Section: Voice of America (USA)
Ukraine’s 44 Presidential candidates Set All-Time Record
Ukraine’s election officials say they have registered 44 presidential contenders — an all-time record for the nation. The latest polls show that comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who plays the nation’s president in a popular TV series, has surged ahead of both incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and the ex-prime minister in the run-up to...
Dutch, Russia in Talks About Responsibility in MH17 Downing
The Dutch foreign minister says his country is in diplomatic discussions with Russia about whether Moscow bears legal responsibility in the 2014 downing of a Malaysia Airlines jet over Ukraine The Netherlands is in diplomatic discussions with Russia about the European country’s assertion that Moscow bears legal responsibility for its role...
Ukraine MPs Bar Russians From Observing Elections
Ukraine’s parliament has barred Russian citizens from serving as election monitors during an upcoming presidential election. The Supreme Rada voted to exclude Russians from international observers’ missions that will be monitoring the voting in Ukraine next month. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe submitted a...
Ukraine Amends Constitution to Cement EU, NATO Course
Ukraine on Thursday adopted “historic” changes to its constitution, spelling out the ex-Soviet country’s aspirations to join the EU and NATO two months before a crucial presidential vote. In a final third reading in parliament, a total of 334 lawmakers approved the amendments to the country’s basic law, with 35 voting...
Serbia Rejects Report That Nation is Only ‘Partly Free’
Serbia’s prime minister on Wednesday rejected an independent freedom watchdog’s report that downgraded the Balkan country from “free” to “partly free.” In its annual global report this week, Freedom House said Serbia’s status declined because of “the deterioration in the conduct of elections, continued attempts by the government...
Lithuania Fears Russia Will Attempt to Sway Its Elections
Lithuania’s intelligence agencies fear Russia will interfere in its forthcoming elections, including one in May to find a successor to the staunchly anti-Kremlin president, Dalia Grybauskaite. The Baltic state, ruled from Moscow for much of the 20th century but now a member of both the European Union and NATO, was rattled by Russia’s...
Germany Vows to Keep Troops in Lithuania, Invest More in Barracks
Germany will invest a total of 110 million euros until 2021 in improving military bases in Lithuania, its defense minister said on Monday, underlining Berlin’s continued commitment to the defense of its NATO allies in the Baltic region. Germany leads a NATO force of 1,200 troops from 10 countries sent to Lithuania two years ago as part of...
Ukraine Ex-PM Accuses President of Corruption
Former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is running for president in next month’s election, accused the incumbent of corruption — charges his office rejected as a lie as the race was heating up. Tymoshenko told The Associated Press in an interview Monday that President Petro Poroshenko has used his position to enrich himself....
Head of Ukraine’s New Orthodox Church Assumes Office
The newly elected head of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church has officially assumed office in the capital of Kiev, a month after the church severed its centuries-long ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. Metropolitan Epiphanius I, 40, was enthroned during a lavish service at St. Sophia Cathedral in central Kiev on Sunday, a month after...
UN Need $162 Million to Protect and Aid Most Vulnerable in Eastern Ukraine This Year
The United Nations is appealing for $162 million to provide protection and life-saving assistance to 2.3 million of the most vulnerable people in eastern Ukraine, which is in its fifth year of civil war. The United Nations reports more than 3,300 people have been killed and up to 9,000 injured since 2014 when civil war broke out in eastern...
