Islam’s European Hope
Mohamed Merah’s killing spree in and around Toulouse in March, like the 2004 Madrid train bombings and the 2005 suicide attacks in London’s Underground, has highlighted once again the dilemmas that Europe faces with regard to its growing Muslim minority. No social-integration model has proven to be free of flaws. But is the picture really so bleak as those who despair of an emerging “Eurabia” would have us believe? READ MORE
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry: EU needs political courage to condemn Armenian aggression
The European Union (EU) must evaluate the facts and the fact that we have - it's aggression, and it should be judged just as aggression, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev told reporters on Saturday, commenting on statements by EU Special Representative for South Caucasus Philippe Lefort in Yerevan. READ MORE
The Secretary's Daunting Agenda
Late last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began her tour of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. In Scandinavia, she was to address several forums on climate change and green energy. While in Sweden, she also planned to discuss Internet freedom, Afghanistan and the Middle East. But it is in the mountains of the Caucasus and Turkey where Hillary will face the red meat of geopolitics: bloody ethnic conflicts over turf; religiously motivated massacres; and threshold nuclear states with global reach. READ MORE
Is Russia at a dead end on Syria?
Russia is sticking to its position on Syria, although its objective is unclear. Agreement within the United Nations Security Council seems impossible to broker, but diplomatic wrangling continues. READ MORE
Komorovsky afraid Ukraine go east
President of Poland Bronislav Komorovsky considers it necessary to conduct pragmatic policy towards Ukrainian authorities to bring Ukraine nearer to the EU integration, not to push away to Russian integration. READ MORE
Lithuania and Poland need to think about ”resetting” relations
Today Lithuania and Poland experience notable crisis in their relationship. Therefore it is strange to hear the words of Laurynas Jonavičius, adviser to the Lithuanian President on foreign policy issues, that „bilateral relations are not bad in general“ and that Lithuanian-Polish relations are „working relations“. What is the real situation? READ MORE
Countering Terrorism
The fight against terrorism is high on NATO’s agenda. Both the Strategic Concept¹ and the Lisbon Summit Declaration² make clear that terrorism poses a real and serious threat to the security and safety of the Alliance and its members. NATO will continue to fight this scourge, individually and collectively, in accordance with international law and the principles of the UN Charter. NATO’s new Policy Guidelines for Alliance work on counter-terrorism focus on improved threat awareness, adequate capabilities and enhanced engagement with partner countries and other international actors. READ MORE
The Danish Minister of Justice aims to strengthen the fight against terrorism in Europe
The Danish Minister of Justice, Morten Bødskov, chairs the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting and he has chosen to put the fight against terrorism on the top of the agenda. READ MORE
Uncertain World: Will Russia Become Part of the West?
In early 2003, during Vladimir Putin’s first term as president, Russia found itself in a political alliance with the West for the first time since World War I. Siding with Paris and Berlin, Moscow resolutely opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Many analysts considered this triangle to be the onset of a new European political geometry, but it did not lead to anything serious. READ MORE
France's Strategy
New political leaders do not invent new national strategies. Rather, they adapt enduring national strategies to the moment. On Tuesday, Francois Hollande will be inaugurated as France's president, and soon after taking the oath of office, he will visit German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. At this moment, the talks are expected to be about austerity and the European Union, but the underlying issue remains constant: France's struggle for a dominant role in European affairs at a time of German ascendance. READ MORE
