Category: Євросоюз

U.S. President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described their first face-to-face talks as heads of state as “productive” but did not announce any major breakthroughs in the relationship between the two countries. Biden told reporters after the meeting Monday on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels that the talks were “positive and productive” and he was “confident we’ll make real progress with Turkey.”  Erdogan characterized the talks as “productive and sincere.” “We think that there are no issues between U.S. and Turkey relationship that are unsolvable and that areas of cooperation for us are richer and larger …

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The 30 member states of NATO ended their Monday summit in Brussels, reaffirming the military alliance with a strong statement against Russia and to a lesser degree, China.Both countries were called out as “challenges to the rules-based international order.”In the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference at a NATO summit in Brussels, June 14, 2021.“By agreeing (on) the NATO 2030 agenda, leaders have taken decisions to make our alliance stronger and better fit for the future,” said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a press conference at the end of the summit. We just concluded a successful #NATOSummit …

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has delayed plans to lift coronavirus restrictions by a month because of the highly contagious Delta variant, first identified in India. Johnson said on Monday that restrictions will now be lifted on July 19 instead of June 21.  “I think it is sensible to wait just a little longer,” he told a news conference in London. Johnson said he is confident that the country will be able to reopen on July 19, noting that by then two-thirds of the British population are expected to be fully vaccinated. FILE – Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a coronavirus vaccination …

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A jailed Belarusian journalist has made another public appearance during a news conference in Minsk Monday. Raman Pratasevich, who was arrested in May after his flight was forced to land in Belarus, said he was fine and had not been beaten.  Belarusian authorities deny the plane was diverted so Pratasevich could be arrested, saying instead it was because of a bomb threat. Reports say no bomb was found. The plane had been flying over Belarusian airspace at the time. As a result of the incident, several airlines have rerouted flights to avoid traveling over Belarus. “Everything is fine with me. Nobody beat …

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Russian President Vladimir Putin is sharply dismissing U.S. claims that Moscow and Russian hackers are carrying out debilitating cyberattacks on American companies and government agencies, including demands for millions of dollars in ransom to restore corporate computer operating systems.   Putin rejected the claims as “farcical” in a wide-ranging interview with NBC News. His remarks came just days ahead of his Wednesday summit with U.S. President Joe Biden in Geneva, where cyberattacks are expected to be a key point of contention.   “We have been accused of all kinds of things,” Putin said. “Election interference, cyberattacks and so on and …

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Elizabeth Sherr had always had a passion for the ocean since she was young so trying to clean up the trash that litters beaches and the sea seemed a natural move. When she moved to live next to the sea in Barcelona, the native New Yorker posted some videos on TikTok encouraging others to help rid the beach of cigarette butts and plastic bottles but did not hold out much hope it would catch on. This undated handout photograph released on Jan. 14, 2021 by the University of Barcelona shows an underwater view of a Posidonia Oceanica seagrass meadow in the Mediterranean …

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President Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin meet in Geneva on June 16 — for the first time since Biden took office in January. As Charles Maynes reports from Moscow, the two leaders are expected to discuss ways to normalize relations that have become increasingly tense.Camera: Ricardo Marquina Montanana Produced by: Jason Godman …

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U.S. President Joe Biden’s summit this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to focus on improving relations between Washington and Moscow over a host of issues, including cyberattacks from people operating from Russia. Michelle Quinn reports.Produced by: Barry Unger     …

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Leaders of the G-7 ended their three-day summit Sunday, committing to a series of actions to end the coronavirus pandemic, mitigate climate change and rebuild the global economy. The group named China and Russia as sources of global security and economic threats. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report from Brussels, the next leg of U.S. President Joe Biden’s European tour. …

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The United States and Russia sparred Sunday about responsibility for debilitating cyberattacks as U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin prepared for their summit in Geneva on Wednesday.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC’s “This Week” show, “No responsible country should be in the business of harboring in any way criminal organizations engaged in cyberattacks, including ransomware.”Blinken said Biden “is going to make that very clear to President Putin. We are looking for Russian cooperation in dealing with these criminal organizations to the extent they’re operating from Russian territory.”Two key U.S. businesses, Colonial Pipeline Co., that transports …

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Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic defeated Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas Sunday in the French Open final, clinching his 19th Grand Slam win 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.   “I want to thank my team, my box, my family, my coach,” Djokovic said after his win, acknowledging that while the game was “physically and mentally very difficult” he knew he was capable of the win.   The five-set match lasted four hours and 11 minutes, as the 34-year-old Djokovic made a comeback from losing the first two sets, in what he called an “electric ambiance” after the match.   Sunday marked the …

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U.S. President Joe Biden has declared that the G-7 summit was an “extraordinarily collaborative and productive meeting” that made progress on fighting the coronavirus pandemic, reviving the global economy and calling out China by name for its bad behavior. Speaking to reporters Sunday at the end of the gathering in Carbis Bay, England, Biden also praised agreements on tackling corruption, fighting ransomware and ending public finance for coal projects (but with no timeline agreement).    U.S. President Joe Biden holds a news conference at the end of the G-7 summit, at Cornwall Airport Newquay, Britain, June 13, 2021.Leaders of the G-7 on Sunday signed the FILE …

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce the delay of the easing of COVID-19-related restrictions due to the growing presence in the U.K. of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, first identified in India. A prominent British epidemiologist told the BBC that she supports the delay. Sian Griffiths said, “From a public health point of view, we’re seeing the cases increase, we’re seeing a slight increase in hospitalization in areas where there are a lot of cases, and the vaccination does work, but we need to get second doses into everybody over 50 and expand the vaccination program to …

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British foreign minister Dominic Raab criticized the European Union on Sunday for treating Northern Ireland as if it were a separate country rather than part of the United Kingdom, and said that approach was causing damage to the British province.”Various EU figures here in Carbis Bay, but frankly for months now and years, have characterized Northern Ireland as somehow a separate country and that is wrong. It is a failure to understand the facts,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr program.Raab made his comments amid a dispute between Britain and the European Union over the interpretation of the Northern Ireland …

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Right-wing protesters hit the streets of Madrid on Sunday to denounce controversial Spanish government plans to offer pardons to the jailed Catalan separatists behind the failed 2017 independence bid.The mass protest, which is scheduled to start at midday (1000 GMT), will up pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez who has called for understanding over the planned gesture that has dominated political debate for weeks and reactivated the controversy over Catalan separatism.”I understand there may be people who could have objections over this decision that the government may take, given what happened in 2017,” he said on Wednesday during an official …

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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is set to discuss revising its strategic concept when its leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, gather Monday in Brussels.NATO last updated the document outlining its purpose in 2010. The security threats and challenges it faces have changed since then, according to the organization’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg.“For instance, in the current strategic concept, China is not mentioned with a single word. And climate change is hardly mentioned at all. And of course, our relationship with Russia was at a very different place at that time compared to where we are today,” Stoltenberg told reporters …

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European Union negotiators said international talks that resumed Saturday on the Iran nuclear agreement were on track to revive the deal, which crumbled after the United States withdrew in 2018.Senior diplomats from China, Germany, France, Russia and Britain concluded a 90-minute meeting with Iranian representatives at a hotel in the Austrian capital.”We are making progress, but the negotiations are intense and a number of issues [remain], including on how steps are to be implemented,” EU representative Alain Matton told reporters in Vienna.The United States is not formally part of meetings that launched in Vienna this year. But the administration of …

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A Greek court on Saturday sentenced four Afghan asylum-seekers convicted of starting fires that burnt down Europe’s largest migrant camp last year to 10 years in prison each.The court in Chios found the defendants guilty of arson while their lawyers denounced a “lack of sense of fairness.”No one died in the fires.The lawyers told AFP they had immediately filed for an appeal after the sentence was handed down.The young Afghans were taken to the court handcuffed and were expected to return to the Avlona jail outside Athens, where they were held before the trial.In March, two other Afghan youths were …

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Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen was taken to a hospital Saturday after collapsing on the field during a match at the European Championship, leading to the game being suspended for more than 90 minutes. The governing body of European soccer said Eriksen has been stabilized and the Danish soccer federation said he was awake. “Christian Eriksen is awake and is undergoing further examinations at Rigshospitalet,” the Danish federation wrote on Twitter. The Euro 2020 match between Denmark and Finland had been halted in the 43rd minute with the score 0-0 but was to resume at 8:30 p.m. local time. UEFA said both teams had held …

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Leaders of the G-7 are set to sign the FILE – A health worker holds a tray with vials of the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 during a priority vaccination program at a community medical center in Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 6, 2021.The recommendations include acceleration of the development and licensing of vaccines, treatments and diagnostics for any future disease to under 100 days; a commitment to reinforce global surveillance networks and genomic sequencing capacity; and support for reforming and strengthening the World Health Organization.Some observers responded with skepticism.“Often the G-7, the problem with it is they announced many grand declarations. …

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