Author: M Barbu

Syria: Shoring Up Raqqa’s Shaky Recovery

After suffering grievously under ISIS, and during the battles to defeat it, Raqqa is being rebuilt. The calm is tenuous, however. The U.S. and partners should work toward long-term stability in Syria’s north east, through investment and talks about sustainable governance and security arrangements.

Principal Findings

What’s new? Two years after an abrupt withdrawal of U.S. troops followed by a Turkish incursion, Raqqa is largely quiet. Yet the stability of this Kurdish-controlled predominantly Arab province in north-eastern Syria is precarious and hinges on U.S. deterrence of military moves from Turkey and/or Russia in tandem with the Damascus regime.

What a staggering gun cache discovered in one suspected neo-Nazi’s house says about far-right extremism in Europe

Last month, Austrian police made a remarkable discovery. In a raid on a house in the town of Baden, they found an arsenal of weapons and 1,200 kilograms of ammunition — as well as Nazi paraphernalia and a large amount of gunpowder.

Altogether some 50 weapons, including submachine guns and pump-action rifles, were seized. According to a police statement, the house belonged to a 53-year-old man who is “suspected of national socialist Nazi activities,” including sharing numerous files on Internet forums.

SOHR: 150 of pro-Turkey Syrian mercenaries return home without replacement

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that a batch of fighters consisted of 140 mercenaries loyal to Turkey left Libyan territory back to Syria on Turkish planes on Tuesday.

The mercenaries follow the factions of the “Sultan Murad Division,” the “Hamza Division,” and other factions as well, and they left Libya without sending a replacement until this moment, according to the Observatory sources.

North Macedonia’s Opposition Gamble Plays Into Zaev’s Hand

A badly thought-out bid to topple Zoran Zaev’s administration has left the embattled PM stronger than he was before – though the benefits for him may be short-lived.

Amember of parliament gone missing, deputies with COVID in full protective suits stuck for hours in glass cubicles, no quorum for a plenary session to resume, numerous press conferences by the opposition – threats, appeals and frustration.

Polish Nationalists Burn German Flags in State-Sanctioned March

Poland’s Independence Day march goes ahead despite a court ban on what has become an annual event for far-right sympathisers.

Thousands of Polish nationalists marched through the streets of Warsaw on November 11, in an annual Independence Day march that has become something of a far-right fest over the last few years and only went ahead this year with the help of a veterans’ institution under the control of Poland’s right-wing government.

Migrants on Polish Border Face Dire Consequences as Belarus and EU Harden Stances

With the EU slapping new sanctions on Minsk and claims the Belarusians are trying to force the migrants they are herding over the Polish border to provoke violent incidents, the plight of those stuck on the border promises to get worse before it gets better.

It’s almost midnight in a forest near the village of Narewka, located about 10 kilometres away from Poland’s eastern border with Belarus, and a family of Iraqi Kurds are squatting, holding their breath, as footsteps approach.

The Fall of Vukovar: Oral History of a Croatian Town’s Destruction

On the 30th anniversary of the fall of Vukovar to the Yugoslav People’s Army and Serbian paramilitaries, local residents and Croats who fought to defend the town look back on the devastating three-month siege and its brutal aftermath.

The Yugoslav People’s Army, aided by Serb Territorial Defence forces and paramilitaries from Serbia, launched a full-blown attack on Vukovar in eastern Croatia on August 25, 1991, beginning a siege that would last for 86 days and leave around 3,000 soldiers and civilians dead before the town’s defenders had to surrender.