Category: Євросоюз

Moldova’s former interior minister, Dorin Recean, is expected to be approved as the country’s new prime minister by parliament as soon as this week, following the February 10 resignation of Natalia Gavrilita. Moldovan President Maia Sandu nominated Recean to the post after Gavrilita stepped down after a year-and-a-half in office. Recean is Sandu’s defense and security adviser. Recean, 48, who served as interior minister from 2012 to 2015, will have 15 days to form a new government to present to parliament for a confidence vote. Moldova’s ruling party, the Party of Action and Solidarity, has a 63 percent majority of …

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When war broke out in Ukraine, Aydin Sisman’s relatives there fled to the ancient city of Antakya, in a southeastern corner of Turkey that borders Syria. They may have escaped one disaster, but another found them in their new home. They were staying with Sisman’s Ukrainian mother-in-law when their building collapsed last Monday as a 7.8 magnitude earthquake leveled much of Antakya and ravaged the region in what some in Turkey are calling the disaster of the century. “We have Ukrainian guests who fled the war, and they are also lying inside. We have had no contact.” said Sisman, whose …

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Greece’s foreign minister visited Turkey on Sunday in a show of support after the country was hit by a devastating earthquake last Monday, despite a longstanding rivalry between the two NATO countries. Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias was met with a warm embrace by his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, according to footage on state-run ERT TV, before they boarded helicopters to quake-hit regions. His arrival marks the first visit by a European minister to Turkey since the earthquake. “I would like to convey to the Turkish leadership and the Turkish people the warmest condolences of the Mitsotakis government and the entire …

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Visitors to one of Florence’s most iconic monuments — the Baptistry of San Giovanni, opposite the city’s Duomo — are getting a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see its ceiling mosaics up close thanks to an innovative approach to a planned restoration effort. Rather than limit the public’s access during the six-year cleaning of the vault, officials built a scaffolding platform for the art restorers that will also allow small numbers of visitors to see the ceiling mosaics at eye level. “We had to turn this occasion into an opportunity to make it even more accessible and usable by the public through …

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Rescuers continued to pull out survivors Saturday, five days after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook Turkey and Syria. Some rescue operations in Turkey were stopped amid reports of nearby looting. More than 28,000 people have died in Turkey and Syria, officials say, and millions more have been left homeless. Martin Griffiths, United Nations aid chief, said he expects the death toll to double. Syria’s northwestern rebel-held region was the country’s hardest hit area. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that the earthquake was the “disaster of the century.” In Turkey, rescue operations were conducted amid a massive amount of …

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In a small coal-mining town on Ukraine’s eastern front line, a fight for strategic superiority is being waged in a battlefield steeped with symbolism as the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion nears. The town of Vuhledar, meaning “gift of coal,” has emerged as a critical hot spot in the fight for the Donetsk province that would give both sides — the Ukrainian forces who hold the urban center, and the Russians positioned in the suburbs — a tactical upper hand in the greater battle for the Donbas region. Located on an elevated plane that is one of the few high-terrain …

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Tens of thousands of teachers took to Lisbon’s streets Saturday in one of the biggest protests in Portugal in recent years as the Socialist government faces a wave of discontent over the cost-of-living crisis. “(We) have been badly treated for a long time,” said Portuguese language teacher Maria Coelho, 55, as she held a banner reading “Respect” at the protest organized by the FENPROF union. “We are here today, and we will be here for many more to come,” she added. The union said it expected more than 100,000 people to take part in the protest. No police estimate of …

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British police said Saturday that 15 people, including a 13-year-old child, had been arrested after a protest by crowds outside a hotel housing asylum seekers turned violent, causing injuries and a police van being set on fire. Offenders threw missiles including lit fireworks at police officers following an initially peaceful protest and counter-protest Friday evening in Knowsley near Liverpool in northwest England, police said. Knowsley Council said the protests occurred outside the Suites Hotel, which has been providing refuge to asylum seekers since January last year under a British government contract. One officer and two members of the public received …

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Rescue crews on Saturday pulled more survivors, including entire families, from toppled buildings despite diminishing hopes as the death toll of the enormous quake that struck a border region of Turkey and Syria five days ago surpassed 25,000. Dramatic rescues were being broadcast on Turkish television, including the rescue of the Narli family in central Kahramanmaras 133 hours after the 7.8-magnitude temblor struck Monday. First, 12-year-old Nehir Naz Narli was saved, then both of her parents. That followed the rescue earlier in the day of a family of five from a mound of debris in the hard-hit town of Nurdagi, …

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When Enrique Vera opens the door to his workshop, an array of gleaming gold and silver matadors’ jackets shine in the sun. “It is little bit like a cave full of treasure,” he says. Vera painstakingly fashions the brilliant trajes de luces (suits of lights) which are worn by bullfighters when they face half-ton bulls in the ring. One of only seven sastres (bullfighting tailors) in the world, he used to be a matador. But he swapped the sword used to kill the bull for a needle and followed a family tradition to become a tailor. The iconic status of …

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VOA Mandarin White House Correspondent Paris Huang speaks with John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, on U.S.-China relations, as well as the latest developments in Russia’s war on Ukraine. Camera – David Krupin, Mino Dargakis …

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Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, who has called for the creation of an ad hoc international tribunal to investigate and prosecute Russian aggression in Ukraine, has registered 65,000 war crimes committed by Russian forces. Vsevolod Knyazev, the head of Ukraine’s Supreme Court, calls it a necessary step — one that should also target Russian leaders who ordered the invasion. “Putin will not come to the court voluntarily, and Russia will not pay voluntarily,” Knyazev tells VOA’s Ukrainian Service. The following has been edited for length and clarity: VOA: Ukraine is an EU candidate country. Judicial reform is considered to be …

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At the start of Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian journalist Petro Shevchenko left his job and headed to the front lines to fight for his country. Seven months later, VOA caught up with him as he came home to spend some time with his family. Anna Kosstutschenko has the story. …

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After a European Union summit ending February 10 that offered strong support for Ukraine — and calls for stronger measures against illegal migration — the bloc is now challenged to act on its rhetoric. But on both Ukraine and migration, European member states are not marching in complete lockstep. EU membership, fighter jets and fences counted among the top three buzzwords of a summit, featuring the standing-ovation presence of Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and talks about curbing a sharp influx of so-called “irregular migrants” from places like Africa. Zelenskyy got a rousing welcome from European members of parliament and leaders, …

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Russia bombarded Ukraine with a series of missile strikes across the country Friday. Critical infrastructure facilities were hit, resulting in power outages. Zaporizhzhia, which houses Europe’s largest nuclear plant, was hit with 17 missiles in one hour, according to the town’s acting mayor. Air raid sirens blasted across the country. Officials warned people to pay attention to the sirens and seek shelter when hearing them. The strikes Friday come just ahead of the February 24 anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The strikes also follow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recent trips to London, Paris and Brussels, where he met with …

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Turkey has for years tempted fate by not enforcing modern construction codes while allowing — and in some cases, encouraging — a real estate boom in earthquake-prone areas, experts say. The lax enforcement, which experts in geology and engineering have long warned about, is gaining renewed scrutiny in the aftermath of this week’s devastating earthquakes, which flattened thousands of buildings and killed more than 21,000 people across Turkey and Syria. “This is a disaster caused by shoddy construction, not by an earthquake,” said David Alexander, a professor of emergency planning at University College London. It is common knowledge that many …

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In the aftermath of Turkey’s killer quakes, there is growing desperation among survivors and increasing anger over the government’s response. But many people across the country are mobilizing with opposition mayors to help. It’s happening even in places that were not hit, like Istanbul, from where Dorian Jones reports. …

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Pakistan confirmed Thursday that it skipped this week’s Russia-hosted multilateral consultations on Afghanistan, suggesting there are other forums in which it can more effectively contribute to the Afghan peace process. Regional countries, including China, India, Iran, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan were invited to Wednesday’s security adviser-level meeting in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s office said he addressed the inaugural session of what was described as the fifth multilateral consultation on how to promote Afghan peace and stability. Pakistani foreign ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, at a weekly news conference, explained the reasons for Islamabad skipping the meeting in …

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Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, Andriy Kostin, has called for the creation of an ad hoc international tribunal to investigate and prosecute Russian’s aggression in Ukraine. Oleksii Kovalenko has the story. VOA footage by Kostiantyn Golubchyk. …

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to meet Thursday in Khartoum with Sudan’s military rulers on Russia and other matters, the country’s state-run SUNA news agency said. Along with Sudan-Russia ties, the talks were expected to focus on Khartoum’s role with affairs in its neighboring conflict-stricken countries, including Chad, South Sudan and Central African Republic, according to Sudan’s acting Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq. He offered no further details. Lavrov’s visit to Sudan comes as senior diplomats from the U.S. and other European nations conclude two days of talks with Sudanese military leaders and pro-democracy groups to push for a …

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