Section: European Voice (EU)
Mogherini uses Moscow debut to chide Russia over Crimea
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told Russia’s Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Monday that the West would never recognize the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea. Sitting beside the Russian foreign minister at a news conference, Mogherini rebuffed his assertion that the seizure of Crimea was justified by a need to protect...
Springtime for Russia’s dissident press
RIGA, Latvia — The Meduza Project, a Russian expatriate news site based in Latvia, is supposedly “an enemy of the Kremlin,†but its relaxed offices in downtown Riga look like those of any other internet startup. Fixed-gear bicycles are stacked in the foyer, hipsters in hoodies sit slumped over Macs with cool...
Russian court bans Jehovah’s Witnesses
Russia’s supreme court ruled that Jehovah’s Witnesses was an “extremist” organization and ordered its headquarters near St. Petersburg to be shut down, Reuters reported Thursday. The court received the request to ban the group from the justice ministry, according to the AP. Russian news agency Interfax reported a justice ministry...
Poland follows Hungary’s footsteps in corralling migrants
WARSAW — Poland is mulling setting up special camps where asylum seekers would be housed in containers and kept behind fences in the event of another migration crisis, according to the country’s interior minister. “The thing is to be ready for such a situation in the form of places in which those waiting for deportation would...
Russian TV won’t show Eurovision
Russian TV channel Perviy Kanal said Thursday it will not broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest because of a travel ban imposed on the Russian contestant by Ukraine, this year’s host, Le Figaro reported. A presenter on the channel said the ban on singer Yulia Samoylova was “unfounded,” and accused Ukraine of politicizing the competition....
Rex Tillerson feels the chill in Moscow
Just how awkward was Rex Tillerson’s first trip to Moscow as secretary of state? Very. Russia’s foreign minister publicly warned Washington’s top diplomat against any further U.S. military strikes on the Syrian regime, questioned Tillerson’s respect for history and even chided him for not filling...
Eurovision strikes bum note
KIEV — Eurovision just got serious. The musical competition — known for its excessive bonhomie and costumes exploring the outer limits of good taste — is threatened by discord between this year’s host Ukraine and the contest’s governing body, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)....
Putin: Trust between Russia and US is worse under Trump
Levels of trust between Russia and the United States have gotten worse in the few months since President Donald Trump took office, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday. “One could say that the level of trust on a working level, especially on the military level, has not improved, but rather has deteriorated,†Putin said,...
Why Rex Tillerson has his hands full with Sergei Lavrov
When U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets with Vladimir Putin’s top diplomat in Moscow on Wednesday, he’d better come prepared. Tillerson’s counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, is a wily veteran of world diplomacy who has dueled — and routinely infuriated — no less...
Mogherini’s mid term report card
If a 3 a.m. phone call is a defining test for a prime minister or president, for Federica Mogherini it’s a half-awake version of hell. As the European Union’s chief diplomat, she can speak for herself when she wants — but never for the whole EU, unless she receives permission from all 28 national foreign...
