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Description: Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum products towards Canada and Europe met stiff opposition as both Europe and Canada announced the imposition of counter tariffs on US products. Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission’s President announced that the bloc would impose reciprocal tariffs amounting to $28 billion, on various US products such as steel, aluminum, textiles, home appliances and consumer goods. Canada backtracked their threats as Ontario Premier Doug Ford suspended the imposition of 25% charges on electricity exports to several US states. The UK and Australia are still moderately approaching the tariff trade question with Starmer and Albanese wa
Description: The Jeddah talks in Saudi Arabia between US and Ukrainian foreign officials resulted in a proposal that might prove to be challenging for the Kremlin. The 30 – day ceasefire and reiteration towards a peace agreement arrives at a time when Russian forces have the proverbial upper hand in fulfilling their ultimate interests. Signals from Moscow officials weren’t promising as Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin’s spokesperson, and Maria Zakharova, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson stated that a short – term ceasefire would require guarantees that nor the US neither Ukraine aren’t prepared to offer for the time being. Russia would insist on direct contact with US diplomats
Description: Romania’s former Prime Minister Victor Ponta has submitted his bid for participating in the presidential elections set to be held in May. The country is on a path to reprise its two – round presidential elections in May after controversial Calin Georgescu has been barred over Russian interference and other criminal charges. The far – right ultranationalists would most likely be represented by George Simion who has shown his unwavering support for Georgescu. Simion would be supported by Anamaria Gavrila, the leader of the Young People Party who has stated they both planned on submitting their bids in order to secure at least one spot in the election. The likely c
Description: Foreign Ministers from Iran and Russia are set to join their Chinese counterpart on Friday, 14 Mar, to discuss Iran’s nuclear plans. Joint talks would also be held in a closed off session at the UN headquarters in New York at the request of France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, Britain and the US. Strategic relations between China, Russia and Iran have significantly strengthened since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 as the three countries deepened cooperation on key geopolitical issues. The talks would serve as a starting point going forward since reports indicated that Iran was close to developing weapons grade uranium for their nuclear program. The UN alli
Description: Portugal’s minority government led by Prime Minister Luis Montenegro lost a no confidence vote after Montenegro was discovered to have been embroiled in a conflict-of-interest scandal. The vote was instigated by Montenegro himself whose party held up 80 seats in the 230-seat legislature body. Montenegro was discovered to have been connected to a law firm which received money from a company that had secured gambling concessions with the government. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Portugal’s President started overseeing the transition and is expected to dissolve the parliament and call for early elections, projected for May. Portugal is facing its third government dissol
Description: Hamas political officials have stated the ceasefire talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the US have continued as Israel kept violating the truce by cutting aid and electricity in the Gaza Strip. The fragile ceasefire agreement has held since Jan mostly due to the mediators’ diplomatic efforts as both Israel and Hamas have continuously blamed each other for violating the truce. Israel also enforced military operations in the Golan Heights and targeted military compounds within southern Syria as a response to the military buildup in the country which resulted in violent clashes between the HTS – led government and the formed Assad supporters. Impact:
Description: Serbian separatist leader Milorad Dodik has apparently asked for Russia to block the EU and NATO initiative before the UN Security Council for the additional deployment of troops under the European peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. The announcement comes as a result of his arrest on 12 Mar which was prompted by Dodik’s refusal to uphold to rulings imposed by Bosnia’s international ruling administration. After the rejection of court summons, Dodik initiated laws which barred state judiciary and police institutions from the region which resulted in his arrest warrant. Dodik’s actions were criticized by NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte in his recent visit to Prist
Description: Military chiefs from most EU and NATO members met in Paris on an emergency summit where the French – British proposal for peacekeeping forces in Ukraine, labeled the coalition of the willing, was discussed. The meeting was spearheaded by military officials from the UK and France with President Emmanuel Macron also attending where broader ideas were exchanged and proposals discussed for the deployment of a peacekeeping contingent if and whether some sort of an agreement would be brought forward from the talks in Saudi Arabia. The summit represented the most important step towards Europe’s involvement in the conflict since the dissolution of the transatlantic rela
Description: Ukraine and the US concluded the 8 – hour long negotiations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia after which an initial 30 - day ceasefire proposal was brought forward. The negotiations also involved the previously discussed minerals deal between the countries in return for security guarantees as well as the resumption of intelligence and military aid by the US. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the talks as highly productive and stated that as of now, the diplomatic ball is on the Russian side. No official response has been solicitated from the Kremlin as previous statements of a long – term peace agreement instead of a short ceasefire were publicly reintroduced by
Description: Calin Georgescu’s appeal against the decision of Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau to ban him from the upcoming presidential elections has been rejected by the Constitutional Court. The far – right, anti – NATO candidate was repeatedly accused of severe irregularities in campaign financing and being propped up by Russian media initiatives to win the elections. The Constitutional Court had stated the ban was final and there was no possibility of appealing against it which put Romanian far -right political block in a crisis mode looking for a suitable replacement for Georgescu. In the past couple of days Georgescu’s ban was followed by massive anti – establishmen