Month: February 2018

Kosovo expects to resolve outstanding issues with Serbia this year by reaching an “historic” agreement that would pave the way for the Balkan country to get a seat at the United Nations, President Hashim Thaci said on Tuesday. Kosovo seceded a decade ago from Serbia, but its independence has not been recognized by Belgrade, which together with its traditional allies Moscow and Beijing has blocked Pristina’s bid for a U.N. seat. As Belgrade moves closer to membership in the European Union, Serbian authorities are under pressure to resolve relations with neighbors including Kosovo. “The deal between Kosovo and Serbia, which …

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A Slovak court has rejected a demand by Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis to be cleared of cooperation with the communist-era secret police (StB), a court spokesman said on Tuesday. The ruling concludes a lengthy legal battle started by Babis, a Slovak-born billionaire businessman who rose last year to the top of the political ladder in the neighbouring Czech Republic, Slovakia’s former partner in the Czechoslovak federation that fell apart in 1993. The decision is mainly of symbolic value. It does not stop Babis from holding office nor from attempting to form a new government after his minority administration failed …

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is taking a hard line against nations and foreign energy companies exploring for gas in the eastern Mediterranean, warning them not to “step out of line” and encroach on his country’s territorial rights. “Let them not think that the search for natural gas in Cypriot waters and opportunistic initiatives relating to islets in the Aegean have slipped our attention,” Erdogan said Tuesday as he addressed his ruling AK Party parliamentarians. Both Greece and Turkey claim the islets, known as Imia and Greek and Kardak in Turkish. The two countries nearly went to war in 1996 over …

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The director of an award-nominated film about a traumatized boy stuck in the Calais “Jungle” camp has urged Britain to take in more lone child refugees stranded across Europe to prevent them from falling prey to traffickers. Vika Evdokimenko’s film “Aamir” is loosely based on the story of a boy her husband met two years ago when the couple volunteered in the French camp, which has since been bulldozed. “It was just one of the most miserable places I’ve been to,” Evdokimenko said ahead of Sunday’s British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards – Britain’s equivalent of the …

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French President Emmanuel Macron said his government is preparing to take fundamental steps to completely reform the lives and organizational structures of Muslims in the country.  Speaking to Journal du Dimanche, Macron said he wants to bring an end to disputes nationwide triggered by jihadi attacks over the last few years.  According to the French president, the reforms that will be initiated in the first quarter of 2018 include the fight against Islamic fundamentalism, restructure Muslim organizations and regulate their relations with the rest of the society.  Macron told the newspaper that his government’s reform project is still underway, so declined …

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A London court will rule on Tuesday whether it would be in the interests of justice to pursue action against WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange for failing to surrender to bail back in 2012. If the judge rules in his favor, then Assange, 46, would be free to leave the Ecuadorean Embassy in London where he has been holed up for more than five years. However, he might still elect to remain in the embassy, where he has been granted political asylum, because he fears Britain would arrest him under a U.S. extradition warrant, the existence of which has neither been …

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President Vladimir Putin on Monday passed greetings from U.S. President Donald Trump to the visiting Palestinian leader, who responded that he doesn’t want to  cooperate with Washington following its decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. Speaking at the start of their meeting in the Kremlin, Putin told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he was just off the phone with Trump.  “Naturally, we spoke about the Palestinian-Israeli settlement,” he said “I would like to convey to you his best wishes.” Abbas responded that the Palestinians don’t want to cooperate with the United States as a sponsor of the peace …

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The United Nations should consider a force of some 20,000 soldiers from non-NATO countries and 4,000 police to help resolve the crisis in Ukraine, according to a new report to be presented to top officials this week. More than 10,000 people have been killed since April 2014 in a conflict that pits Ukrainian forces against Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Intermittent clashes continue despite a notional ceasefire and diplomatic peace efforts. Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested a limited U.N. peacekeeping mission to eastern Ukraine, which many in the West see as an opportunity to negotiate a broader U.N. force …

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The European Union and Albania reached a deal Monday to allow European police to deploy on Albanian territory to handle immigration issues, which Brussels hopes can be a model for other countries in the Western Balkans. Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU’s Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship initialed the accord along with Albania’s Interior Minister Fatmir Xhafaj. It still must be approved by EU member states. “Albania is a front-runner in the region, and the agreement will serve as a role model for similar arrangements we are negotiating with other partners in the Western Balkans,” Avramopoulos said. “Closer cooperation between …

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