Category: Євросоюз

President Joe Biden touched down in Germany on Saturday, where he will attend the G-7 summit with the leaders of key U.S. allies to discuss their united front against Russia and troubling weakness in the world economy.  Biden flew from Washington to Munich, then boarded the Marine One helicopter for the short flight to the summit location, Schloss Elmau. His first talks during his three-day stay will be with Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany on Sunday.  The leaders of the seven wealthy democracies, the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, will meet in a luxurious castle in Germany’s …

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The prolonged roar of Grad rockets can be heard as locals in the east Ukrainian town of Siversk crowd around a van selling essentials such as bread, sausages and gas for camp stoves. “Everyone is suffering. All of us here are trying to survive,” said Nina, a 64-year-old retiree, pushing a bicycle. “There’s no water, no gas, no electricity. … We have been living for three months now under shelling. It’s like we’re in the Stone Ages,” she said. The small town of mainly village-style single-story houses on dusty roads has become a new frontier in the war between Russia …

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An overnight shooting in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, that killed two people and wounded more than a dozen is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack, Norwegian police said Saturday. In a news conference Saturday, police officials said the man arrested after the shooting was a Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin who was previously known to police but not for major crimes. They said they had seized two firearms in connection with the attack: a handgun and an automatic weapon. The events occurred outside the London Pub, a bar popular with the city’s LGBTQ community, hours before Oslo’s Pride parade …

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With Ukraine’s seaports blockaded or captured by Russian forces, neighboring Romania’s Black Sea port of Constanta has emerged as a main conduit for the war-torn country’s grain exports amid a growing world food crisis. It’s Romania’s biggest port, home to Europe’s fastest-loading grain terminal, and has processed nearly a million tons of grain from Ukraine — one of the world’s biggest exporters of wheat and corn — since the Feb. 24 invasion. But port operators say that maintaining, let alone increasing, the volume they handle could soon be impossible without concerted European Union support and investment. “If we want to …

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A new museum recently opened in Rome to display stolen art recovered by the Italian police squad charged with safeguarding the country’s artistic and cultural heritage. On display at the Rescued Art Museum are around 100 valuable artifacts, returned from the United States after having been stolen by tomb raiders and making their way illegally into private collections, museums and auction houses.   In December 2021, the art squad of the Carabinieri — Italy’s national police — announced the recovery of more than 200 priceless artifacts from between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC.  It credited the recovery to in-depth …

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Morocco said 18 migrants died trying to cross into Spain’s North African enclave of Melilla on Friday, after a violent two-hour skirmish between migrants and border officers that also led to scores of injuries. About 2,000 migrants stormed a high fence that seals off the enclave. This led to clashes with security forces as more than 100 migrants managed to cross from Morocco into Melilla, Moroccan and Spanish authorities said. Morocco’s Interior Ministry initially said five migrants had died in the border raid, some after falling from the fence surrounding Melilla and others in a crush, and that 76 migrants …

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The Vatican’s Academy for Life on Friday praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on abortion, saying it challenged the whole world to reflect on life issues.  The Vatican department also said in a statement that the defense of human life could not be confined to individual rights because life is a matter of “broad social significance.”  The U.S. Supreme Court took the dramatic step Friday of overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that recognized a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion and legalized it nationwide.  “The fact that a large country with a long democratic tradition has changed …

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the European Union’s decision to grant his country candidate status Friday, a key milestone in joining the bloc. Moldova was also granted accession candidate status. EU officials described the move as historic but cautioned that both countries will have to make tough reforms before they become full members. Historic In a joint televised message to the Ukrainian people, Zelenskyy, flanked by the prime minister and the speaker of parliament, compared the EU decision to other historic moments in Ukraine’s history and said the process was irreversible. “Today, Ukraine is fighting for its freedom and this …

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Nigerian rights activists are reacting with outrage after a Nigerian politician and his wife were charged by British prosecutors with human trafficking with the intent to harvest organs. Ike Ekweremadu is alleged to have smuggled a Nigerian boy into Britain to harvest his kidney for their sick daughter. The former deputy senate president and his wife appeared before the Uxbridge Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, two days after they were arrested by London police.   Prosecutors accused them of luring 15-year-old David Nwamini Ukpo from Nigeria to the UK to donate his kidney to their daughter. Prosecutors also accused them of …

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When the top leaders of NATO countries meet next week in Spain, the discussion will be dominated by the Ukraine war and how to deter further Russian aggression in Europe. But in the latest sign the Western military alliance is trying to expand its focus eastward, the NATO summit will also deal with the challenges posed by China, perhaps in a more direct way than any of its previous meetings. For the first time, the NATO summit will include the top leaders of four Asian countries: Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. None are NATO members, but each is …

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John Kirby, the former Pentagon spokesperson, told VOA’s Ukrainian service on Thursday the United States is “focused on making sure that Ukraine can continue to defend itself and its sovereignty.” Kirby, who recently became the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, said since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the United States has provided nearly $6 billion worth of assistance, including military equipment, such as HIMARS, high mobility artillery rocket systems. Ukraine determines “what operations they’re going to conduct. And that’s their right to the material that they get from the United States. [It is] now theirs. …

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President Joe Biden heads to Europe for two major summits with challenges that include how Western democracies can continue to support Ukraine, how they can counter China’s growing influence, and how the world’s most liberal nations can weather these uncertain times. VOA’s Anita Powell reports. …

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The International Energy Agency has warned that Russia could cut gas supplies to Europe entirely in order to boost its political leverage following its invasion of Ukraine. As Henry Ridgwell reports, Europe is scrambling to avoid an energy crisis this winter. Videographer: Henry Ridgwell …

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Poles have generously welcomed refugees from the war in neighboring Ukraine in the past few months. But absorbing more than 3 million refugees is a big challenge for Poland, which has a population of about 38 million. As Greg Flakus reports from Warsaw, other European nations are providing help, but the burden could become untenable for Poles if the war continues much longer. …

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Valneva’s VLS.PA COVID-19 vaccine was endorsed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday, although the French company’s contract with the European Commission to supply the dose hangs in the balance.   Valneva has been trying to salvage the deal with the European Commission after its vaccine program was hit by delays in its marketing application due to requests from the EMA for more information.   The original deal was for up to 60 million doses. But due to application delays and countries in Europe already having excess supply, the Commission has signalled that it wants to amend the agreement …

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The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that Russia could cut gas supplies to Europe entirely in order to boost its leverage against the West following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia has severely restricted gas flows to Europe in recent days. The Kremlin blames a delay in servicing equipment caused by European Union sanctions, while Europe accuses the Kremlin of playing geopolitics. “Considering this recent behavior, I wouldn’t rule out Russia continuing to find different issues here and there and continuing to find excuses to further reduce gas deliveries to Europe and maybe even cut it off completely,” IEA Executive …

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European Council President Charles Michel said he is confident EU leaders will vote Thursday in favor of granting candidate status to Ukraine. EU leaders gathered in Brussels were also set to discuss the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine on global food security, as well as additional EU economic, military and humanitarian support for Ukraine. The European Commission recommended EU candidate status for Ukraine and its smaller neighbor, Moldova, last week. The candidacy status is just the first step toward joining the 27-member group. Ukraine will need to meet political and economic conditions, such as meeting standards on democratic principles. …

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A day before a meeting of European Union leaders, where a vote is likely on Ukraine’s candidacy to the union, Russian forces pounded Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, and the eastern Donbas region. The EU leaders’ two-day summit begins Thursday in Brussels. Olha Stefanishyna, deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, told The Associated Press the vote could come as soon as Thursday. Last week, the European Commission formally recommended EU-candidate status for Ukraine and its smaller neighbor, Moldova. On Wednesday, Stefanishyna said she was “100%” confident that Ukraine would be accepted as an EU candidate. The candidacy status is …

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The European Union’s 27 leaders meet in Brussels this week to consider the membership applications of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. As Henry Ridgwell reports, E.U. leaders also will discuss military support for Ukraine as Russia intensifies its bombardment in the Donbas region. …

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Ukraine war plays a role in blocking of goods to Russian region of Kaliningrad …

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