Category: Євросоюз

Germany’s three governing parties plan to strip former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of his office and staff after he maintained and defended his long-standing ties with Russia despite the war in Ukraine. Schroeder’s own Social Democratic Party said Wednesday that lawmakers on the parliamentary budget committee had agreed to link some of the former German leader’s privileges to actual duties, rather than his status as former chancellor. They planned to submit a proposal to lawmakers on Thursday. Schroeder has become increasingly isolated in recent months due to his work for Russian state-controlled energy companies. The 78-year-old is chairman of the supervisory …

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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: 2:17 a.m.: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the decision of Finland and Sweden to apply for membership in the alliance is “a good day at a critical moment for our security.” Speaking alongside the ambassadors of both nations at NATO headquarters in Brussels. the secretary-general said: “You have both made your own choice after thorough democratic processes, and I warmly welcome the requests by Finland and Sweden to join NATO,” Stoltenberg said to them. “All allies …

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The fall of the Ukrainian port of Mariupol to Russia appeared imminent Tuesday as Ukraine moved to abandon the city’s sprawling steel plant, and hundreds of Kyiv fighters who had been holed up there turned themselves over to Russian forces in a deal reached by the warring parties. The capture of Mariupol, a prewar city of 430,000 people along the north coast of the Sea of Azov, would be Moscow’s biggest success in its nearly three-month offensive against Ukraine. But Russia is struggling to capture more territory in eastern Ukraine and has failed to topple the government of President Volodymyr …

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Swiss food giant Nestlé is to fly baby formula from Switzerland and the Netherlands to the United States amid shortages there, a group spokeswoman said Tuesday.  The Swiss group will specifically import two brands of hypoallergenic milk, as the shortage has become an additional source of stress for parents of babies intolerant of cow’s milk protein.  “We prioritized these products because they serve a critical medical purpose,” the spokeswoman told AFP, confirming a press report.   The two brands are already imported: Gerber Good Start Extensive HA milk from the Netherlands, and Alfamino milk from Switzerland.   Faced with the shortage, Nestlé …

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The fall of the Ukrainian port of Mariupol to Russia appeared imminent Tuesday as Ukraine moved to abandon the city’s sprawling steel plant, and hundreds of Kyiv fighters who had been holed up there turned themselves over to Russian forces in a deal reached by the warring parties. The capture of Mariupol, a prewar city of 430,000 people along the north coast of the Sea of Azov, would be Moscow’s biggest success in its nearly three-month offensive against Ukraine. But Russia is struggling to capture more territory in eastern Ukraine and has failed to topple the government of President Volodymyr …

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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is due to meet Wednesday in Washington with Secretary of State Antony Blinken — the latest step in the process of repairing ties between the two NATO allies. The Turkish diplomat will have tough questions to answer when it comes to Turkey’s efforts to veto bids by Finland and Sweden to join the Atlantic alliance. Once a close ally of Washington, Ankara has seen relations strained over Turkey’s poor human rights record and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s close ties with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Turkey’s strong backing of Ukraine in the face of …

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France’s newly appointed prime minister Elisabeth Borne begins work this week with major challenges on her plate, tasked to rebrand President Emmanuel Macron’s second term with greener, more socially friendly policies — and to ensure his party wins next month’s legislative vote. Borne is expected to name her new Cabinet this week. Then comes putting her boss’s goals for a new and different second term into practice. Since President Emmanuel Macron announced her appointment as his new prime minister Monday evening, Borne has called for faster, stronger action on climate and the environment — and for garnering a majority as …

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By JASON DEAREN, JULIET LINDERMAN and OLEKSANDR STASHEVSKYI  As she lay buried under the rubble, her legs broken and eyes blinded by blood and thick clouds of dust, all Inna Levchenko could hear was screams. It was 12:15 p.m. on March 3, and moments earlier a blast had pulverized the school where she’d taught for 30 years. Amid relentless bombing, she’d opened School 21 in Chernihiv as a shelter to frightened families. They painted the word “children” in big, bold letters on the windows, hoping that Russian forces would see it and spare them. The bombs fell anyway. Though she …

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Ukraine’s military worked Tuesday to evacuate its remaining fighters from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol where three months of Russian bombing has left the besieged port city in ruins. Ukrainian officials said more than 260 fighters were evacuated Monday. Fifty-three seriously injured fighters were taken to a hospital in Novoazovsk, east of Mariupol, Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said. Novoazovsk is under the control of Russian troops and Russian-backed separatists. Another 211 fighters were taken to the town of Olenivka, an area also controlled by Russian-backed separatists, Malyar said, adding that the evacuees would be subject to a potential …

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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: 1:50 a.m.: Retired Russian Col. Mikhail Khodaryonok said on state television Monday thatthe Ukrainian armed forces “is able to arm a million people,” and that Ukrainians “intend to fight until the last man,” according to a translation provided by the BBC’s Francis Scarr. “Let’s look at the situation as a whole from the overall strategic position,” Khodaryonok says. “Don’t engage in sabre-rattling with missiles in Finland’s direction. It actually looks quite amusing. After all, the main …

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The European Union again failed to agree to an oil embargo against Russia Monday as part of a sixth package of sanctions over the war in Ukraine. Hungary remains a key holdout, demanding a high price for greenlighting the package.  Signs of exasperation against Hungary emerged at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels — including from Ukraine’s top envoy Dmytro Kuleba, who was invited to the talks. An oil embargo against Russia, he said, was essential.   “It’s clear who’s holding up the issue,” Keleba said. “But time is running out because every day, Russia keeps making …

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President Joe Biden on Monday thanked Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for his country’s “moral leadership” in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the two held talks at the White House about the ongoing conflict.  The visit by Mitsotakis comes as he was in Washington to mark a COVID-delayed commemoration of the bicentennial of the start of the Greek War of Independence, a more than eight-year-long struggle that led to the ouster of the Ottoman Empire. The president and first lady Jill Biden hosted Mitsotakis and his wife, Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis, later Monday at a White House reception to …

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Taras Topolya is a Ukrainian rock singer. From the first day of the war in Ukraine, he has been working as a paramedic with the country’s Territorial Defense. But when he has a break, he plays with big names in the Western music industry. Lesia Bakalets has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by Yuriy Zakrevskiy. …

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The European Commission on Monday sharply cut its eurozone growth forecast for 2022 to 2.7 percent, blaming skyrocketing energy prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The war also spurred the EU’s executive to revisit its eurozone inflation prediction for 2022, with consumer prices forecast to jump by 6.1 percent year-on-year, much higher than the earlier forecast of 3.5 percent. “There is no doubt that the EU economy is going through a challenging period due to Russia’s war against Ukraine, and we have downgraded our forecast accordingly,” EU executive vice president Valdis Dombrovskis said. “The overwhelming negative factor is the …

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Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis flies to Washington for talks with President Joe Biden on Monday, their first since the U.S. leader entered office. Mitsotakis is expected to discuss Turkey and efforts to ease brewing tensions between the two countries and NATO allies. But as the conflict in Ukraine rages, talks will also focus on efforts to turn Greece into an EU energy gateway, easing reliance on Russian gas and oil. The timing of Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ visit to Washington is crucial, Greek officials say. Relations between Turkey and Greece are strained, and Mitsotakis will lose no time, his aides say, …

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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: 3:45 a.m.: Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said the European Union will impose a sixth sanctions package on Russia as he arrived in Brussels for a meeting Monday, Reuters reported.   “There really is no excuse not to get the package done,” Asselborn said, speaking to reporters.   3:30 a.m.: Russian forces focused their latest attacks in Ukraine on the Donetsk region in the east, targeting civilian and military sites in multiple towns, the Ukrainian military …

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Pope Francis on Sunday declared 10 people saints of the Roman Catholic Church, including an anti-Nazi Dutch priest murdered in the Dachau concentration camp and a French hermit monk assassinated in Algeria.    The 85-year-old pope, who has been using a wheelchair due to knee and leg pain, was driven to the altar at the start of the ceremony, which was attended by more than 50,000 people in St Peter’s Square. It was the one of the largest gatherings there since the easing of COVID-19 restrictions earlier this year.    Francis limped to a chair behind the altar but stood to individually …

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Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra, fresh off its Eurovision victory, released a new music video Sunday of its winning hit “Stefania” that features scenes of war-ravaged Ukraine and women in combat gear, as the annual song contest took on ever more political tones given Russia’s war. “This is how we see Ukrainian mothers today,” Kalush frontman Oleh Psiuk said of the video, which had already racked up millions of views within hours of its release. “We were trying to deliver the message of what Ukraine looks like today.” The video was released hours after Kalush Orchestra brought Ukraine its third Eurovision …

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Intellectuals, broadcasters and cultural figures from Hungary’s Roma community are using the airwaves to reframe narratives and elevate the voices of the country’s largest minority group. Radio Dikh — a Romani word that means “to see” — has broadcast since January on FM radio in Hungary’s capital, Budapest. Its 11 programs focus on Roma music, culture and the issues faced by their community, and aim to recast the way the often disadvantaged minority group is perceived by broader society. “Roma people in general don’t have enough representation in mainstream media … and even if they do, it’s oftentimes not showing …

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Finland has formally announced that it intends to apply for membership into NATO. President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced the move Sunday at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki. “This is a historic day,” Niinisto said. “A new era begins.” Finland’s announcement that it is seeking entry into the 30- member Western military alliance had been expected in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sweden is also expected to seek entry into the alliance. The two Nordic countries’ NATO applications will likely move swiftly. “Finland and Sweden are already the closest partners of NATO,” NATO Deputy-Secretary General …

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