Category: Євросоюз

Ukrainian President’s Party to ‘Interview’ Candidates for July Elections

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s newly formed political party has appointed campaign adviser Dmytro Razumkov as its head and will interview prospective candidates to fill its party list ahead of snap parliamentary elections in July, party representatives have said. The announcement was made by Razumkov, who spoke Monday at a press conference along with Oleksandr Korniyenko, head of the Servant of the People party’s election headquarters, and Mykhaylo Fedorov, the party’s chief of digital strategies. Razumkov, the director of a political consulting company, got his start in politics as a member of the former Party of Regions of Viktor Yanukovych, the …

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Ukraine’s New President Visits Eastern War Zone

Donning a bulletproof helmet and vest over business attire, Volodymyr Zelenskiy made his first visit Monday as president and commander-in-chief to the front line of the war in eastern Ukraine with Russia-backed separatists. During the visit, which was not announced ahead of time, Zelenskiy met with Ukrainian troops in the war-torn towns of Stanytsia Luhanska and Shchastya in the Luhansk region, according to the presidential press service. The press service said Zelenskiy, who elected in April, made the trip to get acquainted with Ukrainian military positions. Zelenskiy also spoke with soldiers about living conditions, food quality, equipment, housing, social benefits …

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Fiat Chrysler Proposes Merger With Renault

Fiat Chrysler proposed a merger Monday with Renault, a union that would create the world’s third biggest automaker. The merger, if it happens, would vault the new company, with annual sales of 8.7 million vehicles, into a position ahead of General Motors and behind only Volkswagen and Toyota, both of which sell about 10.6 million. The merger could give the combined companies a better chance in the battle among auto manufacturers to build new electric and autonomous vehicles. Investors in both companies showed their initial approval of the announcement, with Renault’s shares jumping 15 percent in afternoon trading in Paris …

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Russia Set to Host Taliban, Afghan Politicians

Prominent opposition politicians from Afghanistan and representatives of the Taliban insurgency will meet in Russia on Wednesday for discussions on promoting a negotiated settlement to the Afghan war that continues to cause dozens of casualties every day. The intra-Afghan conference comes as months of direct peace negotiations between the United States and the Taliban appear to have slowed down, if not deadlocked, over insurgents’ refusal to cease hostilities until all U.S.-led international forces withdraw from Afghanistan. Washington has linked its troop withdrawal move to counterterrorism assurances by the Taliban, a comprehensive cease-fire and the insurgent group’s participation in a peace …

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Smaller Pro-EU Parties Surge in European Elections; Centrists Lose Seats

Smaller European parties saw a surge of support in continent-wide elections for the European Parliament in what politicians and analysts agree will likely be seen as the most consequential since 1979, when European Union voters first began casting ballots for the bloc’s legislature. Early results Sunday suggested the 751-seat parliament will be more fragmented than ever before. Smaller parties, both euroskeptic and pro-EU ones, fared well at the expense of their more established and bigger center-right and center-left rivals. Pro-EU Liberals and Greens will hold the balance of power in the new parliament, which will sit for five years. Philippe …

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Virtual Reality Offers Glimpse of Rome’s Circus Maximus

The Circus Maximus Experience, opened in Rome this week and offers visitors the chance to relive the ancient splendors of chariot racing in the Imperial period of Rome through augmented and virtual reality. The innovative project implements interactive display technologies never before used in such a large outdoor area. “Now you find yourself in front of the Arch of Titus, which was possibly built in the place of a more ancient arch and dedicated in the year 81 After Christ by the Roman Senate and people to Emperor Flavius”. This is just an example of what modern-day visitors will be …

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Race to Succeed UK PM May Centers on ‘No Deal’ Brexit Battle

The prospect of a “no deal” Brexit was fast becoming the central battle of the race to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday, as environment minister Michael Gove became the latest candidate to declare. May said on Friday she was quitting over her failure to deliver Brexit, potentially opening the way for a new leader who could seek a more divisive split with the European Union and lead to confrontation with the bloc or a possible parliamentary election. Setting out their pitch to the Conservative Party’s largely pro-Brexit membership who will decide the outcome of the contest, four of …

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Imprisoned PKK Leader Calls For End to Hunger Strikes

Thousands of prisoners in Turkey ended their hunger strikes Sunday that had been mounted to force Turkey to end jailed militant leader Abdullah Ocalan’s isolation at Imrali Island prison. Earlier Sunday, Ocalan’s lawyers read a statement from their client calling for an end to the strikes. “I expect the action to come to an end…” Ocalan said in a statement read by one of his lawyers at a press conference in Istanbul. An estimated two to three thousand detainees throughout Turkey’s prison system had participated in the strikes. Twice this month, Turkey allowed the 70-year-old imprisoned leader of the outlawed …

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Jailed PKK Leader Calls for End to Mass Hunger Strike

Thousands of prisoners in Turkish jails have ended a 200-day-long hunger strike after jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan was allowed to see his lawyer for the first time in eight years. “Comrades who have committed themselves to hunger strikes and death fasts, I expect you to end your protest,” Ocalan said in an appeal to his supporters Sunday. He has been allowed to see his attorney twice in the past week A number of Kurdish lawmakers had joined the 3,000 prisoners and others in refusing solid food unless Ocalan was allowed to consult with his lawyer on Imrali Island …

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Israeli President Shocked by German Skullcap Comment

Israel’s president said Sunday he is shocked by a German official’s comment that he wouldn’t advise Jews to wear skullcaps in parts of the country, which is drawing mixed reactions at home. Felix Klein, the government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, was quoted Saturday as saying: “I cannot recommend to Jews that they wear the skullcap at all times everywhere in Germany.” He didn’t elaborate on what places and times might be risky. “The statement of the German government’s anti-Semitism commissioner that it would be preferable for Jews not wear a kippa in Germany out of fear for their safety, shocked me deeply,” …

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Anti-Semitic Attacks on the Rise in Germany

Germany’s anti-Semitism commissioner has advised Jews that it may be dangerous in certain parts of the country to wear the kippahs, also known as skullcaps, traditionally worn by Jewish men. He did not specify which areas of the country he was referring to. “I cannot advise Jews to wear the kippah everywhere all the time in Germany,” Felix Klein told the Funke press group in an interview published Saturday. Klein’s warning comes amid a rising number of anti-Semitic attacks in Germany. The commissioner said “the lifting of inhibitions and the uncouthness which is on the rise in society” has contributed …

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Ireland Votes to Make Divorce Easier

Irish voters have overwhelmingly endorsed a plan to liberalize the country’s constitution to make it easier for couples to divorce. Election officials said Sunday a constitutional requirement that couples be separated for four years before being allowed to divorce will be removed. It will fall to Ireland’s Parliament to come up with new legislation to govern divorce. Officials say more than 82% of voters endorsed the change, which follows liberalization of abortion laws approved in a referendum last year. Culture Minister Josepha Madigan told RTE News voters had shown compassion by “humanizing the system.” Voter turnout on the referendum vote …

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Voters Elect EU Parliament as Nationalism Mounts

Pivotal elections for the European Union parliament reach their climax Sunday as the last 21 nations go to the polls and results are announced in a vote that boils down to a continentwide battle between euroskeptic populists and proponents of closer EU unity. Right-wing nationalists who want to slash immigration into Europe and return power to national governments are expected to make gains, though mainstream parties are expected to hold onto power in the 751-seat legislature that sits in both Brussels and Strasbourg. Salvini vs Macron Leading the challenge to the established order is Italy’s hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, …

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Russia Launches Nuclear Icebreaker 

Russia launched a nuclear-powered icebreaker on Saturday, part of an ambitious program to renew and expand its fleet of the vessels in order to improve its ability to tap the Arctic’s commercial potential. The ship, dubbed the Ural, was floated out from a dockyard in St Petersburg. It’s one of a trio that when completed will be the largest and most powerful icebreakers in the world.    Russia is building new infrastructure and overhauling its ports as, amid warmer climate cycles, it readies for more traffic via what it calls the Northern Sea Route (NSR), which it envisages being navigable year-round.    …

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Abortion Not the Answer, Even After Prenatal Diagnoses, Pope Says

Pope Francis on Saturday reiterated his unswerving opposition to abortion, saying he is against it even when an unborn child has been diagnosed with a serious illness. At a Vatican-sponsored conference titled Yes to Life: Caring for the Precious Gift of Life in its Frailness, the pope said the use of abortion was equivalent to hiring a hitman to take another person’s life.    It is not the first time Francis has used such language. At a general audience last year, he said, “Is it right to take someone’s life to solve a problem?”    He added, “Is it right to hire …

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Italy’s EU Parliament Vote Could Change Country’s Balance of Power

Italians cast ballots Sunday for European Parliament in what is seen as a test for Italy’s two parties and the leaders of the country’s ruling coalition government. The vote’s outcome is expected to have an impact on domestic politics and on Italy’s future role in the European Union. The European Parliament election will be a test for Italy’s ruling coalition government, and in recent weeks the two campaigning deputy prime ministers, Matteo Salvini, leader of the League Party and Luigi Di Maio, leader of the 5-Star Movement, have been voicing differing positions to woo voters to their respective camps. Political …

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Russia Ordered to Release Ukrainian Sailors and Ships

A United Nations tribunal has ordered Russia to immediately release three Ukrainian naval ships and two dozen sailors, who were captured in a November confrontation off the Crimean Peninsula. The Germany-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea issued the order Saturday after a hearing earlier this month. The seizures occurred during a November 25 confrontation in the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea from mainland Russia. It was the first open military clash between Russia and Ukraine since Moscow’s 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, which is generally regarded as an illegal action. Ukraine maintains Russia stopped its ships …

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Theresa May’s Resignation Raises Chances of British General Election

The resignation announcement Friday by the country’s Conservative prime minister Theresa May has increased the likelihood of Britain having to hold a general election this year, say analysts and lawmakers. That would add even more uncertainty to the country’s chaotic departure from the European Union. Within hours of May’s tearful announcement, moderate Conservative lawmakers who want Britain to remain either in the European Union or closely tied to it, warned they might have no choice but to withhold support for her successor, if it turns out to be Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary and political maverick, who has the …

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Senate Foreign Relations Chief: North Macedonian NATO Accession Vote Possible by June

This story originated in VOA’s Macedonian Service.  WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers may vote to approve North Macedonia as the 30th member of NATO as early as next month, according to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator James Risch. “The process is that we need to have a hearing on it in the Foreign Relations Committee, and I have tentatively scheduled that for approximately two weeks from now,” the junior Idaho Republican senator told VOA’s Macedonian Service. “Then, as far as when it will be finalized, it goes to the Senate floor, and we would very much like to have that …

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