Read more about the article Negotiating Freedom: The Legal Complexities of International Prisoner Exchanges
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Negotiating Freedom: The Legal Complexities of International Prisoner Exchanges

The prisoner exchange between Russia and the West that occurred at the start of this month on August 1st surprised the international community (The Washington Post, 2024). On top of that, it garnered significant attention for being the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War due to its multinational nature and the high profile of the prisoners involved (The Washington Post, 2024). As Russia released twice as many prisoners as the West did, including notable activists and journalists, media outlets have framed the exchange as a diplomatic victory for the West (BBC, 2024). Academia, however, must examine this exchange more critically and address the legal complexities that arise from ‘hostage diplomacy’ and prisoner exchanges, as well as the diplomatic and political implications of such agreements. The lack of international treaties explicitly regulating the exchange of prisoners has led to the topic largely regarded as a political exercise rather than a legal one. Nonetheless, this article proposes several international frameworks that can be applied in such situations. This article briefly analyses the different categories of prisoners involved and which international framework applies accordingly . Finally, the article examines the political implications of these exchanges, particularly their potential to set precedents for future scenarios.

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28 August 2024
Read more about the article Democracy in Question: Georgia’s Foreign Agents Law
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Democracy in Question: Georgia’s Foreign Agents Law

The adoption of the “foreign agents” law in Georgia has become a critical issue, reflecting broader struggles over democratic governance, the autonomy of civil society and geopolitical direction in the post-Soviet region. Georgia is a parliamentary unitary republic in which the President, the Government, the Parliament, and the judiciary share powers reserved to the national government. In March 2023, two parallel bills have been submitted to the Parliament, namely “Transparency of Foreign Influence’’ and “Registration of Foreign Agents”. These two bills were withdrawn from the Georgian Parliament following protests in response to the legislative process. On 3 April 2024, the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Mamuka Mdinaradze, announced the reintroduction of the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence to the Parliament. The law requires non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and media companies that receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign sources to register as “organisations serving the interests of a foreign power”. Founded in 2012 by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Georgian Dream Party, was formed as an alternative to the Georgian National Movement. Georgian Dream quickly gained widespread support and won the parliamentary elections that year, representing a major shift in the country’s political landscape.

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21 August 2024
Read more about the article <strong>Lebanon’s Crippling Crisis: Prospects for a Further EU Involvement in the Country’s Stability</strong>
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Lebanon’s Crippling Crisis: Prospects for a Further EU Involvement in the Country’s Stability

The Mediterranean region and the European continent are inextricably linked from a geographical, historical, and strategic point of view. For this simple reason, it is impossible for the countries that lie on the two shores of this almost-closed sea to ignore each other for a long time. Consequently, international cooperation between them has always been intense, being reinforced by strong cultural and economic ties. Nevertheless, due to the high degree of instability that traditionally affects this area, the EU’s foreign policy towards many of its southern neighbours has usually been dominated by the theme of the security–development nexus. Lebanon is no exception. Having its modern history characterized by recurring social unrest, economic crises and civil wars, this small country has often drawn the attention of European policymakers. In 2019 the nation that was once called “the Switzerland of Middle East” has fallen again into a severe political paralysis and started to experience a deep economic downturn, which undermines inter alia the normal implementation of cooperation programmes with the EU (World Bank, 2021) The general election held in May 2022 was intended to put an end to this situation, but it didn’t. For as long as the crisis perseveres, risk Lebanon risks falling into another devastating civil war is becoming feasible. Therefore, stronger European engagement to maintain the country’s stability seems to be a matter of necessity, and it could be one of the last opportunities to save Lebanon from sinking.

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2 November 2022