Defense & Security
Archive
France steers EU attention to Greece-Turkey standoff in East Med
French President Emmanuel Macron has taken a strong position in support of the rights of Greece and Cyprus, calling on Turkey to stop unilateral...
Archive
Athens pivots to Washington for help with Turkish provocations
In the latest sub-chapter of the seemingly never-ending dispute over energy exploration rights in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, Athens has again called for...
Albania
North Macedonia’s elections unfold, marginally, as directed
To the delight of North Macedonia’s western supporters, the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) landed a razor-thin electoral majority on July 15 in...
Armenia
Elections in Nagorno-Karabakh don't dismiss democracy
Normally, a free and fair election is a welcome exercise of democracy and freedom. But in the case of the unrecognised Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh,...
Archive
ECR Party Vice President and former Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga appointed to group of experts as part of NATO’s reflection process
Secretary-General of NATO, Mr Jens Stoltenberg announced the appointment of a group of experts this week to support his work in a reflection process...
Archive
NATO chief appoints experts for reflection process to strengthen political alliance
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday appointed a group of experts to study ways to further strengthen the political dimension of the alliance.
The creation...
Analysis
North Macedonia’s (unaffordable) NATO dream takes shape
North Macedonia’s flag is flying over NATO Headquarters today in Brussels as the alliance’s 30th member after the final accession formalities were completed on...
Archive
Europol warns criminals are exploiting coronavirus outbreak
Europol's latest report on the criminal landscape across Europe revealed an increased number of crimes, as perpetrators have changed their way of functioning and...
Archive
EU to launch new Libya arms embargo mission in Mediterranean
European Union nations agreed on Thursday to launch a new air and naval mission in the Mediterranean, to monitor the UN arms embargo in...
Albania
In desperate times, EU approves new Balkan Enlargement steps
Moving on a trajectory that senior EU leaders publicly outlined at the Munich Security Conference in mid-February, the EU’s General Affairs Council (GAC) agreed...
Analysis
Kosovo action moves to Washington
With global attention increasingly focused on the Covid-19 pandemic, US diplomats amazingly found time in early March to continue pressing Kosovo and Serbia to...
Archive
What is Greece expecting from a new EU-Turkey Statement
The seat of the Greek government in the heart of Athens, the Maximos Mansion, has resembled a war room since late February, ever since...
Archive
Trump suspends most travel from Europe amid coronavirus outbreak, drawing the ire of EU leaders
In a speech that has garnered intense criticism on both sides of the Atlantic, President Donald Trump announced on March 11 that the United...
Archive
NATO HQ in Brussels confirms Coronavirus case
A staff member working at NATO headquarters in Brussels has been tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently at home, in self-isolation, NATO's spokesperson, Oana...
Archive
France says Huawei’s investments will not influence its 5G position
French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said that investments by the Chinese tech giant Huawei will not influence France’s 5G expansion plans.
Last week, Huawei...
Archive
Frankfurt airport temporarily suspends flights over drone sighting
The airport in Frankfurt, Germany, was shut down for nearly two hours Monday after a drone was spotted over its southern part, police said.
The...
Archive
At least 10 dead in suspected far-right attack in Germany
A 43-year-old German national shot and killed at least 9 people at several locations in a Frankfurt suburb overnight. Officials said the attacks seem...
Archive
Macron unveils curbs on foreign imams to counter Islamic extremism
French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that he would restrict other countries from sending imams and Islamic clerics to France, a move that he...
Archive
US House speaker Pelosi warns allies against working with Huawei
US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi warned NATO allies against allowing Chinese tech giant Huawei into their 5G networks.
During her visit to Brussels,...
Afghanistan
Afghan president says US-Taliban deal to come ‘within days’
Afghanistan’s president Ashraf Ghani said a proper announcement on a US-Taliban deal to end the 18-year war in Afghanistan will be made in a...
Archive
No beer hall bacchanalia and oompah band sing-alongs in Munich
Dubbed the Davos of Global Security, the 2020 Munich Security Conference began on February 14 with the conflicts in Libya, Syria, and Yemen high...
Afghanistan
Top politicians gather in Munich for security summit
Heads of state and government, security leaders and diplomats gathered for the 56th annual Munich Security Conference, which runs from 14-16 February. This year’s...
Archive
NATO to expand training mission in Iraq
NATO agreed to expand the Western alliance’s training mission in Iraq. The move comes amid United States' calls do more in the Middle East.
Last...
Analysis
North Macedonia takes a small step forward and one backwards this week
Since being installed in early January in preparation for the country’s April 6 elections, Caretaker Government Labour Minister Rashela Mizrahi, from the ultranationalist VMRO-DPMNE...
Archive
NASA astronaut Koch returns to Earth after record-breaking space mission
NASA astronaut Christina Koch returned to Earth safely on Thursday after breaking the spaceflight record for female astronauts with a stay of almost 11...
Archive
Macron in Poland to boost ties
French president Emanuel Macron visited Poland, where he met with the country’s president Andrzej Duda and prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Macron’s visit is the first...
Analysis
Does Trump’s peace plan make the EU less relevant?
The Peace to Prosperity plan that the Trump administration rolled out as a “Deal of the Century” on January 28 offers the prospect of a future Palestinian...
Africa
France to deploy extra troops to fight Sahel extremists
France will deploy an extra 600 troops to Africa’s Sahel region. Recently, France and Africa’s Sahel countries have agreed to step up military cooperation...
Archive
Greece steps up military presence on its border with Turkey
Greece has boosted the number of police and soldiers along its border in an effort to stop the arrival of new waves of refugees...
Archive
Poland signs $4.6bn contract for US fighter jets
Poland signed a $4.6 billion deal with the United States for the purchase of 32 of its advanced F-35 fighter jets. The deal was...
Analysis
Greece ratifies new defence deal with Washington
Late on January 30, the Greek parliament voted to ratify Greece’s new defence agreement signed with the US last October during the visit of...
Archive
Poland to buy F-35 stealth fighters from the US
Poland's defense minister Mariusz Błaszczak announced that Warsaw’s deal to buy dozens of fifth-generation F-35 stealth aircrafts from the US will be signed next...
Analysis
Greece looking for a seat at the Libya table
When the Berlin Summit on Libya was first announced, Greece was not a part of the process. The fact that the country was not...
Archive
US diplomatic engagement helps reopen Kosovo-Serbia flights
Representatives of Serbia, Kosovo, the US, and Lufthansa Group signed a milestone agreement on January 20 to establish an air link between Serbia and...
Archive
Jihadi spouse repatriation sparks government crisis in Norway
Norway’s right-wing Progress Party quit the governing coalition over the decision to repatriate an Islamic State wife and her two children.
“I brought us into...
Archive
EU to revive Operation Sophia to help tackle Libya crisis
EU foreign ministers decided to revive Operation Sophia to enforce a potential cease-fire in Libya and a UN arms embargo in the country.
“It’s clear...
Archive
EU should consider sending troops to Libya, Borrell says
The European Union’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell suggested an EU military mission to protect cease-fire in Libya.
“If there is a cease-fire in Libya,...
Analysis
Libya, Turkey and Europe
As the new Turkish Ambassador in Prague, I am asked more and more frequently about the recent developments in Libya and the policies of...
Archive
Embattled Erdogan enters Libyan quagmire as world condemns his actions
Turkey has signed a pact with the Tripoli government as the rebels advance on the Libyan capital after failed peace talks in Moscow, a...
Archive
UK Security Service ‘not worried’ about Huawei impact on intelligence sharing
Andrew Parker, the chief of the UK Security Service - MI5, said in an interview that he had 'no reason to think' the intelligence...
Archive
Mitsotakis draws praise for DC visit, little response from EU
Washington is probably not the place to be as a guest these days. Amidst vast political pressure over Donald Trump due to the impeachment...
Analysis
Greek Prime Minister meets President Trump amid Mid-East turmoil
The January 7 White House meeting between US President Donald J Trump and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis did not yield any new US...
Archive
Iran abandons 2015 nuclear deal after Soleimani killing
Iran will no longer abide by any of the limits of its 2015 nuclear deal, its state television has announced on 5 January.
The move...
Afghanistan
Iran’s top commander Soleimani killed in US drone strike
Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force and the mastermind behind the Islamic Republic’s military and foreign policy in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon,...
Archive
White House finally schedules Washington meeting with Greek prime minister
The White House announced on December 2 that President Donald J. Trump would be meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on January 7...
Albania
Brussels casts Zaev a thin lifeline
Brussels cast a thin Italian-flavoured political lifeline to North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev over the last ten days, something sorely needed after Zaev...
Archive
Zaev fumbles after EU Enlargement let-down
North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev fumbled badly this week when discussing the relationship between his country’s now-frozen EU accession bid and the standing...
Albania
Enlargement is not Eurovision, Zoran
Enlargement boosters across Europe were stunned by the third failure of the European Council to announce a decision on 18 October on a date...
Albania
France unyielding on EU Enlargement, elections triggered in North Macedonia
The scenario that emerged late last week with multiple reports that France would oppose immediate decisions on EU Enlargement has come to pass.
EU European...
Analysis
Greece and US ink new defence deal and extend strategic dialogue
Taking a welcome break from his involvement in the Trump-Ukraine issue, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo completed his short Balkan swing on 6...
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