EU & Europe

Photo: Flags of CARIFORUM Member States. Credit: SKNIS

Caribbean States Share Common Values & Interests with Other ACP Countries

By Reinhardt Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – As the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (ACP) girds up its loins for talks on future relations with the European Union (EU) after the Cotonou Agreement expires in February 2020, the Caribbean Forum of the ACP States (CARIFORUM) has resolved that a new pact must take into account "the inherent and exogenous vulnerabilities" of the Caribbean region as critical elements in the negotiations.

The ACP Group of 79 States, constitutes 48 countries from Sub-Saharan Africa, 16 from the Caribbean region and 15 from the Pacific. Together they make up nearly 41 percent of 193 member countries of the United Nations. Besides, Africa with a population of 1.28 billion is home to 16.64 percent of the world population and accounts for more than 87 percent of 55 members of the African Union. Nearly 44 million people who live in the Caribbean countries make up 0.58 percent of the world population.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 01 April 2018

Photo: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first President of the Turkish Republic, visiting Istanbul University after its reorganization in 1933 as a mixed-gender institution of higher education with multiple faculties. Wikimedia Commons | Public Domain

Reflections on Turkey: From Mustafa Kemal To Recep Erdoğan

Viewpoint by Pier Francesco Zarcone*

ROME (IDN) – Has Turkey changed under Erdoğan? The question may seem absurd due to the habit of considering Turkey a secular and Westernised country before Recep Erdoğan came to power.

However, this consolidated image turns out to be false. There has been a change, but not in substance: what has changed is its exteriority. In fact, albeit with periodic recourse to elections, the country has always been governed in an authoritarian way, and today this feature is only more evident and its quality is more pronounced.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 14 March 2018

Photo: Vladimir Putin delivering Presidential address to the Federal Assembly on 1 March 2018 at the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall in Moscow. Credit: Presidential website en.kremlin.ru

Why Putin Will Win Re-election As Russia's President

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The seemingly eternal president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has an iron grip on his nation and a foreign policy to match. A large majority of Russians give him their support. He will win re-election.

Is it his early economic success? Or is it because of a new stability? Or the nation’s growing self-respect after the ignominious years that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union? Or is it a sense of besieged defensiveness because of the advantage the West took of Russia afterwards.

The answer is a bit of all these.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 13 March 2018

Photo: Putin addressing the Federal Assembly on 1 March 2018. The presentation was attended, among others, by State Duma deputies, members of the Government, leaders of the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court, the leaders of traditional religions, public figures, as well as the leaders of major media outlets. Credit: Russian President's Website en.kremlin.ru

The Importance of Putin and Russia's Presidential Election

By Somar Wijayadasa

Somar Wijayadasa, a former UNESCO delegate to the UN General Assembly and Representative of UNAIDS at the United Nations, has been a frequent visitor to Russia since 1962 when the then Soviet Union "was a proud nation with a thriving economy, marvels of industrialization, advances in science, technology and medicine, escapades into outer space, and basking in the glory of a Super Power." – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN) – Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is seeking re-election in the upcoming Presidential vote on March 18.

: Somar Wijayadasa; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 09 March 2018

Photo: A view in May 2007 from South Korea towards North Korea in the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom. North and South Korean military personnel, as well as a single US soldier, are to be seen. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

UN, EU, Experts Hail Outcome of Inter-Korean Talks, Call For Availing of Peace Opportunities

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN (IDN) – The United Nations and the European Union as well as independent arms control experts have welcomed the results of latest talks between South and North Korea, and called for seizing the opportunities opening up for peace in the region and for reducing international tensions.

The significance of emerging prospects is underlined by the fact that though the Korean War ended in 1953, in the absence of a peace treaty the two Koreas are technically still at war. As The New York Times notes, in the United States where coverage of the armed conflict was censored and its memory decades later is often overshadowed by World War II and the Vietnam War, the Korean War has been called "the Forgotten War".

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 07 March 2018

Photo: The building of the Hungarian Parliament, May 2013. According to TI, Hungary is one of the most alarming examples of shrinking civil society space in Eastern Europe. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

More Civil Engagement Called for in Eastern, South-East Europe

By Sean Buchanan

This is the second in a series of reports highlighting salient aspects of Transparency International's latest analysis on challenges posed by corruption around the world as well as successes and failures of efforts targeting a scourge that eats into the vitals of human rights. – The Editor.

LONDON (IDN) – When it comes to corruption, Western Europe is the world's best performing region while the Eastern and South-East Europe region is among the worst, according to the latest index from Transparency International (TI), the global anti-corruption coalition.

The group's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2017 released on February 21 shows that authoritarianism rose across the region in 2017, hindering anti-corruption efforts and threatening civil liberties, with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and independent media experiencing challenges in their ability to monitor and criticise decision-makers.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 28 February 2018

Photo: Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 20, 2016 declares a state of emergency for three months with the goal of eliminating his internal enemies. Credit: Turkish government photo.

Erdoğan's Neo-Ottomanism at a Dangerous Turning Point

By Pier Francesco Zarcone*

ROME (IDN) – It is not being dealt with by major media, but there appear to be new and dangerous winds of war about to blow in the eastern Mediterranean.

On October 15, 2016, in a speech at the university that (modestly) bears his name, Turkish President Recep Erdoğan outlined some lines of his new foreign policy, announcing the intention to regain territories lost by the Ottoman Empire following defeat in the First World War, with specific reference to Western Thrace and the Dodecanese, all areas belonging to Greece, in theory an ally of Turkey in NATO.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 28 February 2018

Photo: (L to R): Urs Wiesmann, Co-Chair of SDSN Switzerland; Katrin Muff, Conference Facilitator; Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse Foundation; Jacques Dubochet, University of Lausanne; Océane Dayer, Co-Chair of SDSN Switzerland; Michael Bergöö, Acting Managing Director of SDSN Switzerland. Credit: Peter Lüthi, Biovision.

Switzerland Joins Sustainable Development Solutions Network

By Jaya Ramachandran

BERN (IDN) – The global Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) has launched its 25th network, SDSN Switzerland, co-hosted by the Centre for Development and Environment at the University of Bern and BIOVISION Foundation, foundation for ecological development, with a view to shaping multi-stakeholder dialogue, fostering sustainable development solutions, and advising decision-makers on the implementation of the Agenda 2030 and the Paris Climate Agreement.

SDSN Switzerland was officially launched on February 15 with a conference under the banner 'Where Society, Science and Politics Create Solutions.' The network claims to have 19 members from key institutions around Switzerland who are committed to implementing SDGs at the local level.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 26 February 2018

Photo: Sri Lanka troop transport catamaran in strategically located deep-water Trinconalee harbor in August 2004. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Sri Lanka Celebrating Independence In Chains Of Its Own Making

By Kalinga Seneviratne

BANGKOK (IDN) – While Sri Lanka "celebrates" 70 years of independence from British colonial rule this month, its sovereignty is being threatened as never before since gaining independence in 1948 – tempting one to remark that Sri Lanka is celebrating 'independence in chains'.

The strategically placed Indian ocean island is an important lynchpin in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which western powers – especially the United States and Britain – are keen to sabotage as its success would end their hegemony in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

Sri Lanka’s predicament started in early 2009 when the country’s armed forces were about to crush one of the most ruthless terror groups in the world – Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 03 February 2018

Photo: Writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Credit: V. Lebrun-Verguethen

Bookshops and Race: Nigerian Writer Speaks Out

By SWAN

PARIS (IDN | SWAN) – “Are there bookshops in Nigeria?”, asked a French journalist of famous Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, igniting a firestorm on social media following an event in Paris on January 25.

Many outraged observers accused the journalist of racism and ignorance, while lauding Adichie’s response

“I think it reflects very poorly on French people that you have to ask this question. Come on, it’s 2018,” Adichie replied, after the journalist qualified her question by saying French people knew little about Nigeria, apart from hearing about Boko Haram and violence.