Section: Voice of America (USA)
US Considers Belarus Sanctions
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday the United States is deeply concerned about attempts by the government of Belarus to forcibly expel opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova. The top U.S. diplomat said the United States and other countries are considering bringing sanctions in response to recent events in Belarus. “We commend the...
Exiled Belarus Opposition Leader Pleads for ‘Help Now’
Exiled Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has called the situation in her country “absolutely unacceptable” and pleaded for international pressure to dislodge embattled President Alexander Lukashenko who she said no longer represents Belarus.In a virtual appearance before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of...
Belarus Border Officials Say Opposition Figure Detained Trying to Enter Ukraine
Belarus border officials say Maria Kolesnikova, a leading member of Belarus’ opposition, was detained early Tuesday while trying to cross into neighboring Ukraine. The officials said Kolesnikova was traveling with two other opposition movement members, Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov, who both successfully entered Ukraine. The...
Belarusian Opposition Figure Detained Trying to Enter Ukraine
Belarus border officials say Maria Kolesnikova, a leading member of Belarus’ opposition, was detained early Tuesday while trying to cross into neighboring Ukraine. The officials said Kolesnikova was traveling with two other opposition movement members, Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov, who both successfully entered Ukraine. The...
Putin Critic Navalny’s Health Improving, German Hospital Says
The health of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is improving, and he now has been taken out of an induced coma and is responsive, the German hospital treating him said Monday.Navalny, a sharp critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was flown to Berlin on August 22, two days after falling ill on a domestic flight in Russia. German...
Russian Spokeswoman Apologizes for Facebook Post About Serbian President
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has apologized for a Facebook post in which she compared the photo of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump to a scene from the iconic thriller “Basic Instinct.” Zakharova, however, did not miss the chance to hit at the United States. “UPD (update) I...
Pressure Grows on Merkel to Scrap Multi-Billion-Dollar Gas Pipeline
Leading German politicians are calling on the country’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to abandon the multi-billion-dollar natural gas pipeline known as Nord Stream 2, linking Russia with Germany, because of the poisoning of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny. They say Germany can’t be indifferent to the attempted assassination...
Facebook Post Sparks Rare Spat Between Serbia, Russia After US-Brokered Deal
A social media post by Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman apparently ridiculing Serbia’s president after he signed a U.S.-sponsored agreement between Serbia and Kosovo has triggered a rare spat between traditional allies Moscow and Belgrade. Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova posted a photo showing Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic...
US Vows Continued Support for Freedom in Belarus
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun says Washington and its European partners will continue to press Belarusian authorities to free political prisoners, end violence against protesters, and allow citizens to choose their government through a free and fair election.Speaking in an interview with RFE/RL by telephone on September 1...
Turkey-Greece Maritime Squabble Risks Unfortunate War
It was the Greeks’ first military clash with their onetime colonial overlords, the Turks, since they had secured their independence from the Ottoman Empire half a century earlier. For thirty days in 1897, the eastern Mediterranean rivals skirmished over the status of Crete, whose Greek majority population also wanted independence. The...
