Category: Євросоюз

ISTANBUL — Greece’s leader arrived in Turkey’s capital on Monday for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as both countries pursue a normalization program and seek to put aside decades-old disputes. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was welcomed by Erdogan and a military guard of honor at the presidential palace in Ankara before the leaders’ fourth meeting over the past year. They are expected to hold two hours of discussions followed by a news conference. Turkey and Greece, which are NATO members, have been at odds for decades over a series of issues, including territorial claims in the Aegean Sea and …

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London — Britain’s King Charles handed over a senior military role to his son Prince William at a ceremony Monday, marking a rare joint appearance for the pair as the king steps up his return to public duties after his cancer diagnosis. Charles presented William with the title of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, a position the 75-year-old monarch held for 32 years, in front of an Apache helicopter, and watched by service personnel at the Army Flying Museum in southern England. “He’s a very good pilot indeed,” Charles said of his son, a former helicopter search and rescue pilot …

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Fifty-year-old Yevhen Savchenko has been serving as an official chaplain for Ukraine’s Armed Forces since late 2023, often performing his duties on the front line. Savchenko is also the father of eight children and pastor of an evangelical Baptist church in Ukraine’s Luhansk region. Anna Kosstutschenko spoke to him during a mission in the Donbas region. VOA footage and video editing by Pavel Suhodolskiy. …

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London — British police have charged three men with assisting the Hong Kong intelligence service amid growing concern that hostile states are trying to interfere with democracy and economic activity in the U.K.  The three men were among 11 people arrested earlier this month in Yorkshire and London by counterterrorism police using provisions of a new law that allows suspects in national security and espionage cases to be detained without warrant. The eight other suspects were released without charge.  Chi Leung (Peter) Wai, 38, Matthew Trickett, 37, and Chung Biu Yuen, 63, are also charged with foreign interference, the Metropolitan Police …

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Barcelona, Spain — Commuter rail service for Barcelona and northeastern Spain has suffered major disruption because of the theft of copper cables from a train installation, Spanish rail authorities said Sunday. Thousands of commuters were stranded at train stations in and around Barcelona after trains couldn’t run on several commuter lines. The disruption to local transport came while more than 5.7 million voters were eligible to participate in a regional election in Catalonia. Spain’s state-owned railway authority ADIF said that the theft of electrical cabling from a station just north of Barcelona in the town of Montcada caused “several fires in …

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Moscow — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defense minister as he begins his fifth term in office. In line with Russian law, the entire Russian Cabinet resigned on Tuesday following Putin’s glittering inauguration in the Kremlin, and most members have been widely expected to keep their jobs, while Shoigu’s fate appeared uncertain. Putin signed a decree on Sunday appointing Shoigu as secretary of Russia’s national security council, the Kremlin said. The appointment was announced shortly after Putin proposed First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov to become the country’s defense …

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TBILISI — Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze vowed on Sunday to push ahead with a law on “foreign agents” that has sparked a political crisis, after opponents of the bill rallied in one of the largest protests seen since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.  Kobakhidze told a televised briefing that the ruling Georgian Dream party would secure passage of the bill in a third reading this week, and threatened protesters with prosecution if they resort to violence.  Georgia’s opposition has called on opponents of the bill to stage on all-night protest outside parliament to prevent lawmakers from entering the …

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WARSAW — A fire broke out Sunday morning in a vast shopping center housing 1,400 shops and service outlets in the Bialoleka district in Poland’s capital. The fire brigade said more than 80% of The Marywilska 44 shopping complex was on fire, and 50 teams, including chemical and environmental rescue specialists, were carrying out rescue operations. A police spokesperson told the news agency PAP there were no injuries reported. Authorities also sent a text message warning Warsaw residents about the fire and telling them to stay home with the windows closed. Footage aired by private broadcaster TVN24 showed thick black smoke …

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TORGIANO, Italy — The Prada Group is expanding its production footprint in Italy, including dozens of new jobs at its knitwear factory in Umbria, leaning into “Made in Italy” as integral to the brand’s ethos and developing new artisanal talent to ease the luxury group through a generational shift in its workforce. Prada CEO Andrea Guerra, who was brought in last year as part of the generational change in family-run Prada’s management, said at an unveiling of the expanded plant Tuesday that the company is investing 60 million euros ($65 million) in production this year. At Torgiano, Prada has added 30 …

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VATICAN CITY — The Vatican crossed a key milestone Thursday in the runup to its 2025 Jubilee with the promulgation of the official decree establishing the Holy Year. It’s a once-every-quarter-century event that is expected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to Rome and has already brought months of headaches to Romans. Pope Francis presided over a ceremony in the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica for the reading of the papal bull, or official edict, that laid out his vision for a year of hope: He asked for gestures of solidarity for the poor, prisoners, migrants and Mother Nature. “Hope is …

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MALMO, Sweden — Switzerland won the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 on Saturday in the Swedish host city Malmo, beating runner-up Croatia.   Billed as a feel-good celebration of European diversity, this year’s contest was thrust into the political spotlight with calls for Israel to be excluded because of its military campaign in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ deadly attack on October 7 in Israel.   Swiss rapper and singer Nemo, 24, won the contest with “The Code,” a drum-and-bass, opera, rap and rock song about Nemo’s journey of self-discovery as a non-binary person.  “I hope this contest can live up to its …

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MALMO, Sweden — The Netherlands’ contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest was dramatically expelled from competition hours before Saturday’s final of the pan-continental pop competition, which has been rattled by protests over the participation of Israel. Competition organizer European Broadcasting Union said Swedish police were investigating “a complaint made by a female member of the production crew” against Dutch performer Joost Klein. The organizer said it wouldn’t be appropriate for Klein to participate at the event in Malmo while the legal process was underway. Although Eurovision’s motto is “united by music,” this year’s event has proven exceptionally divisive. Israel’s participation has …

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WARSAW, Poland — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk traveled Saturday to the country’s border with Belarus, which is also the European Union’s external border with the autocratic state, and pledged to do more to strengthen security along its entire eastern frontier. Tusk accused Belarus, Russia’s ally, of intensifying what he called a “hybrid war” against the West by encouraging migrants to try to cross into the EU. He vowed that Poland would spare no expense on its border security. “I know that there are more and more illegal crossings every day,” Tusk told reporters at the border, where he met with …

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BARCELONA, Spain — Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia’s fugitive former leader, stares confidently out the backseat window of a car, the sun illuminating his gaze in a campaign poster for Sunday’s critical elections in the northeastern Spanish region. The image plays on another one imagined from six years prior when Puigdemont hid in the trunk of a car as he was smuggled across the French border, fleeing Spain’s crackdown on a failed illegal 2017 secession attempt that he had led as Catalan regional president. Sunday’s elections will be a test to see if Catalonia wants him back as leader or if the wealthy …

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london — Chinese President Xi Jinping departed Hungary on Friday after a five-day trip to Europe, his first visit to the continent in five years. Xi pledged to work with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in a new “multipolar world order.” Analysts say Beijing is courting its allies in Eastern Europe to exploit Western divisions. Xi left Budapest after having signed 18 bilateral agreements to increase economic and cultural ties during his two-day stay in Hungary. The two countries announced what the Chinese president termed a “new-era, all-weather, comprehensive strategic partnership.” “We are ready to take this as a new starting …

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