BRUSSELS: The Ministers of Home Affairs and Justice of Slovenia, representing the Presidency of the Council of the EU, together with the European Commission, represented by the European Commissioners for Home Affairs and for Justice, met on 1-3 December 2021 in Brdo pri Kranju with their counterparts from the Western Balkans at the annual EU-Western Balkans Ministerial Forum on Justice and Home Affairs.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the incoming French and Czech Presidencies of the Council of the EU. The important points of discussion are given bellow:

Strengthening migration, asylum and border management

The EU and the Western Balkans reaffirmed that migration management is a common challenge that needs to be addressed in close partnerships. Constructive cooperation has already delivered clear results and will be further strengthened, also with the support of EU Justice and Home Affairs agencies.

The ministers concurred that efforts to reinforce border management and to intensify regional information exchange remain a top priority. In this context, the EU and the Western Balkans partners agreed to continue their work on developing interoperable systems for identification and registration of mixed migratory flows, as well as National Coordination Centres (NCCs) across the region.

The ministers exchanged views on the progress made by the Western Balkans in their reception conditions and asylum systems. The need of contingency planning in case of an increase of migratory flows was underlined by the EU.

WASHINGTON: The United States and Kenya held the first U.S.-Kenya Cyber Dialogue convened under the U.S.-Kenya Bilateral Strategic Dialogue on December 1.

The Department of State’s Acting Coordinator for Cyber Issues Michele Markoff led the U.S. delegation, which also included participants from the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and other agencies. 

The Kenyan delegation was led by Dennis N. Mutiso, Chairman of the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee (NC4), and included participation from the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of ICT, ICT Authority, Communications Authority, and the Central Bank of Kenya, among others.

WARSAW (RIA Novosti): Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak told reporters “Hungary and the Czech Republic intend to send their troops to the Polish-Belarusian border.”

Earlier it was reported that military units from Great Britain and Estonia had already arrived in Poland to help protect the border with Belarus.

Blaszczak said “negotiations are now underway to support the Polish Army with the Hungarian and Czech military components.”

He added “we are talking about when and in what formula we will receive this support,” he added.

Blaschak said “we believe that the best solution is assistance related to the maintenance of temporary fencing, maintenance and construction of access roads.”

Several thousand migrants have accumulated on the border of Belarus and Poland in recent weeks, hoping to get to the EU countries.

The Polish authorities have strengthened border security, pulled in the military and thwarted attempts by illegal immigrants to enter the country, blaming Minsk for the migration crisis.

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates signed a record 14-billion-euro contract for 80 Rafale warplanes and committed billions of euros in other deals as French president Emmanuel Macron kicked off a Gulf tour.

The biggest international order ever made for the French jets came as Macron held talks with Abu Dhabi crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed at the start of a two-day trip which will also take in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

The resource-rich UAE, one of the French defence industry’s biggest customers, also inked an order for 12 Caracal military transport helicopters for a total bill of more than 17 billion euros.

Macron told journalists in Dubai “French engagement in the region, active cooperation in the fight against terrorism and the clear positions we have taken have allowed us to grow closer with the United Arab Emirates.”

He added “and at a time when questions are being asked about other long-term partners, I think this reinforces the position of France.”

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund also pledged eight billion euros in investments in French businesses, while the licence of the UAE capital’s branch of the Louvre art gallery was extended for 10 years to 2047.

The Emirates was the fifth biggest customer for the French defence industry with 4.7 billion euros from 2011-2020, according to a parliamentary report.

KYIV: Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Friday “Ukraine rejects any efforts to get it to scrap its plans to join NATO as well as any ‘guarantee’ sought by Russia to ease tensions on the border.”

Moscow wants to see an end to NATO’s eastward expansion, after much of Eastern Europe joined the alliance following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday called on his US counterpart Antony Blinken to provide ‘security guarantees’ that NATO would not come closer to Russia’s borders.

Agreeing to abandon its plans to jPolicemen detain a man after a group of protesters, some of them carrying flags of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, demonstrated near the premises of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on Johan de Wittlaan street in The Hague, on Friday. AFP photo in the alliance ‘is not an option’ for Kiev, Kuleba told AFP in an interview on the sidelines of an OSCE meeting in Stockholm.

He said “I reject this idea that we have to guarantee anything to Russia. I insist that it’s Russia who has to guarantee that it will not continue its aggression against any country.”

NATO officially opened the door to Ukraine membership in 2008, though no progress has been made since.

WASHINGTON: The top military officer in the US said “the United States is tracking enough indicators and warnings surrounding Russian military activity near Ukraine to trigger “a lot of concern” and Russian rhetoric appears increasingly strident.”

Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declined to speculate about the kinds of options the United States might consider in the event of a Russian invasion.

But Milley stressed the importance of Ukraine’s sovereignty to Washington and to the NATO alliance.

Milley said during a flight from Seoul to Washington, DC “there’s significant national security interests of the United States and of NATO member states at stake here if there was an overt act of aggressive action militarily by the Russians into a nation state that has been independent since 1991.”

Ukraine says Russia has amassed more than 90,000 troops near the two countries’ border, while Moscow accuses Kyiv of pursuing its own military build-up.

It has dismissed as inflammatory suggestions it is preparing for an attack on Ukraine and has defended its right to deploy troops on its territory as it sees fit.

TEHRAN: State media said “negotiations in Vienna aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear deal are set to be suspended Friday so that European diplomats can review proposals by the Islamic republic.

Iran said a day earlier that it had submitted two draft proposals for the nuclear agreement, which has been in tatters since the United States’ withdrawal in 2018.

Iran’s official news agency said “after the handing over of the text of the Iranian proposal to the P4+1 group, Britain, China, France and Russia plus Germany and the European Union, a meeting of the joint committee of the nuclear deal will be held on Friday.”

The news agency added “this meeting was requested by the European side before its representatives return to their capitals to review the text proposed by Iran.”

Two diplomatic sources based in Vienna confirmed the report to media, with the meeting due to start at midday (1100 GMT).

One European diplomat said that a resumption is expected early next week.

Iran’s lead negotiator Ali Bagheri said “the proposals concerned two main issues facing the 2015 accord known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.”

WASHINGTON: The United States and the European Union have expressed strong concern over what they said were China’s “problematic and unilateral actions” in disputed seas in the Asia Pacific, saying they would work together to manage their rivalry with Beijing.

In a joint statement following a high-level meeting between top diplomats Wendy Sherman, deputy secretary of state, and Stefano Sannino, European External Action Service secretary general, the two said China’s actions in the South China Sea, East China Seas and Taiwan Strait “undermine peace and security in the region and have a direct impact on the security and prosperity of both the United States and European Union.”

China claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety despite an international court ruling that rejected its historical claim. The country has been developing artificial islands and military outposts in the waters backed up by its Coast Guard and its so-called maritime militia.

Its assertive posture has led to confrontations with other countries that claim the sea, most recently in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone at Second Thomas Shoal.

NEW DELHI, 04 December 2021, (TON): The government informed the Rajya Sabha “the nation will have nine nuclear reactors by 2024 and a new nuclear project, the first in northern India, will come up 150 kms away from Delhi in Gorakhpur of Haryana.”

Minister of state for personnel, public grievances and pensions Jitendra Singh said "by 2024 you will have nine nuclear reactors plus 12 new additional ones which were approved with a capacity of 9000 MW. Five new sites are also being identified in different parts of the country."

Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour, he said “what is remarkable is that unlike in the past when nuclear plants were limited to a few states like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the department has now moved northwards.”

Singh said "we are going to have a nuclear project, the first of its kind, in North India just about 150 kms from here in a small township called Gorakhpur in Haryana.”

The minister said "we have not only increased the number but are also trying to make a pan-India generation project."

The minister said that nuclear energy will soon emerge as one of the most important sources of alternative or clean energy for the increasing power demand of the country.

ISLAMABAD, 04 December 2021, (TON): Pakistan decided to also allow the use of Afghan trucks for transportation of 50,000 MT of wheat and life-saving medicines from India to Afghanistan via Wagah border to Torkham.

Foreign Office said in a statement “Pakistan took the decision to allow transportation of wheat and life-saving medicines from India to Afghanistan via Wagah border on exceptional basis for humanitarian purposes.”

It added that this demonstrates the commitment and seriousness of the Government of Pakistan to facilitate the proposed humanitarian assistance.

According to the statement, the decision was conveyed to the Charge d’ Affairs of India at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The statement concluded “the Indian government was also urged to proceed quickly to take necessary steps to expeditiously undertake the delivery of the humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.”