Media

EFD Policy Advisor Magnus Norell writes about Sweden's recent decision to recognise the State of Palestine. In his analysis, he highlights that the decision is based on the Swedish administration's justification that, "The international law criteria for the recognition of the State of Palestine have been satisfied," indicating that, "there is a territory, albeit with non-defined borders. There is also a population. And there is a government with...

EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo comments on the mass execution of 47 people in Saudi Arabia that took place on 2nd January 2016. According to Valentina Colombo, this day could go down in history as “the day in which Saudi Arabia has officially and wittingly rekindled the threat of the international Sunni-Shia conflict”....

“Although there has always been a secular and moderate Islam in the South-West Balkans, 20 years of Islamist propaganda have lured part of the Albanian Muslims” into becoming radicalised, says EFD Senior Policy Advisor Lorenzo Vidino....

EFD Senior Policy Advisor, Magnus Norell, writes about the relationship between Sweden and Israel which he says has become increasingly strained due to a number factors, most notably the Swedish government's recent recognition of the state of Palestine - the first major EU country to do so. Though receiving strong condemnation from Israel, Sweden argued that recognising Palestine as a state would facilitate more balanced (state-to-state) negotiat...

The Brussels Times summarises the issues addressed at the EFD policy briefing "Sharing best practices in countering violent extremism". It highlights the event's aim to set the agenda with regard to tackling today's prevalent challenges related to radicalisation by taking effective preventive measures on a policy level....

EFD Senior Policy Advisor, Demir Murat Seyrek and Amanda Paul of the European Policy Centre, write about the downing of the Russian warplane on 24 November by Turkey, as well its implications for Turkey-Russia relations and the already waning relations between Russia and the West as a whole....

EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour comments on the reactions of the Muslim community regarding the 13 November attacks in Paris. While many in the Arab world have condemned the attacks, the alleged maltreatment of Muslims is often lamented in the same breath. Rather than portraying themselves as victims of the West, Muslims have to take responsibility, initiate an open debate about their religious belief and ask critical questions....

“Broadly speaking, the struggle within Islam is between Muslims who embrace the values of the modern world in terms of freedom, indi­vidual rights, gender equality and democracy on the one side and Muslims opposing these values and insisting on a Sharia-based legal system on the other. Any Muslim who even questions this version of Islam they refer to as a heretic or, worse, an apostate to be killed”....

With the Turkish general elections now complete, Amanda Paul of the European Policy Centre and EFD's Senior Policy Advisor, Demir Murat Seyrek, write about "the huge victory" scored by the Justice and Development Party (AKP), how to understand the election results, its potential consequences, and what the results mean for Turkey-EU relations. The article begins by highlighting that the results not only provide President Erdogan's AKP party's four...

As the Turkish population heads to the polls for the second time in five months, Amanda Paul of the European Policy Centre and EFD's Senior Policy Adviser, Dr Demir Murat Seyrek, write about what has happened on the ground in Turkey since the last election, what to expect as the polls prepare to open, and what's really at stake. Leading up to 1 November's election date, the atmosphere has been highly charged with financial volatility and a rise i...

EFD Senior Policy Adviser, Dr Demir Murat Seyrek, writes about EU-Turkey relations in the midst of the upcoming 1 November elections in Turkey. Discussions of Turkey's EU membership has been put on hold for the time being, due to the Brussel's focus turning to other matters at hand, including Russia, the refugee crisis, the rise of the far-right and growing Euroscepticism. Turkey as well has been preoccupied, with over 2 million refugees now resi...

Tehmina Kazi, director of British Muslims for Secular Democracy and a Fellow at the European Foundation for Democracy, writes about the difficulty in countering online extremism and explains why vulnerable individuals have been so susceptible to their messages. In the article, Tehmina stresses the importance of combating non-violent extremism with the same tenacity as violent extremism and provides several examples for how an effective counte...

Ahmad Mansour discusses the growing appeal of Salafism among young Muslims, and calls for an urgent critical debate about Islamic reform. He stresses that religious extremism needs to be addressed also in cases where it does not lead to physical violence....