Прямі рейси між Іраном і Сербією відновилися після 27-річної перерви, 10 березня літак авіакомпанії IranAir в аеропорту Ніколи Тесли в Белграді.
Після відновлення авіасполучення дехто в Сербії висловив побоювання, що польоти можуть бути використані як новий маршрут для мігрантів з Ірану, які прагнуть залишитися у Європі.
Усі польоти «Іран-Айр» двічі на тиждень у Тегерані та Белграді були повністю заброньовані до кінця літа, повідомляють сербські ЗМІ.
Ще одна іранська авіакомпанія Qeshm Air також планує розпочати надання послуги авіаперевезення між країнами 19 березня.
Таке сполучення було очікуваним після того, як Сербія підписала угоду про візову лібералізацію з Іраном у серпні 2017 року. Багато хто з тих, хто планує скористуватися послугами такого авіасполучення, як очікується, будуть іранськими громадянами, які проживають в Європі.
Проте Info Park, сербська організація з підтримки біженців, попереджає, що рейси можуть стати новим мігрантським маршрутом для тих, хто прагне незаконно залишитися в ЄС.
Info Park заявляє, що ті, хто залишає Іран, наводять цілу низку причин, включаючи побоювання щодо їхніх політичних, релігійних або сексуальних орієнтацій.
Водночас сербський міністр торгівлі Расім Ляжич заявив, що влада в обох країнах розслідуватиме можливі зловживання системою.
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U.S. President Donald Trump unleashed new attacks Sunday on two of his favorite targets, opposition Democrats and the national news media.
In one of a string of Twitter comments, the U.S. leader contended that Democratic lawmakers were continuing “to obstruct the confirmation of hundreds of good and talented people who are needed to run our government.” He said there is a record number of vacancies in the State Department.
“Ambassadors and many others are being slow walked” in the confirmation process, he said. “Senate must approve NOW!”
However, 13 months into his presidency, Trump has failed to nominate officials to fill key openings, including his ambassador to South Korea, even though he has agreed to meet by May with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over the possible denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. There has been a wave of retirements among State Department officials, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has left top positions unfilled.
Trump complained about the national news media’s reports on polls showing him with “somewhat low” voter approval ratings, while he said they underplay the Republican-leaning Rasmussen Reports poll showing him “at around 50%.”
“They know they are lying when they say it. Turn off the show — FAKE NEWS!” Trump said.
The Rasmussen tracking survey on Friday actually showed voters disapproving of his White House performance by a 54-44 percent margin, not much better than Real Clear Politics’s national average of polls giving Trump a negative 53.7-40.9 standing.
Trump claimed news reports have failed to report a 5-0 Republican run of victories in special elections for seats in the House of Representatives since he took office, when the actual number is 5-1, and Republicans lost a Senate seat in Alabama to a Democrat for the first time in 25 years.
Trump also attacked a story in the “failing New York Times” about his possible hiring of another attorney to bolster his response to the ongoing criminal investigation of possible collusion between his 2016 campaign and Russia to help him defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. He described one of the writers of the story, Maggie Haberman, as “a Hillary flunky (who) knows nothing about me and is not given access.”
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На південному заході Ірану літак, який прямував з Об’єднаних Арабських Еміратів до Стамбула, зазнав катастрофи, в результаті чого загинули щонайменше 11 людей.
Іранське державне телебачення цитує Моджабата Халеді, речника організації з управління надзвичайних ситуацій країни, він повідомив, що літак, який прямував з міста Шарджа (ОАЕ) до Стамбула, 11 березня потрапив у гору поблизу Шахр-е-Корді (Іран) і впав.
Шахр-е Код знаходиться приблизно в 370 кілометрах на південь від Тегерана.
Державне інформаційне агентство «ІРНА» та державне телебачення заявили, що рятувальники намагаються потрапити на місце падіння літака.
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British health officials said Sunday that traces of a nerve agent used in the suspected attempted murder of a Russian spy in Britain were found in a pub and restaurant he visited, but that the risk to public health remains low.
Health officials said those who visited the Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury, southwest England on March 4 and March 5 should take “simple” precautions, including washing their clothes.
“While there is no immediate health risk to anyone who may have been in either of these locations, it is possible, but unlikely, that any of the substance which has come into contact with clothing or belongings could still be present in minute amounts and therefore contaminate your skin. Over time, repeated skin contact with contaminated items may pose a small risk to health,” a statement released by Public Health England read.
Hospital officials in Salisbury said there is no evidence of a wider attack on the town, aside from three people who have been hospitalized since the attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, both of whom are hospitalized in critical condition.
Police have not publicly talked about the nerve agent that poisoned Skripal or who might have been responsible. But suspicions are pointing to Russia.
British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said Britain is being “pushed around” by the Kremlin.
Prime Minister Theresa May has promised an “appropriate” response if it is discovered that Russia is responsible for poisoning Skripal, but has urged caution.
Russian officials deny the Kremlin had anything to do with the assassination attempt.
Skripal served in Russia’s military intelligence agency, GRU, and was exchanged in a spy swap in 2010 on the runway at Vienna’s airport.
After serving four years imprisoned in Russia for spying for Britain’s espionage service, MI6, Skripal was one of four Russian double agents exchanged for 10 Russians expelled from the United States.
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Порошенко: «Цей проект – ще один крок до енергонезалежності нашої держави. А також – нові робочі місця»
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British Prime Minister Theresa May is under pressure to return millions of dollars given by Russian oligarchs and their lobbyists to her ruling Conservative party. One of the biggest donors is the wife of a former Russian deputy finance minister, once nicknamed “Putin’s banker.”
When May took office 18 months ago she promised that Britain’s Conservatives would “sup with a long spoon” and distance themselves from Russian donors, but electoral commission records analyzed by Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper show Russian-linked donations have continued.
Contributions have also been given to the Conservatives by British lobbyists and PR firms working for Russian oligarchs and even the Kremlin. New Century Media, a PR agency contracted by the Russian government to manage a marketing campaign in Britain to present a “positive image” of Russia, has donated more than $200,000 to Britain’s ruling party.
Opposition lawmakers called Sunday for the Conservatives to return the donations, arguing they raise doubts about the government’s determination to retaliate for what the country’s intelligence agencies believe was a Kremlin-approved attempt on March 4 to kill on British soil Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer who spied for the British, and his 33-year-old daughter.
British officials suspect the nerve agent used — likely either modified Sarin or VX — was developed near Moscow at the Yasenevo laboratory run by Russia’s intelligence service the FSB. Russian officials have dismissed the claims of FSB or Kremlin involvement in the assassination bid that has left father and daughter critically ill. They say the allegations are wild and hysterical, part of a Western campaign to demonize Russia.
The donations to the Conservatives “call into question how seriously Theresa May will be willing to challenge Russia’s conduct when her party is literally being bankrolled by some close allies of the Kremlin,” said Nia Griffith, the opposition Labour Party’s defense spokesperson.
In a statement, Britain’s Conservatives said, “All donations are properly and transparently declared to the Electoral Commission.”
The most generous Russian donors to the Tories include Lubov Chernukhin, wife of former Putin finance minister, Vladimir Chernukhin, who has given more than $600,000 to the Conservatives since 2010. She bid successfully at a party fundraising auction to play tennis with former Prime Minister David Cameron and Britain’s foreign secretary, Boris Johnson. Her bid was $200,000.
Conservative officials say that Chernukhin, now a British citizen, is not a “Putin crony”, arguing her husband fell out with Russian leader Vladimir Putin after being dismissed from his job running a state-owned bank.
On Monday, Britain’s National Security Council is due to meet to discuss the latest findings of the Skripal investigation and to consider what retaliatory measures to take against Russia.
Party insiders say Johnson and Defense Minister Gavin Williamson are expected to demand tough retaliation. Both privately have expressed frustration with Theresa May’s order to ministers not to rush judgment and to avoid pre-judging the investigation’s conclusions.
They will join Home Secretary Amber Rudd in calling for the introduction of a new law to target Russian officials. They want a British version of America’s so-called “Magnitsky Act,” a law passed by the U.S. Congress in 2012 that targets Russians deemed by Washington to be complicit in human rights abuses, including extra-judicial killings and torture. Specific sanctions would include visa bans and asset freezes.
Retaliation by Britain would almost certainly trigger a response by the Kremlin, say officials. When the U.S. Congress passed the Magnitsky Act, Russia banned American couples from adopting Russian children.
In an interview Saturday with VOA, Bill Browder, the American-born financier who was instrumental in persuading Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act, said he expected a major Russian-funded lobbying effort in Britain to try to persuade the British government not to retaliate. “You can bet that anyone who is making money off Russia is doing their best to keep things calm here in Britain and to stop a reaction,” he said.
Browder, who ran one of the most successful investment funds in Russia before his expulsion in 2005 when his business was expropriated, lobbied hard for U.S. sanctions to be introduced after his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was arrested and died in Russian custody.
He worries the British will be limp in response to the attempted assassination, pointing out the cautious May has opposed past retaliation against Russia because of the risk of disruption to British business.
Browder says he has no doubt the Russian government was behind the assassination attempt on Skripal, dismissing suggestions it may have been a rogue operation. “No one would have the guts to go rogue. These operations are approved and planned by the Kremlin,” he says.
Britain does have a way of deterring the Kremlin, he argues. “Britain has gigantic leverage. All the Russians, members of Putin’s regime, come to London. They buy expensive property, they open bank accounts here, they send their kids to private schools, and so the easiest thing to do is seize their properties and ban their travel and that of their family members. That will immediately cause them never to do this again.”
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Labor strikes. Nationwide protests. Bank failures.
In recent months, Iran has been beset by economic problems despite the promises surrounding the 2015 nuclear deal it struck with world powers.
Its clerically overseen government is starting to take notice. Politicians now offer the idea of possible government referendums or early elections. Even Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acknowledged the depths of the problems ahead of the 40th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.
“Progress has been made in various sectors in the real sense of the word; however, we admit that in the area of ‘justice’ we are lagging behind,” Khamenei said in February, according to an official transcript. “We should apologize to Allah the Exalted and to our dear people.”
Whether change can come, however, is in question.
An economy run by the state
Iran today largely remains a state-run economy. It has tried to privatize some of its industries, but critics say they have been handed over to a wealthy elite that looted them and ran them into the ground.
One major strike now grips the Iran National Steel Industrial Group in Ahvaz, in the country’s southwest, where hundreds of workers say they haven’t been paid in three months. Authorities say some demonstrators have been arrested during the strike.
More than 3.2 million Iranians are jobless, government spokesman Mohammad-Bagher Nobakht has said. The unemployment rate is more than 11 percent.
Banks remain hobbled by billions of dollars in bad loans, some from the era of nuclear sanctions and others tainted with fraud. The collapse last year of the Caspian Credit Institute, which promised depositors the kinds of returns rarely seen outside of Ponzi schemes, showed the economic desperation faced by many in Iran.
Or in security services’ grip
Meanwhile, much of the economy is in the grip of Iran’s security services.
The country’s powerful Revolutionary Guard paramilitary force, which answers only Khamenei and runs Iran’s ballistic missile program, controls 15 to 30 percent of the economy, analysts say.
Under President Hassan Rouhani, a relatively moderate cleric whose government reached the nuclear accord, there has been a push toward ending military control of some businesses. However, the Guard is unlikely to give up its power easily.
Some suggest hard-liners and the Guard may welcome the economic turmoil in Iran as it weakens Rouhani’s position. His popularity has slipped since winning a landslide re-election in May 2017, in part over the country’s economic woes.
Analysts believe a hard-line protest in late December likely lit the fuse for the nationwide demonstrations that swept across about 75 cities. While initially focused on the economy, they quickly turned anti-government. At least 25 people were killed in clashes surrounding the demonstrations, while nearly 5,000 reportedly were arrested.
A rare referendum?
In the time since, Rouhani has suggested holding a referendum, without specifying what exactly would be voted on.
“If factions have differences, there is no need to fight, bring it to the ballot,” Rouhani said in a speech Feb. 11. “Do whatever the people say.”
Such words don’t come lightly. There have been only two referendums since the Islamic Revolution. A 1979 referendum installed Iran’s Islamic republic. A 1989 constitutional referendum eliminated the post of prime minister, created Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and made other changes.
A letter signed by 15 prominent Iranians published a day after Rouhani’s speech called for a referendum on whether Iran should become a secular parliamentary democracy. The letter was signed by Iranians living inside the country and abroad, including Nobel Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi.
“The sum of the experiences of the last 40 years show the impossibility of reforming the Islamic Republic, since by hiding behind divine concepts … the regime has become the principal obstacle to progress and salvation of the Iranian nation,” read the letter, which was posted online.
But even among moderates in Iran’s clerical establishment, there seems to be little interest in such far-reaching changes, which would spell the end of the Islamic Republic. Hard-liners, who dominate the country’s security services, are adamantly opposed.
“I am telling the anti-Islamic government network, the anti-Iranians and those runaway counterrevolutionaries … their wish for a public referendum will never come true,” Tehran Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said Feb. 15, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
Take responsibility
Yet there are signs that authorities realize that something will have to give. Khamenei’s apology in February took many by surprise, especially as the country’s true hard-liners believe he is the representative of God on earth.
Khamenei’s apology came after a letter from Mehdi Karroubi, an opposition activist who remains under house arrest, demanding that the supreme leader take responsibility for failures.
“You were president for eight years and you have been the absolute ruler for almost 29 years,” Karroubi wrote in the letter, which was not reported on by state media. “Therefore, considering your power and influence over the highest levels of state, you must accept that today’s political, economic, cultural and social situation in the country is a direct result of your guidance and administration.”
Iran’s former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, blamed by many for the country’s economic woes, has come out for early elections. He also demanded they be “free and fair,” while continuing his own campaign against Khamenei, whom he ignored in his attempt to run in the 2017 presidential election.
However, Ahmadinejad’s action drew immediate criticism, as his own widely disputed 2009 re-election sparked unrest and violence that killed dozens.
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U.S. President Donald Trump says the United States is prepared to counter any future meddling in the 2018 and 2020 U.S. elections. But what would a U.S. counterattack look like, and is the Russian political system vulnerable to the same attacks that befell the 2016 elections? VOA’s Jane Bojadzievski takes a look at what that might mean for U.S. relations with Russia.
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China said Sunday it does not intend to ignite a trade war with the U.S. because the move would be disastrous for the entire world.
“There are no winners in a trade war,” Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan said on the sidelines of China’s annual parliamentary session.
“China does not wish to fight a trade war, nor will China initiate a trade war, but we can handle any challenge and will resolutely defend the interests of our country and our people,” Zhong said.
President Donald Trump signed proclamations Thursday imposing a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum, with the new taxes set to go into effect this month.
US, Japan, EU talk
Trade representatives for Japan and the European Union met with the U.S. trade representative Saturday in an effort to avoid a trade war over Trump’s new tariffs on aluminum and steel.
At the meeting in Brussels, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and Japanese counterpart Hiroshige Seko discussed the tariffs as part of a trilateral effort to combat unfair trade practices.
The EU said in a statement that both Brussels and Tokyo had serious concerns about the U.S. tariffs. Both powers, two of the biggest trade partners with the United States, have asked for exemptions from the tariffs.
After the meeting, Malmstrom tweeted, “No immediate clarity on the exact U.S. procedure for exemption … so discussions will continue next week.”
“I firmly and clearly expressed my view that this is regrettable,” Seko said at a news conference following the meeting. “… I explained that this could have a bad effect on the entire multilateral trading system.”
Saturday afternoon, Trump accused the EU of treating “the U.S. very badly on trade.” He said if they drop their “horrific barriers & tariffs on U.S. products… we will likewise drop ours,” he wrote in a tweet.
If they don’t, he warned the U.S. would tax European cars and other products.
Exemptions unclear
On Friday, the European Union said it is not clear whether the bloc will be exempt from Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs.
EU Trade Commissioner Malmstrom said Friday in Brussels, “We hope that we can get confirmation that the EU is excluded from this.”
Canada and Mexico were given specific exemptions from the tariffs for an indefinite period while negotiations continue on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Brazil, South Korea and Australia have also asked for exemptions or special treatment.
Trump imposed the tariffs despite pleas from friends and allies who warned the new measure could ignite a trade war.
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Former White House strategist Steve Bannon sought to re-energize France’s struggling far-right National Front party Saturday by speaking at a party congress and telling Marine Le Pen’s nationalist supporters: “History is on our side.”
Bannon’s appearance in France was part of a European tour in which he’s seeking an international platform for his closed-borders, anti-foreigner message that helped Donald Trump win the U.S. presidency.
The former Breitbart News chairman was an early admirer of the National Front, whose long-standing “French First” motto rallied French voters for years before Trump’s “America First” campaign.
“Let them call you racist. Let them call you xenophobes. Let them call you nativists. Wear it as a badge of honor,” he told the crowd at the party congress.
The National Front has never won the French presidency, and the congress in Lille is aimed at remaking its image after Le Pen’s crushing defeat to independent, pro-globalization Emmanuel Macron in last year’s presidential election.
But Bannon might have threatened Le Pen’s makeover with his compliments for an extreme version of the National Front and lavish praise for Le Pen’s more hard-line niece and rival.
‘Worldwide movement’
“You’re part of a worldwide movement bigger than France, bigger than Italy,” Bannon told National Front supporters, denouncing central banks, central governments and “crony capitalists.”
His European tour centered on last weekend’s Italian election, which Bannon called “an earthquake” after populist and anti-immigration parties outperformed traditional parties. The outcome has boosted far-right movements across Europe and was seen as a victory for the forces that elected Trump and voter approval for Britain to leave the European Union.
“History is on our side,” Bannon said to hearty cheers.
He praised Le Pen’s vision of a political spectrum that no longer spans left-right but puts nationalists versus globalists.
Bannon gave his first European speech in Zurich earlier in the week and said Saturday that he was traveling the world to learn.
The European tour comes as Bannon’s role in American politics is uncertain. He was ousted from the White House last year amid tensions and stepped down as chairman of Breitbart News Network in January after a public break with Trump.
In France, some warned that Bannon’s support could damage Le Pen’s efforts to cleanse the National Front of the racist stigma that has long clung to the party’s image.
Invitation defended
Le Pen defended inviting Bannon to the meeting, saying it was important to listen to the man who was “the architect of Donald Trump’s victory” and has written about globalization, protectionism and giving to regular people the power that “has been practically illegally captured by the elite.”
Bannon also used his visit to call Le Pen’s niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen one of most important people in the world, according to French media.
Bannon has publicly praised Marechal-Le Pen in the past, and she galvanized the crowd at a recent convention of U.S. conservatives. She bowed out of politics after her aunt’s presidential defeat, but is expected to come back in a new role.
Marine Le Pen wants to revive her own fortunes by changing the name of the National Front, the party co-founded by her father in 1972.
A new name, a new leadership structure and new bylaws are being unveiled at the two-day congress with the hope of making the party relevant again.
‘We’re at a turning point’
Le Pen, running as the only candidate for National Front president, said the changes amount to a “cultural revolution” so the reshaped party can “implant itself, create alliances and govern.”
“We’re at a turning point … don’t bury us,” she said in an interview with France’s Le Figaro newspaper published Friday.
The changes pave the way for a younger leadership circle to emerge, even if the party’s ideological foundation remains unchanged: nationalist, identity-driven, anti-European Union, according to Jean-Yves Camus, an expert on the far right.
The new moniker, if approved by members during a mail-in vote, will mark the ultimate break with Le Pen’s father, who has called the idea a betrayal. Jean-Marie Le Pen also is to be scratched from the party’s books along with his title of honorary president-for-life.
Since taking over the National Front’s presidency in 2011, Marine Le Pen has worked to broaden the party’s appeal by erasing the footprint of her father, who has multiple convictions for racism and anti-Semitism.
An election next year for members of the European Union’s lawmaking arm will be the National Front’s first chance to test its rebranding strategy. It won more seats in the European Parliament than any other French party in 2014.
However, Le Pen’s credibility is among the potential obstacles to a possible far-right comeback: An annual poll published this week by the Kantar-Sofres-One Point firm showed Le Pen scoring lower on numerous questions.
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has reiterated that Kyiv is seeking a Membership Action Plan (MAP), a formal step toward joining NATO.
Poroshenko, in a post on Facebook Saturday, said a MAP was Ukraine’s “next ambition” on the path toward eventual membership in the 29-country Western alliance.
“This is what my letter to Jens Stoltenberg on February 2018 was about, where, with reference to Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty, I officially [set out] Ukraine’s aspirations to become a member of the Alliance,” Poroshenko wrote.
A Membership Action Plan is a multistage process of political dialogue and military reform to bring a country in line with NATO standards and to eventual membership. The process can take several years.
Poroshenko’s comments came after NATO updated its website to include Ukraine alongside three other countries — Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, and Macedonia — that have declared their aspirations to NATO membership
“Countries that have declared an interest in joining the Alliance are initially invited to engage in an Intensified Dialogue with NATO about their membership aspirations and related reforms,” the NATO website said.
The next step toward possible membership is a MAP. But a NATO official told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a sister site of VOA, that the alliance has not changed its position on Ukraine.
“NATO’s policy remains the same,” the official said. “There has been a change in Ukraine’s policy, which the website reflects.”
Under former President Viktor Yanukovych, Kyiv said it was not interested in joining NATO. But Kyiv has sought NATO membership since the 2014 antigovernment Maidan protests that toppled Moscow-friendly Yanukovych and ushered in a pro-Western government.
Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada on June 8, 2017, passed a law making NATO integration a foreign policy priority.
In July 2017, Poroshenko announced that he would seek the opening of negotiations on a MAP with NATO.
Ukraine is currently embroiled in a war with Russia-backed separatists in part of its eastern regions that has killed more than 10,300 people and displaced hundreds of thousands since April 2014.
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Урядові війська Сирії розкололи на три частини повстанський анклав Східна Гута на околиці столиці Дамаска, повідомили сирійські активісти.
За даними Сирійського бюро спостереження за правами людини, яке працює в Лондоні, але має інформаторів на місцях подій у Сирії, сили режиму президента Башара аль-Асада 10 березня відрізали від анклаву місто Дума, найбільше в ньому, і ще частину території.
Це значно наближає урядові сили до того, щоб повністю захопити регіон.
Від часу посилення 18 лютого нинішнього наступу урядових військ Сирії і їхніх союзників на Східну Гуту – східну частину сільськогосподарського кільця навколо Дамаска, відомого як Гута – там загинула, за даними активістів, 1031 цивільна особа, з них 219 дітей, поранені понад 4350. Також медична благодійна організація «Лікарі без кордонів» повідомляє, що наступальна операція урядових сил призвела до загибелі близько 1000 мирних жителів.
Протягом останніх двох тижнів сирійська армія, підтримувана артилерійським вогнем та повітряними ударами, просунулась майже на половину території, яку раніше займали повстанці у східній частині Гути.
В ООН називають обстріли з важких озброєнь і бомбардування, які застосовують урядові війська, неприйнятними і такими, що рівнозначні колективному покаранню цивільного населення.
Урядові війська Сирії зазнають звинувачень у тому, що вони свідомо обирають за ціль цивільне населення; Дамаск заявляє, що хоче «визволити» околицю столиці від повстанців, яких називає «терористами».
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В Афганістані повідомили про десятки загиблих у сутичці силовиків із талібами у провінції Фарах на заході країни, що протривала близько п’яти годин.
Як повідомив голова ради провінції Фарід Бахтавар, унаслідок бою, що спалахнув іще на світанку 10 березня в районі Бала-Булук, загинули вісім афганських спецпризначенців і десять поліцейських.
Також, за його словами, загинули близько 40 бойовиків ісламістського руху «Талібан».
За словами посадовця, на підтримку урядовим силовикам довелося викликати авіацію.
Тим часом у Міністерстві оборони Афганістану підтвердили загибель тільки чотирьох бійців сил спецпризначення. При цьому, додав речник міністерства Давлат Вазірі, ще неуточнене число бійців зазнало поранень.
Речник талібів Забігулла Моджагед заявив, що рух бере на себе відповідальність за напад.
У віддаленій від центру Афганістану провінції Фарах, що межує з Іраном, одній із найбідніших у країні, такі напади талібів останнім часом досить часті. Зокрема, 24 лютого в тому ж районі Бала-Булук унаслідок нападу талібів на блок-пост афганських сил загинули принаймні 18 афганських військових. Перед тим, 20 лютого, внаслідок нападу талібів на блок-пост афганської поліції в цій провінції загинули вісім працівників поліції і, за словами влади провінції, 13 бойовиків.
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Trade representatives for Japan and the European Union met with the U.S. trade representative Saturday in an effort to avoid a trade war over President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on aluminum and steel.
At the meeting in Brussels, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and Japanese counterpart Hiroshige Seko discussed the tariffs as part of a trilateral effort to combat unfair trade practices.
The EU said in a statement that both Brussels and Tokyo had serious concerns about the U.S. tariffs. Both powers, two of the biggest trade partners with the United States, have asked for exemptions from the tariffs.
After the meeting, Malmstrom tweeted, “No immediate clarity on the exact U.S. procedure for exemption … so discussions will continue next week.”
Seko said at a news conference following the meeting, “I firmly and clearly expressed my view that this is regrettable. … I explained that this could have a bad effect on the entire multilateral trading system.”
Saturday afternoon, Trump accused the EU of treating “the U.S. very badly on trade.” He said if they dropped their “horrific barriers & tariffs on U.S. products … we will likewise drop ours.”
If they don’t, he warned, the United States will tax European cars and other products.
On Friday, the European Union said it was not clear whether the bloc would be exempt from Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs.
Malmstrom said Friday in Brussels, “We hope that we can get confirmation that the EU is excluded from this.”
Trump signed proclamations Thursday imposing a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum, with the new taxes set to go into effect in two weeks.
Canada and Mexico were given specific exemptions from the tariffs for an indefinite period while negotiations continue on the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Brazil, South Korea and Australia have also asked for exemptions or special treatment.
Trump imposed the tariffs despite pleas from friends and allies who warned the new measure could ignite a trade war.
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Політика Північноатлантичного союзу щодо України не змінилася, заявив Радіо Свобода представник НАТО після того, як на сайті НАТО Україну додали до переліку країн, які прагнуть вступу.
«Політика НАТО залишається та сама. Змінилася політика України, і це відображено на сайті», – сказав представник на умовах анонімності.
Уранці 9 березня в деякі сторінки на сайті НАТО внесли зміни, які констатували минулорічне відновлення Україною курсу на вступ до союзу. У Києві ці виправлення оголосили 10 березня нібито «офіційним визнанням Північноатлантичним союзом статусу України як країни, що прагне вступу» (англ. aspirant country).
На сторінку про розширення НАТО, де були перелічені три країни, які прагнуть вступу, – Боснія і Герцеговина, Грузія і Македонія, – додали й четверту, Україну. При цьому зі сторінки прибрали згадку про те, що «з 2010 року Україна офіційно не прагне членства».
А до сторінки про відносини між НАТО і Україною додали згадку про те, що 8 червня 2017 року Верховна Рада України проголосувала за зміни до законів про національну безпеку і про основи внутрішньої і зовнішньої політики, відновивши пункт про членство в НАТО як одну зі стратегічних зовнішньополітичних цілей країни.
Перед тим, 23 грудня 2014 року, Верховна Рада підтримала президентський законопроект про відмову України від позаблокового статусу. 29 грудня президент Петро Порошенко підписав його.
2010 року, відразу після приходу до влади тодішнього президента Віктора Януковича, Україна офіційно відмовилася від чинного раніше курсу на вступ до НАТО.
2008 року, ще за чинності попереднього курсу на вступ, союз НАТО на Бухарестському саміті відмовився надавати Україні План дій для членства, який надавали всім іншим кандидатам на вступ – як вважають, під тиском Росії. При цьому Північноатлантичний союз погодився з тим, що Україна може стати членом організації в майбутньому, але не встановив жодного чіткого терміну, хоча перспектива членства підтверджувалася відтоді на кожному саміті.
2004 року Янукович, на той час прем’єр-міністр, розробив план вступу України до НАТО до 2008 року. Тоді, за президента Леоніда Кучми, під керівництвом Віктора Януковича була розроблена Стратегія економічного та соціального розвитку України «Шляхом європейської інтеграції» на 2004–2015 роки, яка передбачала, що «Україна, здійснюючи проголошений зовнішньополітичний курс на євроатлантичну інтеграцію, ставить перед собою мету – потрапити в найближчу хвилю розширення НАТО» – як мовилося в документі, можливо, вже 2008 року.
У НАТО щоразу підтверджують, що позиція союзу залишається незмінною: Україна має право на вступ, коли Київ висловить бажання вступати і виконає необхідні умови, «двері завжди залишаються відчиненими».
Водночас Росія вимагає «гарантій невступу України в НАТО».
Щодо інших трьох країн, які прагнуть вступу до НАТО, то Грузія нині перебуває в ситуації, схожій із Україною (тільки що її влада, на відміну від української 2010 року, не відмовлялася від цього курсу; і Грузія, і Україна перебувають нині за одну сходинку до ПДЧ, на рівні «Інтенсифікованого діалогу»), Македонія має свій План дій для членства ще від 1999 року (але його завершення заблоковане через суперечку з Грецією через назву країни), а Боснія і Герцеговина отримала ПДЧ 2010 року (але його виконання досі не почали через суперечки щодо власності на оборонні об’єкти між центральною владою цієї федеративної країни і її федеральними складовими).
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