Latest news with #Russia-friendly
Euronews
3 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Polish presidential candidates hold their final campaign rallies
Poland's two presidential candidates held their last election campaigns on Friday ahead of a runoff vote on Sunday. It will follow a first round on May 18, in which Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski won more than 31% of the vote and Karol Nawrocki, a conservative historian, earned nearly 30%. Eleven other candidates were eliminated. In the seaside city of Gdansk, Trzaskowski referenced the city's role in the Solidarity movement while addressing supporters. 'We all remember the shipyard workers who said, 'enough fear, enough lies, enough contempt.' Today, once again, we must stand together,' he said. 'For you, it will be just a few steps to the polling station, but together we can make a milestone towards realising our dreams and aspirations.' In his closing address, Nawrocki presented himself as a candidate who is 'simply one of you.' He described himself as 'a citizen of the Polish state who has come a long way to compete with a man created by a political laboratory.' Under Polish law, all campaigning and political advertising must cease at midnight. No public comment is allowed until polls close on Sunday. Police in Georgia have detained a second opposition leader within days as protests against the ruling Georgian Dream party and its perceived Russia-friendly stance continue in the South Caucasus country. Lawyers for Nika Melia, one of the figureheads for Georgia's pro-Western Coalition for Change, said his car was stopped by police on Thursday. Soon after, he was bundled away by a large group of people in civilian clothing. According to the interior ministry, Melia has been detained on charges of verbally insulting a law enforcement officer. A court placed Melia in pre-trial detention but the length of that period of imprisonment has not been made clear. The arrest comes a week after that of Zurab Japaridze, another leader of the pro-Western, liberal coalition of parties that support European Union integration and want a restoration of democratic norms. Japaridze, who heads the New Political Centre (Girchi) party, was detained on 22 May after refusing to appear before a parliamentary commission investigating alleged wrongdoings by the government of former president Mikheil Saakashvili. Opposition politicians have declined to attend the commission hearings, saying they are politically motivated by Georgian Dream to damage the opposition, particularly Saakashvili's United National Movement party. Melia, of the Ahali party and former chairman of Saakashvili's United National Movement party, was detained on the eve of a scheduled court hearing for failing to testify. Japaridze and seven other opposition politicians who did not attend the commission are expected to appear before a court in coming days. If found guilty of failing to comply with a parliamentary investigative commission, they face up to a year in prison. Meanwhile, demonstrators have continued to gather in the capital Tbilisi, demanding new elections and the release of dissidents. Nightly protests began on 28 November, when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze halted the country's EU integration process. Georgia has seen widespread political unrest since the country's last parliamentary election in October, which was won by Georgian Dream. Protestors and the country's opposition declared the result as illegitimate amid allegations of vote-rigging helped by Russia, sparking weeks of protests across the country. At the time, opposition leaders vowed to boycott sessions of parliament until a new parliamentary election was held under international supervision and alleged ballot irregularities were investigated. Georgian Dream has seen widespread condemnation by European leaders and international rights groups over its rough handling of protestors and perceived democratic backsliding.
Euronews
3 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Georgia arrests second opposition figure as pro-EU protests continue
Police in Georgia have detained a second opposition leader within days as protests against the ruling Georgian Dream party and its perceived Russia-friendly stance continue in the South Caucasus country. Lawyers for Nika Melia, one of the figureheads for Georgia's pro-Western Coalition for Change, said his car was stopped by police on Thursday. Soon after, he was bundled away by a large group of people in civilian clothing. According to the interior ministry, Melia has been detained on charges of verbally insulting a law enforcement officer. A court placed Melia in pre-trial detention but the length of that period of imprisonment has not been made clear. The arrest comes a week after that of Zurab Japaridze, another leader of the pro-Western, liberal coalition of parties that support European Union integration and want a restoration of democratic norms. Japaridze, who heads the New Political Centre (Girchi) party, was detained on 22 May after refusing to appear before a parliamentary commission investigating alleged wrongdoings by the government of former president Mikheil Saakashvili. Opposition politicians have declined to attend the commission hearings, saying they are politically motivated by Georgian Dream to damage the opposition, particularly Saakashvili's United National Movement party. Melia, of the Ahali party and former chairman of Saakashvili's United National Movement party, was detained on the eve of a scheduled court hearing for failing to testify. Japaridze and seven other opposition politicians who did not attend the commission are expected to appear before a court in coming days. If found guilty of failing to comply with a parliamentary investigative commission, they face up to a year in prison. Meanwhile, demonstrators have continued to gather in the capital Tbilisi, demanding new elections and the release of dissidents. Nightly protests began on 28 November, when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze halted the country's EU integration process. Georgia has seen widespread political unrest since the country's last parliamentary election in October, which was won by Georgian Dream. Protestors and the country's opposition declared the result as illegitimate amid allegations of vote-rigging helped by Russia, sparking weeks of protests across the country. At the time, opposition leaders vowed to boycott sessions of parliament until a new parliamentary election was held under international supervision and alleged ballot irregularities were investigated. Georgian Dream has seen widespread condemnation by European leaders and international rights groups over its rough handling of protestors and perceived democratic backsliding.
NDTV
22-05-2025
- Business
- NDTV
EU Plans 'Massive Sanctions' On Russia Amid Growing Pressure to Act Tougher
The EU is readying a fresh round of sanctions against Russia after leaders threatened Moscow with "massive" economic punishment for not agreeing a ceasefire in Ukraine. But after 17 packages of sanctions since the Kremlin's 2022 invasion, is there much more the bloc can do? Story so far? Since Russian tanks rolled over Ukraine's border some three years ago, the EU has sought to hurt Moscow's war effort with unprecedented sanctions. Those range from visa bans and asset freezes on over 2,400 individuals and entities, including President Vladimir Putin, to an almost-complete ban on importing Russian crude oil, and freezing over 200 billion euros of its central bank assets. A 17th round of sanctions was adopted on Tuesday blacklisting some 200 tankers in the "shadow fleet" used by Moscow to circumvent restrictions on oil exports. All this punishment has not collapsed Russia's economy or made its fearsome military machine grind to a halt. But officials insist it is having a painful impact on the Kremlin. "Russia's economy is not doing well," said EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas. "Now they cannot even cover it up with the propaganda anymore, and they are saying that it is in stagnation." Critics -- particularly in hawkish countries close to Russia -- complain that the sanctions are leaky and components used by Moscow's military still manage to reach Russia. As Putin stalls on Ukraine peace efforts, Brussels is already working on an 18th round of sanctions. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the measures would notably target the defunct Baltic Sea gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2, to pre-empt any attempt to bring them back online. The new sanctions would also seek to list more shadow fleet vessels, lower the price cap set on Russian oil, and slap additional measures on Russia's financial sector, she said. But anything 'massive'? For now, these hardly seem the "massive" measures promised that could force Putin to play ball. Diplomats insist there remain major pressure points where the EU could hit Russia. "Energy, energy, energy," said one senior official when asked how to make Moscow pay attention. "We have to go bold," agreed a second EU diplomat. "There's enough air still in the balloon that we can use." Measures mentioned include rushing forward plans to end imports of Russian liquefied natural gas, targeting Moscow's state nuclear giant Rosatom and further stifling oil exports. But many of these sanctions have been proposed -- and rejected -- already as different member states have issued vetoes. Diplomats have complained it is becoming increasingly difficult to agree on areas to hit Moscow, a task made even tougher by the growing stubbornness of Russia-friendly Hungary. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga on Tuesday called for a reduction in an oil price cap to 30 dollars a barrel, but that is a measure that needs to be agreed by the G7 group of leading nations. There have also been calls for the EU to seize Russia's frozen central bank assets, mainly held in Belgium, but that has faced opposition from a raft of countries. Looking at Trump? Part of the motivation for European leaders to threaten Russia with major sanctions -- in step with the UK which unveiled new measures this week -- appears to have been to get US President Donald Trump to follow suit. That appears to have failed, as Trump sidestepped the issue after a two-hour call this week with Putin that did not yield a ceasefire. US Senator Lindsey Graham has put forward a proposal in Congress that could see 500-percent tariffs slapped on countries buying oil from Russia. For now that effort is on hold -- but it has drawn interest from some in Europe as a potential model for action. EU diplomats say however that such a move is not envisioned on their side at the moment. Hungary looming? Weakening the EU's position is the possibility that Hungary could refuse to extend the bloc's entire battery of sanctions on Russia when they come up for renewal later in the year. Diplomats say work is going on to come up with alternatives to keep the sanctions in force. That could involve getting individual countries to transpose sanctions onto their own law books or turning them into trade measures that Budapest cannot veto. But for now Brussels is keeping mum on its plans.
Channel 4
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Channel 4
Russia ‘rigged elections' to ‘control' Georgia
Last year's election removed Salome Zourabichvili as president in Georgia. The result cemented the Russia-friendly Georgia Dream party's control of the country, but saw widespread reports of vote-buying, ballot box stuffing and voter intimidation. We discussed the complication of how for millions of Georgians, she is the legitimate president and what she is now doing in opposition to the current government.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EU prepares capital controls, tariffs on Russia in case Hungary blocks sanctions, FT reports
The European Union may impose capital controls and tariffs on Russia if Hungary blocks the extension of economic sanctions against Moscow, the Financial Times (FT) reported on May 13, citing its undisclosed sources. The news comes as Ukraine's European allies have signaled their commitment to increase sanctions pressure on Russia if it does not agree to a ceasefire soon. The European Commission has informed member states that a large part of the sanctions, including the frozen 200 billion euro ($222 billion) in Russian state assets, could be moved to a different legal basis to circumvent Budapest's veto, five officials told the FT. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, one of the most Russia-friendly European leaders, has repeatedly obstructed sanctions on Moscow and threatened to veto the extension of economic restrictions, including import bans and price caps in sectors such as energy. Some of the sanctions will expire at the end of July unless all 27 EU member states agree on an extension. Brussels is reportedly considering methods for bypassing Budapest's veto that would require only a majority of EU countries to extend sanctions. Capital controls that would stop cash flows to Russia and trade measures such as tariffs are two options that the European Commission has mentioned in recent weeks, officials said. The EU has been discussing ways of preventing Hungary from derailing the extension of sanctions for months. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), other options on the table include leaving the sanctions in effect without the formal extension through a legal loophole. Brussels may also consider not actually adopting the upcoming 17th package of sanctions but instead "horse-trading" with Hungary for its extension, RFE/RL reported. Germany previously threatened to introduce new sanctions on Moscow in coordination with European partners if it did not implement a ceasefire by the end of May 12. The EU also plans to unveil another round of sanctions against Russia on May 14, an EU official told the Kyiv Independent. Russian President Vladimir Putin countered the allied demand for a ceasefire by inviting Ukraine to participate in direct negotiations in Istanbul starting May 15. According to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, these talks would be based on the terms of the 2022 Istanbul discussions and the "current situation on the battlefield." President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was prepared to meet Putin in Turkey and has reiterated the demand for a full and unconditional ceasefire. Read also: 'Not all Hungarians are Orban,' say Ukrainians living in EU's most pro-Russian country We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
