United Nations
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
UN chief says COVID-19 outbreak is the worst crisis since WWII
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has warned the coronavirus pandemic is the most serious crisis facing the world since World War II.
Guterres made the...
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...
Afghanistan
UN's Gutteres calls for 'immediate global ceasefire' to focus on COVID-19 fight
The United Nations’ chief Antonio Guterres appealed Monday for a global ceasefire to protect civilians in conflict zones during the coronavirus pandemic. He warned...
Archive
IOM and UNHCR temporarily suspend resettlement departures for refugees
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), decided to temporarily suspend resettlement departures for refugees, over health concerns...
Africa
African leaders seek to clear way for Libyan dialogue
African leaders and a senior UN envoy met on Thursday in the Congo in a bid to secure a truce to war-torn Libya.
UN chief...
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
World Economic Forum, WHO launch emergency coronavirus task force
The World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum will launch an emergency task force to respond to the coronavirus outbreak and its impact...
Archive
UN rights chief says sex abuse rampant in North Korea detention centres
The United Nations' human rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday warned of major human rights violations in North Korean detention centres, including sexual violence...
Archive
UN warns of critical phase in Yemen civil war
Martin Griffiths, the United Nations' envoy to Yemen, has said that the country is at a crossroads, as tens of thousands of people flee...
Archive
Iran refuses to let UN nuclear watchdog into sites
Iran has said it has "no obligation" to grant the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency access to certain sites in the country. It also...
Archive
Russia rejects UN’s claims on war crimes in Syria
Russia on Tuesday rejected a claim by United Nations investigators that Russian air attacks in Syria amounted to a war crime by targeting civilian...
Archive
UN envoy to Libya resigns
Ghassan Salame, the UN envoy for Libya, said on Monday he was stepping down due to health reasons, amid an escalation in fighting in...
Archive
UN report says Russia and Turkey may have committed war crimes in Syria
United Nations investigators said in a report issued on March 3 found that the actions by the armed forces of both Russia and Turkey...
Archive
UN asks for unfettered access to China's Uyghur region
The United Nations rights chief Michelle Bachelet welcomed China’s invitation to tour the Muslim-majority Xinjiang region, notorious for its reeducation camps, which the Communist...
Archive
Countries sending arms to Libya to face consequences, Germany warns
German foreign minister Heiko Maas threatened the countries that continue delivering weapons and sending troops and mercenaries to Libya, despite the arms embargo. Ahead...
Archive
Internet giants fight spread of coronavirus disinformation
Internet companies are stepping up their fight against the spread of disinformation about the coronavirus, after new cases and fatalities outside China have seen...
Archive
WHO warns of pandemic risk as coronavirus cases grow
The World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom has issued a warning to the international community that most countries need to brace for a “potential...
Archive
UN chief launches 7-point human rights plan
UN Chief Antonio Guterres has issued a “call to action” to help bolster human rights across the globe at a time when, according to...
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan presents its candidacy to Human Rights Council for 2022-2024
Kazakhstan has presented its candidacy to the Human Rights Council for the period of 2022-2024, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi said in Geneva on...
Archive
EU to present its priorities at the 43rd Human Rights Council session
Freedom of religion or belief, children rights and the human rights situation in Myanmar and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will top EU's...
Archive
Sri Lanka to withdraw from UN rights resolution
Sri Lanka's prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the country was withdrawing from a United Nations resolution investigating alleged war crimes.
The announcement comes days...
Archive
US envoy to Serbia-Kosovo talks to become Acting Director of National Intelligence
President Donald Trump has named Richard Grenell, the US Ambassador to Germany and concurrently Special Envoy to Serbia and Kosovo, to become the acting...
Archive
WHO warns against coronavirus overreaction
The World Health Organization has warned against a global overreaction to the new coronavirus epidemic following panic-buying and event cancellations.
The death toll from the...
Analysis
Munich Bacchanalian surprises
At the Munich Security Conference 2020, two reality-altering messages were sent back to Southeastern Europe, which incidentally was not the core focus of this...
Archive
WHO convenes experts to develop coronavirus drugs, vaccines
The World Health Organization gathered 400 scientists yesterday for a two-day meeting, in an effort to speed the development of tests, treatments and vaccines...
Archive
UN chief calls on US to remove Sudan from 'terrorism' list
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has called for Sudan to be removed from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, making it eligible...
Archive
Libya talks in Geneva end with no end in sight to fighting
Military officers from Libya’s UN-backed government, GNA, and representatives of the rival militia of warlord Khalifa Haftar, LNA, began meeting last week in Geneva...
Archive
UN chief warns of growing instability in the Middle East
The United Nations’ chief António Guterres said that the flow of weapons to war zones in Libya, Syria and Yemen, as well as the...
Archive
Germany calls for sanctions for those breaking Libya embargo
Germany’s foreign minister Heiko Maas said that the United Nations should pass a resolution sanctioning any country that breaks the arms embargo on Libya.
"No...
Analysis
UN chief warns of impact on Sahel region from Libya war
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres warned that Libya's civil war become a playground for foreign forces in North Africa and threatens to spill over...
Asia & Pacific
UN court tells Myanmar to prevent Rohingya genocide
After overwhelming evidence showed that Myanmar's government intentionally targeted its Rohingya Muslim minority, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ordered the Burmese...
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
UN says climate change can be cause for asylum
A United Nations’ human rights Committee has ruled that people fleeing the effects of climate change can claim asylum.
The panel published its ruling in...
Archive
MEPs want global CO2 binding targets to save biodiversity
Members of the European Parliament want the upcoming global biodiversity conference COP 15 to agree on legally binding targets, as was the case for...
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
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
Zaev-Mitsotakis Thessaloniki meeting explores EU Enlargement delays
The prime ministers of Greece and North Macedonia met on the sidelines of the Thessaloniki 2019 Summit on November 14. This was their second...
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...
Archive
Resumption of peace talks may pause Turkish drilling in Cyprus EEZ
Incoming new EU Commission may be keener on negotiations to resolve regional East Med problemsLIMASSOL, Cyprus – The possible resumption of the dormant peace...
Archive
Meeting Erdogan at UN, Mitsotakis eyes calmer waters
The meeting between Greece's newly elected Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the United Nations General...
Archive
Zaev-Mitsotakis New York meeting – breaking the ice
The prime ministers of Greece and North Macedonia held their first face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)...
Analysis
The Name Dispute after the July 7 Greek elections
The June 2018 Prespes Agreement, which settled the so-called Name Dispute with newly-renamed North Macedonia, Greece’s northern neighbor, was an important but not the...
Archive
Kosovo-Serbia relations again disrupted
Raids by Kosovo police on 28 May in a large anti-corruption operation triggered a serious deterioration of already-strained Kosovo-Serbia relations in the following days,...
Archive
North Macedonia’s presidential election results calm West’s worries
North Macedonia’s presidential runoff election on 5 May produced results guaranteed to calm fraying nerves in Athens, Washington, Brussels, Paris, and Berlin as the...
Analysis
Name Dispute chills North Macedonia’s presidential election
What would normally be an inconsequential election for the largely ceremonial post of president in North Macedonia has crystallised into an unofficial referendum on...
Albania
Tsipras visits Skopje hoping to cement his Prespes accomplishments
Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras visited North Macedonia’s capital Skopje on 2 April, his second visit to the country since signing the Prespes Agreement. ...
Analysis
Tsipras heads to Skopje to salvage his Prespes gambit
Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is set to deliver on his promised trip to North Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, on 2 April, which was announced...
Analysis
Name Dispute: Important issues progressing while public attention fades
While the Name Dispute between Greece and the newly-renamed Republic of North Macedonia has fallen out of the headlines, several notable developments occurred in...
Analysis
Name Dispute: Coming to terms
The Name Dispute has again fallen from the headlines in Northern Macedonia and Greece, as the public focus in Skopje is on April’s Presidential...
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