As a young District Officer in 1984 I watched together with dignitaries from the New Territories of Hong Kong the UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sign the Joint Declaration on the future of Hong Kong together with TENG Xiaoping, the architect of the “One Country Two Systems” mantra. This international treaty paved the way for…
Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) lists Algeria as a country where the media struggle to fulfil their role due to judicial harassment. The unstable political environment is increasing threats to the freedom of information in Algeria, and the authorities continue to step up their harassment of journalists. Reporters covering the “Hirak” protests that began in February…
The European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Chair David McAllister issued the following statement after Thursday’s debate with Josep Borrell on disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. “This afternoon, the Foreign Affairs Committee held an important debate with EU High Representative and Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borrell on the latest report by the European…
MEPs and High Representative/Vice President Josep Borrell will discuss the latest report by the European External Action Service about disinformation on COVID-19, tomorrow 30 April. The aim of the report published by the European External Action Service (EEAS) on 24 April, is to provide a snapshot overview of the current trends and insights into disinformation…
In what the EU calls an unprecedented repatriation effort, the EU has managed to bring home over half a million of its citizens who were affected by coronavirus travel restrictions across the world. At the beginning of the outbreak, around 600,000 EU citizens declared themselves stranded outside the EU. Most of them in the Asia-Pacific…
Leading European figures have called for stepped-up European de-escalation efforts in the Middle East, following a series of attacks in Iraq that have culminated in the killing of Qassem Suleimani and missile attacks against US airbases. The UK foreign policy think-tank, the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), published a statement calling on European governments to…
The new President, Parliament and Government of Ukraine have all stated their commitment to the continued implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. A report by the EU finds that, over the past year, Ukraine has adopted important legislation and strengthened institutions, as demanded by the Ukrainian citizens, but that further work is needed, particularly to improve…
