Category: Євросоюз

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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Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party is sticking to its flagship plans for “radical” reform of the judiciary, despite seeing two bills vetoed by the president this week, PiS head Jaroslaw Kaczynski said on Thursday. Kaczynski, who holds no government post but is widely seen as Poland’s de facto leader, also promised legislation to reduce the concentration of ownership in private media, in the face of what was likely to be “strong resistance.” In his first public comments since President Andrzej Duda’s veto of two bills designed to give the government direct influence over the make-up of the Supreme …

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The Turkish parliament has approved a series of changes to its bylaws, which critics say aim to further curtail opposition voices. The amendments cover a range of issues from what the parliament speaker can wear to how long a bill can be debated. The government insists the changes will render parliament more effective. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is accused of increasing authoritarianism, has long criticized the opposition for allegedly obstructing the work of parliament. The changes come as Turkey is engaged in an unprecedented crackdown on the alleged perpetrators of last year’s failed military coup, which human rights group …

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Moldova’s constitutional court rejected on Thursday a plan to hold a referendum that might have boosted the powers of pro-Russian President Igor Dodon and paved the way for a roll-back of the ex-Soviet nation’s trade pact with the European Union. The court ruled that Dodon had acted against the constitution in March, when he signed a decree to hold a referendum on whether to grant him the power to dissolve parliament and call a snap election. The decree also proposed cutting the number of members of parliament. “The president exceeded his authority,” the court ruled. Moldovan politics is divided between …

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As Vice President Mike Pence prepares to visit Montenegro and hold talks with Western Balkan leaders in August, 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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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stripped former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili of his Ukrainian citizenship Wednesday, leaving him effectively stateless. Saakashvili became a citizen of Ukraine and was appointed governor of Odessa by Poroshenko on May 30, 2015. Ukraine’s State Migration Services posted a statement July 26 mentioning Saakashvili by name and citing laws under which citizenship could be revoked, such as by submitting false documents with a citizenship application. The statement also mentioned unspecified documents recently sent by Georgian authorities. The immigration service stated that Saakashvili’s case, including the newly obtained documents, had been sent to the citizenship commission. According …

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Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Ankara has agreed to purchase Russia’s S-400 missile systems, despite NATO concerns. The controversial purchase comes as Ankara tries to court Moscow, after a Turkish jet downed a Russian bomber operating from Syria in 2015. “We have now taken steps with Russia about this issue [buying S-400 systems]. Deals have been inked,” Erdogan announced Tuesday to his parliamentary deputies. “In God’s will, we will see S-400 missiles in our country and precede the process with joint production.” The Turkish president did not miss an opportunity to dismiss concerns of his NATO partners. “Why will …

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The European Union warned on Wednesday that it was ready to act within days to counter proposed new U.S. sanctions on Russia, saying they would harm the bloc’s energy security. Sanctions legislation overwhelmingly approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday has angered EU officials: they see it as breaking transatlantic unity in the West’s response to Moscow’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. Brussels also fears the new sanctions will harm European firms with connections to Russia, and oil and gas projects on which the EU is dependent. “The …

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Officials at the museum of the Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz say some exhibits are going on a tour of Europe and North America to bring its tragic truth about the Holocaust to a wider audience. The museum says Wednesday this will be its first-ever traveling exhibition and will include some 600 items. Most of them will come from the museum, but also from other collections, like Israel’s Yad Vashem.   The “Not long ago: Not far away” exhibit will include personal items of the victims and an original barrack from the Auschwitz-Monowitz part of the camp, a German …

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Firefighters in France have intensified their efforts to control a wildfire that began sweeping through parts of the Riviera coast Tuesday night and forced the evacuation of thousands of people. The fire is the most recent of several wind-fueled blazes that are consuming forests and scrublands between Marseilles and the city of Nice in southeastern France. At the nearby marinas of Saint-Tropez resort, the fast-approaching fire prompted the evacuation of about 10,000 people, including 3,000 from campsites. Hundreds of firefighters are battling the blaze, with planes and helicopters dropping tons of water on the area’s hilly terrain, where fires regularly …

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In the first flush of enthusiasm for France’s Emmanuel Macron, the fresh young politician who upended French politics and snatched his country’s presidency this year, Italian politicians were no different from European counterparts in seeing him as a JFK-type figure who’d help Europe overcome major challenges — from Brexit to the migrant crisis. But Italy is quickly falling out of love with Macron and irritation with France’s president is mounting in Rome. Tensions have crept into diplomatic relations between France and the government of Paolo Gentiloni, prompted by Macron’s response to Italian pleas for more European assistance with the mainly …

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German automaker Daimler’s profits barely rose and were short of market expectations as its Mercedes-Benz luxury car division boomed while earnings lagged at its truck, van and bus businesses.   The second-quarter results were overshadowed by the growing controversy over diesel technology hanging over the automaker — and the auto industry in general — ahead of a meeting in Germany of carmakers and government officials next week.   The Stuttgart-based company reported Wednesday that net profit was up a scant 2 percent compared with a year ago, to 2.51 billion euros ($2.9 billion). Revenue increased 7 percent to 41.16 billion euros ($48 …

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