Following the disqualification of four pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong, the UK Government has declared China in breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “Beijing’s imposition of new rules to disqualify elected legislators in Hong Kong constitutes a clear breach of the legally binding Sino-British Joint Declaration.” “China has once…
Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola has been elected as the First Vice-President of the European Parliament, replacing Mairead McGuinness who was recently appointed European Commissioner. Roberta Metsola has been a MEP since 2013. She was re-elected in 2014 and 2019. Originally a lawyer by profession, specialising in European law and politics, between 2004 and 2012, Ms…
Tunisia is hosting the Libyan Forum of Political Dialogue, which will determine the institutional framework of the new Libyan state. The Forum will decide on the procedure for planning general elections, and how to choose a transitional government leading up to the elections. The latest news from the Forum so far suggests that there is…
Following the dismissal of four members of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council today, the remaining 15 members of the pro-democracy opposition have said they will resign. The four lawmakers who were dismissed by Hong Kong’s CEO Carrie Lam are Alvin Yeung, Kwok Ka-ki and Dennis Kwok of the Civic Party and Kenneth Leung of the Professionals…
Yesterday (Tuesday 10th November) Chancellors Merkel and Kurz and President Macron held an online summit on the implications of the latest Islamist terrorist attacks in France and Austria. They agreed that they wanted to work on reforms for the Schengen area, which consists of Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,…
For most of Europe 11th November is remembered as commemorating Armistice Day and the declaration of peace at the end of the First World War in 1918. But in Germany, it marks the start of the “Fifth Season” or Carnival which begins at 11 minutes past 11 on the 11th day of the 11th month…
Following the expulsion of British diplomats in Minsk for allegedly observing street demonstrations against President Lukashenko, the Foreign Office in London yesterday expelled two Belarusian diplomats from the United Kingdom in direct retaliation for an action they condemned as unjustified. The UK Foreign Office said in a statement: “The UK government reiterates that the only…
In a report adopted on Monday, Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs have praised Ukraine’s progress on important reforms that bring the country further towards political association and economic integration with the EU. Ukraine has progressed in its commitments made in the Association Agreement (AA/DCFTA) with the European Union; particularly in the fields of agriculture, energy, banking, decentralisation, digital…
The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) and the European Policy Centre (EPC) have launched a joint report, titled ‘Marching home? Why repatriating foreign terrorist fighters is a pan-European priority.’ The report is co-authored by Prof. Ian Acheson, Senior Advisor to CEP and Amanda Paul, Senior Policy Analyst at EPC. The report examines why Europe needs to…
As European leaders applaud the success of Airbus, an aerospace giant in a duopoly with Boeing, they are about to prevent any possibility of similar success in the digital sector, writes Pierre Bentata. A Franco-Dutch proposal, now gaining European attention, aims at imposing specific regulations on the major digital platforms, in order to limit their…
