Category: Євросоюз

Europe is being buffeted by unprecedented recovery-related energy price spikes, prompting rising alarm about whether families will be able to remain warm as the northern hemisphere’s winter approaches. Politicians are also anxious about the electoral repercussions and how spiking prices will fuel further inflation. The price jumps in natural gas are due largely to a surge in demand in Asia and low supplies of in Europe, which has seen an astonishing 280% increase in wholesale gas prices. Electricity prices are also soaring because natural gas is used across the continent to generate a substantial percentage of its electricity. Moscow’s decision …

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The top U.S. military officers from the United States and Russia held six hours of talks in Helsinki, Finland, on Wednesday, the first face-to-face meeting between them since 2019, as both nations adjust to the U.S. pullout and Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.  General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, do not typically disclose the details of their discussions, and statements from both sides were minimal.  A U.S. military statement, which included details on the length of the meeting but not the agenda, said the talks were aimed …

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Lava continued to bear down Wednesday on La Palma, one of the Spanish Canary Islands, as residents fled following Sunday’s volcanic eruption.  More than 6,800 people have been evacuated from the island, one of the archipelago’s smaller and least populated, since Sunday.  The Associated Press reported that lava has engulfed and destroyed 320 buildings so far. No fatalities or injuries have yet to be reported.  A wall of lava as high as 12 meters faced a village on La Palma on Wednesday, and experts predicted that it would continue to spread for the next few days, destroying homes and crops.  …

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U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed to meet in person next month in Europe after a Wednesday phone call in which they sought to ease tensions over a high-profile submarine deal.  A White House statement after the phone call suggested regret over the handling of the deal, in which the United States and Britain will sell at least eight nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. That prompted Canberra to abandon a $66 billion, 2016 contract to purchase 12 conventional diesel-electric subs from French majority state-owned Naval Group.  “The two leaders agreed that the situation would have benefited …

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol as part of his brief stop in Washington. Johnson met earlier in the day with U.S. senators.    Johson met Tuesday with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House as part of a brief stop in Washington on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meetings in New York.    During a photo opportunity with reporters, Pelosi remarked that she had met with Johnson last week when she was in London for the G-7 summit of parliamentary leaders. She credited the …

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Gunmen opened fire Wednesday on a car carrying a senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to national police.  Zelenskiy, who is in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, said in a video statement there would be a “strong response” to what a senior official described as an assassination attempt on presidential advisor Serhiy Shefir. While the official said the attack might have been a message intended for Zelenskiy, another presidential advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, said it was in response to an effort to limit the influence of oligarchs. Zelenskiy won the presidency after vowing to confront the country’s …

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U.N. agencies are calling for an investigation into the deaths of four people whose bodies were found over the weekend near the border between Poland and Belarus. Three of the dead found on the Polish side of the border have been identified by Polish authorities as Iraqi men. The fourth person was identified by Belarusian authorities as an Iraqi woman, who they say they found within a meter of the border. Spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Safa Msehli, told VOA these are the first recorded deaths of groups of asylum-seekers and migrants who have been transiting through …

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Malawi President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera are among the world leaders scheduled to take their turn to address the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.  Johnson has highlighted in the days before his speech the need to take action to address climate change, saying a global economic recovery “must be rooted in green growth.”  Rich nations have benefitted from growth that resulted in pollution, and now “have a duty to help developing countries grow their economies in a green and sustainable way,” Johnson said in a Twitter post Monday. Johnson’s address comes a day after he met with U.S. President Joe Biden …

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Angela Merkel, Germany’s first female chancellor, has been praised by many for her pragmatic leadership in a turbulent world and celebrated by some as a feminist icon. But a look at her track record over her 16 years at Germany’s helm reveals missed opportunities for fighting gender inequality at home.   Named “The World’s Most Powerful Woman” by Forbes magazine for the past 10 years in a row, Merkel has been cast as a powerful defender of liberal values in the West. She has easily stood her ground at male-dominated summits with leaders such as former U.S. President Donald Trump …

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Germans are preparing to choose a new leader in elections scheduled September 26 to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is stepping down. As Henry Ridgwell reports from Berlin, Merkel has been seen as a pillar of stability in Europe for almost two decades — and the coming changes in Germany will be felt around the world. Camera: Henry Ridgwell   …

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Berlin is basking in late summer sunshine. Along the banks of the River Spree, residents enjoy the last warm days before the change of season. Germany – and the rest of Europe – are about to witness the end of an era: after 16 years, the sun is setting on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s time in power.   Germans will head to the polls Sunday (September 26) for the country’s general election. Whichever party emerges with the biggest share of the vote will likely appoint the leader of a coalition government.   Chancellor Merkel remains hugely popular among German voters, with …

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A vast river of molten lava from a Canary Islands volcano was edging toward the sea on Tuesday, destroying everything in its path and provoking fears it will generate clouds of toxic gases when it hits the water.  A new fissure emerged on the slopes of the Cumbre Vieja volcano overnight, belching out more lava and forcing hundreds more people to flee their homes. “The lava flow is moving inexorably towards the sea, and absolutely nothing can be done about it,” said Angel Victor Torres, regional head of the Canary Islands. “We are completely powerless in the face of this …

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Seven survivors of a shooting at a university in central Russia that left six people dead and 28 more wounded are to be airlifted to Moscow for medical treatment on Tuesday, according to a top education official. Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov said Tuesday that the shooting at the Perm State University on Monday was a “grave tragedy” and offered condolences to the families of the victims. “Those who survived (I wish) the speediest recovery. Today seven kids will be transported to Moscow for treatment,” Falkov said at a memorial ceremony in Perm, a city of 1 …

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Results from Russia’s parliamentary and local elections Sunday have given a boost to the allies of President Vladimir Putin, who will now retain their majority. After denouncing alleged fraud, the Communist Party – the second largest in parliament – called for demonstrations in the Russian capital Monday but few people appeared. Jon Spier narrates this report from the VOA Moscow bureau. …

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Turkey’s leaders are closely watching Germany’s elections on September 26th that will mark the end of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s long tenure. For VOA from Istanbul, Dorian Jones reports …

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Police in Britain said Tuesday they have enough evidence to charge a third Russian in the 2018 nerve agent attack against a former Russian spy in the city of Salisbury, England. Authorities identified the third suspect as Sergey Fedotov, also known as Denis Sergeev, and said he was a member of Russia’s GRU military intelligence service. They said the list of possible charges includes conspiracy to murder, attempted murder, possessing and using a chemical weapon, and causing grievous bodily harm. Prosecutors have already charged two other suspected military intelligence members in the attack that used the nerve agent Novichok to …

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The Australian decision to cancel a $66 billion deal to buy 12 French diesel-electric submarines and to purchase instead at least eight more sophisticated nuclear-powered attack boats from Britain and America continues to reverberate with French officials smarting at what they see as a betrayal by London and Washington.   And there are few signs the dispute will abate any time soon.   European Union leaders are rallying behind France in the dispute over the shelving of the multi-billion-dollar French deal and Canberra’s decision to sign up to a trilateral Asia Pacific security pact, known as AUKUS, with the United …

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The United States, United Kingdom and Australia on Thursday announced what the Royal Australian Navy describes on its website as an “enhanced trilateral security partnership” known as AUKUS (Australia, U.K. and U.S.). It says Australia will get at least eight nuclear-powered submarines, to be built domestically using American technology. The use of nuclear-powered Australian submarines in the Indo-Pacific has angered China by threatening to curb its expansion in the same waterways, experts say.  The three-country security deal came after Australia pulled out of an earlier deal with France for diesel-electric submarines, angering Paris. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian even …

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As Germany prepares to elect a new leader in elections scheduled for September 26, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s successor will face a series of immediate geopolitical challenges. Among the most pressing is the rise of China. Beijing’s economic push into Europe, part of its “Belt and Road” initiative, has seen Chinese state-owned firms invest in critical infrastructure including ports, railroads and highways. Hamburg is Germany’s biggest port, handling more than 8.5 million shipping containers every year, and a key artery for Europe’s largest economy and exporter. If current plans are approved, a large share of the port will soon be sold …

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The United States said Monday that starting in early November it will ease its coronavirus restrictions for foreign travelers arriving in the country.  Foreign travel to the U.S. had been largely curbed during the 18-month pandemic, even as European nations in recent months eased restrictions on American travelers ahead of the summertime vacation season.  Under the new U.S. policy, White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said foreign travelers will again be allowed into the country if they can demonstrate proof of being fully vaccinated before they board a flight and show proof of a negative COVID-19 test administered within three …

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