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Lord Palmerston, who twice served as British prime minister in the 19th century, is quoted as having said the British “have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual.” A dramatic turn of events involving Britain’s ambassador in China serves to illustrate his point.  Caroline Wilson was criticized for showing too much deference to China in September of last year, immediately before she headed to Beijing to take up her post. UK Ambassador to China Stirs Uproar With Photo Seen as Promoting Xi JinpingBritish foreign ministry says it uses ‘engagement to raise matters on which the UK cannot agree or compromise with China’Six months later, Wilson is being applauded for standing up for a cherished democratic principle, even as she is singled out by her Chinese hosts for violating diplomatic protocol and lecturing national authorities. I stand by my article. No doubt the outgoing Chinese Ambassador to the UK stands by the 170+ pieces he was free to place in mainstream British media. https://t.co/AgkynfJM36— Caroline Wilson (@CWilson_FCDO) March 9, 2021“When the British ambassador to China, Caroline Wilson, called on her counterpart in London before taking up her posting to Beijing, I criticized the way she allowed Ambassador Liu Xiaoming to exploit the photo opportunity,” Roger Garside, himself a former British diplomat who twice served in Beijing, said in a written interview with VOA from his home in London.  Following that meeting, Wilson posted a photograph of herself with Liu in which the two diplomats held up what appeared to be a gifted book, the latest in a series of tomes laying out Chinese President Xi Jinping’s thoughts on governance.”So, if I now express my support for an action for which the Chinese Foreign Ministry has rebuked her,” Garside continued, “I cannot be accused of unthinkingly jumping to the defense of my government’s representative.”Garside, author of a forthcoming book on contemporary China, said his newfound admiration for Wilson grew out of “the way Ambassador Wilson posted on the embassy’s WeChat website a defense of the role of a free press in speaking truth to power, whether that power be the rulers of its own country or of a foreign nation.”  In her posting, Wilson noted that Beijing had expelled a record number of foreign journalists in 2020, apparently in the belief that their criticisms of the Chinese government showed a dislike of the country. But, she wrote, in countries like her own, media criticism of the government is viewed as something positive which is intended to help make the country better.  While Garside and other supporters found Wilson’s posting principled, “elegant and instructive,” Chinese state media reported that Wilson had been summoned by the Foreign Ministry, which described her comments as full of arrogance and bias and displaying “conduct gravely unbefitting that of a diplomatic representative.”For Benedict Rogers, co-founder of the British Conservative Party’s Human Rights Commission, the two incidents reflect less a change of heart by Wilson than an underlying dissonance that exists in all of Britain’s dealings with China.The contrasting episodes “symbolize the tension and the almost sort-of slightly schizophrenic approach of British policy toward China,” Rogers told VOA in a phone interview from London.Rogers sees the two incidents as evidence of the British government’s desire to be on good terms with China while not wanting to pretend that freedom of the press, freedom of expression and other core democratic values don’t matter.“I think it is one of the greatest debates of our time,” he said. The question, he added, “will be how much the government itself will be able to walk this tightrope of defending our values but at the same time preserving such a high priority on trade.”   This tension aside, Rogers said Wilson’s latest encounter in Beijing illustrates the reality of Beijing’s conduct with other governments.“Even though you’ve sort of tried to reach out to them and be almost a friend to them, when you say something they don’t like, no matter how respectful, even kowtowing before, they’re going to respond furiously,” Rogers said.
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Voters in the Netherlands are casting ballots Wednesday in the third and final day of the first European national election held during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his ruling People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy are expected to be reelected in voting that observers say is a referendum on the government’s handling of the pandemic.  
 
But Rutte, who is one of Europe’s longest-serving leaders after 10 years in office, saw his popularity slide in recent weeks after implementing an unpopular curfew to fight the spread of the coronavirus. Rutte also resigned in January after his tax officials falsely accused thousands of families of trying to scam childcare services. He is currently serving in a caretaker capacity.
 
Much like last year’s U.S. elections, the Dutch elections have been adapted for the coronavirus pandemic, with early voting for vulnerable people, and seniors allowed to vote by mail.
 
Rutte spoke with reporters Wednesday as he arrived at the polls on his bicycle. He said that as prime minister, he takes responsibility for the government’s pandemic response but said he has not talked as much about what to do next. “So, when we come out of this crisis, how to rebuild our economy and our companies, how to rebuild the health sector.”
 
Polls show Rutte’s VVD party with about 25 percent of the vote, which would give it slightly more than the current 32 of the 150 seats in parliament. His closest rival, far-right anti-immigration lawmaker Geert Wilders, is at about 13 percent.
 
With a record 37 parties taking part in the election, and 17 expected to garner enough votes to win at least one seat in parliament’s 150-seat lower house, forming coalitions in the government will be a tough and lengthy process. After the 2017 elections, coalition talks took seven months.
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A just-released assessment by U.S. intelligence officials finds Russia and Iran, joined by a handful of other countries and groups, did seek to influence the outcome of the November 2020 presidential election. But the assessment also concludes that, despite repeated warnings by a number of top officials, China ultimately decided to sit it out. The declassified report, issued Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, is the U.S. intelligence community’s final take on foreign meddling in the hotly contested race, in which then-presidential candidate Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump. FILE – A newspaper with a front picture of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is seen at a newsstand in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 8, 2020.Initially completed and shared with the Trump administration in a classified form in January, the unclassified version, required by law, seeks to give U.S. voters an overview of the threats and of their impact on American democracy.  While the assessment concludes no adversary managed to infiltrate critical systems or change how votes were cast, the conclusions on China could lead to new questions about how the intelligence was initially presented to the public. “We assess that China did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the US Presidential election,” the newly released ODNI report said, adding it had “high confidence” in its finding. “China sought stability in its relationship with the United States, did not view either election outcome as being advantageous enough for China to risk getting caught meddling, and assessed its traditional influence tools — primarily targeted economic measures and lobbying — would be sufficient to meet its goal of shaping U.S. China policy regardless of the winner,” the report stated. Earlier warnings Those findings contrast with earlier warnings from intelligence officials who spent months warning voters of the potential threats, specifically calling out efforts by China along with Russia and Iran. “China is expanding its influence efforts to shape the policy environment in the United States, pressure political figures it views as opposed to China’s interests, and counter criticism of China,” then National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director FILE – Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe waits on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Dec. 12, 2020.In August, then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe grouped China with Russia and Iran in an interview with Fox Business News. “I don’t want to say this is only about China,” Ratcliffe said at the time. “China, Russia, Iran, other actors, are all trying to interfere or influence our elections for their own gain.” He added, however, that Beijing’s efforts stood apart. “China’s using a massive and sophisticated influence campaign that dwarfs anything that any other country is doing,” Ratcliffe said.  Another top Trump official, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, echoed those thoughts less than a month later. “The intelligence community has made very clear, first you have China, which has the most massive program to influence the United States politically,” O’Brien told reporters at the time. White House Defends Trump’s Concerns About Mail-In Voting National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien defended the president’s warning of fraud while dismissing an intel bulletin that suggested Russia is using mail-in voting to sow confusion ahead of the November electionTrump, himself, also played up the notion China was seeking his defeat. “China would love us to have an election where Donald Trump lost to sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump said during a news conference last August. “They would own our country.” Declassified report In the newly declassified report, however, U.S. intelligence officials concluded Beijing did not use its well-developed influence machine to alter the results. “We did not identify China attempting to interfere with election infrastructure or provide funding to any candidates or parties,” the report said. It said Beijing had previously sought to influence U.S. politics, including in the 2018 U.S. elections. “We did not, however, see these capabilities deployed for the purpose of shaping the electoral outcome,” the report said. Report Puts Russia, China and Iran in Line for Sanctions for Election Meddling

        Voters who went to the polls last month in the United States' midterm elections can rest assured that their votes were registered and counted properly.However, a new report by the U.S. 

While stating it had high confidence in its findings regarding China, the ODNI report admitted there was some disagreement. “The National Intelligence Officer [NIO] for Cyber assesses that China took at least some steps to undermine former President Trump’s reelection chances, primarily through social media and official public statements and media,” it said, explaining the NIO gave more weight to indications that Beijing preferred Biden, seeing him as more predictable than Trump. The NIO also argued, with moderate confidence, that evidence suggested China increased its influence operations from June to August 2020, while calibrating its effort so as to “avoid blowback.” Still, several former intelligence officials who spoke to VOA about the ODNI report said its prevailing view in regard to China was not surprising. “[Former Director of National Intelligence] John Ratcliffe had the political mission of downplaying the whole Russian influence issue, with one way of doing that being to play up the idea that Chinese influence was at least as likely and significant as anything the Russians did,” said Paul Pillar, a former senior CIA officer who has been critical of Trump. Pillar, now with Georgetown University, said, in his view, the more notable conclusion from the ODNI report was how Russia sought to push Trump’s candidacy. FILE – Then-nominee for national intelligence director Avril Haines speaks during a confirmation hearing in Washington, Jan. 19, 2021. (Joe Raedle/Pool via AP)”Foreign malign influence is an enduring challenge facing our country,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said in a statement Tuesday.   “Addressing this ongoing challenge requires a whole-of-government approach grounded in an accurate understanding of the problem, which the Intelligence Community, through assessments such as this one, endeavors to provide,” she added. A separate report Tuesday, from the departments of Justice and Homeland Security, reaffirmed earlier findings that foreign adversaries failed to impact the tallying of ballots. “We … have no evidence that any foreign government-affiliated actor prevented voting, changed votes, or disrupted the ability to tally votes or to transmit election results in a timely manner; altered any technical aspect of the voting process; or otherwise compromised the integrity of voter registration information of any ballots cast during 2020 federal elections,” the report said. The second report also rejected claims made after the November 2020 U.S. election that foreign governments, including Venezuela, Cuba and China, were in any way in control of critical election infrastructure to manipulate the election’s outcome. Such claims “are not credible,” the Justice Department and DHS concluded. Some key lawmakers, though, reacted to the reports by warning it is more critical than ever for the U.S. to maintain its guard. “The problem of foreign actors trying to influence the American electorate is not going away,” Democratic Senator John Warner, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. “Given the current partisan divides in this country, [it] may find fertile ground in which to grow.” 
 
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The independent Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta has called on Moscow authorities to investigate a “chemical attack” against its premises after a security camera recorded a person spraying its office entrance with an unknown liquid.The media outlet, which shares the premises with several other companies in the Russian capital, demanded the investigation on March 16, a day after a strong chemical odor swept through the building. Late on March 15, a video allegedly taken by a CCTV camera  at the building circulated on the Internet showing a man in a Yandex.Food delivery uniform spraying an unknown liquid near the building’s entrance from a device on the back wheel of the bike he was riding.”Look, it is now a device for terrorist acts — a false courier sprays a poisonous gas that is in a container installed on a bicycle. The idea is clear: the employees step in the poison and then distribute it to all of the floors in the building,” Novaya Gazeta said in a statement.A spokeswoman at Yandex.Food told the website Mediazona that the company did not receive any orders from the address where Novaya Gazeta is located.Novaya Gazeta’s staff members have said the odor in the building was very similar to one that was present when the home and car of correspondent Yulia Latynina was sprinkled with an unknown chemical in 2017.That same year the newspaper received a letter with an unknown white powder inside, which later was shown to be harmless.In October 2018, unknown people brought three cages with sheep wearing vests with the inscription PRESS on them.Several days before that, unknown individuals threw a funeral wreath in front of the periodical’s building with notes threatening Denis Korotkov, a correspondent for the newspaper. Days later a sheep’s head was found near the office with a note threatening all reporters at Novaya Gazeta.Six Novaya Gazeta journalists, including well-known reporters Yury Shchekochikhin, Anna Politkovskaya, and Anastasia Baburova, have been killed since 2001. 
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It’s been two months (Jan. 18), since Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny returned home following a lengthy recovery abroad from a near fatal poisoning attack.  Navalny — and western governments — blame the Russian government for the attempt on his life — a charge the Kremlin denies.  Yet a Russian court has since sentenced Navalny to just over two and a-half years in prison for alleged past parole violations.  The question now: can Russia’s opposition thrive — or even survive — without its leading figure?  From Moscow for VOA, Charles Maynes reports.Camera: Ricardo Marquina, Agencies,  Produced by: Ricardo Marquina/Rob Raffaele   
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament Tuesday that his government will seek to strengthen ties with countries in the Indo-Pacific region in the wake of the nation’s departure from the European Union.The shift is part of his government’s so-called Integrated Review of national security and international policy, a year-long study by his government that he highlighted for lawmakers. Calling it the most comprehensive review of British defense and foreign relations since the Cold War ended, Johnson said its purpose is to make the nation safer, stronger and more prosperous, while standing up for its values.”The review describes how we will bolster our alliances, strengthen our capabilities, find new ways of reaching solutions and relearn the art of competing against states with opposing values,” he told members of parliament.As part of Britain’s pivot toward Asia, Johnson said he has invited the leaders of Australia, South Korea and India to attend the G-7 summit in the British resort town of Carbis Bay, in June. Johnson plans to visit India next month and announced that Britain has applied to become a dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He said Britain will also seek to join the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement.The prime minister said his plan calls for Britain to invest at least $9.1 billion to fund advanced and next-generation research and development in areas including space, directed energy weapons, and advanced high-speed missiles.To reaffirm that Britain is “unswervingly committed” to leadership in NATO, Johnson said the government will increase its defense budget by more than $33 billion over the next four years and remain the largest European spender on defense in NATO, with expenditures now standing at 2.2% of its gross domestic production. Britain will deploy more of its armed forces overseas more often and for longer periods of time, while cybersecurity will also be strengthened, he said.Johnson also told lawmakers the United States remains Britain’s most important bilateral relationship in defense, intelligence and security.He added that while China would pose a great challenge to what he described as Britain’s “open society,” his government would continue to work with Beijing whenever it was “consistent with our values and interests.”
 
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Europe’s medical regulator, the European Medicines Agency, will announce Thursday its findings on the safety of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine as more European Union countries suspend its use over fears it might be linked to blood clots. Critics say governments are putting politics over science.The European Medicines Agency’s executive director, Emer Cooke, said Tuesday that for now, the regulator stands behind its conclusion the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe, even as its experts conduct a thorough safety review.The AstraZeneca vaccine has been injected into millions of arms, with just a few reported cases of blood clots—and it’s uncertain if they’re linked to the shot.  “We need to have the facts first,” Cooke said. “We cannot come to a conclusion before we’ve done a thorough scientific analysis. And we owe it to the European citizens to deliver this clear and science-based response.”The medicines agency, or EMA, has also tapped international experts for its review, which will also look at whether certain specific batches could be problematic. Scientists will also look at chances of blood clots with other COVID-19 vaccines beyond AstraZenaca’s.”At present there is no evidence that vaccination has caused these conditions,” said Cooke. “They have not come up in clinical trial and they are not listed as known or expected side events with this vaccine.”  But increasingly, European Union governments are taking no chances. Sweden and Latvia are among the latest to join more than a dozen EU countries to temporarily halt their AztraZeneca rollouts.In France, which suspended the shot Monday, Health Minister Olivier Veran said he hoped the AstraZeneca vaccine campaign will quickly resume — pending a positive EMA ruling. Veran himself received the AstraZeneca inoculation and he told French citizens who have done likewise not to worry.The World Health Organization also recommends AstraZeneca, pending evidence to the contrary. Dozens of countries have authorized its use, although the United States has yet to do so. And AstraZeneca still has EU champions. Belgium, for example, argues suspending the vaccine’s rollout would be irresponsible.That’s also the view of many French medical experts. Dr. Jean-Paul Hamon, honorary president of the French doctor’s federation, told French TV the decision to suspend the vaccine’s use reflected political rather than medical considerations.  “National governments are afraid for safety concerns,” said Simona Guagliardo, an analyst at the Brussels-based European Policy Centre. “But at the same time, I’m not convinced that this is the right way to go about it.””I wonder what could be the damage in the public opinion,” she said. “People are already scared, and I fear that this might scare them off even more.”The vaccine suspensions couldn’t come at a worse time for the EU, with some member states hit by a third wave of the pandemic. Italy is again under lockdown. France and Germany may follow shortly.  And suspending the shot’s use may further delay the EU’s much-criticized vaccine rollout that sees the 27-member bloc lagging behind countries like the United States, Israel, Bahrain and even ex-member Britain—which has jabbed millions in the UK with the AstraZeneca shot. While acknowledging mistakes, EU officials also blame some of the problems on production delays by AstraZeneca itself.
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Britain’s Prince Philip left a London hospital on Tuesday after being treated for an infection and undergoing a heart procedure.
Philip, 99, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, had been hospitalized since being admitted to the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in London on Feb. 16, where he was treated for an infection.  
He was later transferred to a specialized cardiac care hospital, St. Bartholomew’s, for a short stay, before returning to King Edward VII’s.
Photographers standing outside the door of the private hospital captured his departure in the back of a black car. Buckingham Palace has not yet commented on the matter.
Philip’s illness is not believed to be related to the coronavirus. Both Philip and Elizabeth received COVID-19 vaccinations in January and chose to publicize the matter to encourage others to also take the vaccine.
Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, retired in 2017 and rarely appears in public. Before his hospitalization, he had been isolating at Windsor Castle, west of London, with the queen.
His illness comes as the royal family has been rocked by an interview with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry. In the explosive broadcast, Meghan, who is biracial, said the palace had failed to help her when she had suicidal thoughts and that an unidentified member of the royal family had raised “concerns” about the color of her baby’s skin when she was pregnant with her son, Archie.
The interview, conducted by Oprah Winfrey, divided people around the world. While many say the allegations demonstrate the need for change inside a palace that hasn’t kept pace with the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, others have criticized Harry and Meghan for dropping their bombshell while Philip was hospitalized.
The longest-serving royal consort in British history, Philip married the then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947. He and the queen have four children, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
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British lawmakers are set to vote Monday on whether misogyny constitutes a hate crime in the aftermath of the killing of a woman in London. Lawmakers are proposing an amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill, which would require police in both England and Wales to keep track of cases of violence motivated by misogyny. Set to be debated in the House of Lords, Britain’s upper parliamentary chamber, the amendment has cross-party support. “This is our moment for change,” said parliamentarian Stella Creasy of the Labor Party, who proposed the amendment. “Rather than telling women not to worry about violence or to stay home at night if they want to be safe, it’s time to send a message that women should be equally able to live free from fear of assault or harm from those who target them simply for who they are.” Labor Party parliamentarian Alicia Kennedy added that “this is a simple measure that we could take now to start making sure every woman is safer at home and on our streets.”  The change was inspired by the slaying of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, who was kidnapped and killed on her way home on March 3. Wayne Couzens, a police officer who has been charged with kidnapping and murder in her death, will appear in court Tuesday. FILE – A sign is seen as people gather at a memorial site in Clapham Common Bandstand, following the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard, in London, Britain, March 13, 2021.A September report from the British Law Commission concluded that misogyny should be treated in the same way as discrimination against other groups. In Britain, protections — that can carry harsher sentences — already exist for race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and transgender identity. The bill also has the support of conservative and cross-bench parliamentarians, as well as of human rights organizations such as Citizens U.K., U.N. Women U.K., and the Fawcett Society.  
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An investment deal between China and the European Union restricts Europeans from investing in Chinese media and entertainment companies but does not block Chinese firms from investing in European ones, according to newly released details.  Despite mounting alarm about Chinese disinformation and propaganda campaigns in Europe, the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment pact, announced Friday, gives Chinese firms a significant advantage in the media sector, critics say.  FILE – National security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Feb. 4, 2021.The deal, which was signed in principle in December, has drawn fire from Washington. Days before the agreement was struck, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan urged the Europeans to delay completing negotiations, calling in a tweet for “early consultation with our European partners on our common concerns about China’s economic practices.” Critics on both sides of the Atlantic say the deal will give China preferential access to European markets while Beijing continues to tamp down Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and maintain detention centers in Xinjiang province, where China’s Communist government has interned more than a million Uyghurs, according to rights groups. Growing criticismThe agreement still has several stages to go before adoption and needs to be ratified by the European Parliament. The rules governing investment access to the media and entertainment sector are quickly becoming the focus of criticism from some European lawmakers, mostly members of the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), the largest grouping in the European Parliament.  In a statement, the EPP has urged European commissioners to “develop an EU-wide regulatory system to prevent media companies either funded or controlled by governments to acquire European media companies.”  China has invested around $3.5 billion in European media firms in the past decade. EU officials say the investment deal is merely enshrining access rules that the bloc and China had agreed under World Trade Organization terms.  FILE – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet remotely, in Brussels, Dec. 30, 2020.The deal “does not create any new rights for the Chinese investors in (the) media sector,” according to a European Commission spokesperson. Under the terms, Chinese investors in media companies should be treated the same as European investors and enjoy similar market access. But the deal does not afford European investors the same rights. French lawmaker Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, a liberal in the European Parliament, has “even more questions than before,” since further details of the investment deal became public last week.  She said the EU is treating China as a partner, but Beijing is not reciprocating. Other lawmakers point to recent studies tracking Chinese influence that show when Chinese firms, mainly state-owned, invest in European media, China’s coverage of the new acquisitions turn more positive. In a study published last year, MapInfluenCE, a foreign policy research group operated by the Association for International Affairs, concluded that “local audiences in Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia have increasingly become direct targets of not only ‘mask diplomacy,’ but more complex propaganda efforts promote a positive image of China, strain transatlantic relations and directly attempt to rewrite narratives around sensitive issues.” Eleven member states, mostly central European, including Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, remain concerned about the deal and are reserving the right to treat Chinese investors differently.  Media restrictionsChina is a major trading partner for the EU. Over the past 20 years, European companies have invested $174 billion in China. The European Commission said the investment agreement will provide overall improved market access and fairer rules for European companies in China, investors and service providers.  FILE – European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis speaks at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, March 10, 2021.”The agreement provides a clear and enforceable framework of rules, which will give EU businesses greater access and more certainty when investing in China,” the bloc’s trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said in a statement last week. Critics of the deal say there is no level playing field when it comes to the media. China’s state-controlled CCTV channels are broadcast without hindrance across Europe, but restrictions are placed by China on European broadcasters.  Outside the EU, Britain and China have disagreed over the media. Last month, the Beijing government banned BBC World News after the channel ran a string of reports on accusations of systematic rape of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.  FILE – Britain’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Dominic Raab walks outside Downing Street in London, Britain, Feb. 3, 2021.British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the move an “unacceptable curtailing of media freedom.”  The U.S. State Department condemned the decision, calling it part of a wider campaign to suppress free media in China. China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) said BBC World News had “seriously violated” broadcast guidelines, including a “requirement that news should be truthful and fair” and not “harm China’s national interests.”  Earlier this year, British media regulator Ofcom revoked state broadcaster China Global Television Network’s (CGTN) license to broadcast in Britain. The details of the EU-China investment pact will likely add to the Biden administration’s dismay over the EU’s decision to advance the deal. U.S. President Joe Biden wants a “united front” when it comes to China to increase leverage on Beijing.  Analysts have warned for weeks that the EU and the Biden administration will not see eye to eye on the best ways to handle an increasingly assertive China. 
 
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This month marks the fifth anniversary of Turkey’s deal with the EU that expanded a mass exodus of refugees and migrants to Europe in exchange for aid. But as Dorian Jones reports for VOA from Ankara, the future of the deal is in question as Ankara calls for revisions to the agreement.
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Germany, France and Italy became the latest European countries to halt the rollout of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine Monday, as scientists investigated reports of possible adverse side effects among several people in Norway who received the injection. Norwegian officials said Saturday that one person had died from a brain hemorrhage and three others were hospitalized with blood clots shortly after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. “So far, we cannot speak to whether the cases are connected to the vaccine. But due to the seriousness of the cases, we are investigating thoroughly,” Sigurd Hortemo, chief physician at the Norwegian Medicines Agency, told reporters in Oslo. A woman receives the AstraZeneca vaccination at a drive-through site, in Milan, Italy, March 15, 2021.The World Health Organization (WHO) said the AstraZeneca drug is safe to use and urged countries to continue with their vaccination programs. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said Monday the decision to pause the rollout was a “purely precautionary measure. Millions of AstraZeneca vaccinations have been administered across the globe. All of us are very aware of the consequences of this decision, and we did not take this decision lightly,” Spahn told a press conference in Berlin. French President Emmanuel Macron said the suspension would be lifted as soon as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave its approval.  “The decision, which has been taken out of precaution, in conformity with our European policy, is to suspend, by precaution, vaccinating with the AstraZeneca vaccine in the hope that we can resume quickly if the EMA gives the green light,” Macron told reporters Monday. A pharmacist administers the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to a patient in a pharmacy in Roubaix, France, March 15, 2021.The suspension appears to be further undermining confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine among the European public. Germany and France had already been accused of fueling skepticism after recommending in January that the drug not be given to people over 65, a position both governments later reversed. “I would not have taken (the AstraZeneca vaccine) myself,” 77-year-old Dutch citizen Marja Vestrik told Reuters on Monday, “though I think it’s going to be all right in the end. If I had the choice, I wouldn’t take AstraZeneca.” Other countries outside Europe have also paused AstraZeneca vaccinations, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia. AstraZeneca supportWHO said there is no evidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine causes blood clots and urged countries to continue using it. Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, a clinical scientist, said that all the vaccines approved by WHO had excellent safety records.  “Of the 330 million vaccines doses that have been deployed, we are not aware of any one confirmed COVID vaccine-related death. There have been deaths following vaccination in people, but people die of diseases every day,” Swaminathan said at a virtual press conference Monday. FILE – Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks with a man waiting to receive an Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, during his visit at a vaccination center at Cwmbran Stadium in Cwmbran, south Wales, Britain, Feb. 17, 2021.AstraZeneca insisted Monday that the vaccine is safe and echoed WHO’s view that there is no evidence of a link to blood clots. Out of the 17 million people in Europe who have received its vaccine, AstraZeneca says fewer than 40 have developed blood clots, which health experts say is a lower rate than in the general population. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave his support to the AstraZeneca vaccine Monday, which was developed in conjunction with the University of Oxford.  “We have one of the toughest and most experienced (medicine) regulators in the world. They see no reason at all to discontinue the vaccination program for any of the vaccines that we’re currently using,” Johnson said. The AstraZeneca vaccine is a key pillar of many countries’ mass inoculation programs. It is relatively cheap and does not need to be stored at ultra-low temperatures, so it is seen as particularly suitable for less well-funded health systems, especially in parts of Africa. FILE – Dr. Ngong Cyprian, left, is the first Nigerian to receive the first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine at the National Hospital Abuja, Nigeria, March 5, 2021.Nigerian health workers began to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine Friday.  “We don’t believe that this information is a reason for us to slow down our COVID-19 vaccination response,” Lagos State Health Commissioner Akin Abayomi said Friday. Vaccine skepticismScientists fear the halt in vaccinations could affect global confidence in the vaccines.  “It clearly has to be investigated. I think the big concern, though, is that we do know that, especially at a time when the disease is still actually very common and increasing across a number of European countries, that ultimately any delay in vaccinations will lead to more severe cases and more deaths,” Paul Hunter, a professor at the Norwich School of Medicine, told VOA in an interview Monday. “It will make it more difficult for people to accept the vaccine. It will put people off. And if it does that, as it almost certainly will, it will lead to more people getting ill, more people getting severely ill and more people dying.” Hunter added that investigations into reported side effects could have unintended consequences.  “As soon as you start worrying about a particular adverse outcome, then more people are likely to report that outcome. And you can actually almost generate a false impression of an epidemic purely because of increased reporting, because people have heard this sort of thing on the news,” he said. The AstraZeneca vaccine has just received official approval in Brazil, one of the countries worst hit by the pandemic. It has yet to be authorized for use in the United States, as regulators await the results of Phase 3 trials, expected in the next few weeks. 
 
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