Eurasia

Ahmad Al-Tayyeb Reactions in the Muslim world to the recent publication of the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in the French magazine Charlie Hebdo were very harsh, and included pointed criticism of France and its president Emmanuel Macron. The cartoons were denounced as an insult to the Prophet’s honor and …

Russia’s military will set up positions around the northeast Syrian town of Ain Issa as part of an agreement with the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to reduce attacks from Turkish-controlled areas nearby.

Ankara’s growing isolation and a combination of broader geopolitical factors, including Iran and the Caucasus, are driving a fresh bid to normalize Turkish-Israeli ties.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this evening thanked President Donald Trump and Morocco King Mohammed VI for the announcement over normalizing ties with Israel.

Iran has made it clear that if the new US administration of Joe Biden wants to reenter the nuclear deal, no preconditions are acceptable to Iran. In his final weeks in office, outgoing US President Donald Trump is insisting on leaving his mark on the United States’ Middle East policy. …

The mayors of the Polish and Hungarian capitals have written to the European Commission urging it to fund municipalities directly if their governments insist on maintaining the veto of the EU recovery fund.

Kosovo’s government will not rely on “hybrid creations” in its fight against organised crime and corruption, Deputy Prime Minister Driton Selmanaj has told BIRN, defending the much-criticised abolition of an anti-graft task force created 10 years ago by the chief rivals to Selmanaj’s ruling Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK.

The sex-and-drugs scandal engulfing Hungary’s Fidesz is very different from previous ones, because the entire family-oriented, conservative image it has carefully constructed around an increasingly oppressive and corrupt government is at stake.

Hungary tops the list of countries where irregularities with EU funds have been uncovered, including a recent corruption case involving the then-mayor of Kengyel. He explains to BIRN how the system works. In late September, Szilard Nagy lost the early election for mayor of Kengyel, a village of some 3,500 …

A deal to avert a veto of the EU budget is unlikely to be enough to reverse the deterioration in Hungary’s relations with Germany. Hungary and Poland have reportedly accepted a proposal brokered by Germany to lift their veto of the EU budget and recovery package at this week’s summit …