Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)
Asia matters – for Europe. And Europe matters – for Asia. It is with this simple premise in mind that the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) was created in 1996
Another year of quasi-confinement did not stop the EU and all its offices around the world from marking Europe Day in all its glory with several innovative activities online to touch all our senses! Shades of blue and yellow adorned landmarks worldwide, the sound of music filled our homes, and our eyes feasted on an array of photographic exhibitions and movie screenings. Our brains were also put to the test with a number of quizzes, and kids enjoyed online games to their hearts’ content. Our taste buds also thanked the chefs who offered online cooking classes, and we even got to go on a trip to space!
On 24 April, the European Union celebrates the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace. Today, the unprecedented ongoing global pandemic and the high level of our interdependence make all too evident the need for collective solutions.
Our times are marked by major geopolitical and economic power shifts, with increasingly confrontational and unilateralist relations between major powers. Yet growing global challenges call for more multilateral governance and rules-based international cooperation. The COVID-19 crisis exemplifies the need for multilateral solutions: a major global threat, it has created much-needed momentum for a coordinated, global crisis response and has exposed the need to make multilateralism fit to cope with the new challenges
“The virus does not distinguish between continents, borders, nationalities or ethnicities”. In the first ministerial statement on COVID-19 embracing the two continents, Foreign Ministers from Asia and Europe stress the transboundary nature of the pandemic and the interconnectedness between their countries. Those in vulnerable situations must be protected, including tackling violence against women and children. The pandemic should not be allowed to increase stigmatization, nor worsen existing inequality.
No one is safe alone, no one is strong alone; we are stronger together.
