A vessel using a flag of convenience is registered under a foreign flag that bears no association with the nationality of the vessel's owner or operator (Photo: NN – norden.org) Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing constitutes one of the…
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (l) and Russian president Vladimir Putin in Sochi (Photo: Kremlin.ru) There is more in common between Turkey and Russia than one might think. Both are countries on the periphery of Europe and grappling with the…
Recent gestures are low cost and low risk for Beijing (Photo: Stefan) Lately, Beijing seems to be on a charm offensive towards the European Union — sending special envoys to the region, seeking contact with European ministers during July’s G20…
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her husband in 2011 (Photo: MrZeroPage) The Belgian parliament’s recent decision to ratify its prisoner-exchange treaty with Iran is a grave mistake, and one which exemplifies the many downfalls of dealing with Iran’s human-rights abuses on a…
EU forces left Central African Republic and Mali after Russian mercenaries arrived (Photo: eeas.europa.eu) During US foreign secretary Antony Blinken trip to Africa this week, countering Russian influence will be high up on his agenda, just as it was for…
Nato soliders on exercise – will they ever be replicated by an EU army? (Photo: NATO) People are asking and will continue to ask with increased urgency: when will the war in Ukraine end? Will the barbarism inflicted by Vladimir…
Dr Ming-Yen Tsai: ‘The Republic of China (Taiwan) is an independent, sovereign country. Taiwan has never been part of the People’s Republic of China' (Photo: Screengrab) US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan on 2-3 August, accompanied by…
In 2018, Donetsk saw a 76 percent increase in reported domestic violence cases, while the increase in Luhansk over a three-year period was 158 percent (Photo: Chris McGrath) Late last month, Ukraine was granted European Union Candidate status, the first…
New rules are need on journey times, maximum temperatures, and height and space allowances (Photo: European Parliament) On Monday (18 July), EU agriculture ministers will discuss how to protect animals during transport. This was put on the agenda by Belgium,…
While the citizens of Bosnia & Herzegovina deserve and need a sign of hope from the EU, advancing the accession process at this moment would neglect the merit-based process that the EU claims to pursue in its enlargement agenda (Photo:…
Map of proposed developments in the Hungarian capital, Budapest (see key) (Photo: Budapest Főváros Városépítési Tervező Kft./ City Hall’s urban planning Ltd) The Hungarian parliament is about to adopt a new law that will transfer the ownership of three central…
Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia — which has been an EU accession candidate since 2005. First, Greece, then France, then Bulgaria, thew a spanner in the works (Photo: Mike Norton) After a long wait, the beginning for EU accession…