Category: Євросоюз

Ukraine asked the United Nations’ highest court on Monday to order Russia to stop funding and equipping pro-Russian separatists, at the start of a hearing where it hopes to prove Moscow is breaking international law. Russia denies sending troops or military equipment to eastern Ukraine and is expected to challenge the basis of the case Ukraine has launched at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. “Today I stand before the World Court to request protection of the basic human rights of Ukrainian people,” Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Olena Zerkal said on the first of four days of hearings. …

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The euro fell on Monday after former French prime minister Alain Juppe ruled out standing in the country’s presidential elections, which investors saw as increasing the likelihood of a victory by anti-EU leader Marine Le Pen. A poll on Friday had suggested that if Juppe replaced the scandal-hit Francois Fillon as the centre-right candidate, he would win the election’s first round, with centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron coming second — a scenario that would knock Le Pen out of the race. But with Fillon in contention, polls suggest Le Pen would come either first or second in the first round and would …

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If there are hooligans planning to crash the 2018 World Cup football (soccer) finals in Russia, a Russian lawmaker thinks he has a solution. Parliament member Igor Lebedev has even drawn up rules for what he calls “draka” – the Russian word for “fight.” There would be 20 unarmed fighters on each side taking on one another in a stadium at a scheduled hour. He said these fights between different fan groups could attract thousands of spectators. “If visiting fans, for example, begin picking fights they receive an answer — your challenge is accepted. Let’s meet at the stadium at …

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Four top European leaders hold talks Monday on the future of the European Union, at a time when it faces multiple crises that are sparking doubts about its very existence.  Hosted by French President Francois Hollande at the iconic Versailles palace outside Paris, the dinner meeting that brings together German, Italian and Spanish leaders comes amid heated discussion about how to move forward the deeply troubled European Union in the face of Brexit, rising nationalism and an EU-skeptic Trump administration in Washington.  Those issues will be hashed out during a broader EU summit March 25, coinciding with the 60th anniversary …

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British Islamist terrorists are getting younger and an increasing number had no prior convictions or previous criminal records before carrying out an act of terrorism or being arrested in the later stages of planning attacks, according to a major report to be published this week in London. The rising proportion of militants who are so-called “clean skins,” previously unknown to the authorities, has jumped sharply, posing a growing challenge for Britain’s security services as they scramble to try to prevent acts of terrorism, says the report’s author, Hannah Stuart, an analyst at The Henry Jackson Society, a British research group. …

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Russian news reports say curious and pious people are visiting a bust of the last czar in the Crimean capital after reports spread that the sculpture appeared to be weeping.   The bust of Nicholas II was erected near the Crimean prosecutor’s office in Simferopol in 2016, two years after Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine.   Nicholas II, like previous czars, is considered a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church.   Reports of statues and other inanimate objects appearing to weep periodically surface in various religions.   Natalia Poklonskaya, the former Crimean prosecutor, called the appearance of moisture “a …

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Embattled French presidential candidate Francois Fillon delivered a defiant speech to thousands of supporters in central Paris on Sunday, but made no pledge to fight on as pressure from his conservative party mounted on him to step aside. Once the frontrunner in the presidential race, Fillon is mired in a scandal over his wife’s pay, and his campaign has been in serious trouble since he learned last week that he could be placed under formal investigation for misuse of public funds. Party leaders prepared for a meeting on Monday to discuss crisis ahead of a March 17 deadline when all …

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Sinn Fein, the Irish nationalist party, has fallen just short of becoming the largest party in elections for the Northern Ireland Assembly.   In results declared early Friday, the Democratic Unionist Party led with 28 seats, just one more than Sinn Fein’s total.   At stake in the outcome from Thursday’s snap election is the revival or demise of power-sharing between Irish Catholics and British Protestants, the central objective of the U.S.-brokered Good Friday peace accord nearly two decades ago. Seeking to be No. 1   Sinn Fein was seeking to overtake the Protestants of the Democratic Unionists and become …

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Cardinal Joseph Zen, the most senior Roman Catholic figure in China, says he is deeply skeptical about a reputedly imminent agreement between Chinese leaders in Beijing and Pope Francis in the Vatican. Zen, the former bishop of Hong Kong, told VOA he is most concerned about the possibility that a rapprochement between China and the Vatican will give China’s government a role in the nomination of Catholic bishops there. A deal between the church and the communist government would be seen by many as a diplomatic coup for Pope Francis, after more than six decades of difficult relations with China. …

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Georgia, responding to an intervention from a European court, on Friday suspended a ruling from a domestic court that had placed the country’s biggest independent TV station under the control of a close ally of the government. The country’s supreme court on Thursday ordered broadcaster Rustavi 2 returned to its former co-owner, businessman Kibar Khalvashi, in a move critics at home and abroad called an attempt to muzzle the media. Rustavi 2’s attorneys challenged the ruling at the European Court of Human Rights, which on Friday ordered its temporary suspension. “We will follow this procedure,” Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani told …

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Nationalist Serbian lawmakers booed the European Union’s top diplomat Federica Mogherini on Friday as she addressed their parliament during tour aimed at addressing concerns about rising tensions in the Balkans. Mogherini’s trip to all six Western Balkans states, still scarred by wars fought in 1990s along political, ethnic and religious lines, is meant to lay the groundwork for an EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday and a summit on Thursday. Several EU leaders have expressed alarm at a variety of problems there and some blame Russia for seeking to destabilize the region, EU officials say. At Mogherini’s speech to the …

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Irish government investigators said Friday that up to 800 remains of babies have been discovered in a mass grave at a former Catholic home for unmarried mothers. The discovery confirmed a local historian’s claim that the children may be in an unmarked grave at the former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in the western Irish town of Tuam. Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes Commission said excavations revealed an underground structure that contained “significant quantities of human remains.” The commission said DNA analysis confirmed the ages of the children ranged from 35 weeks to three years. Records show the babies …

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Mercedes is recalling about 1 million cars and SUVs worldwide because a starter part can overheat and cause fires.   The recall covers certain C-Class, E-Class and CLA cars and GLA and GLC SUVs, all from 2015 through 2017, including nearly 308,000 in the U.S.   The German automaker reported 51 fires worldwide, with about 30 in the United States. The company has no reports of any injuries.   Mercedes said in U.S. government documents released Friday that if for some reason the engine and transmission won’t turn over, a current limiter in the starter motor can overheat from repeated …

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President Donald Trump will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House later this month.   White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders says the meeting will take place on March 14. It will be the first in-person meeting between Trump and the German chancellor since the U.S. election.   Trump frequently criticized Merkel during his presidential campaign, accusing her of “ruining Germany” by taking in large numbers of refugees. Merkel, who wields significant sway in Europe, was critical of Trump’s refugee and immigration travel ban, which was blocked by the courts.   Sanders did not offer details on what …

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Russia’s leading opposition figure has published a sweeping report accusing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of corruption, claims which the government has shrugged off as propaganda. In a report posted Thursday, Alexei Navalny alleged Medvedev has amassed a collection of lavish mansions, yachts and vineyards managed by companies and charities controlled by his associates. Medvedev’s spokeswoman, Natalya Timakova, dismissed Navalny’s claims as part of election campaigning, saying in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that it’s “senseless” to comment on his “propaganda attacks.” Asked about the report Friday, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said he had nothing to add …

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Britain’s MI6 Secret Intelligence Service is using a movie-theater ad in its push for more agents. The goal is to attract more women and ethnic minorities into the ranks of agents made famous by the fictional spy James Bond.   The 30-second spot marks the first time MI6 has advertised in cinemas.   Officials say they are seeking to promote more diversity in the service.   Director Alex Younger said Friday: ” I want everyone to know that, regardless of background, if you have the skills we need and share our values, there is a future for you in MI6.” …

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Pope Francis will meet with European Union leaders a day before a special summit marking the 60th anniversary of the bloc’s founding treaty.   The Vatican announced on Friday the audience will be held March 24, the eve of the summit marking the anniversary of the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which created the EU’s predecessor, the European Economic Community.   The evening meeting is expected to be public.   The first non-European pope in over a century, Francis has not hidden his concerns that the old continent is not living up to its history.   The pope previously addressed EU …

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France’s next president may be a 39-year-old maverick former economy minister, affiliated with no mainstream political party and with no experience running for office.  Until now. On Thursday, and with less than two months to go before the first round of voting, independent centrist Emmanuel Macron finally unveiled his full political platform, outlining proposals ranging from downsizing France’s parliament and slashing government bureaucracy, to embracing closer European Union cooperation, fighting nepotism and rewarding businesses that hire from low-income neighborhoods. The former investment banker also positioned himself as a champion of the middle and working classes, as he described growing up …

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Serbia’s outgoing prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, reassured European Union officials visiting Belgrade on Wednesday that his country remains committed to joining the European bloc — but he cautioned that Serbs also want to pursue traditional ties with “friends from the East.” And in recent months, those friends in the Kremlin have been busy, say Western officials and analysts. From offering help with disaster relief to supplying sophisticated weaponry, including warplanes, the Kremlin is seeking to expand its influence in the Balkans, a region Moscow has viewed historically as in its sphere of influence, they warn. Moscow’s diplomatic offensive apparently is …

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Serbia will hold a presidential election on April 2 that is seen as a litmus test of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic’s popularity, the parliamentary speaker said on Thursday. The vote will pit Vucic, whose Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) is the largest in the ruling coalition, against the candidates of a fragmented opposition. It will be a test of his economic reforms, which have been backed by the International Monetary Fund, as well as of efforts to bring the Balkan country of 7.3 million people closer to the European Union. “I would like to use this opportunity to call all citizens …

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