Section: POLITICO – Europe Edition (EU)
Turkey to miss visa-free travel deadline
Turkey will miss an end of June deadline to meet the EU’s conditions for securing visa-free travel to the bloc for its citizens, the European Commission is to confirm Wednesday. Visa liberalization was a key part of an EU-Turkey deal struck in March in which Ankara was asked to stem the flow of refugees into Europe in exchange for cash and...
Mark Rutte regrets ‘disastrous’ Ukraine referendum
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday said he was “totally, totally, totally against referendums” as he expressed regret that Dutch citizens had voted down an EU agreement with Ukraine. Rutte blamed “his beloved coalition partners” the Social Democrats (PvdA) for the result of a non-binding referendum on April 6, in which the Dutch...
The POLITICO (football) 24
Footballers from 24 nations are on display in France at Euro 2016. At 23 players per squad, that’s a whopping 552 sweaty bodies — almost as many as the French Assemblée Nationale can muster on a day when there’s coq au vin for lunch. Only a fanatical few football-watchers could possibly exceed a passing knowledge of more than 10...
Ukraine asks François Hollande to speed up visas for soccer fans
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko asked his French counterpart François Hollande to help Ukrainian football fans get visas for Euro 2016, which kicks off on June 10. Poroshenko’s office said in a statement Monday that he asked Hollande “to facilitate the issuance of visas for Ukrainian fans who are planning to visit the European Football...
OCCRP is on weak ground with Petro Poroshenko offshore claims
Regarding Tom King’s letter to the editor “Our Panama Papers reporting on Petro Poroshenko was accurate and fair” (June 4): In our article, (Ukrainian innocent caught in Panama Papers Web, June 3) we sought to distance the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which produces a considerable amount of credible work, from...
Frenchman arrested in Ukraine was planning Euro 2016 attacks: security official
A French national detained in Ukraine was planning up to 15 attacks in France around the time of this month’s European soccer championship, news agencies reported Monday, citing a top Ukrainian security official. French outlet M6 reported Friday that a 25-year-old man was arrested by border guards in western Ukraine on May 21 with weapons,...
Our Panama Papers reporting on Petro Poroshenko was accurate and fair
Adrian Karatnycky and Alan Riley’s opinion article defending Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko over his involvement in the Panama Papers might have been faintly amusing, if it did not also raise serious concerns (“Ukrainian innocent caught in Panama Papers web,” June 3). The overall tone suggests an attempt to whitewash the reputation of...
Ukrainian innocent caught in Panama Papers web
KIEV — It’s been two months since the release of the Panama Papers sent shockwaves through governments and major financial institutions. The data dump of over 11.5 million files related to some 320,000 offshore companies and to financial activities of politicians and government leaders has resulted in thousands of newspaper articles and...
Former NATO chief becomes adviser to Ukraine’s Petro Poroshenko
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former NATO Secretary General and Danish Prime Minister said on Saturday he’s accepted the appointment of Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko to become his adviser. Rasmussen, who had held NATO’s top post from 2009 to 2014, wrote on his Facebook page that he is “pleased to accept the appointment.” He said...
Alexis Tsipras: EU sanctions against Russia ‘not productive’
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Friday said that EU sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine are not productive, BBC reports. “We have repeatedly said that the vicious circle of militarization, of Cold War rhetoric and of sanctions is not productive. The solution is dialogue,” Tsipras said at a joint press conference with...
