Category: Євросоюз

U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to get tough on trade partners like China, Mexico and Germany. Now his Treasury chief, Steven Mnuchin, will get his first opportunity to confront them all in one room. The meeting of the 20 most powerful economies’ finance ministers in Germany this week is likely to be dominated by talk about whether to commit to free trade, as previous meetings have, or implicitly accept that some countries may put up barriers, like tariffs, as Trump has promised. The officials are also scheduled to discuss their longstanding ban on manipulating currencies to gain economic advantage. …

READ MORE

Multiple Twitter accounts were hacked Wednesday to include tweets branding the Netherlands and Germany as “Nazi” and disseminating pro-Turkish government messages. The messages, in Turkish, are part of an escalation of tensions between Turkey and Europe ahead of a Turkish referendum on expanding presidential powers. Using the hashtags #Nazialmanya (NaziGermany) or #Nazihollanda (NaziHolland), hackers infiltrated hundreds of accounts of politicians, high-profile CEOs, publishers, government agencies and NGOs. Some of the accounts hacked include news organizations Die Welt and BBC North America as well as French politician Alain Juppe, the account of the European Parliament, and non-government organizations, including Amnesty International. …

READ MORE

Angelina Jolie is set to teach a master’s course at the prestigious London School of Economics this fall as a visiting professor. The London Evening Standard reports the 41-year-old actress and filmmaker gave a preview of her class Tuesday with a lecture at the school’s Centre for Women, Peace and Security. She told the newspaper before the lecture that she was “a little nervous,” but she hoped to do well because the talk was “very important” to her.   The Standard reports that Jolie will be lecturing in an unpaid post in September as part of a master’s program on …

READ MORE

When U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel sit down for a ‘get to know you’ session at the White House Friday, the entire future of the Transatlantic relationship will be hanging in the balance. The leaders of two of the world’s most powerful economies have seemed to be on a collision course since candidate Trump accused Merkel of ‘ruining Europe” with liberal immigration policies, spoke ill of NATO, and hinted at a trade war. Merkel, for her part, scolded Trump for imposing a travel ban on immigrants from six mostly Muslim countries, and reminded him that any …

READ MORE

Nearly four in 10 U.S. colleges and universities have reported a decline in international student applications, according to a recent survey by six higher education groups. The study, of 250 American colleges and universities, found the highest number of declines were from applicants from the Middle East.  Universities report declines of 39 percent in undergraduate applications from the Middle East, while applications from graduate students from the region have decreased by 31 percent. According to the Institute of Higher Education, the majority of Middle East students are from Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kuwait. The report mentions that according to institution-based …

READ MORE

Pope Francis said Wednesday that employers who fire workers for unclear economic reasons are committing a “very grave sin” and should ensure dignified work for all their employees.   Francis made the comments at his Wednesday general audience after appealing for a resolution to a labor dispute at Sky Italia, where employees are facing job cuts and relocation as the satellite channel moves offices from Rome to Milan. Francis called for a solution that respects the rights of all, “especially families.”   Speaking off-the-cuff, he added: “Those who for economic reasons or to conclude unclear negotiations, close factories and business …

READ MORE

Kremlin officials and Russian lawmakers are denying published reports that Moscow has deployed a team of special forces and drones to a military base in Egypt near the Libyan border. The denials came Tuesday, following multiple reports that Russian military activity had been spotted near the Mediterranean coastal town of Sidi Baranni, 100 kilometers from the Egyptian-Libyan frontier. Those reports, quoting anonymous U.S. officials, say increased Russian involvement may be part of a push by Moscow to support renegade Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar. Haftar and his so-called Libyan National Army are aligned with a government in eastern Libya that …

READ MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered his officials to seal an agreement which will, in effect, incorporate the armed forces of Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia region into the Russian military’s command structure. Georgia condemned the move, which is likely to spark accusations from its Western allies that the Kremlin is absorbing the breakaway region into Russia by stealth, even though under international law it is part of Georgia’s sovereign territory. Moscow has de facto controlled South Ossetia, a sliver of mainly mountainous land in the northeast of Georgia, for years. But it has, on paper at least, treated South …

READ MORE

Poland’s prime minister says a government-proposed bill calling for the dismissal of Foreign Ministry staff and diplomats who worked under communism is “necessary.”   The ruling conservative party has made it a priority to remove from top state jobs people whose careers developed under communism.   On Tuesday, the government of Prime Minister Beata Szydlo approved a draft law that would lay off all Foreign Ministry employees hired before communism ended in 1989.   Szydlo said the proposal, which still faces a vote by legislators, would improve Poland’s diplomatic work.   It would not cover Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, who …

READ MORE

It’s been a year since the European Union signed a deal with Turkey to stem the flow of migrants from the Mideast and Asia into Greece, in return for $6 billion in aid. On the surface, the deal appears a success, as the numbers arriving on Greek shores have fallen by over 90 percent. But aid agencies say the figures disguise the hardship still being felt by 60,000 migrants stuck in camps or unable to find safety as the borders through the Balkans to Western Europe remain closed. Aid groups accuse the European Union of abandoning its responsibilities. “Certainly, when …

READ MORE

A two-year-long political crisis in Macedonia is entering a dangerous phase, with nationalists accused of stirring up ethnic tensions in a bid to disrupt a corruption probe. Thousands of ethnic Macedonians have held evening protests against three ethnic Albanian parties forming a coalition government with the Social Democrats. The country’s president, Gjorge Ivanov, has sided with the protesters and so far has withheld approving a coalition government that would shut out the main nationalist party. European Union leaders and analysts say the mounting political confrontation could spin out of control, adding to increasing ethnic tensions across a destabilizing Balkans. A …

READ MORE

Turkey said Monday it is suspending high-level ties with The Netherlands as part of a series of sanctions protesting moves by Dutch authorities to bar Turkish ministers from holding rallies in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two countries have been at odds for days after Turkey’s foreign minister and home minister were prevented from attending events meant to boost support for an upcoming referendum that would give Erdogan wider power. Monday’s sanctions include banning the Dutch ambassador, who is currently out of the country, from returning to Turkey and suspending diplomatic flights.The range of sanctions did not appear …

READ MORE

Russian lender Sberbank said Monday it was deeply concerned by protests against its Ukrainian subsidiary, which included a nationalist group walling up the entrance to one of its branches in Kyiv with masonry and cement. Periodic protests have been held against Kremlin-owned banks operating in Ukraine since bilateral ties broke down in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea and gave its support to the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Sberbank’s announcement last Tuesday that it would heed a call from President Vladimir Putin to recognize passports issued by separatists in eastern Ukraine has fueled greater discontent. On Monday, a few dozen …

READ MORE

Poland plans to seek the extradition of an American on suspicion of committing crimes against humanity in the World War II deaths of 44 Polish villagers, Poland’s government-affiliated history institute said Monday. The man, identified as Michael K., is suspected of ordering the killings in 1944 in eastern Poland when he was a commander in the Nazi’s SS-led Ukrainian Self Defense Legion, the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) said in a statement. As a result of that order, several villages — including Chlaniow and Wladyslawin — were set on fire and buildings destroyed, the IPN said. “In our investigation, Michael …

READ MORE

British Prime Minister Theresa May cleared the final hurdle standing between her and the start of Brexit negotiations on Monday after parliament passed legislation giving her the power to start the EU exit process. Members of the lower house of parliament voted to throw out changes to the bill made by the upper house earlier this month, after the government argued it needed freedom to operate without restriction to get a good deal. Despite an attempt by the Liberal Democrats in the unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords, to re-introduce the conditions, the Lords also went on to approve …

READ MORE

Dutch envoy Daan Feddo Huisinga was summoned Monday by the Turkish foreign minister for the third time in as many days to receive a diplomatic dressing down.   The verbal salvo reportedly was for the crackdown by Dutch police on ethnic Turks who demonstrated Saturday in Rotterdam over the removal of Turkish Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya from the Netherlands.   Turkish pro-government newspapers Monday published photos of police dogs biting demonstrators, with one headline reading “Nazi Dogs.”   Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly called the Dutch government “Nazis” for preventing two of his …

READ MORE

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is vowing harsh retaliation against the Dutch government for barring his ministers from speaking at a rally. Ankara was hoping to sway Turkish nationals in Europe to support Erdogan’s side at an upcoming referendum in Turkey. European leaders have largely condemned the referendum, which seeks to give the Turkish authoritarian president more power. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more. …

READ MORE

Leaders of European Union countries have criticized Turkey, while the dispute over the Turkish government’s attempts to hold rallies in European countries has been growing since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Germany and the Netherlands of “Nazism” and “fascism” because officials blocked rallies there.   Erdogan warned the Netherlands Sunday it would “pay a price” for refusing to allow Ankara’s foreign minister into the country and expelling another minister to keep them from holding rallies with Turkish immigrants.   Ankara wants to drum up support among millions of Turks who live and work in Europe to vote to give Erdogan …

READ MORE

France’s troubled conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon has apologized for his party’s anti-Semitic tweet of rival Emmanuel Macron. “The political battle is tough enough, but it must remain dignified,” Fillon said Sunday. “I will not tolerate my party publishing caricatures that use the codes of anti-Semitic propaganda.” Fillon said he has always fought against such thinking and has asked Republican party officials to take action against whomever was responsible. The image tweeted Friday shows Macron with a hooked nose, a top hot, and cutting a cigar with a red sickle. France’s Vichy government which collaborated with the Nazis were notorious …

READ MORE

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the Netherlands Sunday it would “pay a price” for refusing to allow Ankara’s foreign minister into the country and expelling another minister Saturday to keep them from holding rallies with Turkish immigrants. Erdogan accused the Dutch government, a NATO ally, of “nazism and fascism,” saying only a repressive regime would block Ankara’s officials from traveling to the Netherlands. Both of the Ankara officials were trying to rally Turkish immigrants with Turkish voting rights to support Erdogan’s bid to win a referendum next month to give him sweeping new powers. The Dutch government of Prime …

READ MORE