A week after Putin's peace summit in Sochi, the President of Russia visited the Russian airbase in Hmeimim, Syria, on Monday. During his visit, Putin announced that he will withdraw a great part of the Russian forces currently stationed in Syria. Putin also met with Bashar Al Assad, and they claimed that ISIS was defeated, hence the withdrawal.
The US decided on Wednesday to move their embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The decision is controversial, as it means a de facto recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The Trump administration argues that this merely awknowledges a reality, as all of Israel's government institutions are based in Jerusalem. The foreign embassies, however, are based in Tel Aviv.
A day before a UN global conference on migration, the US pulled out of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants. The Declaration calls for a 'more humane approach', with migration being 'safe, orderly and regular'. The Trump administration views the Declaration as incompatible with its national sovereignty. The move is likely to freeze the relations between the US and the UN even further, as the US previously pulled out of the UN climate change agreements and Unesco.
The European Commission started a case in front of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg against Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic over the refusal of these countries to take in refugees. The refugees concerned here are those who should have been distributed across Europe according to the European distribution mechanism, negotiated in 2015. The case follows upon various infringement procedures launched earlier this year.
Beata Szydło submitted her resignation as prime minister on Thursday after weeks of speculation of a major government reshuffle. Szydło will be replaced by the current minister of finance, Mateusz Morawiecki. Morawiecki served under the Tusk administration as economic advisor and he is the major architect of the long-term economic plans of the current PiS government, which include programs such as 500+.
Following a ballistic missile test of North Korea, the USA and South Korea have started their biggest military exercise as of yet. The exercise comes amid rising tensions on the peninsula, as North Korea keeps boosting its arms programme and condemning the joint exercises of the USA and its southern neighbour. This exercise prompted Pyongyang to claim that a 'nuclear war' would be unavoidable.
After two months of silence on the test front, North Korea has launched its most advanced missile as of date. The missile, which is claimed by North Korea to be able to hit all of mainland USA, is part of an exponential increase of testing this year. So far, 23 missiles have been launched since February. This missile is said to be capable of carrying a nuclear bomb. To launch such a combination, experts say, North Korea needs about one more year.
On Friday the APEC summit started in Vietnam, with all the countries bordering the Pacific Ocean attending (all but North Korea). The summit takes place annually and is attended by the heads of states of the participating countries. Though primarily an economic forum, the summit is also a big political event. The APEC summit this year featured numerous fringe meetings, such as the one between Duterte and Putin and between Abe and Xi Xinping.
On Monday, Portugal's minister of finance was elected as the new leader of the Eurogroup. Within the framework of the Eurogroup, the ministers of finance of Eurozone countries meet monthly. The platform is designed for crisis management but has gained importance after 2013 and it was vital in establishing bail-out programs for Greece and bail-ins in Cyprus. Centeno will replace the former Dutch minister of Finance Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
Leaders of EU and African countries met on Wednesday for a two-day summit in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to improve relations between the two continents and address the problems developing between Africa and the EU. The theme of the summit was to strengthen youth in Africa, providing for opportunities in Africa through sustainable development and investment. It is in the EU's interest to keep migration low, as the population of Africa is set to double by 2050 and considering the fact that money sent by African from the EU to Africa is three times as high as all Western development aid combined.
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