Author: Hasad Taner

Brussels (27/10 – 50) Just in September this year, ten “distinguished” people in Tajikistan have been awarded general ranks. The decree on conferring general ranks was signed by the country’s president, Emomali Rahmon, on September 7th. According to this decree, there are now three more generals in the Agency for State Financial Control and Anti-Corruption. The rank of Major General of Justice was awarded to the head of the Finance and Economic Department, Fazliddin Khodjazoda, the head of the Special Operations Department, Abdurakhmon Davlatzoda, and the head of the Agency for GBAO, Zoir Gafurzoda. The rank of Major General of…

In today’s evolving maritime landscape, NATO faces a critical need for a revamped Maritime Strategy to effectively align with the shifting dynamics outlined in the 2022 Strategic Concept. The current strategy, stagnant for over 12 years, no longer corresponds to the current geopolitical complexities and lacks references to key adversaries like China and Russia, highlighted as significant threats in recent strategic documentation. The strategic sea environment has witnessed alarming shifts: from Russia’s resurgent submarine threats in the North Atlantic to the targeting of critical Baltic Sea infrastructure by China or Russia and the persistent menace to maritime commerce in the…

Greece and Turkey agreed to strengthen ties through cooperation in tourism with the aim of increasing tourist flows between the two countries, announced the Greek Tourism Ministry this week. More specifically, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni and her Turkish counterpart Mehmet Nuri Ersoy signed a joint declaration to further promote cooperation between the two countries in tourism on the sidelines of the 5th meeting of the Turkey-Greece High-Level Cooperation Council. Ersoy was in Athens on Thursday accompanying Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a historic visit to Greece. The agreement follows the announcement on Thursday that Greece would be issuing a 7-day fast-track visa to Turkish nationals wishing…

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is boosting the development of green commercial real estate in the Western Balkans, with a debt package of up to €100 million to be used by CEE BIG B.V. for the company’s regional expansion. The company will use the loan to finance the development, upgrade and acquisition of modern retail parks and shopping centres across the Western Balkans. The developer is also committing to securing BREEAM international sustainability certification for all buildings financed by the EBRD. Austria provided technical assistance through its Delivering Resource Efficiency Investments (DRIVE) programme, helping the company to carry out market, technical, and…

Frankfurt (3/12 – 12) The relatively rapid cohesion of disparate nations, historically competitive or even at war with one another, into the European Union came about in part because of the ongoing threat from the Soviet Union. The specter of a tank invasion from Warsaw Pact nations, today forgotten, was such a reality that the German government kept a major portion of its gold bullion across the Atlantic. The USSR, an ally in World War II after being double-crossed by Hitler – remember the “Non-Aggression Pact signed in Moscow by von Ribbentrop and Molotov – was soon appraised as a…

Erdogan is on a highly controversial visit to staunch Israel defender Germany, made more tricky by his recent accusations directed at Israel. The Turkish leader has branded Israel a “terror state” and repeatedly defended the Hamas militants who rule Gaza as “liberators” fighting for their land. Erdogan did not repeat such statements in Berlin but nevertheless lashed out at Israel over its air and ground campaign in Gaza, triggered by the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas in Israel. “Shooting hospitals or killing children does not exist in the Torah, you can’t do it,” he said at a joint press conference ahead of dinner with Scholz. In talks with German…

On Oct. 10, a trio of Russian brigades attacked toward Avdiivka, a key Ukrainian strongpoint just northwest of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. The attack, which was preceded by a heavy artillery bombardment, was an obvious fixing operation—an effort to draw in Ukrainian brigades from across the 600-mile front of Russia’s 21-month wider war on Ukraine and pin them in place … so they can’t fight elsewhere. It hasn’t worked. “Ukrainian officials have already identified the Avdiivka push as a Russian fixing operation, and they are unlikely to unduly commit Ukrainian manpower to this axis,” the Institute for the Study…

Brussels (25/11 – 33.3) Tajikistan Supreme Court has sentenced a widely respected 65-year-old female journalist, Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva, to 21 years in prison on charges of incitement to overthrowing the government. Mamadshoeva was accused by the authorities of being a leading figure behind the political turbulence that rocked her native Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) earlier this year. State propaganda has previously alleged that the veteran reporter and activist hatched the purported plot, for which no credible evidence has been produced, at the behest of an unnamed foreign government. Mamadshoeva’s brother, Khursand, was last week sentenced to 18 years in prison on…

The world’s biggest iceberg, called A23a, is on the move after more than 30 years of being stuck to the ocean floor. At almost 4,000 sq km (1,500 sq miles) in area, the iceberg split from the Antarctic coastline in 1986. But it swiftly grounded in the Weddell Sea, becoming, essentially, an ice island. The past year has seen it drifting at speed, and the berg is now about to spill beyond Antarctic waters. BBC reports that A23a is a true colossus, and it’s not just its width that impresses. This slab of ice is some 400m (1,312 ft) thick.…

India’s effort to develop its own shipping is an opportunity for cooperation with Greek companies, said Vassilis Korkidis. Greece and India are two countries in which the shipbuilding and repair sector is reviving at a time when the capacity of shipyards in Asia is currently facing limitations due to a large number of orders for new constructions, emphasised, among others, the president of the Commercial and the Piraeus Chamber of Industry, Vassilis Korkidis, in his talk at the Webinar on shipping, which was successfully co-organised by Enterprise Greece, the Invest India organisation, and the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry…