INTL Europe: Politics, Economics, Military- June 2020

[Plain Jane]

Germany condemns weekend violence, looting in Stuttgart

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the country’s top security official on Monday decried an outburst of violence at the weekend in the southwestern city of Stuttgart, where hundreds of people attacked stores, vehicles and police officers following a stop-and-search for drugs.

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Germany condemns weekend violence, looting in Stuttgart
6 minutes ago



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People walk past cracks in a damaged window of a retail store during a clash in Stuttgart, Germany, Sunday, June 21, 2020. Police in Stuttgart say a check for drugs sparked attacks on officers and vandalism of downtown store fronts. They said the disturbance started after officers stopped a 17-year-old on suspicion of drug possession as several hundred people partied outside late Saturday. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the country’s top security official on Monday decried an outburst of violence at the weekend in the southwestern city of Stuttgart, where hundreds of people attacked stores, vehicles and police officers following a stop-and-search for drugs.

Authorities say 24 people were arrested over Saturday night’s unrest and 19 police officers were injured.

Merkel’s spokesman said the scenes “were abhorrent and must be strongly condemned.”

“Anyone who takes part in such outbreaks of violence, brutally attacks police officers and destroys and plunders shops cannot in any way justify it,” Steffen Seibert said Monday.
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Seibert thanked police officers nationwide, saying they “should know that the German government and millions of people stand behind you.”

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who called for “swift and tough” punishment of those responsible, said there had been a broader rise in violence against officers and rescue workers for some time. He complained of “disparagement of the police through words, and disparagement can be just as hurtful as physical violence.”

Seehofer also suggested he might file a criminal complaint against a left-wing newspaper columnist who had written disparagingly about police recently, but his spokesman later said officials were still examining the legal implications of such a move. Opposition lawmakers warned that government intervention over a newspaper column could be seen as interference in press freedom.

The disturbances started after officers stopped a 17-year-old on suspicion of drug possession as several hundred people partied outside around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, police said. Bystanders started throwing stones and bottles, and smaller groups ran through surrounding streets breaking shop windows, according to police.

Police said 40 businesses were vandalized, nine of them were looted and 12 police vehicles were damaged before officers brought the situation under control.

Police have said the violence had no apparent political motivation. They said the suspect initially stopped was a white German citizen. Of the two dozen people arrested, half held German passports and half were citizens of other countries.

 

[Plain Jane]

Serbian populist wins landslide as many parties boycott

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia's president on Monday called for swift resumption of European Union-mediated talks on Kosovo after bolstering his hold on power at home in an overwhelming election victory for his governing right-wing party.

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Serbian populist wins landslide as many parties boycott
By JOVANA GEC2 hours ago



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Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic, addresses the media outside a polling station, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, June 21, 2020. Serbia's ruling populists are set to tighten their hold on power in a Sunday parliamentary election held amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus in the Balkan country and a partial boycott by the opposition. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A preliminary official vote count Monday of Serbia’s parliamentary election confirmed an overwhelming victory for populist President Aleksandar Vucic’s right-wing governing party, the state RTS television said.

Election authorities said, after counting more than 60% of the ballots, that Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party won around 61% of the vote, followed by his ally, the Socialists, with around 10%, the report said.

A partial boycott of the vote, by the main opposition parties who said Vucic unfairly dominated the state-run media, paved the way for Vucic’s Progressives to control about 190 seats in the 250-member assembly. Vucic declared the party’s victory as “historic.”


The autocratic Serbian president had called on supporters to vote in large numbers to get a strong mandate for internationally mediated peace negotiations on the future of Serbia’s former province of Kosovo. Serbia has rejected Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008.

The European Union’s envoy for Kosovo, Miroslav Lajcak, is expected in Belgrade later Monday to meet Vucic. The president travels next to Moscow, a key ally, and a U.S.-brokered Serbia-Kosovo meeting is set for June 27 in Washington.

Sunday’s vote in Serbia was the first national election in Europe since the coronavirus lockdowns began. The voting — initially planned for April but postponed because of the pandemic — was held as Serbia still is reporting dozens of new cases daily.

Despite the partial boycott, some smaller parties still took part in the vote, but could not make it over the 3% threshold to get into parliament. The official turnout figure has not yet been released while independent polling agencies say it was lower than in previous votes.

Full official results are expected by Thursday.

A former extreme nationalist, Vucic briefly served as information minister in the government of late strongman Slobodan Milosevic during the bloody 1990s wars in the Balkans that killed more than 100,000 people and drove millions from their homes.

While Vucic now says he seeks EU membership for Serbia, critics warn that democratic freedoms have sharply eroded since his party came to power in 2012.

https://apnews.com/64e93bdadd1ad3668676883f17a55506

 

[Plain Jane]

The politics behind the Czech self-sufficiency push – DW – 06/22/2020

Czechs risk a banana-free diet, lower food quality and higher prices if a bill making its way through parliament is passed, say critics. The winners would be large, politically-linked farming groups.

www.dw.com

Czech self-sufficiency push exposes political links to farming
Czechs risk a banana-free diet, lower food quality and higher prices if a bill making its way through parliament is passed, say critics. The winners would be large, politically-linked farming groups.





The controversial amendment to the Food Act, proposed by MPs from the governing Ano party and far-right SPD, would oblige retailers to raise the share of Czech food on their shelves to 85% by 2027. Backers of the bill assert that the coronavirus pandemic has illustrated that the Czech Republic must increase self-sufficiency.

Agriculture Minister Miroslav Toman has also played up the potential environmental benefits. "Food would not have to travel thousands of kilometers by truck," he told local media.

Asked if the Ministry of Agriculture supported the measures, a spokesman told DW only that it did not propose the bill. However, the ministry is mulling an additional proposal requiring public institutions to source food locally.

The bill has attracted a furious backlash from business lobbies and farmers alike. The Czech Chamber of Commerce labeled the regulations "inadmissible state intervention" that would distort the market, hit small retailers, and lower the quality of food.

Stemming imports would violate the rules of the EU's single market, it added. The European Commission is challenging similar regulations in Romania and Bulgaria.

Critics also insist that Czech farms cannot feed the country alone. The Czech Republic is heavily reliant on imports for many basics, including fruit, vegetables, pork and poultry.

And what is "Czech" food anyway, they ask. Foodstuffs are often the product of several different countries by the time they hit the shelves. Retail chains report that they carry 40% - 70% Czech products, but there is no standard definition.

Czech billionaire Andrej Babis is the founder of agricultural, food processing and chemical holding company Agrofert

Political fertilizer
Most of the controversy, however, focuses on links between large farming groups and senior politicians.

"It smells of a conflict of interest on the part of Prime Minister Andrej Babis and … Toman," Jaroslav Sebek, chairman of the Association of Private Agriculture, told local media.

The agriculture minister, whose father held the same job during communism, is believed to be close to many of the key agricultural players that emerged as that system collapsed. The largest — Agrofert — is owned by the billionaire prime minister.

A quota for Czech food "would be beneficial for big agro companies like Agrofert," Marketa Adamova, leader of the centre-right Top 09 party, told DW. "Small farms don't have the capacity to supply supermarkets across the country."

The bid to limit imports is nothing new, but it has accelerated under Babis' government. Toman's predecessor, Jiri Milek, an owner of the Usovska agricultural group, led an effort to regulate "foreign" food three years ago.

Rising state subsidies reflect the urge for self-sufficiency. A total of €789 million ($884 million) was used to boost the cause in 2014-17, much of it reportedly sucked up by large farmers.

Including EU funds, Czech farmers were originally set to share large subsidies in 2019-20. In March, the government pledged another shot in the arm toward self-sufficiency.

The bulk of this funding will be gobbled up by the huge companies that dominate Czech farming and can afford to apply for state support for large investment projects, asserted Tomas Prouza, head of the Confederation of Trade and Tourism. Close to 90% of EU agricultural subsidies paid out in Czechia goes to the top 20% of recipients.



Watch video42:36
Farming policies for sale?
Funding gap
This expanded national funding is arriving as the EU threatens to cut larger farms off from billions by capping subsidies.

Toman's ministry is trying to win an exemption for the Czech Republic. Member states should be free to decide themselves how to distribute funds, the spokesman said.
However, Agrofert, reported to have received 11.3 billion Czech korunas in overall subsidies in 2013-18, risks losing access to EU funds altogether.

Babis put the company into trust before becoming prime minister in 2017, but EU audits say he retains control and therefore has a conflict of interest. On June 19, the European Parliament passed a resolution demanding the EU cut all support for Agrofert.
The Food Act amendment is a response straight out of the populist playbook, claimed Prouza.
"Who could object to sending more money to Czech farmers and reducing the environmental impact of food," he said. "But 85% in shops is total nonsense. Self-sufficiency has instead become a clever tool for sending funds to large farming groups."

But the ploy looks to have backfired. The outcry against the amendment has shocked the government and it's unsure of how to proceed, claimed one source close to the process. Ano pulled the bill back from a third and final reading in parliament in late May.

Aware of the political danger, Babis has sought to distance himself. In a bad-tempered TV interview, the premier refused to discuss the proposal.

"Don't try to make a fool of me," he snapped. "I have a conflict of interest, as you like to say. I told the party that this proposal was hurting me and my former business."

The billionaire said the issue is in the hands of Jaroslav Faltynek. The deputy prime minister is Babis' right-hand man, and a former Agrofert executive.

 

[Plain Jane]

Three die, hundreds evacuated in Ukraine flooding

Torrential rains in Ukraine have killed three people, forced hundreds from their homes and cut off villages in western regions, authorities said on Wednesday.

www.reuters.com

ENVIRONMENT
JUNE 24, 2020 / 4:22 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Three die, hundreds evacuated in Ukraine flooding


1 MIN READ

KYIV (Reuters) - Torrential rains in Ukraine have killed three people, forced hundreds from their homes and cut off villages in western regions, authorities said on Wednesday.

While many were trying to guard their property, about 800 people had been evacuated since the rains began on Monday, said Interior Minister Arsen Avakov who was visiting the disaster zone with Prime Minister Denys Shmygal.

About 5,000 houses in 187 villages remained flooded as of Wednesday morning, according to an emergency service report.

Footage from a regional administration and on social media showed raging mountain rivers, a partially-submerged village, and fields and roads covered by water.

Calling it the most powerful flooding in many years, the interior ministry said in a statement that four helicopters, one airplane and 150 soldiers had been sent to the zone.
Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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[Plain Jane]

Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor Charges Thaci with War Crimes

A ten-count indictment has been filed against Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci charging him with crimes allegedly committed in the independence war of the late-1990s, including murder and torture.

balkaninsight.com

Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor Charges Thaci with War Crimes

Marija Ristic
Berlin
BIRN
June 24, 202016:19
A ten-count indictment has been filed against Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci charging him with crimes allegedly committed in the independence war of the late-1990s, including murder and torture.
This article is also available in: Shqip Macedonian Bos/Hrv/Srp

Hashim Thaci in Pristina, Kosovo, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/VALDRIN XHEMAJ
The Hague-based Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, SPO, according to a press statement on Wednesday, has filed a ten-count indictment with the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, KSC, charging Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, the Kosovo politician Kadri Veseli, and others with a range of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, enforced disappearance of persons, persecution, and torture.

“The indictment alleges that Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, and the other charged suspects are criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders. The crimes alleged in the indictment involve hundreds of known victims of Kosovo Albanian, Serb, Roma, and other ethnicities and include political opponents,” the press release said.

A Specialist Chambers Pre-Trial Judge is currently reviewing the indictment to decide on whether to confirm the charges.

According to the press release, the Specialist Prosecutor deemed it necessary to issue this public notice because of repeated efforts by Thaci and Veseli to obstruct and undermine the work of the KSC.

“Mr Thaci and Mr Veseli are believed to have carried out a secret campaign to overturn the law creating the Court and otherwise obstruct the work of the Court in an attempt to ensure that they do not face justice.

“By taking these actions, Mr Thaci and Mr Veseli have put their personal interests ahead of the victims of their crimes, the rule of law, and all people of Kosovo,” the statement reads.
Over the past year, more than 100 people, mostly former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, have been summoned for questioning by the Specialist Prosecution as suspects or witnesses in relation to crimes allegedly committed during Kosovo’s war of independence from Serbia between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 1999 in Kosovo.

Those questioned included former KLA guerrilla fighters who have become high-profile politicians, such as Ramush Haradinaj, who resigned as prime minister of Kosovo after being summoned.

The Specialist Chambers will hear cases arising from an EU task force report which said that unnamed KLA officials could face indictments for a “campaign of persecution” against Serbs, Roma and Kosovo Albanians during the war. The alleged crimes include killings, abductions, illegal detentions and sexual violence.

The report was commissioned after the Council of Europe published an inquiry in 2011, which alleged that some senior Kosovo officials, including Thaci, were responsible for various human rights abuses. Thaci has strongly denied the allegations.

The negotiations to establish the court lasted from 2011 until 2015. International judges and prosecutors staff the new court, although it operates under Kosovo’s laws.

Since the Kosovo war ended, the international community has been overseeing the justice system in Kosovo whose results in prosecuting war crimes have been poor – fewer than 20 final verdicts in war crimes cases.

It was believed that the Kosovo prosecution couldn’t handle the political pressure in sensitive cases concerning senior officials, which was one reason why the international community decided to establish the new court.

 

[Plain Jane]

Putin finally holds his victory parade in interesting political circumstances.

Putin reviews military parade on eve of vote that could extend his rule

President Vladimir Putin reviewed a spectacular Red Square military parade on Wednesday, a patriotic display critics said was designed to lift his lower-than-usual ratings on the eve of a nationwide vote that could extend his rule until 2036.

www.reuters.com

WORLD NEWS
JUNE 24, 2020 / 12:13 AM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
Putin reviews military parade on eve of vote that could extend his rule

Andrew Osborn
4 MIN READ

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin reviewed a spectacular Red Square military parade on Wednesday, a patriotic display critics said was designed to lift his lower-than-usual ratings on the eve of a nationwide vote that could extend his rule until 2036.

Putin watched as intercontinental ballistic missile launchers trundled past, nuclear-capable bombers flew overhead, and columns of tanks and over 14,000 troops, including some from allies like China, marched past under hot sunshine.

The parade, to mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s World War Two victory over the Nazis, was postponed from May 9 because of the novel coronavirus outbreak, but critics said it was still irresponsible to go ahead with it.

The Kremlin dismissed that assertion, saying new daily infections, though still in the thousands, were on the wane, especially in the Russian capital, the original epicentre of the outbreak, and that all safety precautions were taken.

Volunteers gave masks and gloves to those watching on Red Square and ordered them to sit two seats apart.

Putin, flanked by veterans, did not wear a mask, but people around him had been tested for the coronavirus, including veterans quarantined at a resort outside Moscow beforehand.

Thousands of people thronged Moscow’s streets to watch tanks roll through the city on what was a public holiday.

Putin struck a conciliatory tone towards the West, despite complaining beforehand about what he called attempts by some European countries to rewrite history.

He said Moscow would never forget the contribution made by the Soviet Union’s wartime allies, including their opening of a second front in 1944.

Putin also made an indirect reference to his desire for the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council to hold a summit to try to tackle the world’s problems.

“We are open to dialogue and cooperation on the most current international questions,” said Putin.

“Among them is the creation of a reliable and general system of security, which the complex fast-changing modern world needs. Only together can we defend it from new dangerous threats,” he said.

Before the pandemic, Putin had hoped to host the leaders of France and China at the parade.

In the event, around 10 world leaders attended, most of them from ex-Soviet countries. The president of Kyrgyzstan had to drop out at the last minute after two people who accompanied him to Moscow tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival.

NATIONWIDE VOTE
The parade was held on the eve of a nationwide vote, from June 25 until July 1, on constitutional changes, including an amendment that would allow Putin two more six-year terms as president if re-elected.

Current constitutional limits bar him from seeking re-election when his mandate ends in 2024.

Experts from state pollster VTsIOM have forecast that 67-71% of voters will endorse the changes. Kremlin critics say the vote is a sham they fear will be falsified.



Slideshow (29 Images)
Some analysts say the authorities, backed by state media, use the annual parade to boost patriotic feeling, something that could help lift Putin’s approval rating which is at 59%, according to independent pollster Levada.

Though high by most countries’ standards, it is at its lowest since 1999.

Polls show people’s willingness to protest has risen as lower oil prices and a prolonged lockdown have battered the economy, unemployment has risen, and a Kremlin plan to reverse years of falling real wages has been knocked off course.

Sergei Aleksashenko, an economist who has been critical of Putin, told the Ekho Moskvy radio station on Tuesday that the Russian leader was determined to hold the parade despite the pandemic.

“Vladimir Putin believes that the parade is a reaffirmation of his greatness, the greatness of the country and of our historical memory,” said Aleksashenko.

Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Grant McCool and Mike Collett-White
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Serbian, Moldovan Leaders Watch Victory Day Parade in Moscow

While Western leaders stayed away, the presidents of Serbia and Moldova joined Vladimir Putin and other CIS leaders in watching Russian and other troops parade in Moscow, marking the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.

balkaninsight.com

IN PICTURES
Serbian, Moldovan Leaders Watch Victory Day Parade in Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a military parade, marking the 75th anniversary of the Nazi defeat, in Moscow, Russia, June 24, 2020. Photo: EPA/Ramil Sitdikov


Madalin Necsutu
Chisinau
BIRN
June 24, 202014:35
While Western leaders stayed away, the presidents of Serbia and Moldova joined Vladimir Putin and other CIS leaders in watching Russian and other troops parade in Moscow, marking the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Russia on Wednesday staged a big military parade in Moscow celebrating and commemorating its victory in World War II, which had been postponed for a month-and-a-half due to the pandemic. The parade marked the passage of 75 years since the surrender of Nazi Germany.
CIS heads of state, plus Moldovan President Igor Dodon, observed the parade in the iconic Red Square in Moscow. Also present were Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Miroslav Dodik, the Serbian member of the three-man presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as leaders of two Russian-sponsored but unrecognised Georgian republics, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
No Western leaders were present, reflecting chilly relations between Moscow and Western capitals as well as COVID-19 concerns. Russia is dealing with one of the largest numbers of COVID-19 infections in the world, ranking in third place behind Brazil and the US.
The military parade was attended by some 15,000 soldiers, 234 combat equipment units, and 80 planes and helicopters. Russian troops were joined by units from several CIS countries, as well as from Moldova, Serbia, China, India and Mongolia. The former Soviet republic of Moldova sent 75 soldiers to march in Red Square in Moscow after an absence of more than 10 years.

Russian servicemen march during the military parade on Victory Day, June 24, 2020. Photo: EPA/Ramil Sitdikov

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Moldovan President Igor Dodon, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Abkhazian leader Aslan Bzhania and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko take part in the flower-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden near the Kremlin Wall in Moscow, Russia, 24 June 2020. Photo: EPA/Grigory Sysoev

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (L), Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (C) and Milorad Dodik, member of the presidency of Bosnia and Hercegovina (R) leave the Red Square after the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, June 24, 2020. Photo: EPA/Pavel Golovkin

Russian TOS-1A flamethrower machines take part the parade, marking the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in Moscow, June 24, 2020. Photo: EPA/Yuri Kochetkov

Soldiers from China’s People’s Liberation Army march in the military parade on Victory Day, Moscow, June 24. Photo: EPA/Sergey Pyatkov

Indian troops march in the parade marking the 75th anniversary of Nazi defeat in Moscow, June 24, 2020. Photo: EPA/Sergey Pyatkov

 

[Plain Jane]

The parade in the above post is meant to enhance Putin's chances for extending his rule. Voting started today.

Russia opens polls for vote on extending Putin's rule

MOSCOW (AP) — Polls opened in Russia on Thursday for a week-long vote on constitutional changes that would allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036.

apnews.com

Russia opens polls for vote on extending Putin’s rule
an hour ago



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FILE - In this file photo taken on Wednesday, June 24, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, watches the Victory Day military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the Nazi defeat in Moscow. Russian authorities seem to be pulling out all the stops to get people to vote on a series of constitutional amendments that would enable President Vladimir Putin to stay in office until 2036 by resetting the clock on his term limits. (Sergei Guneyev, Host Photo Agency via AP, file)

MOSCOW (AP) — Polls opened in Russia on Thursday for a week-long vote on constitutional changes that would allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036.

The vote on a slew of constitutional amendments, proposed by Putin in January, was initially scheduled for April 22, but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was later rescheduled for July 1, with polling stations opening a week earlier and staying open for seven days in an effort to avoid crowds on the main voting day.

The proposed amendments include a change in the constitution that would allow the 67-year-old Putin, who has ruled Russia for over two decades, to run for two more six-year terms after his current one expires in 2024. Other amendments talk about improving social benefits, define marriage as a union of a man and and a woman and redistribute executive powers within the government, strengthening the presidency.

The changes have already been approved by both houses of parliament, the country’s Constitutional Court and were signed into law by Putin. He insisted that they be put to a vote, even though it is not legally required, in what many see as an effort to put a veneer of democracy on the controversial changes.

Holding the vote in the middle of a pandemic has elicited public health concerns, because Russia is still reporting over 7,000 new virus cases daily and has 613,000 confirmed infections in all, the third-worst caseload in the world.

The Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed these concerns, saying that Russia was able to slow down the epidemic and assuring people that all necessary measures have been to ensure the safety of the voters.
___
Follow AP pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and Understanding the Outbreak

 

[Plain Jane]

Trump: Poland to get some US troops withdrawn from Germany

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that some of the 10,000 American troops he’s pulling out of Germany will be moved to Poland on NATO’s eastern flank against Russian aggression.

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Trump: Poland to get some US troops withdrawn from Germany
By JONATHAN LEMIRE and DEB RIECHMANNyesterday



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President Donald Trump meets with Polish President Andrzej Duda in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, June 24, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that some of the 10,000 American troops he’s pulling out of Germany will be moved to Poland on NATO’s eastern flank against Russian aggression.

“We’re going to be reducing our forces in Germany,” Trump said in the Rose Garden while standing alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda. “Some will be coming home and some will be going to other places, but Poland would be one of those other places in Europe.”

Trump has said he is determined to cut the number of troops in Germany from about 35,000 to 25,000. Shifting forces out of the country has long been rumored and is in line with Pentagon efforts to put more troops in the Indo-Pacific. But Trump’s suggested last week — and again Wednesday — that the move is also tied to his anger over Germany’s failure to meet NATO defense spending goals.

Trump said unlike Germany, Poland is one of only eight members of the alliance that are fulfilling NATO’s target pledge of spending 2 percent of their gross national products on their own defense. He criticized Germany several times and said transferring the troops to Poland also sends a strong signal to thwart Russian aggression.

“But I think a stronger signal sent to Russia is the fact that Germany is paying Russia billions of dollars to purchase energy from Russia ... and I’m saying ‘What’s that all about?’ ... They’re spending billions to buy Russia and then we’re supposed to defend them from Russia. So that doesn’t work too well.”

Neither Trump nor Duda said how many more troops would be sent to Poland. Under an agreement announced last year, the U.S. already announced it was sending about 1,000 more troops to Poland, and progress is being made, officials said, to lay the groundwork for those moves. Based on the agreement with Poland, the U.S. will add a division headquarters, a combat training center, a unmanned aircraft squadron and structure to support an Army brigade that could rotate in and out of the country.

This was Duda’s third visit to Washington since Trump took office and the first visit by a head of state to the White House since the coronavirus pandemic shut things down. The U.S. and Polish delegations and members of the media were tested before the two leaders met in the Oval Office, although none of the officials wore masks.

The visit came just days before Duda seeks reelection in a ballot Sunday. Opinion polls show Duda with about 40% support as he seeks a second five-year term, ahead of Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who has nearly 30%. Much of Trzaskowski’s support comes from Poles angry at a government they blame for corruption, inciting homophobia and xenophobia, and undermining the country’s democratic foundations.

If Duda falls short of the majority of the vote needed to win outright, it would trigger a tight runoff election July 12.

Duda could get a boost from his White House visit — one so close to Sunday’s vote that some view it as election interference by the U.S. leader. Duda said he and Trump were just fulfilling their presidential duties. Trump said he thinks Duda “will do very well with or without us.”

Trump and Duda said they discussed energy security, including a natural gas pipeline Russia wants to transport more gas into Europe. U.S. sanctions have obstructed construction of the pipeline, causing rifts between the U.S. and its European allies that want the gas. Other topics included cybersecurity, telecommunications, 5G networks, civil nuclear energy and economic cooperation.

As an example of the developing economic cooperation, Duda mentioned plans announced Wednesday by Google to invest over $1 billion into an information technology center in Poland.

Joining forces against the pandemic, the leaders said U.S. and Polish scientists will be working closely together on developing medication and vaccine against the coronavirus.
Duda also thanked Trump for the quick restoration of the monument to Poland’s and America’s independence fighter, 18th century Polish Gen. Tadeusz Kosciuszko, whose statue before the White House was vandalized during recent protests.
___
Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw contributed to this report.

 

[Plain Jane]

From yesterday.

INTL - Thug brandishes SWORD at police and another smashes up patrol car after street party turns into riot in Brixton

COPS ON THE RUN Thug brandishes SWORD at police and another smashes up patrol car after street party turns into riot in Brixton Brittany Vonow 25 Jun 2020, 8:39 Updated: 25 Jun 2020, 10:57 A THUG brandished a sword at police while others smashed up a patrol car in chaotic scenes in Brixton...

www.timebomb2000.com

And the fun continues...

London police to crackdown on illegal parties as officers attacked again

London police will crackdown on illegal street parties after officers came under attack for the second night running as they tried to disperse an unauthorised gathering, the capital's police chief said on Friday.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
JUNE 26, 2020 / 2:00 AM / UPDATED 14 MINUTES AGO
British police attacked again while dispersing illegal London party


2 MIN READ

LONDON (Reuters) - British police officers were attacked while attempting to disperse an illegal party overnight in west London, the second such incident in two days.

As Britain eases strict coronavirus lockdown rules, police have had to deal with a number of illegal parties and raves across the country.

“We know that having months of restrictions people have been frustrated and people will want to come together in gatherings but these illegal raves are obviously unacceptable,” Environment Secretary George Eustice told Sky News.

Attacks on the police that we saw earlier this week are also unacceptable,” he said.

On Wednesday night, 22 officers were hurt and a number of patrol cars were vandalised when trouble broke out at an unauthorised music event in Brixton, south London.

Extra numbers were deployed onto the streets on Thursday night but officers came under attack once again in the Notting Hill area of west London, the scene of a number of unlicensed music events that took place in the capital.

“Objects were thrown at officers,” police said on Twitter. “Such behaviour and any violent acts will not be tolerated.”

Britain’s Home Secretary (interior minister) Priti Patel had described the scenes on Wednesday night as “vile” while a spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the violence against the police appalling.

On Thursday, authorities in Bournemouth, a popular beach town in southern England, declared a “major incident” over what they called the irresponsible behaviour of crowds who had ignored public health guidance on coronavirus and badly overstretched local services.

The declaration came after visitors arrived in very large numbers in a spell of hot weather, resulting in gridlock on the roads, anti-social behaviour and alcohol-fuelled fights.

Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and John Stonestreet
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Now Scotland...

Knifeman stabs six in Glasgow before being shot by police

A man stabbed six people including a policeman in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Friday before he was shot dead by police.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
JUNE 26, 2020 / 9:16 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Knifeman stabs six in Glasgow before being shot by police

Russell Cheyne
2 MIN READ

GLASGOW, Scotland (Reuters) - A man stabbed six people including a policeman in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Friday before he was shot dead by police.

An eyewitness told Sky News she had seen several people covered in blood being treated by the emergency services after the incident at a city centre hotel. Armed police arrived within minutes.

Police listed the attacker as the only fatality, despite earlier media reports that he had killed two other people.

Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Steve Johnson said the incident had been contained and there was no wider risk to the public.


“The individual who was shot by armed police has died,” Police Scotland said in a statement, adding that they were not looking for anyone else. Police said they were not treating the incident as terrorism.

One eyewitness in the hotel described the scene as “full of blood”.

“I was in my room and I heard loud screams from downstairs,” a man who gave his name as John told the BBC.

got worried and went to check what was going on. When I opened the lift it was all blood.”

Police said all the six wounded were men, including the injured officer who was in a critical but stable condition. The officer was later identified by police as Constable David Whyte.

The hotel, the Park Inn by Radisson, had been used to house asylum seekers during the coronavirus pandemic, although authorities cautioned against speculating about a motive from that.



Slideshow (12 Images)
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “deeply saddened by the terrible incident in Glasgow”.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was the “toughest of days for Glasgow,” reiterating a call from police not to gather in crowds this weekend.

Last week, three people were killed in the southern English town of Reading when a man wielding a knife went on the rampage in a park. Police said they were treating that incident as terrorism.

Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, William James, Michael Holden; Writing by Andy Bruce; Additional reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Addison, Kevin Liffey, Giles Elgood and Daniel Wallis
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

France confirms it will read black boxes of downed Ukrainian jet, Canada to help

France said on Friday it would download the black boxes from a Ukrainian airliner shot down by an Iranian missile in January, easing a stand-off over where they should be read.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
JUNE 26, 2020 / 12:21 PM / UPDATED 11 HOURS AGO
France confirms it will read black boxes of downed Ukrainian jet, Canada to help

Tim Hepher, David Ljunggren
3 MIN READ

PARIS/OTTAWA (Reuters) - France said on Friday it would download the black boxes from a Ukrainian airliner shot down by an Iranian missile in January, easing a stand-off over where they should be read.

France’s BEA crash investigation agency said it was acting at the request of Iran, which remains responsible under global rules for conducting a formal accident probe after acknowledging that the Boeing 737 was downed by its forces.

The Ukraine International Airlines flight was shot down on Jan. 8 by an Iranian ground-to-air missile, killing 176 people in what Tehran termed a “disastrous mistake” at a time of heightened tensions with the United States.

Work on repairing and downloading the cockpit voice and data recorders will begin July 20, the BEA said.

Aviation authorities in Canada, 57 of whose citizens were killed, said they would send a team to Paris to participate.

A spokesman for the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said the agency is “still participating in the investigation as the state of manufacture through our U.S. accredited representative” but did not say if officials would travel to France to participate.

Iran wants Canada to reestablish diplomatic ties that were broken off in 2012 but Tehran did not set this as a precondition for sending the recorders to France, a Canadian official said.

“It is not realistic to expect us to entertain any kind of discussions about this any time soon,” said the official, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation.

Canada’s priorities were a full probe into the crash and compensation for families of the victims, the official added.

Iran’s envoy to the United Nations aviation agency said this month that the country’s Air Accident Investigation Board had asked the BEA to read the black boxes, though this was followed by conflicting ministerial statements.

Friday’s announcement suggests Western and Iranian officials will jointly witness the technical work, though one person following the case did not rule out last-minute changes.

The BEA has a history of assisting with sensitive probes when tensions are high between parties directly involved.

Reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris, David Ljunggren in Ottawa and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Jan Harvey, David Gregorio and Sonya Hepinstall
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Putin, Macron discuss closer cooperation in video call

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed international crises during a video call Friday and vowed to cooperate more closely to tackle global challenges.

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Putin, Macron discuss closer cooperation in video call
By ANGELA CHARLTON and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOVyesterday



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Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to French President Emmanuel Macron during a via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, June 26, 2020. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed international crises during a video call Friday and vowed to cooperate more closely to tackle global challenges.

Putin, noting that it was the 75th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations’ charter, spoke of the need to pool efforts to combat common threats such as the coronavirus pandemic, international terrorism and climate change.

He said the call with his French counterpart offered an opportunity to discuss the crises in Ukraine, Syria and Libya, and unresolved tensions in the Balkans, among other issues.


“If we want to achieve positive results, we need to combine our efforts,” the Russian leader said during the conversation in which he and Macron addressed each other by their first names. “I know about your intention to organize joint work on many of those issues. We will fully support your proposals.”

Putin mentioned a Red Square parade held in Moscow on Wednesday to belatedly commemorate the 75th anniversary of World War II’s end in Europe to hail France’s contribution to defeating the Nazis.

“We in Russia will never forget the French people who fought alongside our soldiers on the Eastern Front,” Putin said.

Macron, who was due to attend the parade on May 9 before it was postponed due to the pandemic, voiced regret that the virus prevented him from visiting Moscow. The French president paid tribute to the Soviet Union’s role in World War II.

“The crisis that we have just been through, like all regional crises we’ve experienced, shows the importance of making the European space, in a broad sense, from Lisbon to Vladivostok, a real space of cooperation and peace,” Macron said.

Responding to an invitation from Putin to come to Russia, Macron said he’d be happy to visit “so we could spend a lot more time together,” but only “if health conditions allow,” possibly at the end of summer.

Macron’s office said the meeting was part of an outreach effort launched in August to try to thaw France’s relations with Russia, which were damaged by Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

The French presidency said that during the call with Putin, Macron noted the need to put an end to the “dangerous cycle of foreign interference” in Libya and the need for a quick ceasefire and the revival of political dialogue.

A French presidential official said that the two leaders spent most of the conversation discussing the situation in Libya and voiced a shared interest in the stabilization of the country and reunifying its institutions.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to make public comment, noted that Macron expressed France’s anger at foreign interference, including by Russian private military contractor Wagner.

In conflict-stricken Libya, Russia, France, Egypt and several other countries back the east-based forces led by commander Khalifa Hifter, who has been waging war against the U.N.-supported government in the capital, Tripoli, which is mainly backed by Turkey.

During the call, the French leader also stressed his concern over the humanitarian situation in Syria, which the pandemic has worsened. The French presidential official said Macron pushed for a humanitarian corridor in the country’s northwest, arguing that a long route for aid deliveries via Damascus was not an option.

Turning to Ukraine, where Russia-backed rebels have been fighting Ukrainian troops in the country’s east for more than six years, Macron emphasized quickly relaunching the implementation of a road map toward peace that was agreed to during a December meeting in Paris of the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine.

The Kremlin said in its readout of the call that Putin emphasized the need for Ukraine to fulfill its obligations on political settlement under a 2015 deal brokered by France and Germany. More than 14,000 people have been killed in the fighting in eastern Ukraine since 2014.

The two leaders also emphasized the importance of preserving existing arms control agreements and the need to improve trust and predictability in the military sphere, the Kremlin said.
__
Charlton reported from Paris.

https://apnews.com/09513d7c527676d4ae050925893af9e7

 

[Plain Jane]

Scottish police name Sudanese man shot dead during knife attack

Police in Scotland named a man who was shot dead by officers during a knife attack in the city of Glasgow as Badreddin Abadlla Adam, 28, from Sudan.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
JUNE 27, 2020 / 1:24 PM / UPDATED 11 HOURS AGO
Scottish police name Sudanese man shot dead during knife attack


2 MIN READ

LONDON (Reuters) - Police in Scotland named a man who was shot dead by officers during a knife attack in the city of Glasgow as Badreddin Abadlla Adam, 28, from Sudan.

Six people, including a policeman, were stabbed at a hotel in the city centre on Friday before the attacker was shot dead.

Police said they were not looking for any other suspects and were not treating the incident as terrorism. The attacker was the only person killed.

Earlier on Saturday, the injured police officer, Constable David Whyte, issued a statement from hospital.

The incident myself and colleagues faced in West George Street was extremely challenging. The scene we were confronted with is something I will never forget,” he said.

“Despite suffering serious injuries myself, I know that the swift actions of colleagues saved lives and prevented a far more serious incident.”

Whyte’s condition was initially described as critical. On Saturday police said he was in a stable condition.

The hotel where the attack took place was being used to house asylum seekers during the coronavirus pandemic. Police cautioned against speculating about the attacker’s motives.

Three of the other people who were injured were asylum seekers, and two were hotel staff. All five remained in hospital, and one was in a critical but stable condition.

Several British media outlets reported that the attacker had been behaving erratically and displaying signs of mental health problems in the hours leading up to the incident. Police did not confirm those details.

Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Daniel Wallis
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

UK ready to quit EU on 'Australia terms' if no Brexit deal, Johnson says

Britain will be ready to quit its transitional arrangements with the European Union "on Australia terms" if no deal on their future relationship is reached, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki on Saturday.

www.reuters.com

BREXIT
JUNE 27, 2020 / 4:10 PM / UPDATED 13 HOURS AGO
UK ready to quit EU on 'Australia terms' if no Brexit deal, Johnson says

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will be ready to quit its transitional arrangements with the European Union “on Australia terms” if no deal on their future relationship is reached, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki on Saturday.

Britain left the bloc on Jan. 31. A transition period, during which Britain remains in the European single market and customs union, expires on Dec. 31 and pressure is mounting to agree a free trade deal before then.

With the two sides still far apart, a round of “intensified negotiations” is due to start next week.

“He (Johnson) said the UK would negotiate constructively but equally would be ready to leave the transition period on Australia terms if agreement could not be reached,” Johnson’s Downing Street office said in a statement.

Australia does not have a comprehensive trade agreement with the EU. Much of EU-Australia trade follows default World Trade Organisation rules, though specific agreements are in place for certain goods.

Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Alex Richardson
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Ireland's Micheál Martin to lead historic govt coalition

LONDON (AP) — Centrist politician Micheál Martin became Ireland’s new prime minister Saturday, fusing two longtime rival parties into a coalition four months after an election that upended the status quo.

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Ireland’s Micheál Martin to lead historic govt coalition
By DANICA KIRKAyesterday



1 of 3
Fianna Fail party leader Micheal Martin leaves the Dail government in Dublin, where he has been officially elected as the new Irish Premier, Saturday June 27, 2020. As part of a pact between Martin and former premier Varadkar, Martin will take the role of Premier until December 2021, with Mr Varadkar resuming the role for the remainder of the Government term of office. (Niall Carson/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP) — Centrist politician Micheál Martin became Ireland’s new prime minister Saturday, fusing two longtime rival parties into a coalition four months after an election that upended the status quo.

The deal will see Martin’s Fianna Fail govern with Fine Gael — the party of outgoing leader Leo Varadkar —and with the smaller Green Party. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, bitter opponents whose roots lie in opposing sides of the civil war that followed Ireland’s independence from the United Kingdom, have never before formed a government together.

“I believe civil war politics ended a long time ago in our country, but today civil war politics ends in our parliament,” said Varadkhar, who became Ireland’s youngest and first gay prime minister three years ago. “Two great parties coming together with another great party, the Green Party, to offer what this country needs, a stable government for the betterment of our country and for the betterment of our world.″

The Dail, the lower house of Ireland’s parliament, elected Martin by a vote of 93-63, with three abstentions. Martin later met with Irish President Michael D Higgins to receive his seal of office.

Under the plan approved by the parties’ memberships, Martin became taoiseach, or prime minister. He will serve until the end of 2022 and then hand the job back to Varadkar.

The left-wing nationalist party Sinn Fein was shut out of the new government even though an electoral breakthrough that saw it win the largest share of the votes in February’s election. Despite coming out ahead, Sinn Fein was unable to assemble enough support to govern.

The two centrist parties have long shunned Sinn Fein because of its historic links to the Irish Republican Army and decades of violence in Northern Ireland. But in protracted negotiations further complicated by the COVID-19 outbreak, the two rival centrist parties opted for unity.
Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald said Fianna Fail and Fine Gael conspired to exclude her party and the voices of more than half a million people who voted for her party. She called the coalition a “marriage of convenience.”

“Faced with the prospect of losing their grip on power, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have circled the wagons,” McDonald said.

Fianna Fail holds 38 seats in the 160-seat Dail, Sinn Fein has 37 and Fine Gael has 35, while the Greens have 12 seats.

The election campaign was dominated by domestic issues. Ireland has a growing homelessness crisis, house prices that have risen faster than incomes and a public health system that hasn’t kept up with demand.

Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the country’s problems. Underscoring the changes the virus has wrought, the Dail’s session Saturday was held at the Dublin Convention Centre rather than lawmakers’ permanent chamber to allow for social distancing.

Martin said that dealing with the pandemic would be the centerpiece of his leadership.
“The struggle against the virus is not over,” he said. “We must continue to contain its spread. We must be ready to tackle any new wave, and we must move forward rapidly to secure a recovery to benefit all of our people.”

The son of a former Irish international boxer, Martin, 59, had initially embarked on a career as a secondary school teacher before devoting himself to politics.

He’s had a number of roles in more than 30 years of public life, including serving in four Cabinet posts. In his speech, he described being named taoiseach of a free republic as being the greatest honor one could achieve. He thanked those who voted for him.

“Most of all I want to thank my family and my community,″ Martin said. “Without them I could have achieved nothing.″

 

[Plain Jane]

Residents of eastern Ukraine vote on extending Putin's rule

Residents of separatist-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine who have Russian citizenship are travelling to Russia to vote on constitutional amendments that would allow President Vladimir Putin to remain in power until 2036.

apnews.com

Residents of eastern Ukraine vote on extending Putin’s rule
33 minutes ago



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In this photo taken on Saturday, June 27, 2020, people show their Russian passports sitting on a bus to Russia at a bus to Russia at a bus stop in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Residents of separatist-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine who have Russian citizenship are traveling to Russia to vote on constitutional amendments that would allow President Vladimir Putin to remain in power until 2036. Authorities of the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics have organized bus services to polling stations in the neighboring Rostov region in Russia, in what is seen by many as part of the wide-spread effort to boost turnout at the controversial plebiscite. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Residents of separatist-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine who have Russian citizenship are travelling to Russia to vote on constitutional amendments that would allow President Vladimir Putin to remain in power until 2036.

Authorities of the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics have organized bus services to polling stations in the neighboring Rostov region in Russia, in what is seen by many as part of the widespread effort to boost turnout at the controversial plebiscite.

On Friday morning, dozens of people gathered at a bus station in Donetsk, a rebel-controlled city in eastern Ukraine, waiting to get on a bus to Russia. Some of the voters told The Associated Press that the constitutional changes would boost the powers of the Russian authorities and bring peace to the separatist region in eastern Ukraine. Others expressed hope that the changes would allow separatist republics to become part of Russia.

Polls opened in Russia last Thursday for a week-long vote on a slew of constitutional amendments proposed by Putin in January. The amendments include a change in the Russian Constitution that would allow the 67-year-old Putin, who has ruled Russia for over two decades, to run for two more six-year terms after his current one expires in 2024.
Russian authorities this month have gone to great lengths to lure voters to polling stations amid the coronavirus outbreak. Allowing residents of eastern Ukraine to participate is part of this effort, independent foreign affairs analyst Vladimir Frolov said.

“(Russian authorities) are obsessed with the results (of the vote),” and rebel-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine can contribute some “manageable voting,” he said.

Over 220,000 Ukrainians living in areas held by Russia-backed rebels received Russian passports last year, after Putin signed a decree expediting citizenship applications from residents of the self-proclaimed republics. The move had been widely condemned as an attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty that could undermine efforts to end a separatist conflict that has killed more than 14,000 since 2014.

More than 150,000 residents of eastern Ukraine have expressed a desire to cast a ballot in the vote on the constitutional reform, Russian lawmaker Victor Vodolatsky told the state Tass news agency last week.

Russia’s borders have been closed since late March because of the coronavirus outbreak but there are procedures to allow Russian citizens to enter, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday, commenting on the fact that voters from eastern Ukraine are able to travel to Russia.

According to separatist officials, there are 12 polling stations in the Rostov region where residents of eastern Ukraine can vote. The regional election commission confirmed to the AP that polling stations for Russian citizens not registered as residents were operating all across the region.

Russian election monitors point out that bringing residents of eastern Ukraine into Russia to vote could make it easier to rig the vote. Non-resident voters are not registered with a specific polling station, and with several stations operating in the Rostov region, it will be difficult to verify that they haven’t voted several times at different polls, said Vladimir Yegorov, coordinator of election monitoring with the Golos independent election watchdog.

“The vote lasts seven days, and a person, if they so wish, can vote several times at several polling stations, and there is no way to control it,” Yegorov said.

 

[Plain Jane]

Maas: Trump ouster won't fix US-Germany ties – DW – 06/28/2020

Germany's foreign minister said relations with Washington won't be boosted by Donald Trump leaving office. The US president has sunk transatlantic ties, most recently over defense spending and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

www.dw.com

Trump ouster will not heal US ties, says Germany's Maas
Germany's foreign minister said relations with Washington won't be boosted by Donald Trump leaving office. The US president has sunk transatlantic ties, most recently over defense spending and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.





According to German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, current tensions between Germany and the United States wouldn't be resolved by US President Donald Trump failing to win reelection.

"Everyone who thinks everything in the trans-Atlantic partnership will be as it once was with a Democratic president underestimates the structural changes," Maas said in an interview the German press agency DPA published on Sunday.

Read more: How will Europe guarantee its security without the US?
"The trans-Atlantic relations are extraordinarily important, they remain important, and we are working to ensure they have a future," Maas continued. "But with the way they are now, they are no longer fulfilling the demands both sides have for them."
Trump will be challenged by former Vice President Joe Biden during November's election.

Trump critical of Germany
Trump has repeatedly criticized Germany since he took office in 2017. He has demanded Germany increase defense spending to 2% of GDP, calling Berlin "delinquent" for not doing so.

Read more: How does Germany contribute to NATO?
He has also accused Germany of being a "captive of Russia" over the Nord Stream 2 oil pipeline and of treating the US "very badly" on trade.

Last year, the US imposed a 25% steel tariff and a 10% aluminum tariff on the European Union, a move that greatly affects Germany's car industry. He also threatened tariffs on imported cars — another move aimed at ruffling feathers in Berlin.

Earlier this month, Trump announced a drastic reduction of US troops in Germany. In response, Maas lamented that decades of a "close" post-war military partnership between the US and Germany has become "complicated" during Trump's presidency.

 

[Plain Jane]

An update to post #45.

Kosovo president says he will resign if case goes ahead

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s president on Monday denied committing war crimes during and after a 1998-1999 armed conflict between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serbia, and said he would resign if an indictment against him is confirmed.

apnews.com

Albania PM calls Kosovo leader’s indictment ‘shameful stain’
2 hours ago

FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 21, 2019 file photo, Kosovo president Hashim Thaci gestures during a press conference in Kosovo capital Pristina. Kosovo’s president and nine other former separatist fighters were indicted on a range of crimes against humanity and war crimes charges, including murder, by a court investigating crimes against ethnic Serbs during and after Kosovo’s 1998-99 independence war with Serbia, it was reported on Wednesday, June 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu, File)

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Albania’s prime minister on Monday called the indictment of Kosovo’s president and other former rebel fighters a “shameful stain” on world justice.
Kosovo President Hasim Thaci and the others were indicted by a prosecutor at The Hague on alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during and after a 1998-1999 armed conflict between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serbia.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama made an unexpected visit to neighboring Kosovo to meet with top leaders, including Thaci and former parliamentary Speaker Kadri Veseli, both part of a group of former independence fighters accused of war crimes.


The indictment was made public last week, but a pretrial judge at The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers has yet to make a decision on whether to proceed with the case.

Rama’s unannounced visit to Kosovo, which also has a predominantly ethnic Albanian population, was a signal of support from neighboring Albania. He tweeted that the indictment was a “shameful stain of 21st century” world justice. Thaci plans to address the country in the evening.

Thaci was a commander of the Kosovo Liberation army, or KLA, that fought for independence from Serbia. The fighting left more than 10,000 dead — most of them ethnic Albanians — and 1,641 are still unaccounted for. It ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign that forced Serbian troops to stop their brutal crackdown against ethnic Albanians and leave Kosovo.

Thaci’s indictment also disrupted a White House meeting between Kosovo and Serbia leaders initiated by U.S presidential envoy Richard Grenell, which would have been the first official talks between Serbia and Kosovo in 19 months.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move Serbia refuses to recognize.
The United States and the European Union have been working to help normalize ties between the two countries which still remain tense.

 

[TheSearcher]

The parade in the above post is meant to enhance Putin's chances for extending his rule. Voting started today.

Russia opens polls for vote on extending Putin's rule

MOSCOW (AP) — Polls opened in Russia on Thursday for a week-long vote on constitutional changes that would allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036.

apnews.com

Russia opens polls for vote on extending Putin’s rule
an hour ago



1 of 4
FILE - In this file photo taken on Wednesday, June 24, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, watches the Victory Day military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the Nazi defeat in Moscow. Russian authorities seem to be pulling out all the stops to get people to vote on a series of constitutional amendments that would enable President Vladimir Putin to stay in office until 2036 by resetting the clock on his term limits. (Sergei Guneyev, Host Photo Agency via AP, file)
MOSCOW (AP) — Polls opened in Russia on Thursday for a week-long vote on constitutional changes that would allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036.

The vote on a slew of constitutional amendments, proposed by Putin in January, was initially scheduled for April 22, but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was later rescheduled for July 1, with polling stations opening a week earlier and staying open for seven days in an effort to avoid crowds on the main voting day.

The proposed amendments include a change in the constitution that would allow the 67-year-old Putin, who has ruled Russia for over two decades, to run for two more six-year terms after his current one expires in 2024. Other amendments talk about improving social benefits, define marriage as a union of a man and and a woman and redistribute executive powers within the government, strengthening the presidency.

The changes have already been approved by both houses of parliament, the country’s Constitutional Court and were signed into law by Putin. He insisted that they be put to a vote, even though it is not legally required, in what many see as an effort to put a veneer of democracy on the controversial changes.

Holding the vote in the middle of a pandemic has elicited public health concerns, because Russia is still reporting over 7,000 new virus cases daily and has 613,000 confirmed infections in all, the third-worst caseload in the world.

The Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed these concerns, saying that Russia was able to slow down the epidemic and assuring people that all necessary measures have been to ensure the safety of the voters.
___
Follow AP pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and Understanding the Outbreak

That's a heck of a thing.

 

[Plain Jane]

Groups set up adolescent migrant camp in Paris to highlight their plight

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and four other humanitarian groups installed a migrant campsite in Paris housing about 100 adolescents, the organizations said on Tuesday, to draw attention to the dangers they face.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
JUNE 30, 2020 / 4:21 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Groups set up adolescent migrant camp in Paris to highlight their plight



PARIS (Reuters) - Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and four other humanitarian groups installed a migrant campsite in Paris housing about 100 adolescents, the organizations said on Tuesday, to draw attention to the dangers they face.

The organisations set up the campsite overnight near the French capital’s Place de la Republique, to highlight to political authorities the plight of homeless, young refugees, according to their statement.

Since the closure of a huge migrant camp in Calais in 2016, many refugees have moved to Paris. Authorities have repeatedly dismantled illegal campsites only to see them pop up again in different areas a few months later.

Many of the migrants have fled to France from North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, escaping countries blighted by wars and poverty.

The French government is under pressure to take a tough stance on illegal immigration and in January police cleared out a campsite housing more than 1,000 migrants set up in northern Paris.

Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Christian Schmollinger
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
MORE FROM REUTERS

 

[Plain Jane]

Germany: 30,000 potential suspects in pedophile ring – DW – 06/29/2020

German officials say they are investigating thousands of leads as part of a widening investigation into a pedophile network. Some 70 suspects have so far been identified across Germany.

www.dw.com

Germany investigating 30,000 potential suspects in pedophile probe
German officials say they are investigating thousands of leads as part of a widening investigation into a pedophile network. Some 70 suspects have so far been identified across Germany.





The cybercrime unit of the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia is investigating some 30,000 leads in a massive online child abuse probe, officials said on Monday.

The state justice ministry said the extent of abuse taking place and being shared online was "deeply disturbing."

"I hadn't reckoned with the extent of child abuse on the internet," said state Justice Minister Peter Beisenbach.

Officers are investigating what could lead to around 30,000 unidentified leads. "We want to drag perpetrators and supporters of child abuse out of the anonymity of the internet," said the ministry.
Read more: Reported child sex abuse increases in Germany



Watch video02:55
German commission calls for end to silence on child abuse
Those being investigated were suspected of sharing content that depicted fictitious or real acts of abuse. The investigation began last October with the arrest of a suspect in the Bergisch Gladbach municipality near Cologne.

The first offender, a 27-year-old soldier, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in May and placed in a psychiatric facility for an indefinite period.

Germany has been reeling from a spate of serious cases of child sexual abuse in the past 18 months.

Earlier this month, some 11 people were arrested on suspicion of abusing children and filming their actions after videos and photos were seized from the cellar of a suspect in the western city of Münster. Investigators said they had identified at least three victims, aged five, 10 and 12 years old.

In a separate scandal in the town of Lügde, some 125 kilometers (80 miles) from Münster, several men were found to have abused children several hundred times at a campsite over several years.
rc/rs (AFP, dpa, epd)
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify there were 30,000 potential suspects.