Category: Євросоюз

NATO is set to launch a new multinational force in Romania on Monday to counter Russia along its eastern flank and to check a growing Russian presence in the Black Sea following the Kremlin’s 2014 seizure of Crimea. Initially a small force relying on troops from 10 NATO countries including Italy and Canada, as well as Romania, the land, air and sea deployments will complement about 900 U.S. troops already in place. “Our purpose is peace, not war,” Romanian President Klaus Iohannis told the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Bucharest. “We are not a threat for Russia. But we need dialogue …

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The Russian Justice Ministry has warned U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that it may impose restrictions on some of the broadcaster’s operations in Russia in response to what Moscow claims is pressure on Russian state-funded outlets in the United States. The ministry said in a letter dated October 9 that the operations of Current Time television, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with Voice of America, fall under Article 2 of Russian law on NGOs and foreign agents, and that Russia therefore retains the right to impose restrictions on Current Time. “The activity of your organization may be …

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The Kremlin on Monday called for restraint on North Korea after U.S. President Donald Trump warned over the weekend that “only one thing will work” in dealing with Pyongyang, hinting that military action was on his mind. When asked what Russia made of Trump’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters: “Moscow has called and continues to call on the parties involved in the conflict and on those who have anything to do with this issue to exercise restraint and to avoid any steps that would only worsen the situation.” Commenting on a Trump statement that …

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Turkey on Monday urged the United States to reverse its temporary halt to non-immigrant visa applications – a move that was quickly mirrored by Turkey the day before. A statement Sunday from the U.S. Embassy in Ankara said, “Recent events have forced the United States Government to reassess the commitment of the Government of Turkey to the security of U.S. Mission facilities and personnel. The statement did not clarify the reasons for which it is reassessing Turkey’s commitment, nor did it say how long the suspension would last. The statement added, “In order to minimize the number of visitors to …

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Is it time to say arrivederci to Christopher Columbus? A movement to abolish Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples Day has gained momentum in some parts of the U.S., with Los Angeles in August becoming the biggest city yet to decide to stop honoring the Italian explorer and instead recognize victims of colonialism.   Austin, Texas, followed suit Thursday. It joined cities including San Francisco, Seattle and Denver, which had previously booted Columbus in favor of Indigenous Peoples Day.   But the gesture to recognize indigenous people rather than the man who opened the Americas to European domination …

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Then French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared March 19, 2012, the date an Islamic militant killed a Jewish rabbi and three children in Toulouse, “a day of national tragedy.” The gunman, Mohammed Merah, a French petty criminal of Algerian descent, had targeted French soldiers a week earlier in two attacks, one at a shopping center. On March 19 it was the turn of the Ozar Hatorah Jewish day school. Dismounting a motorbike, the 23-year-old Merah unleashed a fusillade toward the schoolyard, killing first the rabbi as he shielded his two young sons, who were shot also, and then chasing a fleeing …

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A Sarajevo court Monday acquitted a former commander of the Bosnian Army in Srebrenica of war crimes during the Balkan wars of 1990s. Naser Oric, 50, was found not guilty of killing three Bosnian Serb prisoners of war in 1992. The court also acquitted an Oric subordinate, former Bosnian Army soldier Sabahudin Muhic of the killings that took place in Srebrenica area. The prosecution had alleged that Oric and killed the Serb captives in the villages of Zalazje, Lolici and Kunjerac. However, the presiding judge Saban Maksumic said the prosecution was not able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Oric …

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British Prime Minister Theresa May says she is “resilient” despite a difficult speech at the Conservative Party conference and growing threats to her leadership. She told the Sunday Times she would not hide from a challenge as she fights off a rebellion from some legislators unhappy with her leadership. “The truth is my feelings can be hurt, like everyone else, but I am pretty resilient,” she said. Former Prime Minister John Major urged Conservative Party members to support May and scolded those who have plotted against her. “I urge all Conservative [lawmakers] to reflect very carefully on what is at …

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London police have released a 47-year-old man they had detained on suspicion of dangerous driving after his car veered off the pavement Saturday outside the city’s Natural History Museum. Eleven people were hurt in the incident and nine were hospitalized. Officials said none of the injuries was life-threatening. Initially, the crash was thought to be a terrorist attack, but police later said, “The incident is a road traffic investigation and not a terrorist-related incident.” Police said the man was released “under investigation” and did not reveal his identity. Britain is on its second-highest security alert level after five deadly attacks …

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As Germany moves to implement sanctions against North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, its efforts seem to be at odds with a private business in Berlin. Poised to tighten financial screws on a regime that is making steady progress toward a nuclear-tipped missile that can threaten the U.S. mainland, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution in November 2016, which for the first time included a prohibition on using any property that North Korea owns or leases for purposes other than diplomatic activities. Five months after its passage, Germany stated in an implementation report submitted to the U.N. that it had begun …

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Catalonians are rallying in Barcelona to protest the Catalan government’s push for secession from Spain. Police say 350,000 demonstrators attended, while organizers say more than 900,000 people joined in. “We have perhaps been silent too long,” one protester told the French news agency on Sunday. Last week, Catalonians voted overwhelmingly for independence.  In that poll, deemed illegal by Madrid, 90 percent voted to break with Spain, but the turnout was well under half of the electorate. Opinion polls have consistently suggested more Catalans favor remaining in Spain than declaring independence. Organizers say the slogan for Sunday’s rally is “Enough, let’s …

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The new U.S. ambassador to Russia said Saturday that restoring Ukrainian sovereignty and bringing North Korea to the negotiating table would be central issues as he works to improve U.S.-Russian relations. Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. said trust is at a low point as many Americans believe Russia wants to undermine U.S. democracy amid investigations into Russian election meddling. “It is no longer a partisan issue at the political level, either,” he said. Huntsman takes over at a precarious time between the two countries. He said he wants to improve relations, but the first step is returning Ukrainian control …

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Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s groundbreaking visit to Russia this week saw billions of dollars signed in investment deals in energy and defense that will deepen ties between Moscow and Riyadh, despite their confrontational past. But analysts say self-interests and Middle East alliances will hamper the forming of a deeper partnership. During this first trip to Russia by a Saudi king, the two sides agreed on billions of dollars in projects involving space exploration, nuclear energy and oil, including a $1 billion fund on energy cooperation and a $1 billion fund on high-tech investment. Even the king’s 1,500-strong entourage, …

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Supporters of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny staged nationwide protests on Saturday to coincide with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 65th birthday, with police making scores of arrests. Rallies and pickets were held in dozens of Russian cities, including Moscow, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Ulan-Ude, Chita and Stavropol, with protesters demanding that Navalny be allowed to participate in the country’s March 2018 presidential election. The Moscow-based OVD-Info, a group that monitors politically motivated arrests, said there had been at least 271 people arrested at protests in 26 cities as of 9 p.m. No harsh crackdown There was no harsh crackdown by police as …

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced the start of Turkish military operation into Syria’s Idlib province. “There is a serious operation in Idlib at the moment, and this will continue,” Erdogan announced in a speech Saturday to his party members. The military offensive is aimed at ending the jihadist control of the Idlib area. Much of Idlib is controlled by the jihadist Tahrir al-Sham alliance, which is made up of large elements of a former al-Qaida affiliate that changed its name last year from the al-Nusra Front. “We have to help our brothers who arrived in Idlib after fleeing …

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Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Saturday that he would not rule out using constitutional powers to take away Catalonia’s autonomous status if the region declared independence. Rajoy made the remark to the newspaper El Pais. “I don’t rule out anything that is within the law,” he said, adding, “I would like the threat of an independence referendum to be withdrawn as quickly as possible.” Earlier Saturday, thousands of protesters gathered at rallies in Barcelona, Madrid and other Spanish cities as Catalonians continued to push for secession after last Sunday’s independence referendum. Organizers of the Catalonia secession rally had asked …

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Experts from Europe’s top human rights body on Friday expressed concerns over decrees issued by Turkey’s government that removed elected mayors from posts and replaced them with unelected officials. Following last year’s coup attempt Turkey declared a state of emergency that allows the government to rule by decrees, largely by-passing parliament. Turkey says the emergency powers are needed to deal with the coup-plotters and thwart security threats. The Council of Europe’s advisory body — known as the Venice Commission and made up of constitutional law experts — said it was “particularly worried” by the use of decrees to sack elected …

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U.S. Ambassador to Turkey John Bass is criticizing the arrest of a local U.S. Consulate employee in Istanbul, saying it was motivated by “revenge rather than justice” on the part of elements within the Turkish government. Bass made his comments Friday in the case of Metin Topuz, who was taken into custody Wednesday on terrorism charges. “There is a big difference between pursuing justice and pursuing vengeance in terms of the rule of law and the democratic norms that this country, and my country, have committed themselves to, both through the Helsinki Charter and their own constitutions,” Bass said at …

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The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN. The group consists of close to 500 organizations in over 100 countries working toward global nuclear disarmament. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the award is widely seen as a political statement at a time of high geopolitical uncertainty. …

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One hundred years ago, the flamboyant, rabble-rousing Italian poet and playwright Gabriele D’Annunzio marched into the disputed city of Fiume on the Adriatic with 2,000 squadristi and set up a farcical Italian regency, appointing himself Duce. For 15 months, D’Annunzio rehearsed rituals that later would be imitated to tragic effect by Benito Mussolini — the stiff-armed Roman salute, balcony speeches punctuated by Achilles’ war cry from Homer’s epic The Iliad, rhetorical dialogues with adoring crowds. The grandiose D’Annunzio electrified his supporters as he practiced politics in the grand style and promoted the idea of an expanded Mother Italy. Ignominiously, the …

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