The protests in Ukraine started at the end of November exactly November 21 when President Yanukovych has arbitrarily set aside a long-awaited trade agreement that would " depth " ties with the EU and called on the contrary to what the people wanted , greater support to Russia. This sparked a series of popular demonstrations pro EU have gradually increased in number and intensity.
More than a year after the military intervention by French in Mali, many issues related to the security environment of the entire region remain open. Although the terrorist groups operating in the Sahel have suffered some heavy defeats, they maintain a high ability to strike Western targets and continue to retreat in areas with poor control from the local governments - such as the south-west of Libya - and to strengthen the networks of their organizations.
Moscow is going to finance about the 80% of the costs[1] of the construction of two new nuclear reactors (out of a total of four old reactors) in the Hungarian Paks nuclear power plant (town close to Budapest). This is the gist of the agreement that Russian president Vladimir Putin and Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban signed last week, concluding a negotiation that the two countries had started in 2009. According to such agreement, Moscow is going to lend up 13,7 billion dollars[2] (about 10 billion euros) which will be used by MVM Group (state company owner of the facility) in order to increase the power plant productivity, power plant that now provides about 40% of the national needs.
On Monday, January 20, the European Union Council is going to held a meeting in Brussels having in the daily agenda the discussion about a potential mission in Central African Republic (CAR), theatre of a dramatic ethnic conflict insomuch as the United Nation has warned the international community about a genocide risk.
Anyway, different key factor may play a role in defining EU political dialogue results.
Central African Republic (CAR) keeps falling into chaos, more than 1000 people have died, nearly one million have been driven from their homes, and both French and African Union peacekeepers are struggling in their attempt of restoring general order but they are failing so far. That is why France has called the European Union for a military intervention. At present, just few European countries (Belgium, Estonia, Poland) are helping France in her Sangaris operation providing tactical support, but is not being enough.
Occupied and subjugated several times over the last century , Poland is now one of the most virtuous nations of the European continent, with its economy growing, since 1989, 177% , the only one never to have experienced periods of recession.
The origins of this real "miracle" to be found, in my opinion, the conviction with which the ruling class Polish prevailing after the collapse of the Soviet regime brought forward structural policies for the transformation of the planned economy, which at that time characterized the economic life of all countries orbiting in Moscow, in a market economy.
It has been always quite clear that destroying Syrian chemical weapons would have been a difficult mission, but the current situation it's more complicated than expected. The first great problem burst out in December when OPCW was looking for a way to destroy Assad's chemical armoury and no State nor private organization volunteered. Because of that and due to a short amount of available time, OPCW board was forced to solve the “crisis” going with a earlier set aside-option : destroying the chemical material in international waters in more than one step. The second huge problem revealed itself at the end of 2013 and it messed up OPCW schedule: according to their plan, the most dangerous part of Syrian chemical armoury should have been removed from Syrian territory by 31 December but they failed because of bad weather condition and because of the never-ending clashes between Assad's troops and the rebel groups within the ongoing civil war. Now everything it's on move again but the premises aren't really bright.
French troops and African Union peacekeepers are currently failing in stemming violence episodes in Central African Republic (CAR), and that’s why, during 19-20 December European Council, Paris called the European Union to intervene, by force of arms and/or by budgetary support. The core of the French proposal is the creation of a multinational military force deployable within the African continent at the first signs of a crisis. Relying on such a political and military tool, if rightly planned, the EU will be able to skip the huge political and diplomatic procedure that usually foreruns a military operation. But being such a delicate matter, the whole debate has been postponed to the first 2014 European Council.
After ten years, an Italian state plane landed in Tehran on board with the Foreign Minister Emma Bonino, who decided to go and speak in person with the new governing body and therefore with Iranian President Hassan Rohani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif. Italian diplomats accompanying the Bonino, commented on the trip, saying that " years of economic sanctions of the UN, the United States and the European Union have undermined the economy of Iran. But the real blow was given to him the economic policies of Ahmadinejad, who has undermined the country almost more of the sanctions".
A great humanitarian crisis is still erupting in Central African Republic. The whole Country has fallen into chaos and civilian population is the first victim of the ongoing clashes between the Christian and Muslim paramilitary militias. France has already intervened supporting an African Union peacekeeping mission but, at present, the 1600 French military units running Sangaris operation are far from reaching their goal: disarming the militias, bringing them to peace-talk and consequently restoring order and security.
