Category: Євросоюз

Three decades ago, the breakup of the country of Yugoslavia led to 10 years of conflict involving Serbian nationals fighting against the former Yugoslav republics of Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Millions of people were displaced, and hundreds of thousands were killed and wounded. Now veterans of the war in Croatia are helping rehabilitate wounded Ukrainians. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. Camera and edit: Yuriy Dankevych …

READ MORE

SKOPJE, North Macedonia — Voters in North Macedonia were casting ballots on Wednesday in a parliamentary election and a presidential runoff dominated by issues including the country’s path toward European Union membership, corruption and the economy. The first round of the election for president, a largely ceremonial post, was seen as a barometer for the parliamentary vote. It gave a clear lead to Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, the candidate backed by the center-right opposition, over incumbent Stevo Pendarovski, who is supported by the governing center-left coalition. Siljanovska-Davkova garnered 41.2%, in the first round on April 24, compared to 20.5% for Pendarovski. The two …

READ MORE

…

READ MORE

Vienna — After “frank” discussions in France where President Emmanuel Macron pressed him on Russia’s war in Ukraine, trade disputes and human rights, China’s President Xi Jinping heads Tuesday to meet more pro-Beijing governments in Serbia and Hungary.  Both countries have developed close ties with China and Russia under Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.  China has been investing billions in both countries, with projects ranging from factories and mining to electric vehicles and a railway to connect their capitals — Belgrade and Budapest.  China is both Hungary and Serbia’s largest trading partner outside the European Union.  …

READ MORE

PENTAGON — The U.S. Army has confirmed that a U.S. soldier was arrested last week during an unauthorized visit to the Russian far eastern port city of Vladivostok, one of two recently detained Americans in Russia. Army spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said Tuesday Staff Sergeant Gordon C. Black had been stationed in South Korea and signed out on permanent change of station leave on April 10 en route to Fort Cavazos, Texas. Instead of returning to the continental United States, Black flew through China to Vladivostok for “personal reasons.” “Black did not request official clearance, and [the Department of Defense] did not …

READ MORE

Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up his two-day visit to France Tuesday — his first trip to Europe in five years. As Henry Ridgwell reports, China and Europe are seeking to mend ties but face major obstacles — including trade disputes and Beijing’s support for Russia. …

READ MORE

LONDON — Chinese President Xi Jinping offered few concessions to his counterpart and host Emmanuel Macron as he wrapped up a two-day visit to France on Tuesday evening. Both presidents are seeking to mend ties on Xi’s first trip to Europe in five years, after relations were soured by trade disputes and Beijing’s support for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. Macron invited Xi high into the Pyrenees Mountains, the home region of the French president’s maternal grandmother. Beneath snowy peaks shrouded in fog, the two leaders and their wives watched traditional dancers before dining on locally produced ham, lamb, cheese …

READ MORE

…

READ MORE

Moscow — Russia on Tuesday said it had declared U.S.-funded rights group Freedom House an “undesirable organization”, effectively banning anyone from working for or having links with the group. Authorities in Russia have declared dozens of media outlets, think tanks and non-profit organizations “undesirable” since 2015, a label rights groups say is designed to deter dissent. In a statement, Russia’s Prosecutor General said Freedom House had called for “comprehensive assistance to Ukraine to defeat Russia” and had “discredited” the Russian army. “The organization provides information, financial, legal and other support to Russian opposition structures, pro-Western and LGBT activists, communities defending their …

READ MORE

Moscow — Vladimir Putin began his fifth term Tuesday as Russian leader at a glittering Kremlin inauguration, setting out on another six years in office after destroying his political opponents, launching a devastating war in Ukraine and concentrating all power in his hands. Already in office for nearly a quarter-century and the longest-serving Kremlin leader since Josef Stalin, Putin’s new term doesn’t expire until 2030, when he will be constitutionally eligible to run again. At the ceremony inside the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace, Putin placed his hand on the Russian Constitution and vowed to defend it as a crowd of hand-picked …

READ MORE

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Chinese leader Xi Jinping will spend most of his five-day tour in Europe this week in two small countries in the continent’s eastern half, a region that Beijing has used as a foothold for its expanding economic ambitions in Europe. Following a stop in Paris on Monday to kick off his first European trip in five years, Xi will travel to Hungary and Serbia, two nations with autocratic leaders that are seen as China-friendly and close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. As mainstream European leaders have pursued more protectionist policies to limit Beijing’s and Moscow’s reach on the …

READ MORE

…

READ MORE

…

READ MORE

WASHINGTON — An American soldier has been arrested in Russia and accused of stealing, according to two U.S. officials.  The soldier, who is not being identified, was stationed in South Korea and was in the process of returning home to the United States. Instead, officials said he traveled to Russia.  The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel details.  Cynthia Smith, Army spokesperson, confirmed that a soldier was detained Thursday in Vladivostok, a major military and commercial Pacific port, on charges of criminal misconduct. She said Russia notified the U.S. and the Army told the soldier’s family.  “The …

READ MORE

…

READ MORE

London — Scottish political veteran John Swinney on Monday was named head of the pro-independence SNP party, leaving him poised to become Scotland’s leader. Swinney, 60, said on X, formerly Twitter, he was “deeply honored to have been elected as leader of the SNP” after Humza Yousaf resigned last week after little more than a year as Scottish leader and head of the Scottish National Party (SNP). The SNP confirmed Swinney’s election after nominations for the post closed at 12 noon (1100 GMT) without any other challengers emerging. Humza stepped down last Monday as he faced a confidence vote in the …

READ MORE

BERLIN — Germany said Monday it recalled its ambassador to Russia for a week of consultations in Berlin following an alleged hacker attack on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party. Germany last week accused Russian military agents of hacking into the top echelons of Scholz’s Social Democrats’ party and other sensitive government and industrial targets. Berlin has joined NATO and fellow European countries in warning that Russia’s cyberespionage would have consequences. The Foreign Office in Berlin said Monday that the government is taking the latest incident “seriously” and that Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had decided to call back German Ambassador Alexander Lambsdorff. He …

READ MORE

…

READ MORE

Brussels — EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Monday she will press for “fair” competition with China in talks with its President Xi Jinping, who is in Paris on a state visit. “We have to act to make sure that competition is fair and not distorted,” she said in remarks issued hours before a face-to-face Paris meeting between her, Xi and French President Emmanuel Macron.   She added that, previously with Xi, “I have made clear that the current imbalances in market access are not sustainable and need to be addressed.” Von der Leyen’s European Commission, the European Union’s authority …

READ MORE

DEBRECEN, Hungary — A rising challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban held what he called the largest countryside political demonstration in the country’s recent history Sunday, the latest stop on his campaign tour that has mobilized thousands across Hungary’s rural heartland. Some 10,000 people gathered in Debrecen, Hungary’s second-largest city, in support of Peter Magyar, a political newcomer who in less than three months has shot to prominence on pledges to bring an end to problems like official corruption and a declining quality of life in the Central European country. Supporters endured a brief but unexpected rain shower ahead of …

READ MORE