Britain – European Affairs Magazine

DW: “Greater Albania” – bogeyman or a pipe dream?

7 Maggio 2017 BreakingNews @en di

The idea of Greater Albania – uniting all Albanians in one state – is once again a hot topic in the Balkans, DW reports. While leaders in Pristina and Tirana deny pan-Albanian ambitions, their recent statements have caused alarm. Serbian Foreign Minister Dacic also said that the EU, the US, and Britain “will be directly responsible” if the Albanians push ahead with their territorial ambitions. According to Erdoan Shipoli, Associate Dean of School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia International University, the Albanian leaders, with their statements, want to get more votes from the more nationalist groups, because they know that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to even choose the leader of the Great Albania, let alone making it function. Even so, the talk of Greater Albania can be dangerous, according to the expert. People across the region are tired of corruption and unemployment, pro-western Albanians feel like the EU has failed to defend their interests in Macedonia and Serbia, and Kosovo citizens are angry at the EU for not letting them travel without visas. In such circumstances, it is natural for nationalist sentiment to rise. “Right now there is no support but if the EU continues to fail the Albanians in general and Kosovo in particular, then this thought will gain more momentum and have more acceptance”, Shipoli said.

The United States, Britain and France are among almost 40 countries that will not join talks on a nuclear weapons ban treaty .

28 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

The United States, Britain and France are among almost 40 countries that will not join talks on a nuclear weapons ban treaty starting at the United Nations on Monday, said U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Haley told reporters the countries skipping the negotiations are instead committed to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which entered into force in 1970 and is aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology. “There is nothing I want more for my family than a world with no nuclear weapons. But we have to be realistic. Is there anyone that believes that North Korea would agree to a ban on nuclear weapons?” Haley told reporters.

Amnesty International condemns US and UK over Yemen arms

24 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

Amnesty International condemned the United States and Britain for transferring arms to Saudi Arabia to use in its war in Yemen, Western media reported. The London-based watchdog described the arms transfers as a “shameful contradiction” of aid efforts by the United States and Britain. ‘These governments have continued to authorize such arms transfers at the same time as providing aid to alleviate the very crisis they have helped to create,’ said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty’s deputy director of research for the Middle East and North Africa. Iran has repeatedly condemned crimes committed against the oppressed people of Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition including demolishing infrastructures in Yemen and killing defenseless civilians in almost two years of devastating war against that country. In March 2015, a so-called Saudi-led coalition began a major aggression on Yemen in a bid to reinstate the country’s fugitive president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The United States and Britain imposed restrictions on carry-on electronic devices on planes.

22 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

The United States and Britain on Tuesday imposed restrictions on carry-on electronic devices on planes coming from certain airports in Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa in response to unspecified security threats. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said passengers traveling from a specific list of airports could not bring into the main cabin devices that are larger than a mobile phone such as tablets, portable DVD players, laptops and cameras.