Section: European Voice (EU)
Putin agrees with Hollande to focus strikes on ISIL
Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday with his French counterpart François Hollande that both countries’ air strikes in Syria should be focused on Islamic State (ISIL) and other “terrorist” movements. In what is likely to be hailed in Paris as a major diplomatic breakthrough, both countries also agreed to exchange information...
With terror on your doorstep, you still need bread
On Saturday morning, a little over a week after the Paris attacks and the first day of the Brussels lockdown, we discuss survival strategies over our first cup of tea of the day. “I’d play dead,” I tell my husband Joe. I would try to hide under a body, I think to myself, but don’t say it out loud because I’m ashamed. Then I...
Karabakh’s soccer refugees take on Europe
AUTHOR’S NOTE: “Qarabağ Futbol Klubu” is the Azerbaijani name for the soccer team from the town of Ağdam that is the subject of this piece. “Qarabağ” is the original Azerbaijani spelling of the mountainous region of western Azerbaijan that is usually rendered as “Karabakh’ in English. In this piece, “Qarabağ” will be used throughout...
Hollande’s ‘grand coalition’ bends to Syrian realpolitik
PARIS — François Hollande is realizing this week that his plans to build a “grand and unique” international coalition to fight ISIL may have to be pared down. In Washington on Tuesday, the French president met a Barack Obama who pledged to increase U.S. military cooperation with France but didn’t seem to jump at the prospect of joining it...
Putin is testing our resolve
If the Turkish military shoot-down of a Russian SU-24 fighter aircraft is a “stab in the back” as President Vladimir Putin characterized it on Tuesday, then the knife wound came after some very loud footsteps from behind and shouts of “Here I come!” Following recent Russian incursions into Turkish airspace, in other words, no one should be...
Security leaders: NATO, Russia need to talk
The downing of a Russian fighter jet by Turkey highlights the growing danger posed by a pattern of provocative military behavior by Moscow, U.S. and European security officials said Tuesday, calling for a revival of military-to-military talks between Russia and NATO that were shelved last year. The first-ever shoot-down of a Russian plane by a...
Erdoğan shoots down Putin
What was Erdoğan thinking? One has to assume that the deliberate downing of a Russian bomber by Turkish fighter jets was no accident, that it was ordered from the top. Otherwise, we would have heard very audible diplomatic apologies from the Turkish side to the Kremlin. Nor would Putin have openly called it a “stab in the back.” This little knot...
Russia to blame for violating Turkish airspace
Let’s be clear: Russia is to blame for the military incident in which Turkey shot down a Russian plane. The Russian plane was in Turkish airspace — and not for the first time. Turkey has been complaining to the Russians, since the inception of Russian operations in Syria, that Russian forces are not respecting Turkey’s sovereignty....
U.S. steps up Ukrainian combat training
Yavirov, Ukraine — The United States began combat training for Ukrainian Army forces on Monday, expanding its effort to help Ukraine defeat Russian-backed separatists. Until now, U.S. trainers had only worked with Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, and officials say the shift to regular army training signals President Barack Obama’s growing...
Germany wants to be a Brexit broker
Germany is positioning itself as a compromise-broker between Britain and other EU countries in an effort to avoid a Brexit. Officials said Berlin is planning to use its influence with other countries to resolve potential disputes over reforms which the U.K. is demanding ahead of a referendum vote on its EU membership, including on the...
