Moldova likely to be the next target in Russia’s war.
Still looking for a way out of the Pristina-Belgrade
· Russia sees Moldova as a “historical Russian territory”, reflecting Putin’s ambition to regain control over former Soviet republics and drive the US and European presence out of Eastern Europe.
· Russia uses hybrid measures to destabilize the country, including disinformation, economic pressure, internal destabilization, corruption and proxy groups, election interference where the pro European Moldovan president Maya Sandu was ousted in favor of pro-russian opposition. This move comes ahead of presidential elections and referendum about Moldova’s future membership into the European Union to be held in 2024.
Read more:
https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/03/moldova-new-battleground-russias-war
Attempted attack on Yerevan police station by 3 armed men.
· Three men stormed a police station in the Armenian capital detonating hand grenades, injuring two in the process. The station was reportedly holding members of the Combat Brotherhood Organization detained earlier. The group opposes the transfer of villages in Armenia’s Tavush region to Azerbaijan.
· Following the peace treaty signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia after a lightening military campaign was launched by the former, ending three decades of ethnic Armenian separatist rule in the Karabakh region, a border demarcation was agreed upon, based on mutual recognition of territorial integrity based on Soviet maps of 1991.
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Russian Soyuz rocket takes off from Kazakhstan.
· The rocket carrying NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Russian Oleg Novitsky and Marina Vasilevskaya from Belarus, took off from the international space station on Saturday, one of the last remaining areas of collaboration between Russia and the west, amid tensions in Ukraine.
· The space capsule separated and went into orbit eight minutes after the launch, beginning a two- day, 34 orbit trip to the space station.
Read more:
https://www.euronews.com/2024/03/24/russian-spacecraft-blasts-off-from-kazakhstan
Partnership between Kazakhstan and Qatar, investment worth $17.6 billion.
Long term strategic partnership between the two countries, prioritizing sectoral development projects. Construction of gas processing plants to boost commercial gas exports, including the Aktobe-Kostanai and Beineu-Bozoi-Shymkent, and a hydroelectric power station to boost Kazakhstan’s energy security.
Currently, the two countries are set to collaborate in supplying halal and organic agricultural products and implement projects in the agricultural sector.
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Report on refugee crisis in Armenia by WSU students.
As a part of Murrow Ccollege’s Backpack Journalism Program, students traveled to Yerevan to interview refugees and international aid workers helping to resettle them. The data collected showed tens of thousands of Armenians have fled the disputed region of Karabakh in Azerbaijan and settled in Yerevan.
The scholarship program allows students to go on competitive, donor funded international reporting expeditions and publish their work.
Read more:
https://news.wsu.edu/news/2024/03/26/wsu-students-report-on-refugee-crisis-in-armenia/
Moldova's Constitutional Court on Tuesday , March 24 struck down a law restricting pro-Russian Party from polls
This law was primarily aimed at preventing the pro-Russian Shor Party from participating in elections .
The party was founded in 1998 and is headed by Ilan Shor, a businessman who fled to Israel in 2019 .
Over the past few months, the party has held demonstrations across Moldova, protesting against the policies of the country’s pro-West leader, Maia Sandu .
The EU and Moldova expanded their Road Transport Agreement
The current Road Transport’s validity between the EU and Moldova got extended until December 31, 2025 .
The Agreement was first sealed on June 29, 2022 .
Since it was signed, the EU Commission points out, the agreement “has substantially increased road exports from Moldova to the EU, benefiting both economies.”
President Alexander Lukashenko contradicted Russian President Vladimir Putin while claiming that Belarus prevented Moscow suspects on the border.
The four suspects for the March, 22/2024 terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall, a concert venue on the outskirts of the Russian capital, were caught and arrested on the Belarus-Ukraine border .
Lukashenko further claimed that, "terrorists were first headed for Belarus and they were turned away from the border due to heightened security.’’
Lukashenko added , "Putin & I did not sleep for 24 Hours. He asked me to seal off our borders .’’
Ukraine, Georgia and Poland qualify after late drama in playoffs , EURO 2024 .
The 24-nation Euro 2024 lineup was finalised Tuesday with three qualifying playoffs giving a stronger eastern European flavour to the tournament that opens June 14, 2024 in Germany.
These triumphs infused a stronger eastern European presence into the event.
Ukrainian fans displayed yellow-and-blue banners criticising Russia and its president Vladimir Putin in the stadium in Wroclaw due to the war-torn situation of the country .
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Azerbaijan warns Armenia as it plans a ‘full-scale war’
"Our analysis shows that Azerbaijan wants to launch military action in some parts of the border with the prospect of turning military escalation into a full-scale war against Armenia," Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan said .Tensions between the two Caucasus neighbors have been there since Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh was captured last September . On the other hand , Azerbaijan asks for the return of its land which also includes several tiny enclaves entirely surrounded by Armenian territory .
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Hungary sees the highest voter participation in local elections
On June 9, when the European Parliamentary and local elections were to be held on the same day, about 7.8 million Hungarians were projected to vote. Of these, 58.1% exercised their voting rights. This is a first for the country that sees the highest voter participation in its history.
The local elections were held to elect the country and district government representatives. Fidesz- KDNP candidates won 14 out of 24 towns with county rights. Meanwhile, the opposition still holds leadership positions in 17 out of 23 districts.
Read more:
https://hungarytoday.hu/voter-participation-in-the-local-elections-also-reaches-a-record/
US-Poland operation to counter Russian disinformation
The United States and Poland have jointly set up a Ukraine Communications Group to provide support to Ukraine against Russia's disinformation campaign. Poland has also claimed to be a victim of Moscow's information sabotage.
The Kremlin has been accused of spreading false narratives about its unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine and weakening the unity of the Ukrainian people. This operation claims to bring together allies to promote accurate reporting of the invasion, expose Russia's disinformation tactics and make the Ukrainian voices heard.
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Poland’s Euro hopes smashed by striker injuries
Both are scheduled to miss out on Poland's run in the European Championship, as key strikers Robert Lewandowski and Karol Swiderski left injured despite the 2-1 win over Turkey, compounded by the absence of Arkadiusz Milik due to recent knee surgery.
The Netherlands kept their attacking form with a 4-0 victory in a second consecutive warm-up match, while the Czech Republic did not really rise, beating North Macedonia 2-1 through two late penalties.
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Ukraine hits Su-57 fighter jet within Russia
Ukraine has made its first ever hit on Moscow's latest generation stealth aircraft, Su-57. The fighter jet was parked in an airfield in Russia's Astrakhan region. The attack was carried out by Ukraine's military agency GUR and had used Ukrainian crafted drones.
The Su-57 is Russia's flagship aerospace creation, manufactured to replace the outdated fighter jets like MiG-29 and Su-27. This was the first ever attack on the Soviet’s stealth aircraft.
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Peter Magyar Emerges as Key Challenger to Orban After Surprising EU Election Results
Peter Magyar's Tisza party achieved a surprising second-place finish in Hungary's European Parliament elections, challenging Prime Minister Viktor Orban's dominance and positioning Magyar as a potential contender for the 2026 parliamentary elections.
The election results marked Orban's weakest showing in an EU election since Hungary joined the bloc, amid broader political shifts in Europe and internal economic and corruption issues.
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About 90 countries to attend Swiss-hosted Ukraine peace summit
Close to 90 countries and organizations , half from Europe itself have confirmed attending the peace summit that Russia has clearly denied to attend .
Out of 160 invitations that were sent , fewer than 100 have accepted and announced their participation .
Swiss officials have also stated that Brazil and China have denied their participation as Russia should also be a part on the other side of the table , according to them . India is yet to be clear at its stance .
Belarus and Russia set to hold joint nuclear exercises
Belarus confirms its participation in nuclear drills with Russia , its defense ministry said on Monday .
This is the second phase of the drills , considering the first phase that already took place in the last month .
No details related to where and what sort of weapons are being used is disclosed by either of the nations .
Read More -
Crude Oil sales hikes up in Afghanistan’s Taliban , reaches $80 million in a span of 10-days
With Beijing’s investment it is reported that Taliban has successfully sold 150,000 tons of crude oil from the Amu Darya basin .
Reports also indicate approximately 20,000 tons of crude oil are also expected to be sold through a free-bidding process .
A year ago , China’s Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co, or CAPEIC signed a 25-year contract with Taliban authorities in Afghanistan .
In protest against government overhaul plans, workers at Slovakia's public broadcaster participated in a three-hour walkout
Employees of Slovakia’s public radio and television broadcaster carried a walk-out on Monday to protest a contentious overhaul of their services .
The measure was approved on April 24th by the coalition government of the populist PM Robert Fico .
The matter is currently being debated in the Parliament .
A far-right party from Romania has gained seats in the EU Parliament for the first time
To counter the rise of AUR, the Social Democrats and the Liberals chose to run together in the EU elections, given that they also govern together in Bucharest .
“Democracy has triumphed,” said Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu .
Highest voter count of 52.4% was recorded ever since Romania joined the EU in 2007 .
News Bits collected by [Region Head]:
Poulina Banerjee (BA IR 2nd year)
Drafted by:
Angel Chindalia (MA IR 1st year)
Published by: Varsha Das (BA IR 2nd year)
