Category: Євросоюз

Iceland’s ruling Independence Party took the largest share of the vote in the island nation’s parliamentary election but faces difficult negotiations to form a new government after populist candidates showed unexpected strength.   A record eight parties won seats in Saturday’s vote as the 2008 global financial crisis continues to roil the island’s politics.   Despite topping the poll, the Independence Party saw its support dip to 25 percent. The three-party governing coalition lost a total of 12 seats, leaving it 11 seats shy of a majority in parliament, known as the Althingi. The opposition Left Green Movement finished second …

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Hundreds of thousands of supporters of a united Spain are attending a rally in Barcelona Sunday, according to police. Demonstrators marched in Catalonia’s capital to show they are in favor of the Spanish government’s dismissal of Catalonia’s Cabinet and squashing of the region’s secession push. Meanwhile, ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has called for peaceful “democratic opposition” to Spain’s takeover of the region that once enjoyed a considerable amount of autonomy. In a pre-recorded statement, Puigdemont said he would continue working to build a free country and that only the regional parliament has the authority to dismiss the Catalan government. …

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Xavier Gabriel can take some credit if the tiny Catalan mountain town of Sort is one of the most famous in Spain. He runs a lottery shop called La Bruja de Oro, or The Golden Witch, in a town whose name, aptly, means “Luck” in Catalan. Its fortune in having sold many prize-winning tickets has made it a household name and a successful online business. But the crisis surrounding Catalonia’s push for independence has changed life for 60-year-old Gabriel. He joined more than 1,500 companies in moving their official headquarters out of the wealthy region in recent weeks. Their main …

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The political landscape of Iceland has changed, according to preliminary results from Saturday’s election. The Independence Party, which has won almost every election since independence from Denmark in 1944, is losing its center-right grip thanks to two scandals. Stepping in to that void are left-leaning parties. Part of the current ruling coalition, the Independence Party, won 26 percent of the vote, down 3 percentage points from last year. The main opposition Left Green Movement came in second with 17 percent of the vote. The newly formed Center Party of former Prime Minister David Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson was third with 11 percent of the ballots. …

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Hundreds of people have attended an opposition-organized anticorruption rally in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku. The protest Saturday was organized by the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) — an umbrella group of Azerbaijani opposition forces, under the slogan “No To Robbery.” Activists from the Popular Front Party, People’s Democratic Party, National Statehood Party, Musavat Party youth organization, Muslim Union, and NIDA movement attended the rally. The rally held in the Mehsul stadium in Baku’s Yasamal district was approved by the city authorities. Police said the protest was attended by an estimated 1,000 people, although opposition activists say the number was higher. …

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Hundreds of people attended on October 28 an opposition-organized anticorruption rally in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku. The protest was organized by the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) — an umbrella group of Azerbaijani opposition forces, under the slogan “No To Robbery.” Protesters chanted slogans like “End to Corruption” and “Freedom for Political Prisoners!” (RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service) …

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The long-serving mayor of the Turkish capital, Ankara, has resigned after pressure from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In the last few weeks, Erdogan has forced out of office six mayors belonging to his ruling AKP party as part of efforts to revitalize the party ahead of looming elections. Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek’s resignation followed weeks of intense pressure by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, culminating in the president publicly warning the mayor of severe consequences if he did not quit. In his resignation speech, Gokcek made clear he was not leaving willingly after 23 years in office. He said, “I’m quitting not because …

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Catalonia’s deposed President Carles Puigdemont vowed on Saturday to keep fighting for independence after the Spanish central government ordered him to accept his cabinet’s dismissal. The Spanish region of Catalonia, which once enjoyed a considerable amount of autonomy, is now under the direct control of Madrid. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dissolved Catalonia’s parliament, just hours after the regional body voted Friday in favor of independence from Spain. WATCH: Spanish official discusses December elections In addition to dismissing the regional parliament, Rajoy has called for snap Catalan elections on December 21 and has stripped Catalonia’s most senior police officials of …

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Parliamentary elections were held in Iceland Saturday as the nation tries to overcome a political scandal that has provoked anger among voters. Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, a member of the center-right Independence Party, called the election last month after a member of the three-party center-right coalition resigned over a legal conflict involving his father. The political landscape on the island has also been rattled by the implication of several politicians and members of the financial elite in the Panama Papers scandal that exposed worldwide tax evasion networks. The scandals led to the collapse of the government, prompting the second snap …

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Italian prosecutors will not accept as evidence a DNA test that could exonerate an Eritrean man accused of smuggling thousands of Africans to Italy. It’s the latest setback for Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe, whose trial has continued for more than a year, despite mounting evidence that Italian authorities are prosecuting the wrong person. Berhe’s lawyer, Michele Calantropo, argued during a 45-minute hearing Wednesday that his client is the victim of mistaken identity in a case that has gained worldwide attention. Berhe’s mother, Meaza Zerai Weldai, 59, flew this week from Asmara, Eritrea, to complete a DNA test to prove her maternity …

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The ever expanding field of consumer technology just got several dozen new specimens, showcased at the Netherlands’ first Consumer Electronics Show. None are expected to spectacularly change our lives … but at least some of them may prove to be truly useful. VOA’s George Putic reports. …

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The political crisis in Spain deepened Friday as lawmakers in the Catalan regional parliament voted to officially declare independence from Madrid. The Spanish government responded by invoking constitutional law to impose direct rule on the region and called snap elections there for Dec. 21, setting the stage for a confrontation with Catalan authorities and raising fears the crisis could turn violent. Henry Ridgwell has more. …

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The once-bipartisan Senate Judiciary Committee investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 election has broken along partisan lines, with the committee’s top Democrat contacting witnesses independently and asking for a broad swath of new information. After months of negotiations with Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley stalled, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein sent five letters of her own on Friday to witnesses and companies involved in the probe. The letters were sent to the White House, Facebook, Twitter and President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. There is also a letter to Cambridge Analytica, a data firm working for Trump’s campaign during …

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The Catalan regional parliament voted for independence from Spain Friday by approving a resolution to convene a constitutional assembly to form a sovereign republic. The move was accompanied by applause and embraces between lawmakers present, who sang the Catalan anthem. The resolution to secede from Spain was drafted and presented by the more radical separatist factions of the regional coalition headed by Catalonia President Carles Puigdemont, and it passed by 70 votes in favor, 10 against and 2 blank votes. Spain’s ruling center-right Popular Party and the mainstream opposition socialists, who hold just under half the seats in the Catalan …

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Spain’s prime minister urged the country’s Senate Friday to grant special constitutional measures to allow the central government to take control of Catalonia’s autonomous powers in an attempt to halt the region’s independence bid.   Mariano Rajoy told senators that Spain is facing a challenge not seen in its recent history, adding that what is happening in Catalonia is “a clear violation of the laws, of democracy, of the rights of all, and that has consequences.”   Rajoy said if the Senate approves, the government’s first step would be to take control of the region and dismiss it’s president and …

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Burundi has become the first nation to withdraw from the International Criminal Court. Burundi had announced its plan to withdraw a year ago, saying the court focused too much on Africa. Amnesty International immediately reacted, saying Burundi’s withdrawal “does not in any way absolve Burundi of its obligations to end ongoing widespread human rights violations, or to address its abject failure to deliver justice for victims at the national level.” The rights group said, “The ICC can continue its preliminary investigations regardless of Burundi’s efforts to stop its work by withdrawing from the Court. Even if President Pierre Nkurunziza’s government …

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More than 10,000 mainly Syrian refugees who escaped fighting in their country are living on five Greek islands. About 2,500 of them are crowded into camps on the island of Samos, even though there is only room for about 800. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports aid groups say there is a growing mental health crisis among those refugees. …

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accused by critics of amassing power and creating the latest in a series of autocratic governments in the country, faces a new political threat after the launch Wednesday of the Iyi Party by Meral Aksener. The former interior minister boosted her profile by campaigning against a referendum on extending the Turkish president’s powers, and now observers see her as potentially posing the biggest challenge to Erdogan’s re-election bid. Some polls show she could secure more than 20 percent of the vote and threaten the majority that Erdogan’s party now holds in parliament. Aksener, a right-wing …

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NATO has accused Russia of misleading the Western military alliance about the military exercises it held last month with Belarus. “There is a discrepancy between what Russia briefed before the exercise … and the actual numbers and the scale and the scope of the exercise,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday. Russian defense officials said the Zapad 2017 exercises involved 12,700 troops, but NATO contends there were nearly 100,000 troops from the Arctic to eastern Ukraine and that they simulated attacks on the West. Alexander Grushko, Russia’s ambassador to NATO, disputed the claim. “NATO countries are counting all the military …

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The social media company Twitter on Thursday announced it would block any advertising on its platform from Russia-sponsored news outlets Sputnik and RT. The company, in a statement on its blog, said it took the step as part of its “ongoing commitment to help protect the integrity of the user experience on Twitter.” Twitter cited a report produced in January by U.S. intelligence agencies that concluded the Russian government attempted to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. “Early this year, the U.S. intelligence community named RT and Sputnik as implementing state-sponsored Russian efforts to interfere with and disrupt the …

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