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The COVID-19 pandemic is a wake-up call for Europe, which needs a stronger, more united and more assertive foreign and security policy, MEPs highlighted on Wednesday.
Paris-Geneva, January 15, 2021 – The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT) is deeply concerned about a last set of amendments, recently passed by Turkey’s Grand National Assembly, which have the potential to further restrict freedom of association and to curb civil society activities in Turkey. We call on the authorities in Turkey to immediately reverse these recent legislative changes, which have been approved despite harsh criticism [1] by civil society actors. The controversial bill came into force on December 31, 2020 under the name of “Law no. 7262 on...
In the late-1970s, Daniel H. Levine concluded that “ Venezuelans have achieved one of the few stable competitive political orders in Latin America”. But democracy cannot be taken for granted: on December 6, 2020, and after a major political decay, Venezuelan authoritarian ruler, Nicolás Maduro, held a parliamentary election that has been considered fraudulent by several countries. Venezuelan political decay has evolved at an astonishing pace. When Hugo Chavez -a former military, and an authoritarian and populist leader- was elected president in December 1998, according to V-Dem, Venezuel...
We have successfully kept the focus on security issues of Europe. At two formal meetings, we discussed events in Belarus and at the informal meeting of 4 September, we gave the floor to the people of Belarus, focusing mostly on the human rights situation in Belarus, and inviting Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to speak. The meeting was a success and was viewed nearly 50 000 times on social media. In March, we convened an informal meeting on Crimea, and in August, we raised Russia’s actions against Georgia, recalling the 12th anniversary of the start of Russia’s aggression in Georgia. In November...
Mit dem Jahreswechsel endet die deutsche EU-Ratspräsidentschaft. Trotz erschwerter Bedingungen konnten viele Einigungen erreicht werden.