Category: Євросоюз

Ukraine on Thursday appointed a new defense minister with a mandate to strengthen the army, as the country remains locked in conflict with pro-Russia separatists. Oleksiy Reznikov, a lawyer with limited military experience, replaces Andriy Taran, who resigned earlier this week reportedly for health reasons.  A total of 273 lawmakers in the 450-seat Ukrainian parliament voted to approve the candidacy of Reznikov, who was nominated by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Introducing Reznikov to lawmakers in parliament, Zelensky said that his main task would be “to strengthen the defense capacity of the army”. The Ukrainian army is locked in a simmering conflict …

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Russia’s military buildup along its border with Ukraine is not yet setting off any alarms in Washington.  The United States’ highest-ranking military officer Wednesday said the U.S. was aware of Moscow’s military movement, describing it as “significant” but also as “nothing overtly aggressive.”  “We’ve seen this before,” General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a security forum in Washington, noting Russia’s annual Zapad exercises often involve tens of thousands of troops.  “So, what does this mean? We don’t know yet,” Milley said. “But we’re continuing to monitor with all of our capabilities.”  U.S. military and …

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The U.S. government has added four foreign technology companies to its restricted companies list, saying they “developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments” and that the spyware was used “to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and embassy workers.” The State Department accused the companies of “engaging in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.”  The companies are Israel’s NSO Group and Candiru, Russia’s Positive Technologies, and Singapore’s Computer Security Initiative Consultancy PTE. LTD.  These companies will now face severe restrictions in exporting their products to the U.S., and it will …

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China and Russia are set to introduce a joint resolution to the United Nations Security Council calling for an end to a host of economic sanctions on North Korea. Among the sanctions the two countries want lifted are a ban on North Koreans working overseas and sending home their earnings, exporting seafood and textiles and ending a cap on imports of refined petroleum. The draft resolution, obtained separately by the Associated Press and Reuters, urges the 15-member Security Council to remove the sanctions “with the intent of enhancing the livelihood of the civilian population” of North Korea. The U.N. first imposed sanctions on …

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“My granduncle — cousin of my grandfather — was a Catholic priest who was put in the labor camp when the communist regime barbarically tried to destroy all the monasteries,” said Miriam Lexmann, one of dozens of legislators from around the world who gathered in Rome last weekend on the sidelines of the G-20 summit.  Their message for the leaders of the world’s richest countries: Take a tougher stance toward the Chinese government, and stand up for those who are threatened by Beijing’s policies, from Xinjiang to Taiwan.  The so-called “counter-meeting” was organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), …

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U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced ambitious climate commitments at  the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland. He also slammed Chinese and Russian leaders for not doing their part. VOA’s White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara brings this report from Glasgow. Produced by: Kimberlyn Weeks            Anita Powell contributed to this report. …

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CIA Director William Burns is making a rare visit to Moscow to discuss U.S.-Russia relations, the latest in a series of high-level contacts that show both sides want to keep talking despite mutual distrust and a long list of disputes.  A U.S. Embassy spokesperson said Burns was leading a delegation of senior U.S. officials to Moscow on Tuesday and Wednesday at President Joe Biden’s request.  “They are meeting with members of the Russian government to discuss a range of issues in the bilateral relationship,” the spokesperson said.  Russia’s Security Council said Burns, a Russian-speaker and former ambassador to Moscow, held …

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Human rights activists are expressing surprise at the failure of Israel and Switzerland to participate in a joint statement criticizing China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority.  France delivered the statement on behalf of 43 countries at the United Nations last month.  The two countries “have signed previous statements, especially Switzerland, which has always joined collective statements condemning atrocities in East Turkistan,” said Dolkun Isa, president of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress, who used the Uyghurs’ preferred name for the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China in an interview with VOA.  Varied responses to China and Uyghurs  In the joint statement, …

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Wealthy Russians didn’t delay their escape.  Ahead of the imposition this week of new nationwide pandemic restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, they headed to Turkey, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Or to Black Sea resorts, such as Sochi, which was anticipating an influx this week of 100,000 tourists from northern Russia. Travel agencies reported bookings soaring for tour packages.  The Kremlin hopes the new restrictions, which will see Russians required to take paid leave from October 30 to November 7, will slow record infections and deaths. Russian officials have sought to discourage travel but to …

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Russia is increasing pressure on independent Russian media by legislating the systematic labeling of many of them as “foreign agents,” a category that in Russia is historically associated with the idea of “enemies of the state.” Jon Spier narrates this report from VOA’s Moscow bureau. …

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Philanthropist Bill Gates says the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will donate $315 million to help small farmers around the world grow crops that will adapt to climate change. In an interview with VOA from Glasgow where he is attending the U.N. Climate Change Conference, Gates said the money will go to a seed consortium which will help farmers thrive in changing environments. The interview was edited for brevity and clarity.    Q: Help us visualize the scope of the problem when it comes to climate change. What are we facing and how much should we be concerned? A: Well, …

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Russia’s Black Sea naval forces practiced destroying enemy targets on Tuesday as Moscow bristled at the presence of two U.S. warships in the area.  President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russian forces could observe the USS Mount Whitney navy command ship “through binoculars or in the crosshairs of its … defense systems” and complained about NATO activity near Russia’s borders.  On Tuesday, the Black Sea fleet said its ships had rehearsed destroying enemy targets and that their air defense systems had been put on alert at its bases in Novorossiysk and on annexed Crimea, the Interfax news agency reported.  …

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Hopes are already fading that the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow will result in any new deal for a significant cut in global greenhouse gas emissions, after China and Russia declined to attend the conference and India’s pledges fell short of expectations.  The summit got under way Monday as dozens of world leaders addressed the delegates, defending their performances on climate action and in some cases presenting new emissions targets. Over 25,000 delegates are attending the two-week conference, including heads of state, government ministers, nongovernmental organizations, official observers and media. Hundreds of protesters and members of the public are also …

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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejected accusations French President Emmanuel Macron made about a scrapped $37 billion submarine deal. Macron has recently said Morrison lied when abandoning the submarine deal before Australia joined a new security pact with the United Kingdom and the United States known by its acronym AUKUS.  The AUKUS alliance and Australia’s cancelation of a lucrative defense contract in favor of U.S.-built nuclear submarines caught Paris off guard. France felt betrayed. In protest, France temporarily recalled its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra. Tensions remain.  French President Emanuel Macron told reporters at the meeting of the G-20 grouping of industrialized nations that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had been deceitful despite the two countries enjoying a close relationship.  “When we have respect, you have to behave in line …

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U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday announced a range of American commitments aimed at curbing global warming, as leaders from more than 100 countries gathered in Glasgow for the U.N. Climate Change Conference. “The United States will be able to meet the ambitious target I set at the Leaders Summit on climate back in April, reducing U.S. emissions by 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030,” Biden said. “We will demonstrate to the world that the United States is not only back at the table, but hopefully leading by the power of our example. I know it hasn’t …

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For months, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his aides have been raising expectations for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, which they are hosting in Glasgow. But heading into the two-week gathering they have been sounding far less confident. In Rome at the G-20 summit Saturday, Johnson said the chances of a big enough agreement emerging from COP26, one really capable of containing global warming, were not much better than 50-50. At the opening ceremony Monday of the critical climate-change talks, Johnson warned fellow leaders from nearly 200 countries that humanity has “long since …

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Barclays chief executive Jes Staley is leaving the bank after a dispute with British financial regulators over how he described his ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Staley will be replaced as CEO by Barclays’ head of global markets C.S. Venkatakrishnan, who on Monday pledged to continue his predecessor’s strategy. Staley’s shock departure comes after Barclays was informed on Friday of the unpublished findings of a report by Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulatory Authority into Staley’s characterization of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges …

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Prime Minister Zoran Zaev announced his resignation late Sunday following the heavy defeat of his governing Social Democratic Union in North Macedonia’s local elections. “The responsibility for this outcome is mine and I’m resigning as prime minister and as leader of the Social Democratic Union,” Zaev said at a news conference at party headquarters. Zaev came out against early national elections. Instead, he will support a Social Democrat-led government under a new leader. Although official results were not yet in from the local elections, Zaev conceded defeat in the most important contest — the mayor’s race in the capital, Skopje, …

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G-20 leaders concluded their two-day summit in Rome on Sunday with an agreement to work to reach carbon neutrality ‘by around mid-century’ and pledged to end financing for coal plants abroad. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara as this report from Rome. …

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A volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma that has been erupting for six weeks spewed greater quantities of ash from its main mouth Sunday, a day after producing its strongest earthquake to date. Lava flows descending toward the Atlantic Ocean from a volcanic ridge have covered 970 hectares (2,400 acres) of land since the eruption began on Sept. 19, data from the European Union’s satellite monitoring service, showed. On the way down the slope, the molten rock has destroyed more than 2,000 buildings and forced the evacuation of over 7,000 people.  But authorities in the Canary Islands, of …

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