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news Kosovo

Kosovo and Serbia Verbally Agree on 'Implementation Deal'

While EU hails an agreement between Serbia and Kosovo on normalisation of ties, Serbian and Kosovo leaders put very different spins on it, and Serbia’s President Vucic kept insisting he did not sign anything.

Balkan Insight | 19 Mar 2023

opinion South Ossetia

Georgia Is a New Front in Russia’s Hybrid War

Vladimir Putin wants this once staunch US and European ally firmly in his club of authoritarian states.

Bloomberg | 9 Mar 2023

news

Where is Nithyananda’s ‘Kailasa’?

Fugitive rape-accused Nithyananda is in the news after his disciple Vijayapriya Nithyananda, along with five other women, represented his ‘country’ Kailasa at a UN conference.

India Today | 6 Mar 2023

video Chagos Archipelago

That's When the Nightmare Started

The forced displacement of the entire Chagossian people by the United Kingdom and United States governments and the UK’s racial persecution, and continued blocking of their return home, are crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said in a recently released report and video.

Human Rights Watch | 1 Mar 2023

news Nagorno-Karabakh

UN Court Orders Azerbaijan to End Roadblock

The International Court of Justice has ordered Azerbaijan to “ensure unimpeded movement” on the highway connecting Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been virtually closed for more than two months.

Eurasianet | 23 Feb 2023

analysis West Papua

The Pilot, the Rebels and the Independence Struggle

Kiwi pilot Phillip Mehrtens was unlucky - he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was taken hostage by a rebel group in West Papua. The Detail takes a closer look at West Papua’s complicated independence struggle.

Radio New Zealand | 20 Feb 2023

video Kosovo

A Balkan Breakthrough?

There’s been a lot of speculation that the EU and United States have put forward a new proposal for Serbia and Kosovo. But is this something we should take seriously? And what about trying to get a grand settlement instead? An informed look by professor James Ker-Lindsay.

Youtube | 11 Feb 2023

analysis Bougainville

Balancing Independence and Foreign Relations

Bougainville is likely to play a surprisingly significant role in the tussles between China and the US in the Pacific region. Lucas Knotter analyses the future of this breakaway island.

9Dashline | 1 Feb 2023

podcast

On the Border

Tim Marshall explores four frontier communities in this podcast series by the BBC. Some sit on hard borders, others soft; all face challenges. What do Maastricht, Kinshasa, Niagara and Orestiada tell us about managing difference and global relations today?

BBC / De Facto | 30 Jan 2023

podcast Nagorno-Karabakh

The Hidden Siege

Trapped by an Azerbaijani blockade, more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians in the contested region are facing a humanitarian crisis.

The Intercept | 20 Jan 2023

place of the week Minerva

A Short-Lived Utopia

On 19 January 1972, the libertarian millionaire Michael J. Oliver declared the independence of the Republic of Minerva in the Pacific Ocean. On the reefs he reclaimed from the sea with tons of sand shipped in from Australia, there would be ‘not any form of economic interventionism’. His act was not accepted by Tonga, the rightful owner of the reefs.

De Facto | 19 Jan 2023

news Taiwan

War game suggests Chinese invasion of Taiwan would fail at a huge cost

A Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2026 would result in thousands of casualties among Chinese, United States, Taiwanese and Japanese forces, and it would be unlikely to result in a victory for Beijing, according to a prominent independent Washington think tank.

CNN | 9 Jan 2023

news Spratly Islands

China Accused of Fresh Territorial Grab in South China Sea

China is building up several unoccupied land features in the South China Sea, according to Western officials, an unprecedented move they said was part of Beijing’s long-running effort to strengthen claims to disputed territory in a region critical to global trade.

Bloomberg | 21 Dec 2022

news

The self-proclaimed kingdom that doesn’t recognize Germany

In the depths of the countryside in eastern Germany, there’s an invisible border.

BBC | 12 Dec 2022

maps Paracel Islands

Apple map app adds disputed islands

Apple has added the Paracel and the Spratly archipelagos into its Apple Maps application following a request by Vietnamese authorities.

VnExpress | 6 Dec 2022

photography

An Atlas of countries that ‘don’t exist’

Italian photographers Lavinia Parlamenti and Manfredi Pantanella are working on An Atlas of countries that ‘don’t exist’ which will cover ten unrecognized states. Their aim is to make a photo book with the five places they covered so far: Transnistria, Catalonia, Nagorno Karabakh, Northern Cyprus and Western Sahara. Find out more about their project or make a donation on kickstarter.

kickstarter | 22 Nov 2022

long read Taiwan

A Dangerous Game Over Taiwan

For decades, China has coveted its island neighbor. Is Xi Jinping ready to seize it?

The New Yorker | 14 Nov 2022

film festival

IDFA is in Town

The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam in the Netherlands opens tomorrow. Many great films, and quite a few about curious borders and statehood. The festival will take place from November 9 till 20 in cinemas across the city. De Facto selected one installation and three movies.

De Facto | 8 Nov 2022

news Chagos Archipelago

UK Agrees to Negotiate with Mauritius over Handover

The UK has agreed to open negotiations with Mauritius over the future handover of the Chagos Islands, in a major reversal of policy following years of resistance and legal defeats in international courts. The intended agreement will allow for the return of former inhabitants of the Chagos archipelago who were forcibly displaced by the British government in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Guardian | 4 Nov 2022

long read Eurostaete

Writings on the Wall

A Country of Seven Billion Outhabitants, the long read by De Facto’s co-founder Jorie Horsthuis about EuroStaete, was selected for the editorial project The Writings on the Wall, a collaboration of Volume and Beta, the Timisoara Architecture Biennial 2022.

Volume | 2 Nov 2022

place of the week Catalonia

Five Years after the Defeat

Five years ago, on 27 October 2017, the Catalan parliament declared independence after 92% of voters backed splitting from the rest of Spain in a referendum Madrid deemed illegal. Immediately after, the Spanish government imposed direct rule, sacked its leaders and dissolved the parliament. Is there any hope left for the separatists?

De Facto | 27 Oct 2022

news

Raising the Drawbridge

By some estimations, Australia hosts around a third of the world’s self-declared micronations. There are three good reasons why

The Guardian | 22 Oct 2022

news Taiwan

Xi Jinping Opens Chinese Communist Party Congress with Warning for Taiwan

President says he supports peaceful reunification but will ‘never promise to renounce use of force’.

The Guardian | 16 Oct 2022

event

De Facto at Beta 2022

De Facto was invited to participate at the Architectural Biennial of Timisoara in Romania: Beta 2022. One of the themes was the micronation.

De Facto Beta | 12 Oct 2022

place of the week New Atlantis

Dreaming of Atlantis

Leicester Hemingway, the younger brother of Ernest, installed a raft just outside Jamaica’s territorial waters and named it New Atlantis. With the hopes to make this a real island, he raised a flag, sold stamps, and even issued his own currency.

De Facto | 11 Oct 2022

festival Northern Cyprus

Art & Performances at the Buffer Fringe Festival

This weekend the Buffer Fringe Festival starts in Nicosia (Cyprus). Logically the division of the island and how it affects the people is a recurring topic. Explorer Olaf van Muijden selected some works for De Facto.

Olaf van Muijden | 7 Oct 2022

news Crimea

Miss Crimea Fined for Singing Patriotic Ukrainian Song

Olga Valeyeva, who won the Miss Crimea 2022 beauty pageant, and an unnamed friend were found guilty of ‘discrediting’ the Russian army by singing the patriotic Ukrainian song ‘Chervona Kalyna’ on a balcony.

The Guardian | 4 Oct 2022

event

Kashmiri Vibes at De Facto LIVE #5

De Facto explores the realm of unrecognized states, fictional countries and curious border zones. On September 22 we had a great evening with talks, art and music at De Roode Bioscoop in Amsterdam.

De Facto Henrik Jan Haarink | 4 Oct 2022

analysis Luhansk People’s Republic

With Bluster and Threats, Putin Casts the West as the Enemy

Declaring that Russia would annex four regions of Ukraine, which the West rejects as illegal, the Russian president accused the U.S. and its allies of ‘despotism’ and ‘Satanism’.

The New York Times | 30 Sep 2022

news Donetsk People’s Republic

Staged Referendums Yield Expected Result

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan to illegally annex four partially occupied regions in eastern and southern Ukraine lurched forward Tuesday, as Russian officials and Kremlin proxy leaders claimed that staged referendums showed that more than 95 percent of voters want to join Russia — an absurd level of support.

Washington Post | 27 Sep 2022

event

De Facto Goes Timisoara

The De Facto team is heading to the Architecture Biennial in Timisoara (Romania). Floor Koomen and Jorie Horsthuis will give a talk about unrecognized states, curious borders and micronations and will participate in a debate with Theo Deutinger and Giovanni Comoglio. Join us for this event!

23 Sep 2022

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