Category: Євросоюз

The U.S. decision to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization is a dangerous development that could lead to chaos, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday. Speaking at a joint news conference with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Turkish minister also said that U.S. sanctions were harming the people of Iran.   The United States re-imposed sanctions on Iran, including on its energy sector, last November, after President Donald Trump pulled out of the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal.   Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the designation against the Revolutionary Guard with …

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Two Saudi sisters appealed for help Wednesday from the former Soviet republic of Georgia after fleeing their country, in the latest case of runaways from the ultra-conservative kingdom using social media to seek asylum. Using a newly created Twitter account called “GeorgiaSisters,” they identified themselves as Maha al-Subaie, 28, and Wafa al-Subaie, 25. Like other Saudi women who have fled and turned to social media, they posted copies of their passports to establish their identities. The sisters claim they are in danger and will be killed if they are forcibly returned to Saudi Arabia. They said their father and brothers …

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As crews check the structural stability of France’s Notre Dame cathedral and work to determine the full extent of damage from a massive fire at the centuries-old Paris landmark, President Emmanuel Macron is pushing ahead with an ambitious goal of rebuilding it within five years. He gave the proposal to rebuild it “even more beautifully” in a nationwide address Tuesday night, and planned to spend Wednesday meeting with his Cabinet to discuss the reconstruction and the funding that will be necessary to complete it. He already has a huge head start, with wealthy French citizens and businesses having pledged about …

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French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday set the goal of rebuilding the fire-gutted Notre Dame cathedral within five years. In a passionate televised speech, Macron said France is the nation of builders and that with everyone’s participation, it can be done. But experts on restoring historic structures warn it could take decades to bring the church to its former glory. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports. …

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Material stolen by intruders from the North Korean Embassy in Madrid in February has been returned by Spanish authorities to Pyongyang’s mission without a review of the contents, a Spanish judicial source said on Tuesday. Investigators said the intruders, self-professed members of a group seeking the overthrow of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, removed computers and hard drives from the embassy before fleeing to the United States, where they handed the material to the FBI. The Spanish judicial source said the FBI returned the material two weeks ago to the Spanish court investigating the raid. The court did not …

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Turkey expects President Donald Trump to use a waiver to protect it if the U.S. Congress decides to sanction Ankara over a planned purchase of a Russian missile defense system, a Turkish presidential spokesman said in Washington on Tuesday. The United States has threatened to impose sanctions if Turkey seals its deal with Russia. Ankara has said its purchase should not trigger sanctions as Turkey is not an adversary of Washington and remains committed to the NATO alliance. “If it comes to that, that is the sanctions proposed to be implemented by the Congress, of course we will expect President …

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Dutch police on Tuesday arrested around 20 climate change protesters from the Extinction Rebellion movement after they staged a demonstration at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, officials said. The protest at the tribunal, which is more used to dealing with war crimes and genocide, came a day after the same grassroots environmental group blocked key roads in London. “A number of persons entered the premises of the ICC today, as general visitors to the court. After that, they grouped and started demonstrating outside the ICC building,” ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah told AFP. “They were evacuated by the …

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Poland’s foreign ministry says Russia is expelling an employee of Poland’s consulate in the Siberian city of Irkutsk. Ministry spokeswoman Ewa Suwara told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Russia’s declaration of the Pole as “persona non grata” was a move of “reciprocity.”    She did not elaborate and could not say whether the Pole has left Russia. The neighbors have had strained relations. Russia’s business daily Kommersant reported that the expulsion came after Poland recently expelled Russia’s deputy consul in Poznan.      Last year Poland expelled four Russian diplomats in a gesture of solidarity with Britain, which has …

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party on Tuesday formally demanded a rerun of Istanbul’s local ballot after contesting last month’s election results that gave the opposition the victory. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) got most votes nationwide in the March 31 election but its loss of the capital Ankara and Istanbul, the country’s economy hub, was a major setback after a decade and half in power. The AKP had demanded a recount and vowed to appeal for a new vote in Istanbul, citing alleged irregularities, after the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) won the city by a slim …

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Distraught Parisians and stunned tourists gazed in disbelief on Monday as a monstrous inferno tore through Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral, one of the world’s best-loved monuments. Thousands of onlookers lined bridges over the Seine and along the river’s embankments, held at a distance by a police cordon as the blaze engulfed the cathedral’s roof. “I’m devastated,” said Elizabeth Caille, 58, who lives close to the cathedral. “It’s a symbol of Paris. It’s a symbol of Christianity. It’s a whole world that is collapsing.” As dark fell over the French capital, orange flames rising through the heart of the 12th century …

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Turkey’s purchase of a Russian air defense missile system should not trigger U.S. sanctions because Ankara is not an adversary of Washington and remains committed to the NATO alliance, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Monday. Speaking at a U.S.-Turkey conference in Washington amid rising tensions between the two NATO allies over Ankara’s plan to buy the Russian S-400 missile system, Akar adopted a relatively conciliatory tone and urged to resolve issues via dialogue. “Turkey is clearly not an adversary of the United States,” Akar said and added that, therefore, its procurement of the S-400 system should not be considered within …

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Repaying earlier expensive International Monetary Fund loans is a significant step for Greece which will create favorable conditions for its economy, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday, promising more relief measures. “We are gaining points of [economic] freedom,” Tsipras said during an interview with Greece’s Antenna television. Greece this week plans to file a request to the euro zone’s bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), seeking its consent for the early repayment of the loans, sources told Reuters earlier Monday. The country emerged from its third international bailout since 2010 in August last year. During the live interview, Tsipras …

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Notre Dame Cathedral went up in flames Monday in a roaring blaze that devastated the Parisian landmark, a searing loss for the city and for France.  Here are five facts on the Gothic masterpiece that celebrated its 850th jubilee in 2013: * The first stone of the Notre-Dame de Paris (“Our Lady of Paris”) cathedral was laid in 1163 in the reign of Louis VII, as the medieval city of Paris was growing in population and importance, both as a political and economic center of the kingdom of France. * Construction would continue for much of the next century, with …

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Russia is demanding that the U.S. release a Russian citizen who was convicted of kidnapping for moving her children from the U.S. to Russia amid a divorce. Bogdana Alexandrovna Osipova, who is referred to by her married name of Mobley in court documents, was convicted in Kansas last month of one count of international parental kidnapping and two counts of attempting to extort money. Ospivoa, 38, faces up to 20 years in prison on each extortion count and up to three years on the kidnapping count at her May 20 sentencing hearing. The Russian Embassy said in a tweet Friday …

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The manufacturer of the iconic Italian scooter, Vespa, makes another line of noisy but affordable three-wheeled transportation vehicles. The name literally means “bee” in Italian, and fans of the motorized tricycle hummed across the Tuscan countryside to celebrate more than seventy years of its production. Arash Arabasadi has the buzz. …

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Finland’s leftist Social Democrats won first place in advance voting ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary election, with 18.9 percent of the votes, after 35.5 percent of ballots had been counted, justice ministry data showed. The center-right National Coalition of outgoing Finance Minister Petteri Orpo came in second, with 17.2 percent of the advance ballots. The Center Party of outgoing Prime Minister Juha Sipila scored third, with 15.4 percent. The nationalist True Finns party came in fourth, with 15.1 percent of the vote. About 36 percent of voting-age Finns cast their votes in a seven-day advance voting period that ended on Tuesday. …

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Tens of thousdands gathered at St. Peter’s Square as Pope Francis celebrated Palm Sunday Mass. Palm Sunday marks the start of the holiest and one of the busiest times on the Pope’s calendar. On the day the Church also celebrated the day of the youth, the pope urged young people not to be ashamed to show their enthusiasm for Jesus. As is tradition, Sunday Mass in Saint Peter’s Square on Palm Sunday began with Pope Francis sprinkling holy water and blessing palm fronds and olive branches for the service in front of the towering obelisk in the center of the …

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A lawyer representing jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says the Ecuadorian government has been spreading lies about his behavior inside its embassy in London. Jennifer Robinson told Sky News on Sunday that Ecuador is making “pretty outrageous allegations” to justify allowing British police into its embassy Thursday in order to take Assange into custody. Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno withdrew Assange’s political asylum this week, opening the way for his seizure by British police. Robinson says Assange has had “a very difficult time” since Moreno came to power in 2017. Assange is jailed in Britain for jumping bail and faces an …

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With reporting by Christopher Miller in Kyiv, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, AP, AFP, and Reuters. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko arrived at Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv for a presidential election debate even though his challenger, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said he will only agree to spar with Poroshenko at the stadium five days later. Poroshenko is to face Zelenskiy in Ukraine’s presidential runoff on April 21. Zelenskiy won the first round earlier this month by a large margin, and most, if not all, opinion polls put him well out in front of the incumbent ahead of the final vote.  Both candidates have agreed …

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Finland may usher in its first leftist prime minister in two decades in parliamentary elections Sunday, as voters worry over the future of the country’s generous welfare system as the costs of caring for a rapidly aging population rise. But if opinions polls are correct, the left-leaning Social Democrats’ ability to govern may be hampered by a surge in support for the Finns Party, a nationalist group riding a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment sweeping the Nordics. A survey commissioned by public broadcaster Yle showed the Social Democrats could win the top spot with 19 percent of the vote, giving their …

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