Europe & Eurasia

Liam Fox: troops will leave Afghanistan by 2014

By Ben Farmer, the Telegraph

From Ben Farmer, the Telegraph:  Dr Fox said that within four years the Afghan army and police should take responsibility for security, leaving British troops to work only as military trainers. The date is a full year earlier than the deadline suggested by David Cameron this month, who said he wanted most troops back by 2015. […]

Defense system on NATO ships compatible with new anti-aircraft laser

By the BBC

Russia rotates its peacekeepers in Transdnestr

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti:  Russia starts on Monday a regular rotation of its peacekeeping contingent in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transdnestr. The peacekeeping operation in the region is carried out by the Collective Peacekeeping Forces (CPF), comprising 402 Russian, 492 Transdnestrian, 355 Moldovan troops and 10 Ukrainian observers. The peacekeepers man a total of 15 checkpoints […]

Official – Troops out of Afghanistan by 2014

By Jonathan Owen and Brian Brady, the Independent

From Jonathan Owen and Brian Brady, the Independent:  A communiqué containing a blueprint for British troops to pull out from Afghanistan in four years’ time has been leaked ahead of a major international conference this week. British troops are to pull out of Afghanistan by 2014, under a secret blueprint for drawing down coalition forces […]

Canada, EU on track for free trade deal in 2011: minister

By AFP

Sponsor of Flotilla Tied to Turkey’s Ruling Party

By Dan Bilefsky and Sebnem Arsu, the New York Times

EU reaches out for new powers at United Nations

By Leigh Phillips, the EUobserver

From Leigh Phillips, the EUobserver:  European Council President Herman Van Rompuy will in future be able to address the UN chamber no differently from US President Barack Obama or Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmedinejad under draft reforms agreed by member states. EU countries at meetings in Brussels and New York have agreed to table a resolution […]

Projects that may be hit by European defence cuts

By Reuters

From Reuters:  With governments across Europe planning to slash tens of billions of euros from their defence budgets, major projects are under scrutiny for possible cancellations or cuts.

New & Improved European Parliament? The View From Europe

By Scott Bleiweis

Last week’s approval of the SWIFT agreement demonstrates Parliament’s implementation of the “co-decision” powers granted by last December’s Lisbon Treaty. But what does its new status really mean? Several MEPs provided their takes to the BBC. Diana Wallis from the U.K. believes, [T]he European Parliament has clearly been the big winner, with new powers as […]

EU officials assure Turkey over accession

By AFP

From AFP:  EU officials assured Turkey Tuesday over its troubled bid to join the bloc and praised the country’s growing regional role after claims the lagging progress was pushing Ankara away from the West. The commitment came after a meeting in Istanbul between EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule, Turkish Foreign […]