A massive military parade in Beijing, a tough speech by leader Xi Jinping, and an audience led by the leaders of like minded countries, including Russia, Iran and North Korea, was how China on Wednesday, 3 September, marked the 80th anniversary of its victory over Japan in WWII. President Xi welcomed North Korea’s Kim Jong Un with a long handshake, then moved on to greet Russia’s Vladimir Putin before all three walked together to watch the parade. This event was not just a display of troops and weapons  but also of friends and allies. This was the first time all three leaders have been seen in public together. The parade was a choreographed spectacle of precision, power and patriotism.  The choir stood in perfectly even rows, the troops goose stepped past in unison and each strike of the ground echoed through the stands of 50,000 guests in Tiananmen Square.  In his address, Xi called on Chinese people to remember the victory in WWII.  He added "humanity rises and falls together" and that China is "never intimidated by bullies."

LINKS Europe is pleased to announce the launch of the campaign Landmine Free South Caucasus 2025. This will be the fourth Landmine Free South Caucasus campaign that LINKS Europe is co-ordinating since 2019, and like previous editions, the campaign will be regional, involving Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and will have five official languages: Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Russian and English. LINKS Europe will work with stakeholders in the three countries in the delivery of the campaign. The campaign will run from 1 September to 15 December. The first part, from 1 September to 15 November, will be largely informative, using media and social media, whilst engaging with decision makers and civil society in the three countries. In the second part of the campaign, from 15 November to 15 December, the focus this year will be on the human and economic costs of landmine contamination. The Campaign will again mark 30 November as the Day of Solidarity with the victims of landmines and other remnants of war in the South Caucasus. A spokesperson for LINKS Europe said this year the campaign takes special significance following the progress in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process and the historic meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, together with the US president in the White House on 8 August. For six years, between 2018-2024, LINKS Europe worked on landmine issues in a very difficult political context, but always insisted that a regional approach was necessary for successful mine action in the South Caucasus. It consistently held that mine action could serve as a confidence-building measure in the region. Landmine Free South Caucasus 2025 will again push these ideas, but the context has changed, and the chance of success is now higher.

The OSCE Minsk Group has been disbanded. The decision was taken by the OSCE Permanent Council at its meeting in Vienna on Monday, 1 September. Following the adoption of this decision, the OSCE will take steps to implement the closure of the Minsk Process and its related structures. Only administrative functions, such as the handover of assets and equipment, will continue until the process is completed no later than 1 December 2025. The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Foreign Minister of Finland Elina Valtonen, and OSCE Secretary General Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu welcome the adoption of a Ministerial Council decision closing the Minsk process and related structures following a Joint Appeal from Armenia and Azerbaijan.