commonspace.eu is getting better

commonspace.eu will this year celebrate its 15th anniversary. In this period we provided space for different opinions, including to persons from the countries and areas we are focused on, which have included Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Yemenis, Ukrainians and many others.

We have also, as much as is possible for a news outlet that does not have a team of paid journalists, provided accurate news and information, especially at times of crises, using our wide network of associates, and multiple and reliable on line sources.

We have done so whilst remaining inspired by our vision for a just and peaceful world, of a Europe that works in peace and collaboration with its neighbourhood, and to give a voice to youth, women, minorities and other groups that struggle to be heard.

This week we are launching new features, and strengthening established ones, to make commonspace.eu more effective, and more useful for our eclectic readership.

On Thursday, we launch our new series, THURSDAY INTERVIEW. The interviews will be conducted by Lauri Nikulainen, and the first interview is with Murad Muradov, Vice President of the Topchubashov Centre in Baku. On Friday we will have a selection from our regular newsletters: Caucasus Concise, Arabia Concise and Central Asia Concise. We hope to add a fourth newsletter shortly. On Monday, the Monday Commentary by our Managing Editor, Dr Dennis Sammut, is back. The commentaries reflect the author’s years of experience, but equally his passion for change and a better world. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we feature articles by our regular guest contributors, including Onnik Krikorian, Benyamin Poghosyan and Vasif Huseynov.

We will of course also feature daily news stories from Europe, and the regions around it, the  neighbourhood with which we need to build a common future.

Over the last days we were briefly offline to some readers as we conducted necessary maintenance on our website. We apologise for any inconvenience. We hope that you will continue finding commonspace.eu interesting and useful.

The Editorial Team of commonspace.eu

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Women emerge favourite to lead United Nations from next year, after straw-poll of UN Security Council members

Women emerge favourite to lead United Nations from next year, after straw-poll of UN Security Council members

​ Two women have emerged as favourite to lead the United Nations as Secretary-General from 1 January 2027, when the term of the present incumbent, Antonio Gutteres, expires. A straw poll of the members of the UN Security Council, held on Thursday, 30 July showed that of the seven candidates, Rebecca Grynspan of Costa Rica and Carolyn Rodriguez-Birkett of Guyana received ten and nine positive endorsements respectively, by the 15 members UN Security Council Although the poll and its result are supposed to be secret, the result leaked within minutes, and was carried on world media outlets, such as Reuters. The result was as follows   Michelle Bachelet 6 encourage 5  discourage   4 no opinion María Fernanda Espinosa 5 2 8 Rafael Grossi 7 2 6 Rebeca Grynspan 10 1 4 Olara Otunnu 2 5 8 Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett 9 2 4 Macky Sall 6 7 2   Article 97 of the UN Charter states that the “Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council”. Straw polls are informal ballots used to determine the viability of Secretary-General candidates.  The seven current candidates are: Michelle Bachelet Jeria (Chile), who was nominated by Brazil, Chile, and Mexico on 2 February, with Chile withdrawing its nomination on 24 March; María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés (Ecuador), who was nominated by Antigua and Barbuda on 11 May; Rafael Mariano Grossi (Argentina), who was nominated by Argentina on 26 November 2025; Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis (Costa Rica), who was nominated by Costa Rica on 3 March; Olara Otunnu (Uganda), who was nominated by Uganda on 24 July; Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett (Guyana), who was nominated by Guyana on 15 June; and Macky Sall (Senegal), who was nominated by Burundi on 2 March. At Thursday's straw poll, there was no difference between the ballots presented to the five permanent members (P5) and the ten elected members (E10). Council members received one ballot per candidate, containing the candidate’s name followed by three options: “encouraged”, “discouraged”, and “no opinion expressed”.   It is ofcourse early days, and the straw poll is just an informal indication of the mood of the UN Security Council, but the strong showwing by the two womencandidates may be an indication that for the first time, the head of the UN can be a women. (click image to read more) ​

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Editor's choice
Interview
Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Today, commonspace.eu starts a new regular weekly series. THURSDAY INTERVIEW, conducted by Lauri Nikulainen, will host  persons who are thinkers, opinion shapers, and implementors in their countries and spheres. We start the series with an interview with Murad Muradov, a leading person in Azerbaijan's think tank community. He is also the first co-chair of the Action Committee for a new Armenian-Azerbaijani Dialogue. Last September he made history by being the first Azerbaijani civil society activist to visit Armenia after the 44 day war, and the start of the peace process. Speaking about this visit Murad Muradov said: "My experience was largely positive. My negative expectations luckily didn’t play out. The discussions were respectful, the panel format bringing together experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey was particularly valuable during the NATO Rose-Roth Seminar in Yerevan, and media coverage, while varied in tone, remained largely constructive. Some media outlets though attempted to represent me as more of a government mouthpiece than an independent expert, which was totally misleading.  Overall, I see these initiatives as important steps in rebuilding trust and normalising professional engagement. The fact that soon a larger Azerbaijani civil society visits to Armenia followed, reinforces the sense that this process is moving in the right direction." (click the image to read the interview in full)