Category: Євросоюз

An increasingly influential Polish Catholic legal institute on Friday inaugurated a university in Warsaw that aims to educate a new generation of conservative lawyers in central Europe who it hopes will also shape wider European culture.The institute, Ordo Iuris, works to promote conservative causes, including restrictions on abortion and opposition to same-sex legal unions as it seeks to support traditional family structures. It successfully lobbied for the recent restriction of abortion rights in Poland and is spearheading efforts aimed at persuading countries not to ratify the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty against domestic violence, due to objections over how the …

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Russia refused to allow two EU-based airlines to land flights in the country to avoid Belarusian airspace days after Belarus scrambled a fighter jet and used a false bomb alert to divert an Irish passenger jet to Minsk and arrest a dissident Belarusian journalist.  Russia’s decision, an apparent show of support for Belarus, forced the cancellation of an Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna and an Air France flight from Paris, the airlines said. European Union foreign policy head Josep Borrell said before an EU defense ministers meeting Friday in Lisbon that the EU had yet to determine if the refusals were …

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French President Emmanuel Macron arrived Friday in South Africa for a lightning trip to discuss COVID vaccine access for Africa, aides said. Macron arrived from a historic visit to Rwanda where he acknowledged French responsibility in the 1994 genocide. Landing in Johannesburg, he headed for the capital Pretoria where he was to be welcomed by Cyril Ramaphosa at Union Buildings, the seat of government.  The pair will launch a program at the University of Pretoria to support African vaccine production, a project backed by the European Union, United States and World Bank. The leaders, say Ramaphosa’s office, are also expected to discuss a …

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Morocco’s ambassador to Spain has threatened more reprisals against Madrid over its decision to allow a Western Sahara independence leader to be treated in a Spanish hospital.     Karima Benyaich said elements in the Spanish government did not take the interests of Morocco into account, despite assurances from Madrid that Spain wants to move on from the crisis that led to thousands of migrants flooding into Spain’s North African enclave, Ceuta, last week.     Morocco is suspected of opening the borders to the would-be migrants.      Analysts have suggested the threatened further reprisals could mean Rabat will …

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The Biden administration informed Russia on Thursday that it will not rejoin a key arms control pact, even as the two sides prepare for a summit next month between their leaders, the State Department said.U.S. officials said Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told the Russians that the administration had decided not to reenter the Open Skies Treaty, which had allowed surveillance flights over military facilities in both countries before President Donald Trump withdrew from the pact. As a presidential candidate, Biden had criticized Trump’s withdrawal as “short-sighted.”Thursday’s decision means only one major arms control treaty between the nuclear powers …

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Germany for the first time on Friday recognized it had committed genocide in Namibia during its colonial occupation, with Berlin promising financial support worth more than one billion euros to aid projects in the African nation.Namibia on Friday welcomed Germany’s acknowledgment it had committed genocide in the southwestern African country during its 20th century colonial occupation.”The acceptance on the part of Germany that a genocide was committed is the first step in the right direction,” President Hage Geingob’s spokesperson Alfredo Hengari told AFP.German colonial settlers killed tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama people in 1904-08 massacres — labelled …

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Federal prosecutors are investigating whether current and former Ukrainian officials unlawfully interfered in the U.S. presidential election, The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.The criminal investigation includes examining whether the Ukrainian officials used Rudolph Giuliani, then personal lawyer to former President Donald Trump, to spread misleading claims about current President Joe Biden, The New York Times reported.The inquiry, which began during the final months of the Trump administration, is being handled by federal prosecutors in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, the newspaper reported, and is separate from an ongoing criminal investigation …

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Germany and Norway on Thursday officially launched an undersea power cable between the two countries in a project that aids Europe’s effort to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, along with other government and industry officials, took part in a virtual ceremony to symbolically throw the switch on the more than $2.2 billion project. The 623-kilometer cable has been operational for at least a month but was formally opened Thursday.Workers on Nexans Skagerrak vessel lay a NordLink subsea interconnector power cable to connect Norway and Germany at the Vollesfjord fjord …

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British Health Minister Matt Hancock rejected allegations Thursday he had repeatedly lied during his response to the COVID-19 pandemic made by Dominic Cummings, a former top aide of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.In testimony to lawmakers on Wednesday, Cummings accused Hancock of lying to the public and said he “should have been fired” for testing failures that saw patients with the coronavirus discharged from hospitals to nursing homes, and also for lying about the status of the pandemic to Parliament and the public. Addressing Parliament’s House of Commons, Hancock called Cummings’ allegations “serious” but “unsubstantiated and not true.” He said the government …

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French President Emmanuel Macron was in Rwanda’s capital Thursday, where he acknowledged France’s role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and said he hoped for forgiveness.  Speaking alongside Rwandan President Paul Kagame at the Gisozi genocide memorial in Kigali, Macron said, “I hereby humbly and with respect stand by your side today, I come to recognize the extent of our responsibilities.”Macron is the first French leader since 2010 to visit the East African nation, which has long accused France of complicity in the killing of some 800,000 mostly Tutsi Rwandans.  The visit follows the release in March of a French inquiry …

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Turkey’s foreign minister is scheduled to hold talks in Athens with his Greek counterpart Monday in the latest efforts to deescalate tensions between the two NATO members.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu rebuked his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias at a press conference in Ankara last month.  The very public argument over who was to blame for the lack of progress in resolving the countries’ differences underscores the scale of the ministers’ task when they meet in Athens Monday, says Cengiz Aktar of the Athens University. “I think the Greeks are very realistic,” he said. “They, of course, prefer to talk, that’s what …

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The parents of the young opposition activist and blogger detained in Minsk after the passenger jet he was on board was forced to land in the Belarusian capital earlier this week are pleading for the international community to help free their son.“I’m asking, I’m begging, I’m calling on the whole international community to save him,” Raman Pratasevich’s mother, Natalia, told AFP. Speaking from her home in Poland, she added, “Please save him. They’re going to kill him there.”“They sent a fighter jet to get this young man! It’s an act of terrorism — I don’t think you can call it …

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Myanmar’s army has lost a source of revenue as French energy giant Total said Wednesday that cash payments to a joint venture with the army have been suspended due to unrest in the country. Total has come under pressure from pro-democracy activists to “stop financing the junta” since a military coup in February which has been followed by a brutal crackdown on dissent. More than 800 people have been killed by the military, according to a local monitoring group. Total said in a statement that the decision to suspend payments was made at a May 12 meeting of shareholders of Moattama Gas Transportation …

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The European Union took AstraZeneca to a Belgian court Wednesday over the drug company’s failure to deliver tens of millions of COVID-19 doses it promised — slowing the EU’s efforts to kickstart its vaccine campaign.After weeks of souring relations and tough rhetoric against AstraZeneca, Europe is now turning to the legal system to force the Anglo-Swedish company to deliver the 180 million COVID-19 vaccine doses it has promised by July. Right now, reports say it is on track to deliver less than half that amount. Stefan De Keersmaecker, spokesman for the European Commission — the EU’s executive arm charged with procuring …

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In a landmark case brought by seven environmental groups, a Dutch court Wednesday ordered energy company Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) to cut its carbon emissions by net 45% from 2019 levels by 2030.The ruling could set a precedent for similar cases against polluting multinationals, particularly petroleum companies, around the world.The environmental groups, which included the Dutch chapter of Greenpeace, filed the suit in 2019 on behalf of 17,000  Dutch citizens. The groups had argued RDS was in breach of its obligation to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.In her decision, Hague District Court Judge Larissa Alwin ruled that since the Anglo-Dutch …

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Police arrested three people Wednesday in the cable car disaster that killed 14 people in northern Italy, saying an investigation showed a clamp, intentionally placed on the brake as a patchwork repair, prevented the brake from engaging after the lead cable snapped. Carabinieri Lt. Col. Alberto Cicognani said at least one of the three people questioned overnight admitted to what happened. He said the fork-shaped clamp had been placed on the emergency brake to deactivate it because the brake was engaging spontaneously and preventing the funicular from working. The clamp was put on several weeks ago as a temporary fix to prevent further service …

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The White House announced Tuesday that President Joe Biden will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva next month, as the administration seeks to restore stability amid worsening bilateral tensions. Some Republican lawmakers have criticized the decision, raising concerns about recent moves by Moscow and its ally Belarus. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report.   …

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The European Union pledged to deliver at least 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to low- and middle-income countries by year’s end, and develop vaccine production capacity in poorer nations, as it wrapped up a two-day summit in Brussels.After being criticized for a slow vaccination start, European leaders say they are steaming ahead on COVID-19 inoculations, securing 1.8 billion doses to cover the next two years — enough to export to needy countries outside the 27-member bloc. The bloc says it’s also on track to surpass goals of exporting 100 million doses to developing countries. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen …

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Airlines re-routed flights to avoid Belarusian airspace Tuesday in the aftermath of the Minsk government forcing down a passenger jet and arresting an opposition blogger critical of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.Lufthansa, KLM, SAS, Air France, LOT and Singapore Airlines were among carriers that stopped flying over Belarus along a major Europe-to-Asia corridor that generates hard currency payments to the Minsk government, $300 to $940 per flight.Belgium’s Charles Michel, who chairs European Union summits, called the flight bans, “Europe in action,” tweeting a picture of a flight tracker map showing no planes flying over Belarus.Belarusian planes also faced a possible ban …

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Talks between Iran and the world powers still adhering to the 2015 nuclear deal resumed Tuesday in Vienna with the goal of bringing the United States back into the agreement.The fifth round of talks began a day after Iran and the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency agreed to extend a deal for monitoring Iran’s nuclear activities for one month.  While the U.S. is not directly participating in the talks, the U.S. special envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, has been in Vienna for previous rounds and is in touch with representatives from participants Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China.After a …

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