In response to an invitation by the Gambian authorities, the European Union has deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) to The Gambia to observe the Parliamentary elections scheduled for 6 April 2017. This would be the first time the EU would be deploying a fully-fledged EOM in The Gambia, reflecting the EU’s commitment to supporting…
Category: International
On 29 March the UK starts Brexit talks
Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger Article 50 proceedings with the European Union on March 29, launching two years of negotiations that will reshape the future of the country and Europe. May’s government said her permanent envoy to the EU Tim Barrow had informed European Council President Donald Tusk of the date when Britain intends…
Russia, France towards Syrian talks
Russian Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault have agreed to cooperate in preparing the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. #SYRIA Report of the Russian Centre for reconciliation of opposing sides (March,18th) https://t.co/eatogHylpn pic.twitter.com/uwd3kpg2ar — Минобороны России (@mod_russia) March 18, 2017 “The ministers have agreed…
EU and Russia for common approach towards Libyan conflict
“… Russia being a very important permanent member of the Security Council, my assessment has been that Russia has always been highly involved in the discussions but also in the work on the Libyan file but this is more for the UN Representative (Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission…
EU message to Rakhine State
“The issuance of the interim report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, which was established by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and led by Dr Kofi Annan, is an important moment for the millions of people who live there, Myanmar, neighbouring countries and the wider international community. ” – says the statement of…
Suspect IS child-fighters in Chechnya
For the first time, severe repressive measures were applied to minors attending Islamic schools (‘medrese’), which in the Chechen Republic in recent years became numerous, – reports ‘Novaya Gazeta’, Russia. The human rights activists inform about 200 jailed, suspected in sympathies to the Islamic state, including children, detained for direct and indirect participation in attacks…
EU prolongs individual sanctions aganist Russians
On 13 March 2017, the Council prolonged the restrictive measures over actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine for a further six months, until 15 September 2017. The measures consist of asset freezes and a travel bans. The assessment of the situation did not justify a change in the…
Security of diplomats in Turkey questioned
Although Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg condiers the tensions between The Netherlands and Turkey as a “bilateral” issue, he called allies for “calm and respect”. However the fears for the security of the diplomatic corps in Turkey remain vivid – during the weekend protestors pulled down the Dutch flag from the mast on the…
Stoltenberg to release NATO report 2016
The Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg will hold a press conference at NATO Headquarters on Monday 13 March 2017 at 12:30. On this occasion, the Secretary General’s Annual Report for 2016 will be released to the public. The #NATO Secretary General's Annual Report for 2016 will be released on 13 March. Info for media:…
Tajani calls for more investment in Africa
The European Parliament (EP) president Antonio Tajani (pictured) called for a balanced approach to immigration. “ We must be just as rigorous in taking in people who qualify for asylum as we are in countering illegal immigration. We cannot leave the management of migration to people traffickers and terrorists. We need decisive political action at…
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