European Union

No Picture

Afghanistan, European Union, European Union, foreign correspondents, foreign news coverage, France, France, Germany, human rights, Netherlands, Taliban October 28, 2021

Afghanistan today, October 28, 2021

Stroobants and Follorou report on divisions within the EU regarding the reestablishment of an EU presence in Kabul. Josep Borrell, the EU High Commisioner for Foreign Affairs, has announced the UE is sending a small group of technical experts to discuss humanitarian aid, stressing that its action in no way implies any kind of recognition of the Taliban government.

Borrell favors opening a diplomatic office to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid and the departure Afghans who are in danger. Germany and the Netherlands support this approach. The Germans are even considering reopening their embassy in Kabul.

France and Denmark are critical of this approach, arguing that even humanitarian assistance will help the Taliban stabilize the situation in the country without acceding to the EU’s conditions that they respect human rights in order to receive such assistance.

Read More
No Picture

2016 U.S. Presidential election, Donald Trump, elections, European Union, France, Germany, History, Impeachment, International Law, OSCE, Rule of Law, Russia, sanctions, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, Trump and Putin, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin October 6, 2019

What’s behind Trump’s pressure on Zelensky to work things out with Putin

What’s behind President Trump’s pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to get together with Vladimir Putin and “solve your problem”? President Trump: And I really…

No Picture

Crimea, Donald Trump, European Union, International Law, Russia, sanctions, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, Trump and Putin, Trump-Putin meeting, U.N. Charter, U.S. Congress, U.S. Constitution, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin July 25, 2018

Text of Crimea Declaration and Pompeo Testimony: U.S. finally states it will never recognize Russian annexation of Crimea

First Hints of Congressional Oversight Produce Significant Shift in U.S. Policy Towards Russia The Senate is to hold a series of hearings on different aspects…

No Picture

Crimea, Dimming Vision of World Affairs, Donald Trump, elections, European Union, History, International Law, Russia, sanctions, State Department Legal Adviser, Trump and Putin, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, use of force, Vladimir Putin June 8, 2018

Trump promotes Putin at G-7: Payoff for intervention in U.S. elections

OUR VALUES: Truth Integrity Decency Character Facts Science Law Freedom
Vladimir Putin launched a massive attack on the American electoral system in 2016, to help elect Donald J. Trump
as President of the United States. Among his goals were that of getting the U.S. and European sanctions lifted.
Since then Trump has taken a number of actions favorable to Moscow, and failed to take actions he should have in opposition to Russian aggression.

Now, at the G-7 in Montreal on June 8, 2018, he has proposed reādmitting Russia to the G-7 group of leading economic powers. Russia was expelled from the group (then known as the G-8) following its invasions of the Ukraine.
We may now expect Donald Trump, who has once again shown his pro-Russian colors, to further Putin’s agenda by seeking to relax U.S. and European sanctions against Russia.
When Trump or Putin speaks of abandoning “the old liberal international order”, it should be clear, they are arguing for abandoning the international legal order based on the U.N. Charter and the prohibition of the international use of force.

No Picture

Donald Trump, elections, European Union, History, human rights, NATO, propaganda, State Department, United States May 24, 2017

The Normalization of the Unforgivable — Trump and an America which is already half lost

With Donald Trump, we have been witnessing the normalization of the unforgiveable.

The rise of an authoritarian leader in the United States, who through outrageous lies, thuggish behavior, and the assistance of a large-scale Russian intervention in the 2016 elections, became President, would be great material for a movie but in fact be unbelievable, unless of course it actually happened.

During his campaign in 2016, the transition, and now his four months in office, Donald Trump has erased the boundaries of the impermissible, the unthinkable, and the very concept of the truth itself.

Now, in 2017, we can for perhaps the first time in many decades understand what happened after 1932 with the rise of the National Socialist Parry and its leader in Germany.
…
Each day they chip away a little more at our concepts of the truth, of decency, and of the bulwarks against authoritarian behaviors that exist in a democracy.
We are desensitized. The outrage is drained from our souls. We begin to make excuses for Trump and his rhinoceri.
We begin to acquiesce.

No Picture

2016 U.S. Presidential election, Dictatorship, European Union, France, NATO, Russia, sanctions, State Department, Ukraine, United States, Vladimir Putin March 26, 2017

Putin threatens life of leading opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, then arrrests him and others at demonstrations in Russia — Meanwhile, Tillerson is racing to Moscow

When the life of the leading opposition figure in Russia is directly threatened, we may safely assume that the action did not occur without the knowledge and direction of Russia’s all-powerful dictator, Vladimir Putin.

On March 19, 2017, Alexsei Navalny, that opposition leader, was attacked with a green chemical that turned ut to be benign. Following the recent assassination in Malaysia of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, by having a deadly chemical smeared on him, the threat and the lesson for Navalny could not have been clearer: Next time it could be a deadly chemical. Putin in the past has demonstrated that Russia has great mastery and experience in this area.

No Picture

Barack Obama, Crimea, Crimes Against Humanity, Dimming Vision of World Affairs, Donald Trump, European Union, Hillary Clinton, History, human rights, International Law, propaganda, Russia, sanctions, Soviet Union, syria, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes February 24, 2017

REPRISE: Syria: Russia’s military assault on Western civilization

First published on September 26, 2016 *** See Anne Barnard and Somni Sengupta, “Syria and Russia Appear Ready to Scorch Aleppo,” New York Times, September…

No Picture

Barack Obama, coverage of foreign events, Crimea, Dimming Vision of World Affairs, Donald Trump, European Union, foreign news coverage, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, U.N. Charter, U.S. Military, Ukraine, United States, use of force, vision of peace, Vladimir Putin February 15, 2017

Leading U.S. newspapers miss story: White House press secretary says Russia must return the Crimea (Updated February 16, 2017)

Updated February 17, 2017 Leading U.S. Newspapers Miss the Biggest Story on the Ukraine in More than a Year There is a lot going on…