Category: Євросоюз

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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The second anniversary of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov’s murder was marked Monday in Moscow.   U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Tefft read a message on the bridge where Nemtsov was assassinated, just meters from the Kremlin. “We are here today to honor his memory, the values for which he stood, and to express our hope for the future, ” Tefft said. “We call once more on the Russian government to ensure that those responsible for Boris Nemtsov’s killing are brought to justice.”  An estimated 15,000 supporters marched in the Russian capital Sunday in Nemtsov’s memory, shouting slogans and carrying signs …

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Independent candidate Emmanuel Macron’s campaign for the French presidency is gathering momentum, according to two polls published on Monday that showed him closing the gap with far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the first round of voting. Until now polls have given Le Pen a clear lead in the first round on April 23 but have shown her losing the decisive second round on May 7 to either Macron or the other main challenger, center-right candidate Francois Fillon. Macron gains ground In an Ifop-Fiducial poll for Paris Match published on Monday, Macron, a 39-year-old former banker, is now seen gathering …

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German officials have released data that shows refugees and asylum seekers suffered nearly 10 attacks a day there in 2016, the interior ministry said. Citing police statistics, officials said more than 3,500 anti-migrant attacks were carried out last year, resulting in 560 people injured, including 43 children. The numbers were published as a response to parliamentary questions by Ulla Jelpke, a member of the left-wing party Die Linke. The German government said it “strongly condemns” the violence. “People who have fled their homeland and are seeking protection in Germany have the right to expect that they will be accommodated safely,” …

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Olympic gold medal-winning distance runner Mo Farah said on Sunday that he is “a clean athlete” after a leaked report suggested his American coach may have broken anti-doping rules when he gave Farah and other athletes performance-enhancing drugs. The Somali-born Farah won gold medals in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters for Britain at the last two Olympics. “I am a clean athlete who never broke any rules in regards to substances.” Farah said in a statement.   Britain’s Sunday Times said it has obtained a leaked report by U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that said Farah’s coach Alberto Salazar gave him …

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British anti-EU campaigner Nigel Farage posted a picture of him having “dinner with The Donald” on Twitter, the latest meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and the critic of Prime Minister Theresa May. Farage, who helped secure victory for the Brexit campaign at a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union in June, is keen to cement ties with Trump after stepping down as leader of his anti-EU UK Independence Party last year. Finding common ground with some of Trump’s criticism of the political establishment, Farage met the president in November and has offered his services as Britain’s ambassador …

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Thousands of Russians are marching in Moscow to mark the two year anniversary of the death of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was gunned down outside the Kremlin. Marchers carried Russian flags and signs with quotes from Nemstov, including “Russia will be free.” Nemstov was a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of the opposition blame the government for the killing.. The Kremlin has denied involvement in Nemtsov’s murder. Five suspects, all of them Chechens, went on trial over the killing in October. President Putin labeled the killing “a provocation” and vowed the government would do everything …

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With the specter of populism looming over a critical election year in Europe, the European Parliament has taken an unusual step to crack down on racism and hate speech in its own house.   In an unprecedented move, lawmakers have granted special powers to the president to pull the plug on live broadcasts of parliamentary debate in cases of racist speech or acts and the ability to purge any offending video or audio material from the system.   Trouble is, the rules on what is considered offensive are none too clear. Some are concerned about manipulation. Others are crying censorship. …

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Russia has released anti-Kremlin activist Ildar Dadin from a Siberian prison, freeing the first person jailed under new rules that made some forms of nonviolent protest a criminal offence, his lawyer told Reuters Sunday. Dadin’s release had been expected after the Supreme Court had overturned his conviction Wednesday. No protests without permission He was originally sentenced in December 2015 to three years in jail, later reduced on appeal to two and a half years, for staging a series of peaceful, one-man protests against Kremlin rule. Conducting protests without official permission was previously punishable by a fine. But rules adopted after …

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 A trans-Atlantic wave of puzzlement is rippling across Sweden for the second time in a week, after a prominent Fox News program featured a “Swedish defense and national security advisor” who’s unknown to the country’s military and foreign-affairs officials. Swedes, and some Americans, have been wondering about representations of the Nordic nation in the U.S. since President Donald Trump invoked “what’s happening last night in Sweden” while alluding to past terror attacks in Europe during a rally February 18. There hadn’t been any major incident in Sweden the previous night.   Then, Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly convened an on-air …

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Each year, the European Union names two cities as European Capitals of Culture, and they sponsor a year-long series of cultural events. Aarhus, Denmark is one of those cities, where a sculpture exhibition portrays real-life women from different cultures. …

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French President Francois Hollande fired back at Donald Trump on Saturday after the U.S. president remarked in a speech that a friend thought “Paris is no longer Paris” after attacks by Islamist militants. Hollande said Trump should show support for U.S. allies. “There is terrorism and we must fight it together. I think that it is never good to show the smallest defiance toward an allied country. I wouldn’t do it with the United States and I’m urging the U.S. president not to do it with France,” Hollande said. “I won’t make comparisons but here, people don’t have access to …

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Police in Heidelberg, Germany, shot and seriously injured a man Saturday after the man hit three people with a car. The man drove his car into the people in a central square while they were standing in a pedestrian area. A brief stand-off ensued before police shot the man, who was believed to have been armed with a knife. Police said that at the moment they are unclear about the man’s motives but added they don’t suspect the attack to be terrorism-related. The man appears to have acted alone, police said, refusing to confirm local media reports he is mentally …

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Angela Merkel’s conservatives have formally nominated the German chancellor as her party’s top candidate for the September parliamentary election in the region where she has her political base. The dpa news agency reported that Merkel won the support of 95 percent of delegates at a convention of the Christian Democrats’ branch in northeastern Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state Saturday. Merkel has held her parliamentary constituency in Stralsund since 1990. Polls show Merkel facing an unexpectedly strong challenge from the center-left Social Democrats, who have been boosted by their choice of former European Parliament President Martin Schulz to challenge her. Merkel didn’t mention …

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Turkey’s prime minister has officially launched his ruling party’s campaign for a “yes” vote in a referendum on ushering a presidential system, which critics fear will concentrate too many powers in the hands of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.   Binali Yildirim formally got campaigning going on Saturday telling supporters in a sports arena that the proposed new system would build a strong Turkey capable of surmounting terror threats and make its economy more robust.   Yildirim said: “We are taking the first steps on the path of a future strong Turkey.” The proposed reforms – to be voted on April …

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