Category: Євросоюз

A daunting new barrier is beginning to loom over Hungary’s southern border, capable of delivering electric shocks to unwanted migrants and armed with heat sensors, cameras, and loudspeakers that blare in several languages. The country was a main crossing point for hundreds of thousands of people trekking into Europe at the height of the migrant crisis in 2015. A hastily-erected first razor wire fence and tough new laws have cut arrivals to a trickle, but Budapest is not taking any chances. “Attention, attention. I’m warning you that you are at the Hungarian border,” the loudspeakers say in English, Arabic and …

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Georgia’s Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a change of ownership at the biggest independent TV station Rustavi 2, in a move critics say is an attempt to silence the media. Hundreds of viewers, opposition politicians and supporters of Rustavi 2 rallied outside the court and moved to the broadcaster’s studio building in a gesture of support after the ruling was announced. The TV station has been fighting court battles since August 2015 when a court found in favor of former co-owner Kibar Khalvashi and ordered the seizure of its property and later the seizure of shares in the company that …

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A Californian musician and a Russian music fan decided to become business partners. They founded a company to manufacture high-end microphones from old machinery that once produced Kalashnikov rifles. VOA’s Faiza Elmasry has more. Faith Lapidus narrates. …

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In his first major speech to Congress on Tuesday, President Donald Trump assured U.S. allies that he is committed to NATO, but some of his fellow Republicans have been blocking a Senate vote to expand the alliance for months. The delay of the Senate’s consideration of Montenegro’s accession to the alliance has fueled questions about whether Trump’s administration and his party will stand up to Russia despite the president’s desire for better relations. Moscow opposes any further expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Montenegro, a former Yugoslav republic with a population of 650,000, hopes to win the approval of …

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A leading presidential candidate vowed Wednesday to press on with his campaign, despite a formal inquiry into a fake jobs scandal tainting his family and amid growing protests against political corruption in France. Reversing an earlier promise that he would end his campaign if placed under formal investigation, conservative ex-prime minister Francois Fillon said at a press conference he would not give up despite a summons to appear before a judge March 15. He lambasted the judiciary and the media, likening the allegations against him to a political assassination.   “I won’t give up, I won’t surrender, I won’t pull …

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It was his eighth failed attempt at getting into the European Union and Tahir claims that, just like half of his previous efforts, it ended in violence. Tahir, who requested his entire name not be disclosed to protect his identity, is from Pakistan. He is among an estimated few hundred migrants and refugees camped out in scattered locations on the Serbian border with Hungary. Unwilling to play the waiting game at the 17 official camps scattered across Serbia, he and others are trying to make their way across the heavily guarded fence. “We were walking in Hungary for 12 hours, …

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Vladimir Jehlicka and his business partners spent 25 years building up their Czech machinery firm before deciding to call it a day. However, they faced a problem that is growing as the first generation of post-communist entrepreneurs nears retirement. Their children weren’t interested in running the shop but equally Jehlicka and his three partners didn’t want to sell their life’s work simply to the highest bidder: securing a future for the firm was as important as the sale price. In the end they found a suitable buyer for STS Olbramovice, which employs 90 people making cattle feeders and other farm …

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As legal movement from Serbia to Hungary, into the European Union, becomes more difficult for refugees and migrants, some are taking their chances by finding their own way through the razor-wire border fence. Yet as Hungary ramps up its efforts to prevent crossings, alarming reports of violence by border guards on refugees are mounting. John Owens reports from the Serbian-Hungarian border. …

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French conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon says he will not withdraw from the election despite having received a summons for fake parliamentary jobs investigation to face preliminary charges in an investigation into an alleged fake jobs scheme.   Fillon told reporters that his lawyers received the summons Wednesday. He denied all allegations and says legal procedure was not properly followed in what he called a political assassination and unprecedented probe during the election campaign for the two-round April-May election.   “I will not withdraw,” he told reporters at his campaign headquarters. Fillon was once the front-runner for the two-round April-May …

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A former CIA officer, convicted for involvement in the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in Italy, will not be deported from Portugal and will be released, her lawyer said on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Italian President Sergio Mattarella gave a partial pardon to de Sousa, convicted in absentia in Italy for involvement in the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric there, the president’s office said. “The Milan prosecutor revoked the detention order. The Italian Interpol agents who are here to extradite her have been informed and the extradition is no longer happening,” Sabrina de Sousa’s lawyer told Reuters.    De Sousa, a dual U.S.-Portuguese …

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Vietnam is coming under pressure from lawmakers in Europe to improve its human rights record before ratification of an EU free trade deal that the Communist government prizes after the loss of a major U.S.-led agreement. European Parliament members voiced concerns in late February about Vietnam as its Subcommittee on Human Rights traveled to the Southeast Asian country. The committee recommended more debate in Vietnam on political rights and freedom of expression and religion. Europe’s human rights concerns Without meeting Europe’s strict conditions on human rights, ratification of the trade agreement will be difficult, the subcommittee’s chair was quoted saying …

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A top NATO official on Tuesday called on authorities in Georgia’s Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia to rethink plans to close two crossing points into Tbilisi-controlled territory. “Closure of two crossing points along the administrative boundary line of the Abkhazia region of Georgia … which are used daily by hundreds of citizens, will have a negative impact on the situation on the ground and stability in the region,” NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said. Adding that the move will restrict freedom of movement and impact the livelihoods of local residents, Lungescu also called on Russia to acknowledge the former Soviet republic’s internationally …

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A new UNICEF report says thousands of women and children who risk the dangerous central Mediterranean Sea crossing from North Africa to Italy to escape war and poverty are subject to violence, sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse. A survey conducted late last year on conditions in Libya reveals what UNICEF describes as appalling levels of abuse along the migration route. At the time, 256,000 migrants were recorded in Libya, including more than 30,800 women and more than 23,000 children. The report notes that thousands of incarcerated women and children have been beaten, raped and starved in “living hellholes.” …

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Two explosions occurred at a military facility in central Serbia Tuesday, killing at least one person and injuring 25 others, Serbia’s Defense Ministry said. Three people are missing.   The statement said the blasts took place at an ammunition depot in Kragujevac, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Belgrade, which stores mines and other ammunition.   Local media said a roof caved in, possibly trapping some people inside. Firefighting teams were at the scene.   Local hospital officials said most of the victims suffered severe burns.     …

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Italy said on Tuesday it had dismissed the head of its visa office in Erbil, Iraq, following reports that visas were sold for thousands of euros, some to people rejected by other countries as security risks. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that an investigation of its consulate in the capital of Iraq’s Kurdish region had found “irregularities”. The information was sent to Italian magistrates for further investigation, it said. Corriere della Sera newspaper reported on Tuesday that Kurds and Syrian refugees had been forced to pay up to 10,000 euros ($10,600) for a visa instead of the standard …

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European Union lawmakers will decide on Tuesday whether to lift the EU parliament immunity of France’s far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen for tweeting pictures of Islamic State violence, an EU official said. Le Pen is under investigation in France for three graphic images of IS executions she posted on Twitter in 2015, including the beheading of the United States journalist James Foley, the EU official told Reuters. Responding to a request from the French judiciary, the EU lawmakers will consider whether her posts were appropriate to the role of a European deputy, the official said. A decision was expected …

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Tens of thousands of London private hire drivers could lose their licenses due to new English reading and writing requirements, taxi app Uber said on Tuesday at the start of a court battle to halt the plans. San Francisco-based Uber, which allows users to book journeys at the touch of a button on their smartphone, has grown rapidly in recent years but faced bans and protests around the world as regulators play catch-up with technology disrupting traditional operators. Uber launched legal action in August after public body Transport for London (TfL) said that drivers should have to prove their ability …

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European Union member states on Monday agreed to grant Georgian citizens visa-free travel within the 26 countries of Europe’s Schengen Area. Visa liberalization for the central Caucasus nation enables biometric passport holders to travel throughout the European bloc for 90 days within any 180-day period. Dimitris Avramopoulos, EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, issued a congratulatory statement alongside Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili in Tblisi. Georgians “must be very proud of this great achievement, which is the result of the common efforts of the Georgian people and the Georgian authorities,” said Avramopoulos, calling final adoption of the policy …

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European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker will propose to national leaders next month a handful of options for shoring up unity once Britain launches a withdrawal that some fear could trigger a further unraveling of the bloc. The European Commission president wants some states to be able to deepen cooperation further and faster without the whole bloc having to follow suit, but this idea has raised concerns, especially among poorer eastern countries, that their richer neighbors may use Brexit to cut EU subsidies to them. Juncker has said he will argue for what is commonly called a “multi-speed Europe” in …

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Several thousand people protested in Skopje against an agreement that would ensure the wider use of the Albanian language in the  ethnically divided state. Last Thursday, the leader of the Social Democrats, Zoran Zaev, said he expected to be able to form a government in March after he had secured support from ethnic Albanian parties in the 120-seat parliament. Those parties had made their support for any potential coalition conditional on the passage of a law backing broader use of their language in Macedonia. But on Monday, a movement that called itself “For Joint Macedonia” called on social media for …

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