EUROPE BBC News: Europe’s stance on Hezbollah hardens. ‘The attitude towards Hezbollah in Europe is changing markedly. In part, this is a response to the growing body of evidence from investigations in Bulgaria and Cyprus that indicate Hezbollah’s role in carrying out or planning attacks. But equally it reflects a growing frustration with the Lebanese Shia [...]
BALKANS Balkan Insight: Kosovo, Serbia Agree EU Deal Action Plan. ‘The EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said the prime ministers of Kosovo and Serbia on Wednesday agreed a fixed text on implementing the recent EU-brokered deal. Hashim Thaci and Ivica Dacic “will be in touch with me by the end of the week,” Ashton added. [...]
BBC News: Woolwich attack ‘incredibly hard’ to stop. ‘Preventing the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby outside Woolwich Barracks would have been “incredibly hard”, an ex-senior intelligence officer has said. The UK’s security services face a Commons inquiry after it was confirmed the two men arrested over his murder were known to MI5 for eight years.’ Comment: [...]
BALKANS B92: Kosovo Serbs against implementation of Brussels agreement. ‘Kosovska Mitrovica District Head Radenko Nedeljković says that political representatives of northern Kosovo Serbs have not accepted the Brussels agreement. “Our position has not changed, we have the same stance and that is that the agreement does not even guarantee the minimum of preconditions for survival and [...]
EUROPE The Moscow Times: Norway Suggests Raising Magnitsky at UN. ‘Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eider has recommended that his country’s lawmakers bring the issue of Magnitsky sanctions against Russia before the UN Security Council. Eider said discussion in front of the council would be much more effective than Norway acting alone because any decisions taken by the council are binding on all [...]
BALKANS B92: Two war crimes suspects arrested. ‘This was announced on Tuesday in Belgrade by the Serbian War Crimes Prosecution. The war crimes allegations concern the conflict in Kosovo. The two suspects – identified as K.V. and P.L. – have been placed under arrest on the order of the prosecution. They, along with three others, are [...]
RESEARCH Richard Rogers and the Digital Methods Initiative, Amsterdam: Right-Wing Formations in Europe and Their Countermeasures: An Online Mapping. ‘This report describes the findings from an online mapping of the populist right and right-wing extremism in Europe. By online mapping is meant a picture of the right according to the web. We have not correlated our findings with [...]
Times Higher Education: Campus extremism tackled by new website. ‘A new website has been launched to help universities tackle violent extremism and radicalisation on campus. Run by Universities UK, the new site provides information to help staff and students address issues such as protocols for vetting external speakers, how to engage with the community and police [...]
FINLAND Yle: Sikh bus driver fights for right to wear turban. ‘Managing diversity in Finnish workplaces is raising new issues for employers, unions and workers themselves. One Sikh bus driver in Vantaa is currently fighting to set a precedent allowing him to wear a turban.’
BALKANS RFE/RL: New Serbia-Kosovo Talks Planned In Brussels. ‘cThe Serbian and Kosovar prime ministers are due to meet under European Union mediation to discuss implementation of the accord to normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo. The May 21 talks in Brussels bring together Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and his ethnic Albanian Kosovo counterpart, Hashim Thaci. [...]
