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NL How walls are still seen as a solution in 'Fortress Europe'
Today marks exactly 23 years since the Berlin Wall fell. For Europe, it seemed the impetus to blur borders and bet on unity and free mobilisation. Divisions caused by physical walls seemed to be a thing of the past. Today, however, walls are on the rise again Between Poland and [...]
Climate summit COP27 in Egypt: dubious endorsement of al-Sisi's democratic facade
Al-Sisi in 2015 at COP21 in Paris (source: Flickr) Next Sunday, politicians, policymakers, activists and journalists from around the world will travel to the Egyptian coastal town of Sharm el-Sheikh for COP27. This year, for the first time since 2016, the international climate summit will take place in a (North) African city. The location is hopeful that climate priorities for the [...]
Palestinian human rights secondary to Dutch trade interests during Rutte visit
Mark Rutte visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories last week, on Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 October. During his visit, the focus was on strengthening ties with Israel, Israeli business and the (relatively impotent) Palestinian Authority, while Palestinian human rights activists were skipped. A questionable programme in a [...]
AIV advice: Cabinet, make clear what is at stake in Ukraine
Photo: solidarity demonstration by Dutch people with Ukraine on Dam Square, February 2022 On 7 July, the House of Representatives asked the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV) to write an urgent opinion on the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Today, 20 October, the AIV issued a number of urgent recommendations. The gist of the advice? The government [...]
Approaching winter opens Europe's gas labyrinth
As winter approaches, European countries are increasingly concerned about where their energy should come from. While Hungary, Serbia and Turkey are negotiating to open Russia's gas tap, other countries are instead relying on their neighbours' reserves. Last week, available [...]
Russian terror: 'October 10 was a terrible day for millions of Ukrainians'
Residents of Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine were woken up by loud explosions on Monday, 10 October. It is the first time since June that the capital has been attacked. FMS spoke to Bogdan Ferens, who was in Kyiv on the morning of the attacks. "10 October was a terrible day for millions of Ukrainians," said [...]
Brazil: Lula beats Bolsonaro - but Bolsonaro beats the polls
Former president Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva is expected to have won the first round of Brazil's elections. In doing so, Lula defeated Jair Bolsonaro, the incumbent president, by more than five percentage points. However, the victory was celebrated far less euphorically than anticipated beforehand - as Bolsonaro scored well ahead of all polls up to then [...]
Kido Koenig new director Foundation Max van der Stoel
As of 1 November, Kido Koenig is the new director of the Max van der Stoel Foundation. Read this news item in English. Kido Koenig previously worked at Capgemini, where he was a consultant and manager for 10 years in the field of digital transformations, talent development and change management. Before taking that step into the private sector, he [...]
Sanctions in the name of women's rights?
Protest in Lausanne on 28 September following the death of Masha Amini (Flickr) For the past two weeks, Iran has been rocked by massive protests. The immediate cause of these protests was the death of 22-year-old Masha Amini, who was arrested by the so-called morality police for not wearing "modest clothing" prior to her death. [...]
Pakistan is under water: hope for breakthrough at climate summit
After weeks of record high temperatures and extreme drought in spring, Pakistan was ravaged by months of extreme rainfall during the monsoon season from mid-June. In some regions, five times as much rain fell as 'normal' for this time of year. A third of the country is under water, the floods have left at least 1,500 people, at least [...]
