Author: Stavros Demetriallis

Germany has become the fifth G7 country with which Ukraine has started negotiations on bilateral security guarantees, the Office of the President of Ukraine announced on Nov. 17. Ihor Zhovkva, deputy head of the President’s Office, leads the Ukrainian negotiating team. He emphasized Germany’s role as a key provider of financial, military, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. “One cannot imagine the effectiveness of security guarantees or Ukraine’s future membership in the Euro-Atlantic community without Germany,” the message quotes Zhovkva. “That is why the start of bilateral security negotiations with Germany is so significant.” During the first round of talks, both parties…

MINISTER of Defence Antti Häkkänen (NCP) has rejected the idea of cancelling the acquisition of an air defence system from Israel over the situation in Gaza. “The Ukraine war has shown us that air defence capabilities are crucially important. This is why cancelling [the acquisition of] such a weapons system over any incident is in my opinion out of the question,” he commented on YLE TV1 on Friday. Häkkänen said the Finnish and Israeli defence ministries have signed a separate agreement to commit both administrations to the transaction, which – he added – will not be completed until years from today. The Left Alliance has…

Azerbaijan and Poland will set up a working group on cooperation in the agrarian sphere, Trend reports. According to the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan, Agriculture Minister Majnun Mammadov met with Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Robert Telus, during which it was noted that Azerbaijan and Poland have successful cooperation in the field of agriculture, as well as in many other areas. It was also noted that there is a great potential for further expansion of this cooperation and by correctly assessing the existing potential, it is possible to increase the trade turnover of agricultural products between the…

Greece and North Macedonia have made the final investment decision to build a 123-kilometer gas pipeline. Their first natural gas interconnection would give North Macedonia an alternative to its only supplying route from Bulgaria. Greece’s National Natural Gas System Operator – DESFA and North Macedonia’s natural gas transmission company Nomagas have reached the final investment decision, DESFA CEO Maria Rita Galli announced at the 27th Annual Economist Government Roundtable. She added that the Greece – North Macedonia gas interconnector entered the construction phase. The pipeline will add a new energy supply route for North Macedonia while further strengthening the role…

Brussels (25/11 – 33.3) Tajikistan Supreme Court has sentenced a widely respected 65-year-old female journalist, Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva, to 21 years in prison on charges of incitement to overthrowing the government. Mamadshoeva was accused by the authorities of being a leading figure behind the political turbulence that rocked her native Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) earlier this year. State propaganda has previously alleged that the veteran reporter and activist hatched the purported plot, for which no credible evidence has been produced, at the behest of an unnamed foreign government. Mamadshoeva’s brother, Khursand, was last week sentenced to 18 years in prison on…

Remarks by rights chief come as civil society groups warn of a rise in antisemitism amid Israel-Hamas war Antisemitism is a “deeply ingrained racism in European society” that poses an existential threat to the continent’s Jewish community and the fundamental aims of the European Union, an EU official has warned. Michael O’Flaherty, the director of the bloc’s agency for fundamental rights, said it was worrying that only a third of the general population considered antisemitism a big problem, when there was no doubt “dramatic moments in our societies trigger antisemitic responses”. He told the Guardian: “It happened with Covid, it’s happening…

Frankfurt, Atlanta (23/11 – 10) Potatoes are a serious matter. The lowly potato does in fact have a lengthy and exotic history, being grown as a food crop, or domesticated, around the border of Peru and Bolivia over 7000 years ago. Maybe you just purchased some of those 7500-year-old taters and wondered why they taste funny. The potato was brought to Europe in the 16th Century, following other such appealing imports as bananas, cacao, tomatoes, maize, corn and squash. Ask an average European and he or she would likely claim these as native to their country. A wholesome tuber rich in…

Lightware Visual Engineering has announced the opening of its new Experience Centre in France, located near Paris. The new facility, situated in Vélizy-Villacoublay, serves as both the new office for the Lightware France team and a central hub for partners and customers throughout France, offering sales, customer, and technical support for all of Lightware’s products. Customers enjoy direct access to Lightware’s comprehensive product range, which includes Vinx, MX2M, TPX, LARA, as well as their award-winning technologies such as Taurus UCX and UBEX. A training room, equipped with the latest Lightware devices, provides customers with a platform for product testing, roadmap…

London (07/11 – 71) For ten years now, the authorities of Tajikistan have been engaged in forced assimilation of the ethnic Pamiri people, giving away the heartlands to China for debts,” Orzu M. shared with RFI – Radio France Internationale is a French news and current affairs public radio station that broadcasts worldwide. RFI met with Orzu in Paris, sharing the fact that more and more Pamiris are leaving their native homes in Gorno-Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous (GBAO) Region of Tajikistan; they are driven into exile by the persecution of the authorities, who are displacing indigenous peoples. RFI: How did it…

Ursula von der Leyen says Europe stands with Israel, supports its right to defend itself; Germany offers aid, including military if wanted; pope calls for hostages to be freed EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the Palestinian terror group Hamas’s killing of 1,000 Israeli civilians in a massive assault on the country was a coldblooded act of war and reflected an “ancient evil.” “We have to be clear in defining this kind of horror,” she said. “And there can only be one response to it. Europe stands with Israel. And we fully support Israel’s right to…