Section: European Voice (EU)
Dutch moves toward referendum on EU-Ukraine alliance
An anti-EU Dutch group says it has collected enough signatures to force the Dutch government to hold a referendum on the bloc’s association agreement with Ukraine. More than 451,000 people have signed a petition calling into question the deal that aims to strengthen political and economic collaboration between Brussels and Kiev. That number...
A smackdown before the Putin-Obama sitdown
Barack Obama’s high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is already off to a tense start. And the two men haven’t even sat down together yet. When the two leaders do convene Monday afternoon at the United Nations, they’ll be at odds over why they’re meeting, what to discuss — and even what counts as good...
Additions to the Transparency Register (19-25 September)
Ahimsa Fund Akamai Technologies, Inc. Alcohol Focus Scotland Anica – Associazione Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche Audiovisive Multimediali Animal Skincare Products Europe ARD-Gremienvorsitzendenkonferenz Asociación para la Defensa de la Naturaleza (WWF España) Associazione Culturale Unionbirrai Astellas Pharma Europe Limited Banco Comercial...
The return of the ‘Afgantsy’
The sleeve of rebel fighter Yuri Protsenko shows his allegiance in the ongoing conflict in his native Ukraine: He wears the patch of the largest Russia-backed separatist militia in the country, the Vostok Battalion, which he joined in February of last year. In Kyiv, Igor Panasyuk is readying himself for combat against rebels like Protsenko. Stout...
A bad hair day in Kiev
KIEV — The average salary of a Ukrainian woman is just under a $150 a month, which is less than in many countries in the developing world. Yet the gorgeous locks of hair on her head are worth as much as $2,000 — more than a year’s salary — in an upscale New York salon, where it’s tipped in keratin and sold as “Russian” hair...
On Syria, Putin goes for his holy grail
On Monday September 28, Russia’s president will propose to the UN General Assembly his plan for a broad coalition to defeat ISIS. His words will be backed by clear evidence of a substantial Russian military buildup in Syria, including Russian fighters entering Syrian airspace with transponders off. Whereas Russian troops and equipment were...
Clinton Foundation snubbed by the pope, Elton John, Janet Yellen
The Clinton Foundation invited everyone from Pope Francis and Leonardo DiCaprio to Bill de Blasio and Janet Yellen to its showcase gathering starting Saturday in New York City, according to multiple sources familiar with the planning. But those invitations were among the dozens turned down by all manner of celebrities, dignitaries and donors,...
Martin Dempsey’s world is falling apart
BERLIN — As his convoy sliced lights flashing through the busy streets of Berlin on a recent morning, Gen. Martin Dempsey could see a good part of his own career. He could see through the tinted windows of his limousine the bombed out ruins of the World War II-era Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, and the Brandenburg Gate where the Iron Curtain...
‘If you can’t do this deal … go back to Tehran.’
They made 69 trips across the Atlantic together and celebrated nearly everyone’s birthday at least once overseas, far from their own families. Sleep-deprived and sometimes giddy, the U.S. team negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran imagined which Hollywood star would play them if the movie were ever made: They cast Ted Danson as Secretary of...
Black sheep in the European Parliament
The European Parliament’s biggest political group is divided over how to deal with the hard-line positions taken by its affiliates in Eastern Europe on the migration crisis. Members of the center-right European People’s Party are split over whether Hungary’s ruling party Fidesz should be evicted for what some consider the...
