Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan Khamrokhon Zarifi took part in the session of the Foreign Ministers Council of the member states of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on July 13 in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, the press service of the Ministry reported. READ MORE

On July 8-10, Kazakhstani Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov paid an official visit to the United States and held meetings with Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Deputy National Security Adviser and Assistant to the President Anthony Blinken, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, and Deputy Secretary of State William Burns. In his talks with high ranking U.S. officals the two sides highlighted the robust and growing bilateral ties between Kazakhstan and the United States and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen the strategic partnership. It was agreed that Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will co-chair the Strategic Partnership Dialogue. READ MORE

NATO forces were deployed to the fictitious country of “Fairyland” to put logistic systems, equipment and procedures to the test in what was the Alliance’s largest-ever logistics exercise. Held in Slovakia from 8 to 26 June, Capable Logistician 2013 involved NATO member and partner countries in a simulated crisis involving inter-ethnic conflict and floods of refugees. READ MORE

European Commission's Press release

Brussels, 9 July 2013 READ MORE

In case you haven’t noticed, the great European crisis is the biggest political game changer in postwar history. READ MORE

President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with Joachim Gauck, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, who arrived on a state visit to Lithuania. READ MORE

Luxembourg’s long-serving Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker officially announced he would resign following a spying scandal involving illegal phone-taps and other illicit activities. READ MORE

Having taken cognizance of the Israeli violations against the land, the inhabitants, the Islamic and Christian sanctuaries and the historic landmarks in the City of AlQuds. READ MORE

Nabucco-West, the pipeline project that was to have carried Azerbaijani gas from Turkey to the Central European Gas Hub near Vienna, is exiting from the stage. There will be no encore: “The Nabucco project is over for us. Our goal now is European gas for European customers,” Gerhard Roiss, CEO of Austrian OMV, the Nabucco consortium’s lead player, told the audience (Die Presse, June 27; and see accompanying article). READ MORE

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stressed the importance of multinational cooperation to improve defence capabilities during his visit to Hungary on Monday (1 July 2013), which included talks with top Hungarian officials and a visit to the Strategic Airlift Capability at the NATO airbase in Pápa. “This is a perfect example of smart cooperation: nations working together to provide a capability which they could not afford on their own,” the Secretary General said. READ MORE