June 14, 2022. KARACHI, Pakistan. A Gong Ceremony was held at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on the visit of the Ambassador of the United States of America to Pakistan, Mr. Donald Blome, to PSX. The US Ambassador, accompanied by the US Consul General in Karachi, Mr. Mark Stroh, and his team, were welcomed at the Exchange by the PSX Chairperson, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar; MD & CEO PSX, Mr. Farrukh H. Khan; PSX Board Members; senior management of the Exchange and senior members of the business community. The gong was struck by the US Ambassador amidst the presence of the US delegation and the PSX team to open the trading day. Speaking at the occasion, the MD PSX, Mr. Farrukh Khan, stated, “I welcome the US Ambassador to PSX and to Karachi, the financial hub of Pakistan. We are happy that he has come to PSX during his first visit to Karachi. We are honoured by this visit and look forward to a fruitful dialogue with the Ambassador and his team to find ways to generate greater interest from US investors, institutional and individual, in our capital market.” He further stated, “Since the market opened to international investors in 1991, US institutional investors have been regular and important participants in the market. PSX is continuing on the path of progress, introducing innovative products and offerings for investors. Our regulatory, operational and accounting disclosure standards meet global standards and, in many cases, are better than other Asian markets. Despite the current economic challenges impacting the global economy in general and Pakistan’s economy in particular, there are attractive valuations and potential for high returns for long term investors. PSX will continue to work to attract more investors and portfolio managers from the US and we look forward to the Ambassador’s support in this regard.” On their part, the US delegation expressed the commitment to further strengthen U.S.-Pakistan economic partnership. They commended the role of PSX in development of Pakistan’s capital market and expressed confidence that this will aid in greater cooperation between US and Pakistan in business, trade, industry and investment sectors. The US Ambassador to Pakistan, H.E. Donald Blome, added, “It is a pleasure to visit PSX for the gong ceremony. As the United States and Pakistan commemorate 75 years of partnership, I want our robust economic relationship to be front and center. It is a relationship worth highlighting and is bigger and more important than ever.” The PSX Chairperson, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, thanked the US team for their visit and expressed confidence in greater cooperation between Pakistan and US in investment, financial and economic spheres in the future. On their part, the US team greatly appreciated being hosted by PSX and for having had the chance to visit Pakistan’s national Stock Exchange. Source Link: https://www.psx.com.pk/psx/media-center/media-releases

July 05, 2022. DUBAI, UAE. The offering is expected to close on 7 July 2022, subject to customary closing conditions. Mashreqbank psc (“Mashreq”) announced today the pricing of an aggregate principal amount of US$300 million of its 8.500% Perpetual Non-callable 5-year Additional Tier 1 Notes. The offering is expected to close on 7 July 2022, subject to customary closing conditions. Following a strong first quarter trading update, the virtual roadshow for the Reg S only transaction was announced. Through a global investor call and a combination of individual and group meetings, Mashreq engaged with over 50 investors from key centers across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Following the extensive marketing campaign, the transaction was formally launched on 30 June. Initial Price Talks (“IPTs”) of low-mid 8% were released at 9.15 am UAE. Despite a challenging and volatile market backdrop, investor demand exceeded US$500mn during the course of London morning: a book update was announced at 12.30pm London time, allowing Mashreq to set the yield at 8.500% and communicating a transaction size of US$300mn. The issuance is expected to further strengthen Mashreq’s capital structure and leverage ratios, positioning for further balance sheet growth. Additionally, it diversifies the Bank’s funding mix by reducing funding concentration and increasing the average duration of liabilities. Furthermore, the transaction enhances Mashreq’s international credit profile as it marks the Bank’s first-ever Additional Tier 1 offering in the international debt capital markets – and the first Additional Tier 1 issued this year out of the UAE. Commenting on the issuance, Mashreq Group Chief Executive Officer, Ahmed Abdelaal, said: “The demand from both regional and international investors for this successful capital raise demonstrates continued confidence in Mashreq and our ability as a leading UAE bank to access the global debt capital markets even in volatile conditions. With strong levels of capital and liquidity and a rock-solid balance sheet Mashreq is well placed to execute on our strategy for growth and customer innovation in both the UAE and our core international markets.” BofA Securities, Citi, Emirates NBD Capital, JP Morgan, Mashreqbank, Société Générale and Standard Chartered Bank acted as Joint Lead Managers.

July 6, 2022. MOSCOW, Russia. At the same time, the party began the process of harmonizing legislation regarding the education system of Donbass and the liberated territories. On September 1, schools in these territories should begin full-fledged work, said the coordinator of the direction of the United Russia people's program "Modern Education and Advanced Science", the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education at a party briefing. “The emphasis in this half-year was placed on protecting the inhabitants of Donbass, but we did not stop the implementation of the people's program. A very important issue is the overhaul of schools. We have already identified 1,661 facilities this year, funding has not been reduced — this is 67 billion rubles. We will fulfill all the instructions given by the President,” Olga Kazakova emphasized. She added that two important tasks concerning teachers have been solved. This is the abolition of the concept of "service" in relation to the work of a teacher and the debureaucratization of education. Much attention is paid to children with disabilities. “We have clarified the norms related to the provision of two meals a day for children who do not live in educational institutions, but study in correctional classes or at home. Such children must be provided with two free meals without fail, this norm has also been introduced and will be implemented,” Olga Kazakova said. She also noted that a draft law on unified approaches to day care groups has been adopted. A legislative norm has been proposed that allows the creation of industrial complexes in institutions of secondary vocational education. “They will become not only a place of practice, but also the first place of work for students. This is a unique norm that teachers and students asked for,” Olga Kazakova emphasized. Google Translated Source Link: https://er.ru/activity/news/olga-kazakova-edinaya-rossiya-v-vesennyuyu-sessiyu-ne-snizhala-tempov-realizacii-narodnoj-programmy-partii-v-sfere-obrazovaniya

June 18, 2022. The PDI Perjuangan (PDIP) DPP held a People's Health Service Innovation Festival which was still in the series of Bung Karno Month commemorations. The PDI Perjuangan (PDIP) DPP held a People's Health Service Innovation Festival which was still in the series of Bung Karno Month commemorations. The activity is open to cadres and the community, especially mothers. PDIP realizes the importance of building broad public awareness of the importance of preventing chronic nutritional problems in children or stunting. "In the practice of national and state life, the PDI-P has made the 1945 Constitution a mandate and policy basis to improve the quality of people's lives for the future. Fulfillment of nutrition for toddlers is very important for the sustainability of the nation," said Secretary General of PDIP Hasto, Saturday (18/6/2022) . The event was held at the PDI-P DPP Party School, Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta, and was opened by the Chair of the DPP for Political Affairs as well as the Chair of the DPR, Puan Maharani. "The plan is that Ms. Puan will later deliver a welcoming speech with pregnant women," explained the Head of the PDI-P DPP for Disaster Management, doctor Ribka Tjiptaning. On this occasion, a discussion will be held with a number of resource persons. Stunting counseling by the Head of BKKBN, Hasto Wardoyo. Then the stunting prevention food product campaign by Dr. Laksana Tri Handoko, Head of BRIN. "There was also a demonstration of cooking a healthy menu to overcome stunting by the Deputy Mayor of Semarang, Mbak Ita (Hevearita Gunaryanti Rahayu)," said Tjiptaning, who is known as a progressive populist doctor. Tjiptaning said that 500 pregnant women will also participate in the event, apart from the cadres. PDIP believes that through briefing or early education for young couples, it is important as a preventive measure. Starting from an understanding of intake when the mother is pregnant to birth when the child is born until the age of two. "Political parties are responsible for and contribute to the decline in the stunting rate of children under two years of age from 32.9 percent to 20 percent by the end of 2024 in all districts/cities through increasing public awareness and changing people's behavior," said Tjiptaning. In addition to socializing on stunting, the People's Health Service Innovation Festival also presented a Healthy Kitchen Overcoming Stunting (DASHAT), lunch with pregnant women and 250 prospective bridal couples and hundreds of babies under two years old. Tjiptaning emphasized that the basis of the event was carried out because of the lack of knowledge about stunting in the community. In fact, in order to prevent stunting, a massive and simple source of information needs to be conveyed. "The willingness to access health information about pregnancy, the postpartum period, breastfeeding, complementary feeding, and immunization must be comprehensive. There are many findings that health workers find it difficult to explain to the public about stunting. And, only a small proportion of pregnant women, under-fives, RT members, health workers, leaders Religion and community leaders as well as the health office understand the negative impact of being stunted," said Tjiptaning. Tjiptaning said that in this agenda, there would be a number of PDIP DPP Chairmen such as Sri Rahayu and Wasekjen Sadarestuwati along with female cadres who were members of the DPR-RI PDIP faction. There were also performances by a number of singers called Artists of the Archipelago. They will entertain all guests present. "Mbak Krisdayanti together with Harvey Malaihollo and Andre Hehanussa are planned to appear at the People's Health Service Innovation Festival," concluded Tjiptaning. Google Translated. Source Link: https://www.pdiperjuangan.id/detail-article/17714/rayakan-bulan-bung-karno-pdip-gebyar-inovasi-pelayanan-kesehatan-rakyat

July 2022. NEW DELHI, India. Strengthens our resolve to serve our motherland and endeavour to create a better India. About BSP With the foremost ideology of social justice, equality, fraternity and economic emancipation for all. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is a prominent political party of India. Manyway Kamshi Ranji founded the party on April 14, 1984 as a radical social reform movement to work against social and economic justice. Under the able leadership of Behan Kumari Mayawati ji, the party gained full majority in UP state election in 2007 and lead the state on the path of development. More Information from Source Link: https://bahujansamajparty.net/

June 25, 2022. JOHORE BAHRU, Malaysia. CONNECTING ASIA is a research network with enormous growth potential. We have more than 10,000 members and 12,000 social media followers from 42 countries. 6th ASIA International Multidisciplinary Conference 2022 A Multidisciplinary Pathway to Post COVID Digital Transformation 24-26 June 2022 Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) | Life Sciences (LS) | Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)| Economics, Business And Management (EBM) Online Presentation Conferences are meant to share knowledge and new discoveries around the globe. AIMC 2022 provides an opportunity for researchers to share their research with other researchers in parallel sessions as conventional conferences in zoom meeting sessions during the conference. All sessions will be chaired by experienced researchers. Poster Presentations Competition AIMC 2022 allows presenting your research in poster format. Presenters can prepare posters or infographics as per provided description. The winner of the poster presentation will receive a RM 1000 / USD 250 cash prize along with a certificate of award. Details can be found on the instructions page. 5 Slides 5 Minutes Video Competition In the 5S5M competition presenters are allowed to present their research in 5 minutes in a simple way that can attract an audience. The winner of the poster presentation will receive a RM 1000 / USD 250 cash prize along with a certificate of award. Details can be found on the instructions page. CONNECTING ASIA CONNECTING ASIA is a Research Network intended to create a symbiotic partnership between academia and industry to provide sustainable solutions for social and industrial issues. Vision CONNECTING ASIA aims to be a premier research and development organization in the Asian region, creating inter-organizational alliances targeted at developing and enhancing institutional and human resources capacities, providing quality services, and contributing to the emergence of a knowledge society on a sustainable basis. Mission Our mission is to establish and nurture alliances among prime institutions in academia, industry, government and society to foster impactful knowledge transfer and human capital development. Values We believe in four core values: Ethics, Trust, Development and Contribution. Source Link: https://connectingasia.org/

July 4, 2022. GENEVA, Switzerland. The collaborations have used the largest samples of proton–proton collision data recorded so far by the experiments to study the unique particle in unprecedented detail. From top to bottom, pictures of the ATLAS and CMS detectors (Image: CERN) Today, exactly ten years after announcing the discovery of the Higgs boson, the international ATLAS and CMS collaborations at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) report the results of their most comprehensive studies yet of the properties of this unique particle. The independent studies, described in two papers published today in Nature, show that the particle’s properties are remarkably consistent with those of the Higgs boson predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics. The studies also show that the particle is increasingly becoming a powerful means to search for new, unknown phenomena that – if found – could help shed light on some of the biggest mysteries of physics, such as the nature of the mysterious dark matter present in the universe. The Higgs boson is the particle manifestation of an all-pervading quantum field, known as the Higgs field, that is fundamental to describe the universe as we know it. Without this field, elementary particles such as the quark constituents of the protons and neutrons of atomic nuclei, as well as the electrons that surround the nuclei, would not have mass, and nor would the heavy particles (W bosons) that carry the charged weak force, which initiates the nuclear reaction that powers the Sun. The Higgs boson is the particle manifestation of an all-pervading quantum field, known as the Higgs field, that is fundamental to describe the universe as we know it. Without this field, elementary particles such as the quark constituents of the protons and neutrons of atomic nuclei, as well as the electrons that surround the nuclei, would not have mass, and nor would the heavy particles (W bosons) that carry the charged weak force, which initiates the nuclear reaction that powers the Sun. To explore the full potential of the LHC data for the study of the Higgs boson, including its interactions with other particles, ATLAS and CMS combine numerous complementary processes in which the Higgs boson is produced and “decays” into other particles. This is what the collaborations have done in their new, independent studies, using their full LHC Run 2 data sets, which each include over 10 000 trillion proton–proton collisions and about 8 million Higgs bosons – 30 times more than at the time of the particle’s discovery. The new studies each combine an unprecedented number and variety of Higgs boson production and decay processes to obtain the most precise and detailed set of measurements to date of their rates, as well as of the strengths of the Higgs boson’s interactions with other particles. All of the measurements are remarkably consistent with the Standard Model predictions within a range of uncertainties depending, among other criteria, on the abundance of a given process. For the Higgs boson’s interaction strength with the carriers of the weak force, an uncertainty of 6% is achieved. By way of comparison, similar analyses with the full Run 1 data sets resulted in a 15% uncertainty for that interaction strength. “After just ten years of Higgs boson exploration at the LHC, the ATLAS and CMS experiments have provided a detailed map of its interactions with force carriers and matter particles,” says ATLAS spokesperson Andreas Hoecker. “The Higgs sector is directly connected with very profound questions related to the evolution of the early universe and its stability, as well as to the striking mass pattern of matter particles. The Higgs boson discovery has sparked an exciting, deep and broad experimental effort that will extend throughout the full LHC programme.” “Sketching such a portrait of the Higgs boson this early on was unthinkable before the LHC started operating,” says CMS spokesperson Luca Malgeri. “The reasons for this achievement are manifold and include the exceptional performances of the LHC and of the ATLAS and CMS detectors, and the ingenious data analysis techniques employed.” The new combination analyses also provide, among other new results, stringent bounds on the Higgs boson’s interaction with itself and also on new, unknown phenomena beyond the Standard Model, such as on Higgs boson decays into invisible particles that may make up dark matter. ATLAS and CMS will continue revealing the nature of the Higgs boson using data from the LHC’s Run 3, which starts tomorrow at a new high-energy frontier, and from the collider’s major upgrade, the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), from 2029. With about 18 million Higgs bosons projected to be produced in each experiment in Run 3 and some 180 million in the HL-LHC’s runs, the collaborations expect to not only reduce significantly the measurement uncertainties of the Higgs boson’s interactions determined so far but also to observe some of the Higgs boson’s interactions with the lighter matter particles and to obtain the first significant evidence of the boson’s interaction with itself. Find out more in the ATLAS and CMS Nature papers.

November 26-27, 2022. LONDON, UK. World Women’s Snooker (WWS) is today pleased to announce that the Eden Women’s Masters will once again return to Frames Sports Bar in London from 26-27 November 2022. The venue has shown continued support for women’s snooker, having also held the EPSB English Women’s Championship won by Rebecca Kenna earlier this year. Mandy Fisher, WWS President said: “We are delighted to return to Frames Sports Bar once again following last season’s successful event at the venue. “We remain extremely grateful to both Chris Chuah from Eden Resources and Tony Thompson at Frames Sports Bar who have continued to back the tournament and support the continued growth of women’s snooker. “This tournament plays a key role in providing access to the Tour for players in the south of England and I have no doubt that this will be another exciting event for everyone involved.” Further information, including details of how you can enter, will be released closer to the event. Source Link: https://www.womenssnooker.com/eden-womens-masters-set-for-london-return/

July 2022. BOGOTA, Colombia. We invest in effective and committed teams with which, hand in hand with our strategic contribution, capital and our networks, they can promote their business ideas. We are industry agnostic, as long as technology enables extraordinary growth. We invest in early-stage technology-based ventures with high growth potential in the Colombian and Latin American markets. Contáctenos contactenos@inqlab.co Carrera 13 # 93-68 Of 504 Bogotá – Colombia Síguenos: Facebook Linkedin Source Link: https://inqlab.co/

April 20, 2021. ATHENS, Greece. The meeting dealt with the strategic relations between the GCC and Greece, and ways to enhance them in various fields. This came during a session of talks held here Friday between the GCC Secretary General and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece Nikos Dendias. The meeting dealt with the strategic relations between the GCC and Greece, and ways to enhance them in various fields, and discuss strengthening joint action and cooperation in a way that moves the Gulf-Greek relations towards broader horizons and achieves the common interests of the two sides in accordance with the joint action plan based on the memorandum of understanding signed between the two sides on April 20, 2021. Dr. Al-Hajraf expressed the importance of his current visit to Greece in intensifying work and exchanging views on regional and international developments and the efforts made in their regard to enhance security and stability, as well as to consolidate relations in various fields, and consolidate the foundations of the solid historical friendship between the two sides. — SPA Source Link: https://www.europeanarabchamber.org/gcc-greece-discuss-ways-to-enhance-joint-cooperation/

June 24, 2022. FRANKFURT. The gathering storm. What can we expect from central banks over the next few months? Is a US recession inevitable? How is the war in Ukraine affecting different regions? What is the outlook for equities, rates, credit and monetary policy? Deutsche Bank Research macro economists have published their current thoughts on macro and market views from around the world in the latest edition of The House View. In his foreword to the publication, Group Chief Economist David Folkerts-Landau said: “Since our last House View in April, our street-leading prediction of a US recession by end-2023 is no longer such an outlier. As we feared, inflation has proven much stickier than expected and longer-term expectations are rising too. But central bankers are now reacting to inflation with more conviction and have commenced a campaign of rate hikes that will end the last decade of very easy money.” Take a look at what Jim Reid, Marion Laboure and Henry Allen have to say in our House View Snapshot PDF   here. Deutsche Bank Research clients can read the full report.

June 29, 2022. MADRID, Spain. Issued by NATO Heads of State and Government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Madrid 29 June 2022 We, the Heads of State and Government of the North Atlantic Alliance, have gathered in Madrid as war has returned to the European continent. We face a critical time for our security and international peace and stability. We stand together in unity and solidarity and reaffirm the enduring transatlantic bond between our nations. NATO is a defensive Alliance and poses no threat to any country. NATO remains the foundation of our collective defence and the essential forum for security consultations and decisions among Allies. Our commitment to the Washington Treaty, including Article 5, is iron-clad. In this radically changed security environment, this Summit marks a milestone in strengthening our Alliance and accelerating its adaptation. We are united in our commitment to democracy, individual liberty, human rights, and the rule of law. We adhere to international law and to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. We are committed to upholding the rules-based international order. We condemn Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in the strongest possible terms. It gravely undermines international security and stability. It is a blatant violation of international law. Russia’s appalling cruelty has caused immense human suffering and massive displacements, disproportionately affecting women and children. Russia bears full responsibility for this humanitarian catastrophe. Russia must enable safe, unhindered, and sustained humanitarian access. Allies are working with relevant stakeholders in the international community to hold accountable all those responsible for war crimes, including conflict-related sexual violence. Russia has also intentionally exacerbated a food and energy crisis, affecting billions of people around the world, including through its military actions. Allies are working closely to support international efforts to enable exports of Ukrainian grain and to alleviate the global food crisis. We will continue to counter Russia’s lies and reject its irresponsible rhetoric. Russia must immediately stop this war and withdraw from Ukraine. Belarus must end its complicity in this war. We warmly welcome President Zelenskyy’s participation in this Summit. We stand in full solidarity with the government and the people of Ukraine in the heroic defence of their country. We reiterate our unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders extending to its territorial waters. We fully support Ukraine’s inherent right to self-defence and to choose its own security arrangements. We welcome efforts of all Allies engaged in providing support to Ukraine. We will assist them adequately, recognising their specific situation. We continue to face distinct threats from all strategic directions. The Russian Federation is the most significant and direct threat to Allies’ security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area. Terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, continues to pose a direct threat to the security of our populations, and to international stability and prosperity. We categorically reject and condemn terrorism in the strongest possible terms. With determination, resolve, and in solidarity, Allies will continue to counter Russian threats and respond to its hostile actions and to fight terrorism, in a manner consistent with international law. We are confronted by cyber, space, and hybrid and other asymmetric threats, and by the malicious use of emerging and disruptive technologies. We face systemic competition from those, including the People’s Republic of China, who challenge our interests, security, and values and seek to undermine the rules-based international order. Instability beyond our borders is also contributing to irregular migration and human trafficking. Against this backdrop, we have taken the following decisions: We have endorsed a new Strategic Concept. It describes the security environment facing the Alliance, reaffirms our values, and spells out NATO’s key purpose and greatest responsibility of ensuring our collective defence based on a 360-degree approach. It further sets out NATO’s three core tasks of deterrence and defence; crisis prevention and management; and cooperative security. In the years to come, it will guide our work in the spirit of our transatlantic solidarity. We will continue and further step up political and practical support to our close partner Ukraine as it continues to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity against Russian aggression. Jointly with Ukraine, we have decided on a strengthened package of support. This will accelerate the delivery of non-lethal defence equipment, improve Ukraine’s cyber defences and resilience, and support modernising its defence sector in its transition to strengthen long-term interoperability. In the longer term, we will assist Ukraine, and support efforts on its path of post-war reconstruction and reforms. We have set a new baseline for our deterrence and defence posture. NATO will continue to protect our populations and defend every inch of Allied territory at all times. We will build on our newly enhanced posture, and significantly strengthen our deterrence and defence for the long term to ensure the security and defence of all Allies. We will do so in line with our 360-degree approach, across the land, air, maritime, cyber, and space domains, and against all threats and challenges. NATO’s role in the fight against terrorism is an integral part of this approach. Allies have committed to deploy additional robust in-place combat-ready forces on our eastern flank, to be scaled up from the existing battlegroups to brigade-size units where and when required, underpinned by credible rapidly available reinforcements, prepositioned equipment, and enhanced command and control. We welcome the cooperation between Framework Nations and Host Nations in strengthening forces and command and control, including in establishing division-level structures. We welcome the initial offers by Allies to NATO’s new force model, which will strengthen and modernise the NATO Force Structure and will resource our new generation of military plans. We will enhance our collective defence exercises to be prepared for high intensity and multi-domain operations and ensure reinforcement of any Ally on short notice. All these steps will substantially strengthen NATO’s deterrence and forward defences. This will help to prevent any aggression against NATO territory by denying any potential adversary success in meeting its objectives. Resilience is a national responsibility and a collective commitment. We are enhancing our resilience, including through nationally-developed goals and implementation plans, guided by objectives developed by Allies together. We are also strengthening our energy security. We will ensure reliable energy supplies to our military forces. We will accelerate our adaptation in all domains, boosting our resilience to cyber and hybrid threats, and strengthening our interoperability. We will employ our political and military instruments in an integrated manner. We have endorsed a new chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence policy. We will significantly strengthen our cyber defences through enhanced civil-military cooperation. We will also expand partnership with industry. Allies have decided, on a voluntary basis and using national assets, to build and exercise a virtual rapid response cyber capability to respond to significant malicious cyber activities. We are establishing a Defence Innovation Accelerator and launching a multinational Innovation Fund to bring together governments, the private sector, and academia to bolster our technological edge. We have endorsed a strategy which will ensure the seamless delivery of the next generation Airborne Warning & Control System (AWACS) and related capabilities. Climate change is a defining challenge of our time with a profound impact on Allied security. It is a threat multiplier. We have decided on a goal to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions by the NATO political and military structures and facilities, while maintaining operational, military and cost effectiveness. We will integrate climate change considerations across all of NATO’s core tasks. We emphasise the centrality of human security and are ensuring that human security principles are integrated into our three core tasks. We are advancing a robust Women, Peace and Security agenda, and are incorporating gender perspectives across NATO. We have met here in Madrid with many of NATO’s partners. We had valuable exchanges with the Heads of State and Government of Australia, Finland, Georgia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Sweden, and Ukraine, as well as the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission. We welcomed the engagements with the Foreign Ministers of Jordan and Mauritania, as well as the Defence Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Taking into account our unprecedented level of cooperation with the European Union, we will continue to further strengthen our strategic partnership in a spirit of full mutual openness, transparency, complementarity, and respect for the organisations’ different mandates, decision-making autonomy and institutional integrity, and as agreed by the two organisations. Our common resolve in responding to Russia’s war against Ukraine highlights the strength of this unique and essential partnership. The participation of our partners from the Asia-Pacific region, alongside other partners, demonstrated the value of our cooperation in tackling shared security challenges. We will further enhance our partnerships so that they continue to meet the interests of both Allies and partners. We will discuss common approaches to global security challenges where NATO’s interests are affected, share perspectives through deeper political engagement, and seek concrete areas for cooperation to address shared security concerns. We will now move ahead with strengthening our engagement with existing and potential new interlocutors beyond the Euro-Atlantic area. In light of the changed security environment in Europe, we have decided on new measures to step up tailored political and practical support to partners, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and the Republic of Moldova. We will work with them to build their integrity and resilience, develop capabilities, and uphold their political independence. We will also enhance our capacity-building support to partners from the South. We reaffirm our commitment to NATO’s Open Door Policy. Today, we have decided to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO, and agreed to sign the Accession Protocols. In any accession to the Alliance, it is of vital importance that the legitimate security concerns of all Allies are properly addressed. We welcome the conclusion of the trilateral memorandum between Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden to that effect. The accession of Finland and Sweden will make them safer, NATO stronger, and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure. The security of Finland and Sweden is of direct importance to the Alliance, including during the accession process. We welcome the considerable progress on Allied defence spending since 2014. In line with our commitment in Article 3 of the Washington Treaty, we will further strengthen our individual and collective capacity to resist all forms of attack. We reaffirm our commitment to the Defence Investment Pledge in its entirety. We will build on that pledge and decide next year on subsequent commitments beyond 2024. We will ensure that our political decisions are adequately resourced. We will build on the progress made to ensure that increased national defence expenditures and NATO common funding will be commensurate with the challenges of a more contested security order. Investing in our defence and key capabilities is essential. We pay tribute to all women and men who continue to serve daily for our collective security, and honour all those who have sacrificed to keep us safe. We express our appreciation for the generous hospitality extended to us by the Kingdom of Spain, on the 40th anniversary of its accession to NATO. We look forward to meeting again, in Vilnius, in 2023. With our decisions today, we have firmly set the direction for the Alliance’s continued adaptation. NATO remains the strongest Alliance in history. Through our bond and our mutual commitment, we will continue to safeguard the freedom and security of all Allies, as well as our shared democratic values, now and for future generations. Press Release (2022) 095 Issued on 29 Jun. 2022 Last updated: 01 Jul. 2022 16:35 Source Link: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_196951.htm?selectedLocale=en