Category: Євросоюз

The Alternative for Germany party has pledged to use its platform in parliament to “reclaim the country and its people.” The AfD won nearly 14 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election, giving them 94 seats. Many believed the turmoil of the 20th century had immunized Germany from a return of far-right politics, but Sunday’s result proved them wrong. For the group’s opponents who gathered to protest the result in Berlin, the Alternative for Germany’s anti-migrant agenda has parallels with the Nazis’ rise to power. “It is the first time since after the war that a racist and neo-Nazi party …

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The far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party has pledged to use its platform in parliament to “reclaim the country and its people.” The AfD won close to 14 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election, giving them 94 seats — the first significant far-right presence in Germany’s parliament since World War II. Henry Ridgwell reports from Berlin. …

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A referendum on whether Catalonia should secede from Spain is putting intense pressure on the region’s police officers, who feel caught between their oath to the nation’s constitution and loyalty to local leaders who have vowed to create a new European state.   Francesc Vidal, a 16-year veteran of the force known as the Mossos d’Esquadra, described the referendum planned for October 1 as a “train collision” between Spanish authorities desperate to stop what they consider an illegal vote and Catalan separatists who insist that the balloting go forward.   “We only ask that they don’t put us in the …

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In the hours after the mutilated body of a 9-year-old girl was found in a forest near the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, rumors spread quickly that a local Roma man had been arrested — and violent retribution followed. A meeting of local leaders the same day in August last year denounced nearby Roma as criminals and demanded evictions, while a mob circled homes, pelting buildings with rocks and trashing a community where many Roma had lived for a decade, said rights groups. By early September, all two dozen Roma targeted, including 17 children, had fled. A year on, they …

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Swiss voters rejected raising women’s retirement age to 65 in a referendum on Sunday on shoring up the wealthy nation’s pension system as a wave of Baby Boomers stops working. Authorities pushing the first serious reform of the pension system in two decades had warned that old-age benefits were increasingly at risk as life expectancy rises and interest rates remain exceptionally low, cutting investment yields. But it fell by a margin of 53-47 percent, sending the government back to the drawing board on the thorny social issue. The package turned down under the Swiss system of direct democracy included making …

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Sunday’s national election in Germany will sound the starting gun for a renewed debate on fixing flaws in Europe’s shared currency to prevent future crises.   France’s new president Emmanuel Macron has made it clear he is willing to push for change to strengthen the euro and is expected to make proposals in a major speech Tuesday. He is pushing for, among other things, a finance minister for the eurozone to oversee a central fiscal pot of money that could even out recessions in individual members.   Even pro-euro policymakers concede their 19-nation currency union contains weaknesses that fed its …

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The Russian Defense Ministry has announced one of its generals was killed while fighting Islamic State in Syria. “Division general Valeri Assapov was killed when a shell exploded during shelling by IS fighters,” the ministry was quoted as saying by local media. He was serving as an advisor to Syrian government troops “in the operation for the liberation of the city of Deir el-Zour,” it said. Deir el-Zour province, on Syria’s eastern border with Iraq, is rich with oil and gas fields that served as a key revenue stream for IS at the peak of its power. Meanwhile, Syrian media …

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The Vatican on Sunday denounced its ousted auditor general for revealing that he resigned under threat of arrest for what he says were trumped-up charges. In a statement, the Vatican admitted that Libero Milone resigned in June after Vatican investigators determined his office had “illegally hired an outside company to conduct investigations into the private lives of Holy See personnel.” Milone told reporters Saturday that he was told on June 19 that Pope Francis had lost confidence in him. He said he was subsequently subject to an “aggressive” interrogation by Vatican police who seized material from his office and told …

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The grassroots groups driving Catalonia’s separatist movement defied Spanish authorities on Sunday by distributing one million ballots for an Oct. 1 independence vote that the central government in Madrid has called illegal and vowed to halt. Jordi Cuixart, president of the separatist group Omnium Cultural, announced the ballots were being distributed during a rally in Barcelona.   “Here are the packs of ballots that we ask you to hand out across Catalonia,” Cuixart said.   Spanish police have confiscated millions of ballots in recent days as part of a crackdown to stop the Oct. 1 vote, which has been suspended …

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Germany’s national election Sunday is widely expected to give Chancellor Angela Merkel a historic fourth mandate and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party seats in parliament for the first time in 60 years. …

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Germans headed to the polls Sunday in federal elections that will decide in effect whether Angela Merkel should serve a historic fourth term as Chancellor. Merkel’s center-right Christian Democratic Union, along with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, appear to be heading to a handsome victory, according to eve-of-poll surveys. The two parties are expected jointly to win between 36 to 39 percent of the vote. Germany’s second largest party, the center-left Social Democrats, who were junior partners in Merkel’s outgoing government, is likely to scrape just a 23 percent share, which if accurate would be the party’s …

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France is electing about half of its senators Sunday, in an important vote for President Emmanuel Macron’s reform plans, threatened by his declining popularity just four months after his election in May. Macron’s centrist Republic on the Move! party, which emerged just last year, won a large majority in the lower house of parliament in June elections, but is unlikely to enjoy a similar margin in the Senate. Surveys suggest the conservative Republicans party will consolidate its majority in the chamber of 348 seats. Under such a scenario, Republic on the Move! is likely to seek alliances in the Senate …

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Several dozen tradition-minded Roman Catholic theologians, priests and academics have formally accused Pope Francis of spreading heresy with his 2016 opening to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics. In a 25-page letter delivered to Francis last month and provided Saturday to The Associated Press, the 62 signatories issued a “filial correction” to the pope — a measure they said hadn’t been employed since the 14th century. The letter accused Francis of propagating seven heretical positions concerning marriage, moral life and the sacraments with his 2016 document “The Joy of Love” and subsequent “acts, words and omissions.” Two initiatives The initiative follows …

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Hundreds of opposition activists attended an anticorruption protest in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku. The protest, which has been sanctioned by the municipal government, was organized by the National Council of Democratic Forces — an umbrella organization bringing together some of Azerbaijan’s opposition forces. Baku police said in a statement that about 1,500 people attended the Saturday rally, although the organizers disputed the official figure, saying the actual attendance was higher. Azerbaijan’s Turan news agency said thousands participated in the rally held in the Yasamal district of Baku.  According to the statement, supporters of the Popular Front Party, People’s Democratic Party, National …

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged her supporters to keep up the momentum in the final hours before Sunday’s national election, urging a last push to try to sway undecided voters. Merkel is seeking a fourth term in office and her conservative bloc of the Christian Democratic Party and Bavarian-only Christian Social union has a healthy lead in the polls. Surveys in the last week show it leading with between 34 to 37 percent support, followed by the Social Democrats with 21 to 22 percent. Still, the support has been gradually eroding over the past week. Merkel told supporters in Berlin …

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Spanish media report that several hundred students have spent the night inside a Barcelona university to protest the government’s efforts to stop a referendum over Catalonia’s secession from the country. The protesters have said on social media that pro-independence politicians are expected to give talks at Barcelona University on Saturday. Jordi Vives, a spokesman for the students, told Catalan public television: “We are showing that as students we have a part to play and that for now we are staying put.” The remaining students were hold-outs from a group of about 2,000 that gathered in and around the university Friday. …

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While Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programs dominated headlines, countering terrorism and extremism took center stage at the U.N. General Assembly this week. Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and top officials from 24 countries highlighted progress made in the fight to defeat the Islamic State militant group in Iraq. VOA Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine has more from Washington. …

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The United States sees value in the New START arms control treaty with Russia, despite Washington’s concerns about Moscow’s track record on arms control and other issues, senior U.S. officials said Friday. The remarks by the Trump administration officials, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, suggest the treaty will remain in force and the door remains open to pursuing an extension of the accord, which is set to expire in 2021. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty gives both countries until February 2018 to reduce their deployed strategic nuclear warheads to no more than 1,550, the lowest level in …

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Germans go to the polls Sunday in national elections that will decide whether Angela Merkel remains chancellor for a fourth consecutive term. As Henry Ridgwell reports, many wrote off Merkel’s chances as Germany struggled to cope with the 2015 migrant crisis, but she has weathered the storm, and polls point to a comfortable victory. …

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Inside a converted port terminal, thousands of tech entrepreneurs gathered this week to pitch their ideas at TechCrunch Disrupt, an annual event that focuses on emerging technologies. But this is no ordinary time for the tech industry, which finds itself under increasing scrutiny from Washington over how Russia used social media to influence the U.S. elections. This week, Facebook announced that it would give U.S. lawmakers access to ads linked to Russia that were placed on the site leading up to the 2016 presidential election. “We are in a new world,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook live …

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