This Sunday, August 17th, only a handful people showed up at the Siberian independence march, or “Federalization-rally” in Novosibirsk, Russia’s third largest city, capitol of Siberia. And it might look like the Kremlin itself appeared to be its most active participant through its vigorous hunt on media-coverage leading up to the event. What was this “federalization-rally” all about? And why would the Kremlin be so actively engaged to keep it quiet?
An emergency summit was held on Sunday August 17th between Foreign Ministers of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany in Berlin. It was the second round of talks over the Ukrainian crisis after the last summit that was held on April 17th in Geneva. Although progress emerged about the Russian humanitarian convoy’s entry on Ukrainian territory, Sergei Lavrov, Pavel Klimkin, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Laurent Fabius did not reach any agreement concerning an exit from the current crisis between the two countries.
Balkan countries have undergone an upsurge in the number of its citizens joining the ranks of the Islamic State (IS) in recent months. Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Kosovo are in the front line of the phenomenon after several of their compatriots either died in Iraq or were arrested on their way to jihad. These events underline the reticular organisation of the Islamic State, which attracts more and more European Muslims to join the fight for the caliphate.
The crisis in Ukraine has entered its sixth month in August. From a national opposition between Ukrainian supporters of the country’s integration to the EU’s Eastern Partnership and followers of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union, the crisis has gradually moved into a international political deadlock between Western states and Russia. While diplomatic sanctions escalate from both sides, the number of civilian casualties has increased dramatically in the last weeks. The convoy sent yesterday from Russia to Ukraine, officially to answer the current humanitarian crisis in the region, is suspected by the West of hiding an aggression. At the same time, the Parliament in Kiev drafted a law aiming at censoring media coverage on August 12th, sharpening the communication war between both parts.
Recent American and European sanctions against Russia have put Serbia’s foreign policy under strain. After most European Union countries’ foodstuffs were prevented from entering the Russian market on August 7th, non-member states have seized the opportunity to increase their own exports towards the Russian territory. It is notably the case of Serbia after Belgrade announced on August 12th the creation of a Coordination Center which should reinforce its control over groceries’ transit from Europe to Russia. It will also aim at cracking down on countries trying to bypass the Russian ban through repackaging their goods in Serbia. This strategy could weaken its move towards the European Union.
Two electoral coalitions have been formed on August 10th by secular political parties of Egypt. They gather eleven different parties in total, divided between the Wafd-led “Wafd Alliance” and the National Democratic Party-led “Egyptian Front”. The move came following the withdrawal of Amr Moussa, chairman of the constitutional committee that drafted Egypt’s new constitution last January, from the Alliance of the Egyptian Nation – a bloc of liberal and leftists political forces – he failed to reunite. The recent split comes at the same time as the dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood party on August 9th. Both events underline the lack of unity between leftist political forces, as well as limited political freedom in the country.
Yes, Putin really did leave Amsterdam in 2013 after visiting the Dutch-Russian year of friendship. But some of his influence might not have left. While Dutch visitors and many other EU-tourists might think little about any consequences of posting selfies of themselves dancing, with in the background a boat on which Conchita is surrounded by rainbow flags and cheering people. For Russian visitors of the Canal parade 2014 in Amsterdam though, this might be very, very different.
Hoe denken Afrikanen in Nederland over de toekomst van ontwikkelingssamenwerking in Afrika? En hoe zou volgens hen de grondstoffenpolitiek uit moeten zien? Wat zouden zij anders doen als zij het voor het zeggen hadden? En U?
De bijeenkomst is de derde van een serie debatten over hoe de diaspora denkt over de toekomst van ontwikkelingssamenwerking. Afrikaanse Nederlanders met een uitgesproken mening gaan met elkaar én experts uit de sector in discussie over de thema’s als armoedebestrijding, handel, grondstoffenpolitiek, migratie en corruptie.
After 11 years as Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected on August 10th President of the Republic of Turkey. 53 million Turkish voters were eligible to cast their ballots in this first ever direct universal suffrage elections of the country’s history, which led to a rare first round victory of Erdogan. He received 51.95% of the votes, despite growing opposition to his authoritarian style and allegations of corruption in the government. Despite a low turnout, his coming presidency is likely to transform the country’s balance of powers in favour of the executive.
The Kazakh government was reshuffled on Wednesday 6 August by President Nursultan Nazarbaev. Two main priorities were put forward : the reduction of the number of ministries and the creation of a super-sized Energy Ministry. These decisions reinforce the position of personalities close to the President while trying to limit the impact of Western sanctions on Russia.
