Category: Євросоюз

The Paris-based U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on Thursday launched a campaign to fight prejudice. The move coincided with International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Begun with the French city of Bordeaux, the UNESCO billboard campaign features a variety of faces — old and young, men and women, and of many ethnic backgrounds. The tagline, “us different?” aims to make us think about who we are, and our prejudices.   “You would walk by it and hopefully react. … [Is that] person on the screen different?” said Magnus Magnusson, partnerships and outreach director at UNESCO’s social and human science division. Mindful of stereotypes …

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France on Thursday called for Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh to be released and warned Tehran that its adherence to a nuclear accord does not give it a blank cheque on human rights. “We will do all we can to secure the release of Mrs. Sotoudeh,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the upper chamber Senate. “She was condemned under astonishing conditions,” for “defending the rights of women, in particular those who contest the obligation to wear the Islamic veil,” he added. Sotoudeh’s husband, Reza Khandan, told AFP on Sunday that his wife had been sentenced to a …

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In the past two years, British Prime Minister Theresa May has insisted repeatedly that Britain will exit the European Union on schedule on March 29 — she has said so 108 times from the dispatch box in the House of Commons. But on Thursday, the embattled leader, whose days in office appear to be numbered, was forced to appeal to her fellow EU national leaders for a three-month postponement, throwing into deeper confusion a Brexit process that has pushed Britain into a constitutional crisis, dividing the country. May’s face-to-face request at a summit in Brussels clearly strained the patience of …

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A Ukrainian parliamentarian is asking Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko to prove allegations he recently made that Marie Yovanovitch, U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, gave him a list of people who should not be prosecuted — a claim quickly rejected by the United States. “The statement of Ukraine’s prosecutor-general does not correspond to reality and is meant to weaken the reputation of Ambassador Yovanovitch,” the State Department said. Lutsenko, who says he rejected the demand, made the comments in a Washington television interview that aired Wednesday, just days after Yovanovitch criticized Ukraine’s efforts to fight corruption ahead of the presidential election March …

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Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley found herself in a Twitter feud with the people of Finland on Thursday, after she commented unfavorably on their health care system. Haley, a savvy politician who as President Donald Trump’s United Nations ambassador from 2017 until December 2018, regularly topped opinion polls as the most popular member of his administration, ignited the Finns when she tried to take a swipe at a tweet by Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders.  Sanders, who has made universal health care one of his signature platforms, said it costs an average of $12,000 for a woman to …

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Dutch prosecutors said Thursday they will charge the suspect in this week’s deadly tram shooting in the city of Utrecht with multiple murder charges with terrorist intent. Prosecutors believe Turkish-born Gokmen Tanis acted alone Monday when he allegedly killed three people and seriously wounded three others. Prosecutors and police said in a statement they are still investigating whether the 37-year-old suspect “acted out of a single terrorist motive or whether from personal problems in combination with radicalized ideas.” The suspect was arrested after an eight-hour search that virtually closed the city. Police later arrested a fourth suspect and are trying …

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British Prime Minister Theresa May is trying Thursday to persuade European Union leaders in Brussels to approve a three-month extension, giving Britain more time to figure out how exactly it will leave the EU. The other 27 EU members must approve any Brexit delay beyond the original March 29 deadline. A vote is not likely to take place until next week. Before May traveled to make her case in person at Thursday’s EU meeting, she made her request in a letter to EU Council President Donald Tusk. But Tusk says such a short-term extension can only happen if Britain’s parliament …

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Residents and officials in Crimea have been staging events this week to mark the fifth anniversary of Russia’s forceful annexation of the region from Ukraine. The United States and its allies imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Moscow following the invasion. Analysts say the economic impact is denting approval ratings for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Thousands of heavily armed fighters, dubbed “little green men” for their anonymous uniforms, stormed Ukrainian military installations and government buildings in February 2014. The fighters were clearly backed by Russia, but Moscow denied involvement. On March 16, 2014, the new de facto authorities staged a referendum in …

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This week marks the fifth anniversary of Russia’s forceful annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea. The United States and its allies imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Moscow following the invasion – and analysts say the economic impact is denting approval ratings for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Henry Ridgwell reports. …

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Finland ranked as the world’s happiest country for the second consecutive year, in a new United Nations report. The other Nordic countries, as well as the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand and Austria also made the top 10 in the happiness survey of 156 countries. South Sudan sank to the bottom, and other war-torn countries also ranked low. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more. …

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Italian authorities have seized Italian charity ship Mare Jonio and questioned the crew, which might have defied an Interior Ministry order that closes all ports to vessels carrying rescued migrants. The Mare Jonio is docked and empty in the port of Lampedusa, confiscated by authorities after its crew was placed under investigation by Sicilian magistrates for allegedly favoring illegal immigration. The 49 migrants who were on board, including 12 minors, disembarked in Lampedusa late Tuesday. They were given food, water and fresh clothing two days after their rescue off the Libyan coast. Authorities first questioned the owner and captain of …

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says last Friday’s massacre at two New Zealand mosques should in no way be linked to Christianity and that the gunman is no different from Islamic State terrorists. “I categorically reject any attempt to associate last week’s terrorist attacks with the teachings, morals or maxims of Christianity,” the Muslim politician wrote in an opinion piece published Wednesday by The Washington Post. “If anything, what happened in New Zealand was the toxic product of ignorance and hate.” Authorities say Brenton Tarrant, an Australian white supremacist suspected of killing 50 people in the mosques in the city …

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German automaker BMW said Wednesday that profits in 2019 would be “well below” last year’s and that it planned to cut 12 billion euros ($13.6 billion) in costs by the end of 2022 to offset spending on new technology. The company said profits would be eroded by higher raw materials prices, the costs of compliance with tougher emissions requirements and unfavorable shifts in currency exchange rates. The Munich-based automaker also faces increased uncertainty due to international trade conflicts that could lead to higher tariffs. The company forecast a profit margin of 6 to 8 percent for its automotive business, short …

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A United Nations court has increased the sentence to life in prison for convicted Bosnian Serb war criminal Radovan Karadzic, after hearing his appeal of the original sentence. Karadzic, 73, was in court in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday appealing his original sentence of 40 years for organizing mass killings in the Bosnian War, which lasted from 1992 to 1995. He was also appealing his 2016 convictions of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, for ordering the July 1995 mass killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Bosnia’s Srebrenica region. The court not only upheld his convictions, but lengthened …

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British Prime Minister Theresa May asked the European Union Wednesday to delay Britain’s exit from the 28-nation bloc for three months, until June 30. Britain had been set to carry out its Brexit plan and split from the EU on March 29, but parliament has been unable in a string of votes to agree on the terms of its departure. Lawmakers have been debating details of everyday passage at the border between EU member Ireland and London-controlled Northern Ireland, along with trade issues. Any delay in Brexit needs approval from the remaining 27 EU nations, who are meeting in Brussels …

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Dutch prosecutors on Tuesday said they were investigating a possible “terrorist motive” behind the shooting on a tram in the city of Utrecht in which three people were killed and five wounded. A Turkish-born man, 37-year-old Gokmen Tanis, was arrested after a seven-hour manhunt on Monday by security forces and remained in custody. Two other men were arrested on Monday and released after being cleared of involvement. A fourth suspect was arrested on Tuesday. “His role is being further investigated,” prosecutors said in a statement. They described Tanis as the chief suspect. “Up to this point, a terrorist motive is …

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High-level U.S.-Russian talks on how to defuse Venezuela’s crisis ended on Tuesday with the two sides still at odds over the legitimacy of President Nicolas Maduro. Russia has said Maduro remains the country’s only legitimate leader whereas the United States and many other Western countries back Juan Guaido, head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly who invoked a constitutional provision in January to assume an interim presidency. “No, we did not come to a meeting of minds, but I think the talks were positive in the sense that both sides emerged with a better understanding of the other’s views,” U.S. special …

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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny says President Vladimir Putin’s decision to annex Crimea, which occurred five years ago this week, has come at a significant financial cost to Russian citizens and a large political cost to the president himself. “Putin, in order to strengthen his personal power, sacrificed the interests of a huge number of people,” Navalny recently told VOA’s Russian Service, citing data from Russia’s Economic Development Ministry that show real disposable incomes sliding for the sixth year in a row. Russia invaded Crimea and annexed the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, following street protests in Kyiv …

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British Prime Minister Theresa May is preparing to ask the European Union to delay Britain’s exit from the bloc by at least several months to ensure an orderly divorce. May is seeking a delay after her plan to have another vote this week on her proposed separation agreement was thrown into disarray by the speaker of parliament.  John Bercow ruled that May cannot keep asking lawmakers to vote on a proposal they have already rejected twice. The prime minister had hoped to win more support and hold another parliamentary vote on the proposed Brexit deal this week before a crucial …

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EU member states should be empowered to scrutinize each other’s democratic track record, Germany and Belgium said Tuesday, in an attempt to beef up the bloc’s defenses against nationalist, populist governments flouting its key principles. The proposal, made at a meeting of EU ministers, coincides with high-profile EU investigations against Poland and Hungary for undermining the independence of their courts and media, while Romania is accused of rolling back on anti-graft reforms. Germany and Belgium say their proposal would create space for member states to flag rule-of-law concerns early on rather than wait — as at present — for problems …

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