Contents tagged with Russia
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Swedish Defense Committee: Russia Is a Potential Enemy
Allan Widman, the Chairman of Sweden’s Parliamentary Defense Committee, suggested that Russia may become a potential enemy that Sweden needs to watch out for. The events in Ukraine, the weak economy and the sharp plunge in oil prices may spawn unwanted conflict at Sweden’s doorstep.
"My assessment is the following: Sweden has been at peace for over 200 years but now the situation is serious enough that we have to be ready for a spillover of violent conflicts from our neighboring countries,” …
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White House Backs Treasury's Assessment That Putin Is 'Corrupt'
Adam J. Szubin, Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, made statements about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s corruption—statements that accurately reflected Washington’s position. Reuters cited White House Official Spokesman Josh Earnest as stating that during an official White House briefing on Thursday, January 28th.
"The US Treasury official’s assessment reflects the opinion of the administration best of all," said Earnest. At the same time he found it difficult …
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Canadian Foreign Minister: Lavrov's Words on the Ukrainian Diaspora Are Inadmissible
Canada’s Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion said that the statements about Ukrainian Diaspora made by the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, were inadmissible. Liga.net reported that Dion was quoted by Boris Wrzesnewskyj, a member of Canadian Parliament.
In particular, Dion noted that Canada is outraged by the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory, and emphasized Ukraine's important role in Canada’s history. “We absolutely disagree with this invasion and with Russian government …
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Europe Plans to Close its Market to Russian Metal Imports
The European Commission plans to introduce anti-dumping duties on cold-rolled flat metal products from China and Russia, as reported by Reuters on January 28th, citing sources familiar with the plans of the commission.
Officially, the introduction of the new policy will be announced on February 14th, and will be finalized on August 12th, provided the anti-dumping investigation confirms the underpricing accusations, according to the website of the European Commission. Usually, anti-dumping …
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PACE criticizes Russia and Azerbaijan for oppression of human rights advocates
A journalist for European Pravda reported from Strasbourg that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has adopted two resolutions in response to the negative feedback received regarding the state of democracy in the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and to a lesser extent, a number of other countries.
These resolutions were based on systematic harassments of non-governmental organizations as well as the restriction of the rights of human rights advocates. The …
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Russian Banks Refuse to give Loans to Crimeans
The instability of the credit histories of Crimean residents means that the denial of their loan applications has become a “common practice” of Russian banks, as explained by the head of the Union of Financial Services Consumers (FinPotrebSoyuz), Mikhail Beliaev.
“As we know, the bank is a commercial institution and operates within strict guidelines and instructions... We need to understand that the labor situation in the Crimea is not good, of course, and therefore wages are not stable. It is …
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Freedom House report suggests human rights and civil liberties are deteriorating in Russia
A report issued by Freedom House stated that Russia is considered to be a “non-free” country”, and was given a rating of 6. States that have the lowest rating of 7 include North Korea, Uzbekistan, Syria, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, and Turkmenistan.
The US-based international human rights group found that freedom worldwide declined in 2015 for the 10th consecutive year.
The discussions relating to Russia began with the observation that the country’s worsening economic situation compelled the …
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NATO looks to actively combat Russian propaganda
The North Atlantic Alliance intends to confront the use of information for military purposes. This was reported by Reuters in reference to a draft of a document containing the basis of the NATO information policy. It is also reported that the Alliance believes that Russia will possibly use TV and the Internet as weapons for propaganda.
Furthermore, NATO intends to reveal important information about the possible military activities of enemies more efficiently in order to confront this tactic. …
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The ICC in The Hague to begin investigation into war crimes in South Ossetia
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has made the decision to start an investigation into the war crimes committed in South Ossetia in 2008.
On the 27th of November 2015, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the ICC authorized the Prosecutor to initiate an investigation into these crimes under the ICC jurisdiction. These crimes were allegedly committed in Georgia and linked to South Ossetia. They allegedly occurred between the 1st of July and the 10th of October 2008.
The court stated …
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Russian Authorities Refuse To Reopen Investigation into Deaths of 159 Servicemen
Employees of the Main Military Prosecutor's Office, who oversaw the inspections and criminal cases on the death of 159 soldiers in the period from 1 January 2014 to 30 July 2015, did not reveal any violations of the law. They confirmed the legality of the decisions taken. This was the official reply of Major General Justice Maxim Toporikov, Russia’s Chief Military Prosecutor to Human Rights Council President Sergey Krivenko.
"The circumstances of the death of Russian servicemen specified in …