Category: European Union

ZAGREB, CROATIA — Croatia’s left-leaning president, an outspoken critic of Western military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, is running for reelection this weekend against an array of contenders, including the candidate backed by the conservative government. President Zoran Milanovic is seen as a favorite ahead of Sunday’s presidential election, although he is unlikely to score an outright victory. If none of the eight contenders gain more than half of the ballots cast in the first round, a runoff between the top two will be held on Jan. 12. The most popular politician in Croatia, 58-year-old Milanovic served as prime minister in the past. Populist in style, Milanovic has been a fierce critic of current Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. The continuous sparring between the two has lately marked Croatia’s political scene. Ahead of Sunday’s vote, Plenkovic’s Hrvatska Democratska Zajednica party, or Croatian Democratic Union party, has backed pediatrician and university professor Dragan Primorac for the presidency. Primorac has sought to portray himself as a unifier and Milanovic as divisive. Although the presidency is largely ceremonial in Croatia, an elected president holds political authority and acts as the supreme commander of the military. Milanovic has criticized the European Union’s support for Ukraine and has often insisted that Croatia should not take sides. He has said Croatia should stay away from global disputes, although it is a member of NATO and the EU. Milanovic has also blocked Croatia’s participation in a NATO-led training mission for Ukraine, declaring that “No Croatian soldier will take part in somebody else’s war.” His main rival in the election, Primorac, has stated that “Croatia’s place is in the West, not the East.” His presidency bid, however, has been marred by a high-level corruption case that landed Croatia’s health minister in jail last month and which featured prominently in pre-election debates. Political expert Andjelko Milardovic said Milanovic’s reelection would be good for democracy in Croatia because the ruling party holds a tight grip over all other government institutions. “We are interested to see a balance and control of power,” said Milardovic. Milanovic is backed by center-left Social Democrats, the biggest opposition party. Some analysts believe that Marija Selak Raspudic, a conservative independent candidate polling third in pre-election surveys, could stand a better chance against Milanovic if she somehow makes it to the runoff. Selak Raspudic was close to a right-wing party in the past but now runs … “Croatia’s president seeks reelection, faces several contenders in Sunday’s vote” →

BELGRADE, SERBIA — Serbian university students left piles of old schoolbooks outside the Education Ministry building Friday as part of almost daily street protests demanding accountability over the collapse nearly two months ago of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people in the country’s north. Scattered traffic blockades were also held on various locations throughout Serbia at 11:52 a.m. — the time that the concrete construction on the front of the railway station building in Novi Sad crashed onto the people below. Traffic blockades have been held every Friday since the Nov. 1 crash, lasting 15 minutes for the 15 victims. Many in Serbia blame the collapse on widespread corruption and sloppy work on the railway station building in the city of Novi Sad, which was twice renovated in recent years as part of questionable mega projects involving Chinese state companies. Persistent protests in Serbia reflect widespread anger at the accident but also wider discontent with the rule of populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government. Tens of thousands of people joined a rally Sunday in Belgrade led by the university students. Prosecutors arrested 13 people over the Novi Sad tragedy, including a government minister whose release later fueled public skepticism about the honesty of the investigation. Striking university students have garnered support from various walks of life, challenging the tight grip on power by Vucic’s government. The movement’s symbol — a red handprint telling authorities they have blood on their hands — has been used by actors, farmers and others backing the protests. In Belgrade, more than 2,000 students marched to the Education Ministry. A speaker told the crowd that “we are sick of being called political mercenaries and attacked in the streets.” In Novi Sad, a student rally criticized the way the state-run RT Vojvodina reports about the protests and the canopy collapse. Populist officials and the pro-government mainstream media have described the protests as a “hybrid war” against Vucic under the orders of foreign intelligence services. Though Serbia is formally seeking European Union membership, Vucic has faced accusations of curbing democratic freedoms rather than advancing them. University students in neighboring Bosnia’s capital, Sarajevo, and the northwestern town of Banja Luka on Friday gathered in support of their Serbian colleagues and to draw attention to problems in their own country. …

North Korean forces are experiencing mass casualties on the front lines of Russia’s war against Ukraine, with a thousand of their troops killed or injured in the last week alone in Russia’s Kursk region, the White House said Friday.   “It is clear that Russian and North Korean military leaders are treating these troops as expendable and ordering them on hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defenses,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby told reporters.   Kirby characterized the North Korean troops’ offensive as “massed, dismounted assaults.”  The national security communications adviser also said President Joe Biden is likely to approve another security assistance package for Ukraine in the coming days.  Meanwhile, Slovakia on Friday confirmed its readiness to host peace talks aimed at ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.    On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow is open to a Slovak proposal to host peace talks with Ukraine, which Russia invaded in February of 2022.    “We offer Slovak soil for such negotiations,” Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said on Facebook.   Blanar also said any talks must take place with all parties participating, including Russia. Russian officials were not present for previous talks in June in Switzerland.   “We consider the statement of the Russian president as a positive signal to end this war, this bloodshed and this destruction as soon as possible,” Blanar said.   The foreign minister said Slovakia, a European Union and NATO member, told Ukraine in October about its availability to host peace talks.    Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is one of just a few European leaders who have remained close with Moscow. He prompted an angry reaction from Ukraine when he met with Putin in Moscow on Dec. 22.   Fico also has halted all Slovakian military aid to Ukraine, and he has accused Ukraine of threatening Slovakia’s supply of Russian gas.    Also on Friday, the Ukrainian air force said its air defense shot down 13 of 24 Russian drones launched in an overnight attack.   The air force said the other 11 Russian drones were “lost” without causing damage.  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Friday with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha to discuss battlefield updates and U.S. support for Ukraine amid the war, the State Department said.   “The Secretary reiterated unwavering U.S. support for Ukrainians in defense of their freedom,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement Friday.   That comes as Russia’s Defense … “North Korean troops experience mass casualties on Ukraine front lines, White House says” →

Brussels — NATO will bolster its military presence in the Baltic Sea after the suspected sabotage of an undersea power cable linking Finland and Estonia this week, the Western military alliance’s chief Mark Rutte said on Friday. On Christmas Day, the Estlink 2 submarine cable that carries electricity from Finland to Estonia was disconnected from the grid, just over a month after two telecommunications cables were severed in Swedish territorial waters in the Baltic. Finnish authorities on Thursday said they were investigating the oil tanker, Eagle S, that sailed from a Russian port, as part of a probe for “aggravated sabotage.” Finnish President Alexander Stubb said on Friday: “We’ve got the situation under control, and we have to continue to work together vigilantly to make sure that our critical infrastructure is not damaged by outsiders.” Officials suspect the tanker is part of the Russian “shadow fleet”, which refers to ships that transport Russian crude and oil products embargoed due to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The Eagle S vessel, which flies under the flag of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific, was en route to Port Said in Egypt. Police suspect that the oil tanker’s anchor might have damaged the power cable. Rutte said he spoke to President Stubb about Finland’s probe, adding in a post on X: “I expressed my full solidarity and support. NATO will enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea.” Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur earlier on Friday said on X that the country began naval patrols to protect the undersea cable supplying electricity from Finland. In a separate statement he said Tallinn wanted to send a clear message it was ready to protect its power connections with Finland with military and non-military means. Rutte on Thursday promised NATO support to Estonia and Finland, and condemned attacks on critical infrastructure after speaking to Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal. More EU sanctions The European Union has also threatened further sanctions against Russia’s shadow fleet after this week’s incident. The bloc’s 27 member states agreed earlier this month to blacklist around 50 more oil tankers from Russia’s shadow fleet used to circumvent Western sanctions, taking the number targeted to around 80. Ukraine’s international backers have looked to curb funds going to the Kremlin’s war machine by imposing a price cap and restrictions on Russia’s key oil exports. To skirt the measures, Russia has resorted to using a … “NATO to boost military presence in Baltic after cables ‘sabotage’ 

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FRANKFURT, Germany — German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday ordered parliament dissolved and set new elections for Feb. 23 in the wake of the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition.   Scholz lost a confidence vote on Dec. 16 and leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalition collapsed on Nov. 6 when he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalize Germany’s stagnant economy.   Leaders of several major parties then agreed that a parliamentary election should be held on Feb. 23, seven months earlier than originally planned.  Since the post-World War II constitution doesn’t allow the Bundestag to dissolve itself, it was up to Steinmeier to decide whether to dissolve parliament and call an election. He had 21 days to make that decision. Once parliament is dissolved, the election must be held within 60 days.  In practice, the campaign is already well underway. Polls show Scholz’s party trailing the conservative opposition Union bloc led by Friedrich Merz. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the environmentalist Greens, the remaining partner in Scholz’s government, is also bidding for the top job — though his party is further back. If recent polls hold up, the likely next government would be led by Merz as chancellor in coalition with at least one other party.   Key issues include immigration, how to get the sluggish economy going, and how best to aid Ukraine in its struggle against Russia.   The populist, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which is polling strongly, has nominated Alice Weidel as its candidate for chancellor but has no chance of taking the job because other parties refuse to work with it.   Germany’s electoral system traditionally produces coalitions, and polls show no party anywhere near an absolute majority on its own. The election is expected to be followed by weeks of negotiations to form a new government.  It’s only the fourth time that the Bundestag has been dissolved ahead of schedule under Germany’s post-World War II constitution. It happened under Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1972, Helmut Kohl in 1982 and Gerhard Schroeder in 2005. Schroeder used the confidence vote to engineer an early election narrowly won by center-right challenger Angela Merkel.   …

STOCKHOLM — Estonia’s armed forces have launched a naval operation to protect the Estlink 1 undersea power cable in the Baltic Sea in response to the damage this week of a parallel electricity line, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on Friday. Finland on Thursday seized a ship carrying Russian oil on suspicion the vessel caused an outage of the Estlink 2 undersea power cable which, like Estlink 1, connects Finland and Estonia, and that it also damaged four internet lines. Baltic Sea nations are on high alert for acts of sabotage following a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, although subsea equipment is also subject to technical malfunction and accidents. Damage to subsea installations in the region has now become so frequent that it is difficult to believe this was caused merely by accident or poor seamanship, Tsahkna said on Thursday. Finnish investigators believe the seized ship — the Cook Island-registered ship, named as the Eagle S — may have caused the damage by dragging its anchor along the seabed, one of several such incidents in recent years. “If there is a threat to the critical undersea infrastructure in our region, there will also be a response,” Tsahkna said on social media X. The 658 megawatt (MW) Estlink 2 outage began at midday local time on Wednesday, leaving only the 358 MW Estlink 1 in operation between the two countries, operators Fingrid and Elering have said. Estonian public broadcaster ERR reported on Friday that the Baltic country had despatched a patrol ship, the Raju, to the waters where the Estlink 1 runs, and that the country hoped NATO allies would also deploy ships. …

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — South Korea’s spy agency said Friday it had confirmed that a North Korean soldier sent to back Russia’s war against Ukraine had been captured by Ukrainian forces. Pyongyang has deployed thousands of troops to reinforce Russian troops, including in the Kursk border region where Ukraine mounted a shock border incursion in August. “Through real-time information sharing with an allied country’s intelligence agency, it has been confirmed that one injured North Korean soldier has been captured,” South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said in a statement. The soldier was captured by the Ukrainian army, an intelligence source told AFP, adding that the location where he was seized was unknown. The first confirmation of the capture of a North Korean soldier came days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that nearly 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been “killed or wounded” so far. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also said Monday that more than 1,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded. The JCS had also said that Pyongyang is reportedly “preparing for the rotation or additional deployment of soldiers” and supplying “240mm rocket launchers and 170mm self-propelled artillery” to the Russian army. Seoul’s military believes that North Korea was seeking to modernize its conventional warfare capabilities through combat experience gained in the Russia-Ukraine war. North Korean state media said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a New Year’s message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying “the bilateral ties between our two countries have been elevated after our talks in June in Pyongyang.” A landmark defense pact went into effect in December after the two sides exchanged ratification documents. Putin hailed the deal in June as a “breakthrough document.” …

CHISINAU, MOLDOVA — The parliament in ex-Soviet Moldova, controlled by pro-Western lawmakers, approved a 10-year defense strategy on Thursday calling for increased military spending as part of a plan to join the European Union. The chamber’s pro-Russian opposition ridiculed the document as pointlessly directed against Moscow in view of Moldova’s small land mass and armed forces. The document, presented by Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatii, aims to boost military spending by 2030 to 1% of gross domestic product, with figures showing increases already being put into place. “The first step to implementing this was taken after the war in Ukraine started, by increasing budget resources for defense to 0.39% in 2022 and 0.55% in 2023,” the document said. One of Europe’s poorest countries, lying between Ukraine and EU member Romania, Moldova is a candidate to join the EU, with a membership date set for 2030. It is not considering joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as the country’s neutral status is set down in its constitution. The document says Moldova’s neutral status requires it to boost partnerships with different countries and international organizations to strengthen its national defense.  Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has jolted Moldova as drone fragments land on its territory and missiles aimed at Ukrainian targets pass through its airspace. Pro-Western President Maia Sandu, reelected to a second term last month, though by a smaller margin than anticipated, has accused Russia of trying to unseat her government. Members of the pro-Moscow Socialist Party dismissed the document as meaningless. “If, God forbid, we are subject to an attack from the direction of the Russian Federation, how long do you think Moldova will resist such aggression?” Socialist member Adrian Albu asked the minister. The document cites risks of the Ukraine conflict spreading, particularly around the Black Sea port of Odesa close to Moldova’s border. …

The Kremlin completed preparations to isolate the Russian segment of the internet from the rest of the World Wide Web, experts told VOA Russian. The Kremlin may implement severe internet restrictions in 2025, mirroring Iran’s experience of blocking undesirable web traffic. Experts note that YouTube speeds in Russia are 20% of the pre-war speeds, meaning that YouTube is essentially blocked in Russia. Click here for the full story in Russian. …

Both Russia and Ukraine expanded the use of drones in 2024 as a relatively cheap means of warfare that requires an opponent to use a much more expensive air defense system. Moscow and Kyiv acquired 1.5 million drones between them in the past year, with Ukraine hitting thousands of targets inside Russia in recent months. Click here for the full story in Russian.   …

FRANKFURT, GERMANY — Finnish authorities have detained a Russia-linked ship as they investigate whether it damaged a Baltic Sea power cable and several data cables, according to police and news media reports, in the latest incident involving disruption of key infrastructure. Finnish police and border guards boarded the vessel, the Eagle S, just past midnight Thursday and took over the command bridge, Helsinki Police Chief Jari Liukku said at a news conference. The vessel was intercepted in Finland’s exclusive economic zone and taken to Finnish territorial waters, police said. The Eagle S is flagged in the Cook Islands but was described by Finnish customs officials as a suspected part of Russia’s shadow fleet of fuel tankers, Yle television reported. Those are aging vessels with obscure ownership, acquired to evade Western sanctions over the war against Ukraine and operating without Western-regulated insurance. The Eagle S’s anchor is suspected of causing damage to the cable, Yle reported, relying on police statements. The Estlink-2 power cable, which brings electricity from Finland to Estonia across the Baltic Sea, went down just after noon on Wednesday. The incident follows damage to two data cables and the Nord Stream gas pipelines, both of which have been termed sabotage. The Estonian government was holding a meeting on the issue Thursday, Prime Minister Kristen Michal said on X. Two data cables — one running between Finland and Germany and the other between Lithuania and Sweden — were severed in November. Germany’s defense minister said officials had to assume the incident was “sabotage,” but he did not provide evidence or say who might have been responsible. The remark came during a speech in which he discussed hybrid warfare threats from Russia. The Nord Stream pipelines that once brought natural gas from Russia to Germany were damaged by underwater explosions in September 2022. Authorities have said the cause was sabotage and launched criminal probes. Estonian network operator Elering says there was enough spare capacity to meet power needs on the Estonian side, public broadcaster ERR said on its website. …

Azerbaijan on Thursday observed a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of the plane crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured as speculation mounted about a possible cause of the disaster that remained unknown. Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan after flying east across the Caspian Sea. The plane went down about 3 kilometers from Aktau. Cellphone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Other footage showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the aircraft lying upside in the grass. On Thursday, national flags were lowered across Azerbaijan, traffic across the country stopped at noon, and signals were sounded from ships and trains as the country observed a nationwide moment of silence. Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash, but said that the weather had forced the plane to change from its planned course. “The information provided to me is that the plane changed its course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed to Aktau airport, where it crashed upon landing,” he said. Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said that preliminary information indicated that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike led to an emergency on board. According to Kazakh officials, those aboard the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstan nationals. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry on Thursday flew nine Russian survivors to Moscow for treatment. As the official crash investigation started, theories abounded about a possible cause, with some commentators alleging that holes seen in the plane’s tail section possibly indicate that it could have come under fire from Russian air defense systems fending off a Ukrainian drone attack.  Ukrainian drones had previously attacked Grozny, the provincial capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, and other regions in the country’s North Caucasus. Some Russian media claimed that another drone attack on Chechnya happened on Wednesday, although it wasn’t officially confirmed.  Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation security firm based … “Azerbaijan observes day of mourning for air crash victims as speculation mounts about its cause” →

Moscow — A “terrorist act” sank the cargo ship that went down in international waters in the Mediterranean this week, the Russian state-owned company that owns the vessel said Wednesday. The Oboronlogistika company said it “thinks a targeted terrorist attack was committed on December 23, 2024, against the Ursa Major,” it said in a statement cited by Russian news agencies, without indicating who may have been behind the act or why. The ship sank in international waters off Spain in the early hours of Tuesday after having sent a distress call for help on Monday. “Three consecutive explosions” took place on the ship before it began taking on water, added the company, which belongs to the Russian defense ministry. Oboronlogistika did not say what evidence it had allowing it to conclude a terrorist attack sank the Ursa Major. Russian foreign ministry’s crisis unit said on Telegram on Tuesday that the ship sank “after an explosion in the engine room.” It added that out of the 16 Russian crew members on board, 14 had been rescued and taken to the Spanish port of Cartagena and two were missing. The ship sent a distress call Monday morning from off the coast of southeastern Spain in bad weather, reporting it was listing and sailors had launched a lifeboat, Spain’s sea rescue service said in a statement. Spain sent out a helicopter and rescue boats and took the survivors to port, the service said.  A Russian warship then arrived and took charge of the rescue operation since the ship was between Spanish and Algerian waters, after which the Ursa Major sank overnight. The Ursa Major is listed on MarineTraffic.com as a 124.7-meter long general cargo ship. It is owned by a subsidiary of Russia’s Oboronlogistika, which belongs to the defense ministry and also provides civilian transport and logistics, the Russian foreign ministry said. The Ursa Major was sailing from the Russian city of Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East. Last week Oboronlogistika issued a press release with photos of the ship in port, saying it was to transport a particularly large and heavy load: cranes each weighing 380 tons and hatch covers for icebreakers each weighing 45 tons to Vladivostok. The United States in 2022 imposed sanctions on Oboronlogistika and ships including the Ursa Major for providing “transportation services…for the delivery of cargo to Russian-occupied Crimea”.  This means any U.S. organization dealing with … “Russia says cargo ship blast was ‘terrorist attack’ “ →

ROME — Pope Francis made a visit on Thursday to one of the largest prison complexes in Italy, opening a special “Holy Door” for the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, in what the Vatican said was the first such action by a Catholic pontiff. Speaking to hundreds of inmates, guards and staff at the Rebibbia prison on the outskirts of Rome, Francis said he wanted to open the door, part of the prison chapel, and one of only five that will be open during the Holy Year, to show that “hope does not disappoint.” “In bad moments, we can all think that everything is over,” said the pontiff. “Do not lose hope. This is the message I wanted to give you. Do not lose hope.” Francis opened the Catholic Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee, on Tuesday. A Catholic Jubilee is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon. This Jubilee, dedicated to the theme of hope, will run through Jan. 6, 2026. Holy Years normally occur every 25 years, and usually involve the opening in Rome of four special “Holy Doors,” which symbolize the door of salvation for Catholics. The doors, located at the papal basilicas in Rome, are only open during Jubilee years. The Vatican said the opening of the “Holy Door” at Rome’s Rebibbia prison was the first time such a door had been opened by a pope at a prison since the start of the Jubilee year tradition by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300. Francis has shown special attention for the incarcerated over his 11-year papacy. He often visits prisons in Rome and on his foreign trips. …

Ukraine’s military said Thursday it shot down 20 of the 31 drones that Russian forces launched in overnight attacks. The intercepts took place over the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions, Ukraine’s air force said. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday it destroyed five Ukrainian aerial drones over the Volgograd, Voronezh and Belgorod regions. Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram a drone attack damaged several apartment buildings and a house, but that no one was hurt. The latest round of aerial attacks between the two sides followed a more active than usual day of drone and missile assaults. U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday condemned a massive Russian attack that Ukraine’s military said included 106 drones and 78 missiles. “The purpose of this outrageous attack was to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardize the safety of its grid. Let me be clear: the Ukrainian people deserve to live in peace and safety,” Biden said in a statement. The United States, Biden said, “has provided Ukraine with hundreds of air defense missiles, and more are on the way. I have directed the Department of Defense to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia targeted energy infrastructure as part of an attempt to “fight for a blackout in Ukraine.” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement it struck critical energy infrastructure facilities that support Ukraine’s military. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.  …

BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN — Experts say Kyrgyzstan’s efforts to enforce Western sanctions against companies supplying dual-use goods and equipment to Russia are constrained by opposition from business, limited bureaucratic resources, and unwillingness to antagonize the Kremlin. Since 2022, the U.S. and EU governments designated a dozen Kyrgyz companies as violators of international Russia sanctions. According to the U.S. Treasury Department website, “Entities based in the Kyrgyz Republic have been frequent exporters of controlled electronics components and other technology to Russia since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Some of these shipments have subsequently supplied sensitive dual-use goods to entities in Russia’s defense sector.” There has been a significant rise in trade between Kyrgyzstan and Russia since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with this year’s Kyrgyz exports to Russia through November up 47% from the same period last year, according to the Kyrgyz State Statistical Committee. Kyrgyzstan and Russia are both part of the Eurasian Economic Union, which also includes Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. As some media reports have claimed, the Kremlin has relied on Kyrgyzstan’s membership in the bloc as a backdoor channel for sanctions evasion. Western actions targeting Kyrgyz companies have irked Kyrgyz officials, but they have taken a series of measures to avoid more sanctions. In October 2022, Kyrgyz banks stopped processing transactions with Russian MIR cards, the go-to payment system for Russian citizens. In August of this year, the Kyrgyz government set up a new government State Trading Company to engage in external trade and monitor private import and export transactions. A month later, a government decree obliged Kyrgyz banks to suspend monetary transactions of all local and foreign companies involved in reexporting goods from China, South Korea and the EU through Kyrgyzstan to Russia. The State Trading Company has been exempted from this requirement. Kyrgyz officials have portrayed the measures as effective, with Economy and Trade Minister Daniyar Amangeldiev saying in October, “We have obligations, and we are fulfilling them. Accordingly, such [sanctioned] goods never came to us, and they didn’t go through our territory.” However, regional experts paint a different picture. Bishkek political analyst Emil Juraev told VOA by email that Kyrgyzstan has limited capacity to enforce Western sanctions. “It is the purview of the [Kyrgyz] Customs Service, which must have full information about what kind of goods are being exported and imported. That way, it would be possible to see what is being shipped to … “Kyrgyzstan faces difficulties enforcing West’s Russia sanctions” →

LILLE, FRANCE — French authorities said they rescued 107 migrants trying to cross the Channel from France to England on Wednesday. Over the course of Christmas Day, 12 rescue operations were staged along the coast of northern France, including of a boat experiencing engine trouble, France’s Channel and North Sea maritime prefecture said in a statement. In the morning, 30 passengers were rescued from a boat near Dunkirk, while the others onboard wished to continue onward and were taken into British custody once they reached British waters, the maritime authorities said. Another boat experiencing engine damage was spotted later in the day, also near Dunkirk, and all 51 passengers were rescued. Later, 26 people were taken off a boat having trouble near Calais. The English Channel is “a particularly dangerous area, especially at the height of winter for precarious and overloaded boats,” the statement said. At least 73 migrants have died trying to cross the Channel to Britain in 2024, according to the Pas-de-Calais authorities, making it the deadliest year on record for the crossings. Tens of thousands more have reached Britain, where the government has vowed to crack down on people-smuggling gangs. In November, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for greater international cooperation against the gangs, which he described as a “global security threat similar to terrorism.”  …

ISTANBUL — In a dim one-room apartment in one of Istanbul’s poorest neighborhoods, 11-year-old Atakan Sahin curls up on a threadbare sofa with his siblings to watch TV while their mother stirs a pot of pasta.  The simple meal is all the family of six can look forward to most evenings. Atakan, his two younger brothers and 5-year-old sister are among the one-third of Turkish children living in poverty.  “Look at the state of my children,” said Rukiye Sahin, 28. “I have four children. They don’t get to eat chicken, they don’t get to eat meat. I send them to school with torn shoes.”  Persistently high inflation, triggered by currency depreciation and unconventional economic policies that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pursued but later abandoned, has left many families struggling to pay for food and housing.  Experts say it’s creating a lost generation of children who have been forced to grow up too quickly to help their families eke out an existence.  According to a 2023 joint report by UNICEF and the Turkish Statistical Institute, about 7 million of Turkey’s roughly 22.2 million children live in poverty.  Look at neighborhoods such as Istanbul’s Tarlabasi, where the Sahin family lives.  The Sahins eat sitting on the floor of their room — the same floor Rukiye and her husband sleep on while their children occupy the sofas. In the chilly early December night, a stove burns scraps of wood to keep them warm. They sometimes fall asleep to the sound of rats scuttling through the building.  Atakan spends his days helping his father scour trash bins in search of recyclable material to earn the family a meager income.  Poor children in Istanbul also earn money for their families by selling small items such as pens, tissues or bracelets at the bars and cafes in the city’s entertainment districts, often working late into the night.  “I can’t go to school because I have no money,” Atakan said. “We have nothing. Can you tell me how I can go? On sunny days, when I don’t go to school, I collect plastic and other things with my father. We sell whatever we find.”  The cash helps buy basic foodstuffs and pay for his siblings to attend school. On the days Atakan can attend, he is ill-equipped to succeed, lacking proper shoes, a coat and textbooks for the English class he loves.  The Sahins struggle to scrape together … “Turkey’s soaring costs creating ‘lost generation’ of children” →

HELSINKI — An undersea power cable linking Finland and Estonia suffered an outage Wednesday, Finland’s prime minister said, the latest in a series of incidents involving telecom cables and energy pipelines in the Baltic Sea.  Arto Pahkin, the head of operations of the Finnish electricity grid, told public broadcaster Yle that “the possibility of sabotage cannot be ruled out.”  Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the power outage “does not affect electricity supplies for Finns.”  “The authorities remain vigilant even during Christmas and are investigating the situation,” he added on X.  Operator Fingrid said current on the EstLink 2 cable sending electricity to Estonia was cut at 12:26 p.m. local time.  Last month two telecom cables in the Baltic linking neighboring Sweden and Denmark were cut.   Suspicions rapidly fell on the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3, which according to ship tracking sites had sailed over the cables around the time they were cut.  Sweden said Monday that China had denied a request for prosecutors to conduct an investigation on the vessel and that it had left the area.  European officials said they suspected several of the incidents were sabotage linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the Kremlin dismissing that as absurd.  Early on November 17, the Arelion cable running from the Swedish island of Gotland to Lithuania was damaged.  The next day, the C-Lion 1 submarine cable connecting Helsinki and the German port of Rostock was cut south of Sweden’s Oland island.  Tensions have mounted around the Baltic since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.  In September 2022, a series of underwater blasts ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines that carried Russian gas to Europe, the cause of which has yet to be determined.  In October 2023, an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was shut down after it was damaged by the anchor of a Chinese cargo ship.  …

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo’s election appeals authority on Wednesday canceled a ban on the main party of the ethnic Serb minority, allowing it to field candidates in the upcoming parliamentary election.  The Electoral Panel for Complaints and Appeals decided that the party, Srpska Lista, or Serb List, has “fulfilled the political terms to be certified for registration.”  The panel overturned a decision Monday by the Central Election Commission, which declined to certify the Srpska Lista party because of its nationalist stance and close ties to neighboring Serbia.  The panel ruled that the commission’s decision was “contrary to the legal dispositions referring to the application and certification of the political subjects.”  Of the 10 seats reserved for the Serb minority in the 120-member parliament, Srspka Lista holds nine. It will put up 48 candidates for the parliamentary election on February 9, expected to be a key test for Prime Minister Albin Kurti, whose governing party won in a landslide in 2021.  Western powers also expressed concern about the commission’s decision, fearing it might further aggravate the tense ties between Kosovo and Serbia, despite their efforts to normalize them.  Kosovo was a Serbian province until NATO’s 78-day bombing campaign in 1999 ended a war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo. The war left about 11,400 dead, mainly ethnic Albanians, and pushed Serbian forces out. Kosovo proclaimed independence in 2008, which Serbia doesn’t recognize.  Belgrade still considers Kosovo as its province and has a major influence on the Serb minority there. …

Vatican City — Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message on Wednesday urged “all people of all nations” to find courage during this Holy Year “to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions” plaguing the world, from the Middle East to Ukraine, Africa to Asia. The pontiff’s “Urbi et Orbi” — “To the City and the World” — address serves as a summary of the woes facing the world this year. As Christmas coincided with the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration that he dedicated to hope, Francis called for broad reconciliation, “even [with] our enemies.” “I invite every individual, and all people of all nations … to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions,” the pope said from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica to throngs of people below. The pope invoked the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, which he opened on Christmas Eve to launch the 2025 Jubilee, as representing God’s mercy, which “unties every knot; it tears down every wall of division; it dispels hatred and the spirit of revenge.” He called for arms to be silenced in war-torn Ukraine and in the Middle East, singling out Christian communities in Israel and the Palestinian territories, “particularly in Gaza where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave,” as well as Lebanon and Syria “at this most delicate time.” Francis repeated his calls for the release of hostages taken from Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. He cited a deadly outbreak of measles in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the suffering of the people of Myanmar, forced to flee their homes by “the ongoing clash of arms.” The pope likewise remembered children suffering from war and hunger, the elderly living in solitude, those fleeing their homelands, who have lost their jobs, and are persecuted for their faith. Pilgrims were lined up on Christmas Day to walk through the great Holy Door at the entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica, as the Jubilee is expected to bring some 32 million Catholic faithful to Rome. Traversing the Holy Door is one way that the faithful can obtain indulgences, or forgiveness for sins during a Jubilee, a once-every-quarter-century tradition that dates from 1300. Pilgrims submitted to security controls before entering the Holy Door, amid new security fears following a deadly Christmas market attack in Germany. Many paused to touch the door as they passed … “Pope urges ‘all people of all nations’ to silence arms and overcome divisions in Christmas address” →

Moscow — A Russian cargo ship called Ursa Major that sank in the Mediterranean Sea was the victim of “an act of terrorism,” state news agency RIA cited the vessel’s owner as saying on Wednesday.  The ship, built in 2009, sank after an explosion ripped through its engine room and two of its 16 crew were missing, the Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.  RIA cited Oboronlogistika, the ship’s ultimate owner and a company that is part of the Russian Defense Ministry’s military construction operations, as saying the vessel had been targeted in “a terrorist act.”  Oboronlogistika had previously said that the ship had been en route to the Russian far eastern port of Vladivostok with two giant port cranes lashed to its deck.    …

London — King Charles thanked the medics who have cared for him and his daughter-in-law Kate, after they both underwent treatment for cancer this year, in a Christmas Day message that touched on global conflicts and the summer’s riots in Britain. In his third Christmas TV broadcast since becoming king, Charles struck an unusually personal tone for the royal seasonal message, a tradition that dates back to a radio speech by George V in 1932. The year has been traumatic for the royals after Buckingham Palace said in February the 76-year-old had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer detected in tests after a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate. A month later, Kate, the wife of his son and heir Prince William, said she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer that concluded in September. William has said the year has been brutal for the family. “All of us go through some form of suffering at some stage in our life, be it mental or physical,” Charles, who became king in 2022 after the death of Queen Elizabeth, said. His words were accompanied by footage of a visit he made to a cancer treatment center on returning to public duties in April and of one of Kate’s first engagements when she resumed working. “From a personal point of view, I offer special heartfelt thanks to the selfless doctors and nurses who this year have supported me and other members of my family through the uncertainties and anxieties of illness, and have helped provide the strength, care and comfort we have needed,” Charles said. “I am deeply grateful too to all those who have offered us their own kind words of sympathy and encouragement,” he said in the pre-recorded broadcast that was filmed at an ornate chapel of a former London hospital. Last week, a palace source said the king’s treatment was progressing well and would continue into next year. Earlier on Wednesday, Charles was joined by his family, including Kate, William and their children, for a traditional church service on his Sandringham estate in eastern England. Charles’ brother Prince Andrew, who was embroiled in another scandal this month when a close business associate was banned from Britain over government suspicions he was a Chinese agent, was a notable absentee from the royal get-together. Diversity a strength The king spoke about nationwide riots, which broke out following the murder in July … “King Charles thanks medics for his and Kate’s cancer care “ →

SARAJEVO — Lawmakers in Bosnia’s Serb Republic regional parliament on Wednesday ordered Serb representatives in state institutions to block decision-making and reform laws needed for the Balkan country’s integration into the European Union.  An emergency session of parliament was called on Tuesday evening to discuss a “degradation of a legal system” in relation to the ongoing trial of the region’s president Milorad Dodik at Bosnia’s state court.  Dodik, a Serb separatist leader, is being tried for defying decisions by the international High Representative which oversees peace in the country under the 1995 Dayton Accords which ended 3-1/2 years of ethnic war.  The MPs said the trial was “politically mounted,” based on the “illegal decisions” of current envoy Christian Schmidt and of the state court and prosecution which they regard as unconstitutional because they were set up by the peace envoy and not by the Dayton treaty.  Pro-Russian Dodik has tried hard to separate his Serb-dominated region from Bosnia in recent years but halted the process after the start of the war in Ukraine.   Under the Dayton treaty, Bosnia was split into two autonomous regions, the Serb Republic and a Federation dominated by Croats and Bosniaks linked via a weak central government. That secured peace but left Bosnia dysfunctional as a state.  After years of political obstructions to joining the EU, Bosnia received a boost last year when EU leaders agreed to open negotiations once it had reached the necessary compliance with membership criteria. …

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Russian forces attacked his country with more than 70 missiles and that targets included Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian air defenses shot down 50 of the missiles, but that “there have been hits” and power outages in several regions of the country. “Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhumane?” Zelenskyy said. In northeastern Ukraine, Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said the city came under a “massive missile attack,” and was later hit with a Russian drone. Oleh Syniehubov, the regional governor, said the attacks damaged civilian infrastructure and injured at least six people. Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK said Russian missiles caused “serious damage” and forced power cuts in Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Kyiv. “In an attack aimed at millions of Ukrainians simply wanting to celebrate the holy day, Russia caused serious damage to DTEK thermal generation facilities,” the company said in a statement. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday its air defenses destroyed 58 Ukrainian aerial drones, a number that is higher than typical in the daily exchange of drone attacks between the two sides.  The ministry said 26 of the intercepts took place over the Belgorod region and 23 over Voronezh, with other drones being shot down over Kursk, Bryansk, Tambov and the Sea of Azov.  Voronezh Governor Aleksandr Gusev said on Telegram that the Ukrainian attacks damaged several houses and a power line.  Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters. …

Paris — France’s president and prime minister managed to form a new government just in time for the holidays. Now comes the hard part.  Crushing debt, intensifying pressure from the nationalist far right, wars in Europe and the Mideast — challenges abound for President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Francois Bayrou after an already tumultuous 2024.  The most urgent order of business is passing a 2025 budget. Financial markets, ratings agencies and the European Commission are pushing France to bring down its deficit, to comply with European Union rules limiting debt and keep France’s borrowing costs from spiraling. That would threaten the stability and prosperity of all countries that share the euro currency.  France’s debt is currently estimated at a staggering 112% of gross domestic product. It grew further after the government gave aid payments to businesses and workers during COVID-19 lockdowns even as the pandemic depressed growth, and capped household energy prices after Russia invaded Ukraine. The bill is now coming due.  But France’s previous government collapsed this month because Marine Le Pen’s far-right party and left-wing lawmakers opposed $62.4 billion (60 billion euros) in spending cuts and tax hikes in the original 2025 budget plan. Bayrou and new Finance Minister Eric Lombard are expected to scale back some of those promises, but the calculations are tough.  “The political situation is difficult. The international situation is dangerous, and the economic context is fragile,” Lombard, a low-profile banker who advised a Socialist government in the 1990s, said upon taking office.  “The environmental emergency, the social emergency, developing our businesses — these innumerable challenges require us to treat our endemic illness: the deficit,” he said. “The more we are indebted, the more the debt costs, and the more it suffocates the country.”  This is France’s fourth government in the past year. No party has a parliamentary majority, and the new Cabinet can only survive with the support of lawmakers on the center-right and center-left.  Le Pen — Macron’s fiercest rival — was instrumental in ousting the previous government by joining left-wing forces in a no-confidence vote. Bayrou consulted her when forming the new government and Le Pen remains a powerful force.  That angers left-wing groups, who had expected more influence in the new Cabinet, and who say promised spending cuts will hurt working-class families and small businesses hardest. Left-wing voters, meanwhile, feel betrayed ever since a coalition from the left won the … “France has new government, again. Politics and crushing debt complicate next steps” →