Contents tagged with Europe

  • Poland opens oil reserves after stopping supplies from Russia

    The Polish Energy Ministry has decided to use 800,000 tons of oil from its strategic reserves to compensate for the Russian oil that the country has not been receiving, Reuters reports, citing an official spokesperson.

    On 25 April, Poland announced that it had stopped accepting Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline. Warsaw informed Gomeltransneft Druzhba, the Belarusian pipeline operator, that the oil refineries in Poland and Germany cannot accept oil with the quality indicators that were …

  • Russian bikers refused entry to Poland

    Polish border guards refused entry to the Night Wolves motorcycle club members travelling to the motor rally “Roads of Victory - to Berlin 2019”.

    The incident occurred on the Belarusian-Polish border, where the Night Wolves club members gathered, arriving not only from Russia but also from Germany, Poland and Italy.

    “Yesterday we said that there were no problems at the border,” wrote representatives of the Night Wolves Polish branch Nocne Wilki on their Facebook account on May 1. …

  • Media: laying of Nord Stream 2 pipes in Russian waters has begun

    The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction contractors have begun pipe-laying operations in Russia’s territorial waters, RBC news agency reports with reference to a statement of Nord Stream 2 AG.

    According to the press release, the Solitaire, a ship belonging to the Swiss company Allseas, is responsible for the operations in Russian territorial waters. The ship has as many as 420 active crew members, and it will carry out pipe-laying operations 24/7. The 12 meter pipes, weighing in at 24 tons, …

  • Lavrov: Russia is monitoring negotiations between Warsaw and Washington regarding U.S military deployment in Poland

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergeye Lavrov announced that a planned increase in the number of the U.S. soldiers in Poland would be a violation of the fundamental Russia-NATO act.

    “This reflects the United States’ policy of breaking all the security arrangements in the Euro-Atlantic region. In this case, it is about undermining one of the key provisions of the founding act between Russia and NATO, according to which substantial combat forces in the territory of new NATO members should not be …

  • Media: Poroshenko sells one of the largest shopping centers in Moldova

    Chisinau-based Twins Estate S.R.L. acquired a stake in one of the largest shopping centers in Chisinau, Gemenii S.A. (former Detsky Mir department store), which, according to media reports, was owned by the current president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, Interfax-Ukraine reports with reference to the company’s press release.

    The Competition Board approved the contract for the sale at the end of last week and it has come into force. However, the terms of the transaction, amount of funds …

  • Russian warships approach Latvian border

    Three ships belonging to the Russian Navy entered Latvia’s exclusive economic zone, reported Interfax citing news agency, BNS. The National Armed Forces of Latvia told the agency that the frigate Boikiy, the corvette Passat and the landing ship Minsk were sighted 12 nautical miles away from the border of the country. The ships are part of the Russian Navy.

    The area of the sea they are in is part of Latvia’s exclusive economic zone. The Latvian Ministry of Defense noted that over the past four …

  • Poroshenko congratulates Zelensky on election victory

    Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko congratulated his successor, Vladimir Zelensky, officially recognized as the winner of the April 30 election by the Central Election Commission, and arranged to meet with him, according to a statement published on the President’s website.

    “As the acting head of state, I just called Vladimir Zelensky and congratulated him on the official results of the elections which the Central Election Commission announced today. During our conversation, Vladimir Zelensky …

  • Ukraine takes part in the largest NATO military exercises in Estonia

    On April 29, NATO began Spring Storm 2019 military exercises in Estonia involving more than 9,000 troops from 13 countries, including Ukraine. According to the General Staff of the Estonian Defense Forces this event is the country’s largest annual military exercises of the year.

    The exercises will last until May 17 and will involve hundreds of units, including armored vehicles, infantry and tanks. The most active phase of the exercises will take place from May 20 to 10 with the participation …

  • Most Latvian parties support sanctions against Russia

    The majority of Latvian parties running in the European Parliament elections are in favor of maintaining the sanctions on Russia, according to a survey conducted by the LETA news agency.

    The parties New Unity, the Union of Greens and Farmers, the Progressives, the Latvian Association of Regions, Who Owns the State, and “Development/For!” believe that “the sanctions must be maintained in the current form and amendments to them can be made depending on changes for the better or the worse in …

  • Germany develops action plan for de-escalation in Donbas

    The parliamentary Free Democratic Party unanimously supported the document “Peace in Ukraine needs a new impulse” which will be presented to the Bundestag in 2 weeks, reported the German publication Bild.

    “The government must recognize the political realities and accept our additional action plan as an opportunity to break the deadlock,” the document says.

    Bild published several of the 12 provisions in the document. In particular, the German government needs to draw up an additional action …