BLOGONITY

VOA Russian speaks to Yevgeniya Chirikova, a coordinator of the Activatica initiative that tracked down the Kremlin’s system of mass torture and violence on Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russian army. Using the blueprint that Moscow previously used in Chechnya, Activatica says Russian forces kidnap civilians they deem dangerous and put them in illegal detention centers where they are subjected to systematic torture sanctioned by the authorities in Moscow. Click here for the full story in Russian.   …

Bucharest, Romania — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis announced his resignation on Monday following mounting pressure from populist opposition groups, two months after a top court annulled a presidential election in the European Union country. “To spare Romania from this crisis, I am resigning as president of Romania,” he said in an emotional address, adding that he will leave office on Feb. 12. Iohannis, 65, held the presidential role since 2014 and served the maximum of two five-year terms. But his presidency was extended in December after the Constitutional Court canceled the presidential race two days before a Dec. 8 runoff. That came after the far-right populist Calin Georgescu unexpectedly won the first round, after which allegations emerged of Russian interference and electoral violations. Several opposition parties, including the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), the nationalist SOS party and the Party of Young People — but also some members of the reformist Save Romania Union party — sought Iohannis’ ouster through a motion filed to Parliament. Some lawmakers from the governing coalition were also expected to vote in favor. “This is a useless endeavor because, in any case, I will leave office in a few months after the election of the new president,” Iohannis said. “It is an unfounded move because I have never — I repeat, never — violated the constitution. And it is a harmful endeavor because … everyone loses, and no one gains.” He added that the consequences of his ouster would be “long-lasting and highly negative” for Romania, an EU member since 2007, and a NATO member since 2004. “None of our partners will understand why Romania is dismissing its president when the process for electing a new president has already begun,” he said. New dates have been set to rerun the presidential vote with the first round scheduled for May 4. If no candidate obtains more than 50% of the ballot, a runoff would be held two weeks later, on May 18. It is not yet clear whether Georgescu will be able to participate in the new election. After his resignation announcement, clashes broke out between Georgescu supporters and police in front of the government building in the capital, Bucharest. …

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s leftwing party won most seats in the weekend parliamentary election but was left without a majority in the house, forcing it to look for an ally to form the next government, according to preliminary results released Monday. The vote on Sunday was key in determining who will lead Kosovo as talks on normalizing ties with rival Serbia remain stalled and foreign funding for one of Europe’s poorest countries is in question. The election marked the first time since independence in 2008 that Kosovo’s parliament completed a full four-year mandate. It was the ninth parliamentary vote in Kosovo since the end of the 1998-1999 war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists that pushed Serbian forces out following a 78-day NATO air campaign. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence. With 88% of the votes counted, Kurti’s Self-Determination Movement Party, or Vetevendosje!, had won 41.3%, according to the Central Election Commission, the election governing body. The Democratic Party of Kosovo, or PDK, whose main leaders are detained at a Netherlands-based international criminal tribunal in The Hague and accused of war crimes, won 21.8% of the vote. Next, with 17.8% support is the Democratic League of Kosovo, or LDK, the oldest party in the country. The LDK lost much of its support after the death in 2006 of its leader, Ibrahim Rugova. The Alliance for Kosovo’s Future of former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj garnered 7.7% of the votes. Still, Kurti was upbeat, though his remarks gave nothing away about who he plans to ask to join his coalition government. “The people won. Vetevendosje! won. We are the winners who will form the next Cabinet,” Kurti told journalists as his supporters took to the streets to celebrate. The commission’s webpage was down temporarily on Sunday as it was overloaded “due to the citizens’ high interest to learn the results,” election body said. Results were collected manually. A preliminary turnout after 92% of the votes counted was 40.6% — about 7% lower than four years ago. The new 120-seat parliament reserves 20 seats for minorities regardless of election results, 10 of them for the Serb minority. Kurti’s new term will face multiple challenges after Washington recently announced it was freezing foreign aid and the European Union, almost two years ago, suspended funding for some projects and initiatives. He also is under pressure to increase public salaries and … “Kosovo prime minister looking for allies for new Cabinet after failing to win parliament majority  “ →

Russian drone attacks caused a fire in Kyiv, injured a woman in Sumy and damaged several homes, according to Ukrainian officials. Meanwhile, the Russian military reported downing 15 Ukrainian drones overnight, including seven in the Krasnodar region. Nobody was hurt as a result of the fire in Kyiv, which was sparked in a non-residential building, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Five houses were damaged and a woman was reportedly injured in the northeastern city of Sumy, regional governor Ihor Kalchenko said on Telegram. While fighting continued, a group of U.S. officials from President Donald Trump’s administration were set to travel to Europe this week for discussions that would include the war in Ukraine. Vice President JD Vance was scheduled to attend an artificial intelligence summit in France before attending the Munich Security Conference with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The Munich event, billed as “the world’s leading forum for debating international security policy,” is expected to focus on prospects for peace in Ukraine as well as discussions of other global conflicts. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will visit the headquarters of two military commands, then meet with NATO defense ministers. He’ll also attend a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, where he “will reiterate President Trump’s commitment for a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine as quickly as possible,” according to the Pentagon. Material from Reuters and Agence France-Presse was used in this report.   …

PARIS — Major world leaders are meeting for an AI summit in Paris, where challenging diplomatic talks are expected as tech titans fight for dominance in the fast-moving technology industry. Heads of state, top government officials, CEOs and scientists from around 100 countries are participating in the two-day international summit from Monday. High-profile attendees include U.S. Vice President JD Vance, on his first overseas trip since taking office, and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing. “We’re living a technology and scientific revolution we’ve rarely seen,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday on national television France 2. France and Europe must seize the “opportunity” because AI “will enable us to live better, learn better, work better, care better and it’s up to us to put this artificial intelligence at the service of human beings,” he said. Vance’s debut abroad The summit will give some European leaders a chance to meet Vance for the first time. The 40-year-old vice president was just 18 months into his time as Ohio’s junior senator when Donald Trump picked him as his running mate. Vance was joined by his wife Usha and their three children — Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel — for the trip to Europe. They were greeted on French soil Monday morning by Manuel Valls, the minister for Overseas France, and the U.S. Embassy’s charge d’affaires, David McCawley. On Tuesday, Vance will have a working lunch with Macron, with discussions on Ukraine and the Middle East on the menu. Vance, like President Donald Trump, has questioned U.S. spending on Ukraine and the approach to isolating Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump promised to end the fighting within six months of taking office. Vance will attend later this week the Munich Security Conference, where he may meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Leaders in Europe have been watching carefully Trump’s recent statements on threats to impose tariffs on the European Union, take control of Greenland and his suggestion that Palestinians clear out Gaza once the fighting in the Israel-Hamas conflict ends — an idea that’s been flatly rejected by Arab allies. Fostering AI advances The summit, which gathers major players such as Google, Microsoft and OpenAI, aims at fostering AI advances in sectors like health, education, environment and culture. A global public-private partnership named “Current AI” is to be launched to support large-scale initiatives that serve the general interest. The Paris summit “is the first time we’ll have had … “High-stakes AI summit in Paris: World leaders, tech titans and challenging diplomatic talks” →

PARIS — Nearly all nations missed a UN deadline Monday to submit new targets for slashing carbon emissions, including major economies under pressure to show leadership following the U.S. retreat on climate change. Just 10 of nearly 200 countries required under the Paris Agreement to deliver fresh climate plans by Feb. 10 did so on time, according to a UN database tracking the submissions. Under the climate accord, each country is supposed to provide a steeper headline figure for cutting heat-trapping emissions by 2035, and a detailed blueprint for how to achieve this. Global emissions have been rising but need to almost halve by the end of the decade to limit global warming to levels agreed under the Paris deal. UN climate chief Simon Stiell has called this latest round of national pledges “the most important policy documents of this century.” Yet just a handful of major polluters handed in upgraded targets on time, with China, India and the European Union the biggest names on a lengthy absentee list. Most G20 economies were missing in action with the United States, Britain and Brazil — which is hosting this year’s UN climate summit — the only exceptions. The US pledge is largely symbolic, made before President Donald Trump ordered Washington out of the Paris deal. Accountability measure There is no penalty for submitting late targets, formally titled nationally determined contributions (NDCs). They are not legally binding but act as an accountability measure to ensure governments are taking the threat of climate change seriously. Last week, Stiell said submissions would be needed by September so they could be properly assessed before the UN COP30 climate conference in November. A spokeswoman for the EU said the 27-nation bloc intended to submit its revised targets “well ahead” of the summit in Belem. Analysts say China, the world’s biggest polluter and also its largest investor in renewable energy, is also expected to unveil its much-anticipated climate plan in the second half of the year. The United Arab Emirates, Ecuador, Saint Lucia, New Zealand, Andorra, Switzerland and Uruguay rounded out the list of countries that made Monday’s cut-off. The sluggish response will not ease fears of a possible backslide on climate action as leaders juggle Trump’s return and other competing priorities from budget and security crises to electoral pressure. Ebony Holland from the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development said the US retreat was “clearly a … “Almost all nations miss UN deadline for new climate targets” →

LONDON — The Church of England’s elected governing body will gather Monday at a time of “unprecedented crisis” following a number of sexual abuse scandals. The meeting of the General Synod will see members debate the Makin Review, a damning report which set out a series of failings around a Christian camp leader and serial abuser, John Smyth. On Tuesday, a debate on a new way to handle safeguarding will also be held. The meeting comes a month after the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby stepped down as head of the world’s Anglicans over failures in the Church of England’s handling of the Smyth case. “There’s never been anything like this in our lifetime, because the Church is in an unprecedented crisis,” Synod member Ian Paul told the domestic PA news agency. Paul said “the crisis we’re facing now is a result of gradual erosion over years of trust and confidence and lack of openness, lack of transparency. “And suddenly the rafters, the rotten rafters, break, the roof collapses.” Paul was one of the people behind a petition last year calling on Welby to resign. Welby announced his resignation in November after an independent probe found that he “could and should” have formally reported decades of abuse by Church-linked lawyer Smyth to authorities in 2013. ‘Prolific’ abuser’ Smyth, who organized evangelical summer camps in the 1970s and 1980s, was responsible for “prolific, brutal and horrific” abuse of up to 130 boys and young men, according to the independent Makin Review. It concluded the Church of England — the mother church of Anglicanism — covered up the “traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks,” which occurred in Britain, Zimbabwe and South Africa over several decades. Stephen Cottrell, who became Archbishop of York in 2020, has temporarily replaced Welby while also tainted by scandal himself. In December, the 66-year-old faced calls to stand down over claims he mishandled a sexual abuse case during his time as the Bishop of Chelmsford, in southeastern England. Priest David Tudor remained in his post despite Cottrell knowing that the Church had banned him from being alone with children and had paid compensation to a sexual abuse claimant, the BBC reported. Cottrell has said he is “deeply sorry that we were not able to take action earlier” but defended his actions. In a fresh blow last month, the Bishop of Liverpool, John Perumbalath, said he was stepping down … “UK Anglicans meet after Church of England hit by scandals” →

Climate change is rapidly altering the Arctic region, creating environmental danger, economic opportunity and geopolitical tension as the world’s major powers scramble to control newly accessible shipping lanes and resource deposits. …

Berlin — Europe is prepared to respond “within an hour” if the United States levies tariffs against the European Union, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a pre-election debate with his conservative challenger Friedrich Merz. In the first duel ahead of the Feb. 23 election, Merz portrayed Scholz as a ditherer who had led Germany into economic crisis, while the Social Democrat presented himself as an experienced leader in command of the details. Asked if the EU was ready with a targeted response if the U.S. imposed tariffs, Scholz, well behind Merz in the polls, said, “Yes … We as the European Union can act within an hour.” U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to enact tariffs against the United States’ largest trading partners, accusing them of free-riding on American prosperity. Trade policy is an EU competence, run by the European Commission in Brussels. Trump and the far-right Alternative for Germany, endorsed by his confidante Elon Musk, overshadowed the debate. Merz, far ahead in the polls and the favorite to become Germany’s next chancellor, expressed reluctance to raise taxes or borrow to reach the NATO alliance’s defense spending target of 2% of gross domestic product, far short of the 5% Trump is demanding. When Scholz said that would not be enough, Merz signaled his openness to discuss scrapping Germany’s totemic spending cap — despite a manifesto pledge to keep the constitutional debt braked. The two clashed over the AfD, with Scholz warning that Merz could not be trusted not to govern with the party. Merz ruled that out, blaming what he called Scholz’s “left-wing” policies for fueling the far-right party’s rise to second in the polls. …

The presidents of Ukraine and the United States are looking to make a deal. This comes as world leaders meet later this week in Munich to discuss, among other issues, the future of Ukraine’s security. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. …

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday told soldiers, police and other law enforcement officials from around the world that armed force can only be used for legitimate defense and must always respect international law. The pontiff reappeared in public for the first time since he was diagnosed with bronchitis Thursday to celebrate an outdoor Jubilee Mass for the armed forces, police and security personnel. However, after a few words, he handed off his homily to an aide to read, saying he was having difficulty with his breath. “I would like to recall the teaching of the Church in this regard: The Second Vatican Council says that those who exercise their profession in the ranks of the army in the service of their homeland should consider themselves as servants of the security and freedom of their people,” Francis said in his final prayer. “This armed service must be exercised only for legitimate defense, never to impose dominion over other nations, and always observing international conventions regarding conflicts,” he added. The pontiff launched a new appeal for peace, citing conflicts around the world, including Ukraine, the Middle East, Myanmar and Sudan. “Let the weapons be silenced everywhere and let the cry of the people asking for peace be heard,” Francis said. Since being diagnosed with bronchitis Thursday, the pope had continued his activities and audiences indoors at Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican residence where he lives, until Sunday. Francis has long battled health problems including long bouts of bronchitis. He uses a walker or cane when moving around his apartment and recently fell twice, hurting his arm and chin. Speculation about the pope’s health is a constant in Vatican circles, especially after Pope Benedict XVI broke 600 years of tradition and resigned from the papacy in 2013. Francis has said that he has no plans to resign anytime soon, even if Benedict “opened the door” to the possibility. In his autobiography “Hope” released this month, Francis said that he hadn’t considered resigning even when he had major intestinal surgery. …

VILNIUS — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said on Sunday they had successfully synchronized their electricity systems to the European continental power grid, one day after severing decades-old energy ties to Russia and Belarus. Planned for many years, the complex switch away from the grid of their former Soviet imperial overlord is designed to integrate the three Baltic nations more closely with the European Union and to boost the region’s energy security. “We did it!,” Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said in a post on social media X. After disconnecting on Saturday from the IPS/UPS network, established by the Soviet Union in the 1950s and now run by Russia, the Baltic nations cut cross-border high-voltage transmission lines in eastern Latvia, some 100 meters from the Russian border, handing out pieces of chopped wire to enthusiastic bystanders as keepsakes. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, herself an Estonian, earlier this week called the switch “a victory for freedom and European unity.” The Baltic Sea region is on high alert after power cable, telecom links and gas pipeline outages between the Baltics and Sweden or Finland. All were believed to have been caused by ships dragging anchors along the seabed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia has denied any involvement. Poland and the Baltics deployed navy assets, elite police units and helicopters after an undersea power link from Finland to Estonia was damaged in December, while Lithuania’s military began drills to protect the overland connection to Poland. Analysts say more damage to links could push power prices in the Baltics to levels not seen since the invasion of Ukraine, when energy prices soared. The IPS/UPS grid was the final remaining link to Russia for the three countries, which re-emerged as independent nations in the early 1990s at the fall of the Soviet Union, and joined the European Union and NATO in 2004. The three staunch supporters of Kyiv stopped purchases of power from Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but have relied on the Russian grid to control frequencies and stabilize networks to avoid outages. …

PRISTINA, KOSOVO — Kosovars cast their votes Sunday in a parliamentary election considered a key test for Prime Minister Albin Kurti as talks on normalizing ties with rival Serbia remain stalled and foreign funding for one of Europe’s poorest countries in question. Kurti’s left-wing Vetevendosje, or Self-Determination Movement Party, is seen as the front-runner but is not expected to win the necessary majority to govern alone, leaving open the possibility the other two contenders join ranks if he fails to form a Cabinet. The other challengers are the Democratic Party of Kosovo, or PDK, whose main leaders are detained at an international criminal tribunal at The Hague accused of war crimes, and the Democratic League of Kosovo, or LDK, the oldest party in the country that lost much of its support after the death in 2006 of its leader, Ibrahim Rugova. The parties made big-ticket pledges to increase public salaries and pensions, improve education and health services, and fight poverty. However, they did not explain where the money would come from, nor how they would attract more foreign investment. Ties with Serbia remain a concern Kurti has been at odds with Western powers after his Cabinet took several steps that raised tensions with Serbia and ethnic Serbs, including the ban on the use of the Serbian currency and dinar transfers from Serbia to Kosovo’s ethnic Serb minority that depends on Belgrade’s social services and payments. The U.S., the European Union and the NATO-led stabilization force KFOR have urged the government in Pristina to refrain from unilateral actions, fearing the revival of inter-ethnic conflict. This is the first time since independence in 2008 that Kosovo’s parliament has completed a full four-year mandate. It is the ninth parliamentary vote in Kosovo since the end of the 1998-99 war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists that pushed Serbian forces out following a 78-day NATO air campaign. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence. The vote will determine who will lead the Kosovo in negotiations with Serbia, which stalled again last year. Some aid funds are suspended The EU has suspended funding for some projects and set conditions for their gradual resumption, linked to Kosovo taking steps to de-escalate tensions in the north, where most of the Serb minority lives. Kosovo is also suffering after Washington imposed a 90-day freeze on funding for different projects through the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has … “Kosovo votes for new parliament as foreign aid dwindles and talks with Serbia are stalled” →

GRANADA, SPAIN — Narco-musical Emilia Perez won best European film at Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars on Saturday, after social media posts by the movie’s star prompted a backlash in the middle of awards season.  The mostly Spanish-language musical tells the story of a Mexican drug cartel boss who transitions to life as a woman and turns her back on crime. Before the scandal broke, the film earned 13 Oscar nods, picked up four Golden Globes in January and won multiple prizes at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. But old social media posts by star Karla Sofia Gascon, in which she denigrates Islam, China and African American George Floyd, unleashed a scandal that has harmed her reputation and the film. Voting for the Goya awards closed on Jan. 24, days before the posts were uncovered. Spaniard Gascon, the first transgender woman nominated for an Oscar for best actress, has apologized for her posts and distanced herself from publicity for the film. She lives near Madrid but did not attend the Goya awards ceremony in Granada. The movie’s French director Jacques Audiard has called the posts “inexcusable” and “absolutely hateful.”  …