Category: Євросоюз

Some 200 taxis and buses have parked outside the government offices in Romania’s capital, Bucharest, demanding that Uber and other online taxi services be outlawed in the country.    Transport in the already crowded city was disrupted Wednesday morning as the protest, scheduled to last until the evening, got underway.   Drivers arrived early and parked their yellow taxis and blew vuvuzela horns in protest. Some met Premier Sorin Grindeanu to present their demands.   Bogdan Dinca, a transport union leader, told The Associated Press that they want the government to approve an emergency ordinance “to eradicate the piracy” they …

READ MORE

It was the most stunning political victory of the 21st century, one that brought shocked concern in many parts of the world and cheers in others. One uncontroversial certainty was that it would cause reverberations around the globe.   Donald Trump campaigned on an “America First” platform, but has found himself as president drawn into thorny geopolitical complexities aplenty in the first 100 days of his administration. Relations with Russia plummeted to “an all-time low,” as Trump himself described it, in the wake of the U.S. missile strikes on the Syrian government’s airfield in response to a deadly chemical attack. …

READ MORE

Britain, where the Industrial Revolution began more than 200 years ago, has recorded its first full day without using coal power. The milestone was achieved Friday, following years of investment in renewable energy — a trend being replicated in some other European countries, and even in developing nations. Henry Ridgwell reports from London. …

READ MORE

The magnate behind LVMH is to incorporate Christian Dior into his luxury goods empire in a multibillion-dollar deal.   It’s the latest business coup for businessman Bernard Arnault, who has expanded his LVMH empire to include dozens of leading luxury brands — from high-end champagne and whiskies, to exclusive Vuitton handbags, Kenzo and Givenchy perfumes and Bulgari and TAG Heuer watches. Dior Couture, launched in 1946 and seen as the pinnacle of Paris style, would be a starring jewel in his empire.   Shares in Christian Dior and LVMH Moet Hennessy — Louis Vuitton rose after Tuesday’s long-awaited deal. The public …

READ MORE

In a move that further cements Russia’s control over parts of eastern Ukraine, Russian officials announced Tuesday they will begin supplying electricity to separatist-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine after the Ukrainian government cut off the power because of millions in unpaid bills.   Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the decision as a humanitarian mission – helping to keep an estimated 3 million people out of darkness – but would not say exactly when or how the power supply will be flowing into the rebel-controlled part of Luhansk region that borders Russia. The rebels are backed by Russia.   Ukraine on …

READ MORE

Britain’s Brexit referendum last year was meant to have ended debate about the perennial big question of the country’s relationship with Europe.  But as British politicians started this week to campaign in earnest for next month’s parliamentary elections, EU membership remains a dominating issue and is adding to a shake-up of the country’s traditional party politics. In dramatic fashion, the pro-EU former Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair has re-entered the political arena, saying it would be understandable for the party faithful to consider tactical voting in the June general election in a bid to block hard-right Conservatives who want a …

READ MORE

Tens of thousands of Armenians rallied Monday for the annual remembrance of the massacre of more than 1 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. Marchers gathered at a memorial in Yerevan to lay flowers. Some burned a Turkish flag with torches. April 24 is the day most Armenians regard as the start of the massacre in 1915, with the first arrests of Armenians by Turkish authorities in what was then Constantinople. Between then and 1923, 1.5 million Armenians were killed through forced deportation, torture, starvation and outright murder.     Armenian culture restored “The Armenians’ physical, cultural …

READ MORE

The governments of Spain and Brazil on Monday reinforced their commitment to completing a trade pact between the European Union and South American trade bloc Mercosur despite protectionist sentiments. On a two-day visit to Brazil, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he agreed with Brazilian President Michel Temer about the need to wrap up a trade deal that has taken more than 15 years to negotiate. Rajoy also called for elections as the only way to reach a negotiated solution to the political crisis in Venezuela, expressing “deep concern” over the volatile situation in the neighboring country. “We agree that …

READ MORE

The Italian and Greek governments are counting on France’s likely next president Emmanuel Macron to help them see off populist parties that blame European Union-enforced austerity and open immigration policies for economic and social ills. Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras and Italian premier Paolo Gentiloni both called Macron on Monday to congratulate him after the independent centrist won Sunday’s first round of voting in the French election. The former economy minister, who is seen in southern Europe as an opponent of rigid austerity, is favored to defeat far-right, anti-EU candidate Marine Le Pen in the May 7 run-off. Five Star …

READ MORE

Observers say one of the few positives that supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took from the controversy-marred narrow referendum victory last week was the widely touted bump in support from southern Turkey’s restive predominantly Kurdish region. Critics say that bump had more to do with fraud and intimidation, but Erdogan advisers and members of his ruling AK Party argue it signifies a sea change in Kurdish sentiments toward the president and away from separatist politics. “The Kurds stood next to Erdogan at a critical turning point,” wrote Abdulkadir Selvi, an influential columnist with Hurriyet newspaper, who added that “these …

READ MORE

France’s two contenders for the presidency launched their campaigns Monday in a frantic bid to garner an absolute majority by convincing voters they each have the measure of change that French voters want. The choice before French voters in the final round of elections on May 7 will be between staying the course in the European Union or following the lead of Britain and leaving the bloc. In picking former banker and economy minister Emmanuel Macron and nationalist crusader Marine Le Pen, voters rejected mainstream parties in what analysts said amounted to a revolution in French politics. For the first …

READ MORE

In the run-up to the first round of the French presidential elections comparisons were drawn invariably between ideological bedfellows Donald Trump and National Front leader Marine Le Pen. But the rise of the centrist Emmanuel Macron also shares some similarities with Trump’s capture of the White House — at least when it comes to having the skill to fire up an army of enthusiastic volunteers, many of whom had not previously been active in politics. Macron’s rise — he topped the poll in yesterday’s first round featuring eleven candidates — is an object lesson for Europe’s centrist politicians in how …

READ MORE

An Italian journalist has returned to Italy after being detained for two weeks in Turkey, apparently because he entered an area near the Syrian border without proper permission. Gabriele Del Grande, a blogger and documentary maker who has written about refugees, was detained after entering the area of Hatay in southern Turkey. He arrived Monday at Bologna airport on a flight from Turkey. He said he had been treated well but wanted to know why he was deprived of his freedom for 14 days “for doing his job.”   Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, flanking Del Grande at the airport, …

READ MORE

European shares opened sharply higher and the euro briefly vaulted to five-month peaks on Monday after the market’s favored candidate won the first round of the French election, reducing the risk of another Brexit-like shock. The victory for pro-EU centrist Emmanuel Macron, who is now expected to beat right-wing rival Marine Le Pen in a deciding vote next month, sent the pan-European STOXX 50 index up 3 percent, France’s CAC40 almost 4 percent and bank stocks more than 6 percent. Traders top-sliced some of the euro’s overnight gains, but it was still up more than 1 percent on the dollar, …

READ MORE

Greece’s coast guard says six bodies have been recovered from the sea off the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, while one person has been rescued.   The coast guard said a Greek navy vessel located the bodies, believed to be of migrants attempting to enter Greece from Turkey clandestinely, on Monday. Five were recovered by the European border patrol agency Frontex, while one was recovered by the coast guard.   The six dead were one man, four women and a boy. The coast guard rescued a pregnant woman from the water and transported her to Lesbos.   It was unclear …

READ MORE

A British-Iranian woman detained in Iran while on a trip with her toddler daughter has exhausted all chance of having her five-year prison sentence overturned in court, her family said on Monday. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is one of several dual nationals held in Iran by hard-liners in the country’s judiciary and security services on espionage charges, likely to be used as bargaining chips in future negotiations with the West. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency, found out this weekend her final appeal to Iran’s supreme court had been denied, her husband Richard …

READ MORE

An American member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was killed and at last two others were injured Sunday when their car hit a mine near rebel-held Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. Austria’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the incident near the small village of Pryshyb.  Austria currently holds the OSCE’s rotating presidency. Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz demanded a thorough investigation, adding that those responsible would be held accountable. Alexander Hug, deputy chief of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM), told journalists that a German and a Czech national were injured but have been treated at a local …

READ MORE

Polls have closed and vote-counting is under way at more than 500 voting stations in France, following a closely watched presidential election that could decide whether France’s leadership goes to the far right or left. Early estimates placed centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron in the lead, followed by nationalist, anti-immigration candidate Marine Le Pen.  It would be the first time in the history of the modern French Republic the two candidates moving to the second and final round are from non-traditional parties. Eleven candidates were on the ballot as voters turned out in large numbers that, according to French Interior Ministry …

READ MORE

Britain’s Theresa May appeared on course to win a crushing election victory in June after opinion polls put support for her ruling Conservative party around 50 percent, twice that of the opposition Labor party. May’s decision to call a June 8 election stunned her political rivals this week and a string of polls released late Saturday suggested the gamble had paid off, with one from ComRes showing the party of Margaret Thatcher enjoying levels of support not seen since 1991. May, appointed prime minister in the turmoil that followed Britain’s vote to leave the European Union last June, said she …

READ MORE

French expatriates in South America, Canada and the United States kicked off the voting Saturday in France’s presidential election, on the heels of several terror attacks that could affect the outcome. Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and a former economy minister, independent centrist Emmanuel Macron, are the top contenders, followed by conservative former Prime Minister Francois Fillon and far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon. The candidates are vying to replace incumbent Francois Hollande, who announced earlier this year that he would not run for another term. Campaigning ended earlier than expected Thursday when a French policeman was killed by a gunman on …

READ MORE