Category: Євросоюз

Latest developments: Ukrainian officials say the country’s forces have recaptured 193 square kilometers of territory since launching a counteroffensive last month. Poland, which serves as a hub for military aid to Ukraine, says it detained a 15th member of a Russian spy network. Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said the person “kept surveillance of military facilities and seaports.”   The Kremlin said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and several Wagner commanders days after Prigozhin led a brief mutiny. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the three-hour meeting included Putin giving his assessment “of the …

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Australia has confirmed one of the largest defense export deals in its history selling armored combat vehicles to Germany. The $661million announcement was made by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after he arrived in Berlin ahead of talks at a NATO summit in Lithuania. Australia will supply Germany with 100 Brisbane-made Boxer armored combat vehicles from 2025. The deal is worth $661 million and is expected to be formally signed on Tuesday. Analysts have said the Boxer heavy assault vehicle, which is armed with a cannon, has a reputation for mobility, firepower and protection from explosives with a reinforced hull …

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The war in Ukraine will be high on the agenda Monday as U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meet in London as allies prepare for the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.  It will be the leaders’ sixth meeting in six months. In June, Biden hosted Sunak at the White House, committing to the Atlantic Declaration to cooperate on advanced technologies, clean energy, and critical minerals to counter China’s clout around the world.    Biden is also due to meet Monday with Britain’s King Charles before traveling to Vilnius, where it remains unlikely NATO will welcome Sweden as its …

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U.S. President Joe Biden is in London for an overnight stop Sunday enroute to Lithuania for the NATO summit in Vilnius, where it remains unlikely that the alliance will welcome Sweden as its 32nd member due to persistent objections from Turkey. During the flight to Britain, Biden spoke on the phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for a last-minute push to pave the way toward Ankara agreeing to Sweden’s accession — a process that must be unanimous among all current members. “I can’t characterize how close, how far, all I can say is that we believe that Sweden should …

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At least 300 people who were traveling on three migrant boats from Senegal to Spain’s Canary Islands have disappeared, migrant aid group Walking Borders said Sunday.  Two boats, one carrying about 65 people and the other with between 50 and 60 on board, have been missing for 15 days since they left Senegal to try to reach Spain, Helena Maleno of Walking Borders told Reuters.  A third boat left Senegal on June 27 with about 200 people aboard.  The families of those on board have not heard from them since they left, Maleno said.  All three boats left Kafountine in …

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U.S. President Joe Biden expressed a desire to see Sweden join NATO “as soon as possible” in a phone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in which they discussed Sweden’s bid to become a member of the Western alliance, the White House said Sunday. Turkey, along with Hungary, has been a stumbling block to Sweden’s bid, which requires unanimous approval by all NATO members. Erdogan told Biden that Stockholm has taken steps in the right direction for Ankara to ratify its bid, referring to an anti-terrorism law, but said these steps were not useful as Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) supporters …

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A man arrested in Paris during a memorial rally for his brother, who died in police custody seven years ago, was released from hospital Sunday, amid calls for more protests. The appeals for action came with France still on edge after the police killing of a teenager near Paris sparked the worst rioting in the country since 2005. Youssouf Traore, 29, was detained by police Saturday amid protests across the country that commemorated the death of his brother Adama Traore, a black 24-year-old, in 2016, many of them in defiance of police bans on gatherings. According to a police source, …

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The BBC said Sunday that it has suspended a leading presenter who is alleged to have paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos. As senior British politicians urged a rapid investigation, the broadcaster said it was working to establish the facts of “a complex and fast-moving set of circumstances.” The U.K.’s publicly funded national broadcaster was scrambling to head off a worsening crisis after The Sun newspaper reported allegations that the male presenter gave a youth $45,000 starting in 2020 when the young person was 17. Neither the star nor the youth was identified. Amid speculation on social media about …

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U.S. President Joe Biden departed Sunday on a five-day trip to Europe, heading first to Britain. He then travels to Lithuania for a NATO summit in Vilnius, before making a final stop in Finland to meet with Nordic leaders. In London, Biden will have meetings with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and King Charles to discuss various bilateral issues and climate financing for developing nations. Just a month ago, in Washington, Biden and Sunak agreed to an “Atlantic Declaration” and committed to collaborating on advanced technologies, clean energy, and critical minerals. Biden hosted Sunak at the White House. At the …

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Two controversial laws signed by the Bosnian Serb president, which Washington says undermine the peace deal that ended Bosnia’s 1990s war, entered into force on Sunday. Kremlin ally President Milorad Dodik had on Friday signed legislation into law that effectively allow the Bosnian Serb entity to bypass or ignore decisions made by the top international envoy to Bosnia. The latter, currently German diplomat Christian Schmidt, oversees the civilian aspects of the Dayton peace deal that ended the 1992-1995 war. The international envoy has important executive powers notably to sack elected officials and impose laws. A second piece of legislation signed …

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Two weeks ahead of Spain’s election, the conservative People’s Party (PP) opened up its lead over the ruling Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) but would still need the help of the far-right Vox party to govern, according to an opinion poll published by a newspaper on Sunday.    A poll carried out by Ipsos for La Vanguardia newspaper between July 3 and July 6 interviewed 2,000 people and showed the opposition PP with 35% of the votes and the PSOE on 28%.   The far-left Sumar party would win 13%, just ahead of Vox with 12.6%, the poll found ahead of the election …

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NEZUK, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA — A solemn peace march started on Saturday through the forests in eastern Bosnia in memory of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, Europe’s only acknowledged genocide since World War II. The annual 100-kilometer march retraces a route taken by thousands of men and boys from the Bosniak ethnic group, made up primarily of Muslims, who were slaughtered as they tried to flee Srebrenica after it was captured by Bosnian Serb forces late in the 1992-95 war. The march is part of several events preceding the commemorations on the actual date of the massacre on July 11. Nearly 4,000 people …

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PARIS – About 2,000 people defied a ban Saturday to join a memorial rally in central Paris for a young Black man who died in police custody, while marches took place throughout France to denounce police brutality, as tensions remain high after days of rioting engulfed the country. Nationwide, around 5,900 people took to the streets, according to the interior ministry. Seven years after the death of Adama Traore, his sister had planned to lead an annual commemorative march north of Paris in Persan and Beaumont-sur-Oise. But fearful of reigniting recent unrest sparked by the police killing of 17-year-old Nahel …

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STOCKHOLM – Surrounded by emotional fans from around the globe, Elton John hailed them as his “lifeblood” as he gave his final farewell concert in Stockholm after more than 50 years of live performances. “You know how much I like to play live. It’s been my lifeblood to play for you guys, and you’ve been absolutely magnificent,” he told the delighted audience at the arena in the Swedish capital. Wearing a tailcoat accented with rhinestones and a red pair of his trademark large glasses, the 76-year-old pop superstar sat down at the piano shortly after 8 p.m. local time to cheers …

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TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN – Confidence in the reform agenda of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is at a low ebb in Uzbekistan ahead of an election Sunday in which the incumbent faces no real opposition and is expected to be returned to power with a huge majority. With his limited steps toward greater openness and accountability, Mirziyoyev is still seen as an improvement over his post-Soviet predecessor, the autocratic Islam Karimov. But his 2021 pledge to keep the country “on a democratic path” was followed by constitutional changes that opened the door to Sunday’s snap election – and the formerly term-limited president’s eligibility for …

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WHITE HOUSE – President Joe Biden remains the most reluctant among NATO allies to grant Ukraine a quick pathway to join the alliance, setting up a contentious debate at the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, next week with eastern flank members who are eager for the war-torn country to join as soon as its conflict with Russia ends. Publicly, Biden says Ukraine must make additional reforms to qualify for NATO membership, saying in June that he was “not going to make it easier” for Kyiv. But his aides have also signaled that Biden believes a fast-track membership for Kyiv is an invitation …

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ISTANBUL – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that he was pressing Russia to extend a Black Sea grain deal by at least three months and announced a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin in August.  He was speaking at a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the two leaders met to discuss the fate of an arrangement, brokered last year by Turkey and the United Nations, to allow for the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports via the Black Sea despite the war.  Zelenskyy’s visit followed stops in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, part of …

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Russia launched a missile attack on an apartment building in Lviv early Thursday, leaving at least 10 people dead and 42 wounded. Rescuers are still searching for people in the rubble. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. …

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AMSTERDAM – The Dutch government collapsed Friday after failing to reach a deal on restricting immigration, which will trigger new elections in the fall.  The crisis was triggered by a push by Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party to limit the flow of asylum-seekers to the Netherlands, which two of his four-party government coalition refused to support.  “It’s no secret that the coalition partners have differing opinions about immigration policy. Today we unfortunately have to conclude that those differences have become insurmountable. Therefore, I will tender the resignation of the entire Cabinet to the king,” Rutte said in a …

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With Russia’s war in Ukraine in its sixteenth month, the conflict is exacting an emotional and physical toll on the local journalists covering it. More than a dozen journalists have been killed while on assignment since the full invasion began in February 2022. The latest victim: Victoria Amelina. The award-winning writer who had switched to documenting war crimes, died from her injuries a week after a Russian missile strike in the city of Kramatorsk hit a restaurant that was a popular gathering place for journalists and aid workers. Early in the conflict, media organizations set up centers offering hostile environment …

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