An agreement was tentatively reached on 21 October in Vienna between Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), France, Russia and the US. Details of the deal are still not public and the deal is not sealed yet (the Iranian delegation needs clearance from Tehran). Still, the general elements of the deal are known and they raise important questions and leave some critical matters of Iran’s nuclear dossier essentially unresolved. Iran has agreed to ship a significant share of its Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) stockpile to Russia for further enrichment. The fuel will then be processed into fuel rods and returned to Iran for use in its Tehran Research Reactor, under IAEA safeguards. Pending clarification of what additional elements the deal addresses and includes, here are five questions that presumably remain unanswered. Read the rest of this entry »

If one was asked this question, the answer appears to have been answered already: no, there can be no sustainable peace in Europe without the future enlargement, there can be no stability in Europe without the Western Balkans. But, with popular anxiety over further enlargements on the rise and with the unexpected difficulties facing the Union as it endeavours to reform its institutions, it is worth asking ourselves what is at stake, and why it is so important that the Western Balkans countries not be “left behind” in the European integration process.

After the accession of Bulgaria and Romania on 1 January 2007, ensuring the success of the enlargement process has become one of the EU’s major political priorities. And indeed, the very essence of European integration is to overcome the division of Europe and to contribute to the peaceful unification of the continent. The Western Balkans region is essential to the EU’s security and peace project. We have, on the one hand, a European Union built on peace and the reconciliation of its citizens; on the other hand, we have a region known to history as “Europe’s powder keg”. Read the rest of this entry »