BLOGONITY

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” →

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis kicked off the 2025 Holy Year on Tuesday, inaugurating a celebration of the Catholic Church that is expected to draw some 32 million pilgrims to Rome in a test of the pope’s stamina and the ability of the Eternal City to welcome them.  From his wheelchair, Francis knocked a few times, and the great Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica swung open. He was wheeled across the threshold as bells tolled across Rome and the choir inside the basilica began Christmas Eve Mass.  In his homily, Francis said the Holy Year is an opportunity to relieve the debt of poor countries and commit to protecting the planet. The aim of the Jubilee, he said, is “to bring hope to the interminable, dreary days of prisoners, to the cold and dismal lodgings of the poor and to all those places desecrated by war and violence.”  The ceremony inaugurated the once-every-25-year tradition of a Jubilee, in which the Catholic faithful make pilgrimages to Rome.  Francis has dedicated the 2025 Jubilee to the theme of hope, and he will underscore that message when he opens a Holy Door on Thursday at Rome’s Rebibbia Prison in a bid to give inmates hope for a better future. Francis has long incorporated prison ministry into his priestly vocation and has made several visits to Rebibbia and other prisons during his travels.  Security around the Vatican was at its highest levels following the Christmas market attack last week in Germany, the Interior Ministry said.  Italian authorities were using extra police patrols and camera surveillance around Rome, while pilgrims faced metal detectors and other security checks to access St. Peter’s Square via a reinforced police barricade passage.  Francis, who turned 88 last week, went into the Christmas week and Jubilee launch with a cold that forced him to deliver his weekly Sunday blessing from indoors. But he appeared in fine form Tuesday night. His health and stamina, already compromised because of his tendency to get bronchitis, are a concern given the rigorous calendar of events during the Holy Year.  One of the highlights will be the canonization of the teenage internet whiz Carlo Acutis, considered the first millennial and digital-era saint, during the Jubilee dedicated to adolescents in April.  This week, Francis also delivers his annual “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) speech on Christmas Day from the loggia of St. … “Pope Francis kicks off year-long Jubilee that will test his stamina, Rome’s patience” →

The Hague, Netherlands — An Amsterdam district court on Tuesday sentenced five men to up to six months in prison for violence that erupted around a UEFA Europa League football match between the Dutch club Ajax and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv in November. The riots, which caused an international outcry and accusations of deliberate antisemitic attacks, left five people in the hospital and 20 others with minor injuries. More than 60 people were detained. The court on Tuesday sentenced one man to 6 months in prison, another to 2 1/2 months and two to 1 month in jail. A fifth defendant received 100 hours of community service. A series of violent incidents took place between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soccer fans around the soccer match. Some of the violence was condemned as antisemitic, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offering to evacuate Maccabi supporters. The violence, which garnered headlines worldwide, damaged Amsterdam’s reputation as a beacon of tolerance and a haven for persecuted religions, including Jews. “It seems that the violence arose from strong pro-Palestine sentiments and dissatisfaction with the situation in Gaza, and related anger against the Israelis present,” the prosecutors’ office said in a statement at the conclusion of hearings two weeks ago. The five defendants, who are all Dutch residents and aged between 19 and 32, were accused of public violence, theft and assault. The November 8 game was allowed to go ahead after the Netherlands’ counterterror watchdog found there was no “concrete threat” to Israeli fans, and the match wasn’t considered a high risk. Even so, Amsterdam authorities banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the Johan Cruyff Arena. According to an investigation, the day before the game the authorities reported several incidents, including Israeli fans tearing a Palestinian flag from an Amsterdam building and attacking a taxi. Six more suspects will have their trials at a later date, including three minors. Under Dutch rules, proceedings for juveniles are held behind closed doors. Police are continuing to investigate the violence and have released images of several suspects they want to identify. …

Istanbul — An explosion at an ammunition factory in northwest Turkey left 11 dead and five injured Tuesday morning. The blast occurred in Balikesir province, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. The factory is in a rural area away from population centers. Balikesir Governor Ismail Ustaoglu said the explosion collapsed the capsule production building and the surrounding buildings had minor damage. “The explosion was due to a technical issue. There is no possibility of sabotage,” he added. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc wrote on social media platform X that public prosecutors have been assigned to investigate the cause. …

Prague — The list of sacrifices that Alesya Marokhovskaya has made to keep reporting on Russia from exile runs long: her home, her country, family, friends, culture, safety. This month alone, Russian authorities searched the home of the journalist’s parents in the eastern port town of Magadan and opened a criminal case against Marokhovskaya for violating Russia’s foreign agent law. When she spoke with VOA in Prague this fall, Marokhovskaya searched for words to explain why the sacrifices are worth it. Eventually, she settled on the Russian people. “They’re poisoning Russians,” she said, explaining how she views Kremlin propaganda. “Information in our world is one of the most important things, and I am completely against manipulating people’s minds.” As editor-in-chief of the exiled Russian investigative outlet IStories, breaking through propaganda to bring ordinary Russians the truth is Marokhovskaya’s core focus. But in doing so, Marokhovskaya and her team face legal threats and surveillance, even while based in Prague. Marokhovskaya had not planned to leave Russia, even when Moscow declared the journalist a so-called foreign agent in 2021. Instead, the reporter followed the strict rules that accompany the designation. For months, she labeled all of her social media posts — even ones that were photos of her dog — as the work of a so-called foreign agent, and she submitted financial reports to the Justice Ministry. “It was really humiliating,” Marokhovskaya said. But she followed the rules because she wanted to keep reporting from inside Russia. “For me, it was important to stay in Russia as long as I could. Because I was thinking there is no way to be a Russian journalist not inside Russia,” Marokhovskaya said. But when Russia invaded Ukraine, Marokhovskaya said it became clear that Moscow would ramp up its persecution of independent journalists. Soon after, she and many of her colleagues at IStories fled for the Czech capital of Prague. At the time, Marokhovskaya worried the relationship between IStories and its primary audience inside Russia wouldn’t survive the distance. “It was our fear to become media for immigrants. We want to be media for Russians [inside Russia] in the first place,” Marokhovskaya said. But IStories survived. “I still have this fear, but now I see we can work in such circumstances.” Marokhovskaya has worked for IStories, or “Important Stories,” since it was founded in 2020. In September, at the age of 29, she became the outlet’s editor-in-chief. … “People in Russia ‘need the truth,’ says journalist who sacrificed home and security to keep reporting” →