Month: May 2021

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to arrive in Kyiv, Ukraine, where on Thursday he’s scheduled to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba.   According to a State Department news release, Blinken will “underscore unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression.”   “The United States is deeply concerned about Russia’s ongoing aggressive actions and rhetoric targeting Ukraine, including the increased Russian troop presence in occupied Crimea and around Ukraine’s borders,” the news release said.   It added that the …

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How politically realistic are the climate action goals that European governments are setting in lockstep with the United States?Some analysts are warning that the rich can afford the necessary changes, but the burdensome costs of a green transition for middle-class and poorer voters could trigger a backlash and prompt electoral reversals.Others worry European governments have still not fleshed out in practical terms how to meet their ambitious climate action and emissions reduction goals and that a failure to deliver solutions, as happened after the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, risks undermining an emerging public consensus about the danger of …

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday stressed the importance of the transatlantic relationship, saying the United States will always be Europe’s most important partner. Speaking during a digital foreign relations conference, sponsored by her parliamentary coalition, Merkel said transatlantic cooperation is “back in business, if you want to put it that way,” referring to the election of U.S. President Joe Biden. Merkel conceded that relations with the Trump administration hadn’t been as good as they might have been. Relations between Merkel and President Donald Trump had been strained over issues such as Russia and funding for NATO. She added that “back in business” …

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A jury in Rome on Wednesday began deliberating the fates of two young American men who are charged with killing an Italian police officer near the hotel where they were staying while on summer vacation in 2019. Finnegan Lee Elder, 21, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 20, were indicated on charges of homicide, attempted extortion, assault, resisting a public official and carrying an attack-style knife without just cause. Judge Marina Finiti indicated the verdicts could come later Wednesday or on Thursday. Prosecutors alleged that Elder stabbed Vice Bridgadier Mario Cerciello Rega 11 times with a knife he brought with him on his trip to Europe from California and that …

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The European Commission proposed rules on Wednesday to restrain companies that benefit from foreign subsidies to buy EU businesses or take part in public tenders, with a particular eye on fending off unfair competition from China. “The EU is the most open market in the world. But openness rhymes with fairness,” the European Union executive’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a tweet, adding the aim of the proposed measures was to ensure a level playing field. The European Commission’s plan underscores a more protectionist line prompted by a recent surge of foreign takeovers of European companies and fears …

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Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G-7) industrialized nations are meeting in London this week, with climate change, Russia and China among the challenges topping the agenda. It is the first face-to-face G-7 meeting in two years, after the coronavirus pandemic forced the Pittsburgh 2020 foreign ministers’ meeting to be held via video link. Russia was ejected from what was then the G-8 in 2014, after its forceful annexation of Crimea.  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday condemned Moscow’s recent deployment of troops on Ukraine’s border. “We are focused very much on Russia’s actions and what course it chooses to take,” Blinken told reporters in London. “President Biden has been very …

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the Group of 7 industrialized nations have vowed to end the 10-year civil war in Syria. My @G7 counterparts and I reaffirmed our commitment to a political resolution for ending the conflict in Syria,” Blinken tweeted as he and other G-7 members attended their first in-person meetings in two years. My U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is greeted on arrival by Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab at the start of the G-7 foreign ministers meeting in London, Britain, May 4, 2021. (Ben Stansall/Pool via Reuters)Blinken met with Raab on Monday and said …

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Belarus has never had a strong tradition for media freedom but a mass crackdown after contested elections last year has made an already repressive situation even more dire, local journalists say.     More than 500 journalists have been detained since August last year, when long-term leader President Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory and the opposition leader was forced to flee.     Collectively, they have spent upwards of 1,200 days in jail, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ). A further 60 journalists were injured as police violently shut down protests.    State-owned printers have refused to print at …

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