Contents tagged with Europe

  • PACE President tries to justify Russia's return to Assembly

    On July 7 the President of PACE Lillian-Marie Pasquier during her speech at the session in the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE said that the return of the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe would allegedly allow the Assembly to work closely with Russia on a number of problematic issues, reports Interfax-Ukraine.

    "Now we can work on problematic issues with Russian colleagues again. Restoration of the powers of the Russian delegation does not mean that …

  • OSCE calls on Russia to stop recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia

    The General Committee on Political Affairs and Security of Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA) adopted the Georgian resolution calling on Russia to cancel the decision to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

    Fifty representatives of national delegations supported the document, five opposed and nine representatives abstained, reports TASS news agency.

    The author of the resolution is Sofio Katsarava, a member of the …

  • Ukrainian President Zelensky: only Trump can stop Nord Stream 2 pipeline

    During his visit to Lviv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed hope that the issue of the construction of the Nord stream 2 gas pipeline will be resolved in favor of Ukraine after his meeting with US President Donald Trump, reports Ukrinform.

    "The question about the construction of Nord stream 2 was answered a long time ago. So, there is no need to speculate on this topic, same as people are speculating about Russia's return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. …

  • Hungarian Foreign Minister: US urges Hungary to let Ukraine into NATO

    The Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Péter Szijjártó said in an interview with Radio Liberty that the United States during negotiations with Hungary repeatedly raised the issue of Budapest's blocking Ukraine's entry to the North Atlantic Alliance.

    "For them [the US], it is a matter of geopolitics. The US sees it as a geopolitical issue from overseas. However, we're Ukraine's neighbors! One hundred fifty thousand Hungarians are living here [in Ukraine]. Therefore, it is not surprising …

  • Ukrainian Foreign Ministry summons Hungarian Ambassador over Foreign Minister's statements

    Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Yegor Bozhok summoned Hungarian Ambassador Istvan Iydyarto after the comments of the Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, reports Evropeyskaya Pravda news outlet.

    "I have invited the Ambassador Iydyarto and asked him to explain the commentaries of Hungarian Minister Szijjártó at the Conference on reforms in Ukraine, which took place in Toronto. He stressed the need to apply a new approach in the development of Ukrainian-Hungarian relations …

  • Prague investigates 20 Czech citizens who took part in the war in Donbas

    The Ambassador of Ukraine to the Czech Republic Yevgeny Perebiynis, in an interview with Voice of Ukraine, said that the Czech Republic is investigating 20 of its citizens who were fighting on the side of the pro-Russian militants in the Donbas.

    "There is an investigation conducted against almost 20 Czech citizens who possibly participated in military operations on the side of Russia in the Donbas," he stressed.

    When the Ambassador was asked about how these people were detained and whether …

  • Putin to Dutch Prime Minister: Russia rejects results of MH17 investigation

    At a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte during the G20 summit in Osaka, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia does not recognize the results of the investigation into the crash of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in the sky over the Donetsk region in July 2014, as stated by the Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov

    "I can confirm this dialogue: it was a very brief conversation, not an official meeting," said Peskov as quoted by UNIAN news agency.

    "Putin …

  • Italian court sentences three mercenaries who fought in Donbas

    A court in Genoa, Italy, has given prison sentences to three mercenaries who fought against Ukraine in the Donbas, the local news outlet La Stampa reports.

    Antonio Cataldo (35, from Nola, Naples) was given 2 years 8 months; Olsi Krutani (39, an Albanian who relocated to Milan a long time ago) was also given 2 years 8 months; and Vladimir Verbitchii (26, a Moldovan who has lived in Parma for many years) was given 1 year 4 months in prison.

    The three were found guilty of unsanctioned …

  • PACE delegation leaves Ukraine after Kyiv withdraws invitation to observe parliamentary elections

    The delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which arrived in Ukraine to assess the pre-election climate, has left the country ahead of schedule. PACE representatives explained that the premature departure was based on Ukraine’s withdrawal of its invitation to PACE to send observers for the country’s upcoming snap parliamentary elections.

    “The pre-electoral delegation has decided to cease its activity prematurely,” PACE said in a statement published on …

  • Kyiv: Ukraine will not invite PACE observers to parliamentary elections

    Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy canceled the invitation for members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to observe the early parliamentary elections in Ukraine, reports the head of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE Vladimir Aryev.

    Earlier, Ukrainian Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs recommended the Verkhovna Rada to suspend the participation of permanent Ukrainian delegation in the PACE.

    Earlier, PACE removed all restrictions from the …