Author: Philippos Kormopoulos

The sanctions will have ramifications across Europe and the rest of the world, he predicted Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic likened sanctions on Russia to a double-edged sword in an interview with Pink TV on Sunday. He said he was expecting increased pressure on Serbia this coming year about issues concerning Kosovo and Metohija and sanctions on Russia. “It’s a double-edged sword. It’s not easy,” Vucic said, referring to sanctions on Russia. The sanctions will have ramifications across Europe and the rest of the world, he predicted. “No one felt them too much this past year, but next winter will be…

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday that he expects the situation in Europe and the world to further aggravate in 2023, Report informs via TASS. “I expect that the year 2023 will be more, much more difficult on the European and global levels than 2022,” he told an annual news conference. “The United States is nearing a recession,” he noted. “China’s growth is slowing down. Europe is nearing a recession.” According to Britain’s Financial Times, Europe may face blackouts due to the cold weather in the coming months, but power outages are more probable next winter because of problems with storing…

While the EU is promoting the ninth round of sanctions against Russia, the head of EU foreign policy recently expressed “concern” about the close relationship between Türkiye and Russia, and called on Türkiye to join the sanctions against Russia. This speech angered Türkiye’s President RecepTayyip Erdogan, who responded on the 15th that EU politicians have no right to interfere in Turkish Russian relations. According to the West German Report of Germany on December 11, in a letter to the European Parliament, EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Borrell said that Türkiye’s refusal to join the EU’s sanctions against…

The European Union and Aga Khan Foundation Partner for Rural Development in Tajikistan High in the mountains of Central Asia, villagers can only dream of easy access to water for drinking and irrigation, as the river waters glisten in the snaking valleys below. That dream is about to become a reality as the European Union and the private, not-for-profit Aga Khan Foundation team together to promote agricultural development and improve access to clean and safe drinking water in Tajikistan’s Zarafshonvalley, a region characterized by mountain ranges with peaks reaching 4,000 – 5,000 meters high. The EU and Aga Khan Foundation…

The viral popularity of a newly emerged Russian subculture has in little more than a week caught the Kremlin’s eye and unsettled the authorities to such a degree that shopping malls in several major Russian cities have seen mass arrests of teenagers in the past few days. In making the arrests, law enforcement officials are believed to have been looking for anyone identifying themself with an amorphous grouping known as PMC Ryodan, which top government officials have claimed is a Ukrainian project aimed at destabilizing Russia. Here is what we know so far about PMC Ryodan and the reasons behind…

The Ministry of Labour, Migration and Employment of the Population of Tajikistan said that Tajik prisoners held in Russian prisons themselves expressed a desire to go to war in Ukraine, the Tajik service of Radio Liberty (Radio Ozodi) reports . Shukhrat Akhmadzoda, head of the department for work with labor migrants of the Ministry of Labor of Tajikistan, said that “prisoners serving sentences were mobilized for war in Ukraine in accordance with Russian legislation and after obtaining their consent.” At the same time, the official did not disclose the number of Tajiks serving sentences in Russian colonies. Meanwhile, relatives and friends of the…

At least two Ismaili home owners in Mountainous Badakhshan were fined one month’s average wage each for hosting prayers in their homes. The regime banned such meetings in late 2022. Officials told elders on 14 January in Khorugh not to allow prayers in homes, that local people must remove portraits of Ismaili spiritual leader the Aga Khan, and that study at the London-based Institute of Ismaili Studies is no longer allowed. The authorities banned voluntary lessons for children based on a course from the Aga Khan Foundation. Local administrations in the Mountainous Badakhshan Region in south-eastern Tajikistan have issued at…

To the long-suffering people of the region known as the Pamiris, the avalanche disaster was yet another blow to their community. The Pamiris, who are Ismaili Muslims whose religious leader is the Aga Khan, have been facing relentless attacks by the regime security forces of President Imomali Rahmon. Rahmon launched a brutal campaign in 2022 to suffocate the Pamiris’ dynamic civil society by killing local leaders and peaceful protestors, arresting hundreds, and using torture, rape and religious repression to eliminate what they called “terrorist and criminal elements.” On February 15, snow avalanches roared down mountainsides and crashed through Tajikistan towns…