Category: Євросоюз

A Sofia court has backed the right of a same-sex couple to live in Bulgaria, activists announced Wednesday, in the first such case for the EU nation that does not recognize gay marriage. The court claim was brought up by an Australian woman who was banned from residing in Bulgaria in 2017 together with her French spouse after the couple got married in France in mid-2016, the youth LGBT organization Action said. But the ruling on June 29 by the Sofia administrative court 29 overturned the interior ministry’s migration directorate ban, saying that upholding it would “hinder the right of …

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The French government called for calm Wednesday after the killing of a 22-year-old man by police sparked riots in the western city of Nantes, highlighting the simmering tensions between youths and security forces in deprived urban areas. Rioters set fire to cars and a medical center in the city on Tuesday night after news spread that an officer had shot dead the 22-year-old, named by local newspaper Ouest France as Bubakar, after stopping his car over an infraction. Youths clashed with police in the northwestern neighborhood of Breil where the killing took place, lobbing molotov cocktails, before the unrest spread …

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A top NATO official on Tuesday said a letter from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán vowing to block any moves toward Ukraine’s accession at an upcoming summit will have no impact on Kyiv’s standing with the alliance. On Monday, Ukrainian news outlet Europeiska Pravda reported that the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a missive to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stating, “Orban is planning to vote against any document that will be proposed for adoption by the members of the Alliance after the meeting with the Ukrainian and Georgian leaders.” According to the Pravda report, the letter was sent …

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China is putting pressure on the European Union to issue a strong joint statement against President Donald Trump’s trade policies at a summit this month, but it’s facing resistance, European officials said. In meetings in Brussels, Berlin and Beijing, senior Chinese officials, including Vice Premier Liu He and the Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, have proposed an alliance between the two economic powers and offered to open more of the Chinese market in a gesture of goodwill. One proposal has been for China and the European Union to launch joint action against the United States at the World Trade Organization. But the European Union, the …

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Anti-government protests broke out late Tuesday in Warsaw and several other Polish cities in defense of the country’s constitution, judicial independence and the rule of law. The protests came as a lower retirement age was taking effect for Poland’s Supreme Court justices. The law introduced by the ruling right-wing party is forcing the chief justice and as many as one-third of the court’s sitting judges to step down.  Thousands of people gathered in front of the Supreme Court building in Warsaw, where they held candles, sang the national anthem and shouted “Free courts!” and “Down with dictatorship!” There were also …

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Peace in Berlin — but for how long?  A last-minute migrant deal secured Monday by beleaguered German Chancellor Angela Merkel with the junior partners in her shaky coalition has averted the collapse of her government for now, say analysts. But the deal, which will see transit zones established along Germany’s southern border to allow for accelerated deportations of migrants not entitled to seek asylum, also has finally brought to a close Merkel’s open-door refugee policy and revealed the brittleness of her coalition government. The more restrictive border policy agreed between Merkel and Horst Seehofer, her rebellious interior minister and leader …

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A U.N. agency tapped to run new migrant centers around the Mediterranean says the plan won’t solve the European Union’s immigration challenge. Irregular migration across the sea has been dramatically reduced; only about 45,000 people have made it to Europe that way this year. But the hot-button issue is driving the EU’s political agenda. Last week, EU states agreed to tighten their external borders and spend more in the Middle East and North Africa to bring down the number of arrivals. Chancellor Angela Merkel, trying to save her coalition, on Monday agreed to set up migrant camps on the German border, highlighting how the EU is unable …

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Foreign ministers from Iran and the four world powers that still want to be a part of the nuclear agreement they signed in 2015 are set to hold talks Friday on how to maintain the deal following the withdrawal of the United States. Iranian state media reported Tuesday that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif would meet in Vienna with his counterparts from Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is also traveling to Switzerland and Austria this week on his own diplomatic tour to try to preserve the agreement that limits Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for …

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Austria said Tuesday it is ready to implement unspecified border protections if Germany enacts a set of stricter immigration controls its government announced Monday. An Austrian government statement said it is “prepared in particular to take measures to protect our southern borders,” which include those with Italy and Slovenia. Austria did not say what those measures would be. Germany’s ruling coalition has been divided on the issue of immigration, with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party advocating a more welcoming stance while her Bavarian coalition partner argued for stricter controls over who is allowed into the country. The divide threatened to push …

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For days Thailand anxiously followed every twist and turn of a dramatic race against time to find twelve boys and their football coach trapped deep in a cave complex and surrounded by rising monsoon floodwaters. The search finally ended Monday, with dramatic footage showing the boys — exhausted, mud-caked and rake thin after nine days stranded — crammed onto a wedge of dry ground, some speaking faltering English with the British diving team that found them. Now the focus shifts to the arduous task of extracting the group from the winding chambers and narrow passageways of the 10 kilometer (6 …

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Irish rock star Bono warned Monday that the United Nations and other international institutions including the European Union and NATO are under threat – and nations must work together to ensure their continued existence. The Dublin-born U2 singer and activist gave a sobering speech to several hundred U.N. diplomats and staff at an event launching Ireland’s candidacy for a seat on the powerful Security Council in 2021-22 saying “you can count on Ireland to do its part in that work.” While Bono didn’t name any countries responsible for threatening global institutions during these “troubled times,” his words appeared clearly aimed …

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The immigrant from Mali, dubbed “Spider-Man” after he scaled a Paris apartment building to save a young boy dangling from a balcony, has begun working for the city’s fire department. Mamoudou Gassama, 22, captured international attention when he scaled four stories of a building’s exterior to save a 4-year-old boy who had managed to climb over a balcony and was dangling above a street. At the time, VOA’s Bambara service interviewed Gassama, who described what happened. He said he and his girlfriend had just ordered food when he saw a crowd gathering outside. ​”Before we start eating, I saw the …

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Chancellor Angela Merkel and her rebellious Bavarian allies searched Monday for a way to resolve a standoff over migration after Germany’s interior minister offered to resign, but a compromise looked elusive in the dispute that has rocked her government. The crisis that has raised questions over the future of Merkel’s 3½-month-old government pits Interior Minister Horst Seehofer and his Bavaria-only Christian Social Union against Merkel, head of its longtime sister party, the Christian Democratic Union.   Ahead of a difficult Bavarian state election in October, the CSU is determined to show that it is tough on migration. Seehofer wants to …

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Jordan’s foreign minister said on Monday he will hold talks with his Russian counterpart over the conflict in Syria, where the latest government offensive in the country’s south has displaced 270,000 people, according to a U.N. official. The Jordanian diplomat, Ayman Safadi, said he will head to Moscow on Tuesday and added that he was confident his meeting with Sergey Lavrov would produce more understandings and lead to “more steps forward to contain this crisis and prevent more destruction.” Russia backs a Syrian government offensive in the southern province of Daraa, which has displaced tens of thousands of Syrians, sending …

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The European Union has warned the United States that President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 20 percent tariff on imported European cars would seriously hurt the U.S. economy and invite retaliatory levies on up to $294 billion in U.S. exports. In a 10-page letter sent to the U.S. Commerce Department last Friday, the European Union said that new tariffs on European-made vehicles and auto parts were unjustifiable and would be an economic mistake. Trump has often attacked the EU trade surplus with the United States — $101 billion last year — and criticized the 28-nation bloc for its 10 percent tariff …

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A U.S. congressional delegation is meeting with senior Russian officials in St. Petersburg amid preparations for a summit between the nations’ presidents. U.S.-Russian ties have hit the lowest point in decades due to sanctions over Russian interference in the U.S. 2016 election and disagreement over Syria, Ukraine and other topics.   St. Petersburg governor Georgy Poltavchenko told U.S. congressmen on Monday that he hopes for a warming of ties. “We look into the future with optimism and are ready for cooperation on all fronts,” he said.   Richard Shelby, a Republican senator from Alabama who heads the delegation, also called …

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The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday hailed the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Marking the date, Guterres in a statement said, “The NPT is an essential pillar of international peace and security, and the heart of the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. Its unique status is based on its near universal membership, legally-binding obligations on disarmament, verifiable non-proliferation safeguards regime, and commitment to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.” What is the NPT? The objective of the international treaty is to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and …

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A notorious French gangster is on the run after three heavily armed accomplices landed a helicopter in the prison where he was being held and flew out with him. Redoine Faid, 46, was serving a 25-year sentence for the murder of a police officer during a failed robbery in 2010. “This was a spectacular escape. It was an extremely well-prepared commando unit that may have used drones to survey the area beforehand,” Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet said. Faid was being visited by his brother in Reau prison near Paris when the helicopter landed in the prison courtyard. Two men dressed …

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Turkey’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex activists gathered Sunday for an LGBTI pride march in Istanbul, moving from street to street for an hour as police tried to end an event the local government had banned for the fourth year in a row. Hundreds of people chanted slogans and waved rainbow flags on side streets along Istiklal Avenue, Istanbul’s main pedestrian thoroughfare. The organizers released a statement saying the city’s ban would not deter them from marching peacefully. Despite the ban, police allowed the organizers to read a press statement. “We do not recognize this ban,” the group said …

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Germany’s interior minister and head of the Christian Social Union party reportedly offered his resignation from both posts Sunday night rather than back down from his stance against Chancellor Angela Merkel’s migration policies, as the crisis within her governing coalition came to a head.   The dpa news agency, citing information from unidentified participants, reported that a nearly eight-hour meeting of the CSU in Munich was put on hold after Interior Minister Horst Seehofer made his offer. Dpa reported that Alexander Dobrindt, the leader of the CSU in parliament, told others Seehofer could not be allowed to resign.   If …

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