Category: Євросоюз

Germany on Monday lent support to France’s push to make operational a new multinational military force that will tackle Islamist militants in Africa’s Sahel region and urged other powers to contribute funds at an Autumn donor conference. On a joint visit to Niger’s capital, Niamey, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen and her French counterpart, Florence Parly, said the Sahel force was West Africa’s best hope for defeating the militants. Some observers see the G5 Sahel force — comprised of troops from Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad — as forming the basis of an eventual exit strategy …

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Russian authorities are now barring American diplomats and their families from a U.S. recreational residence on the outskirts of Moscow, part of sweeping retaliatory measures announced by Kremlin leader Vladmir Putin. The Russian president ordered the U.S. on Sunday to cut its overall staff of more than 1,200 in Russia by 755 people, in response to new U.S. sanctions imposed against Moscow for its interference in the 2016 presidential election. It is believed to be the single largest cut ever imposed on the U.S. embassy in Moscow and consulates elsewhere in Russia, although many of those to be dismissed are likely …

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Five aid groups that operate migrant rescue ships in the Mediterranean refused to sign up to the Italian government’s code of conduct on Monday, the Interior Ministry said, but three others backed the new rules. Charity boats have become increasingly important in rescue operations, picking up more than a third of all migrants brought ashore so far this year against less than one percent in 2014, according to the Italian coast guard. Italy fears the groups are facilitating people smuggling from North Africa and encouraging migrants to make the perilous passage to Europe, and it proposed a code containing around …

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When Luxembourg’s new law governing space mining comes into force on Tuesday, the country will already be working to make the science-fiction-sounding mission a reality, the deputy prime minister said. The legislation will make Luxembourg the first country in Europe to offer a legal framework to ensure that private operators can be confident about their rights over resources they extract in space. The law is based on the premise that space resources are capable of being owned by individuals and private companies and establishes the procedures for authorizing and supervising space exploration missions. “When I launched the initiative a year …

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Russian President Vladimir Putin is defending his massive cut in the size of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Russia, saying it had waited long enough for relations with Washington to improve. Putin said he had hoped “the situation would perhaps change for the better. But it seems that even if the situation is changing, it is not for any time soon.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said an improvement of U.S.-Russia relations rest on “curing the worsening political schizophrenia” in Washington, but said the two countries remain “far away” from closer ties. The Russian leader Sunday ordered the U.S. to cut …

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A British television channel on Monday defended its decision to broadcast recordings of Princess Diana candidly discussing her personal life, after some royal watchers called it a betrayal of the late princess’ privacy. Channel 4 said the video tapes, made in the early 1990s, are an “important historical source” and place Diana “front and center” in her own story as Britain marks 20 years since her death.   The channel said that although the recordings were made in private, “the subjects covered are a matter of public record and provide a unique insight into the preparations Diana undertook to gain …

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Whistleblowing site Wikileaks has published more than 20,000 leaked emails it says it has verified to be from now French President Emmanuel Macron’s campaign. Months after the emails were initially leaked and posted online before the election, Wikileaks says it has verified the authenticity of 21,075 of them using DomainKeys Identified Mail, or DKIM. Wikileaks has posted the remainder of the emails, 50,000 more, “for context”. All the emails are available to the public in a searchable archive, with verified messages flagged as such. France’s election campaign commission said in May “a significant amount of data,” some of it likely …

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The tiny European nation of Slovenia is undergoing a tourism boom partly because it’s the native country of U.S. first lady Melania Trump.   The Slovenian Statistics Office said Monday that some 1,939,000 tourists visited the Alpine country of 2 million in the first half of this year, a 15 percent increase from the same period last year.   Analyzing the impact of the Slovenian-born first lady on the tourism growth, the statistics office said the number of U.S. visitors has risen 15 percent since Donald Trump took office in January. The deputy director of the Statistics Office, Karmen Hren, …

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As Vice President Mike Pence prepares to visit Montenegro and hold talks with Western Balkan leaders this week, a senior State Department official says U.S. engagement in the region remains strong. This is being welcomed by those countries’ leaders amid concerns that deep cuts in the proposed budget for the State Department could diminish Washington’s role in these fragile democracies exposed to Russian interference. VOA’s Keida Kostreci reports. …

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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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