Category: Євросоюз

Thousands of people attended a gay pride parade in Ukraine’s capital amid tight security Sunday.   A counterdemonstration by a few hundred ultranationalists resulted in scuffles with police in which two officers were injured and six people arrested, Kyiv police chief Andrei Krishchenko said.   Much of downtown Kiev was cordoned off and about 5,000 police officers were on duty for the gay pride march, which has traditionally been a focal point for attacks by ultranationalists.   Kiev police spokeswoman Oksana Blishchik wrote on Facebook that about 2,500 people attended. The route of the parade was changed at the last …

READ MORE

The Russian Foreign Ministry has criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze a detente with Cuba and his verbal attack on the Caribbean island’s leaders.   Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday that Trump is “returning us to the forgotten rhetoric of the Cold War.”   The statement says that “It’s clear the anti-Cuba discourse is still widely needed. This can only induce regret.”   Despite Trump’s campaign pledge to improve relations with Moscow, there has been no significant improvement in foreign policy cooperation between the two countries. Last week, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to back new …

READ MORE

British Brexit minister David Davis heads to Brussels Monday to open divorce talks with the EU with a message that there should be “no doubt we are leaving the European Union.” Days after a suggestion from French President Emmanuel Macron that Britain could still choose to remain, Davis said there would be no backtracking from Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan to deliver on Brexit, for which Britons voted in a referendum almost a year ago. “As I head to Brussels to open official talks to leave the EU, there should be no doubt we are leaving the European Union, and …

READ MORE

French voters are expected to hand President Emmanuel Macron a landslide majority in parliament Sunday, a second election triumph for him after his presidential victory and one which should allow him to embark on deep social and economic reforms. Polls have opened for the second round of parliamentary elections. Just a month after the 39-year-old ex-banker became the youngest head of state in modern French history, pollsters forecast his centrist Republic on the Move (LREM) party will win as many as 75-80 percent of seats in the lower house of parliament. Turnout, though, could touch record lows, in a sign of …

READ MORE

A massive forest fire in central Portugal has killed 25 people, many of them burned to death in their cars. At least 16 people are reported to have been injured. Officials say hundreds of firefighters have been dispatched to battle the blaze in Pedrogao Grande area, about 150 kilometers northeast of Lisbon. Spanish rescue workers also are assisting in efforts to douse the flames, authorities say. “Unfortunately this seems to be the greatest tragedy we have seen in recent years in terms of forest fires,” said Prime Minister Antonio Costa. The number of fatalities could rise, he added. Jorge Gomes, …

READ MORE

Pope Francis has asked Germany to keep fighting for the Paris climate change deal and to “tear down walls” that inhibit international cooperation, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday, offering a stark contrast between her agenda and U.S. policy. U.S. President Donald Trump announced this month that he would withdraw from the landmark 2015 global agreement to fight climate change, drawing anger from world leaders. “The Pope encouraged me to continue and fight for international agreements, including the Paris agreement,” Merkel told reporters after an unusually long, 40-minute private audience with him. Merkel, who faces elections in September, said the Pope …

READ MORE

Several thousand protesters marched Saturday in Madrid, urging the Spanish government to keep its commitment to accept refugees. Spain has pledged to allow 17,300 refugees from such war-torn countries as Syria, Iraq and Libya to settle in the country, as its part of a Europewide commitment to do more to help alleviate the continent’s migration crisis. Amnesty International reports that Madrid has relocated or resettled only 1,304 people, less than 10 percent of its pledge. Throughout Europe, most countries have similarly small accomplishments, based on the pledges to take in refugees they made to the European Commission in 2015. The …

READ MORE

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was set to name a former Lebanese culture minister as new U.N. envoy to Libya, ending an unusually contentious four-month search that followed U.S. rejection of his first suggestion. Guterres on Friday officially put forward Ghassan Salame, a professor of International Relations and Conflict Resolution at Sciences-Po in Paris, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Saturday. Diplomats said objections were unlikely and the U.N. Security Council will greenlight the appointment on Tuesday. The council must agree by consensus on the appointment of special envoys. Traditionally, the U.N. chief informally discusses candidates with the …

READ MORE

The UN Children’s Fund warns three-quarters of a million children in Eastern Ukraine are at risk of water-borne diseases as fighting threatens to cut off their safe water supply. The United Nations estimates around 10,000 people have been killed and more than 23,500 injured since fighting in Eastern Ukraine erupted between the government and Russian-backed separatists more than three years ago. The U.N. children’s fund warns an upsurge in fighting in the rebel-held territory is putting more lives at risk.  The agency reports the recent escalation of hostilities has damaged vital water infrastructure, leaving 400,000 people, including more than 100,000 …

READ MORE

The key to success for ride-hailing providers like Uber is keeping drivers happy so they run their app, ensuring that enough cars respond to passenger demand. Estonia upstart Taxify is hoping to win over drivers and take on Uber Technologies Inc., the industry leader, by offering a larger share of the profit. Upstarts across the world, such as Lyft Inc. and Ola, are trying to catch Uber in the on-demand car-ride market by securing brand loyalty. But Uber has gathered critical mass and reached a valuation of more than $60 billion in eight years, despite a lack of profits. It …

READ MORE

The United States is concerned about possible Russian incursions along NATO’s Baltic borders during large Russian military exercises in September and will send more troops to the area, the commander of U.S. troops in Europe said on Friday. Russia has denied Western concerns that its Zapad 2017 war games will threaten stability in eastern Europe. NATO officials believe the exercises could involve more than 100,000 troops, the biggest such Russian maneuvers since 2013. “When [Russia] went into Crimea, that was against the backdrop of an exercise. When they went into Georgia – that was an exercise,” Lieutenant General Ben Hodges …

READ MORE

A pan-European rights body said on Friday there were significant concerns about a draft law in Moldova that would change the way the country conducts parliamentary elections and expand the powers of the president. The proposed changes have proved divisive in the ex-Soviet nation ahead of a parliamentary election next year, when parties who favor closer integration with the European Union will fight it out with pro-Moscow rivals. At the moment, Moldova elects its parliament under a proportional representation system. The ruling pro-European Democratic Party wants a mixed system, with some lawmakers elected, as now, on party lists, and others …

READ MORE

Nationwide strikes left commuters and tourists stranded across Italy on Friday, as transport unions called for better job conditions for workers and protested against privatization. Underground and overground trains, airplanes and buses were cancelled in a series of strikes over a 24-hour period starting on Thursday evening. Transport Minister Graziano Delrio said he had tried to negotiate with union leaders, but “sadly, it will be a black Friday.” People seeking shade from the summer sun at bus stops around Rome’s Termini train station, the city’s main transport hub, said it was unfair that the country’s powerful labour unions still resorted …

READ MORE

The United Nations refugee agency reports more than 100,000 Iraqis may still be held hostage by Islamic State militants in western Mosul. The UNHCR warns conditions in the old city are worsening for the civilians trapped there. The Iraqi military offensive to retake Mosul from Islamic State was launched on October 17. The battle got off to a good start as the militants were ousted rather quickly from their stronghold in the east. After claiming that part of the city, Iraqi forces embarked on a major push in February to recapture the more densely-populated western part, where the situation is …

READ MORE

The International Organization for Migration reports efforts are ongoing to rescue around 200 migrants, from Somalia and Ethiopia, who have been kidnapped in Libya and are being held for ransom. News of the kidnappings and illegal detentions in Libya first surfaced in a video, which appeared on Facebook on June 9. The International Organization for Migration says families of the missing men and women have received ransom demands based on short video clips depicting scenes of active torture. IOM spokesman Joel Millman told VOA the source of the video is not known, but there is little doubt as to its …

READ MORE

Former German chancellor Helmut Kohl died at his home in Ludwigshafen in the former West Germany. He was 87 years old. Kohl was renowned for his role in reunifying Germany after the opening of the Berllin Wall and for recording the longest tenure of any Democratically-elected chancellor in German history. Kohl served for 16 years, from 1982-1998, and oversaw the end of the Cold War. Kohl also led the unification of communist East Germany with the West in 1990. Kohl was recognizable because of his abnormally large frame. The former chancellor stood 1.9 meters tall and weighed over 130 kilograms …

READ MORE

French President Emmanuel Macron promoted his pro-European views in a series of meetings Friday with leaders of The Netherlands, Spain and Estonia in Paris, as Brexit negotiations are set to start next week. Macron met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas and had a working lunch with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Estonia will lead the work of the 28 EU member states for six months starting from July. Defense and security issues, migration and climate change are among France’s priorities for a European summit scheduled next week. In a joint statement in the …

READ MORE

China’s recent detention of Wu Xiaohui, head of the massive insurance conglomerate Anbang Insurance company, is seen by some as a crucial turning point in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on wealthy corrupt business people, or “big crocodiles” as they are called here. But that turning point is not without its risks, analysts note, given that Wu is said to have powerful political backers and millions of policy holders. Until recently, Anbang Insurance company was on a global buying spree. The company claims to have nearly $300 billion in assets and was behind some of China’s most high-profile overseas acquisitions …

READ MORE

The United States has expressed concern about a disaster relief center Russia is operating in Serbia, which some Western groups and military analysts see as a subtly disguised military base set up by the Kremlin to spy on U.S. interests in the Balkans. The U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, Hoyt Brian Yee, discussed “the so-called humanitarian center” in Serbia this week with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Yee said the United States was concerned about the Russian base in Niš, close to Serbia’s border with Kosovo, “not so much for what it is now, but …

READ MORE

British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government said on Thursday it would launch her policy program next week, a sign of confidence she will strike a deal to stay in power after days of political uncertainty since losing her majority. Conservative Party sources say May wants to show her government is up and running but her loss of authority in last week’s election will make it harder to handle a hectic agenda – Brexit talks with the EU, tackling a slowing economy, a political crisis in Ireland, and a devastating fire in London. The pound rose after the Bank of England …

READ MORE