al-Assad speaks before the Syrian Parliament. Source FPB The uprising in Syria is still underway for more than 100 days now as the brute force of the oppressive Assad regime continues to escalate, since more protesters are being killed. Syrian refugees in Turkey amount to 10.000 according to the Turkish authorities and up to 30.000… » read more
Archives for External Relations
Activist prepare to set sail. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) Yesterday Friday July 1 2011, the Greek authorities prohibited vessels heading to Gaza, from leaving the Greek ports. The excuse provided by the authorities was that it was not safe for the activist flotilla to move forward, while the activists argued from their side that neither the… » read more
At the end of past week former Ukrainian premier Yulia Tymoshenko went on the trial. She is accused of abusing power while signing the 2009 gas agreements with Russia and can be sentenced for 7-10 years of imprisonment. This is one of the two intriguing processes, each of that to have substantial consequences for the… » read more
Russia undermines the ECHR
June 24, 2011
Though the Russian Federation had been attempting to block procedural reforms of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for nearly four years, Protocol No. 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) entered into force on 1 June 2010. Russia is very dissatisfied with the Strasbourg Court: currently as many as 42,100 complaints,… » read more
After hydro power wind energy presently constitutes the biggest source of renewable energy on earth, ahead of PV electricity. The EU is the biggest producer of wind energy, China coming second. Both register extraordinary growth rates. Installed wind capacity accounts for 4 per cent of total power capacity in China and 5 per cent in… » read more
The EU’s struggles in Kazakhstan
June 21, 2011
“Kazakhstan is a partner that we can work with, even if not necessarily an easy one” (EU Commission Official – 2010). The EU’s operations in Kazakhstan try to be both pragmatic and values-based. Like the US and China, Brussels has been keen to bolster economic and energy cooperation with a fast-growing regional giant. On the… » read more
Lost in translation
June 20, 2011
The Georgian government has indicated its intention several times to integrate into European space. In fact, ‘Euro-integration’ has been the main theme of Georgian political propaganda in the past 20 years. read more
Some framework to Syrian crisis
June 19, 2011
From June 10 the Syrian army began a siege on Jisr-al Shughour, NW Syria; local residents expected a massacre, proportional to the Hama massacre and in one week nearly 10.000 Syrians have escaped to Turkey. International media and public diplomacy is giving its high-flown statements about humanitarian crisis, some states may even demand to activate… » read more
Some news regarding Turkey X
June 17, 2011
Here is a 10th journey about Turkey: Turkey decides to boost cooperation Turkey decided on friday to boost cooperation and speed up coordination and consultations with regional and international partners regarding developments in the Middle East and North Africa. Turkey’s ambassadors to Middle Eastern and Northern African countries came together in Ankara under the chairmanship… » read more
A beacon of Islamic democracy
June 15, 2011
When it comes to geopolitics, few major shifts are more important than the emergence of an Islamic democracy in Turkey. Long resisted by the Turkish military and its western allies, the accession to power of Erdogan’s AKP party in 2002 has provoked major changes for the better in Turkey’s economic performance, institutional architecture and foreign… » read more
The ongoing political crisis in Syria has influenced as a catalyst the political life of the country and its geopolitical role in the region. The increasing political tension in various urban centers in the country and the increasing negative pressure of the anti-Assad powers on the Syrian leader to diminish his pressure on the rebels… » read more
Libya highlights Europe’s defence weakness
June 12, 2011
The ability of we Europeans to provide for our own defence has been increasingly in doubt since the end of the cold war. I well remember George Robertson, when he was NATO Secretary General, contrasting the size of Europe’s military forces, running into millions, with the inability of European allies to provide just a few… » read more
Ex-policeman admitted he forced 34 relatives to vote for ruling party, and was promised award for that.
June 7, 2011
Media call Suad Muratbasic “the first Montenegrin whistle-blower”, but the prosecution didn’t even start to investigate those claims, even though several criminal charges were filed. After similar big scandal, when several policemen (Enver Dacic and Mithat Nurkovic) from northern Montenegrin town of Rozaje spoke out on cross-border smuggling and had to leave Montenegro as a… » read more
We’re falling into a trap. After the eternal prime minister, Milo Djukanovic has been moved to the reserve, party position – we began to forget the Democratic Party of Socialists. To lose it from sight. To accept it by being – uncritical, intellectual passive, silent. Political guilt of such omission is – disastrous. It is… » read more
This current article is the English version of my previous article that was published June 1st 2011. Nevertheless, I added one sentence about a mistake made by Tageszeitung that I should have introduced through the Turkish version. The article below of ABhaber explains the bankruptcy of Greece: Tageszeitung: Greece is a bankrupt country for evermore… » read more
A little over six months ago, Romania and Bulgaria’s applications to join the Schengen zone were delayed by the political leadership of the EU’s most powerful states like Germany and France. In the eyes of these countries’ officials and intelligence experts, Bulgaria and Romania are not yet in a position to efficiently police their own… » read more
WTO trade negotiations are not brisk endeavors. However even by the WTO’s own lethargic standards, the progress of the current Doha round has been disappointingly slow. As a new paper by Aaditya Mattoo, Francis Ng, and Arvind Subramani explains, the main reason for this is the “elephant in the green room” – China. According to… » read more
China, Conor Griffin, English, EU Priorities, EU WTO, External Relations |
From historical perspective the Mladic’n arrest and the Hague trial serves as formation of a more comprehensive picture of events in the Balkans in the 90′s after the procecutor and the defense have made their case. Issues related to the underlying policy objectives of Srebrenica, events before Srebrenica and the number and the PR game… » read more
The E-G8 Deauville Summit
May 31, 2011
As a regular user of internet services as well as a content provider, I was very interested in last week’s e-G8 summit. The idea of bringing together the chieftains of the internet industry and the world’s most powerful political leaders seems a step in the right direction. The internet as a platform and applications such… » read more
A blueprint for Libya’s future
May 9, 2011
The UN-sanctioned military operations are obscuring the ongoing debate concerning the political organisation of post-Gaddafi Libya. To date, the only source of gauging what the country could look like in the future is a document titled “A Vision of Democratic Libya” issued by the Interim National Council on the 29th of March 2011. The Council’s… » read more