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France’s highest constitutional body ruled that 32 of the 86 articles in the French government's controversial immigration bill are unconstitutional, in a much-awaited judicial ruling on Thursday (25 January).

Après avoir tenu un discours hostile à l’égard de l’Ukraine, le Premier ministre slovaque a fait preuve de plus de modération auprès de ses homologues étrangers et des Ukrainiens, rassurant le chancelier allemand et le Premier ministre ukrainien sur son soutien au pays en guerre.

Leading MEPs have confirmed that the member states cannot agree on incluing rape in the directive to combat violence against women. About 15 countries are in favour, but with Germany and France against it, there is no qualified majority.

Az államfő szerint a büntető törvénykönyvről szóló parlamenti vita korlátozása az önös érdekek megbocsáthatatlan előnyben részesítése az alkotmányos elvekkel és a közérdekkel szemben.

A belügyi tárca adott néhány tanácsot a szeles idő miatt: ne parkoljanak fa alá, csukják be az ajtókat és ablakokat, vigyék be a teraszról a különféle tárgyakat, vezessenek óvatosan, és ilyenkor ne induljanak erdei túrára!

As Georgia gears up for a crucial general election this autumn, some worry the country could be at risk of going down the same road into authoritarianism, as its big neighbour Russia.

Le parlement se déchire sur l’établissement d’un prélèvement des impôts sur le revenu. Après le oui du National, les États empoignent le projet.

Rien ne va plus entre Bamako et Alger. Le gouvernement de transition malien a annoncé, ce 25 janvier 2024, la fin de l'accord de paix d'Alger signé en 2015 entre les autorités de Bamako et la Coordination des mouvements de l'Azawad.

Dans un communiqué rendu public ce 25 janvier 2024, le gouvernement de la transition de Bamako dit "observer avec une profonde préoccupation une multiplication des actes hostiles, des cas d'hostilité et des ingérences dans les affaires intérieures du Mali de la part des autorités de la République algérienne".

Le communiqué dénonce "l'existence sur le territoire algérien de bureaux garantissant la représentation de certains groupes signataires de l'Accord de paix" que le gouvernement de transition qualifie de "terroristes".
« Le gouvernement de transition aimerait savoir ce que ressentiraient les autorités algériennes si le Mali accueillait des représentants du Mouvement d'autodétermination de Kabylie au plus haut sommet de l'État., souligne le communiqué.

Le gouvernement de la transition invite les autorités algériennes à rappeler également leur responsabilité dans la détérioration de la situation sécuritaire au Sahel.

"Le Mali réaffirme son attachement à la promotion des relations amicales et harmonieuses avec l'ensemble des Etats du monde, sous réserve des principes guidant l'action publique au Mali, définis par Son Excellence le Colonel Assimi GOÏTA, Président de la transition, Chef de l'Etat (...)", conclut le communiqué signé par le Colonel Abdoulaye MAÏGA, Ministre d'Etat, ministre de l'administration territoriale, et de la décentralisation, Porte-parole du gouvernement.

Les dirigeants du secteur de la santé réunis au Forum économique mondial de Davos ont discuté de l'importance de se préparer à l'apparition d'une nouvelle pandémie mondiale, la "maladie X".

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To increase awareness and discuss regional co-operation on climate change and security, the OSCE gathered more than 40 representatives from its field operations to meet in Istanbul for a workshop on 13 and 14 December 2023. Emphasizing that the effects of climate change can exacerbate economic challenges and environmental degradation, which may negatively affect prosperity, stability and security in the OSCE area, the OSCE provides a platform for political dialogue on a wide range of issues associated with climate related security risks. These conversations form the basis for the implementation of activities on the ground.

“Climate change poses immense challenges to societies, economies and the environment, which is evidenced by a wide range of interconnected climate risks in the OSCE area,” said Ellen Baltzar Mossop, Climate Adviser at the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA). “This workshop is the second of its kind where we gather practitioners from OSCE field operations to contribute to building a shared understanding of climate-related security risks in the OSCE area and to foster collaboration among participants on this topic.”

Organized by OCEEA in co-operation with the Berlin-based think tank adelphi, the workshop was a follow-up to the Training on Climate Change and Security for OSCE Field Operations and Other OSCE Executive Structures that took place in Istanbul in November 2022. Both events built on the 2021 OSCE Ministerial Council Decision on climate change, which tasks the relevant OSCE executive structures and the OSCE field operations with supporting OSCE participating States in implementing its provisions.

“The workshop demonstrated the important role that the OSCE, through its regional presence and field operations, can play in promoting regional co-operation and joint activities to address the multiple risks and challenges posed by climate change,” emphasized Lukas Rüttinger, Senior Advisor at adelphi.

The event also reflected the Secretary General’s Conclusions from the OSCE High-Level Conference on Climate Change, which highlighted the importance of raising awareness around climate considerations and mainstreaming them throughout the work of the OSCE.

“This workshop was a great opportunity for us to learn from each other’s experience working in climate and security hotspots across the OSCE region, and to reflect on how the organization’s joint activities are facilitating co-operation within and among different regions. Our work in the Shar/Šara Mountains and Korab Massif area is a good example of this,” said Kristina Jovanova, National Programme Officer at the OSCE Mission to Skopje.

“The impact of climate change and its security implications are already evident in Central Asia, and especially in the region’s high mountain areas,” said Dmitry Prudtskikh, Regional Development Officer at the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek. “The workshop was a useful opportunity for us practitioners to gain insights on how to efficiently design and deliver climate and security programming, with a focus on inclusive and participatory approaches. It also allowed us to brainstorm future joint activities to co-operatively address climate-related security risks.”

The Practitioners Workshop: Building Capacities and Fostering Collaboration among OSCE Field Operations was organized within the framework of the OSCE extra-budgetary project, Strengthening Responses to Security Risks from Climate Change in South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia  which is implemented in partnership with adelphi and funded by Andorra, Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.

Valérie Hayer, élue présidente du groupe Renew Europe jeudi (25 janvier), s’est engagée lors d’un échange exclusif avec Euractiv, à s’attaquer, avant toute chose, aux préoccupations des agriculteurs, alors que la colère monte à quelques mois des élections européennes.

L’Académie des César a annoncé, mercredi matin, la très attendue liste des nominations pour sa 49ᵉ cérémonie qui se tiendra le 23 février prochain à […]

L’article César 2024 : 2 actrices d’origine algérienne nominées pour la 49e cérémonie est apparu en premier sur .

Um bessere Bedingungen für Landwirte zu schaffen, soll auch die Marktmacht von Supermärkten und der Lebensmittelindustrie gestellt werden, bestätigte Bundeswirtschaftsminister Robert Habeck (Grüne) bei einem Besuch der Grünen Woche am Mittwoch.

Bűnösnek találta a Speciális Büntetőbíróság (ŠTS) Marián Magátot szélsőséges bűncselekmények elkövetésében. Az ítélet nem jogerős, fellebbezésre van lehetőség. A bíró az indoklás felolvasását követően hirdeti ki a teljes ítéletet, feltehetően csak pénteken (január 26.).

Posters conmemorating two Armenian prisoners on the streets of Yerevan. The total number of detainees remains unknown. Credit: Edgar Kamalyan

By Anush Ghavalyan
YEREVAN, Armenia, Jan 25 2024 (IPS)

On July 29, 2023, Vagif Khachatryan, a 68-year-old Armenian retiree, woke up early in Nagorno Karabakh —a self-proclaimed republic in the Caucasus region—to travel to Armenia. He needed to undergo delicate heart surgery.

Despite the pressing medical emergency, it was not an easy decision. The only road that connected Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world had been cut off for seven months by the Azerbaijani army. Even if he was travelling in an International Committee of the Red Cross car, Khachatryan knew he could face trouble.

He was arrested that day by the Azerbaijani border guard service. Four months later, a military court in Baku handed him a 15-year sentence for crimes allegedly committed during a war fought more than 30 years ago.

Vagif Khachatryan is yet another victim of a conflict that has its roots in the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, Armenians remained the majority in Nagorno-Karabakh, but the enclave was officially on the territory of the newborn Republic of Azerbaijan.

A war was already unravelling in Karabakh. The Armenian victory also led to the forcible displacement of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis. In September 2020, the latter launched an offensive through which they took over two-thirds of the territory under Armenian control.

But there were still more than 100,000 Armenians left.

In December 2022, Baku blocked the only road connecting Artsakh with Armenia and the rest of the world, depriving its inhabitants of the most basic supplies including food and medicines. It was that lack of medical assistance that pushed Vagif Khachatryan to his fate seven months later.

With Khachatryan already in prison, the blockade on Nagorno Karabakh was lifted in September 2023 in the wake of a new Azeri attack. The road was opened so that the Armenians remaining in the enclave fled en masse to Armenia.

Senior international bodies like the European Union Parliament accused Azerbaijan of carrying out “ethnic cleansing” against the Armenian residents of Nagorno-Karabakh. Today, Karabakhis are restarting from scratch in Armenia, the Khachatryans among those.

“The fact that my father has a heart disease gives me hope that he will not be tortured in Azerbaijani custody,” Vera Khachatryan told IPS by telephone from Jermuk, 170 kilometres southeast of Yerevan.

Her father’s arrest, she said, has also had an impact on her mother. “She suffers from new health and psychological problems which only add to those derived from forced displacement,” explained the displaced woman.

On September 28, Karabaj authorities issued a decree dissolving the self-proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh Republic as of January 1, 2024.

Political leaders of Nagorno Karabakh during one of the last masses celebrated in the enclave. Eight of them are today in Azerbaijani prisons. Credit: Edgar Kamalyan / IPS

 

Secrecy

On December 13, 2023, a prisoner exchange took place: Azerbaijan released 32 Armenian soldiers in exchange for the last two Azerbaijani soldiers under Armenian custody. Armenia’s support for Azerbaijan to host the United Nations Climate Summit in Baku was also part of the deal.

Both sides described it as “a sign of goodwill.”

“Azerbaijan uses the prisoners´ issue as a political tool to put pressure on Armenia or to obtain something in return,” Siranush Sahakyan, representative of the Armenian prisoners’ interests at the European Court of Human Rights told IPS by phone.

“No repatriation conducted by Baku other than the prisoner swap was held under an amnesty or any other legal procedure,” stressed Sahakyan.

Armenia claims that more than 100 prisoners of war and civilians remain in Azerbaijan, including three former presidents of Nagorno-Karabakh, the speaker of parliament and members of the cabinet. Baku says the total number of Armenian prisoners in its custody is 23.

Other than the contradicting figures, their state also poses a major source of concern. In a March 2021 report, Human Rights Watch denounced that the Armenian prisoners of war suffered abuse in Azerbaijani custody and called on Baku to release “all remaining prisoners of war and civilians.”

Faced with Baku’s inaction, Yerevan appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Protest in Stepanakert (the capital of Nagorno Karabakh) after the closure of the road that connected the enclave with Armenia, in December 2022. After nine months of blockade and an Azerbaijani attack, all Karabakh residents fled to Armenia. Credit: Edgar Kamalyan / IPS

 

“Azerbaijan is obliged to submit a report on arbitrarily detained senior officials to the ECHR before the end of January 2024,” Hasmik Samvelyan, spokesperson for the Armenian Representation for International Legal Affairs, reminded IPS in a telephone conversation.

For the time being, the International Committee of the Red Cross is the only independent body that has access to Armenian prisoners.

“Our representatives have visited all the captives detained in Baku and checked the conditions in which they are held,” Zara Amatuni, ICRC communications officer in Armenia, told IPS by telephone.

Several of the prisoners’ relatives confirmed to IPS that they had the opportunity to speak with them. The ICRC mediates to facilitate communication by telephone every 30 to 40 days. The organisation avoided giving more details after appealing to the importance of confidentiality.

“We present our observations only to the competent authorities,” the ICRC press officer stressed to IPS.

Repatriated prisoners have also consistently refused to talk to journalists about the conditions of their imprisonment, and that´s also the Armenian state´s policy. Many see it as a way to avoid triggering a reaction from Azerbaijan that could worsen the imprisonment conditions.

 

Families fleeing Nagorno Karabakh after the Azerbaijani attack in September 2023. Several political organisations and human rights defenders accused Azerbaijan of launching “a campaign of ethnic cleansing” against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. Credit: Siranush Sargsyan / IPS

 

Waiting for justice

During an international forum on the future of Nagorno Karabakh held on December 6 in Baku, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev declared that the Armenian prisoners “are waiting for Azerbaijani justice to rule.”

The recent wave of repression against the media and any voice critical of the Government does not invite hope. Last December, Amnesty International denounced the arrests of at least six independent Azerbaijani journalists in just one month on “fabricated” charges.

In its latest world freedom report, the Freedom House claimed Azerbaijan is one of the 57 countries classified as “not free” out of the 159 studied. The Washington-based NGO denounced “numerous arbitrary arrests and detentions”. It also described Azerbaijan’s judiciary as “corrupt and subordinate to the executive.”

Another of those waiting for Azerbaijani justice to rule is Vicken Euljeckjian. This Lebanese who also has Armenian nationality was captured along with Maral Najarian —another Lebanese Armenian— by Azerbaijani soldiers while driving from Yerevan to Nagorno-Karabakh on November 10, 2020, a day after the Russian-brokered ceasefire was announced.

Four months after their arrest, Beirut secured Najarian´s release, but not Euljeckjian´s. The latter was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2021. His name, however, appeared on the list of prisoners to be swapped on December 13, 2023, but a last-minute surprise prevented it.

“After three years of separation, pain and despair, we were very excited to hear that he would finally be released. Suddenly, his name was replaced with that of another prisoner three hours before the exchange,” Vicken´s wife Linda Euljeckjian recalled to IPS by phone from Beirut.

Hoping to ease the process, Linda and her daughter travelled to Yerevan to meet with Armenian officials. But the latter could do little, so the family also approached senior Lebanese officials.

“After pressure from the local media, the Lebanese government appears to be interested in discussing the issue of my husband’s repatriation with Azerbaijani officials,” said Linda.

While she waits for the release of her husband, the issue of Armenian prisoners of war and civilians in Azerbaijan remains among those to be settled in a conflict inherited from the 20th century.

Die EU führt bereits Projekte zusammen mit italienischen, französischen und deutschen staatlichen Entwicklungspartnern durch, um die Kapazitäten der tunesischen Marine und Küstenwache zu stärken, wie mehrere Dokumente und ein Sprecher der Europäischen Kommission gegenüber Euractiv bestätigten.

Top footballer Senzo Meyiwa was killed on the orders of singer Kelly Khumalo, a South African court hears.

Fortress Europe (German: Festung Europa) was a military propaganda term used by both sides during World War II, which referred to the areas of continental Europe occupied by Nazi Germany, as opposed to the United Kingdom across the Channel.