All posts tagged: borders

We have other options – POLITICO

We have other options – POLITICO

Published by Sam

4. BTW, we are still into this globalization thing. At a time when Trump is touting trade tariffs and “America First,” von der Leyen’s speech seemed designed to send the opposite signal: We’re open to doing business with anyone. Von der Leyen addressed potential trading partners directly, saying: “If there are mutual benefits in sight, we are ready to engage with you.” Indeed, a key message from the speech was that Europe wants to diversify its trading relationships away from America.  While Trump is declaring an emergency on America’s southern border and gearing up for tariffs against Mexico, von der Leyen gave special mention to EU trade relations with Latin America. At a time when Trump is touting trade tariffs and “America First,” von der Leyen’s speech seemed designed to send the opposite signal. | Morry Gash/AFP via Getty Images And while acknowledging the economic threat from unfair Chinese trading practices, she also said Europe had to “engage constructively” with Beijing. 5. America? Who? Tellingly, von der Leyen spoke about Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, China …

France tells Israel to halt Golan Heights incursion – POLITICO

France tells Israel to halt Golan Heights incursion – POLITICO

Published by Sam

The United Nations has also criticized Israel for violating the 1974 agreement. On Sunday, as Damascus fell to rebel groups and Syrian dictator President Bashar Assad fled to Moscow, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that troops from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had crossed into a buffer zone between Israel and Syria near the Golan Heights. He explained that the aim of the incursion was to counter any possible threats from the disorder in Syria. “We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border,” he declared. In the ensuing 48 hours, Israel conducted hundreds of sorties on military and naval installations in Syria, focusing especially on chemical weapons stockpiles and missile sites. The IDF incursion into the buffer zone was criticized by Russia and Saudi Arabia but defended by the United States State Department through its spokesperson, Matthew Miller, who said at a press briefing that “the Syrian army abandoned its positions in the area … which potentially creates a vacuum that could have been filled by terrorist organizations.” Israeli …

Romanian hard-right chief pitches himself as Europe’s next Meloni – POLITICO

Romanian hard-right chief pitches himself as Europe’s next Meloni – POLITICO

Published by Sam

“Even if we are conservative, which is not to the liking of the establishment in Brussels, even if we believe in many of the values President Trump believes in,” Simion said, “we also believe that we need a strong, united Europe.” The politician insisted he would “work together” with the EU’s mainstream parties if elected, with Romania’s full accession to the visa-free Schengen zone, pushing for a directly elected EU executive and boosting industrial production in the bloc at the top of his list of priorities. But unlike Meloni, Simion has openly vowed he would push back against Brussels even if that means breaking EU rules in a move more reminiscent of the populist leaders of Hungary and Slovakia, Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico. “I would be a liar to say we would respect EU law,” he said. “If tomorrow [there is] a new law that we didn’t vote for … or laws that are not good for Romania,” he said, “I will try to use all my powers to stop what is doing harm …

Germany tightens controls at all borders in immigration crackdown

Germany tightens controls at all borders in immigration crackdown

Published by Sam

Berlin last year also announced stricter controls on its land borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. Those, and controls on the border with Austria, had allowed it to return 30,000 migrants since October 2023, it said on Monday. Ms Faeser said a new model would enable the government to turn back many more – but it could not talk about the model before confidential negotiations with the conservatives. The controls could test European unity if they lead to German authorities requesting other countries to take back substantial numbers of asylum seekers and migrants. Under EU rules, countries in the Schengen area, which encompasses all of the bloc bar Cyprus and Ireland, are only allowed to introduce border checks as a last resort to avert threats to internal security or public policy. Germany shares its more than 3,700-km-long (2,300 miles) land border with Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland. Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told Bild newspaper on Monday that his country would not take in any …

From the archive: ‘As borders closed, I became trapped in my Americanness’: China, the US and me – podcast | News

From the archive: ‘As borders closed, I became trapped in my Americanness’: China, the US and me – podcast | News

Published by skeptic

We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2021: I’ve long nursed vague plans of moving back to China for a few years, to solidify my place there. But with each year that passes in the US, such a move gets harder and harder to make. By Cleo Qian How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know Source link

The Nation Resurgent, and Borders, Too

The Nation Resurgent, and Borders, Too

Published by Sam

At the heart of the rapid rise of the nationalist right, with its view of immigrants as a direct threat to the essence of France, there appears to lie a growing feeling among many French people that they are no longer at home in their own country. That feeling, a vague but potent malaise, has many elements. They include a sense of dispossession, of neighborhoods transformed in dress and habits by the arrival of mainly Muslim immigrants from North Africa, and of lost identity in a fast-changing world. The National Rally, whose anti-immigrant position lies at the core of its fast-growing popularity, has benefited from all this. “No French citizen would tolerate living in a house without doors or windows,” Jordan Bardella, the smooth-talking 28-year-old symbol of the National Rally’s advance to the brink of power, told France 3 TV this past week. “Well, it’s the same thing with a country.” In other words, nations need effective borders that can be sealed tight. This message, echoed by rising nationalist parties across Europe, and a central …

Israel says it seized key Gaza-Egypt corridor as Rafah ground offensive intensifies

Israel says it seized key Gaza-Egypt corridor as Rafah ground offensive intensifies

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Israel’s army said Wednesday it took control of a vital Gaza-Egypt corridor it suspects aided weapons smuggling as the ground offensive against Hamas in the border city of Rafah intensified. A military spokesman said about 20 tunnels were found in the area of the corridor, a claim rejected by Egypt which accused Israel of using allegations of tunnels under the border as cover for its Rafah offensive. The UN Security Council was set to meet for a second day of emergency talks after a strike at the weekend ignited a fire that Gaza officials said killed 45 people and injured about 250. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was among the many leaders to voice revulsion at the bloodshed, demanding that “this horror must stop”. Read more????Live: Israeli military says it has full control of strategic Gaza-Egypt border corridor Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said, however, that the war could go on until the year’s end. “We may have another seven months of fighting to consolidate our success and achieve what we have defined as …

The ICC should consider the new Armenian genocide petition – POLITICO

The ICC should consider the new Armenian genocide petition – POLITICO

Published by skeptic

And now, we face another: Last month, the California-based Center for Truth and Justice (CFTJ) petitioned the International Criminal Court (ICC), where I served as the first chief prosecutor, to investigate Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for genocide against Armenians in Armenia — and it’s a petition the ICC should consider. The challenge in substantiating genocide often lies in proving intent to destroy — in whole or in part — a designated group. That’s why the massive dossier presented to the ICC on Apr. 18 by U.S. Orange County Superior Court Judge Gassia Apkarian, who represents the Center for Truth and Justice, is remarkable. It presents the consistent declarations made by Aliyev over the last decade, unequivocally demonstrating his intention to destroy ethnic Armenians. To be clear, this isn’t just about the Armenian community in Nagorno-Karabakh — a disputed, self-governing enclave within Azerbaijan. The communication is focused on different forms of genocide committed against Armenians in Armenia itself. As early as April 2015, Aliyev published a statement on the Azerbaijan government’s official website, warning ethnic Armenians: …

Armenian protesters vow to oust prime minister – POLITICO

Armenian protesters vow to oust prime minister – POLITICO

Published by skeptic

“Pashinyan needs to go,” one middle-aged demonstrator told POLITICO, saying he preferred not to give his name as he feared reprisals. Asked who should take his place as prime minister, or how another leader would avoid conflict with Azerbaijan while still keeping the four villages, the demonstrator said: “Someone else will have a better plan.” Pashinyan has hailed the surrender of the four villages as a major step toward normalizing relations with Azerbaijan — the two countries have fought regularly since the fall of the USSR in 1991 — and respecting its international legal obligations. “We are reproducing the [legal] borders … at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union,” he said last week. Earlier the same day, officials in Yerevan and Moscow confirmed that Russian border guards — stationed along Armenia’s frontiers with Azerbaijan since the 1990s — had been asked to leave their posts and begin withdrawing. In recent years, Armenia has frozen its membership in the Russian-led CSTO military alliance, which refused its calls for support when Azerbaijan launched an …

Russia to withdraw troops from Armenia’s border – POLITICO

Russia to withdraw troops from Armenia’s border – POLITICO

Published by skeptic

Asked whether the withdrawal of the Russian border guards, formally part of the country’s FSB security service, had been discussed at the meeting, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said “yes,” according to state newswire TASS. On Sunday, long convoys of Russian military vehicles were seen leaving Armenia’s border regions, heading toward the capital, Yerevan. Dozens of Russian military vehicles were spotted leaving Armenia’s Syunik and Vayots Dzor provinces Sunday. | Gabriel Gavin/POLITICO Relations between Moscow and the former Soviet republic have hit historic lows in recent years. The Russian-led CSTO military alliance, of which Armenia is a member, refused requests from Yerevan to intervene when Azerbaijan began an offensive against the country in September 2022. Pashinyan has also accused Russian peacekeepers, deployed to Azerbaijan’s breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region following a war in 2020, of abandoning their posts when Azerbaijani troops launched an offensive to conquer the territory, sparking a mass exodus of its 100,000 ethnic Armenian residents. Armenia’s foreign ministry said Wednesday that the country will no longer make financial contributions to the CSTO, after having …