Category: Євросоюз

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced on Monday plans to increase the standard minimum monthly wage by about 11 percent, the first such hike since the country’s debt crisis erupted almost a decade ago. The country emerged in August from its third international bailout since 2010 and the government, which faces a national election this year, has promised to reverse some of the unpopular reforms Greece implemented under bailout supervision. “I’m calling on you, after a decade of wage cuts, to make another historic step,” Tsipras said, calling on his cabinet to approve the labor ministry’s proposal for an increase …

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Few stand to be as affected by a no-deal Brexit as the 34,000 Gibraltar residents and the Spanish communities around the British overseas colony known as the Rock. They’re bracing for dramatic consequences if Britain leaves the EU with no deal to govern the breakup due March 29. Under Prime Minister Teresa May’s Brexit agreement, voted down by the British parliament this month, the unrestricted access between Spain and Gibraltar currently enjoyed by thousands of Gibraltarians, Spaniards and tourists moving across the border each day would have been guaranteed. But in a no-deal scenario, EU free-movement agreements no longer apply, …

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Iran is likely to expand its cyberespionage activities as its relations with Western powers worsen, the European Union digital security agency said Monday. Iranian hackers are behind several cyberattacks and online disinformation campaigns in recent years as the country tries to strengthen its clout in the Middle East and beyond, a Reuters Special Report published in November found. This month the European Union imposed its first sanctions on Iran since world powers agreed to a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, in a reaction to Iran’s ballistic missile tests and assassination plots on European soil. “Newly imposed sanctions on Iran are …

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British officials are war-gaming various strategies for coping with the disruption of Britain leaving the European Union without an exit deal, including declaring a state of emergency and martial law to avert disorder provoked by possible food shortages and energy outages. Details emerged of Operation Yellow Hammer, the contingency planning underway for a so-called no-deal Brexit, ahead of important parliamentary votes this week that could result in Britain postponing its departure by nine months or even more. Operation Yellow Hammer has provoked the wrath of hardline Brexiters, who say the war-gaming is excessive and the leaking of what the government …

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The U.S. Treasury has lifted sanctions on three Russian companies connected to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, reversing a move which wreaked havoc on global aluminum markets last year. To the Treasury and supporters of the move, it was an example of sanctions working as they should by changing a target’s behavior in nine months under suffocating restrictions on trade. Due to the sanctions, Deripaska, a tycoon who has been close to the Kremlin, agreed to reduce his shareholdings to below 50 percent. Congressional Democrats and some Republicans, however, worry that Deripaska could retain significant influence, even as he himself stays …

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Turkey’s foreign minister met Monday with the U.N. judicial expert investigating the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as Ankara calls for an international inquiry. U.N. special investigator Agnes Callamard will be in Turkey until Saturday for a series of meetings with authorities, including Istanbul’s chief prosecutor. Saudi officials have not confirmed whether they have responded to Callamard’s request to meet the Saudi Ambassador in Turkey and to visit the kingdom as part of her investigation. Turkey’s Foreign Minister foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu posted a tweet following the meeting. Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, was murdered in the Saudi consulate …

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A top Russian diplomat is in Pakistan to discuss efforts to promote direct peace talks between warring sides in neighboring Afghanistan. Russian presidential envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov is visiting Islamabad after last week’s marathon talks between U.S. special representative for Afghan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban in Qatar. Pakistan says it has arranged the ongoing direct peace dialogue between U.S. and Taliban envoys. “Regional countries have genuine stakes and concerns and would continue to exchange views on the evolving Afghan situation,” a senior Pakistani official told VOA when asked about issues they expected to come under discussions in …

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Pro-Brexit British lawmakers were mounting a campaign Monday to rescue Prime Minister Theresa May’s rejected European Union divorce deal in a parliamentary showdown this week. Lawmakers threw out May’s Brexit deal two weeks ago and will debate and vote Tuesday on competing plans for what to do next about Britain’s impending departure from the bloc. May insists her agreement can still win parliament’s backing, if it is tweaked to alleviate concerns about a provision for the Irish border. The measure, known as the backstop, would keep the U.K. in a customs union with the EU in order to remove the …

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U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Sunday lifted sanctions on aluminum giant Rusal and other Russian firms linked to oligarch Oleg Deripaska, despite a Democratic-led push in the U.S. Congress to maintain the restrictions. Earlier this month, 11 of Trump’s fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate joined Democrats in a failed effort to keep the sanctions on Rusal, its parent, En+ Group Plc, and power firm JSC EuroSibEnergo. But that was not enough to overcome opposition from Trump and most of his fellow Republicans. Advocates for keeping the sanctions had argued that Deripaska, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, …

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At least 70,000 people braved cold and rain in Brussels to demand the Belgian government and the European Union increase their efforts to fight climate change Sunday, the Belgian capital’s fourth climate rally in two months to attract at least 10,000 participants. The event was described as Belgium’s biggest climate march ever, with police estimating slightly bigger crowds than a similar demonstration last month. Trains from across the nation were so clogged thousands of people didn’t make the march in time. Some 35,000 schoolchildren and students in Belgium skipped classes Thursday to take their demands for urgent action to prevent …

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As the world commemorates the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on International Holocaust Remembrance Day Sunday, death camp survivor Cipora Feivlovich marks her own personal milestone as she turns 92. Feivlovich has spent her most recent birthdays recounting to audiences in Israel and Germany her harrowing experiences in the camp, where her parents, brother and best friends all perished.   Despite witnessing daily atrocities and fearing that the toxic food and injections she was given would make her infertile, she eventually married her husband Pinchas, a fellow orphaned survivor, and started a new family. Today she has dozens of …

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Britain’s Prince Philip has apologized to woman who was injured when the car she was riding in collided with a Land Rover that he was driving. The 97-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II told the woman he was “deeply sorry” that she was injured in the Jan. 17 collision. In the letter, published in the Sunday Mirror, Philip said he was dazzled by the sun when he entered a main road near the royal retreat in Sandringham in eastern England. He wrote to Emma Fairweather, who suffered a broken wrist in the crash, that “I can only imagine that I …

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French police are investigating how a prominent yellow vest protester suffered a dramatic eye injury in Paris, as well as other protest-related injuries. Violence by protesters and the sometimes-aggressive police response have prompted a national debate since the anti-government movement kicked off two months ago.   A counter-demonstration is planned Sunday in Paris by groups calling themselves the “red scarves” and “blue vests” to protest the violence.   Paris police said Sunday they are investigating the eye injury of protester Jerome Rodrigues, among other protest injuries. Video images show Rodriguez collapsed on the ground Saturday near the Bastille monument in …

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The World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland, that wrapped up Friday, had some notable absentees, including U.S. President Donald Trump. With a backlash against a perceived ruling elite gaining ground in many countries, analysts say some leaders steered clear of a gathering often seen as an inaccessible club for the world’s super-rich. Others argue it is vital they get together to discuss urgent issues like climate change and world trade. On the surface, though, it was business as usual: On a sealed off, snowbound mountaintop, world leaders rubbed shoulders with global executives, lobbyists and pressure groups. It remains a vital gathering of …

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A majority of Germans favor setting maximum speed limits for Germany’s famously fast Autobahns to help battle climate change, according to a poll published Saturday. Fifty-two percent of those polled wanted vehicle speeds limited to between 120 kph and 140 kph (75 mph and 87 mph), the poll conducted by the Emnid institute and published by Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed. Forty-six percent opposed such limits. A government-appointed committee studying the future of transport is looking at ending the “no limits” sections on motorways as part of a broader proposal to help Germany meet European Union emissions targets. Transport minister …

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A European Parliament delegation on Saturday urged Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to release political prisoners, permit the return of banned human rights groups and restart dialogue with the opposition to end a  months-long political crisis.  The delegation led by European Member of Parliament (MEP) Ramon Jauregui, a Socialist from Spain, told a news conference it would ask the European Parliament to issue a new resolution on the crisis.  For months, Nicaragua has been convulsed by some of its worst political tension since a civil war in the 1980s. An initial standoff between protesters and the government in April over planned welfare cuts quickly descended into deadly clashes.  By the …

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The date Britain leaves the European Union could be pushed back by a couple of weeks to give time for legislation to be approved by lawmakers, the leader of Britain’s lower house of Parliament said Saturday, the most senior figure to make such a suggestion.  Britain, the world’s fifth-largest economy, is due to leave the EU March 29 but Prime Minister Theresa May’s negotiated exit deal was rejected by lawmakers, leaving open the possibility of a disorderly Brexit.  Parliament will now vote on a series of amendments on Tuesday with the United Kingdom facing its deepest political crisis in half a century as it grapples with how, or even whether, to …

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A government-appointed commission laid out a plan Saturday for Germany to phase out coal use by 2038.    The commission — made up of politicians, climate experts, union representatives and industry figures from coal regions — developed the plan under mounting pressure on Europe’s top economy to step up efforts to combat climate change. “This is a historic day,” the commission’s head, Ronald Pofalla, said after 20 hours of negotiations. The recommendations, which involve at least $45.6 billion in aid to coal-mining states affected by the move, must be reviewed by the German government and 16 regional states. While some government …

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French President Emmanuel Macron leaves a France roiled by ongoing yellow vest protests for another tumultuous region — the Middle East — and talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on regional politics and weapons sales, shadowed by the looming U.S. troop pullout from Syria. Macron’s three-day Egypt visit, his first official trip there since taking office in 2017, underscores that country’s role as vital ally in the fight against terror and hub of stability in a restive region. Crucially, too, Cairo is a big-spending client for French weapons manufacturers, buying warships and fighter planes, with more potential sales …

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Five people were killed Friday when a helicopter and a small tourist airplane collided near the border between France and Italy.      Italy’s mountain rescue service said rescue workers found two people injured at the crash site and evacuated them.    Officials said the helicopter was carrying skiers to a glacier in the northwestern Italian region of Val d’Aosta when it collided with the tourist airplane about 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) over the Rutor glacier.      It was not immediately clear how the crash happened. The identities and nationalities of the victims had not yet been released.   Italy’s Val d’Aosta region is …

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