Category: Євросоюз

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday he would cease talking to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and cancel a key meeting between their two governments, accusing the Greek leader of antagonizing Turkey. In a televised address following a Cabinet meeting, Erdogan accused neighboring Greece of harboring followers of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey says was behind a 2016 failed coup attempt, and of establishing military bases against Turkey. Gulen has long denied the Turkish allegation. Erdogan then went on to accuse Mitsotakis of recommending to U.S. officials that Washington not sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey during …

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A veteran Russian diplomat to the United Nations office in Geneva resigned Monday because he said he was “so ashamed” of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine three months ago. In a rare, but not unprecedented protest within the Russian diplomatic corps, Boris Bondarev, 41, handed in his resignation in a letter addressed to Ambassador Gennady Gatilov and then released a scathing denunciation of the Russian war effort. “The aggressive war unleashed by Putin against Ukraine, and in fact against the entire Western world, is not only a crime against the Ukrainian people,” Bondarev said, “but also perhaps the …

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So far, Russia’s oil exports have not slowed down a bit from the war in Ukraine and international sanctions. In fact, Russia exported more oil in April than it did before the war. And high oil prices mean Moscow is raking in money. That’s one reason Europe is considering a Russian oil ban: Current sanctions are not hurting Moscow enough. Europe gets more of its oil from Russia than anywhere else. It would have to make up for those banned barrels somewhere else, and that won’t be easy. And it’s likely to push oil prices everywhere up even further. …

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For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT: 3:30 a.m.: Poland has decided to terminate an intergovernmental agreement with Russia regarding the Yamal gas pipeline, Polish Climate Minister Anna Moskwa said on Twitter on Monday, Reuters reported. “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has confirmed the accuracy of the Polish government’s determination to become completely independent from Russian gas. We always knew that Gazprom was not a reliable partner,” Moskwa said. 2:30 a.m.: New Zealand said Monday it is deploying additional 30 defense force personnel to …

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country is interested in a major gas exploitation project in Senegal as he began a three-nation visit to Africa on Sunday that also is focused on the geopolitical consequences of the war in Ukraine. Senegal is believed to have significant deposits of natural gas along its border with Mauritania at a time when Germany and other European countries are trying to reduce their dependence on importing Russian gas. “We have begun exchanges and we will continue our efforts at the level of experts because it is our wish to achieve progress,” Scholz said at …

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Cristian Mungiu’s Cannes Film Festival entry “R.M.N.” is set in an unnamed mountainous Transylvanian village in Romania, but the conflicts of ethnocentricity, racism and nationalism that permeate the multi-ethnic town could take place almost anywhere. Of all the films competing for the top Palme d’Or prize at Cannes, none may be quite as of the moment as “R.M.N.” The movie, using a Romanian microcosm, captures the us-vs-them battles that have played out across Europe and beyond, wherever immigration and national identities have collided. Mungiu, the celebrated Romanian filmmaker of the landmark 2007 abortion drama “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 …

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The usual trophies and prize money will be on the line for Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek and other top players at Wimbledon, but there is a significant change there this year: No one will earn ranking points, a valuable currency in tennis, when play begins June 27. The women’s and men’s professional tours announced Friday they will not award those points at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament because of the All England Club’s decision to bar players from Russia and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine. Both the WTA and ATP said they were reacting to what they called “discrimination.” …

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Pope Francis on Sunday expressed his spiritual closeness to Catholics in China, voicing hope that the church there operates in “freedom and tranquility,” but making no mention of a 90-year-old cardinal who was recently arrested in Hong Kong. Addressing the public gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the pontiff’s traditional Sunday remarks, Francis noted that the church celebrates, on May 24, the “Blessed Mother Mary, Help of Christians,” and recalled that Mary is the patron of Catholics in China. “The joyful circumstance offers me the occasion to renew to them assurance of my spiritual closeness,” the pontiff said. He added …

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Senegalese President Macky Sall said Sunday he would travel to Russia and Ukraine soon on behalf of the African Union, whose presidency he currently holds. The trip had been due to take place on May 18 but didn’t go ahead due to scheduling issues and new dates have been put forward, Sall said at a joint press conference with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. He had received a mandate from the African Union to undertake the trip, for which Russia had extended an invitation, he added. “As soon as it’s set, I will go of course to Moscow and also …

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Britain has insisted it is up to the European Union to unblock political paralysis in Northern Ireland, after assuring a delegation from the U.S. Congress of its “cast-iron” commitment to peace in the province. The UK government has provoked anger on both sides of the Atlantic with a plan to overhaul the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol, a trading arrangement that was agreed as part of its Brexit divorce deal with the EU. London is bidding to placate pro-UK unionists who are refusing to join a new power-sharing government in Belfast — led for the first time by pro-Irish nationalists — until the …

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The first Grand Slam tournament without any COVID-19 restrictions since the pandemic started in early 2020 kicked off under menacing skies at Roland Garros Sunday. The French Open was the first major to be hit by the pandemic when it was postponed two years ago but all safety measures were lifted for this tournament, giving the fortnight a welcome sense of normality again. Thousands of mask-free spectators flocked into the stadium before play started at 11:00 local time (0900GMT) as Roland Garros opened its gates for the start of the main tournament. Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, one of the favorites to …

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The wife of Iranian-Swedish citizen Ahmadreza Djalali accused of espionage and threatened with execution in Iran, on Saturday called on the European Union to secure her husband’s release. “I hope that the the EU can really act decisively in order to bring Ahmadreza home,” Vida Mehrannia said according to excerpts of an interview on Germany’s ZDF channel. The EU must “not allow an innocent man to be killed in such an inhuman way”, she added. Djalali was sentenced to death in 2017 on the espionage charges, allegations denied by Sweden and his supporters. Iranian media had said he could be …

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There will be no cease-fire or concessions to Russia, Ukraine’s lead negotiator said Saturday as Russia upped its assault on Luhansk, one of the two provinces that make up the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. “The war will not stop (after concessions). It will just be put on pause for some time,” Mykhailo Podolyak, who is also an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said, explaining Ukraine’s position in light of recent calls for a cease-fire from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. “They’ll start a new offensive, even more bloody and large-scale,” Podolyak added. Pro-Russian …

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For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine. The latest developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All times EDT: 4:04 a.m.: The latest intelligence update from the U.K. defense ministry says Russia has deployed Terminator tank support vehicles to the Severodonetsk area of the Donbas region. That area remains a key priority for Russia, the update says. However, it notes, “with a maximum of 10  Terminators deployed they are unlikely to have a significant impact on the campaign.” 3:02 a.m.: The New York Times reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia’s blockade of grain …

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North Macedonia’s fugitive former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has been handed a nine-year prison sentence for illegally ordering the 2011 demolition of a multimillion-dollar residential and business complex owned by a former political ally turned opponent.  The Criminal Court in the capital, Skopje, found that the demolition was an “act of political revenge” against Fijat Canoski, then the leader of the small Party for European Future (PEI), who had left Gruevski’s conservative government coalition and joined the opposition.  Three other former officials at the time of the demolition were also sentenced late Friday. Toni Trajkovski, the former mayor of the …

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The Ukrainian forces who made a determined last stand in a Mariupol steel mill against Russian troops were a mixture of seasoned soldiers, border guards, a controversial national guard regiment and volunteers who took up arms in the weeks before Russia’s invasion. As Russia announced it had completed its takeover of Mariupol with the surrender of the fighters who served as the final obstacle, Ukraine’s government did not confirm the city’s fall. Earlier in the week, Ukrainian officials said its combatants in the Azovstal steel plant had completed their mission and were being evacuated, describing them as heroes who had …

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A storm that swept across parts of Germany generated three tornadoes, the country’s weather service said Saturday. One of them left a trail of destruction and more than 40 people injured in a western city. Meteorologists had warned of heavy rainfall, hail and strong gusts of wind in western and central Germany on Friday, and people in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia were advised to stay home. Storms on Thursday had already disrupted traffic, uprooted trees that toppled onto rail tracks and roads, and flooded hundreds of basements in western Germany. The German Weather Service confirmed three tornadoes in …

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Representatives of the United States and several other nations walked out of an Asia-Pacific trade ministers meeting in Bangkok on Saturday to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials said. Representatives from Canada, New Zealand, Japan and Australia joined the Americans in walking out of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, two Thai officials and two international diplomats told Reuters. The walkout took place while the Russian representative was delivering remarks at the opening of the two-day meeting of the group of 21 economies. …

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Russia on Saturday halted providing natural gas to neighboring Finland, which has angered Moscow by applying for NATO membership, after the Nordic country refused to pay supplier Gazprom in rubles. Natural gas accounts for about 8% of Finland’s energy consumption and most of it comes from Russia. Following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has asked clients from “unfriendly countries” — including EU member states — pay for gas in rubles, a way to sidestep Western financial sanctions against its central bank. Finnish state-owned energy company Gasum said it would make up for the shortfall from other sources through …

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Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has again said his country will oppose applications by Finland and Sweden to join NATO unless his security conditions are met. Analysts say Erdogan may be looking for more attention to his concerns from U.S. President Joe Biden. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.  …

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