Category: Євросоюз

Vice President Mike Pence was the latest in a trio of high-ranking Trump emissaries to tell European allies in person that the United States will steadfastly support NATO and demand that Russia honor its commitments to end fighting in Ukraine. Some European leaders, however, remain skeptical of whether Pence and the U.S. secretaries of state and defense actually speak for President Donald Trump. And they worry those declarations might easily be swept away at the whim of the mercurial American president.   “We are waiting for actions,” said Polish President Andrzej Duda. “We only know what the media has reported …

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Muslim organizations in the Netherlands have criticized disparaging comments about Moroccans made by anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders, but say they are just the latest in a long string of insults.   Launching his campaign Saturday for the Netherlands’ March 15 parliamentary election, Wilders criticized what he called “Moroccan scum” for making the Netherlands unsafe.   Ebubekir Ozture, director of the Muslim umbrella group Contact Organ Muslims and Government, on Sunday called Wilders comments “reprehensible,” but added, “It is not the first time and probably won’t be the last time,” that Wilders has used such language.   Wilders was convicted late …

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Turkish officials say 26 people have been detained following a car bomb attack that killed two people in the southeast part of the country. The car bomb exploded Friday near the lodgings of judges and prosecutors in the mainly Kurdish town of Viransehir in Sanliurfa province, bordering Syria. Footage from the scene showed a heavily damaged building and wrecked cars. In a news conference at the town’s courthouse Saturday, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the explosion killed the 11-year-old son of a court clerk and a 27-year-old neighborhood guard. Eleven people remained hospitalized, including the public prosecutor’s wife, the minister …

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Russia considers the second round of Syria peace talks, held this week in Kazakhstan, a success, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Saturday. The director of the ministry’s Middle East and North Africa department, Sergey Vershinin, told Russian state media the talks in Astana were an important step toward resolving the Syrian crisis. Three guarantor countries — Russia and Iran, which back the Syrian government, and Turkey, which backs some rebels opposed to it — organized the talks in Kazakhstan. In addition to the host country, others attending included representatives from Damascus and armed Syrian opposition groups, the United Nations …

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In his first major foreign policy speech, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has said at the Munich Security Conference that America will be ‘unwavering’ in its support for the NATO alliance – but warned allies that they must step up defense spending. Amid controversy over the Trump administration’s ties to Moscow, Mr. Pence said the US would continue to hold Russia accountable. Henry Ridgwell reports from Munich. …

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While German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed that European nations strengthen their multilateral ties, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence praised NATO but made no mention of the European Union, fueling concerns about America’s new approach to international affairs. At the Munich Security Conference Saturday, Merkel delivered a speech stressing the importance of supporting organizations such as the European Union, the United Nations and NATO that have played key roles in the post-Cold War global order. “Will we be able to continue working well together, or will we all fall back into our individual roles?” Merkel asked. “I call on us, and …

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The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, met his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar Friday at NATO’s Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey. Talks between the NATO allies reportedly focused on Washington’s support for Syrian Kurdish militias in the fight against the Islamic State group. The United States says it chooses carefully among Kurdish fighters when lending its support to Syrian rebels battling Islamic State. Ankara dismisses the Americans’ arguments and says they are actively supporting the People’s Protection Units, the YPG, whose fighters the Turks contend are terrorists group united with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, …

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U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told European allies that American security is tied to that of Europe and described NATO’s principle of collective defense as a bedrock commitment. He made the comments at the Munich Security Conference, where heads of state and delegates from across the world are gathered at a time when many fear the global world order is at risk. Henry Ridgwell reports from the conference. …

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Protests in France have grown more violent after the alleged rape of a 22-year-old man by police using a baton. Four officers are under investigation, but that hasn’t calmed anger over what critics say is a broader problem of police brutality and racism. From the Paris suburb of Bobigny, Lisa Bryant takes a look at old problems and new hopes. …

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The Trump administration says it cannot confirm that an Iranian general barred from foreign travel by the U.N. Security Council visited Russia this week, despite a prominent U.S. congressman and news outlet saying he had made the trip. In an emailed response to a VOA Persian query Friday, a U.S. State Department official who requested anonymity said the administration is aware of media reports about recent travel to Russia by General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the special operations Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). “We’re not in a position to confirm the travel ourselves at this time,” …

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Republican Sen. John McCain delivered a withering critique of President Donald Trump in a speech Friday that highlighted fractures within the GOP as the new administration struggles to overcome a chaotic start. Speaking in Germany at the Munich Security Conference, McCain didn’t mention the president’s name, according to the prepared text, while he lamented a shift in the United States and Europe away from the “universal values” that forged the Western alliance seven decades ago. McCain is the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. Trump has repeatedly questioned the value of NATO, calling the military pact obsolete, and sought instead …

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Emails accusing German soldiers stationed in Lithuania of rape were sent this week to local news outlets, the latest incident in what NATO officials say is a Russian “fake news” campaign aimed at eroding public support for the military alliance. The emails, which were sent to several Lithuanian media outlets on February 14, claimed German soldiers based in the Baltic state had raped an underage Lithuanian girl. Some Lithuanian outlets reported the claim, which was dismissed by Lithuanian police, who are trying to track the internet protocol address involved in the distribution of the allegation. “To our knowledge, Lithuanian police …

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A seven-page document made public by WikiLeaks purports to show that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency ordered its spies to gather information on the 2012 French presidential election.   The document , which WikiLeaks published late Thursday and described as “tasking orders,” suggest that American spies wanted an insider’s take on the race, including details of party funding, internal rivalries and future attitudes toward the United States.   Although WikiLeaks’ publication of a purportedly secret CIA document was striking, the orders seemed to represent standard intelligence-gathering.   French media, which are consumed with the upcoming electoral contest only two months …

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“Hello, this is New York calling.” The words, in Russian, hit Russian airwaves on February 17, 1947 — the first Russian broadcast of the Voice of America. The broadcasts were an integral part of the United States’ propaganda campaign against the Soviet Union, which was seen as the new threat once World War II was over in 1945. VOA, which began during the war as a way to convey American news and policies to occupied areas, told its Russian listeners it was meant to “give listeners in the USSR a picture of life in America.” Like its other services, VOA’s …

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Hungarian political movement Momentum has collected more than 200,000 signatures on a petition against Budapest’s 2024 Olympics bid, raising the prospect of a referendum, daily newspaper Magyar Nemzet reported on Friday. A Momentum spokesman declined comment to Reuters on the report, although they have scheduled a news conference for 1230 GMT on Friday, while spokespersons for both the government and bid organizers also opted against making statements. Momentum, launched by a group of students born around 1989 when communism collapsed in Hungary, will finish collecting signatures at the conclusion of a month-long campaign later on Friday and submit them to …

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U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visits Munich and Brussels during the next few days, his first overseas trip since being sworn into office last month.  A senior White House foreign policy advisor says the trip is “an opportunity for the vice president to reassure our allies and our partners and also to lay out our U.S. priorities for the transatlantic relationship on behalf of” U.S. President Donald Trump.  European leaders have been concerned about the Trump presidency after the U.S. president’s repeated expressions of admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump’s description of NATO last month as “obsolete.” Pence …

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Russia reacted defensively and cautiously after the resignation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, considered among the most Kremlin-friendly in the new administration.Trump’s tougher stance on Crimea this week also ruffled feathers in Russia.VOA’s Moscow correspondent Daniel Schearf reports. …

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A senior U.N. official warns Syrian civilians will starve to death unless the United States and Russia pressure the Syrian government and armed opposition to allow humanitarian aid to reach hundreds of thousands of people trapped in besieged and hard-to-reach areas. The special advisor to the U.N. Special Envoy for Syria, Jan Egeland, says people already are dying. In recent days, he says five people in the besieged Syrian cities of Medaya and Kefraya have died because the United Nations has been unable to evacuate them to receive urgent medical treatment. He says people in the two towns as well …

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The U.N. human rights office is appealing for $253 million to pay for projects to stop growing xenophobia, racial and religious discrimination and other violations from spreading around the world. Two-hundred-and-53 million dollars may sound like a lot of money and the appeal is the most ambitious ever launched by the U.N. human rights office; but, this money represents only 3 percent of the overall U.N. budget. Human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the sum requested is only a pittance, considering human rights is one of the three pillars of the United Nations, along with peace and security. She told …

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United States Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis on Thursday ruled out any military collaboration between the US and Russia, saying that the conditions just aren’t correct “right now.” “We are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level.  But our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground,” Mattis said during a news conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels. Before military cooperation takes place, Russia must “prove itself” able to comply with international law, Mattis said. WATCH: Mattis on Russia-US relations Mattis’ comments come after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow is …

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