Contents tagged with EU

  • European Parliament: Russian State Duma elections may mot be recognized

    The European Parliament at the plenary session on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a report on relations with Russia, in which it calls on EU countries not to recognize the Russian State Duma as legitimate if the three-day elections on September 17, 18 and 19 are rigged.

    494 MEPs voted in favor of the document, prepared by the EP Committee on International Affairs for the European Commission and the European Council, with 103 votes "against" and 72 abstentions.

    " The current Russian regime is …

  • Belarus loses access to European banking system due to sanctions

    The Belarusian banking system has felt the heavy footstep of European and American sanctions imposed in the summer in response to repression and the forced landing of the Ryanair flight in Minsk.

    European banks began to massively close dollar end euro correspondent accounts of Belarusian states-owned companies, making it impossible to conduct operations in two key world currencies.

    Last week, the correspondent accounts of Belarusbank, Belinvestbank and Belagroprombank were closed by Deutcsche …

  • European Commission: Gazprom must sell Nord Stream 2

    Gazprom must sell the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to comply with European competition standards. This view is shared by the European Commission, reports Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, citing officials in Brussels.

    The EU Third Energy Package prohibits the same company from being both a gas supplier and the owner of the pipeline. In the case of Nord Stream 2, Russian gas giant Gazprom may not be able to use more than half of the gas pipeline's capacity.

    Having lost the court appeal to exclude …

  • Spain denies Russian warships entry in the port of Ceuta

    The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not give permission to two Russian warships, the large anti-submarine ship Vice-Admiral Kulakov and the rescue tugboat Altai, to enter the port of Ceuta (a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa), reports Deutsche Welle.

    The newspaper Confidencial, citing official sources, claims that Russian warships were planning to dock for three days from August 18 to refuel in Ceuta and replenish food supplies. The crew members were also planning …

  • Gas prices in Europe tumble as Russia’s Gazprom promises to launch Nord Stream 2 this year

    The European gas prices, which have soared by 200% since the beginning of the year, have tumbled.

    Gas futures on the ICE exchange fell by almost 10% after the Russian gas giant Gazprom announced the launch of Nord Stream-2 this year.

    September contracts pegged to spot quotes of the EU's largest gas hub TTF in the Netherlands are trading at around $504.8 per thousand cubic meters, although at the beginning of the week they were at more than $ 570.

    At the moment, the quotes fell below of $500, …

  • Russia’s Gazprom reduces gas supplies to European storage facilities

    Beginning Saturday, July 31, Russian gas giant Gazprom reduced supply of gas to underground storage facilities in Europe, reports Interfax with reference to the data of the website Gas Infrastructure Europe.

    The most used storage facilities in Europe, Haidach in Austria, Rehden in Germany and Bergermeer in the Netherlands, will receive less gas from Gazprom. Usually, gas supply increases over the weekend, because industrial demand subsides  and unclaimed volume can be sent to storage …

  • Lukashenko orders reduction of Belarusian diplomats in EU countries

    Self-proclaimed president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko instructed the government to review the work of Belarusian embassies and the number of diplomats in Europe. In his opinion, one ambassador with an assistant in a two-room apartment will be sufficient, given the state of relations between Belarus and the EU.

    "We need to take a very serious look at our diplomatic missions in Europe. Listen, well, why should we keep a bunch of diplomats there, if we do not trade with them at all. And …

  • EU extends sanctions against Russia

    The European Union extended the economic sectoral sanctions against Russia for six months.

    " The Council decision follows the latest assessment of the state of implementation of the Minsk agreements - initially foreseen to happen by 31 December 2015 - at the European Council of 24-25 June 2021. On that occasion EU leaders called on Russia to fully assume its responsibility in ensuring the full implementation of the Minsk agreements as the key condition for any substantial change in the EU’s …

  • U.S. and EU completely block Russia from the latest technology buying channels

    Western countries are stepping up enforcement of sanctions against Russia, cutting Moscow off from the last, illegal channel for buying technology for its military industry.

    Following Germany, where alexander S., who is suspected of selling sanctioned equipment to Russian special services, was detained in May, a similar attempt to export restricted technology to Russia was revealed by the US authorities.

    The US Department of Commerce announced the inclusion in the "blacklist" of three Russian …

  • EU leaders reject Merkel’s proposal to hold summit with Putin

    EU leaders have rejected the initiative of France and Germany to hold the first summit since 2014 with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    The proposal, voiced by Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron and supported by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, has provoked resistance from 10 EU countries, some of which threatened to veto the draft resolution, Bloomberg reported citing diplomats.

    After late-night talks, Merkel herself stated that the idea had failed. It was not possible to agree on direct …