Category: Євросоюз

The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia says its military advisers will withdraw from the northern Syrian city of Manbij, after the United States and Turkey agreed on a road map to resolve the future of the city, an issue that is a major source of tension between the NATO allies. The agreement to ensure security and stability in Manbij came during a meeting Monday in Washington between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The U.S. State Department did not provide further details about the agreement, but a senior official said Tuesday, “We will continue to …

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The U.N. human rights office (UNHCR) is criticizing the United States’ new zero tolerance policy aimed at deterring migrants and refugees from coming to the country. Under this policy, people caught entering the U.S. irregularly are subject to criminal prosecution, and their children, some very young, are taken away. The UNHCR calls this separation of family arbitrary and a serious violation of a child’s rights. The United States is the only country that has not ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. Nevertheless, the agency said this does not absolve the U.S. from its responsibilities to adhere …

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The EU’s top court, in a landmark ruling for gay rights in Europe, said on Tuesday that Romania must grant residence to the American husband of a local man even though Romania does not itself permit same-sex marriage. In a case which has highlighted social differences between western Europe and a more conservative, ex-communist east, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that Romania must accept the validity of the mens’ 2010 Belgian marriage and treat American Clai Hamilton as Adrian Coman’s spouse under EU law. The case did not touch on the freedom of member states to set their …

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The United States is pressing European allies to ready more NATO battalions, ships and planes for combat, officials say, in a fresh move to shore up NATO’s deterrence against a potential Russian attack. U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis will seek broad agreement for the plan in Brussels on Thursday when alliance defense ministers meet, laying the ground for endorsement by NATO leaders at a summit in July, four U.S. and NATO officials and diplomats told Reuters. The plan would require NATO to have 30 land battalions, 30 air fighter squadrons and 30 navy ships such as destroyers ready to …

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Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived Tuesday in Austria, one of the European Union’s more Russia-friendly members, on his first foreign trip since being sworn in for a fourth term.   Before meetings with Austrian leaders, Putin dismissed suggestions that Russia has any intention of dividing the 28-nation EU. In an interview with Austrian public broadcaster ORF, he said that Moscow wants the EU “to be united and flourish, because the EU is our most important trade and business partner.”   Putin’s sixth official visit to traditionally neutral Austria marks the 50th anniversary of the start of Soviet gas deliveries to …

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The city of Paris has rewarded a Malian immigrant for his bravery in saving a child last month. But the accolades come as city police razed migrant camps just a few kilometers north, underscoring the broader, polarized question of immigration roiling France — and Europe. Mamadou Gassama, 22, received Paris’ highest award Monday as Mayor Anne Hidalgo praised him as the city’s and the country’s hero. She nicknamed the Malian immigrant “Spiderman” for his daring rescue of a 4-year-old dangling from the balcony of a fourth-floor apartment. That act of bravery has catapulted Gassama from illegal immigrant to French citizen …

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Denmark’s government has announced that it will build a 68-kilometer fence along the country’s southern border to protect prime Danish pigs from swine fever. The government says the fence will help keep out German wild boar that could be infected with a deadly African swine fever. Officials say an outbreak of swine fever in Denmark would force the country to temporarily stop all pork exports. Denmark Minister for Environment and Food Esben Lunde Larsen says the country’s exports of pork outside the European Union are worth $1.8 billion annually. African swine fever is harmless to humans but fatal to farm …

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French President Emmanuel Macron called on international donors to quickly make financing available for the Sahel regional counterterror force. In a news conference in Paris with visiting Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou, Macron said money “now needs to be disbursed” to allow the five-nation regional force, known as the G5 Sahel, to keep functioning. He said the European Union started financing the force last week and will provide equipment in coming weeks. He called on other donors like Saudi Arabia to meet their financial commitments. Issoufou expressed his concerns over the financial sustainability of the force. Earlier this year, international donors …

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The United States and Turkey have agreed on a roadmap to resolve the future of the northern Syrian city of Manbij, an issue that has become a major source of tension between the NATO allies. The agreement came during a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Washington on Monday. In a joint statement, Pompeo and Cavusoglu said their countries would take steps “to ensure the security and stability in Manbij.” “They endorsed a roadmap to this end and underlined their mutual commitment to its implementation, reflecting agreement to closely follow developments …

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A Russian court has sentenced Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko to 12 years in prison after convicting him of spying in a case that Kyiv and rights activists say is politically motivated. At a June 4 hearing, the Moscow City Court found Sushchenko guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 12 years in a strict-regime prison. The verdict and sentence are likely to add to international scrutiny on Russia ahead of the 2018 soccer World Cup, which it is hosting from June 14 to July 15. A lawyer for Sushchenko, Mark Feigin, said he would appeal the verdict. Kyiv, human rights …

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The threat posed by Islamist militants to Britain is expected to remain high for the next two years and could even rise, the interior ministry said on Sunday, on the first anniversary of an attack that killed eight people in central London. The current threat level to Britain is assessed as severe, meaning an attack is highly likely. The government said it had foiled 25 Islamist militant plots since June 2013 — 12 of those since March 2017 — and was currently handling over 500 live operations. Britain will publish a revised counter-terrorism strategy on Monday designed to cope with …

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu begin a three-nation European tour Monday as he seeks support for altering the international nuclear agreement with Iran. Netanyahu begins in Germany where is holding talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel before traveling on to meet with the leaders of France and Britain. Britain, France and Germany agreed to the deal with Iran in 2015 along with Russia, China and the United States.  U.S. President Donald Trump announced last month the U.S. was pulling out of what he called a “horrible, one-sided deal,” while saying he wants additional restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program and what …

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Parisians and tourists wearing seasonally appropriate all-white outfits enjoyed gourmet picnics Sunday in front of the French capital’s 19th century Les Invalides monument, a meal heightened by a preceding mystery.  The location of the 30th anniversary staging of the international dining event known as “Diner en Blanc,” or “Dinner in White,” was revealed to participants in a series of text messages up until the last minute. People gathered on green lawns with fabulous views of the gold-domed building that houses the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte and other prominent French figures. They brought tables with white tablecloths and sipped champagne and …

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Tunisia’s Defense Ministry says at least 46 migrants have died after their boat sank off the country’s southern coast and 67 others were rescued by the coast guard on Sunday. The rescue operation was ongoing, the ministry said in a statement. The migrants were of Tunisian and other nationalities. In a separate incident, nine people, including six children, died Sunday after a speedboat carrying 15 refugees sank off the coast of Turkey’s southern province of Antalya, the Turkish coast guard said in a statement. Reducing the flow of migrants into Italy is one of the aims of the anti-immigrant League …

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German police shot at a “rampaging” man wielding a knife in a cathedral in Berlin on Sunday, according to city officers. “Shortly after 4 pm (1400 GMT) police shot at a rampaging man at Berlin Cathedral,” police said in a tweet. “He was wounded in the leg,” police said, later adding that an officer had been wounded, without providing further details. Officers rushed to the Berliner Dom, a major tourist attraction on the historic Museum Island in the German capital, after an employee called emergency services to report the incident. Police have said the suspect is a 53-year-old man, and …

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British civil servants have warned of shortages of food, fuel and medicines within weeks if the U.K. leaves the European Union without a trade deal, a newspaper reported Sunday. The Sunday Times said government officials have modeled three potential scenarios for a “no deal” Brexit: mild, severe and “Armageddon.” It said under the “severe” scenario, the English Channel ferry port of Dover would “collapse on day one” and supermarkets and hospitals would soon run short of supplies.   Britain wants to strike a deal on future trade relations with the EU before it officially leaves the bloc on March 29, …

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A transport policeman was one of the first to intervene as three assailants armed with long ceramic knives went on a stabbing frenzy after driving their transit van at people near London Bridge. Reacting to screams, he rushed to confront the attackers, who stabbed him several times, slicing and lunging at his head, legs and arms, leaving him temporarily blind and crippled. A year on from the terror attack in the Borough district of London, Wayne Marques is still recovering and has only recently been able to walk independently. In a video released this week he said he hopes to …

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An Uzbek migrant living in Russia says life has not always been easy with locals often deriding him about where he comes from and accusing him of stealing Russian jobs. What keeps him going is what he does after work: playing soccer with other migrants from around the world. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports. …

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Slovenians are voting Sunday in a parliamentary election with polls predicting that an anti-immigrant party will win the most votes but not enough to form a government on its own. The ballot is being held a few weeks earlier than the country’s regular four-year span following the sudden resignation in March of outgoing Prime Minister Miro Cerar over a failed railway project. Slovenia, once part of former communist-run Yugoslavia and the home nation of U.S. first lady Melania Trump, joined the European Union in 2004. It has been using the shared euro currency since 2007. The right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party …

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On Sunday, Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, will visit Rwanda to meet his counterpart, Louise Mushikiwabo, and President Paul Kagame. They plan to discuss economic development and fighting terrorism, Russia’s foreign ministry said, along with Russia’s involvement with the Africa Union, which Kagame chairs until the end of the year. Lavrov’s Rwanda trip follows a five-nation Africa tour in March and highlights Russia’s interest in deepening its involvement across the continent. After that trip, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia decided to cancel more than $20 billion in debt contracted by African nations to help the continent overcome poverty. …

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