Category: Євросоюз

Syria and Russia on Wednesday accused the United States of lying about chemical weapons attacks in the Syrian conflict as a way of derailing efforts to bring an end to the fighting. Syria’s state-run SANA news agency carried comments from a Foreign Ministry source condemning what it called “lies and allegations” by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Interfax news agency that whenever peace efforts advance, the United States promotes “rigged, unverified reports” of chemical weapons attacks in Syria. Those comments came a day after …

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Europe’s economy is on a roll — raising the question of exactly when the European Central Bank will end its extraordinary stimulus efforts. Bank President Mario Draghi will be at pains this week to leave that point open. No changes in stimulus settings or interest rates are expected at Thursday’s meeting of the bank’s 25-member governing council, which sets monetary policy for the 19 countries that use the euro. Draghi’s post-meeting news conference, however, will be closely scrutinized for any hints of a change in the timetable for withdrawing a key stimulus component — a massive bond-buying program — later …

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Italy holds national elections on March 4 under a new, complicated electoral system that mixes proportional representation with first-past-the-post balloting. Unlike the previous electoral system, the new law does not provide any bonus to the first-placed party or coalition. Pollsters estimate that the winner this time around will need at least 40 percent of the vote, and probably more, to govern. No party or coalition has taken 40 percent of the vote in an opinion poll for months. Here are some of the more likely scenarios following the vote: ​The president’s government President Sergio Mattarella is the supreme arbiter of …

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Officials in Washington say U.S. President Donald Trump will invite French President Emmanuel Macron to pay a state visit to the White House later this year. This would be the first state visit Trump has hosted since taking office. A state visit, in which one head of state hosts another, is considered the most formal and most prestigious type of diplomatic visit. It indicates friendly relations between two sovereign states. The Macrons are scheduled to visit the White House in late April. The White House has not confirmed Tuesday’s report that it will be a state visit. In July last …

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Polish prosecutors on Tuesday charged three men for allegedly propagating Nazism after hidden camera footage of a group celebrating Adolf Hitler’s birthday sparked uproar in the country, still grappling with the memory of Nazi occupation. The footage, filmed in southwestern Poland and aired on news channel TVN24 this weekend, shows a group of men wearing Nazi-inspired uniforms performing Nazi salutes. Among those caught on camera was a man identified in the report as Mateusz S., the leader of neo-Nazi group Pride and Modernity (DN). He appears to have been speaking at an event marking 128 years since the birth of …

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Russia said on Tuesday it had canceled the release of Death of Stalin, a dark, satirical movie from British director Armando Iannucci, saying many Russians would find it an insulting mockery of the country’s Soviet past. The film, which focuses on backstabbing and infighting among the Soviet leader’s closest allies as they vie for power immediately after his 1953 death, had been privately viewed by culture ministry officials and advisers. Vladimir Medinsky, the culture minister, said Tuesday that his ministry had received a number of complaints after the showing, which had prompted him to withdraw its general release license. He said he had asked legal experts to …

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The United States joined its NATO allies Tuesday in launching a pressure campaign against the use of chemical weapons in Syria, while singling out Russia for protecting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. “The recent attacks in East Ghouta raise serious concerns that Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime might be continuing its use of chemical weapons against its own people,” U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in Paris. Tillerson said at least 20 people were killed Monday in an apparent chlorine gas attack in rebel-held East Ghouta, near Damascus. He singled out Russia and its support for the Assad regime. “Whoever conducted …

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The EU’s justice commissioner is working on a proposal that could oblige member states such as Poland, which has clashed with Brussels over reforms to its courts, to pass tests on the independence of their judicial systems before receiving funding. Vera Jourova said there was agreement within the executive European Commission to work on ideas to encourage strong judiciaries in planning for the new budget from 2021. “One way could be to insist that independent justice systems are necessary for effective control of the use of EU funds,” she said. “I would like to propose that link.” Seven-year budget plan …

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German and French lawmakers approved a joint resolution Monday stressing the need for closer cooperation as the two nations mark the 55th anniversary of the signing of the Elysee friendship treaty. At a special German parliamentary session in Berlin, French National Assembly President Francois de Rugy told lawmakers that multilateralism “is the secret of success of Europe.” “Strengthening of the cooperation between our two countries is a precondition for strengthening Europe,” he said. The 1963 Elysee treaty marked the post-World War II reconciliation between France and Germany. In approving the joint Franco-German resolution acknowledging the treaty’s importance, German lawmakers called …

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The global economy and geopolitical tensions are taking a back seat to a more immediate problem at this year’s Davos summit of political and business leaders: heavy snow is burying the venue. High in the Swiss alps on Monday, on the eve of the opening sessions, many of the roughly 3,000 delegates struggled to reach the ski resort. Part of the main train line into Davos had been buried in snow over the weekend, forcing people onto buses, and helicopters were disrupted by poor visibility. Some pre-summit meetings were cancelled or delayed as the first waves of delegates waded through …

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France’s prime minister on Monday renewed a push to tempt bankers to Paris after Britain leaves the European Union by pledging to temporarily exempt expats from paying into state pension schemes and making more places available in bilingual schools. France has already announced measures to cut labor costs to make Paris more attractive to the banking sector post-Brexit following the election of President Emmanuel Macron, who has made labor rules more flexible and cut wealth tax. Now EU expatriates in France will be able to opt out of compulsory contributions to the state pension scheme which make up about 2.3 …

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The European Union on Monday announced new sanctions on seven senior Venezuelan officials, saying this was an expression of the bloc’s concern with the political crisis under President Nicolas Maduro. The move introduces a travel ban and an asset freeze on people in charge of security forces accused of widespread abuses, particularly during the 2017 anti-government protests. The country is undergoing a major economic and social crisis, with millions suffering food and medicine shortages, hyperinflation and growing insecurity. Those on the EU’s list include former National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, Interior Minister Nestor Reverol and Chief Justice Maikel Moreno. Reuters …

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Pope Francis ventured into the Amazon to demand rights for indigenous groups, decried the scourge of corruption afflicting the region’s politics and denounced a culture of “machismo” in which violence against women is too often tolerated.   Yet his latest visit to South America is likely to be remembered most for 27 dismissive words that sparked outrage among Chileans already angry over a notorious clerical abuse scandal and haunted the rest of his trip.   “That is the enigma of Pope Francis,” Anne Barrett Doyle of the online abuse database BishopAccountability.org said Sunday. “He is so bold and compassionate on …

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Spain’s state prosecutors asked the country’s Supreme Court Monday to reactivate an international arrest warrant for former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont. Puigdemont is in Denmark to take part in a debate on Catalonia at the University of Copenhagen Monday and meet Danish lawmakers on Tuesday. It is not clear whether the Spanish Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena, who is handling the case, will grant it. Madrid had threatened to issue a warrant for Puigdemont’s arrest if he left Belgium, where he fled to avoid prosecution over his role in Catalonia’s independence vote in October. This is the first time that …

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German conservatives are preparing for formal coalition talks with Social Democrats (SPD) Monday shortly after the center-left party voted to break the months of political deadlock. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Union bloc (CDU) and SPD of Martin Schultz are expected to open formal negotiation this week on extending their coalition of the past four years.  Conservatives are warning, however, that they are not prepared to renegotiate preliminary agreements on such issues as migration. Julia Kloeckner (Klöckner), a deputy leader of CDU, told ARD television Monday that the upcoming negotiations will focus on advancing of what was already agreed “but not …

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Tens of thousands of flag-waving Greeks rallied in Thessaloniki Sunday, demanding Greece never compromise on the name Macedonia for its northern province. Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic that shares the same name have been feuding over who gets to use it since Macedonia became independent Yugoslavia in 1991. Police put the turnout for Sunday’s march at 90,000 while organizers say it is much higher. Some of the protesters wore costumes from the period when Macedonia was ruled by the ancient Greek King Alexander the Great. They say allowing the neighboring country to use the name Macedonia insults Greek history …

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The office of Spain’s state prosecutor said Sunday it will move to reissue a European arrest warrant for the fugitive former leader of Catalonia if he leaves Belgium and enters Denmark as planned. The region’s ex-president, Carles Puigdemont, is scheduled to attend a debate Monday at the University of Copenhagen titled “Catalonia and Europe at a Crossroads for Democracy.” The trip would be Puigdemont’s first outside Belgium since he fled there to avoid a court summons in Spain for his role in an illegal- and unsuccessful- secession bid led by his government in October. If Puigdemont makes it to Denmark, …

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Pope Francis wrapped up his visit to Peru on Sunday by denouncing the plague of corruption sweeping through Latin America. But controversy over his accusations that Chilean sex abuse victims slandered a bishop continued to cast a shadow over what has become the most contested and violent trip of his papacy.   A day after his top adviser on sex abuse publicly rebuked him for his Chile remarks, Francis was reminded that the Vatican has faced years of criticism for its inaction over a similar sex abuse scandal in Peru.   “Francis, here there IS proof,” read a banner hanging …

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French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have pledged to agree on a new French-German treaty this year to deepen cooperation between the two countries.   In a joint statement Sunday, both leaders say they will seek closer economic ties and convergence on tax issues.   They also want to develop a common diplomatic approach, boost cooperation on foreign affairs and security including the fight against terrorism, and “defend more effectively French-German common interest and values.”   The statement was timed to commemorate 55 years since the signing of the 1963 Elysee friendship treaty, which marked the reconciliation …

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Four rockets fired from Syria hit a Turkish border town Sunday as Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters pushed forward with an offensive to drive Syrian Kurdish forces from an enclave in northern Syria, the state-run news agency reported. Gov. Mehmet Tekinarslan said four rockets struck the town of Kilis, hitting two houses, an office and slightly wounding one person. The Turkish artillery returned fire, the governor said. The attack came after dozens of Turkish jets pounded the Kurdish-run enclave of Afrin on Saturday as part of an offensive, codenamed Olive Branch. Ten civilians were wounded in the airstrikes, three seriously, according …

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