A Critique of ‘Humanitarian’ Interventionism in Libya

Following the questions raised about the discharge of the responsibility to protect by Gentian Zyberi in his recent post on the situation in Libya, and the remarks I previously made on the situation in Egypt and the responsibility of the international community, I would like to draw our readers’ attention to a revealing and insightful [...]

Update on the situation in Libya

On 28 February the EU imposed sanctions against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, implementing resolution 1970 (2011) adopted by the UN’s Security Council on 26 February and imposing additional EU measures. The sanctions include an embargo on arms, ammunition and equipment that could be used for the repression of protesters; an assets freeze; and a visa ban [...]

European Parliament approves SWIFT Agreement

On Thursday 7 July 2010, the European Parliament approved the new SWIFT-Agreement on bank data transfers to the United States for counter-terrorist purposes (see the press release of the European Parliament). The Draft Agreement provides for mass bank data transfers upon request by the US authorities with a view to identifying suspected terrorists. It is [...]

Integration of the Balkan Countries in the European Union (EU) and the Sarajevo Summit: The Long Way Home!

Representatives of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, the EU’s foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton, representatives of a number of EU countries, the US, Russia and Turkey are meeting today in a high-level summit in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The main topic of discussions is the future of the integration of the Balkan countries into the [...]

The Kosovo Issue: What Should Kosovo and Serbia Discuss?

The dispute between Serbia and Kosovo is among the most complex and yet to be resolved political issues in Europe. Kosovo, an independent country for over two years, is formally recognized by 69 UN countries, which include 22 of the 27 EU countries and all of its neighbors. It joined the International Monetary Fund and [...]

The Demise of Europe?

In today’s Wall Street Journal Marcus Walker speculates that the admission of Turkey to the EU may be the only possibility left if Europe is to maintain its standing as an important international actor. The article somewhat echoes another article in this week’s Economist noting the need for the EU to become more realistic in [...]

ECJ Elgafaji judgment and the ‘exceptional objectivity’ test for refugee protection

Having only recently considered the normative importance and weight of the provision in Article 15(c) of the European Refugee Qualification Directive (mentioned here and here), the following is a timely and, to a certain extent, also welcomed judicial instance. On 17 January the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice rendered its preliminary ruling [...]

Kosovo a Year on

Today marks the one year anniversary of Kosovo declaring independence from Serbia. In many ways, the first year has been a mix of fortunes and misfortunes. Most importantly, Kosovo has largely remained peaceful despite initial warnings that the declaration of independence would lead to unrest and further fighting in the area. Kosovo’s politicians, its population [...]

UK Home Office Guidance Note on Israel, Gaza and West Bank and European asylum policy

The UK Home Office has issued a February 2009 Operational Guidance Note on Israel, Gaza and the West Bank setting out the main types of asylum claim, human rights claim and Humanitarian Protection claim (whether explicit or implied) that are expected to be submitted on behalf of individuals arriving to the UK from the region. [...]

EU Council removes Iranian organisation from terror list after EU Court judgment

After a battle of several year the Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (“PMOI”) has succeeded in getting its name off the EU’s black list of terrorist organisations. As EUobserver reported on Tuesday, the EU Foreign Ministers agreed to remove the name of the organization from the list due to a lack of evidence [...]

Human Rights a Mistake

Well perhaps not quite, but according to the French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner insisting on the creation of a post of Secretary of State for Human Rights, when he was sworn in by President Sarkozy in 2007, was a mistake. Kouchner, who is a long-time player on the international scene having helped founding Médecins Sans [...]

A tragedy in the making: EU profits and the Gaza Strip faces an intensifying humanitarian crisis

On the one hand, business is going as usual, the European Union is going through the required procedures and working groups in order to arrive at the most mutually profitably arrangement for the upgrading of its bi-lateral trade (plus) relations with Israel. The European Union’s 27 foreign ministers unanimously approved upgrading relations with Israel on [...]

EU court annuls counter-terrorist measure of the European Union

On 4 December the Court of First Instance delivered its judgment in the matter People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (“PMOI”) v Council of the European Union (Case T‑284/08), where it declares one of the EU’s key instruments for the “fight against terrorism” partly unlawful. This case concerns Council Decision 2008/583/EC of 15 July 2008 which [...]

EU loosens sanctions against Belarus and Uzbekistan

The EU’s external relations with third countries have always offered excellent object lessons with respect to the omnipresent tension between the promotion of the EU’s essential moral values and the political and economic interests of its Member States. Most recent evidence to this effect can be found in the 2897th External Relations meeting of the [...]

A Year for Europe? Maybe not

Following James’ post on the 63rd session of the General Assembly opening this week, it is worth taking a look at the report A Global Force for Human Rights? published this week by the think tank European Council on Foreign Affairs. The Report, authored by Richard Gowen and Franziska Brantner, argues that Europe faces a [...]

Schengen is expanding

In an effort to ease the free movement of the citizens of the European Union, land and sea border controls with the new member States (i.e. Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia) are being lifted today 21 December 2007 (air borders will follow in March 2008). After it was [...]

The EU and the International Criminal Court

The Council of the European Union recently published a report on the co-operation and interaction between the EU and the International Criminal Court (ICC) (an English version can be found here). The report highlights in particular how the EU can co-ordinate the foreign policy positions of the EU member States with regard to the activities [...]

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