Category: Євросоюз

Polling stations are open for the general election Britain is holding Thursday. Prime Minister Theresa May called the snap election — an early vote, three years before Parliament’s term was to expire — in early April in the hope of winning strong backing for her government during upcoming negotiations in Brussels on the country’s exit from the European Union. The prime minister originally expected a big win to boost her Conservative Party’s majority in Parliament, but that optimism faded as her campaign sputtered over the past few weeks. Late developments, however, could upend the experts’ predictions once again. Polls: Labour Party …

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Slovakia wants to be a part of the EU “integration machine,” its prime minister said on Wednesday, in comments that follow calls by Germany, France and Spain for deeper cooperation and contrast with the eurosceptic stance of some other east European states. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s new President Emmanuel Macron agreed in May to outline a road map for deeper European Union integration while Spain suggested that members of the bloc should pool some aspects of their debt management and share a budget to fight crisis shocks. “Slovakia meets conditions to be a part of the EU integration …

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About 25,000 military forces from the United States and 23 other countries will take part in a large-scale military exercise called Saber Guardian planned in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania next month. In addition, several U.S. B-1B heavy bombers have arrived in Britain in support of two separate multinational exercises planned in the Baltic region and other parts of Europe this month to improve coordination among partner countries. The U.S. military plans were announced by Stuttgart-based U.S. European Command, which said this year’s Saber Guardian exercise — held annually in the Black Sea region since 2013 — was “larger in both …

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As Britain confronts a wave of terrorist attacks, pressure is mounting on its Muslim community to do a better job of identifying potential extremists and policing itself. At the forefront of such efforts is Nazir Afzal, a Muslim and former top prosecutor. Afzal gained national attention for pioneering difficult prosecutions to tackle honor-based violence and forced marriage, as well as child sexual exploitation and grooming in the northwest of England, including Manchester, the site of last month’s suicide bombing that killed 22 people at a pop concert. In an exclusive interview, Afzal said the community has, in general, done a …

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The European Union on Wednesday unveiled a new defense fund to get better value for money on high-tech projects like drones or robotics as European allies at NATO come under U.S. pressure to boost their military budgets.   The European Commission said the fund would provide a total of 500 million euros ($563 million) in EU money in 2019 and 2020 to help buy and develop military equipment.   This would double to 1 billion euros annually from 2020. The Commission says it expects the money to generate about five times that amount for developing defense capabilities, once member countries …

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The European Union has slapped new security screening on imports from Bangladesh, a move that is likely to make it costlier for businesses in the South Asian country to sell products to EU nations. Just over half of Bangladeshi exports go to the European bloc, accounting for $18.68 billion in revenues during the last fiscal year. Those shipments, by air or sea, will now have to be screened by bomb-detecting dogs and devices.   Bangladesh has none of these facilities, so cargo will have to be routed through a third country where security screening is possible.   The move makes …

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A civil rights group is asking German authorities to issue an arrest warrant for the recently appointed deputy director of the CIA over claims she oversaw the torture of terrorism suspects 15 years ago. The non-profit European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights submitted a legal brief to German federal prosecutors Tuesday, alleging that Gina Haspel allowed the waterboarding of prisoners at a secret U.S. detention center in Thailand. The prosecutor’s office confirmed Wednesday the complaint had been received and was being reviewed. Advocates describe waterboarding as a form of “enhanced interrogation.” Critics say it amounts to torture, because prisoners …

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French President Emmanuel Macron is holding a special meeting Wednesday aimed at creating a new counterterrorism unit, in the presence of government members and top security officials. The French presidency said the defense council will outline details of a task force that will be in charge of coordinating counterterrorism efforts and intelligence services in the country. The unit will be based at the Elysee palace, operational 24 hours a day and will act directly under the president’s authority — an unprecedented situation in the country, where some observers have denounced a lack of coordination between foreign and domestic intelligence services. …

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After the shock and anguish of a series of terror attacks in recent weeks, Britain will hold a general election Thursday, and security has moved to the top of the agenda. In the wake of the most recent attack, Prime Minister Theresa May said “enough is enough” and warned that Britain needed to drastically change its approach to guarding against terrorism. Meanwhile, the British capital is physically adapting to the apparent new threat. Armed police are being deployed to soft targets like railway stations and tourist hubs. On the famous bridges across the River Thames, barriers have been erected to …

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The European Union hopes six Balkan countries will agree at a summit on July 12 in Italy to create a regional common market that could be working within a year, a top EU official said Tuesday, in the bloc’s latest step to re-engage the region. The EU is eager to show it remains committed to the Balkan region despite public hostility at home to further eastern enlargement of the bloc following years of economic crisis, high unemployment and the rise of euroskeptic and populist parties. The Western Balkan common market, which would remove barriers to trade, introduce standardized rules for …

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Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, has warned that the Trump Administration might pull out of the Human Rights Council if the U.N. body does not undertake necessary reforms. In a tough “take no prisoners” speech at the opening of the council’s three-week session, Haley put the group on notice that it should mend its ways. “As you know, the United States is looking carefully at this council and our participation in it. We see some areas for significant strengthening,” she said. Haley is the 29th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and the first to address the …

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Details emerged Tuesday of the three London Bridge attackers: a Pakistan-born failed customer service clerk with links to one of Europe’s most prolific hate preachers, a Moroccan pastry chef whose partner said he once went swimming rather than see his daughter and an Italian national who told authorities he “wanted to be a terrorist.” At least two of the men were known to British intelligence and law enforcement officials, raising questions about whether anything could have been done to stop the attack, which began Saturday when the men drove a rented van into a crowd and then leaped out to …

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“Europe stands by UK in fight against terrorism” tweeted EU Council President Donald Tusk after London was hit by a terror attack Saturday. Britain was also shocked by attacks in March and May. Cooperation between Europe and Britain on security matters, however, might soon change due to Brexit, Britain’s decision to leave the European Union following a referendum last year. Saturday’s incident killed seven people and left almost 50 wounded. Islamic State claimed the attackers were part of its terror network and several people were arrested and named. Andrew Duff is a former liberal Member of the European Parliament and …

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The head of NATO says members of the alliance are united in their stance toward Russia in a way they have not been for many years. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday in an interview with VOA’s Serbian Service that NATO is committed to stepping up its defense while at the same time continuing dialogue with Russia.  “The dual track approach, meaning we have to be strong, we have to deliver credible deterrence and defense, that is the reason we are implementing the biggest reinforcement of our collective defense now as a response to what Russia did in Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said. …

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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday that President Donald Trump has asked him to rebuild the U.S. relationship with Russia and not allow the political turmoil over possible Russian ties to the Trump campaign to impede him. Tillerson said relations with Russia are at a low point and deteriorating, and Trump asked him to try to stabilize the relationship and rebuild trust. The top U.S. diplomat spoke in Wellington, New Zealand, where he met with Prime Minister Bill English during a brief visit. Tillerson said he couldn’t comment on the details of the Russia investigations or whether they could …

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Lithuania has began constructing a two-meter-high wire fence along its border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad ahead of military exercises Moscow is planning to hold there in September. While the 45-km-long (30- mile) fence will provide little defense against a full-scale attack, it aims to prevent provocations and incidents, Lithuanian Interior Minister Eimutis Misiunas said on Monday. “In order to avoid such situations, we decided we need the fence,” Misiunas said at the groundbreaking ceremony. For Lithuania and other Baltic republics, which won their independence from Moscow in 1991 but remain home to ethnic Russian minorities, any massing of …

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The smallest Balkan country, Montenegro, formally became the 29th member of NATO Monday at a ceremony at the State Department, despite fierce objections from Russia. Montenegro was formerly part of communist Yugoslavia, a stronghold of Moscow. It became an independent republic in 2006 when Montenegrins voted in a referendum to split from Serbia. U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon congratulated Montenegro for taking NATO’s guidance to heart. “Over decades, the promise of NATO membership and broader Euro-Atlantic integration has advanced our security, our democratic values, and our respect for the rule of law. It has served as …

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Thousands of Slovaks rallied in Bratislava on Monday to protest against corruption and demand the resignation of the interior minister over his ties with a developer under investigation for tax fraud. Slovakia’s economy has boomed and living standards have risen sharply since it joined the European Union in 2004, but many Slovaks say their country fails to defend the rule of law, especially in punishing graft. The protesters, chanting “Kalinak, resign” and “Leave our state alone”, carrying Slovak and EU flags, largely targeted Interior Minister Robert Kalinak. He has resisted pressure to step down over his business relations with real …

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Having predicted the last British election wrong, as well as June’s referendum on European Union membership, the country’s pollsters are understandably nervous about Thursday’s vote — even more so after Saturday’s terror attack in the heart of London. Before the attack, several opinion polls suggested a shift in public sentiment. Prime Minister Theresa May, who called the post-Brexit snap election for June 8, had been tipped to win in a landslide, but the polls have tightened. A weekend survey conducted before the van-and-knife attack in the London Bridge district of the British capital gave the ruling Conservative a mere one …

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For the second time in a month Britain’s security services are facing awkward questions about their surveillance policies, after it emerged the ringleader of Saturday’s terror attack in the heart of London was known to them and had been interrogated in the past. The British-Pakistani, who police are not naming for operational reasons, was also a recognized Islamic State follower in the streets around his home in the east London district of Barking, where he tried to recruit children and proselytized openly in a nearby park, sparking a complaint to the police by a local resident. The 27-year-old, father of …

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