Category: Євросоюз

Blowing whistles and horns, thousands of Slovenian teachers rallied for higher wages on Wednesday in the latest in a string of strikes and protests by public sector workers in the small European Union country. Most schools in Slovenia remained closed because of the one-day strike that drew an estimated 40,000 teachers. The strike follows earlier walk-outs by health care employees, police and firefighters. More than 10,000 people gathered at a central square in the capital, Ljubljana, holding colorful banners and union balloons and flags. Participants were bused in from all over Slovenia. “This government must surely know that the level …

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Actress Minnie Driver has resigned from her role as an Oxfam celebrity ambassador and corporate backers demanded accountability as the aid organization sought to address allegations that senior staff members working in crisis zones paid for sex among the desperate people the group was meant to serve. The star of “Good Will Hunting” said she will no longer support the organization following its response to a sex abuse scandal in Haiti after its 2010 earthquake. Britain’s top development official has savaged the leadership of Oxfam for its handling of the scandal. Driver tweeted: “All I can tell you about this …

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When a Vatican court convicted a Chilean predator priest of sex crimes, it went out of its way to affirm the credibility of his victims. Their testimony had been consistent and corroborated, while their motives in coming forward had been only to “free themselves of a weight that had tormented their consciences,” the tribunal said.   One key witness in the Rev. Fernando Karadima’s 2010 trial is preparing to testify again, this time in a spinoff case with potentially more significant consequences. Juan Carlos Cruz’s allegations of a cover-up raise questions about Pope Francis’ already shaky track record on preventing …

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Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra resigned Tuesday after admitting he had lied about attending a 2006 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zijlstra went before members of parliament and said he had decided to step down because the foreign minister’s credibility must be “beyond doubt.” He held the position for about four months. Prime Minister Mark Rutte faced questions about why he had not made the lie public despite having known about it for several weeks. He said he underestimated the impact it would have. Parliament held a no-confidence vote Tuesday, but Rutte easily survived. The scandal involving Zijlstra risks …

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Top U.S. intelligence officials say Russian President Vladimir Putin is targeting the U.S. midterm elections this November. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday the United States is “under attack,” with Russia and other adversaries engaging in cyber warfare to degrade American democratic institutions. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from the State Department. …

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Pilot error as well as malfunctioning sensors likely caused a passenger jet to crash in Russia, killing all 71 people on board, investigators say. After studying An-148’s flight data recorder, the Interstate Aviation Committee said that Sunday’s crash near Moscow occurred after the pilots saw varying data on the plane’s two air speed indicators. The flawed readings came because the pilots failed to turn on a heating unit before the takeoff, the committee said.  The plane’s captain reportedly didn’t want to defrost the aircraft before flying.  The procedure is optional and the crew’s decision is based mainly on the weather …

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Kosovo expects to resolve outstanding issues with Serbia this year by reaching an “historic” agreement that would pave the way for the Balkan country to get a seat at the United Nations, President Hashim Thaci said on Tuesday. Kosovo seceded a decade ago from Serbia, but its independence has not been recognized by Belgrade, which together with its traditional allies Moscow and Beijing has blocked Pristina’s bid for a U.N. seat. As Belgrade moves closer to membership in the European Union, Serbian authorities are under pressure to resolve relations with neighbors including Kosovo. “The deal between Kosovo and Serbia, which …

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A Slovak court has rejected a demand by Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis to be cleared of cooperation with the communist-era secret police (StB), a court spokesman said on Tuesday. The ruling concludes a lengthy legal battle started by Babis, a Slovak-born billionaire businessman who rose last year to the top of the political ladder in the neighbouring Czech Republic, Slovakia’s former partner in the Czechoslovak federation that fell apart in 1993. The decision is mainly of symbolic value. It does not stop Babis from holding office nor from attempting to form a new government after his minority administration failed …

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is taking a hard line against nations and foreign energy companies exploring for gas in the eastern Mediterranean, warning them not to “step out of line” and encroach on his country’s territorial rights. “Let them not think that the search for natural gas in Cypriot waters and opportunistic initiatives relating to islets in the Aegean have slipped our attention,” Erdogan said Tuesday as he addressed his ruling AK Party parliamentarians. Both Greece and Turkey claim the islets, known as Imia and Greek and Kardak in Turkish. The two countries nearly went to war in 1996 over …

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The director of an award-nominated film about a traumatized boy stuck in the Calais “Jungle” camp has urged Britain to take in more lone child refugees stranded across Europe to prevent them from falling prey to traffickers. Vika Evdokimenko’s film “Aamir” is loosely based on the story of a boy her husband met two years ago when the couple volunteered in the French camp, which has since been bulldozed. “It was just one of the most miserable places I’ve been to,” Evdokimenko said ahead of Sunday’s British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards – Britain’s equivalent of the …

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French President Emmanuel Macron said his government is preparing to take fundamental steps to completely reform the lives and organizational structures of Muslims in the country.  Speaking to Journal du Dimanche, Macron said he wants to bring an end to disputes nationwide triggered by jihadi attacks over the last few years.  According to the French president, the reforms that will be initiated in the first quarter of 2018 include the fight against Islamic fundamentalism, restructure Muslim organizations and regulate their relations with the rest of the society.  Macron told the newspaper that his government’s reform project is still underway, so declined …

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A London court will rule on Tuesday whether it would be in the interests of justice to pursue action against WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange for failing to surrender to bail back in 2012. If the judge rules in his favor, then Assange, 46, would be free to leave the Ecuadorean Embassy in London where he has been holed up for more than five years. However, he might still elect to remain in the embassy, where he has been granted political asylum, because he fears Britain would arrest him under a U.S. extradition warrant, the existence of which has neither been …

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President Vladimir Putin on Monday passed greetings from U.S. President Donald Trump to the visiting Palestinian leader, who responded that he doesn’t want to  cooperate with Washington following its decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. Speaking at the start of their meeting in the Kremlin, Putin told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he was just off the phone with Trump.  “Naturally, we spoke about the Palestinian-Israeli settlement,” he said “I would like to convey to you his best wishes.” Abbas responded that the Palestinians don’t want to cooperate with the United States as a sponsor of the peace …

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The United Nations should consider a force of some 20,000 soldiers from non-NATO countries and 4,000 police to help resolve the crisis in Ukraine, according to a new report to be presented to top officials this week. More than 10,000 people have been killed since April 2014 in a conflict that pits Ukrainian forces against Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Intermittent clashes continue despite a notional ceasefire and diplomatic peace efforts. Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested a limited U.N. peacekeeping mission to eastern Ukraine, which many in the West see as an opportunity to negotiate a broader U.N. force …

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The European Union and Albania reached a deal Monday to allow European police to deploy on Albanian territory to handle immigration issues, which Brussels hopes can be a model for other countries in the Western Balkans. Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU’s Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship initialed the accord along with Albania’s Interior Minister Fatmir Xhafaj. It still must be approved by EU member states. “Albania is a front-runner in the region, and the agreement will serve as a role model for similar arrangements we are negotiating with other partners in the Western Balkans,” Avramopoulos said. “Closer cooperation between …

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Russian teams of emergency workers and investigators searched a snow-covered field outside Moscow Monday, looking for body fragments and clues after a plane crashed a day earlier, killing all 71 people on board, including the crew and three children. The 65 passengers on board were from 5 to 79-years-old, according to a list posted by the Russian Emergencies Ministry, which did not give their nationalities. More than 400 people and 70 vehicles were deployed to the crash site, the ministry said. WATCH: Crash ​President Vladimir Putin ordered a special commission to investigate what caused the Antonov AN-148 plane to go …

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Russian authorities are investigating the cause of a passenger plane crash near Moscow on Sunday. All 71 people on board are thought to have died in the crash. Fragments of the An-148 plane have been found near the village of Stepanovskoye, about 40 kilometers from Moscow’s Domodedovo airport. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports weather conditions, pilot error or a technical malfunction are among the possible causes. …

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The British government is warning charities and humanitarian relief organizations that it will withdraw public funding if they fail to establish effective internal reviews to prevent and investigate sexual predatory behavior and abuse by their aid workers.  The warning came Sunday in the wake of disclosures that one of the country’s biggest charities, Oxfam, failed to disclose its dismissal in 2011 of senior aid workers who paid local prostitutes, some likely under-age, for sex parties in Haiti in the wake of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and left 300,000 injured and 1.5 million homeless. Four men …

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British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says the United Nations must supervise the return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar because many are scared to come home on their own. Johnson spoke to reporters Sunday after his meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, de facto leader of the country formerly known as Burma “I saw real apprehension both in camps in Bangladesh and amongst the remaining villagers,” Johnson said. “The Burmese authorities need to work very hard with international agencies to overcome the real alarm that people feel about coming back to Burma.” A military crackdown on Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority sent …

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Forget the Winter Olympics, the Champion’s League or the Super Bowl. The real competition right now is who’s going to be invited to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. Everyone who is anyone in Britain is angling for an embossed royal ticket. British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua, who is seeking to add two more world championships to the three he already owns, says he would be happy to interrupt his high-level training for a trip to Windsor Castle on May 19. The ebullient Joshua has not been shy, tweeting a picture of himself and Harry with the question “Need a …

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