Орбан привітав Путіна з переобранням і відзначив співпрацю Угорщини та РФ

Віктор Орбан зазначив, що співпраця між Угорщиною та Росією «дозволяє проводити важливі дискусії навіть у складних геополітичних умовах»

Russian Court Rejects Lawsuit by Navalny’s Mother Claiming Poor Medical Treatment by Prison

Австрія проти використання на зброю для України прибутків від активів РФ – канцлер

Канцлер країни вважає, що доходи від російських активів, заморожених у Європейському союзі, варто використовувати для відновлення України

Partner of Russian Businessman Accused of Violating Sanctions May Also Be In Violation

Зеленський закликав ЄС до «прогресу» у використанні російських заморожених активів

21 березня лідери Європейського союзу зібралися на дводенний саміт, на якому обговорять продовження підтримки України на тлі російської агресії

Там була визначена доля України і Києва – Зеленський під час вшанування полеглих у битві за Мощун

«Тоді вдалося не просто не пустити російську армію в Київ. Тоді всім у світі стало очевидно, якими є українці та що таке путінська Росія»

П’ять країн ЄС закликали Єврокомісію заборонити імпорт зерна з Росії та Білорусі – звернення

Частина російського імпорту може включати вкрадене зерно з окупованих територій України, вказано у повідомленні

Australia Signs Security Accord with Britain  

Sydney — Australia and the United Kingdom signed a new defense and security cooperation agreement Thursday that deepens the strategic relationship between the two nations, makes it easier for their defense forces to operate together in each other’s countries, and boosts a fledgling nuclear-powered submarine program with the United States.

Australia has said the new security and defense treaty updates its longstanding relationship with Britain “to meet contemporary challenges.”

Australia Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a statement that as “the world becomes more complex and uncertain, we must modernize our most important relationships.”

The new accord signed Thursday builds on the 2021 AUKUS alliance, which is designed to allow Australia to build a new multibillion-dollar fleet of nuclear-powered submarines with help from the United States and Britain.

Marles later told reporters in Canberra that a far-reaching pact with Britain was fundamental to Australia’s national security.

“It does reflect a relationship that has become much more strategic, a relationship which has a much bigger national security dimension,” he said. “To that end, the U.K. has a much greater presence in the Indo-Pacific than we have seen in a very long time. We also spoke today about AUKUS, which is, perhaps, at the heart of the contemporary strategic relationship between our two countries.”

Britain’s defense minister, Grant Shapps, is in Australia for the annual Australia-U.K. Ministerial (AUKMIN) meetings, which were first held in 2006. Officials said bilateral talks would also include support for Ukraine, peace in the Middle East, gender-based violence in the Pacific, climate change and trade.

The defense treaty signed Thursday includes provisions to make it easier for Australian and British forces to work together in each other’s countries, much like the joint training of Ukrainian troops in Britain. There will also be closer collaboration on undersea warfare, intelligence and military exercises.

Shapps told a news conference in Canberra that the treaty would enhance global efforts to maintain peace.

“We stand shoulder-to-shoulder in all of these many, many different ways, and the thing which has struck me most in my first few hours with you here today is the extent to which distance is absolutely no object to us at all because we stand united in our view of the world and what needs to be done and we are proactive nations that are prepared to stand up and make sure that we do maintain the world order,” he said.

The announcement of the new defense accord between Canberra and London comes a day after Australia hosted a visit by China’s most senior diplomat, the foreign minister Wang Yi.

Analysts have said that China’s increasing assertiveness is a key motivation behind the trilateral AUKUS agreement, but China has accused Australia, Britain and the United States of a “Cold War mentality,” saying the alliance was embarking on a “path of error and danger.”

Thursday, the Canberra government has also announced a new multi-million-dollar deal to send army vehicles to Germany. In one of the biggest defense export deals in Australian history, 100 Boxer armored vehicles will be sent to the German army.

Russia Targets Kyiv in Aerial Attack

ISW: кілька чинників свідчать, що Росія готується до конфлікту з НАТО швидше, ніж припускали на Заході

За припущенням Інституту, таке протистояння можливе «не негайно, але, можливо, у коротші строки, ніж раніше припускали деякі західні аналітики»

Ukrainians See Putin’s Reelection as Another Sign War Won’t End Soon

Like many people around the world, Ukrainians were not surprised by what was reported as President Vladimir Putin’s landslide victory in the Russian elections. Many see the outcome as another sign the war in Ukraine will not end anytime soon. For VOA, Anna Chernikova reports from Kyiv. Videography: Vladyslav Smilianets.

Найбільшою загрозою для безпеки Чехії є нинішній режим Росії – парламент

У документі зазначається, що в інтересах Чехії є «незалежна, демократична і вільна Україна, надійно посилена в міжнародних структурах»

Шмигаль: Україна отримала від Канади 1,5 млрд доларів США – ці кошти допоможуть фінансувати соціальні програми

Ці кошти допоможуть фінансувати допоможуть українському уряду фінансувати дефіцит

Irish Prime Minister Says He’s Quitting

LONDON — Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who made history as his country’s first gay and first biracial leader, announced Wednesday that he is stepping down for reasons that he said were both personal and political.

Varadkar announced Wednesday he is quitting immediately as head of the center-right Fine Gael party, part of Ireland’s coalition government. He’ll be replaced as prime minister in April after a party leadership contest.

“My reasons for stepping down now are personal and political, but mainly political,” Varadkar said, without elaborating. He said he plans to remain in parliament as a backbench lawmaker and has “definite” future plans.

Varadkar, 45, has had two spells as taoiseach, or prime minister — between 2017 and 2020, and again since December 2022 as part of a job-share with Micheál Martin, head of coalition partner Fianna Fáil.

He was the country’s youngest-ever leader when first elected, as well as Ireland’s first openly gay prime minister. Varadkar, whose mother is Irish and father is Indian, was also Ireland’s first biracial taoiseach.

He played a leading role in campaigns to legalize same-sex marriage, approved in a 2015 referendum, and to repeal a ban on abortion, which passed in a vote in 2018.

“I’m proud that we have made the country a more equal and more modern place,” Varadkar said in a resignation statement in Dublin.

Varadkar was first elected to parliament in 2007 and once said he’d quit politics by the age of 50.

He led Ireland during the years after Britain’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union. Brexit had huge implications for Ireland, an EU member that shares a border with the U.K.’s Northern Ireland. U.K.-Ireland relations were strained while hardcore Brexit-backer Boris Johnson was U.K. leader but have steadied since the arrival of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Varadkar recently returned from Washington, where he met President Joe Biden and other political leaders as part of the Irish prime minister’s traditional St. Patrick’s Day visit to the United States.

Varadkar also has expressed frustration at how polarized politics has become in Ireland, as in other countries.

There have been reports of discontent within Fine Gael, and 10 of the party’s lawmakers, almost a third of the total, have announced they will not run for reelection.

Earlier this month, voters rejected the government’s position in referendums on two constitutional amendments. Changes backed by Varadkar that would have broadened the definition of family and removed language about a woman’s role in the home were resoundingly defeated. The result sparked criticism that the pro-change campaign had been lackluster and confusing.

Even so, his resignation was not widely expected. Martin, the current deputy prime minister, said he’d been “surprised, obviously, when I heard what he was going to do.”

“But I want to take the opportunity to thank him sincerely,” Martin said. “We got on very well.”

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said he didn’t think the referendum results were “the key factor” in Varadkar’s decision.

“I think there is a gap before the local and European elections (in June) and that timing probably influenced him more than the referendum,” Ryan said.

Martin said Varadkar’s resignation should not trigger an early election, and the three-party coalition government that also includes the Green Party would continue.

Varadkar said he knew his departure would “come as a surprise to many people and a disappointment to some.”

“I know that others will, how shall I put it, cope with the news just fine – that is the great thing about living in a democracy,” he said. “There’s never a right time to resign high office. However, this is as good a time as any.”

Russia Donates Fertilizer, Grain to Zimbabwe

Harare, Zimbabwe — Russia donated 25,000 tons of grain and 23,000 tons of fertilizer to Zimbabwe to help combat the effects of El Nino-induced drought, which has dwindled crop yields in most parts of Southern Africa. 

President Emmerson Mnangagwa accepted the donation Wednesday, saying it would help alleviate the drought Zimbabwe is coping with and the targeted sanctions which the government has long blamed for the country’s economic doldrums. 

“Zimbabwe and the Russian Federation continue to be subjected to the heinous and illegal sanctions imposed by the hegemonic powers of the West,” he said. “Throughout the 23 years of sanctions against Zimbabwe, the Russian Federation has been a true, trusted and dependable ally of the people of this country.” 

The president added that it should be no surprise that two countries who are the subject of sanctions talk to each other and try to work together. 

Western countries slapped travel and financial sanctions on Zimbabwe’s leadership and affiliated companies in the early 2000s for alleged election rigging and human rights abuses.  

The U.S. recently removed sanctions on most Zimbabweans, but a few prominent figures — including Mnangagwa — remain on the list. 

Meanwhile, Russia and its president Vladimir Putin were hit with sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago. 

On Wednesday, the Russian ambassador to Harare, Nikolai Krasilnikov, said the donated fertilizers would aid Zimbabwe’s agricultural production. 

“It is a commitment made by Russia to continue to support states and regions in need to do its utmost to prevent a global food crisis through participation in establishing a more equitable system for the distribution of resources,” Krasilnikov said. “And let us not forget that food security cannot [be achieved] without fertilizers, as they ensure growth, resilience and productivity of agricultural crops.”  

However, the fertilizers may not work in Zimbabwe’s current growing season, as most crops have been dried out by a lack of rain. 

In an interview, Alexander Rusero, an international relations professor at Africa University, said he was not surprised by Russia’s donations to Zimbabwe. 

“Zimbabwe does not have an ambivalent foreign policy with regards to Russia,” Rusero said. “Its position in terms of its interaction with Russia [is] very clear. Zimbabwe is on the side of Russia at whatever cost so it is not surprising. I wouldn’t know why it looks like a surprise that Zimbabwe has received some gift from Russia. And remember, these are fulfillments of pledges already made some time ago.” 

Zimbabwe’s electoral commission sent a mission to Moscow to observe the Russian elections this week in which Putin won another six-year term. At a press conference in Moscow, commission chair Priscilla Chigumba declared the elections to be credible. 

“We found the general atmosphere to be conducive for elections, the mood was relaxed and cheerful as people were exercising their right to vote,” Chigumba said. “It is our view that this is a clear sign of mature democracy in which elections are not perceived as life and death activity.”

The remarks drew wide criticism in Zimbabwe, given the way the electoral commission ran the country’s 2023 elections, which were plagued by irregularities and delays and were condemned by several observer missions, including from the Southern African Development Community.

Berlin Summons Iran Ambassador Over 2022 Synagogue Plot

BERLIN — Germany on Wednesday said it had summoned the Iranian ambassador over an attempted arson attack on a synagogue in 2022 that Berlin believes was planned with the help of Tehran. 

A German Iranian national was sentenced in December to two years and nine months in prison in the plot to attack a synagogue in the western German city of Bochum. 

The 36-year-old, identified only as Babak J., had planned to target the synagogue but ended up throwing an incendiary device at an adjacent school building. No one was injured. 

In handing down the verdict, the Duesseldorf court said the attack had been planned with the help of “Iranian state agencies.” 

The foreign ministry on Wednesday said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that it had summoned the Iranian envoy after receiving a written justification of the judgment. 

“We will now immediately share the judgment with our European partners and the EU institutions and examine further steps,” the ministry said. 

Germany also summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires in December over the plot. 

A summoning is a way for a nation to show high-level disapproval with another country. 

Germany has grown increasingly alarmed in recent years about rising anti-Jewish sentiment nearly eight decades after the end of the Holocaust. 

Anti-Semitic acts have increased sharply in the country amid the latest turmoil in the Middle East, according to the Federal Association of Research and Information Centers on Anti-Semitism. 

«Цілком конкретна розмова про спільні політичні результати, яких маємо досягти» – Зеленський про зустріч із радником Байдена

«Дуже змістовна, цілком конкретна розмова і про оборонну взаємодію, і про спільні політичні результати, яких маємо досягти» – Володимир Зеленський

«Вкотре почув безспірну тезу про двопартійну підтримку» – Єрмак після переговорів із Салліваном

Про це ж на спільному брифінгу в Києві сказав і радник президента США з національної безпеки Джейк Салліван

EU Looks to Increase Its Defense, Ukraine Support Against a Bellicose Russia

PARIS — European Union leaders meet Thursday in Brussels amid growing calls for Europe to drastically ramp up its defense spending and industry, as Russia gains ground in Ukraine and fears grow that Moscow will not stop there if it wins the war.  

The two-day summit will also address other contentious issues, including the war in Gaza, future EU members, and immigration. But Ukraine and boosting the bloc’s defense readiness top the agenda.  

Backdropping the meeting is a grim assessment from European Council President Charles Michel, urging EU member states to shift to a “war economy” mode, along with a growing sense that Europe must go it alone, at least for now, as billions of dollars in U.S. aid for Ukraine remains blocked in Congress.  

“If we do not get the EU’s response right, and do not give Ukraine enough support to stop Russia, we are next,” Michel warned in an opinion piece published in European media Monday. “If we want peace, we must prepare for war,” he added. 

“I think we are finally seeing that the EU is getting serious about defense,” Kristi Raik, deputy director for Estonia’s International Center for Defense and Security policy center, told BBC’s Newshour, reacting to Michel’s comments.

“There is a real risk that Ukraine might be defeated in this war,” she added. “And we all agree in Europe that this means that the threat of war coming to us is actually something real — and we need to prepare for that and prevent that from happening.”  

The wake-up call is being met with a flurry of proposals. At the summit, EU leaders will consider Michel’s suggestion to use billions of dollars in profits from frozen Russian assets to purchase more weapons for Ukraine. The measure, endorsed by many foreign ministers this week, will require unanimous consent to pass.  

More than a dozen EU members also signed a letter calling on the European Investment Bank to change its policy on defense investment, to allow items like munitions and weapons. Earlier this week, Brussels approved an additional $5.4 billion to support Ukraine’s military. And more than a dozen European countries have signed up to a Czech initiative to buy artillery shells for Ukraine outside the bloc, as a stopgap to the bloc’s lagging production.  

“Europe is waking up,” analyst Raik said.  

Can’t be weak 

Calls for sharply ramping up Europe’s defense preparedness have long sounded from Raik’s Estonia and other EU member states with proximity to Russia — and bitter memories of the Soviet empire. Now, they are increasingly being echoed by Western ones as well.  

Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron — who once warned against humiliating Russian President Vladimir Putin — sparked surprise and pushback by suggesting the EU might send Western forces to Ukraine. He stood by that suggestion last week, while noting it was not currently on the table. 

Russia’s war on Ukraine was “existential for our Europe and France,” Macron told French TV, warning a victory by Moscow would mean “we have no security.” To have peace in Ukraine, he added, “we must not be weak.”  

Respected French analyst Francois Heisbourg said the shift in Macron’s stance began months earlier, shaped by several factors. Among them: British and French cruise missiles, reportedly supplied to Kyiv, which helped to break Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports — Kyiv’s only big victory last year, he believes.  

Heisbourg also supports Macron’s ambivalence in not ruling out European boots on Ukraine’s soil.  

“We have to stop telling the Russians we’re not going to do this, and we’re not going to do that,” he said of the Europeans. “That is strategically unwise. You never give something for nothing in strategy.”  

While Germany has adopted a more cautious stance, it is still Ukraine’s second biggest military aid supplier, after the United States. On Tuesday, Berlin announced another $542 million in support for Ukraine, including shells, armored transport and vehicles — although it still balks at delivering long-demanded Taurus missiles.  

The two European heavyweights, along with many other EU NATO members, have also pledged to meet the alliance’s 2 percent GDP spending target this year, some for the first time.  

Europe must beef up its collective spending to 3 percent of GDP by 2030, Heisbourg believes, to prepare for a potential Russian invasion of an EU member state — and for a more “transactional” relationship with Washington, regardless of who becomes the next American president. U.S. presidential elections are set for November 5. 

After three decades of “moving back from the Cold War,” Europe now faces “a world of great power military confrontation” including in Asia and the Middle East, Heisbourg said. “And we are simply not prepared for that kind of war.”

Turkey Cracks Down on Organized Crime to Clean Up Image

Istanbul police are now using some of the world’s most expensive sports cars as part of Turkey’s new bid to crack down on organized crime. Ankara hopes to escape international scrutiny over money laundering as it works to attract foreign investors. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.

Папа Франциск закликав до переговорів про мир в Україні. Про «білий прапор» не говорив

Це перша заява понтифіка щодо війни в Україні відтоді, як його попереднє висловлювання на цю тему викликало різку критику в багатьох країнах

Україна передала план для Ukraine Facility на розгляд Єврокомісії – уряд

«Очікуємо, що у квітні він буде схвалений комітетом країн-членів ЄС. Після цього новий інструмент фінансування остаточно набере чинності» – Шмигаль

West Eyes New Measures After Passage of Hong Kong Security Law

Taipei, Taiwan — Hong Kong’s adoption of a second national security law Tuesday is being criticized by foreign governments, while some business figures say the law will hasten foreign businesses’ departure from the city.

The United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union expressed concern about the ambiguous language in the law and its speedy adoption, which was completed in less than two weeks.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned that the vague provisions in the bill, also known as Article 23, could lead to the criminalization of freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to receive and impart information, which are all rights protected under international human rights law.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department said passage of Article 23 could accelerate the closing of a once-open society, adding that the U.S. is analyzing the potential impact of the law.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the law has failed to “provide certainty for international organizations, including diplomatic missions” operating in Hong Kong, and it will foster “the culture of self-censorship” that is now dominating the social and political landscape in the city.

Apart from reiterating concerns about the law’s potential impact on Hong Kong people’s basic rights and freedom, the EU said the bill’s increased penalties, extraterritorial reach and partial retroactive applicability are “also deeply worrying.”

Despite the international criticism, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee hailed the passage of Article 23 as “a historic moment for Hong Kong,” while the Chinese government expressed “full support” of the development.

Rights activists call for sanctions

While they welcome the concerns expressed by foreign governments, some human rights activists urged democratic countries to respond with more forceful measures.

“With the enactment of the Article 23 legislation, now is the time to impose sanctions on officials like Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee,” said Benedict Rogers, the CEO of U.K.-based nongovernmental organization Hong Kong Watch.

Since Hong Kong implemented the controversial national security law and detained dozens of pro-democracy activists and politicians in 2020, the U.S. is the only country that has imposed sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials, 24 of them in all.

Rogers said since the U.K. doesn’t want to damage trade relations with China, the British government remains reluctant to impose sanctions on Chinese officials over the deteriorating conditions in Hong Kong.

“[While] they imposed sanctions on some Chinese officials over the human rights violations in Xinjiang, they haven’t done anything similar on Hong Kong,” he told VOA by phone.

While the U.S. has introduced some tools to counter China’s tightening control over Hong Kong — including sanctions, new legislation to ban the export of certain items to Hong Kong and the elimination of Hong Kong’s special status — some observers urged Washington to roll out more forceful measures following the passage of the Article 23.

“There’s a lot that Congress and the administration can do, including issuing additional sanctions against people responsible for the implementation of the two national security laws and advancing other existing legislations related to Hong Kong,” Samuel Bickett, a Washington-based human rights activist, told VOA by phone.

In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Thursday, leaders of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party urged him to consider imposing new sanctions against officials responsible for undermining freedom and rule of law in Hong Kong.

They also vowed to advance the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office Certification Act and the Transnational Repression Policy Act through Congress. Once passed, the two bills would require Hong Kong to shut down its trade offices in the U.S. and allow the U.S. government to impose sanctions against Chinese or Hong Kong officials responsible for launching transnational repression against dissidents in the U.S. 

Laws’ effect on immigration, business

Apart from adopting more forceful measures against the Hong Kong and Chinese governments, Bickett and Rogers think democratic countries should introduce new immigration measures to accommodate the growing number of Hong Kong citizens leaving the city. According to statistics from Bloomberg, around 500,000 people have left Hong Kong since 2021.

While the U.K. has introduced an immigration program for holders of British Overseas Passports from Hong Kong, which was recently extended to more young people, Rogers hopes other countries, including the U.S. and those in Europe, can create similar programs tailored for Hong Kongers.

“I would like to see the EU and the U.S. offer some options so Hong Kongers who don’t qualify for the U.K.’s immigration scheme can have alternative options,” he said.

Since the Article 23 legislation uses vague language to define espionage and theft of state secrets, some analysts say foreign businesses may face serious challenges when conducting due diligence investigations or seeking information.

“This could be a big blow to banks and financial institutions, and it will further discourage investors from coming to Hong Kong since access to information is now further restricted,” Eric Lai, an expert on Hong Kong’s legal system at Georgetown Center for Asian Law, told VOA by phone.

Some analysts say the growing uncertainty in the business environment would lead more foreign businesses to consider leaving Hong Kong.

“Article 23 will hasten the departure of international businesses unless the Hong Kong government quickly establishes guard rails constricting the operational boundaries of the new law,” Andrew Collier, managing director of Orient Capital Research, told VOA in a written response.

Єврокомісія виплатила Україні перші 4,5 млрд євро у рамках програми Ukraine Facility – Боррель

Голова зовнішньополітичного відомства Європейського союзу анонсував, що завтра Європейська рада обговорить, як прискорити вступ України до ЄС

Шмигаль у Брюсселі привітав попередню угоду в ЄС щодо митних пільг для українського експорту

Голова уряду очікує на схвалення Європарламентом погоджених домовленостей вже в квітні

Європарламент і Рада ЄС дійшли тимчасової угоди щодо подовження пільг для українського аграрного експорту

Водночас євродепутати «досягли жорстких зобов’язань від Комісії вжити заходів, якщо відбудеться сплеск українського імпорту пшениці»