The Russian envoy has been summoned to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry after the authorities launched an investigation into six citizens of Russia suspected of involvement in a series of blasts at four weapons and armament facilities in Bulgaria between 2011 and 2020. “From the evidence gathered so far, it can …
Read More »North Macedonia’s ‘Stateless’ Spy End to Struggle for Citizenship
A political deal is giving new hope to thousands of people who remain officially invisible because – even though some were born in the country – they cannot get citizenship documents. They were born or have lived in the country for years but have never managed to regulate their legal …
Read More »DEMOCRACY DIGEST: CZECHS BRING ‘BALANCE’ TO DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH RUSSIA
The deterioration in Czech-Russian relations reached a nadir this week as Prague ordered scores of Russian ‘diplomats’ to leave. Starting a new job is always stressful – it always takes a few weeks to get your feet under the table. Much sympathy must go to Jakub Kulhanek then, who was …
Read More »Turkish forces in fresh offensive against PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan
The latest Turkish military operation against the PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan comes at a time when Ankara finds itself increasingly under strain, both on the domestic front and in its frosty ties with Washington. The Turkish military has launched a critically timed ground and air offensive against Kurdish militants in …
Read More »Blinken cautions Turkey against future S-400 purchases
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said that President Joe Biden’s recent recognition of the Armenian genocide should not have come as a surprise. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Turkey shouldn’t make any additional purchases of Russian weaponry, warning that doing so could provoke further US sanctions. …
Read More »Cyprus unification talks falter as Turkey clings to two-state idea
Talks to reunite Cyprus have again failed to unblock a four-year pause in negotiations over the future of the Eastern Mediterranean island. The latest attempt to lay the ground for the resumption of talks to reunite Cyprus failed after a three-day summit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a news conference …
Read More »Vienna Nuclear Talks Nearing Successful Conclusion, Sides Say
Iran and world powers including the United States concluded their fourth round of nuclear negotiations in Vienna on Wednesday, as the sides look to secure an agreement enabling a mutual return to compliance with the abandoned 2015 pact. Russia’s representative to the talks, which began in early May, said all …
Read More »Ending Yemen’s Multilayered War
For U.S. officials who worked under former President Barack Obama, many of whom are now beginning or contemplating jobs in Joe Biden’s administration, the war in Yemen casts a long shadow. What started on their watch as a primarily internal power struggle has since metastasized into a messy and multilayered …
Read More »As Right-Wing Extremism Rises, Jihadism Still Persists
Six separate terrorist attacks took place in Europe between late September and late November of last year—three in France, and one each in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. All six attacks were inspired by Salafi-jihadist ideology, which is, and will remain, a persistent terrorism threat to Europe and elsewhere in the …
Read More »Al-Qaida Is Diminished, but Don’t Write Its Obituary Just Yet
Rumors began swirling last fall that al-Qaida chieftain Ayman al-Zawahiri had died of natural causes. With no confirmation, counterterrorism analysts and long-time al-Qaida watchers weighed in with various assessments of what it would mean for the terrorist organization if it had indeed lost its leader. Just last week, al-Qaida’s official …
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