EU & Europe

Photo: EU and Western Balkans Summit: Strengthening cooperation at all levels to support the region’s transformation. Credit: eeas.europa.eu

EU-Facilitated Dialogue Vital For Kosovo-Serbian Accord

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the second report from Kosovo, stressing the importance of an EU-facilitated dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade. The first is titled Kosovo Looks Forward To UN Membership. – The Editor

BERLIN | PRISTINA (IDN) – In the wake of the Kosovo War, in the whirl and muddle of Yugoslav Wars, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, Kosovo, as part of Serbia and Yugoslavia, was placed under United Nations administration UNMIK by virtue of the Security Council Resolution 1244.

NATO launched the bombing campaign against Yugoslavia on March 24,1999 because "efforts to achieve a negotiated, political solution to the Kosovo crisis" had failed. But it did so "without seeking explicit Security Council authorization".

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 03 August 2018

Photo: Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj (second from left) talking to a media team end of June 2018 at his office in Pristina. He is flanked by Kosovo government officials. Credit: Cia Pak | Scannews.

Kosovo Looks Forward To UN Membership

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the first of two reports from Kosovo, on its efforts to garner international recognition in the aftermath of unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008 subsequent to the breakup of Yugoslavia after Josip Broz Tito's death in the 1980s. – The Editor

BERLIN | PRISTINA (IDN) – The United Nations Security Council has engaged with the situation in Kosovo and its relations with Serbia three times already this year. But when the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly opens on September 18, 2018, Kosovo will be missing. It is the only among seven breakaway states of former Yugoslavia that is not yet a member of the UN.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 03 August 2018

Photo: Vladimir Putin (right) and Donald Trump (left) at a news conference after their summit meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. Credit: en.kremlin.ru

A U.S.-Russia Summit That Left Trump In The Hot Seat

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN | INPS) – In a historic bilateral summit, the United States President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. The summit took place notwithstanding myriad objections, conjectures and apprehensions from many U.S. political leaders who oppose rapprochement with Russia over a plethora of issues: Crimea, East Ukraine, Syria, and Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Just two days before the summit, the U.S. Justice Department indicted 12 Russians for interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, giving impetus to a steady drumbeat of demands that Trump cancel the meeting. The New York Times reported, "according to an internal government document, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on 213 Russian-related targets".

: Somar Wijayadasa; OPINION; 21 July 2018

Photo: Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed (right) meets with Senida Mesi, Deputy Prime Minister of Albania. 16 July 2018,. United Nations, New York. UN Photo/Evan Schneider.

For Albania EU Accession and Agenda 2030 Go Hand in Hand

By Ramesh Jaura

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Since the political turbulence of 1989 after the fall of the Berlin Wall, which engulfed entire Eastern Europe, Albania has been resolutely sailing west. In 2009 the country became a full member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), and it has made great strides towards membership of the European Union. The accession negotiations are expected to open in June 2019.

Accession to the European Union (EU) is "an over-arching priority with full political consensus and nationwide support," said Deputy Prime Minister Senida Mesi in an interview with IDN. The focus, she added, is on "strengthening democracy, with a competitive, stable and sustainable economy, and with guarantees of fundamental human rights and liberties."

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 20 July 2018

Photo (left to right): President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, China's President Xi Jinping, and President of the European Council Donald Tusk. Credit: European Union

Climate Change 'Main Pillar' of EU-China Relations

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Collaboration between the European Union (EU) and China on climate change and clean energy is set to become "a main pillar" of their bilateral partnership, including in their economic relations, according to a joint statement.

Titled EU-China Leaders' Statement on Climate Change and Clean Energy, the statement underlines their "highest political commitment to the effective implementation" of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

It emphasizes their "firm determination" to work with all stakeholders to tackle climate change, implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and promote low greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, climate-resilient and sustainable development globally.

: Robert Johnson; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 18 July 2018

Competitive Diplomacy Under the Trump Administration – Part 2

Viewpoint by Michele Nobile*

This is the second of a two-part article which was written before the July 11-12 NATO summit in Brussels – The Editor.

ROME (IDN) – It is evident that the reduction or even wiping out of U.S. spending on United Nations agencies is essentially irrelevant from the point of view of reduction of its public debt and revival of its domestic economy. The reason for cuts can only be political and ideological.

With regard to family planning, contraception and abortion, it is a question of satisfying the domestic fundamentalist right. In more general terms, the Trump administration's competitive diplomacy is a way of blackmailing the United Nations because of the prevailing disagreement in organising certain positions of the US government: the most recent case is that of Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 16 July 2018

Photo: Angela Merkel. Credit: Federal Government/Steffen Kugler

Why Germany Is Important For Survival Of Multilateralism

By Shastri Ramachandaran*

NEW DELHI | BERLIN (IDN) – A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of right-wing nationalism that is anti-immigrant and, in many pockets, feeding racism and xenophobia. Germany, which stood tall and firm against this gathering illiberal tide by throwing open its doors in 2015-16 to over a million refugees – mainly from the war in Syria – is today facing a crisis over Chancellor Angela Merkel’s policy on refugees.

With the U.S. turning its back on globalization and the global order facing an erosion of liberal and humanitarian values, Germany rose as a new pole of power in the West. It is Germany that has been calling the shots on behalf of the advanced industrial nations, and not only at the recent G7 summit, which saw Chancellor Merkel taking a tough line against President Donald Trump.

: Shastri Ramachandran; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 12 July 2018

Photo: Europe needs key decisions to be made in the near future to give the people answers to the major questions of our time, agreed German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in a press conference at the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace in April 2018. Credit: Bundesregierung/Steins

French President Macron Is Going To Get Things Done

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – At the European summit on June 28-29 the leaders spent most of the time discussing immigration restrictions. Yet the Syrian rush through the Mediterranean is now a trickle. The African migration is down by 95 percent.

No wonder that Emmanuel Macron, the young (40) president of France, was frustrated. Although he spent hours trying to liberalize the consensus on immigration restrictions he really wanted to spend most of the summit on reforming how the Eurozone works. An inner group of 19 members use the Euro as their currency.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 03 July 2018

Photo: Citizens of Berlin watch a C-54 land at Berlin Tempelhof Airport in 1948 (US Air Force via Wikimedia Commons)

Remembering the Berlin Airlift 70 Years On

By Frederick Kempe*

Following is the text of the slightly modified blogpost based on Frederick Kempe's weekly newsletter InflectionPoints on 26 June, which originally appeared with the caption 'Europe Beyond Trump'. Kempe is president and chief executive officer of the Atlantic Council. You can follow him on Twitter @FredKempe. – The Editor

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – Seventy years ago, the Soviet Union blockaded access to West Berlin in an effort to score an early win in the first major crisis of the Cold War. What the Kremlin hadn’t expected was an unbending United States, which, with its UK allies, launched the Berlin Airlift, or “Operation Vittles” on June 26, 1948.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 26 June 2018

Photo: EU heads of state or government meet on 28 June 2018 in Brussels to focus on migration, security and defence, as well as economic and financial affairs. Credit: consilium.europa.eu

EU Summit Must Conquer Misleading Immigration Policies

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

The Syrian and African migration that has filled our television screens the last two years is overstated. The massive Syrian flow was a panic attack. Now it has dramatically subsided. There is no reason to think there will be another such great influx from the eastern Mediterranean countries. The African migration comes and goes, writes veteran journalist Jonathan Power. – The Editor

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Navel-gazing can sometimes be a good thing. But, as the self-help books and articles advocate, looking at one’s achievements to date to boost one’s morale is always a good step forward before attempting to improve the mind and spirit.