Asylum seekers and migrants often encounter hostility on their way to the West – but in Timisoara those passing through are meeting a remarkable outpouring of solidarity. On 26 November last year, people in Timisoara, a city in western Romania, were moved to find that 25 migrants who had recently …

The change of power in the US – and a wish to re-set relations with the EU – are behind Ankara’s de-escalation of tensions in volatile waters. Turkey and Greece resumed their exploratory talks after a five-year break on January 25. Resuming the talks after such a long break was …

Since the fall of the Islamic State ‘caliphate’, piecemeal efforts by Balkan states to repatriate their nationals from refugee camps in Syria means more than 100 children are still living in squalid, unsafe conditions. With her three children, Floresha Rasha has a new home – a three-storey beachfront building ringed …

The fresh crisis in Moscow’s relations with the West is having a ripple effect in many countries and regions – including in the Balkans and Central Europe – where Russian and Western interests collide. In his first foreign policy speech, new US President Joe Biden summarized his international agenda in …

Azerbaijan deployed thousands of mercenaries in last year’s 44-day war that it and Turkey waged against Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabagh and Armenia. Azerbaijan thereby flagrantly violated the UN’s International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries (UNMERC) which it signed in 1997. Forty-six countries have signed UNMERC including Belgium, Cyprus, …

DURING his first week in office, US President Joe Biden signed at least 44 executive actions, orders, proclamations and memorandums. He rejoined the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris climate agreement, and repealed the Trump administration’s ban on travellers from Muslim-majority and African countries, including Libya, Somalia, Eritrea, Nigeria, …

Delegations to Tunisia, Egypt and Oman explore AFRICOM and CENTCOM roles in their areas of operations. Senior US military officials are visiting countries in North Africa and the Gulf region to update their take on realities on the ground and help shape President Joe Biden’s vision for promoting US interests …

Ambassador William Burns said that China is the biggest challenge for the United States, but that Iran and Russia cannot be overlooked. CIA Director nominee William Burns said Iran cannot be overlooked, but advocated for a focus on China during his nomination hearing Wednesday. Burns, who was nominated for the …

The Fatemiyoun Brigade and the Iranian militias have beefed up their presence in Deir ez-Zor province in eastern Syria by bringing in more Syrian elements into their ranks and intensifying their religious, military and cultural activities in order to expand and preserve their interests. Iranian forces and affiliated militias in …

Moscow played a central role in the release of the Israeli woman who crossed the border into Syria, but might prove less helpful on Iranian entrenchment in Syria or the Palestinian issue. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prides himself of his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Last week, …