Latest News
Belgians seek increased citizen involvement in policymaking
EU's 2025 budget prioritizes research, health, education, and climate action
Lost in Europe investigation wins 2024 Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism
MEPs announce finalists for 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought
Nobel Prize in Economics awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson
European Parliament expresses concern over the state of democracy in Georgia
Sakharov Prize 2024: presentation of candidates
Over 100 companies sign EU AI Pact to foster safe and trustworthy AI development
European Parliament condemns human rights violations in Afghanistan, Belarus, and Cuba
Must Read
-
Zurab Musinyan: “Let my case lie at door of Russian special services combating international terrorism…”Specialized Oil-Loading Seaport Vitino captured by Russian security officials through hostage taking keeps on being a subject of carve-up and litigations by Russian and international companies....Read More...
-
World Refugee Day: Joint Statement by the European Commission and the High RepresentativeNo country, no region in the world has been spared from the impact of COVID-19. The virus is exacerbating existing inequalities and has a disproportionate effect on refugees,Read More...
-
Why Andorra finds EU membership unappealing?Andorra, a small landlocked country located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, has long maintained a unique position in Europe. With a population ofRead More...
-
Who will succeed Stoltenberg as NATO secretary-general?As Jens Stoltenberg's tenure as NATO Secretary-General approaches its end, discussions and conjecture are mounting regarding his potential successor.Read More...
-
Which EU candidate country is the most likely to join the bloc quickly?The European Union (EU) has a well-established process for countries seeking membership, known as accession. While the journey to EU membership can be long and arduous,Read More...
-
Where are the women in Fiji's new era of democracy?Fiji's recent election in December 2022 marked a milestone in the country's democratic journey, with a coalition government led by Sitiveni Rabuka, a former prime minister, coupRead More...
-
What will the process of protecting and fostering Jewish life in the EU look like?Today, lively discussions are taking place in EU countries on the Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life (2021-2030).Read More...
Latest News
Belgians seek increased citizen involvement in policymaking
EU's 2025 budget prioritizes research, health, education, and climate action
Lost in Europe investigation wins 2024 Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism
MEPs announce finalists for 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought
Nobel Prize in Economics awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson
European Parliament expresses concern over the state of democracy in Georgia
Sakharov Prize 2024: presentation of candidates
Over 100 companies sign EU AI Pact to foster safe and trustworthy AI development
European Parliament condemns human rights violations in Afghanistan, Belarus, and Cuba
Must Read
-
Zurab Musinyan: “Let my case lie at door of Russian special services combating international terrorism…”Specialized Oil-Loading Seaport Vitino captured by Russian security officials through hostage taking keeps on being a subject of carve-up and litigations by Russian and international companies....Read More...
-
World Refugee Day: Joint Statement by the European Commission and the High RepresentativeNo country, no region in the world has been spared from the impact of COVID-19. The virus is exacerbating existing inequalities and has a disproportionate effect on refugees,Read More...
-
Why Andorra finds EU membership unappealing?Andorra, a small landlocked country located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, has long maintained a unique position in Europe. With a population ofRead More...
-
Who will succeed Stoltenberg as NATO secretary-general?As Jens Stoltenberg's tenure as NATO Secretary-General approaches its end, discussions and conjecture are mounting regarding his potential successor.Read More...
-
Which EU candidate country is the most likely to join the bloc quickly?The European Union (EU) has a well-established process for countries seeking membership, known as accession. While the journey to EU membership can be long and arduous,Read More...
-
Where are the women in Fiji's new era of democracy?Fiji's recent election in December 2022 marked a milestone in the country's democratic journey, with a coalition government led by Sitiveni Rabuka, a former prime minister, coupRead More...
-
What will the process of protecting and fostering Jewish life in the EU look like?Today, lively discussions are taking place in EU countries on the Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life (2021-2030).Read More...
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held talks Saturday with Paraguay's President Mario Abdo Benitez as part of a four-nation tour of Latin American allies focusing heavily on Venezuela and countering China's economic reach.Pompeo -- the first US secretary of state to visit the former dictatorship since 1965 -- paid tribute to the country's transition to democracy as an inspiration to the region.Pompeo arrived in Asuncion late Friday after talks with Chile's President Sebastian Pinera in Santiago that focused heavily on his country's developing trade relationship with China.The tour will also take in stops in Peru and Colombia.In Asuncion, Pompeo praised Paraguay's support for US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido in Venezuela, and its role in the Lima Group of mostly Latin American nations seeking a solution to the Venezuela crisis. "Paraguay is a leader in defending democracy and calling Maduro as he is, a tyrant who has ruined his country," Pompeo said.Foreign Minister Luis Castiglioni said Paraguay's position on Venezuela remained strongly aligned with that of the United States."We have always said: with dictators, with tyrants, there is no dialogue. You fight them. We must fight them until liberties are restored so that the Venezuelan people can return to live with dignity," he told reporters.Asked by a US journalist if Paraguay would back a military intervention in Venezuela, he said: "We are convinced that all the diplomatic efforts that are being made to isolate this regime will have results in a short time."Paraguay was ruled by dictator Alfredo Stroessner from 1954 to 1989.- Transnational crime -The two officials also discussed Paraguay's commitments on combatting threats of terrorism, drug trafficking and transnational crime in what is known as the tri-border area, the border region Paraguay shares with Argentina and Brazil."Paraguay has declared all-out war against transnational crime," said Castiglioni."This battle that we are fighting is a battle of no return until we win. We have assured the Secretary of State that Paraguay wants to cooperate very closely with the US government, since we are on the same path."Pompeo flew out of Asuncion bound for Lima, Peru after meeting officials at the US embassy.He was to hold talks in Lima with Peru's President Martin Vizcarra and Foreign Minister Nestor Popolizio.The highlight of Pompeo's trip will be a brief visit Sunday to the Colombian city of Cucuta on the Venezuelan border, where he will meet refugees. All four countries on his itinerary are led by right wing or center-right leaders favorable to Washington's uncompromising approach to Maduro.The US official said before his arrival in Chile on Friday that the current US administration had "spent a lot of time" in Latin America seeking to improve trade in a region which has turned its back in recent years on a slew of leftist governments."This is an historic opportunity," he told reporters, referring to "a handful of countries that are truly market driven, democratic in ways that we haven?t had in South America for decades. And we think it creates real opportunity."Asked about China's influence at a press conference following a working lunch with his Chilean counterpart Roberto Ampuero, Pompeo said: "I think the Chilean government and the United States government both share the same concerns.""China's trade activities often are deeply connected to their national security mission, their technological goals, their desire to steal intellectual property, to have forced technology transfer, to engage in activity that is not economic," he said. Pompeo also blasted China's continuing support of Maduro's regime in Venezuela, which he said is prolonging the crisis.Pinera is due to embark on a visit to China next week.AFP
A former academic with a love of classical allusions and naked poolside Instagram photos, Thierry Baudet has stunned the Dutch political world with his victory in
Read more: The naked populist: Thierry Baudet stuns the Netherlands
In anticipation of the Jewish Book Week in London, we interviewed Oleg Kozerod, author of several books on Jewish history, D.Sc. in History, a member of the European Association for Jewish Studies in Oxford.
Corr.: You are one of the experts in the Russian Civil War history, author of the book “Denikin’s rule and Jewish population in Ukraine: 1919-1920”. What is your evaluation of the extent of the tragedy during mass pogroms in that period?
О.K.: The sweep of anti-Jew events conducted by the White movement was unparalleled in human history. Anti-Semitic military units made 887 major and 349 minor pogroms during the Civil War until 1921, as estimated by historian S. Dubnov. At the Genoa Conference (1922), Soviet diplomats revealed the scope of killings of the Jewish people during the Civil War. Half a million of Jews suffered from pogroms in only Podolia, Kiev, Volhynian and Chernigov Governorates. Among them 200 thousand were killed or injured and over 30 thousand women raped. That is how White movement soldiers interpreted the motto “For Faith, Tsar and Fatherland” (photo by Juhani Sierla).
Corr.: It is clear that Civil War events exposed the processes that were running within Russian elite of that time, which surely was a failure of the Russian idea and Russian intelligentsia. And ethnic mass slaughter was a constituent of that process. Could the scope of anti-Jew campaigns have been more extensive?
О.K.: Imagine the situation that the White movement won the Russian Civil War. The whole Russia would have been covered with communal graves of the Jewish people. The mass murders by Denikin’s army and other White movement units was the second largest death toll of the Jewish people in the world history apart from the Holocaust, according to American professor Kenez. Millions of Jews would have suffered if the counter-revolution in Russia had succeeded.
Corr.: Did White Guard soldiers persistently kill Jews for their national identity only?
О.K.: I’d like to recall the only evidence of history of those times – “Chapaev”, a novel by Furmanov that describes Chapaev’s army defeat and death of the famous Red commander. Let me quote from the book: “The resistance was not being maintained any more. Cossacks were chasing the running ones, caught and slashed them on the spot… – Kikes, commissars and Communists, step up! – And they stepped forward wishing to protect Red Army men from execution, but not always rescued them. People stepped out in front of their comrades, so proud and glorious in their silent courage, with exasperate lips and glowing rageful eyes, and died under shashka hits and rifle bullets, damning Cossack whips... Other victims were taken to fields to be shot with machine guns... There’re three huge brick pits outside the stanitsa filled with corpses of the executed to the brim…”.
Italy's hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini called Monday for unity among Europe's far-right parties ahead of European parliamentary elections.
Read more: Italy's Salvini calls for far-right unity ahead of EU parliament elections
As autumn comes closer, more talks emerge about a probable conclusion of an Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine that can come about in as little as a few months in Vilnius. In anticipation of this event, our correspondent interviewed an expert in the politics of Ukraine N., doctor of historical sciences, about the state of affairs in Ukraine and its future. Being an expert in Ukrainian politics, could you answer why Ukraine marks time for many years and cannot decide which entity to join – the European Union or the Customs Union? By the way, Baltic countries needed very little time for self-determination.” Unfortunately (or luckily), the world’s way is that clerisy cannot compete with criminal groups or big business guys. The latter will dominate in every instance as they have weapons and want to commit crimes; they are mastered in grim business and they reach after getting access to the national budget and material goods resulted from being in power. Everyone in the world would like to have money without working. To steal businessmen’s money on a regular basis through the medium of tax authorities and police… What can be more alluring than this dream? Does this only refer to the current government considered as a bad one by the global community? Does Die Zeit have a point when calling for overthrowing the existing dictatorship in Ukraine? Unfortunately, this tendency is pertinent to both ruling power and the opposition in Ukraine. Reforms suggested by the European Union are focused on eliminating richness as a result of coming to power. It is required to make sure the clerisy comes to power in this country. It is the only way to create miracle that took place, for example, in Romania. At that time, the national elite practically drew its country, where “people still ride in carts in the cities”, into the European Union. No matter how educated and developed the Ukrainian nation is, it will reach nothing in the world of international competition and cooperation without a normal elite (photo by A. Franskoy). However, how would representatives of unarmed Ukrainian intellectuals, modest writers, research officers and university lecturers (economists, lawyers, political experts) come to power? The revolution of elite is a key factor that will play a crucial part in the European and even Customs and Union Integration. Without it, our country will decay, and the population will work for a “company of one national-wide owner”. Press freedom, absence of selective justice, combating corruption - all these demands by the EU are needed to make sure representatives of the real elite come to power in Ukraine. Nevertheless, it is a big issue how to move the current elite away from the state budget and easy money within power structures. Perhaps, the European Union may “squeeze out” a solution. As soon as corruption is overcome, it will be possible to beat injustice in courts, and criminal groups will leave the power. Since they cannot make money, there will be no sense for them to stay and “blow cover” yet again.