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NL A moment of silence for the victims of the railway station disaster in Novi Sad, Serbia
On 1 November, the roof of a train station in the Serbian city of Novi Sad collapsed, killing 15 people and seriously injuring two. Remarkably, this train station had been renovated only four months before the collapse. It suggests that this was not only a tragic accident, but also a failure of the responsible authorities. The [...]
Afghan guards are left to their own devices after all
Photo: Afghan guards in Uruzgan - Flickr The cabinet has decided not to secure Afghan guards who protected the Embassy in Kabul and the military base in Uruzgan in the Netherlands. The former Afghan guards are at risk in their home country due to their cooperation with a foreign government since the Taliban regained power [...].
Elections in Georgia: Fundamental Rights Under Pressure
This article was originally published on the website of the PvdA Pink Network On Friday 25 October, the FMS, Foundation Max van der Stoel, together with the Pink Network of the PvdA and WECF organised a political café on the important Georgian parliamentary elections that were about to take place the next day. The café was about democracy, the [...]
Opinion: Even if relocation of the Dutch embassy to Jerusalem does not go ahead, damage has already been done
Former Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting in Jerusalem - ANP / EPA This opinion piece originally appeared in the Volkskrant Contradiction, chaos, contradiction, and fierce (internal) discussions are by now familiar to our current cabinet. The cabinet's decision, at the insistence of PVV leader Geert Wilders, to remove the Dutch embassy in Israel [...]
Choosing between Moscow and Brussels: an analysis of the Georgian parliamentary elections
Photo: Georgian flag - Flickr On 26 October, Georgia will hold its next parliamentary elections. This will take place against the backdrop of some controversial bills recently passed. For instance, on 17 September, the Georgian parliament passed a law officially banning any form of LGBTQ+ representation. In addition, earlier this [...]
Demonstration in Brussels: Freedom for Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Ales Bialiatski and all other political prisoners in Belarus
For three years, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Ales Bialiatski has been innocently imprisoned in Belarus. On 25 September, in front of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in Brussels (Belgium), Libereco - Partnership for Human Rights (Libereco) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) urge his release and that of all over 1,300 [...]
Religion and Russian Identity: Implications for Ukraine
The Kubinka Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces, source (Wikimedia Commons) This article was written by one of our guest authors and published in English. Would you also like to contribute to the FMS with your analysis on international politics and democratisation? Mail your submission to info@foundationmaxvanderstoel.nl In recent years, the interplay between religion and nationalism [...]
Elections in Jordan: new reforms, anger over Gaza and economic concerns
Photo: cityscape Jerash, city north of Amman - Flickr On 10 September, Jordan held its first parliamentary elections since major reforms in the electoral system and also since the start of the current Israel-Gaza conflict. As a neighbouring country, Jordan has been diplomatic towards both sides, but the situation in the region has both social [...]
You cannot have your cake and eat it too: international law should not be applied one-sidedly
When Russian President Vladimir Putin was able to visit neighbouring Mongolia fearlessly on 3 September, despite the arrest warrant claimed against him by the International Criminal Court in The Hague over a year ago, the reaction of the Western world was furious. The United States, for instance, called on Mongolia to uphold international law at all times [...]
Outcry in Iraq: meeting rule of law and religion about to legalise child marriages
Photo: the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad - Flickr A new proposal for a law change in Iraq harbours the chance of legalising child marriages. It concerns the ''Personal Status Law'' No 188 from 1959 that regulates matters surrounding marriage, custody and general family law in Iraq. The proposed amendment to the law will require married couples to obtain a [...]
