Category: Євросоюз

The European Commission said Wednesday it wants to cut emissions of carbon dioxide from cars by 30 percent by 2030 and boost the use of electric vehicles by making them cheaper and easier to charge.   The proposal stops short of imposing fixed quotas for emission-free vehicles and is more modest than goals already set out by some EU members. Still, European automakers said the commission’s targets were too drastic, and Germany’s foreign minister warned against the proposal.   Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic insisted that the plan is the most “realistic” compromise between Europe’s ambitions to blaze trails on …

READ MORE

Visiting Berlin in the midst of sensitive coalition talks, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire urged Germany to seize a historic window of opportunity to reform Europe, warning that the bloc could succumb to nationalism if they failed. The visit comes six weeks after a German election forced Chancellor Angela Merkel into negotiations with parties, including the Free Democrats (FDP), that are sceptical of French President Emmanuel Macron’s ambitious vision for Europe. By holding talks with leading members of those parties, including FDP leader Christian Lindner, Le Maire said he hoped to convince members of the next German government to …

READ MORE

Serbian and U.S. paratroopers will jump side-by-side during a joint exercise aimed at strengthening military ties with Serbia, the U.S. general in charge of NATO’s Allied Air Command said, a move that could trigger protests from Moscow. In the exercise, which is taking place at the invitation of the Serbian government, paratroopers from both countries will jump side-by-side from 2 C-130J transport planes built by Lockheed Martin in a so-called insertion exercise. About 100 U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army personnel will participate in the event, General Tod Wolters, who also oversees U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa, told …

READ MORE

Wary of a belligerent and unpredictable Russia, NATO is expanding its operations for the first time since the end of the Cold War and drawing up plans to improve the way the military alliance commands and deploys its forces. NATO defense ministers Wednesday endorsed a proposal to create two new commands: one to protect sea lanes ferrying troops and equipment across the Atlantic from the United States, the other a logistics command to supervise troop movements in Europe. “We need a command structure which can make sure that we have the right forces, in the right place, with the right …

READ MORE

Russia clashed with Western nations Tuesday over a report blaming Syria for a deadly chemical weapons attack, with Moscow dismissing its findings as “mythical or invented” and the U.S. backing its finger-pointing at President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The debate in the Security Council during a meeting on the report reflected the sharp differences between Russia, Syria’s most important ally, and Western countries that have backed Assad’s opponents. It also raised serious questions about whether the mandate of the experts who issued the report will be renewed — and whether anyone in Syria will ever be held accountable for using chemical …

READ MORE

Lithuania expects NATO to reach an agreement next year to shield Baltic countries with air defenses, plugging a gap in its security against Russia, its defense minister said Tuesday. Since Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and began providing weapons and troops to separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, NATO has sent more forces to the Baltics, eastern Poland and around the Black Sea. Lithuania, which borders the Russian region of Kaliningrad, wants NATO to permanently deploy anti-aircraft weapons in the Baltics or Poland — a move seen by Moscow as an unjustified military buildup on its borders. …

READ MORE

EU diplomats will start sketching out a Brexit transition offer on Wednesday that would probably let Britain stay in the single market for about two years after it leaves the bloc in March 2019, EU officials said. But some officials and diplomats involved in preparing for the first “orientation debate” among envoys from the other 27 EU states warned London should not assume it can clinch an initial deal next month to open talks on post-Brexit relations. Some governments see benefits in making Britain wait for it. An EU official familiar with Wednesday’s agenda said states would be asked their …

READ MORE

A Turkish court rejected on Tuesday an appeals court order to retry a lawmaker from the main opposition party, upholding his 25-year jail term, CNN Turk reported. Enis Berberoglu became a symbol for more than 50,000 people detained in the wake of a failed coup in July 2016. The chairman of his secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) held a 425 km (265 mile) protest march from the capital Ankara to Istanbul when Berberoglu was convicted and sentenced in June for military espionage. The court had said Berberoglu gave an opposition newspaper a video purporting to show Turkey’s intelligence agency trucking …

READ MORE

A host of pro-Western candidates met Tuesday’s deadline to run for Czech president, seeking to unseat incumbent Milos Zeman, who has leaned toward Russia and China. Czech presidents wield limited day-to-day power but have large informal influence and play a key role in forming governments — now underway following elections last month. The winner of the January presidential election will fuel or tame euroskepticism that has taken hold despite the country’s economic success and stability since joining NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. Zeman, 73, former Social Democrat leader and prime minister, is one of the major …

READ MORE

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is facing calls to resign after saying recently that a British-Iranian woman currently jailed in Iran had been training journalists when she was arrested. Boris Johnson has since said he “could have chosen his words more carefully.” Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at Tehran airport in April 2016 as she tried to return home to Britain after a vacation to visit her parents. Iranian authorities have never revealed the exact charges against Zaghari-Ratcliffe, but earlier this year sentenced her to jail for five years, purportedly on grounds of national security.’ The website of the Iranian judiciary …

READ MORE

The United Nations is calling for an immediate halt to the Saudi Arabian coalition’s blockade of life-saving commercial goods into Yemen. The coalition closed all land, sea and air ports in Yemen following a ballistic missile launch by Yemen’s Houthi rebels near Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, Saturday.   The United Nations reports humanitarian operations in Yemen are blocked because of the port closures. U.N. Organization for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Spokesman Jens Laerke said food, medicine and fuel are not allowed to enter Yemen, making life more difficult for millions of people in this war-torn country. For example, he …

READ MORE

Emboldened by the United States’ firm opposition to the Iraqi Kurdish  independence referendum in September, Turkey is pushing to persuade Washington to abandon its support for Syrian Kurdish militia, YPG, as it fights  the Islamic State militant group. Washington’s robust opposition to its long time ally, the Iraqi Kurds, came as a welcome surprise in Ankara. Turkey fears the establishment of any Kurdish independent state would fuel the secessionist demands of the Kurdish minority in southeastern Turkey. International relations expert Soli Ozel of Istanbul’s Kadir Has University, said the U.S. stance challenged widespread Turkish suspicions of Washington’s motives in the …

READ MORE

Ousted Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, who wants to lead a pro-independence coalition of political forces in an upcoming regional election, criticized Tuesday the passivity of European politicians in denouncing the prosecution of dismissed secessionist officials. In an interview Tuesday in Brussels with Catalan public radio, the separatist leader says there is an “absolute disconnect between the interests of the people and the European elites” and that Catalonia’s problem is an “issue of human rights that requires maximum attention.C Puigdemont is fighting extradition to Spain, where other members of the ousted Cabinet have been sent to jail while awaiting the results …

READ MORE

Ten people suspected of using encrypted social networks to prepare a possible attack were arrested Tuesday in counterterrorism operations in France and Switzerland, according to French officials.   Among those arrested were a 23-year-old Colombian woman and 27-year-old Swiss man, both targets of a Swiss investigation into banned Islamic extremist groups.   Searches are still underway in the Paris suburbs and in southeastern France.   Counterterrorism investigators detained nine people in France and one in Switzerland in operations aimed at clarifying details of the suspected plot, according to a French judicial official. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity …

READ MORE

Nordic countries agreed on Monday to step up defense cooperation and exchange more air surveillance information because they are worried about Russia’s increasing military activity. The countries have increased defense spending and cooperation with each other and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. “The … situation is a common concern for the Nordic countries … We aim at strengthening our national defense and finding cooperation to better address security concerns,” Finnish Defense Minister Jussi Niinisto told a news conference. It followed a meeting with his Swedish, Danish and Norwegian counterparts and a representative from Iceland. …

READ MORE

A walking tour to learn about Budapest’s Muslim community and its mosques has become popular with Hungarians as a way of overcoming fears and reservations amid a strident anti-immigrant campaign by the government. Budapest-based tour operator Setamuhely (Budapest Walkshop) runs 30 different walks, taking visitors around the city’s architectural and cultural sites and the Jewish and Muslim communities. “I can say that this walk, ‘Muslims who live among us,’ is the most popular tour,” said Anna Lenard who runs the business. When the Muslim tour was set up three years ago, very few people were interested. “Most people have never …

READ MORE

President Tayyip Erdogan announced on Monday plans to demolish a culture center in Istanbul named after the founder of modern secular Turkey, in a move critics see as another attempt by the Islamist-rooted ruling party to roll back secularism. It marks Erdogan’s second attempt to tear down the Ataturk Culture Center (AKM), named after Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, after a previous plan to develop the site near Taksim Square in 2013 erupted into mass protests against Turkey’s ruling AK Party. The project envisages building an opera house, theatre hall, a conference center and cinema on the site, near Gezi Park, the …

READ MORE

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi looked poised on Monday for a stunning political comeback, as his rightist bloc claimed victory in an election in Sicily that puts it in pole position for a national vote due by next May. The regional Sicilian ballot, held on Sunday, was seen as a dry run for the nationwide election, with many of the island’s problems reflecting those of the country as a whole – high unemployment, a debt mountain and sluggish economic growth. An influx of migrants, many of whom arrive in Sicily after being rescued in the Mediterranean, was also a …

READ MORE

British Prime Minister Theresa May and other party leaders agreed on Monday to introduce new safeguards for those working in parliament to try to contain a growing sexual harassment scandal. Britain’s parliament is the latest institution to become embroiled in a sex scandal after abuse allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein prompted thousands of women and men to share stories about improper behavior. Allegations have been made against lawmakers in several parties, but the growing scandal is particularly damaging for May who, weakened after losing her Conservatives’ majority in June, cannot afford to lose any more parliamentary seats, especially when …

READ MORE

Ousted Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and four close separatist allies regained their freedom at the end of a tumultuous Sunday that started when they surrendered in Brussels to face possible extradition to Spain for allegedly plotting a rebellion.   But a Brussels investigative judge quickly ruled there was no reason to put the five politicians behind bars and released them on condition they stay in Belgium and attend their court sessions within two weeks.   Hours after the former Catalan regional president and four ex-ministers turned themselves in to Belgian authorities, Puigdemont’s party put him forward as its leader for …

READ MORE