OSCE

COP29: Multilateral diplomatic stalemate circumvented

COP29 in Baku ended in the early hours of November 24, reaching a compromise deal on finance that will advance the global climate agenda...

Georgia’s democratic election dream becomes a screamer

Georgia’s October 26 Parliamentary elections did not hold up as “free and fair” even under the lightest of scrutiny. Despite the presence of a...

Kazakhstan’s Legislative Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking

Human trafficking remains a significant global issue, affecting millions of people around the world. According to recent data, there are an estimated 27.6 million...

Uzbekistan re-elects President Mirziyoyev to second term

Uzbekistan held presidential elections on October 24, in a peaceful and secure atmosphere, with incumbent President Shavkat Mirziyoyev handily taking first place with 80.1%...

New political patterns in the South Caucasus

Developments in the South Caucasus continue to race ahead of Europe’s understanding of them. By the time an event has been noticed, recognized, digested,...

The West needs to unite to fight for human rights

Human rights seem nonexistent in today’s world. That’s because the world’s democracies are not fighting for it. While the world’s dictatorships always seem to have...

Why the Taliban’s promise to stop the opium trade rings hollow

One of the first announcements the Taliban made after seizing power in Afghanistan in August was that they were going to “ban the production and sale...

The road to conflict resolution in Karabakh

Events are moving quite quickly in the South Caucasus, although they have not yet reached a breakthrough. Nevertheless, the first anniversary of the outbreak...

Why the fall of Afghanistan sllows Iran to expand its influence

Since 2020, the United States has been working to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. The Americans' announcement emboldened the Taliban, who recently took control...

Will Central Asia serve as Europe’s bridge to Afghanistan?

Just over one month on from the fall of Kabul, Europe is still grasping for answers to the question of how to engage in...

On 9/11, it’s time for a reckoning and reflection of decades of failed US national security policy

A reckoning with America’s failed national security policy is long overdue.Our calamitous misadventures in the Middle East and the global financial collapse of 2008...

A broken migration system

Turkey and Greece are both transit countries for migrants on their way to Germany and wealthy destinations in northern Europe. Migrants are resilient. Many...

Fighting impunity in the 21st-century

In 2006, Thomas Lubanga was the first person to be convicted as a war criminal by the International Criminal Court.  For the first time...

EU enlargement: Cui bono?

EU enlargement: cui bono? Several Foreign Ministers from EU countries visited Tirana and the North Macedonian capital Skopje in the last weeks to meet local...

Washington gets tough on “destabilizers” in the Western Balkans

On June 8, President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order (EO) intended to update US sanctions policy regarding Balkan corruption and political destabilization activities,...

Democracies must hold their companies to higher standards in China

Earlier this month, the New York Times published the findings of its multi-year investigation into how Apple has risked Chinese customers’ data and the...

Tougher sanctions against Belarus

It was a clear act of state-sponsored terrorism. An Irish passenger plane from the Irish budget airline Ryan Air, while on its way from...

To protect free speech, Europe must answer the Christchurch Call

The 2019 Christchurch massacre was a ‘performance crime’ perpetrated by Brenton Tarrant. The Australian was first radicalised in a series of far-right online echo...

The soft power of big business in a former Soviet republic

The increasing isolation of Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko’s regime on the international stage raises important questions about the future of the country’s economy. As...

Ukraine is a test for the West and ‘Westlessness’

The G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the High Representative of...

Confrontation in Ukraine

The recent unprovoked amassing of Russian troops on Ukraine’s border has overtaken a significant event that took place a few weeks earlier when Russia...

The Ides of March have brought new tensions on Ukraine’s eastern border

Since mid-March, Russia and Ukraine have both been massing troops along the borders of the Russian-annexed Crimea and the conflict zone in Ukraine's eastern...

A ‘burn’ on the Ukrainian border

If you have been to Ukraine, you have surely tried 'gorilka', the national vodka-style spirit. The word 'gorilka' is derived from the verb 'gority',...

Lukashenko angers pro-democracy opposition with the creation of Soviet-style ‘All-Belarusian People’s Assembly’

Belarus' Aleksander Lukashenko's has created an "All-Belarusian People's Assembly" to discuss reforms and the country's development for the next five years, prompting an outcry...

Ukraine has lost its way

Ukraine has lost its way. Its chosen road towards transforming itself from a corrupt, post-Soviet thinking culture into a rules-based society has stalled. Actually, it...

With Navalny’s arrest, Russia hands Biden his first test on human rights

Alexey Navalny’s arrest upon his return to Russia on Sunday has handed newly-inaugurated President Joe Biden his first challenge from the Kremlin in office.Navalny...

Tikhanovskaya asks OSCE to help her return safely to Belarus

Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has asked for the help of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for her safe return...

About 400 international observers to participate in Kazakhstan’s Parliamentary Elections

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan - The Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan has completed the accreditation of observers from international organisations and foreign states for the upcoming...

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,...

OSCE warns Ukraine over disinformation bill

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) warned on Wednesday that Ukraine's new bill regulating media's activity could pose a significant risk...

Could Kazakhstan’s recent election be a model for the rest of Central Asia?

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan - As the dust settles following Kazakhstan’s elections, some outside observers are concluding that the approach taken by the Kazakh government in support...

Name Dispute: Work progresses on Prespes Agreement implementation

With Greece currently distracted by a wide range of political issues and debates, legislators in Skopje are hard at work debating the constitutional amendments...

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