Category: Євросоюз

Romania’s justice minister proposed a significant overhaul of the judicial system Wednesday, which the president called an attack on the rule of law that would set the country back a decade. Romania is seen as one of the European Union’s most corrupt states, and Brussels keeps its justice system under special monitoring. Attempts by the ruling coalition of Social Democrats and junior partner ALDE to weaken a crackdown on high-level corruption triggered the country’s largest street protests in decades at the start of the year. Justice Minister Tudorel Toader proposed a slew of changes on Wednesday, ranging from a change …

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As many as 200 migrants clashed near the northern French port city of Calais, using sticks and iron bars in five mass brawls that mainly pitted Afghans against Eritreans, authorities said Tuesday. A total of 21 migrants and six riot police were injured, none seriously, during the clashes that broke out between Monday night and Tuesday afternoon, the Pas-de-Calais prefecture said. Up to 150 migrants were involved in the last fight, which started on a road leading out of the Calais city center and moved to a highway, the prefecture said. The regional Voix du Nord newspaper said the violent …

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Ukrainian cyber security firm ISSP said on Tuesday it may have detected a new computer virus distribution campaign, after security services said Ukraine could face cyber-attacks similar to those which knocked out global systems in June. The June 27 attack, dubbed NotPetya, took down many Ukrainian government agencies and businesses, before spreading rapidly through corporate networks of multinationals with operations or suppliers in eastern Europe. ISPP said that, as with NotPetya, the new malware seemed to originate in accounting software and could be intended to take down networks when Ukraine celebrates its Independence Day on Aug. 24. “This could be …

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Chancellor Angela Merkel’s main challenger in next month’s election says he would push for the removal of U.S. nuclear weapons from German soil. The dpa news agency reported Tuesday that Social Democrat Martin Schulz also told supporters in the city of Trier on Tuesday that a government led by him would seek to limit Germany’s own military expenditures. The news agency quoted Schulz saying: “As chancellor, I will work to ensure that the nuclear weapons stationed in Germany … are removed.” U.S. President Donald Trump has pressured Germany and other NATO partners to spend more on defense. But Schulz said: …

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The Trump administration imposed sanctions on Chinese and Russian individuals and companies Tuesday, accusing them of conducting business with North Korea in ways that helped Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile programs. Reuters reports China’s embassy called the action a “mistake” that should be immediately corrected.  The U.S. Treasury Department said the 10 companies and six individuals helped North Korea generate revenue that could be used to pay for weapons programs. The firms and their executives do business with previously sanctioned companies and people who work with the North Korean energy sector. They are accused of helping place North Korean workers …

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U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is set to visit Ankara, Turkey in the coming days as part of a tour of the region. Mattis’ visit comes as bilateral relations between the two NATO allies are strained over Washington’s support of Syrian Kurds, whom Ankara considers terrorists. “Turkish relations are as bad as they can get,” said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen, who served in Iraq and Washington. “But the fact Turkey’s position on the world map is extremely important, one can look on the map and see without Turkey it will be difficult for the U.S., if not impossible, getting …

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Bishops in Ireland have created detailed guidelines to address an issue the Roman Catholic Church has tried to keep under wraps for centuries: the plight of children born to Catholic priests and the women who bear them.   The policy, approved in May and made public in recent days, states the wellbeing of the child is paramount. It says the mother must be respected and involved in decision-making, and that the priest “should face up to his responsibilities – personal, legal, moral and financial.”   The guidelines are believed to represent the first comprehensive, public policy by a national bishops’ …

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Firefighters in Italy freed a 7-month-old baby and his older brother from rubble early Tuesday following a 4.0-magnitude quake on the resort island of Ischia off Naples, and rescuers were working on helping a third brother who remained trapped.   At least two people were killed in the quake that struck just before 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) Monday, while another 39 were injured and some 2,600 were left homeless. The victims were an elderly woman who was in a church that crumbled in the quake, and a second person who has been located in the rubble but not yet extracted. …

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Ford Tuesday became the latest carmaker to launch a car scrappage scheme in Britain, joining the likes of BMW and Mercedes-Benz, after months of procrastination from the government over whether to begin a national program. The U.S. automaker is offering customers a 2,000 pound ($2,580) discount off a range of Ford models when they trade in vehicles registered before the end of 2009. BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Vauxhall, the British version of the Opel brand sold on the continent, have all launched similar schemes in recent weeks to incentivize motorists to reduce emissions by replacing their gas-guzzling models with greener cars. …

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The United States is suspending the processing of nonimmigrant visas at its consulates in Russia after authorities there ordered its staff slashed by more than half in retaliation for U.S. sanctions against Russian in its election hacking. Russia’s foreign minister said Moscow would consider how best to respond to the decision, the latest tit-for-tat move in spiraling diplomatic relations. VOA’s Daniel Schearf reports from Washington. …

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Four suspects arrested in connection with last week’s deadly van attack in Barcelona are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday, a day after police shot and killed the man they say was the van’s driver. Authorities say a 12-man terror cell was behind the attack, and that eight of the suspects have either been killed by police or died in an accidental explosion at their bomb-making facility the day before the attack. The massive manhunt for the last outstanding suspect, Younes Abouyaaqoub, ended Monday in a rural area known for its vineyards about 45 kilometers west of Barcelona. Authorities say …

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Police in Spain have confirmed that the man they shot dead west of Barcelona Monday was the perpetrator of Thursday’s deadly van attack. “We confirm that the man shot dead in #subirats is Younes Abouyaaqoub, author of the terrorist attack in #barcelona,” police tweeted on Monday, after earlier reporting that the man in the town of Subirats was wearing what appeared to be a suicide belt. Catalan interior minister Joaquim Forn told Catalunya radio that “everything indicates” Younes Abouyaaqoub was behind the wheel of the van during Thursday’s Barcelona attack that killed 15 people. Earlier, authorities said they had been …

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Germany’s Foreign Ministry is having some fun at the expense of a Breitbart News gaffe. The online news site’s London operation on Friday used a photo of famous German soccer star Lukas Podolski riding on a jet-ski to illustrate a story headlined “Spanish Police Crack Gang Moving Migrants on Jet-Skis.”   The image prompted immediate online ridicule, and the site quickly removed it. The photo was taken of Podolski in 2014 just before the start of the World Cup final in Brazil.   Breitbart also apologized, saying “there is no evidence Mr. Podolski is either a migrant gang member, nor …

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has named deputy foreign minister Anatoly Antonov as the country’s new ambassador to the United States. He will replace Sergei Kislyak, who served for as Moscow’s envoy to Washington for more than nine years. U.S-Russian relations have fallen to their lowest point since the Cold War, with U.S. intelligence agencies concluding that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election, in an effort to help Donald Trump win. Russia has denied meddling in the election. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is conducting a criminal probe into whether the Trump campaign illegally colluded with Moscow. Trump has been largely …

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The entire staff of the Serbian Embassy in the Macedonian capital has been withdrawn for urgent consultations in Belgrade in a move that has further strained relations between the Balkan neighbors.   The Macedonian Foreign Ministry said it “is not aware of the reasons for this decision.”   Serbian officials have not given a reason for the withdrawal. Serbian state TV said Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic will comment on Monday.   Relations between the two countries have been strained since Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev formed his coalition government this spring, almost six months after a parliamentary election.   Both …

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Pope Francis is demanding countries to greatly improve their welcome to migrants and stop any collective expulsions, saying migrants’ dignity and right to protection trumps national security concerns.   Francis’ politically pointed message Monday was for the Catholic Church’s 2018 world refugee day, celebrated Jan. 14. It comes amid mounting anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe following waves of migrant arrivals and Islamic extremist attacks.   In the message, Francis demanded governments welcome, protect, promote and integrate migrants, saying Jesus’ message of love is rooted in welcoming the “rejected strangers of every age.”   He demanded an increased and simplified process of …

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Brexit minister David Davis called on the European Union on Sunday to relax its position that the two sides must first make progress on a divorce settlement before moving on to discussing future relations. After a slow start to negotiations to unravel more than 40 years of union, Britain is pressing for talks to move beyond the divorce to offer companies some assurance of what to expect after Britain leaves the EU in March 2019. This week, the government will issue five new papers to outline proposals for future ties, including how to resolve any future disputes without “the direct …

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The Turkish judge sits in a busy cafe in a big German city. Thirteen months ago, he was a respected public servant in his homeland. Now he is heartbroken and angry over the nightmarish turn of events that brought him here.   The day after a 2016 coup attempt shook Turkey, he was blacklisted along with thousands of other judges and prosecutors. The judge smiles, sadly, as he recounts hiding at a friend’s home, hugging his crying son goodbye and paying smugglers to get him to safety.   “I’m very sad I had to leave my country,” he said, asking …

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Spain’s hunt for the driver of a van that barreled through a Barcelona crowd last week focused Sunday on the northeastern towns of Ripoll and Manlleu. Police set up numerous roadblocks hoping to snare Younes Abouyaaquoub, a 22-year-old Moroccan man they suspect was behind Thursday’s attack, which killed 13 people and injured more than 100 others. In a news conference Sunday, Spanish police also reported that they had found 120 gas canisters in a home believed to be the bomb-making factory of the suspects in Thursday’s attacks.  Enough materials were found to carry out “one or more attacks in Barcelona,” …

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A year ago, analysts were expressing confidence during a major conference in London that southern Europe would avoid the kind of large-scale Islamic terror attacks seen in northern European cities like Paris and Brussels. At a conference at King’s College, London, to explore the jihadist threat to Europe, analysts drawn from across the continent highlighted the fact that neither Spain — nor Italy, for that matter, which has also been on the receiving end of vocal Islamic State threats — had seen many volunteers join IS to fight in Syria or Iraq. They noted neither southern European country has large …

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