Day: March 13, 2024

Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili is visiting Finland on March 12 and 13. During the visit he has already met with the President of Finland Alexander Stubb and the Minister of Foreign Affars of Finland Elina Valtonen.

Additional meetings are scheduled with the Minister of European Affairs of Finland Anders Adlercreutz, and representatives of the Grand Committee of Parliament.

Meeting with Finland’s President

The meeting of FM Darchiashvili with President Stubb took place on March 13, the Georgian Foreign Ministry reported.

According to the official press release of the Georgian MFA, the two sides discussed the partnership relations between Georgia and Finland, as well as the prospects for their future development.

The meeting focused on Georgia’s European integration process and Finland’s role in it.

FM Darchiashvili thanked President Stubb for his support of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He also expressed his gratitude for then-Foreign Minister Stubb’s personal involvement in a “decisive moment” for Georgia in 2008 and his contribution to the peaceful resolution of the conflict.

“Delighted to commence my official visit to Finland by meeting President Alexander Stubb. We discussed the core aspects of global security challenges and accentuated the significance of maintaining regional security. I focused on Georgia’s role in this context. I also expressed gratitude for Finland’s staunch support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as for the country’s EU membership path,” FM Darchiashvili tweeted.

“A very good meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Ilia Darchiashvili today at the Presidential Palace. We discussed many topics, also recent history. In 2008, we should have seen what was coming. Let us not repeat our mistakes,” President Alexander Stubb tweeted.

Meeting with Finland’s Foreign Minister

FM Darchiashvili also met with his Finnish counterpart Elina Valtonen. During the meeting, the sides discussed the agenda of Finnish-Georgian relations with a special focus on business ties.

The meeting also focused on Georgia’s European integration process. FM Darchiashvili emphasized the importance of Finland’s support for Georgia in starting accession negotiations.

He also briefed his counterpart on the security, humanitarian and human rights situation in the occupied territories of Georgia. The two sides discussed the Geneva International Discussions and underlined the support of international partners for the peaceful resolution of the conflict.

FM Darchiashvili invited FM Valtonen to Georgia.

“During my visit to Finland, I had a very good meeting with my counterpart Elina Valtonen, addressing key issues of the bilateral agenda. We focused on the opportunities for enhancing relations between the two countries in various areas of mutual interest and agreed that commitment to strong diplomatic ties remains unwavering. I also briefed my colleague regarding Georgia’s plans on the EU accession path and highlighted the importance of Finland’s support in this process,” FM Darchiashvili tweeted.

“Glad to host my colleague, Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili in Helsinki. First meeting between Finland and Georgia after Georgia received the EU candidate country status. The work on necessary reforms continues, with Finland’s support. Happy to deepen our bilateral ties,” FM Valtonen tweeted.

More to follow…

Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council and Louis Bono exchanged ideas on negotiation process for settlement of …  1Lurer

NPR News: 03-13-2024 11AM EDT

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

The European Parliament has approved the world’s first comprehensive framework for constraining the risks of artificial intelligence (AI).

The regulation, agreed in negotiations with member states in December 2023, was endorsed by MEPs with 523 votes in favor, 46 against and 49 abstentions.

It aims to protect fundamental rights, democracy, the rule of law and environmental sustainability from high-risk AI, while boosting innovation and establishing Europe as a leader in the field. The regulation establishes obligations for AI based on its potential risks and level of impact.

Banned applications

The new rules ban certain AI applications that threaten citizens’ rights, including biometric categorization systems based on sensitive characteristics and untargeted scraping of facial images from the internet or CCTV footage to create facial recognition databases. Emotion recognition in the workplace and schools, social scoring, predictive policing (when it is based solely on profiling a person or assessing their characteristics), and AI that manipulates human behavior or exploits people’s vulnerabilities will also be forbidden.

Law enforcement exemptions

The use of biometric identification systems (RBI) by law enforcement is prohibited in principle, except in exhaustively listed and narrowly defined situations. “Real-time” RBI can only be deployed if strict safeguards are met, e.g. its use is limited in time and geographic scope and subject to specific prior judicial or administrative authorization. Such uses may include, for example, a targeted search of a missing person or preventing a terrorist attack. Using such systems post-facto (“post-remote RBI”) is considered a high-risk use case, requiring judicial authorization being linked to a criminal offence.

Obligations for high-risk systems

Clear obligations are also foreseen for other high-risk AI systems (due to their significant potential harm to health, safety, fundamental rights, environment, democracy and the rule of law). Examples of high-risk AI uses include critical infrastructure, education and vocational training, employment, essential private and public services (e.g. healthcare, banking), certain systems in law enforcement, migration and border management, justice and democratic processes (e.g. influencing elections). Such systems must assess and reduce risks, maintain use logs, be transparent and accurate, and ensure human oversight. Citizens will have a right to submit complaints about AI systems and receive explanations about decisions based on high-risk AI systems that affect their rights.

Transparency requirements

General-purpose AI (GPAI) systems, and the GPAI models they are based on, must meet certain transparency requirements, including compliance with EU copyright law and publishing detailed summaries of the content used for training. The more powerful GPAI models that could pose systemic risks will face additional requirements, including performing model evaluations, assessing and mitigating systemic risks, and reporting on incidents.

Additionally, artificial or manipulated images, audio or video content (“deepfakes”) need to be clearly labelled as such.

Measures to support innovation and SMEs

Regulatory sandboxes and real-world testing will have to be established at the national level, and made accessible to SMEs and start-ups, to develop and train innovative AI before its placement on the market.

Gita Elibekyan
Public Radio of Armenia

As incumbent President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump head to another general election rematch, some experts are concerned about what the weeks and months after the election of 2024 are going to look like.

The riots following the 2020 election have cast a shadow on American democracy, leaving an impact on American society as well, says David Becker, Executive Director and Founder of the Center for Election Innovation & Research.

The Public Radio of Armenia interviewed David Becker as part of US Election International Media Reporting Tour sponsored by the US Department of State and organized by the Foreign Press Centers and the Meridian International Center.

Middle Corridor’s potential captivates players far beyond region – Azerbaijani embassy advisor  Trend News Agency

Armenia PM Pashinyan holding press conference  NEWS.am