G5 Sahel: Why are millions of dollars pledged by Saudi Arabia being withheld?
By Jeune Afrique – The $100m sum pledged by Saudi Arabia in December 2018, meant to fund G5 Sahel military operations, has yet to be released due to a dispute with France. On 5 December 2018, in a lounge area at the Méridien Étoile Hotel in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, an adviser to Saudi minister […]
The US Army is rethinking how to do its largest European exercise in 25 years amid a coronavirus lockdown
Christopher Woody Mar 17, 2020, 9:09 PM- In late January, US military personnel and contractors started loading heavy vehicles and equipment for transport from US bases to Europe to meet 20,000 soldiers traveling from the US for this spring’s Defender-Europe 20, which was supposed to be the US Army’s largest exercise there in 25 years. Those […]
European Convention on Human Rights: new free online training course
The 47-nation Council of Europe has launched an updated version of its free online “Introduction to the European Convention on Human Rights”, a 5-hour interactive training course aimed at legal professionals, public authorities, civil society and students. “Europe has the strongest system of international human rights protection anywhere in the world, thanks to the European […]
EU: calls for improving EU-Turkey ties, not just migration
The EU’s relationship with Turkey cannot be limited to just migration, the EU’s foreign policy chief said on Friday. The questions of migration and financial aid are an important part of ties between Turkey and the EU, but there are many other aspects to be improved, Josep Borrell told a press conference after a videoconference of EU foreign […]
Is France changing its position on Libya and starting to support Haftar?
Dr Mustafa Fetouri – Last Monday, the French government hosted Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar on a brief, unannounced, visit to Paris. Accompanied by his top political advisor, my ex-academic colleague turned politician Fadel Ed-Deep, he met President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace. After the meeting an Élysée official said that, “Marshal Haftar assured [us] that he […]
Will Turkey ever be part of the European Union?
“I would like to hear a clear declaration,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a visit to Poland last week. “If you want to accept Turkey, just do it. If you don’t want to, just say that.” Erdogan was of course, speaking of Turkey’s bid to join the EU, a partnership that has been in the […]
A TROUBLED PARTNERSHIP: THE US AND EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Trump’s policies towards the Middle East have led to a serious rift between the US and Europe. The EU and US are at loggerheads over Iran: Trump has withdrawn from the nuclear agreement and imposed tough economic sanctions, raising the risk of a military confrontation and prompting Iran to expand its nuclear programme. Meanwhile, the […]
Euro-Area Economy Shrinking 10% With Worse Still to Come
The euro-area economy is in a slump of unprecedented scale, and the contraction may deepen even further as lockdowns to contain the coronavirus are extended. IHS Markit said its monthly measure of services and manufacturing points to an annualized economic contraction of about 10%. With new business, confidence and employment all down, there is “worse […]
Putin Echoes Trump’s Call for Oil Producers to Reduce Output
By Olga Tanas and Jake Rudnitsky Russian President Vladimir Putin told the country’s top oil executives that oil producing countries should join together to slash output to reverse the collapse in world oil prices. Putin said global cuts of a little above or below 10 million barrels a day are possible, according to televised comments […]
