Foreign Affairs - Page 5 of 5

Poland’s complicity in CIA torture programme confirmed

The European Court of Human Rights has confirmed that the Polish government was complicit in the CIA’s secretive programme of rendition, detention and interrogation. The Court in Strasbourg rejected a challenge from the Polish government to a landmark ruling from last July, a decision which now makes that original judgement final. July’s judgment said that two current Guantánamo inmates, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, were held in a CIA prison in Poland, that they had been subject to torture, and that Poland failed in its duty under European human rights law to protect them or investigate what happened.

UEFA vs FIFA, and Qatar vs Human Rights

As if the Qatar 2022 World Cup had not generated enough controversy already, another dispute came to stir things up. FIFA announced on 25 February that it will not compensate UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, for losses that its members may incur due to a possible holding of the World Cup in November-December 2022.

Ukraine ceasefire to start on Sunday

The leaders of Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia have forged out an agreement for a ceasefire that will end weeks of intense fighting in eastern Ukraine. Following their all-night talks on Wednesday, 11 February in Minsk, Vladimir Putin, Russia’s President informed the press that the representatives of Ukraine and separatist rebels had signed a package of measures to implement the failed ceasefire agreement reached last September.

Giving another chance to diplomacy in Ukraine

The leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine agreed on Sunday, 8 February, to press ahead with the diplomatic initiative by Ms Merkel to ease the tension in Eastern Ukraine. Germany is convinced that even discussions of supplying weapons could escalate the fighting and encourage Ukraine in a war it could never win against a much stronger Russia. The German Chancellor defended her decision to maintain economic sanctions and avoid the use of force by referring to her own experience of waiting patiently for the Cold War to end. “I am surprised at how faint-hearted we are, and how quickly we lose courage,” she remarked.

Opec is no longer what it used to be

Katoikos World
Pending , Economy , Analysis , Foreign Affairs
27 November, 2014

Opec has lost its influence on oil prices. The US has become one of the main producers and actors in a market of 3.4 billion dollars thanks to the boom in fracking. As a result, Opec is starting to embrace the idea that the balance of forces has changed, and that it no longer has exclusive control…

EU-Ukraine gas deal agreed, as Russia increases pressure

Ukraine, Russia and the European Union have agreed on a deal that would secure the resumption of Russian natural gas flowing to Ukraine in time for winter.