the implementation of activities has been delayed.

We remain concerned about the increased militarisation of public security and the penitentiary system in Honduras including the ongoing State of Emergency which suspends some constitutional rights. There is a need to balance the reduction of violent crime with the continued protection of human rights.

We are also worried by the levels of intimidation and violence directed against human rights and environment defenders, including high rates of killings. The difficulties victims of such crimes face in obtaining justice is unacceptable.

We urge the Honduran authorities to adopt effective measures to protect these defenders and, where there are violations, to investigate these promptly and thoroughly. There is also a need to ensure transparency and accountability, including by strengthening key anti-corruption institutions and ensuring their independence.

Director Salazar,

What steps can be taken to address corruption and increase transparency in public institutions?

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 October 2024.

The UK Ministry of Defence and Cranfield University will deliver a one-week Strategic Leadership Programme.

Representatives of the Armed forces and civil ministries of Guatemala will attend the course at the Higher Command of Army Education (COSEDE), starting today 7 October.

Participants will develop key strategic leadership skills including decision making under pressure, long-term planning and personal development. The course will also address influencing and motivation and building effective relationships within teams. Participants will also discuss strategic leadership as a tool to understand defence capabilities and the challenges faced by leaders in this arena.

Training will conclude with a certificate presentation by the British Defence Attaché for Mexico and Guatemala, Aviator Colonel Simon Stewart and the British Embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires, Paul Huggins.

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 7 October 2024.

Science and Innovation Network UAE delivered UK pavilion in partnership with Department of Business and Trade during headline energy event in the Gulf.

The World Future Energy Summit (WFES) is an international conference held annually in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi supporting the transformation of future energy systems in UAE. It forms a key part of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week; an ambitious programme sponsored by UAE’s Department of Energy and Masdar (Abu Dhabi’s Clean Energy powerhouse). The event is always well attended, attracting a mix of those from across industry, government, and academia as part of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

2024 is the second year that the UK Science and Innovation Network (SIN) had supported engagement, collaborating once again with colleagues from the Department of Business and Trade (DBT) and FCDO energy policy leads to deliver a UK pavilion.

Introduction

Climate change is a global crisis, and for those countries in the Gulf region, it has never been more critical to take immediate action. This is one of the driest and hottest regions on the globe, and one that continues to rely heavily on fossil fuels. Accordingly, many were surprised when it was announced that COP28 was to be hosted in the UAE.

The UAE remain the current President of COP until November 2024, having hosted COP28 in Dubai from 30 November through to 12 December 2023. The UK was an active participant, delivering a national pavilion with a programme focused on the transition to renewable energy, impacts of climate change, and finance to support the energy transition and tackle deforestation. Given the momentum developed, and the focus of climate change still firmly on the UAE, it made sense for us to harness this for the benefit of UK industry and research entities alike wishing to engage with key stakeholders in the UAE and wider region.

The UK Pavilion during WFES (16 to 18 April 2024) hosted exhibitors including UK companies, start-ups and universities and was officially opened by His Majesty’s Ambassador to the UAE, Ed Hobart, and the CEO of Masdar and UAE’s Clean Energy Champion, Mohammed Al Ramahi. The pavilion itself was strategically located beside the Masdar pavilion giving us a prime location and the opportunity to network with those leading the UAE’s net zero transition.

Our programme included daily sessions designed by SIN and moderated by UK experts on strategic priority areas for the UK. Those that were involved included:

• Graphene Innovations Manchester
• Heriot Watt University Dubai
• Levidian
• Rolls-Royce SMR
• University of Manchester, and more

The UK Pavilion was also visited by Khalifa University’s President, Sir John O’Reilly, a key partner in the UAE on Science and Technology.

The World Future Energy Summit coincided with the period during which the UAE experienced its largest rainfall since records began in 1949. Widespread flooding meant that plans had to be swiftly amended, and although WFES 2024 did not reach the high numbers experienced during WFES in 2023 (and previous years), spirits were far from dampened.

Presentations from academic partners during the conference included one on ‘Hydrogen for the Energy Transition’ led by Heriot Watt University Dubai, and a second on ‘Graphene – from decarbonisation to sustainable products and applications’ led by the University of Manchester Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre, and included spinout companies, Levidian and Graphene Innovations Manchester. Colleagues from DBT then delivered a session on day 3 led by UK industry partners reviewing outcomes following ‘100 Days Post COP 28’.

Impact

Overall, our bilateral partnerships continue to grow and develop. UK start-up, Levidian, one the exhibitors on the UK pavilion, signed a waste to energy partnership with Abu Dhabi’s Tadweer Group to produce millions of tonnes of clean hydrogen and carbon negative graphene. Levidian have also been named the winners of the ‘Make it in the Emirates’ Start Up Competition and will subsequently invest around $100 million to establish a new hub in Abu Dhabi that will provide a base for regional delivery.