Category: Євросоюз

President Tayyip Erdogan opened a new $11.7 billion airport outside Istanbul on Monday that officials say will be one of the world’s busiest, though delays mean it will not be fully operational until January. The airport will be able to handle 90 million passengers a year, and can be expanded to accommodate as many as 200 million, Erdogan said. For the first two months, however, it will be used for just a few flights within Turkey and to Azerbaijan and northern Cyprus — a setback for authorities hailing it as a centrepiece of the construction boom that has driven breakneck …

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For the second time in a month, voters in a regional election in Germany have rebuffed Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition, further confirming that the political landscape in the country is transforming rapidly.Merkel has announced she will not seek reelection as chair of her party and said her current term as chancellor will be her last. Voters in a regional election in the prosperous state of Hesse deserted in droves both Merkel’s Christian Democrats and the junior partner in her Berlin government, the Social Democrats (SPD). Coming on the heels of an electoral setback for the governing coalition in Bavaria …

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Pope Francis has strongly condemned the attack on a synagogue in Pittsburgh after celebrating the closing mass of the Synod of Bishops on Youth in Saint Peter’s Basilica. After reciting the Angelus prayer in Saint Peter’s Square on Sunday, Pope Francis led prayers for Pittsburgh, the day after what he describedas the “terrible” massacre inside a synagogue during Sabbath services in which 11 people were killed and six others injured.  The pope expressed what he called his closeness to the city of Pittsburgh, and in particular to the Jewish community stricken yesterday by a terrible attack on the synagogue.   …

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The owner of the Leicester City soccer club of Britain’s Premier League was among five people who died after his helicopter crashed and burst into flames outside a stadium moments after taking off Saturday.  Along with Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, a 60-year-old billionaire entrepreneur, two members of Vichai’s staff, Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, and pilot Eric Swaffer and passenger Izabela Roza Lechowicz, also died when the aircraft went down in the parking lot near King Power Stadium after a night soccer match. “The world has lost a great man,” Leicester said in a statement. “A man of kindness, of generosity and …

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Pope Francis is grieving with Pittsburgh’s Jewish community following the massacre at a synagogue there, denouncing the “inhuman act of violence” and praying for an end to the “flames of hatred” that fueled it. Francis led prayers for Pittsburgh on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square, a day after a gunman who had expressed hatred of Jews opened fire in the synagogue during Sabbath services, killing 11 people. Francis prayed for the dead, the injured and their families. He says “all of us are wounded by this inhuman act of violence.” He prayed for God “to help us to extinguish the …

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There is no risk of contagion from Italy’s budget crisis in the European Union but the euro zone is not prepared enough to face a new economic crisis, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told daily Le Parisien on Sunday. The European Commission rejected Italy’s draft 2019 budget earlier this week for breaking EU rules on public spending, and asked Rome to submit a new one within three weeks or face disciplinary action. “We do not see any contagion in Europe. The European Commission has reached out to Italy, I hope Italy will seize this hand,” he said in an …

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Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held plenty of grand opening ceremonies in his 15 years at Turkey’s helm. On Monday he will unveil one of his prized jewels — Istanbul New Airport — a megaproject that has been dogged by concerns about labor rights, environmental issues and Turkey’s weakening economy. Erdogan is opening what he claims will eventually become the world’s largest air transport hub on the 95th anniversary of Turkey’s establishment as a republic. It’s a symbolic launch, as only limited flights will begin days later and a full move won’t take place until the end of the year.   …

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Spain’s maritime rescue service says a baby has died despite efforts by rescuers to save it after a small boat carrying migrants sunk in the Mediterranean Sea. The death came as over 500 others were rescued. The service says Sunday that the bottom of the rubber boat gave out, tossing 56 migrants into the water when its rescue craft reached it Saturday east of the Strait of Gibraltar. Rescue workers were able to save 55 men, women and children, but could not reanimate the baby.   In all, Spanish rescue workers saved 520 people trying to cross from North Africa …

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition faces its second test in as many weeks Sunday when voters go to the polls in the western state of Hesse for a regional election that could torpedo the national government. Should Merkel’s conservative ally in Hesse, Volker Bouffier, lose his post as state premier, the chancellor’s enemies will be emboldened ahead of her Christian Democrats’ (CDU) party congress in early December and may try to hasten her demise. Party tarnished The other risk for Merkel is that her SPD coalition partners finish third in Hesse, which is home to financial hub Frankfurt. Such …

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Georgians started to vote for a president Sunday in an election with two former foreign ministers as the front-runners, including a former French career diplomat who would be the first female leader of an ex-Soviet state outside the Baltics. Polls opened at 8 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) and the voting is to last until 8 p.m.  Front-runners The ruling Georgian Dream party is backing Salome Zurabishvili, 66, who was born to Georgian emigre parents in France and who served as French ambassador to Georgia before becoming Georgia’s foreign minister from 2004-2005. Supporters say she would bring international stature to …

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Thousands of Rome residents gathered in the main square in front of city hall on Saturday to call for a new dignity for their city and to protest against what they say has been the failure of city authorities to deal with the rubbish, potholes and fallen trees. The rally was organized by a group called “Rome Says Enough.” It was a peaceful protest with a clear message: Enough to the current state of affairs in one of the great capitals of the world. Hundreds of city residents of all ages gathered in front of the Renaissance city hall to …

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Ratings agency Fitch said Friday it no longer assumed that Britain would leave the European Union in a smooth transition and said an acrimonious and disruptive “no deal” Brexit could lead to a further downgrade of its sovereign credit rating. “In Fitch’s view, an intensification of political divisions within the UK … has increased the likelihood of an acrimonious and disruptive ‘no deal’ Brexit. “Such an outcome would substantially disrupt customs, trade and economic activity, and has led Fitch to abandon its base case on which the ratings were previously predicated.” Previously Fitch had assumed Britain would leave the EU …

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A Turkish court on Oct. 12 freed American Pastor Andrew Brunson, who had been convicted on terror charges — charges he denies — and imprisoned for two years. Brunson, who is now back in the U.S. with his family, and his wife, Norine Brunson, spoke with Mehmet Toroglu about his time in prison and how it felt to be released. …

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Spain’s High Court agreed Friday to extradite a Venezuelan woman who was part of the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez’s inner circle to her home country, where she is suspected of money laundering and illicit enrichment. According to Venezuelan media, Claudia Diaz was Chavez’s nurse when he was being treated for cancer, which ultimately led to his death in 2013, while her husband served as one of his aides de camp. From 2011 until 2013, Diaz also served as an executive of government fund Fonden — an obscure state-run investment fund which received more than $100 billion in state revenue …

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Several schools in Poland have canceled activities promoting tolerance for gays and lesbians following government pressure and threats in some places.  More than 200 schools had planned to take part in “Rainbow Friday,” an anti-discrimination event that a civic rights group, the Campaign Against Homophobia, had promoted in hopes of building greater acceptance for LGBT students.  Private broadcaster TVN reported that some schools pulled out of the event following an outcry.  The education minister of Poland’s conservative government, Anna Zalewska, had warned ahead of time that any principals who allowed such events to take place could face negative consequences. She also …

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Russia failed on Friday to get the U.N. General Assembly to consider calling on Washington and Moscow to preserve and strengthen an arms control treaty that helped end the Cold War and warned that if the United States quits the pact it could raise the issue in the U.N. Security Council. President Donald Trump said on Oct. 20 that Washington planned to quit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty which Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, and Ronald Reagan had signed in 1987. It eliminated all short- and intermediate-range land-based nuclear and conventional missiles held by both states in Europe. …

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After two years of imprisonment on terror charges, American pastor Andrew Brunson was released Oct. 12, 2018, by a Turkish court. Now home with his family, how does Pastor Brunson view his time in prison? VOA Turkish Service’s Mehmet Toroglu sat down with Pastor Brunson and his wife, Norine Brunson, and filed this report. …

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A strong earthquake off a western Greek tourist island early Friday morning was felt as far away as Athens, but no major damage or injuries were immediately reported. The main harbor for the island of Zakynthos in the Ionian Sea was damaged but still functional, civil protection agency press spokesman Spyros Georgiou said. Power was lost in the island capital and main town, also called Zakynthos, but no major damage was reported there. “We’re checking out the villages on the island, where there are several older buildings,” he told The Associated Press. “The lack of electricity is a problem, but …

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Hundreds outside the main Catholic church in Madrid Thursday protested against the possibility that Spanish dictator Francisco Franco may be laid to rest there. Demonstrators carried signs denouncing Franco as a criminal and waved photos of him standing next to his ally, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. One protester said he would rather see Franco’s remains tossed into a ditch than placed in the crypt inside the Almudena Roman Catholic Cathedral. Spain’s government wants to exhume Franco’s body from a mausoleum that glorifies the dictator’s memory. Many dead from the Spanish Civil War, including those who fought against Franco’s forces, are …

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The United Kingdom told Ecuador in August that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would not be extradited if he left the country’s London embassy, where he has lived under asylum since 2012, Ecuador’s top government attorney said Thursday.  In a written response to queries from Ecuador, the UK explained that it had not received any extradition request, and said Assange’s jail time in the UK for violating bail terms by seeking refuge in the embassy would not exceed six months, Inigo Salvador, who represents the Ecuadorian government in court proceedings, told reporters.  Salvador said Ecuador passed on the UK’s response to Assange’s lawyers, but noted that …

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