Category: Євросоюз

He is not low key or known for listening, key attributes of his former German counterpart, Angela Merkel.   But with his reelection Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron has arguably cemented another role, some say: succeeding Merkel as the European Union’s de-facto leader, with his call for a stronger, closer EU resonating, especially with the war in Ukraine.   “Merkel was more of a crisis manager but with no vision,” said Sebastien Maillard, director of the Paris-based Jacques Delors Institute think tank. “Macron has a clear vision of what kind of European integration he wants.”  Not surprisingly, most European leaders cheered Macron’s …

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The road toward Chernobyl is littered with Russian soldiers’ discarded ration boxes and occasional empty bullet shells in a subtle but harrowing warning of the invasion’s terrible risk for the infamous nuclear site.  Tuesday marked the 36th anniversary of what is considered the worst ever nuclear disaster, and there was relief the hulking so-called sarcophagus covering the reactor’s radioactivity remains was back under Ukrainian control.  Soldiers cradling their assault rifles watched over checkpoints, including one with an effigy dressed in Russian fatigues and a gas mask, that guard the way from Kyiv to the sprawling site near the border with …

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Turkey faces growing domestic and international backlash over the conviction of Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala, who was imprisoned for life without parole on Monday on charges of seeking to overthrow the government. The case, widely condemned as politically motivated, could strain ties with Turkey’s Western allies. Seven co-defendants were sentenced to 18 years in prison. Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey representative of the New York-based Human Rights Watch, criticized the sentencing. “There is nothing in this trial that bears any semblance to evidence. It’s a trial built on wild assertions. And it’s really a warning not just to human rights defenders and …

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U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday that the Biden administration supports legislation that calls for some of the proceeds being seized from Russian oligarchs to go “directly to Ukraine.”   “That’s not the current circumstance,” Garland told the Senate Appropriations Committee as lawmakers questioned him about the property and assets the Justice Department is seizing from close wealthy associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin after his February 24 invasion of Ukraine.   The Justice Department, headed by Garland, launched a new unit, called KleptoCapture, to help enforce sanctions against Russian government officials and oligarchs, targeting their yachts, jets, real …

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With the backdrop of Russia’s war in Ukraine, an increasing number of experts are warning of worldwide food shortages. Some experts say the war will put long-term food security in jeopardy. Azerbaijan’s food supply relies heavily on imports from Russia and Ukraine.  Azerbaijan imported goods worth roughly $470 million from Ukraine and $2.74 billion from Russia in 2021. Tobacco, food supplies, and medications are the most common commodities traded between Azerbaijan and Ukraine.  Last year, Azerbaijan imported nearly $300 million of wheat from Russia, as well as timber materials worth $100 million and vegetable oils worth $46 million, according to the State Statistical …

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 U.N. member states voted Tuesday to hold the five permanent Security Council members more accountable when they cast their vetoes.  The General Assembly adopted the draft resolution by consensus – or without a vote. It was put forward by Liechtenstein and co-sponsored by more than 100 countries. The resolution requires the president of the General Assembly to convene a meeting of the 193 U.N. member states every time one or more of the five permanent Security Council members casts a veto. The assembly would then hold a debate on the situation on which the veto was cast, and those who …

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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is headed to Moscow for a meeting Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a renewed bid to try to get him to agree to a pause or end to his two-month assault on Ukraine. Guterres’ spokesperson said the U.N. chief is later going to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Thursday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, because Guterres feels there is a “concrete opportunity” for progress. En route to Moscow, Guterres met Monday in Ankara with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has attempted, but failed so far, to mediate an end to the …

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A Turkish court sentenced Osman Kavala, a prominent Turkish civil rights activist and philanthropist, to life in prison without parole Monday after convicting him of trying to overthrow the government by financing protests. Kavala, 64, has been in jail for the past 4½ years on charges that he helped finance and organize protests that began as small demonstrations in Istanbul’s Gezi Park in 2013 and morphed into mass anti-government protests. Human rights groups say the case is politically motivated. Ten Western countries, including the United States, France and Germany, called for Kavala’s release in October on the fourth anniversary of …

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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Monday, ahead of planned visits to Ukraine and Russia in efforts to end the Ukrainian conflict. Neither Guterres nor Erdogan spoke to the media after their talks in the Turkish capital, but both issued statements. The U.N. chief’s office recognized and praised Turkish efforts to end the conflict, while the Turkish presidency said it remained committed to end the fighting.   Erdogan has maintained good relations with both Ukrainian and Russian leaders and has sought to mediate the conflict.   Samuel Bendett, a Russia analyst at the …

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The European Union (EU) and India agreed on Monday to set up a trade and technology council to step up cooperation, as the bloc’s chief held talks with officials in New Delhi who have seen a flurry of top visits since the start of the Ukraine war. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is on a two-day trip to India’s capital, part of Western efforts to encourage New Delhi to reduce ties to Russia, its main weapons supplier, following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. India has refrained from explicitly condemning Russia’s invasion, while calling for an immediate end to violence. …

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Greenpeace activists sought to block a tanker on Monday from delivering Russian oil to Norway, chaining themselves to the vessel in a protest against the war in Ukraine, the advocacy group said. The Ust Luga product tanker is currently anchored outside Exxon Mobil’s Slagen oil terminal some 70 km south of the capital Oslo, according to vessel tracker Marine Traffic. Activists arriving in a small boat chained themselves to the tanker’s anchor chain as they sought to prevent the offloading of a cargo estimated at 95,000 tons of oil, Greenpeace said in a statement. “Oil is not only at the …

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American diplomats will start returning to Ukraine this week, first to the western city of Lviv and then eventually to the capital, Kyiv. The United States is also providing further foreign military financing to Ukraine to help the country obtain more advanced weapons and air defense systems to fend off Russian attacks, according to senior U.S. officials. U.S. President Joe Biden will formally nominate Bridget Brink, currently U.S. ambassador to the Slovak Republic, to be U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. “This would be to underscore our commitments (to Ukraine). We will seek to have our diplomats returned to our embassy in …

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An opposition liberal party convincingly won Sunday’s parliamentary election in Slovenia, according to early official results, in a major defeat for populist Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who was accused of pushing the small European Union country to the right while in office. The Freedom Movement won nearly 34% of the votes, compared with around 24% for the governing conservative Slovenian Democratic Party, state election authorities said after counting over 97% of the ballots. Trailing behind the top two contenders were the New Slovenia party with 7%, followed by the Social Democrats with more than 6% and the Left party with …

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have visited Kyiv to meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid Russia’s ongoing war on that country. Continued Russian attacks came against the backdrop of Easter Sunday for Orthodox Christians. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. This video contains images of war, which some may find disturbing. …

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As Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its third month with details of atrocities mounting, journalists covering the conflict are taking a more cautious approach. Several journalists—foreign and Ukrainian—have been killed since February 24, and dozens more have been wounded, either by incoming fire or being shot at while on assignment, according to media groups including the International Press Institute, or IPI.   The national union of journalists in Ukraine reports as many as 20 reporters could have been killed—a figure that includes those victims where the circumstances of the deaths have not been determined. For those who experienced near misses, …

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Hundreds of Russians and Ukrainians alike crowded into the only Russian Orthodox Church on the Arabian Peninsula on Sunday to celebrate the most important Christian religious festival of the year — far from home and in the shadow of a war that has brought devastation to Ukraine and international isolation to Moscow. The church’s gold Byzantine crosses rise unexpectedly from the dusty streets of Sharjah — a conservative Muslim emirate just south of skyscraper-studded Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Although the two nationalities typically celebrate Easter in harmony in this strange corner of the world where they’ve forged new …

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President Joe Biden on Sunday commemorated the 107th anniversary of the start of the “Armenian genocide,” issuing a statement in memory of the 1.5 million Armenians “who were deported, massacred or marched to their deaths in a campaign of extermination.” The statement did not reference the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which Biden has called a genocide. Yet Biden used the anniversary to lay down a set of principles for foreign policy as the United States and its allies arm Ukrainians and impose sanctions on Russia. “We renew our pledge to remain vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all …

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Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide, called overnight for the opening of humanitarian corridors in Ukraine where he said, “an indescribable human tragedy is unfolding.” Bartholomew, who has previously called for an end to war in Ukraine, said that he hoped this year’s Easter would be “the impetus to open humanitarian corridors, safe passages to truly safe areas for the thousands of people surrounded in Mariupol.” “The same applies to all other regions of Ukraine, where an indescribable human tragedy is unfolding… We call once again for an immediate end to the fratricidal war, which, …

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France began voting in a presidential runoff election Sunday in a race between incumbent Emmanuel Macron and far-right politician Marine Le Pen. Macron is in pole position to win reelection for a second five-year term in the country’s presidential runoff, yet his lead over Le Pen depends on one major uncertainty: voters who could decide to stay home. A Macron victory in this vote — which could have far-reaching repercussions for Europe’s future direction and Western efforts to stop the war in Ukraine — would make him the first French president in 20 years to win a second term. All …

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Rescue workers in southern Poland have reached four of the 10 miners who went missing early Saturday after a powerful underground tremor and methane gas discharge hit, mining authorities said. It was the second coal mine accident this week in Poland. The condition of the four was not immediately released and officials said there was no verbal contact with any of the missing miners. The rescue team could not immediately bring the four to the surface and more teams will be sent to the area, said Edward Paździorko, deputy head of the Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa company (JSW) that operates the …

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