Chronologies Chronology of Major Conflicts Appendices and Political Events January 2017 Portugal tation of people without right to asylum faced with the increase in arrivals through In France, Benoît Hamon is elected as • On 7 January the founder of the So- the central Mediterranean, which reached the socialist candidate for the presi- cialist Party and former Prime Minister 181,000 in 2016, almost 20% more than dency of the Republic. François Fillon, Mário Soares dies. in 2015. the candidate for the conservative • On 10 January Portugal presents a • On 13 January around 550 immi- party The Republicans (LR), comes formal complaint to the EU over Spain’s grants are rescued in the Strait of Sicily. under investigation for misuse of pub- decision to build a nuclear waste storage • On 25 January the Constitutional lic funds. In Italy, the Constitutional facility at the Almaraz Nuclear Plant, Court issues a ruling on the electoral law Court vetoes two of the main electoral close to the Portuguese border. approved by parliament in May 2015, Chronology Conflicts Major of and Political Events law reforms. Malta assumes the EU bringing into force the possibility of call- Presidency. Slovenia approves the Spain ing elections in 2017. However, the court possibility of closing its borders to rejected two of its main points: the pos- guarantee national security. The Re- • On 1 January around a thousand sibility of a second round between the publika Srpska suspends contact with Sub-Saharan immigrants attempt to jump two most voted candidates if none win the High Representative of the Inter- the Melilla border fence. 40% in the first round, and the possibil- national Community. In FYROM, Niko- ity of the candidates heading the lists to 365 la Gruevski is unable to form a govern- France run in up to 10 constituencies. ment. Tensions mount between Belgrade and Pristina and between • On 1 January the new employment Malta Athens and Ankara. In Turkey, there is law comes into force which obliges com- a Daesh terrorist attack in Istanbul, the panies to respect the right of their work- • On 1 January Malta assumes the EU purge sparked by the attempted coup ers to disconnect from technology out- Presidency with the priorities of tackling in July 2016 continues and the Parlia- side of working hours. the migration crisis, further developing ment approves the constitutional re- • On 29 January Benoît Hamon is the single market, strengthening security form to transform Turkey’s government elected as the candidate to dispute the and improving social inclusion. system into a presidential one. Indirect presidency of the Republic for the So- negotiations are held in Astana be- cialist Party (PS). 17 deputies from the Slovenia tween the Syrian government and more liberal wing of the PS announce seven opposition groups and Russia that they will not support Hamon unless • On 26 January the Parliament ap- proposes a draft constitution for Syria. he moderates his programme, which they proves modifications in the migration In Jordan, several reformist leaders are consider to be too close to the radical laws that will allow borders to be closed arrested. In Egypt, new sentences are leftism of Jean-Luc Melenchon. to guarantee national security. handed down to members of the Mus- • On 30 January François Fillon, the LR lim Brotherhood and the High Admin- candidate to the presidency, and his wife Bosnia and Herzegovina 2018 istrative Court blocks the ruling to Penelope, are interrogated by police as transfer the Islands of Tiran and Sana- part of the investigation into the latter’s • On 12 January the Republika Srpska fir to Saudi Arabia. In Libya, the eastern alleged fictitious employment, uncovered suspends contact with the High Repre- armed forces expel the Islamist militias by the weekly newspaper Le Canard sentative of the International Commu- from practically all of Benghazi. In Tu- Enchaîné. nity Valentin Inzko for having compared nisia, there is unrest in Ben Gardane. the Bosnian Serb national holiday of 9 Algeria announces a state of emer- Italy January with a Nazi celebration. The Mediterranean Yearbook gency on its borders. Morocco rejoins holiday goes ahead despite the Consti- the African Union (AU). • On 6 January the European Commis- tutional Court’s ban, describing it as Med. Med. sion urges Italy to accelerate the depor- discriminatory. IE Serbia Albania Fethullah Gülen with the PKK and Daesh during the attempted coup in 2016. • On 12 January Doctor without Bor- • On 17 January Bleta Shqiptare (Al- • On 8 January the leader of the pro- ders (MSF) reports that it has already banian Bee) is launched, a citizen move- Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party Se- Appendices registered deaths from freezing among ment founded by Shenasi Rama, Grid nar Yesilirmak is arrested, accused of the 2,000 migrants trapped in Belgrade. Rroji and Valentina Karanxha, with a view having links with the PKK. to forming a party and seeking alterna- • On 17 January after a tense week of Kosovo under United Nations Security tives to the two main parties, the Social- parliamentary clashes, the constitutional Council Resolution 1244 ist Party (PS) and the Democratic Party reform to transform Turkey into a presi- (PDS). This is the third movement to dential state is approved in its totality. • On 4 January the former Prime Min- appear before the legislative elections in • On 18 January Istanbul’s public pros- ister Ramush Haradinaj is arrested in the June, along with Libra, a centre-left par- ecutor orders the arrest of 243 members EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg by ty founded in November 2016 by former of the army in relation with the attempted the French authorities acting on a Ser- PS members Ben Blushi and Mimoza coup in 2016. bian arrest warrant for war crimes as Hafizi; and the centrist Sfida (Challenge), • On 28 January some 40 Turkish sol- commander of the Kosovo Liberation created in January 2017 by Gjergj Bo- diers serving in NATO bases in Germany Army (UÇK). On 6 January Kosovo an- jaxhi, former head of the country’s energy request political asylum faced with the nounces a “revision” of its relations with company. purge in Turkey following the failed coup Serbia. On 12 January Haradinaj is re- attempt in 2016. leased on bail by a French court causing Greece Belgrade to threaten France that it will Cyprus not extradite anyone under a french re- • On 16 January the Court of Auditors quest if Haradinaj is not extradited to approves the sale of the Greek railway • On 12 January the year’s first meeting Chronology Conflicts Major of and Political Events Serbia. operator Trainose to the Italian group of reunification talks concludes without • On 27 January the intelligence chief Ferrovie dello Stato for 5.8 billion euros. an agreement despite the advances Agron Selimaj resigns citing personal • On 28 January the Supreme Court made in 2016. The presence of 30,000 reasons, amid rising tensions with Bel- rules against an extradition request from Turkish troops in the north of the island, grade over a train travelling from Serbia Turkey for eight soldiers who fled to which Turkey says it will not withdraw is that was stopped from crossing the bor- Greece after the attempted coup in one of the key sticking points. 366 der into Kosovo on 14 January because 2016, where they are under arrest for it was painted with the colours of Ser- illegal entry and are awaiting a decision Syria bia’s national flag and the slogan “Kos- from Athens regarding their asylum re- ovo is Serbia.” quest. Turkey threatens to revise its mi- • On 1 January the regime’s air force • On 11 January a grenade is thrown gration agreement with the EU if the resumes its offensive on the rebel-con- at a government building in Mitrovica soldiers are not returned. trolled Barada valley. The offensive con- which was recently opened by the Kos- • On 31 January the Moria refugee tinues with further advances for the re- ovo authorities as part of efforts to con- camp in Lesbos is partially dismantled gime throughout January. solidate their power over the Kosovo following the confirmation that a third • On 6 January Turkey reports that 32 Serb territories. migrant has died due to the facility’s poor Daesh members have been killed in al- • On 24 January the Prime Minister Isa conditions. Bab, in 119 attacks. More deaths are Mustafa appoints the commission reported during the rest of the month as charged with officially mapping the Ko- Turkey a result of the Turkish offensive. sovo territory for the first time since its • On 6 January Russia withdraws part self-proclaimed independence and de- • On 1 January at least 39 people are of its troops in Syria after the regime’s spite the Parliament not yet ratifying the killed by gunfire in a Daesh attack at the recent retaking of Aleppo. border agreement with Montenegro. Reina nightclub in Istanbul. • On 6 January the Fateh al-Sham Front • On 3 January the government decides reports the death of a member of one of 2018 FYROM to extend the state of emergency by three its advisers, Younes Shaib, in an attack months, declared after the attempted by the US-led coalition. • On 30 January Nikola Gruevski, coup in 2016. • On 20 January images are released leader of the conservative Internal Mac- • On 5 January the provincial govern- showing Daesh’s destruction of part of edonian Revolutionary Organization – ment of Diyarbakir imposes a curfew in the Roman Theatre and the Tetrapylon of Democratic Party for Macedonian Na- 16 villages, due to clashes between the Palmyra. tional Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) that won army and the terrorist organization the • On 22 January the army ousts Daesh the early elections held in December Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).