Top ministers from the Faroe Islands and Greenland want to renegotiate their countries’ rights to act independently of Denmark when it comes to fishing. They plan to discuss this issue with the newly-appointed Danish Prime Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, at the summer’s national assembly. Currently, Denmark represents all three countries in international negotiations about fishing quotas. Due to climate change, the oceans are getting warmer and large shoals of fish are streaming north, seeking colder waters. In the Faroe Islands and Greenland fishing is the main industry and the two countries want to increase the amount of fish they are allowed to catch. However, the same goes for other European as well as Asian countries, who all want to get their share in the new big fishing areas in the North Atlantic and eventually, as the ice melts, near the North Pole.
‘The best defence against a possible surprise attack by Russia would be NATO units already based in countries on a scale sufficient to prevent Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from being overrun’, writes Martin Hurt, Deputy Director of International Centre of Defence and Security (ICDS). After the occupation of Crimea in 2014, NATO ramped up its military presence in new member states, including Estonia. The first deployments were a temporary measures, intended to reassure the population and show Moscow that the alliance looks out for its members. The objective was not to increase deterrence in countries bordering on Russia (the forces deployed are too small to do that). He says, ‘The recently stated intention to stockpile a brigade’s-worth of equipment in six Central and Eastern European countries is a positive step toward increasing NATO’s credibility.’
Denmark: New Age doors opening to Jesus
17 Jul 2015
A Danish pastor tended to confront head-on the growing number of New Age adherents and seekers in his country, without much success. Despite his obvious heart for the lost he was met by suspicion, mistrust, and closed doors. Then he changed his approach. ‘What I’ve learned is the need to move from a more defensive or even hostile attitude towards New Agers and new spiritual seekers, to dialogue and most of all, presence in their setting.’ He meets them on their terms and on their turf and has learned to speak their language as he presents the truth of the gospel, with uncommon compassion. This month his ministry ‘In the Master’s Light’ celebrates twenty years of outreach and bridge building. Pastor Madsen and his co-workers are regulars at New Age fairs, engaging and praying for seekers. They also offer accessible YouTube videos and other social media touchpoints.
The chamber of commerce of Usti nad Labem, a town of 93,000 in northern Bohemia, has called for the army to be deployed on the town’s streets to help it deal with problems caused by Roma migrants. Using stark language, the chamber’s external communications coordinator and the letter’s author, warned of a ‘demographic catastrophe’ as more Roma move into the town, often from neighbouring Slovakia. The letter claimed this drove down house prices and displaced the well-mannered and less aggressive non-Roma. ‘As soon as possible the army should be deployed for internal security duties such as assisting the police service. The army can do this immediately and it would also result in the city saving a lot of money.’ He added the town could borrow David Cameron’s ideas on limiting migration by reforming benefits to migrants.
‘Negotiations to settle Cyprus's division are starting to show some progress , Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said in an upbeat assessment on ending one of Europe's most enduring conflicts. Mr Anastasiades, who represents the Greek Cypriot community in reunification talks with Turkish Cypriots, said some ‘convergences’ had started to appear in negotiations on specific topics under discussion. Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded the island's north after a brief Greek-inspired coup, though the seeds of partition were sown soon after independence from Britain in 1960. ‘A degree of progress is being achieved. If we continue at this rate I believe that soon we can start to speak of significant progress,’ he said.
Croatia: Refugee’s challenges
17 Jul 2015
Sandra, a 23-year-old Syrian refugee has lived in Croatia for nearly two years. She has done her best to integrate into her host country - learning Croatian and attending university in Zagreb. Still she feels like an outsider. ‘From my experience, Croatian people will always treat me as a foreigner and you will always be 'the other’. It is not easy for me to deal with it every day. Some days I am OK with it, but most of the time I am sick of it.’ Social isolation she is experiencing, coupled with lack of job opportunities, have made Croatia an unpopular destination for people in need of protection. In 2014 the EU registered a rise in asylum seekers but Croatia saw a decrease of 58%. Many who escape Middle East and Africa don’t choose Croatia because integration into a homogeneous society that has very few migrant communities is very challenging. To read the rest of this article as it goes on to describe how NGOs are helping refugees in a new culture click on the ‘more’ link.
A Marine Corps unit equipped with tanks, light armoured vehicles and artillery will be sent to Bulgaria as part of US efforts to reassure NATO allies worried by Russia’s involvement in Ukraine. Brigadier-General Norman Cooling, the deputy commander of the US marines in Europe and Africa, said on Thursday 2 July that 155 troops equipped with four Abrams battle tanks, six light armoured vehicles and three howitzers were scheduled to be deployed at the Novo Selo training area by early September. ‘It’s certainly our intent to convince the Russians and Mr Putin to refrain from aggression and return to the community of peaceful nations,’ Cooling said. The US defence secretary said that more US military equipment would be positioned in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and Germany as NATO seeks to bolster its forces in Eastern Europe.
Bosnia: The cradle of modern jihadism?
17 Jul 2015
In the 1990s something happened in central Bosnia-Herzegovina that inspired people to this day and helps explain why that country now has more men fighting in Syria and Iraq (over 300), as a proportion of its population, than most in Europe. The formation of a ‘Mujahideen Battalion’ in 1992, composed mainly of Arab volunteers in central Bosnia, was a landmark. Today the dynamic of jihad has been reversed and Bosnians travel to Arab lands. ‘There is a war between the West and Islam,’ says Aimen Dean, who, as a young Saudi Arabian volunteer, travelled to fight in central Bosnia in 1994. ‘Bosnia gave the modern jihadist movement that narrative. It is the cradle.’