Posts tagged : "Europe politics"

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Viktor Orbán Wants to Be the “Savior” of Hungary: Péter Balázs

Viktor Orbán Wants to Be the “Savior” of Hungary: Péter Balázs

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: A landlocked country, Hungary is the 11th most popular tourist destination in Europe, according to the UN World Tourism Organization. Aside from being a well-liked tourism hub, Hungary is one of the main arrival points of migrants and refugees fleeing conflicts. Although Hungary functions as a transit, source and destination country of global migration, the government has made it clear to asylum-seekers: they are not welcome. The migration policies of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s far-right government have been so hard-hitting that they are widely criticized even by Hungary’s close allies in the European Union. Orbán’s Fidesz party currently maintains a two-thirds majority in parliament...

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Expect to See Croatia in the Eurozone: Ivan Jakovcic

Expect to See Croatia in the Eurozone: Ivan Jakovcic

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Croatia is a nation of about 4.1 million people. Situated at the crossroads of central and southeastern Europe, it is the newest member of the European Union and one of the youngest countries on the continent. It declared independence in 1991 and has been on a path to economic, social and political development since then. Figures by the International Monetary Fund show that Croatia is the world’s 79th country in terms of gross domestic product. The 2018 edition of Global Peace Index ranked Croatia 27th in its snapshot of the global state of peace. Tourism accounts for some 20% of Croatia’s GDP, and agriculture, forestry, mining and shipbuilding are the major drivers of its economic...

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Young Europeans Must Face These Challenges

Young Europeans Must Face These Challenges

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: The Congress of Young Europeans, organized and hosted by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, among others, was a unique gathering of 70 young activists and future politicians from across Europe. Held in Prague, Czech Republic, between August 30 and September 2, the event provided participants with a chance to discuss their concerns for the future of democratic institutions in Europe, as well as education, immigration and climate change. The four-day summit was an opportunity for young activists, mostly working with green parties in their respective countries, to engage in networking, debates, workshops, film screenings, Q&A sessions and talks with artists, politicians, authors, influencers and...

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Malta-UK relations will remain close after Brexit: former Maltese FM Tonio Borg

Malta-UK relations will remain close after Brexit: former Maltese FM Tonio Borg

Kourosh Ziabari - Centre for Journalism: The former Maltese foreign minister Tonio Borg says the relations between Malta and the United Kingdom will remain close and strong for "historical, commercial and strategic reasons" after the complete withdrawal of Britain from the European Union. Tonio Borg says the English language is still an official language and the majority of tourists to Malta come from the UK, even though Brexit means Malta loses an ally and friend within the EU. Tonio Borg is a prominent Maltese politician who was the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy from 2012 to 2013 and the European Commissioner for Health from 2013 to 2014. He has served in various positions in the government of Malta and...

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Macedonia will change its name: Is it important?

Macedonia will change its name: Is it important?

Kourosh Ziabari - Centre for Journalism: Republic of Macedonia is a country in the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It declared independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. A multiethnic society, four official languages are spoken in Macedonia: Albanian, Turkish, Romani and Serbian. Macedonia has an open and market-based economy and is a member of the Council of Europe and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The name of the country, however, has been a source of controversy between Macedonia and its southern neighbor Greece for quite a while. The Greeks are opposed to the use of the name of "Republic of Macedonia" by the country and international organisations, as it implies sovereignty over the...

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Islamophobia as a form of structural racism is about power relations: Prof Farid Hafez

Islamophobia as a form of structural racism is about power relations: Prof Farid Hafez

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: Islamophobia has long been one of the major plagues of the Western societies. The rise of far-right in Europe, the exacerbation of global refugee crisis with the wars and conflicts that are breaking out across the Middle East and the surge of racial intolerance in the United States with the coming to power of Donald Trump make Islamophobia a concern that needs to be seriously addressed. Academics and researchers are the best people who can respond to unsettling questions about Islamophobia adequately. Farid Hafez is a distinguished Austrian political scientist and university lecturer. He is a senior fellow at the Bridge Initiative hosted by the Georgetown University and a lecturer and researcher at the...

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Erhard Busek, former Vice-Chancellor of Austria: ‘In modern politics, I think a lot of idiotic things are happening.’

Erhard Busek, former Vice-Chancellor of Austria: ‘In modern politics, I think a lot of idiotic things are happening.’

Kourosh Ziabari - International Policy Digest: Erhard Busek is a noted Austrian politician who served as the Vice-Chancellor of the Republic of Austria from 1991 to 1995. He has studied law at the University of Vienna and served seven years as the Rector of the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences. Dr. Busek is a member of the Austrian Christian-conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) and throughout his career has been widely seen as one of the leaders of his party’s liberal wing. While serving under Chancellor Franz Vranitzky, he argued in favour of recognizing the independence of Slovenia, which created tensions between Austria and other European and Western nations regarding the issue. Vranitzky and Busek led Austria into the...

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Why has France become a safe haven for extremism in Europe?

Why has France become a safe haven for extremism in Europe?

Kourosh Ziabari - The Huffington Post: Casting blame on those responsible for the rise of the Islamic State in various parts of the Middle East and its disconcerting extension into other parts of the world is a futile exercise. The fact that the Islamic State has developed a global sphere of influence and is able to spread instability unimpeded necessitates detailed investigation, but it is important to note that the current state of affairs is the result of the faults, shortcomings, and negligent decision-making of many actors. What matters now is that the Islamic State is making advances on multiple fronts and the international community is barely committed and insufficiently united to be able to tackle its unchecked...

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The Refugee Crisis Threatens Euro-American Economic Domination: Prof. Serena Parekh

The Refugee Crisis Threatens Euro-American Economic Domination: Prof. Serena Parekh

Kourosh Ziabari - Truth NGO: While the European Union grapples with the biggest refugee crisis since the World War II, there’s a heated debate going on as to whether taking in asylum-seekers and helping them resettle is a moral and legal responsibility which the EU countries should assume. According to the UN estimates, more than 15.5 million people have been displaced as a result of the five-year-long civil war in Syria. The refugees fleeing war and turmoil at home embrace the extreme hardships of getting to the EU borders by all means at their disposal, including through boarding on unsafely overloaded, jammed boats whose riders charge the refugees several thousand dollars, promising to take them to EU securely. However, many of...

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Iran and Britain: Bracing for a New Era of Redefined Relations

Iran and Britain: Bracing for a New Era of Redefined Relations

Kourosh Ziabari - The Huffington Post: On July 14, 2016, precisely one year following the conclusion of the landmark nuclear accord between Iran and the six major world powers, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, British Airways, will be re-launching direct flights between London and Tehran. The service was suspended in October 2012 as the company officials believed the route was "no longer commercially viable." The decision by the British airliner to resume return flights to the Iranian capital comes on the heels of new steps taken by the governments of Iran and Britain to normalize and improve their precarious relations, which plummeted to an all-time low after the British...

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Rouhani’s charm offensive pays off in Europe and Iran

Rouhani’s charm offensive pays off in Europe and Iran

Kourosh Ziabari - Middle East Eye: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani kicked off his first official trip to Europe – excluding his journey to Davos in January 2014 to participate in the World Economic Forum – on 25 January by visiting Italy and concluded it on 29 January with the second leg of his European tour ending in France. He received a warm welcome and inked multi-billion dollar deals in both countries, making the headlines worldwide and blowing minds both at home and abroad. Visiting Europe is not by definition something unconventional or far-fetched for a foreign head of state. But for the president of a country besieged by more than a decade-long of grueling economic sanctions and inevitably ensuing political...

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Iran’s Nuclear Deal: “The World Should Now Sigh in Relief”

Iran’s Nuclear Deal: “The World Should Now Sigh in Relief”

Kourosh Ziabari - Your Middle East: Let me jump to an early conclusion about the historic nuclear deal achieved by Iran and the six world powers (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) on July 14: the Iranian, American and Israeli critics of the deal, I bet, haven’t even bothered to read the text of the 159-page Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. To be honest, they’re either practically incapable of grasping and comprehending the highly technical, well-crafted, exhaustive deal or don’t have the time to review its content and simply crave for shouting something against it in general, like that it was a “historic mistake”. For the United States and its allies, who said they were seeking...

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