Category: Євросоюз

Despite tensions, sanctions and recriminations between the United States and Russia, two American astronauts will join a Russian cosmonaut blasting off Wednesday from Kazakhstan for the International Space Station. Even when things get nasty between the two countries, experts say the space program rarely suffers. The United States has depended entirely on Russia to deliver astronauts to the ISS since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011. After President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014 for annexing Crimea, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin suggested U.S. astronauts could get to the International Space Station by trampoline. …

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European officials said this week that significant obstacles remain to a long-delayed trade deal between the European Union and South American trade bloc Mercosur, even as South American officials expressed optimism a deal would be finalized soon. On the sidelines of a gathering among the finance ministers and central bank governors of the G-20 countries in Buenos Aires, an Argentine Treasury Ministry official said the talks would finish in the first half of this year. An initial target of December 2017 was pushed back after EU countries said they needed more time. “There are very few points left,” the official …

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President Emmanuel Macron outlined plans Tuesday to transform French into a top international language through the vehicles of education, media and art.  In a keynote speech at the French Institute in Paris, Macron said France aims open French institutes overseas beginning in 2019, and double the number of students going to French high schools overseas, as well as foreign students studying in France. Macron also announced the creation of a Francophonie hub at a chateau outside Paris, where French was made this country’s official language in the 16th century. Other plans include supporting the development of cultural and creative industries in …

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday reassured Ireland that it can rely on Germany in Brexit talks as the European Union and Britain struggle to find a way to maintain an open Irish border after the U.K. leaves. Merkel met with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Berlin a day after EU and British negotiators said there had been no breakthrough on the Irish border issue, despite announcing progress on the outlines of a transition deal after Brexit day in a little more than a year’s time. “A solution must be found for this … and Germany fully supports the …

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Russian diplomats ordered expelled by Britain over a nerve agent attack on British soil are preparing to leave the country. Russian media are reporting a moving van was seen outside the Russian Embassy in London on Tuesday. Britain ordered the expulsion of the diplomats last week, blaming Russia for the poisoning ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the British city of Salisbury earlier this month. Russia retaliated by expelling 23 British diplomats, who are expected to leave Moscow in the coming days. Russia denies involvement in the poisoning. British officials say father and daughter remain in critical …

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Two days before President George W. Bush gave the go-ahead for the U.S.-led invasion of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq — a ‘shock and awe’ assault that would topple the Iraqi autocrat — U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice called the Kremlin. Russian government officials raised objections, offering eleventh-hour arguments against the invasion. “But even though we disapproved, we didn’t leak what Rice told us, or what was planned,” a Kremlin insider recalled. He cited the conversation to illustrate how perilous relations are now in the wake of the British allegations that the Kremlin approved the nerve agent poisoning on British soil …

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For the first time in history, hamburger sales in France have soared higher than the classic baguette jambon-beurre sandwich as French diners surrender to the American fast-food favourite. Burgers were on the menu at 85 percent of restaurants in France last year with a whopping 1.5 billion units sold, according to a study by Paris-based restaurant consultants Gira Conseil. More worryingly still for the defenders of French cuisine, just 30 percent of the burgers were sold in fast food joints, with the majority sold at restaurants with full table service. Le burger has almost become French, often served with some …

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French ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy was taken into police custody Tuesday and questioned over allegations that late Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi financed his 2007 election campaign via suitcases stuffed with cash, a source close to the inquiry told AFP. Sarkozy was detained early on Tuesday morning and was being questioned by prosecutors specializing in corruption, money laundering and tax evasion at their office in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre. The 63-year-old had until now refused to respond to a summons for questioning in the case, one of several legal probes that have dogged the right-winger since he left office after one term …

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International observers say Russian President Vladimir Putin won another six-year term in office by withholding a fair chance from the competition. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said Monday that the extensive coverage by state news media of Putin’s activities had given him an advantage over other candidates. Putin won re-election easily, leaving the seven challengers trailing far behind. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports. …

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is “not planning any constitutional reforms for now,” even before the final tally in a presidential election that critics have dubbed a predestined spectacle. Putin laughed off questions about whether he will run again in six years, when he will be 71 years old.  Russia’s constitution limits service in the Kremlin to two consecutive terms. “What, do you think I will sit until I’m 100 years old?” he chuckled. Jokes aside, before Russians headed to polling stations Sunday in an election marred by allegations of vote-rigging, Moscow was already abuzz with speculation about what …

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A French employee of France’s Consulate in Jerusalem is under arrest for allegedly smuggling dozens of weapons from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank, Israel’s domestic security agency said Monday. The Shin Bet said the man, identified as Romain Franck, 23, was part of a broader Palestinian smuggling ring. It said he used his consular vehicle, which is subjected to more lenient security checks, to transport the weapons through Israel’s tightly secured border with the Gaza Strip. It said he took part in the ring for financial gain and that his employer was unaware of his actions. The French …

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France urged the European Union on Monday to consider new sanctions on Iran over its involvement in Syria’s civil war and its ballistic missile program, as Paris tries to persuade Washington to preserve a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. U.S. President Donald Trump has given the European signatories a May 12 deadline to “fix the terrible flaws” of the deal, which was agreed under his predecessor Barack Obama, or he will refuse to extend U.S. sanctions relief on Iran. In response, the three European signatories — France, Britain and Germany — have proposed new EU sanctions targeting Iranians who support Syria’s government …

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The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe says Russia’s presidential election was conducted in an orderly fashion but lacked real choice. “After intense efforts to promote turnout, citizens voted in significant numbers, yet restrictions on the fundamental freedoms, as well as on candidate registration, have limited the space for political engagement and resulted in a lack of genuine competition,” OSCE election observers said in a statement. President Vladimir Putin is headed for a resounding victory in the election, soundly defeating seven other candidates. “While candidates could generally campaign freely, the extensive coverage in most media of the incumbent as …

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Norway’s Christian Democrats, holding the balance of power in parliament, were meeting on Monday to decide whether to back a no-confidence motion against the justice minister, a step that could bring down the government. Sylvi Listhaug has rocked Norway’s traditionally consensual politics by accusing the opposition Labour Party – in 2011 the target of the country’s worst peacetime massacre – of putting terrorists’ rights before national security. Five opposition parties last week said they would vote on Tuesday to oust the minister, leaving her fate in the hands of the small Christian Democratic Party. “The polarizing rhetoric and behavior must …

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Vladimir Putin will lead Russia for another six years, after securing an expected victory in the presidential election. With 40% of the vote counted he had 74.8% of the vote, the central election commission said.The main opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, was barred from the race. Addressing a rally in Moscow after the early results were declared, Mr Putin said voters had “recognised the achievements of the last few years”. VOA’s Jamie Dettmer has more from Moscow …

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Russians turned up at polling stations Sunday in an election few voters had any doubts about who would emerge the winner. Soon after the polls closed in the enclave of Kaliningrad, preliminary results indicated incumbent President Vladimir Putin had secured victory in an election critics say was stage-managed. According to Russia’s election commission, Putin was heading to secure 71.9 percent of the vote, but it was unclear whether voter turnout had reached 70 percent, a Kremlin goal. But Kremlin aides insisted the final result would show it had. There were reports of hundreds of ballot violations at polling stations across …

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Regulation of cryptocurrencies must be considered, Bundesbank vice president Claudia Buch told Reuters, even though she does not believe they pose a threat to financial stability. Buch said that speculation on volatile virtual tokens does not pose a systemic threat because it is not financed through credit, but she said that regulators should look at introducing rules to protect consumers, given that such speculation could prove costly for investors. “The role of crypto tokens in money laundering and criminal activity must also be closely examined,” Buch said. “I don’t see a threat for financial stability at the moment as the …

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One of Russia’s most famous citizens, French film star Gerard Depardieu, joined the millions who cast ballots in Sunday’s presidential election. Depardieu, a friend of President Vladimir Putin who presented him with a Russian passport in 2013 during a tax row between the actor and French authorities, voted at the Russian Embassy in Paris. The embassy tweeted a picture of the 69-year-old, wearing a coat with fur trim and sunglasses perched on his head, popping his ballot in the box. “Gerard Depardieu voted in the Russian presidential election at a polling station at the Russian embassy in France. Come!,” it …

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Britain should consider postponing Brexit because there may not be enough time to strike a deal with the European Union before the U.K. leaves the bloc a year from now, a key committee of British lawmakers said Sunday.   The House of Commons Exiting the EU Committee said if major aspects of the future relationship with the EU remain unsettled by October, Britain should seek a “limited extension” of its EU membership.   Britain and the EU want a deal on future relations settled by the fall so national parliaments can approve it before Britain officially leaves the 28-nation bloc …

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The United States and European powers are negotiating over a possible “supplemental” agreement to the Iran nuclear deal that would address Iran’s ballistic-missile development and involvement in Middle East conflicts, a U.S. diplomat said. U.S. envoy Brian Hook said the allies had “very good” talks about a “supplemental” accord in Vienna on Friday as Reuters reported that Britain, France, and Germany have proposed new European Union sanctions against Iran over its ballistic-missile program and its role in the Syrian civil war. Hook said U.S. President Donald Trump wants to reach a side agreement with the three European signatories to the 2015 …

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