Category: Євросоюз

Germany will withdraw 280 troops, as well as surveillance planes and refueling jets, from the Incirlik air base in Turkey following a decision by the German parliament on Wednesday. The troops will be relocated to a base in Jordan. The move comes after Turkey refused German lawmakers access to the base, saying the diplomatic relationship between the countries needed to improve first. Germany has maintained a presence at Incirlik since 2014, when Turkey joined the coalition fighting ISIS.   “The German Bundestag (parliament) regrets very much that conditions for the continued stationing of the Bundeswehr in Incirlik are not met,” …

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The British government plans to introduce a public advocate who will act for bereaved families after any disaster, it announced Wednesday, a week after a catastrophic fire killed 79 people at a social housing tower block in London. The government response to the Grenfell Tower blaze has been widely criticized, with complaints from bereaved families and people who lost their homes that official agencies gave them no information or support. “The purpose of the Independent Public Advocate is to keep the bereaved and surviving victims of disasters informed of progress in any relevant investigation and make them fully aware how …

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German prosecutors have filed espionage charges against a man accused of spying for Turkish intelligence on a Kurdish politician and activists.   Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that the indictment against 32-year-old Mehmet Fatih S., whose full name wasn’t given in line with privacy laws, was filed in a Hamburg court.   The Turkish national was arrested in December. Prosecutors say that he had worked for a Turkish intelligence service since 2013 and was tasked in September 2015 or earlier with snooping on Kurds in Germany.   They say he focused on a Germany-based politician who at the time headed a …

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Hungary’s government said Tuesday that the United States is applying double standards in its criticism of a new law on civic groups that receive funds from foreign donors. A statement from the government spokesman’s office said the U.S. State Department was being “misled” by a disinformation campaign appearing in international media and “strongly assisted by Soros organizations.” At the center of the dispute are some civic groups supported by Hungarian-American financier George Soros, such as the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a human rights advocate which also provides legal aid to asylum-seekers, and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union. “We would like everyone …

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The U.S. Congress will continue its look into Russian meddling in last year’s presidential election campaign with two hearings Wednesday, one in the Senate and one in the House of Representatives. Lawmakers remain divided over the question of whether President Donald Trump may have taken steps to obstruct justice in the Russia probe, an issue that reportedly has become a focus of the special counsel investigation led by former FBI director Robert Mueller. VOA’s Jim Malone reports. …

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U.S. President Donald Trump received his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko at the White House Tuesday. Poroshenko hailed the U.S.-Ukraine relationship and pledged his commitment to democracy as he sought U.S. support against Russian aggression. His visit comes as the U.S. government considers extending economic sanctions against Moscow for its role in the unrest in eastern Ukraine. Zlatica Hoke reports. …

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British Prime Minister Theresa May will begin the delicate task of running a minority government on Wednesday by setting out a softer tone on Brexit as Queen Elizabeth formally opens parliament. What is usually a ceremonial address, dominated by costumed pageantry, has become a critical test of May’s ability to run the country during its most testing period in generations. The so-called Queen’s Speech, prepared by ministers and read out by the monarch, will spell out the policies May’s government intends to pursue over the next two years. It comes at a time of unprecedented political flux with May yet …

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The United Nations Security Council is set to vote on Wednesday on a draft resolution to back a West African force to combat terrorism and arms, drug and human trafficking in the Sahel region after France weakened the language in a bid to appease the United States. The vast, arid region has in recent years become a breeding ground for jihadist groups – some linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State – that European nations, particularly France, fear could threaten Europe if left unchecked. Last year, the Sahel nations – Niger, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania – proposed establishing special …

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The Refugee Food Festival is taking place in 13 European cities, marking World Refugee Day on June 20. For two weeks, restaurants are being taken over by refugee chefs from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and others. Marthe van der Wolf reports for VOA from Brussels. …

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This year’s Paris Air Show, the largest and longest-running of its kind, opened for business Monday with none of the exhibitors bringing new, exciting planes. Instead, manufacturers are boasting with small-step improvements aimed to make aircraft safer and more efficient. VOA’s George Putic has more. …

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The United Nations Refugee Day (June 20) seeks to bring attention to the unprecedented number of refugees worldwide. More than 65 million people have been displaced from their homes, mostly by war and violence, and more than 22 million of them are refugees. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports that refugees are supported largely by donations, and those are growing short. …

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Talks begin this week on Britain’s exit from the European Union, which will leave the bloc with only one heavyweight military power – France. As Henry Ridgwell reports, EU moves towards a common defense policy have raised fears in Britain that it could be frozen out of future security arrangements. …

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The attack on Muslim worshippers in north London’s Finsbury Park Mosque and talk about more police at British mosques are raising questions about Britain and its rapidly growing Muslim minority. …

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How national leaders respond to a crisis, man-made or natural, can make or break their time in office, and even curtail it, if they get it awfully wrong.  Aside from showing determination to correct what went wrong or repairing the damage, did they connect and channel a nation’s grief acting as an inspiring mourner-in-chief?   That question is being asked now of British Prime Minister Theresa May as she faces public fury over her response to a devastating fire last week in London that engulfed an apartment tower, leaving at least 59 dead, dozens missing and hundreds of people homeless. …

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Russia is hosting the FIFA Confederations Cup tournament through July 2 as a test for how it handles the 2018 World Cup.   But preparations have not been without controversy as upgrades on the Saint Petersburg Zenit stadium burst several budget projections amid allegations of corruption and North Korean forced laborers. “I’m more than sure that it’s impossible to handle the big construction site … without illegal workers,” says Russian sports commentator Fyodor Pogorelov.  “So, I wasn’t surprised when I read the stories.” “As for corruption at this sports venue,” he adds, “I would say that it’s a monument to …

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A man was killed after driving a car packed with explosives into a police van in Paris’s popular Champs Elysees shopping district Monday, police said. No one else was injured in the crash. Officials called it a deliberate attack. The 31-year-old man was known to authorities as being potentially linked to extremism, early reports said. A bomb squad is securing the scene, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. Police added that a Kalashnikov rifle, handguns, and gas bottles were also found in the car. France’s counter-terrorism prosecutor has opened an investigation into the incident. France’s Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the …

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A court ruling to not extradite eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece following the failed coup attempt last year must be respected, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Monday. His comments came at a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim in Athens. “The Greek justice system has ruled on this issue … and this decision must be fully respected,” Tsipras said in response to a question. Turkey alleges the men were involved in efforts to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last July and has repeatedly demanded they be sent back. The soldiers fled to Greece …

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French President Emmanuel Macron is poised to rearrange his Cabinet after his new centrist party engineered a landslide in the country’s parliamentary election, enabling the government to quickly start passing its first big laws.   Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will resign “in the coming hours” and a new government will be named in the next few days, government spokesman Christophe Castaner said Monday on RTL radio. It’s a largely symbolic move required after a legislative election.   Since Macron’s new party, Republic on the Move!, won an absolute majority in the 577-seat National Assembly, Castaner said the government reshuffling would …

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Police in London say a vehicle, possibly a van, has collided with pedestrians on a busy road in the northern part of the city, injuring several people early Monday. One person has been arrested after the incident near Finsbury Park in north London. Authorities were called to the scene shortly after midnight local time. An investigation is ongoing. …

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London mayor Sadiq Khan acknowledged growing public anger surrounding the Grenfell Tower fire in which 58 people are presumed dead, saying the blaze was a result of “mistakes and neglect”. “There is a feeling from the community that they’ve been treated badly because some of them are poor,” Khan said after a visit to a church near the burnt-out social housing block to attend a service which remembered victims of Wednesday’s tragedy. He called the fire a “preventable accident”, acknowledging the anger and frustration of displaced residents of the working-class enclave in one of Britain’s wealthiest districts. The 1974 concrete …

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