EU & Europe

Photo: Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti (left) and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic are due to meet for talks in Brussels on February 27. Source: Radio Free Europe.

Is The New Agreement a Turning Point for Serbia and Kosovo?

By Dr Alon Ben-Meir*

NEW YORK, 26 March 2023 (IDN) — The recent verbal agreement reached between Serbia and Kosovo in Ohrid, North Macedonia, obviously represents a positive development in the process of normalization between the two countries. There are however many obstacles and a considerable number of ambiguities that will make it difficult to fully implement the EU-backed deal in spite of the fact that both sides have a vested interest in seeing many of the provisions of the agreement being realized.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 26 March 2023

Photo (left to right): Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak during the AUKUS announcement at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego on March 18. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

A Tripartite Deal That Could Trigger Proliferation of Nuclear Submarines

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, 22 March 2023 (IDN) —The tripartite deal between the UK and the US to provide nuclear submarines (SSNs) to Australia—announced March 13—is threatening to have repercussions worldwide

A joint statement by the three countries (AUKUS) described it as a trilaterally-developed submarine based on the UK’s next-generation design that incorporates technology from all three nations, including cutting edge U.S. submarine technologies.

: Thalif Deen; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 22 March 2023

Image: 'ICAN Act on It Forum' in Oslo. Credit: ICAN

European Parliamentarians Call for Advancing Nuclear Disarmament

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA, 12 March 2023 (IDN) — European parliamentarians have emphasized the need for taking "concrete steps" towards nuclear disarmament so that it becomes "a priority for the year 2023". This, they said, should be "complementary to stigmatising nuclear weapons and strengthening disarmament treaties such as the TPNW", the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons., which entered into force on 22 January 2021.

: Jamshed Baruah; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 12 March 2023

Image: UN short clip on the Rule of Law, Peace and Security

Will the New Struggle for Dominance Uphold the UN Charter?

By Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden, 28 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Eleven hundred years ago Europe was a backwater. There were no grand cities, apart from Cordoba in Spain which was Muslim. Muslim Spain was the epicentre of learning in Western Europe.

The Middle East was much further ahead, still absorbing the intellectual delights and challenges of Greek science, medicine and architecture which Europeans were largely ignorant of. In southern China agriculture advanced and trade in tea, porcelain and silk flourished.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 28 February 2023

Debate About Military Use of Artificial Intelligence

By J C Suresh

TORONTO | WASHINGTON 16 Feb 2023 (IDN) — As an increasing number of States are developing military AI capabilities, which may include using AI to enable autonomous systems, the United States has proposed a "Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy" during a conference on the issue of Europe on February 16.

: J C Suresh; ARMAMENTS; Conventional & Autonomous Weapons; 16 February 2023

Image: The gas carrier 'Karmol LNGT Powership Africa' is moored off Dakar on the coast of Senegal. The vessel will be connected to a floating power plant via gas pipelines. Credit: MOL

Germany's Gas Import Will Boost Modernisation in Senegal

By Karamba Diaby*

BERLIN (IDN) — In Senegal, over 70 per cent of the population still has no access to electricity. This is one of the reasons why the country wants to begin the exploitation of offshore oil and gas fields by the end of 2023. Following his visit to Senegal at the end of May 2022, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that cooperation in the field of natural gas production would be conceivable.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 11 February 2023

Crossing Russia's Red Lines on NATO Expansion

U.S. Officials Were Aware of the Risks

Viewpoint by Branko Marcetic

This article is distributed by Globetrotter in partnership with the American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord. Branko Marcetic is a Jacobin staff writer and the author of Yesterday’s Man: The Case Against Joe Biden.

CHICAGO (IDN) — Nearly a year in, the war in Ukraine has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and brought the world to the brink of, in President Joe Biden’s own words, “Armageddon.” Alongside the literal battlefield, there has been a similarly bitter intellectual battle over the war’s causes.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Russia; 03 February 2023

Image: Penny Wong. Source: Foreign Affairs Ministry of Australia

Australian FM Urges Britain to Confront Its Colonial Past in Asia

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — In a landmark speech at King's College London, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong has urged Britain to confront its colonial past if it wanted to strengthen and build new ties in the Indo-Pacific.

Malaysian-born Wong said that Britain and other countries should strive to shed staying "sheltered in narrower versions" of their histories. Recalling that her grandmother worked as a servant to British colonial masters in Borneo, she noted that such stories would sometimes be uncomfortable for both those who tell them and those who hear them.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 02 February 2023

Image: Chief of the Croatian Criminal Police and Deputy Chief Director of the Croatian Police Antonio Gerovac. Credit: HINA/ Damir SENČAR

Beyond the 'Blue Curtain of Secrecy' in Croatia

Conversation with the Head of the Croatian Criminal Police

By Aurora Weiss

VIENNA (IDN) — The esprit de corps, the misunderstood sense of togetherness, means that the police officers cover for one another. In such a culture, valuing loyalty over integrity facilitates misconduct by keeping it concealed. That’s why The United Nations Convention against Corruption calls for independent bodies or persons specialized in combating corruption through law enforcement that can “carry out their functions effectively and without any undue influence”.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 28 January 2023

Photo: Demonstrators hold placards during a protest to support the Burkina Faso President Captain Ibrahim Traore and to demand the departure of France's ambassador and military forces, in Ouagadougou, on Jan 20, 2023. (OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP)

Anti-French Sentiment Boils Over in West Africa

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | OUAGADOUGOU (IDN) — French flags were set ablaze in the streets of Ouagadougou as hundreds of citizens of the West African nation of Burkina Faso gathered in the capital city on January 20. Many carried placards with the message “French army, get out!”

Anti-French sentiment has been soaring here, fed by the failure of the French military in the region to protect citizens from jihadist attacks as outlined in a bilateral accord.