Category: Євросоюз

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is in Estonia for talks on military support with the three Baltic members of NATO, to assume them the United States supports its allies who are concerned about Russian expansionism. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all have asked for tangible demonstrations of U.S. military support. Concerns about Russian expansionism have increased sharply in the Baltic region with Russia’s annexation of Crimes from Ukraine in 2014. Pence was upbeat on his arrival in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, on Sunday: “President (Donald) Trump sent me to Eastern Europe with a very simple message, and that is that America first …

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Thousands of people rallied in Turkey’s largest city on Sunday against security measures Israel has imposed at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, shortly after Israel removed other measures that led to two weeks of violent Palestinian protests. The rally in Istanbul, called “The Big Jerusalem Meeting” and organized by Turkey’s Saadet Party, drew some five thousand people to the Yenikapi parade ground on the southern edge of Istanbul. Protesters were brought in by buses and ferries from across the city, waved Turkish and Palestinian flags, and held up posters in front of a giant stage where the chairman of the …

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Security officials said on Sunday that the Egyptian man who stabbed to death three tourists and wounded three others earlier this month in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada was tasked by the Islamic State group to carry out an attack against foreigners. The officials said that investigations revealed 29-year old Abdel-Rahman Shaaban had communicated with two IS leaders on social media after they recruited him online. One of them gave Shaaban daily lessons for a month after which he got in touch with the other, who asked him carry out an attack against tourists in either the resort city …

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U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign into law new sanctions against Russia, Iran, and North Korea. While Washington awaits the president’s signature, Russia is promising retaliation if punitive measures are implemented. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports from Washington …

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Russian President Vladimir Putin is ordering 755 U.S. diplomats out  of the country in retaliation to new U.S. sanctions over Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Putin told a Russian television network, “More than a thousand people were working and are still working” at the U.S. embassy and consulates, and “755 people must stop their activities in Russia.” Putin said Moscow could take more retaliatory steps against the U.S. but said, “I am against it as of today.” The U.S. State Department called Putin’s order “a regrettable and uncalled for act” and says it is assessing how to respond. …

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Seven Turkish journalists were freed Saturday after spending nine months in prison, but they expressed sorrow that four of their colleagues were still being detained on charges of having aided terror groups. The staff members from Cumhuriyet, a Turkish opposition newspaper, were released from Silivri jail on the outskirts of Istanbul. They must still stand trial, with the next hearing scheduled for September 11. If convicted, they face terms of up to 43 years in prison. The journalists are charged with using their news coverage to support three groups Turkey considers terrorist organizations: the Kurkistan Workers’ Party, or PKK; the …

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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday pardoned two women who were sentenced to prison terms for sending text messages to Georgian acquaintances about the movement of Russian military equipment on the eve of a war in 2008. Two orders published by the Kremlin said Annik Kesyan and Marina Dzhandzhgava would not have to complete the rest of their sentences. It cited humanitarian principles for the decision. Kesyan and Dzhandzhgava were found guilty of treason for sending text messages about the movement of Russian military hardware near the border with Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia not long before a war broke …

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The European Union has launched an infringement procedure against Poland over reforms the country made to its judiciary, which the EU fears will affect the impartiality of Poland’s courts. EU commissioners decided to start the legal action Wednesday, prior to the publication of the new Polish law, with the main concern that the justice minister now can extend the mandates of judges, and dismiss and appoint court presidents. “The new rules allow the minister of justice to exert influence on individual ordinary judges through, in particular, the vague criteria for the prolongation of their mandates thereby undermining the principle of …

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Regional government authorities in southeastern Spain say a wildfire has forced the evacuation of 300 people and burned 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) of pine forest.   Francisco Martinez, the regional head of agriculture, environment and rural development for Castilla-La Mancha, says residents from 10 small towns and visitors at a campsite have been relocated.   More than 150 firefighters supported by air units were fighting the fire Saturday. The blaze started Friday and spread into the National Park of Los Calares del Rio Mundo.   Spain and neighboring Portugal are prone to forest fires during the typically dry and hot …

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The White House says President Donald Trump approves of Congress’ new sanctions against Russia and he intends to sign the bill. In a statement Friday, the press secretary said the president has reviewed the final version of the bill that outlines additional sanctions against a wide range of Russia industries. The bill also gives Congress the ability to block the president from lifting the Russia sanctions. The Trump administration had opposed the sanctions aimed at punishing Russia for interfering in last year’s U.S. presidential election. The White House argued that it needed flexibility in trying to improve relations between the …

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Britain’s progress toward life outside the European Union became more entangled Friday, with divisions deepening over Northern Ireland’s border and even the type of divorce Britain actually wants. The uncertainty coincided with the EU’s top negotiator warning that formal talks are set to be delayed, eating up more of the two-year divorce timetable. Negotiations on the future relationship between Britain and the EU are now less likely to start in October because of a lack of progress at the initial stage of talks about the breakup, Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has told EU ambassadors. Britain responded that it was confident …

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Vice President Mike Pence visits three countries in Russia’s neighborhood beginning Monday to signal support for them and NATO while drawing a line against aggression.   Pence’s trip to Estonia, Georgia and Montenegro is viewed as a follow-up to President Donald Trump’s visit to Europe earlier this month. Then, Trump used stops in Poland and Germany to try to pull off a tricky balancing act of improving ties with Moscow while also presenting the U.S. as a check against Russia’s moves in the region.   Pence’s mission will be encouraging those countries to continue to ally with the West and …

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Spain’s high court has rejected an extradition request from Brazil for a lawyer accused of involvement in corruption involving oil company Petrobras. Brazilian prosecutors have accused Rodrigo Tacla Duran of helping to launder money for homebuilders in a scheme between building firms and executives at Brazil’s Petrobas, a police statement in November said. The case against Duran, a dual Brazilian-Spanish citizen, will be processed in Spain, the high court said in a statement. Duran is being investigated for belonging to an organized crime network, bribery and money laundering, the court added. The office of Brazil’s general prosecutor said in a …

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Russia’s new United Nations ambassador took up his post Friday, saying he would do his “utmost” to strengthen relations between Moscow and the organization. “Today the world faces unprecedented threats and challenges,” Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the official presentation of credentials. “Russia, as a permanent member of the Security Council, will continue contributing constructively to addressing those challenges, together with the international community, and we reaffirm our commitment to promoting peace, development and human rights,” he said. Guterres said Russia is “an important pillar of our multilateral system” and a country that the U.N. wants …

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Macedonian and United States troops have started two weeks of joint military manoeuvers in central Macedonia as part of the Balkan country’s drive to join NATO. About 300 U.S. soldiers with 120 military vehicles and tanks arrived on Friday from neighboring Bulgaria to participate in the “Dragoon Guardian 17” exercise that will run until August 10. They will be joined by some 100 Macedonian soldiers. Macedonia’s defense ministry says the main goal of the exercise is to strengthen military cooperation with the U.S. and to show that the Macedonian army is compatible with NATO standards. Macedonia wants to join NATO …

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Charlie Gard, a British baby who became the subject of a bitter dispute between his parents and doctors over whether he should be taken to the United States for experimental treatment, has died, the Daily Mail newspaper’s website said on Friday. The 11-month-old baby suffered from an extremely rare genetic condition causing progressive brain damage and muscle weakness, and his parents’ long struggle to save him drew an international outpouring of sympathy.   …

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A man with a knife fatally stabbed one person at a supermarket Friday in the northern German city of Hamburg and wounded four others as he fled, police said. He was then arrested.   The assailant entered the supermarket in the Barmbek district on Friday afternoon and stabbed one person, who died at the scene, police said. As he fled, he wounded another four people.   He was overwhelmed by passers-by and slightly injured in the process, police said. Officers then arrested the man.   Police spokesman Timo Zill said authorities are investigating all options in the attack, which was …

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Improvisation and abrupt policy announcements aren’t exclusive traits of U.S. President Donald Trump — his French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron, has surprised fellow European leaders all week with foreign policy statements, mostly concerning Libya, that have left some fuming and the Elysee Palace floundering. On Friday, French officials had to walk back Macron’s announcement about setting up “hotspots” in Libya to process asylum-seekers to stem the flow of migrants to Europe. And he told reporters he would do so “with or without” European Union approval, saying he intended to set up the centers this summer. The announcement earned the rebuke …

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Britain’s Prince William is hanging up his flight suit for the last time. The heir to the British throne worked the night shift Thursday at the East Anglian Air Ambulance, where he has been flying medical crews to emergencies for about two years. The 35-year-old Duke of Cambridge is giving up his job to become a full-time royal. “As I hang up my flight suit, I am proud to have served with such an incredible team of people, who save lives across the region every day,” he wrote in an exclusive story in the Eastern Daily Press, a newspaper that …

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Italy is planning to send warships to help Libya’s coast guard combat smugglers who have transported thousands of migrants to Italian shores. Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday that the move could be a “turning point” in the migrant crisis that has gripped Europe for months. This year alone, 100,000 migrants from Africa, South Asia and the Middle East have arrived in Italy, a 7 percent rise from the same period last year. More than 2,000 others have died attempting the treacherous voyage. With the foundering of a European Union plan to redistribute thousands of migrants rescued at sea …

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