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Thousands Of Wagner Mercenaries In Belarus, Says Monitoring Group
Thousands of Russia-linked Wagner group mercenaries have arrived in Belarus since the group’s short-lived rebellion, a military monitoring group said on July 24. Between 3,450 and 3,650 soldiers have traveled to a camp close to Asipovichy, a town 230 kilometers north of the Ukrainian border, according to Belarusian Hajun, an activist group that tracks troop movements within the country. Satellite images show that about 700 vehicles and construction equipment have also arrived in Wagner convoys in Belarus, Belarusian Hajun said. To read the original story by AP, click here.
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Zelenskiy Dismisses Head Of State Guards Amid Alleged Assassination Plot
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed the head of the state guards on May 9, two days after two of its members were accused of plotting to assassinate him. Zelenskiy issued a decree dismissing Serhiy Rud. No successor was identified. Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said this week that it had caught two men -- colonels in the state guard service -- accused of plotting the assassination of Zelenskiy and other top officials. It said the men were recruited by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) who leaked classified information to Moscow. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.
Orban Meets With Xi, Calls China 'One Of The Pillars Of New World Order'
China and Hungary will expand cooperation in several areas, including in the nuclear power industry, Hungarian Prime Minister Vitkor Orban announced in Budapest on May 9 after talks with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"China is one of the pillars of the new world order," Orban told a press conference in the Hungarian capital.
Xi arrived in the Hungarian capital late on May 8 after meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade. His European tour started on May 5 in France where President Emmanuel Macron and EU leaders urged him to ease Chinese trade restrictions and to use his influence to press Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his invasion of Ukraine.
Orban said bilateral trade had quadrupled in the past 20 years, transforming relations between Beijing and Hungary into "a strategic partnership."
Orban said Chinese investment was so small in Hungary 20 years ago that a "magnifying glass" was needed to find it. Last year, however, three-quarters of all foreign investment in Hungary was by China, Orban said, adding it provided jobs for tens of thousands of Hungarians.
Orban also said Hungary would support China's peace plan for Ukraine.
Beijing put forward a 12-point paper more than a year ago that set out general principles for ending Russia's war on Ukraine but did not get into specifics. It received a lukewarm reception at the time in both Russia and Ukraine, while the United States said China was presenting itself as a peacemaker but reflecting Russia's "false narrative" and failing to condemn its full-scale invasion.
Speaking alongside Orban at the Budapest press conference, Xi said China will deepen economic, trade, investment, and financial cooperation with Hungary.
Xi, making his third and final stop on a European tour, promised to advance key construction projections, including a high-speed rail link between Budapest and Belgrade.
Xi called Hungary "the No. 1 target in the Central [and] Eastern European region for Chinese investment" in an article he wrote for the pro-government daily Magyar Nemzet.
Hungarian and Chinese officials were expected to sign 16 to 18 new cooperation agreements, one of which could be a large-scale infrastructure project within China's huge Belt and Road project, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said earlier this week.
Xi's first trip to Europe in five years is seen as part of his drive to increase Beijing’s influence on the continent’s economic and political affairs.
Orban has forged close relations with China and Russia, while angering Brussels for refusing to join EU sanctions against Moscow or to allow, like other NATO countries, arms shipments to Ukraine.
In Belgrade, the two countries said a Sino-Serbian agreement signed by Xi and Vucic raises the level of their cooperation from strategic partnership to "building the community of Serbia and China with a common future in the new era."
After a series of bilateral meetings, Vucic called it "the highest form of cooperation between the two countries."
Xi said their countries will "jointly oppose hegemony and power politics" in the interest of "fundamental and long-term interests."
Like Moscow, Beijing has supported Belgrade diplomatically in its refusal to recognize former province Kosovo's independence, while Belgrade has supported China's claims to Taiwan. "Taiwan is China," Vucic said on May 8, citing the UN Charter.
Xi's visit was seemingly timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of NATO's bombing of the former Chinese Embassy in Belgrade in 1999, a deadly incident that has united Beijing and Belgrade in their criticism of Western intervention in the Balkans and around the world.
China has invested some $6 billion in Serbia in the past decade, putting the money into copper mines and a steel mill as well as major highway and infrastructure projects, which have been criticized by some as nontransparent and overly risky deals between governments.
Georgian Ambassador To France Quits In Protest Over 'Foreign Agent' Bill
Georgia’s ambassador to France has resigned in protest against the so-called “foreign agent” bill, becoming the first senior official to do so amid ongoing demonstrations in the capital, Tbilisi.
In a posting on Facebook on May 9, Gotcha Javakhishvili said the proposed legislation, which has passed on two readings in parliament already, would steer Georgia away from further integration within Europe.
"The current tensions and climate generated by the revived draft law in our relations with our foreign friends and partners make my mission...extremely difficult," wrote Javakhishvili, who was appointed Georgian ambassador to France in 2022.
He said that while he did not personally know any Georgian officials or diplomats who were "openly pro-Russian," he believed the draft law "may be a kind of tactic to achieve a certain goal."
"I no longer see my role and resources in this direction: the move towards Europe," Javakhishvili said.
Weeks of protests against what critics call "the Russian law" -- legislation pushed by the ruling Georgian Dream party despite widespread anger from much of the country -- have been met with tough police actions to disperse crowds, while roving bands of thugs have targeted demonstrators.
In Washington on May 9, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the United States was deeply troubled by actions taken against those protesting the draft law.
"We are aware of increased reports of harassment and physical assault of civil society and opposition activists and journalists. We condemn this and we call for a full independent and timely investigation," Miller said.
"There is still time to work collaboratively with Georgia but the Georgian government needs to change course for that to be the case," he said.
The comments came as reports emerged that Ucha Abashidze, a military expert, blogger, and activist was arrested at his home in Tbilisi, accused of allegedly illegally purchasing and storing weapons.
As police searched Abashidze's home, a crowd gathered outside to protest. An unspecified number of arrests were reported.
Earlier, Georgia's Interior Ministry said an investigation has been opened into the assault of three protesters -- one of whom is an opposition politician -- during a rally against the law in Tbilisi late on May 8.
Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri said on May 9 that the attacks by unidentified assailants on international relations specialist Gia Japaridze, activist Lasha Gvinianidze, and Dimitri Chikovani, a member of the National Movement opposition party, would be investigated fully and that he condemns "all kinds of attacks."
Separately, police announced that six protesters who took part in rallies against the "foreign agent" bill have been detained for alleged public disturbance offenses, police announced at a briefing on May 9.
The six are accused of attacking a police officer and damaging private property, Tbilisi police chief Sulkhan Tamazashvili told the briefing.
The tens of thousands of Georgians who have taken to the streets in Tbilisi and other cities faced violent reprisals by riot police, which included chemical spray and tear gas, water cannons, and the alleged use of rubber bullets on protesters and journalists.
The government has denied the use of rubber bullets, but several protesters have shown wounds consistent with those inflicted by such projectiles.
Tamazashvili told the media on May 9 that one of those detained allegedly threw a blunt object at a law enforcement officer during a protest on April 16, which caused an eye injury. He added that, during the same April 16 protest, one participant allegedly damaged a police vehicle.
Three other people are accused of damaging surveillance cameras during rallies on May 1 and May 2, while another person allegedly damaged the entrance door into parliament and threw a stone into the the parliament's courtyard, injuring a firefighter and a member of the rescue services.
Three more incidents are under investigation, Tamazashvili said, adding that there have been no arrests yet in connection with them.
In the latest protests, Georgians demonstrated in cities across the country on May 8. Following the harsh police crackdown on earlier protests in Tbilisi, smaller rallies in Zugdidi, Kutaisi, and Gori took place without incident.
One protest organizer, Zviad Tsetskhladze, said opponents of the bill had created a group that will try to provide financial support to individuals who are dismissed from their public-service jobs over their opposition to it.
The controversial bill says media outlets, NGOs, and other nonprofits must register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if more than 20 percent of their funding comes from abroad.
The government insists the law is in line with EU standards and is only intended to increase "transparency" and prevent "harmful foreign influence" in the country's political scene.
Human Rights Watch rejected that stance on May 9, saying it threatens fundamental rights in the country.
“Georgian parliamentarians and government officials formally defend the bill as providing transparency, but they make no secret of its intended purpose,” said Hugh Williamson, the rights watchdog's Europe and Central Asia director.
“By labeling independent groups and media as serving foreign interests, they intend to marginalize and stifle critical voices in the country that are fundamental for any functioning democracy.”
The legislation is expected to face a third and final reading that could come as early as May 13, with Georgian Dream and its allies seemingly in control of enough votes to carry the bill and potentially override a veto that has been promised by President Salome Zurabishvili.
European Union leaders say implementation of the law would adversely affect Georgia's hopes of eventual EU membership, and condemnation has also come from the United States -- the former Soviet republic's biggest backer in recent years.
With reporting by Reuters
Tens Of Thousands Rally In Yerevan, Demanding Pashinian Step Down Over Border Deal With Baku
Tens of thousands of Armenians rallied in the center of Yerevan on May 9 amid calls by an outspoken Armenian archbishop for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his government to resign over a land deal with rival Azerbaijan.
Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, the leader of the Tavush Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, led the protest in the Armenian capital’s central square against the controversial border-demarcation deal with Baku that cedes control of four villages that were part of Azerbaijan during the Soviet era but which have been controlled by Armenia since the 1990s.
The border agreement has been hailed by the United States and the European Union, as well as by Pashinian, who has been accused by opposition politicians of giving up territory with no guarantees.
Addressing thousands of supporters who gathered in Yerevan’s Republic Square, Galstanian gave Pashinian one hour -- until 7:40 p.m. Yerevan time -- to announce his resignation.
“You no longer have any kind of power in the Republic of Armenia,” Galstanian said, using the same phrase that Pashinian addressed to his predecessor, then Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, when he successfully challenged him in large-scale streets protests six years earlier.
The archbishop said he was ready, within the next hour, to meet with Pashinian to discuss “all terms of his resignation,” sparking cheers from the crowd and chants of “Nikol Traitor!” and “Resign!”
When the deadline passed with no apparent response from Pashinian, Galstanian said he would spend the night in the square and urged his supporters to again gather at the same place tomorrow.
Galstanian asked his supporters to be patient for “two or three more days” while he explored the possibility of impeaching Pashinian in parliament.
Pashinian's political allies and other supporters have verbally attacked Galstanian during protests over the past two weeks.
During an April 30 session of the Armenian parliament, pro-government lawmakers branded Galstanian a Russian spy, accused him of provoking another war with Azerbaijan, and even called on Armenian border guards to forcibly draft the 52-year-old archbishop.
Pashinian has said the unilateral concessions are necessary to prevent Azerbaijani military aggression against Armenia. The Armenian opposition maintains he is actually encouraging Baku to demand more territory from Armenia and to use force for that purpose.
Armenia agreed to the handover as the initial step in defining the frontier between the two rival South Caucasus countries.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars in the last three decades over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which had been a majority ethnic Armenian enclave since the Soviet collapse and is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory.
The region initially came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by the Armenian military, in separatist fighting that ended in 1994.
In 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of Nagorno-Karabakh along with seven surrounding districts that Armenian forces had claimed during the earlier conflict.
After Baku took full control over the region as the result of a one-day military operation in September last year, nearly 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.
Ukrainian Gymnast Leads EU Athletes In Paris Olympic Torch Relay
Ukrainian gymnast Maria Vysochanska led a group of 27 athletes from the European Union through the streets of Marseille, France, on May 9 as part of the Olympic torch relay leading up to the Paris Olympics. “It's very hard to put all the emotions into words,'' the 21-year-old from the city of Lviv said. ‘’I feel pride and incredible happiness that Ukraine became the 28th country [to carry the flame with EU countries] and that the captain has honored me by letting me carry the Olympic flame.” To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian service, click here.
Putin, Pashinian Agree On Withdrawal Of Russian Troops From Some Armenian Regions
Russian border guards will withdraw from a number of regions of Armenia but will continue to be deployed on the Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Iranian border following an agreement between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The announcement by the Kremlin on May 9 marks a new step in Yerevan distancing itself from traditional ally Russia following accusations by Armenia that the Russian peacekeepers deployed in and around the region of Nagorno-Karabakh after a bloody war with Azerbaijan in 2020 did not do enough to stop a lightning offensive launched by Baku in September.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the move was discussed and agreed upon at Pashinian's request during talks between the two leaders in Moscow on May 8.
"In the autumn 2020, at the request of the Armenian side, our troops were deployed to a number of Armenian regions. Pashinian said that currently, due to changed conditions, they are no longer needed, so President Putin agreed and the withdrawal of our military and border guards was agreed," Peskov said.
According to the agreement, the Russian border guards and military points located in Tavush, Syunik, Vayots Dzor, Gegharkunik, and Ararat will end their deployment and withdraw from those points.
Some 2,000 Russian peacekeepers have already withdrawn from the Nagorno-Karabakh area that had been for three decades under ethnic Armenian control.
Armenian authorities have accused Russian peacekeepers deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh after the 2020 war of failing to stop Azerbaijan’s new offensive in September.
Russia has rejected the accusations, arguing that its troops didn’t have a mandate to intervene and charging that Pashinian had effectively paved the way for the collapse of separatist rule in Nagorno-Karabakh by previously acknowledging Azerbaijan's sovereignty over it.
Armenia has also asked Moscow to withdraw the Russian border guards that had been deployed at Yerevan's main airport starting from August 1.
In March, Pashinian said in an interview with the France 24 television channel that his country had also frozen its membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
The CSTO has been at the heart of Armenia's turn away from Moscow, with Pashinian's government having long criticized the Russia-led security grouping for its “failure to respond to the security challenges” facing Armenia.
Pashinian declined to attend a CSTO summit in Minsk in November and said in a televised Q&A session then that any decision about Yerevan’s continued membership in the grouping -- which includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan -- would be based on Armenia's "own state interests."
Ukrainian Ex-Military Commander Officially Becomes Envoy To U.K.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy officially made Valeriy Zaluzhniy Kyiv’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, after the general was removed from his position as commander in chief of Ukraine’s military earlier this year. The 50-year-old Zaluzhniy’s removal from his military post was part of Zelenskiy’s announced “reboot” of Ukraine’s government and military, his most consequential shake-up since Russia’s February 2022 invasion. According to a decree published on the website of the Office of the President on May 9, Zaluzhniy is now officially the ambassador. A second decree from a day earlier dismissed him from military service on health grounds with the right to wear a military uniform. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.
Ukranian Civilians Killed, Energy Infrastructure Hit In Russian Strikes
Fresh Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian and infrastructure targets overnight killed two people and caused serious damage to Ukraine's already battered energy infrastructure, regional officials and the military said on May 9.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
Russian shelling killed a 62-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman in the southern city of Nikopol, wounding another two and causing damage to houses and roads, Dnipropetrovsk regional chief Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram.
Russia has been frequently shelling Nikopol and other Ukrainian cities from across the Dnieper River, and starting from October 2022, it has systematically attacked Ukraine's energy infrastructure, causing serious damage and electricity shortages for civilian and industrial users.
Ukraine's Ukrhydroenerho operator said on May 9 that two hydropower plants have been severely damaged by Russian attacks and were taken out of operation, without naming the two units.
Before the war, Ukraine's 10 hydropower plants produced some 10 percent of its electricity. Russia last year blew up the gigantic Kakhovka hydropower plant. Currently, only seven hydropower plants are still in operation and have a largely diminished capacity.
"To date, all hydropower generating capacity has suffered devastating damage. Destroyed equipment requires considerable efforts to repair, restore and significant financial resources. Today, the support, help, and decisive action of the international community are more important than ever," Ukrhydroenerho said in a statement on Telegram.
The Energy Ministry said it plans to double electricity imports on May 9 to make up for the losses caused by the latest wave of Russian attacks on its infrastructure.
The imports are expected to rise to 16,699 megawatt hours compared to 7,600 on May 8, the Ministry said.
Ukraine's air force, meanwhile, said that Russia had launched 20 drones at targets in the southern region of Odesa, and 17 of those drones had been shot down by its air defense systems.
Separately, an informed source who spoke on condition of anonymity told RFE/RL on May 9 that Ukrainian drones struck two oil depots in the village of Yurivka near the city of Anapa in Russia's Krasnodar region.
The claim could not be independently verified immediately.
Hours later, an informed security source, also speaking to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity on May 9, said that a Ukrainian attack drone had struck a Russian oil refining plant in the Russian region of Bashkortostan after flying a "record" distance of 1,500 kilometers in an operation conducted by the SBU security service.
The claim also could not be verified independently.
In Kyiv, Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, voted on May 9 to dismiss Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskiy and the deputy prime minister for reconstruction, Oleksandr Kubrakov.
Last month, Solskiy was released on bail after being taken into custody over accusations that he had illegally acquired land worth about 291 million hryvnias ($7 million).
He had subsequently tendered his resignation. Kubrakov leaves as the government looks to break apart his ministry, which currently oversees wartime reconstruction efforts amid Russia's full-scale invasion.
Days After Ordering Nuclear Drills, Putin Warns Of Rising Global Risks
Just days after announcing military exercises involving tactical nuclear weapons, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of the rising risk of a global conflict.
Speaking on Moscow's Red Square on May 9 to mark Russia's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II -- a ceremony shunned by Western leaders but attended by the heads of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Laos and Guinea-Bissau -- Putin criticized the West for being "arrogant" and warned that Russia "will not allow anyone to threaten us."
The Russian leader, who was inaugurated for a fifth time on May 7, has used such rhetoric before to justify his full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022. He says the West has used Ukraine to interfere in what is an area traditionally part of Russia's sphere of influence.
Kyiv and the West, which has backed Ukraine with military equipment and financial aid, say the war is simply a move by Putin to take land it once ruled over during the Soviet era.
In 2014, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine's Crimea, taking control of it through a referendum deemed illegitimate, while since February 2022, Moscow has also claimed four regions inside Ukraine, meaning it now controls just a bit less than one-fifth of Ukraine's internationally recognized territory.
Russia's Defense Ministry on May 6 announced drills involving tactical nuclear weapons for the first time since it launched its aggression against Ukraine more than two years ago.
Russia said it was running the military exercises because of "unprecedented" and "provocative" statements from Britain and France that Moscow said showed their growing involvement in the war in Ukraine.
Putin said on May 9 that there was "nothing unusual" about the exercises, which the European Union has called a "continuation of Russia's irresponsible behavior."
A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the move was further "proof that the Kremlin is only interested in further escalating the situation which was caused by its illegal aggression against Ukraine."
Belarus, where Russia currently locates some of its tactical nuclear weapons, said it will check the preparedness of its nuclear forces as well.
Russian Constitutional Court Registers First Lawsuit Against Government Climate Policy
Russia's Constitutional Court has registered its first lawsuit against the government over its climate policy. According to media outlet Kedr, environmental activists are demanding that several laws be declared inconsistent with the constitution, which says all citizens have the right to a healthy environment. The activists say the Kremlin and the government have failed to implement policies to meet goals set out to provide protection from climate change and that people are suffering the consequences. Environmentalists tried a similar move in 2022, claiming the government was not doing enough to "realistically combat global warming." The Supreme Court rejected that lawsuit. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
Beatings, Arrests In Georgia As Protests Against Controversial Law Continue
Georgia's Interior Ministry said an investigation has been opened into the assault of three protesters -- one of whom is an opposition politician -- during a rally against the so-called "foreign agents" law in Tbilisi late on May 8.
Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri said on May 9 that the attacks by unidentified assailants on international relations specialist Gia Japaridze, activist Lasha Gvinianidze, and Dimitri Chikovani, a member of the National Movement opposition party would be investigated fully and that he condemns "all kinds of attacks."
Weeks of protest against what critics call "the Russian law" -- legislation pushed by the ruling Georgian Dream party despite widespread anger from much of the country -- have been met with tough police actions to disperse crowds, while roving bands of thugs have targeted demonstrators.
"An attack took place, people were injured, unfortunately," Gomelauri said.
Separately, police announced that six protesters who took part in rallies against the so-called "foreign agents" bill have been detained for alleged public disturbance offenses, police announced at a briefing on May 9.
The six are accused of attacking a police officer and damaging private property, Tbilisi police chief Sulkhan Tamazashvili told the briefing.
The tens of thousands of Georgians who have taken to the streets in Tbilisi and other cities faced violent reprisals by riot police, which included chemical spray and tear gas, water cannons, and the alleged use of rubber bullets on protesters and journalists.
The government has denied the use of rubber bullets, but several protesters have shown wounds consistent with those inflicted by such projectiles.
Tamazashvili told the media on May 9 that one of those detained allegedly threw a blunt object at a law enforcement officer during a protest on April 16, which caused an eye injury. He added that, during the same April 16 protest, one participant allegedly damaged a police vehicle.
Three other people are accused of damaging surveillance cameras during rallies on May 1 and May 2, while another person allegedly damaged the entrance door into parliament and threw a stone into the the parliament's courtyard, injuring a firefighter and a member of the rescue services.
Three more incidents are under investigation, Tamazashvili said, adding that there have been no arrests yet in connection with them.
In the latest protests, Georgians demonstrated in cities across the country on May 8. Following the harsh police crackdown on earlier protests in Tbilisi, smaller rallies in Zugdidi, Kutaisi, and Gori took place without incident.
One protest organizer, Zviad Tsetskhladze, said opponents of the bill had created a group that will try to provide financial support to individuals who are dismissed from their public-service jobs over their opposition to it.
The controversial bill says media, NGOs, and other nonprofits must register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if more than 20 percent of their funding comes from abroad.
The government insists the law is in line with EU standards and is only intended to increase "transparency" and prevent "harmful foreign influence" in the country's political scene.
Human Rights Watch rejected that stance on May 9, saying it threatens fundamental rights in the country.
“Georgian parliamentarians and government officials formally defend the bill as providing transparency, but they make no secret of its intended purpose,” said Hugh Williamson, the rights watchdog's Europe and Central Asia director.
“By labeling independent groups and media as serving foreign interests, they intend to marginalize and stifle critical voices in the country that are fundamental for any functioning democracy.”
The legislation is expected to face a third and final reading that could come as early as May 13, with Georgian Dream and its allies seemingly in control of enough votes to carry the bill and potentially override a veto that has been promised by President Salome Zurabishvili.
European Union leaders say implementation of the law would adversely affect Georgia's hopes of eventual EU membership, and condemnation has also come from the United States -- the former Soviet republic's biggest backer in recent years.
Ukrainian Lawmakers Vote To Dismiss Agriculture Minister, Key Reconstruction Figure
Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, voted on May 9 to dismiss Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskiy and the deputy prime minister for reconstruction, Oleksandr Kubrakov. Last month, Solskiy was released on bail after being taken into custody over accusations that he had illegally acquired land worth about 291 million hryvnyas ($7 million). He had subsequently tendered his resignation. Kubrakov leaves as the government looks to break apart his ministry, which currently oversees wartime reconstruction efforts amid Russia's full-scale invasion. To read the original stories by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here. and here.
North Macedonia's Right-Wing Nationalists Win Both Presidential And Parliamentary Polls
SKOPJE -- North Macedonia’s right-wing nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party has won a clear victory in both presidential and parliamentary elections, raising concerns of colder relations with Balkan neighbors and more difficult membership negotiations with the European Union.
VMRO-DPMNE-backed candidate Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, 70, became the country’s first woman president, handing a resounding defeat to pro-Western incumbent Stevo Pendarovski, backed by the ruling Social Democrats (SDSM), in the run-off vote for the largely ceremonial post.
With 99.8 percent of votes counted, Siljanovska-Davkova, who also won the first round, garnered 65.1 percent of the votes, prompting Pendarovski, who obtained 29.2 percent, to concede defeat, saying that "the results are clear. I want to congratulate victory to those who won."
In a simultaneous parliamentary vote, the VMRO-DPMNE received 43.2 percent of the vote and will have 58 seats in the 120-seat parliament,
bringing to an end SDSM's seven-year stint in power.
VMRO-DPMNE leader and expected future Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said his party and the Vredi block of Albanian opposition parties, which won 13 seats, would form the government. SDSM has won 18 mandates.
"I congratulate our political opponent VMRO-DPMNE for this victory in the elections,” said SDSM leader Dimitar Kovacevski, a former prime minister.
"The result is disappointing and this is a big blow to SDSM," he added.
Following the election, Siljanovska-Davkova -- who is expected to be inaugurated on May 12, said she would be the "president of all citizens, to all ethnic groups, to party members, to those who are not in parties, because a president cannot -- especially if she is a woman -- unite and search for unity if she holds to party lines."
North Macedonia's sluggish progress on its EU path, poverty, and corruption were major themes of the campaign.
Constitutional Changes?
The next government's priorities are expected to grapple with the pledge to change the constitution to clear a path to opening chapters of North Macedonia's EU negotiations.
The VMRO-DPMNE campaigned on the idea that the EU negotiation framework can be changed.
Macedonians have had EU candidate status since 2005 but their accession efforts ran into a drawn-out name dispute with Greece, which was resolved in 2019. With Pendarovski as president, North Macedonia joined NATO in 2020.
However, their EU integration efforts were also stalled by neighbor and bloc member Bulgaria's veto, which is continuing despite the 2022 compromise requiring an amendment to the preamble of the Macedonian Constitution.
Siljanovska-Davkova has criticized the pledge to amend the constitution to establish minority status for the country's ethnic Bulgarians, but has acknowledged she won't block it in the event that a two-thirds majority can be mustered to approve it.
Siljanovska-Davkova has also said she will "respect" the name change that removed the Greek veto "but I will not use it," a reference to the name North Macedonia that has since appeared in all official settings.
She told RFE/RL's Balkan Service that if parliament -- which has so far failed to amend the constitution to recognize the Bulgarian minority -- approves the constitutional amendment she will respect that decision.
A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority that neither side appears likely to win, and the VMRO-DPMNE has consistently blocked the move.
VMRO-DPMNE supporters celebrated past midnight in Skopje's Macedonia Square, signing and waving banners and flags.
Election officials said turnout was 46.31 percent in the presidential election, surpassing the required 40 percent level to make the vote valid. Turnout in the parliamentary election was 53.3 percent at the same time, officials said.
Aleksandar Dashtevski, chief of the State Election Commission, told a news conference late on May 8 that “we have had successful, fair, and democratic elections.”
"All citizens had equal voting rights [and] they voted based on their own free will,” he added.
Political analyst Marko Tosanovski told RFE/RL's Balkan Service that voters appear frustrated that the governing parties have been unable to pull the country out of economic doldrums, high inflation, and pervasive corruption.
"Failures occurred at several levels, but even more so because the citizens didn’t see a quick reaction to correcting these conditions," Tosanovski said.
World Bank forecasters say North Macedonia and its 2.4 million residents are likely to end 2024 as the worst economic performer and with the biggest budget deficit among the so-called Western Balkan Six, which also includes Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
- By AP
Gunmen Kill 7 Barbers In Pakistan's Volatile Balochistan Province
Attackers fatally shot seven barbers before dawn on May 9 in a home in a volatile province in southwestern Pakistan, police and a government official said. The killings occurred near the port city of Gwadar in Balochistan Province, according to police official Mohsin Ali. All of the barbers were from Punjab Province and lived and worked together. Provincial Interior Minister Ziaullah Langau condemned the killings and said police were investigating who was behind the attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Police said they believe the attack on the barbers was not related to their jobs. To read the original story by AP, click here.
Iran Sentences Renowned Filmmaker To Flogging, Prison Sentence
Iran’s judiciary has sentenced filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof to flogging and eight years in prison. His lawyer, Babak Paknia, said in a social media post on May 8 that his client will only be required to serve five years in prison but was also fined and had his property confiscated. He was convicted of "collusion against national security," Paknia said. Western rights advocates and film-industry groups have condemned Iran’s actions against Rasoulof and demanded his release. Rasoulof's film titled The Seed Of The Sacred Fig is scheduled to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival this month. Rasoulof won the Berlin Film Festival’s top prize in 2020 for his film There Is No Evil, which tells four stories loosely connected to the themes of the death penalty in Iran and personal freedoms under oppression.
4 Arrested In India For 'Luring' Men To Fight For Russia In Ukraine
Four people have been arrested in India accused of "trafficking" citizens to fight for the Russian Army in Ukraine, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation said on May 8. The statement said one of the arrested was a translator who lived in Russia and was one of the key figures in the network for “luring” at least 35 fighters. It did not specify where he was arrested. The second suspect was arrested in Dubai. The final two lived in India and were directly involved in recruitment, the statement said. According to Reuters, India's Foreign Ministry said the matter has been "strongly taken up" with the Kremlin. Moscow has not commented. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Russian Service, click here.
China's Xi Arrives In Hungary For Orban Meeting, Next Leg Of European Charm Trip
Chinese President Xi Jinping, fresh off a visit to Serbia, arrived in Hungary on May 8 , where he is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Viktor Orban and other senior officials.
Chinese state television said Xi arrived in Budapest "by special plane and began his state visit to Hungary, at the invitation of Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban."
Xi left Belgrade on May 8 after meeting there with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at a city palace where thousands of people were gathered to greet them as both men lauded their countries' friendship as "ironclad" and issued a joint statement to boost cooperation toward "a common future in the new era."
Xi is on a rare, six-day European tour that already took him to France to meet with President Emmanuel Macron and EU leaders, who urged him to ease Chinese trade restrictions and to use his influence to press Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his invasion of Ukraine.
Xi's first trip to Europe in five years is seen as part of his drive to increase Beijing’s influence on the continent’s economic and political affairs.
The Sino-Serbian agreement signed by Xi and Vucic raises the level of their cooperation from strategic partnership to "building the community of Serbia and China with a common future in the new era."
After a series of bilateral meetings, Vucic called it "the highest form of cooperation between the two countries."
Xi said their countries will "jointly oppose hegemony and power politics" in the interest of "fundamental and long-term interests."
He called their bilateral political trust "strong as a rock."
Vucic has promoted Chinese investment and trade and diplomatic ties for his Balkan nation of around 7 million as he has sought to balance outreach to Russia and China and the bucking of Western sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine war with his country's bid for eventual EU membership.
Speaking from a balcony of the palace, Vucic thanked Xi for visiting "little Serbia" and said they were "making history today even though it doesn't seem so to many."
Xi called it a "truly two-sided and honest friendship," according to Serbian state television.
Like Moscow, Beijing has supported Belgrade diplomatically in its refusal to recognize former province Kosovo's independence, while Belgrade has supported China's claims to Taiwan. "Taiwan is China," Vucic said on May 8, citing the UN Charter.
Xi's visit was seemingly timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of NATO's bombing of the former Chinese Embassy in Belgrade in 1999, a deadly incident that has united Beijing and Belgrade in their criticism of Western intervention in the Balkans and around the world.
China has invested some $6 billion in Serbia in the past decade, putting the money into copper mines and a steel mill as well as major highway and infrastructure projects that have been criticized by some as nontransparent and overly risky deals between governments.
Chinese and Serbian officials were expected to sign more than 30 agreements in areas that Vucic suggested were in many cases aimed at boosting technology and innovation in Serbia.
Ahead of the Chinese president's arrival, Belgrade was decorated with flags of Serbia and China, and welcome messages were set up along the route from the airport to the city center in Serbian and Chinese.
Xi also made Serbia a stop in 2016, when he signed a free-trade agreement with Belgrade that alarmed skeptics of Chinese economic and political intentions in Europe.
With reporting by AP
Armenia Stops Financial Contributions To Russian-Led Military Alliance
YEREVAN -- Armenia said on May 8 that it has stopped making financial contributions to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) after effectively suspending its membership in the Russian-led military alliance.
“Armenia will refrain from signing up to the November 23, 2023, decision on the CSTO budget for 2024 and, thereby, from participating in the financing of the organization’s activities,” Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ani Badalian told several media outlets, including Armenia’s Public Television.
At the same time, Badalian said Yerevan will not block other member states, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, from doing so.
For more than a year, Armenia has boycotted high-level meetings, military exercises, and other activities of the CSTO in what Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian described in February as an effective suspension of its membership of the organization.
The premier repeatedly said afterwards that he could pull his country out of the alliance of six ex-Soviet states altogether unless it addressed Yerevan’s concerns.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed last week that Armenia formally remains a full-fledged member of the CSTO and must therefore “fulfill appropriate obligations” to the organization.
Armenia officially asked Russia and other CSTO member states for support after Azerbaijan launched offensive military operations along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in September 2022. Yerevan has repeatedly accused them of ignoring the request. Moscow denies that.
The threats to leave the CSTO reflect Armenia’s deepening rift with Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov charged in March that Pashinian’s administration is “leading things to the collapse of Russian-Armenian relations” at the behest of the West.
Pashinian and other Armenian leaders say they are only “diversifying” their foreign and security policies because of what they call Russia’s failure to honor its security commitments to the South Caucasus country.
Coincidentally, Pashinian is visiting Moscow on May 8 to chair the summit of another Russian-led grouping – the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) – in which Armenia currently holds the rotating presidency. Other members of the EEU are Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
The Kremlin later confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pashinian had held face-to-face talks at the session.
"On our bilateral relations are developing quite successfully," Putin told Pashinian, according to AFP.
The Russia leader did not mention tensions between the two nations, saying only that "we always, first and foremost, pay attention to economic cooperation."
With reporting by AFP
Falun Gong Members Held Ahead Of Xi's Serbia Visit, Says Daughter Of 1 Detainee
Three Serbian members of Falun Gong -- the Chinese spiritual movement that China's Communist Party has sought to stamp out since the late 1990s -- were detained in Belgrade on the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit, a family member said on May 8. Sara Markovic, daughter of one of the detained, Dejan Markovic, told RFE/RL that, in addition to her father, two older women and her uncle, who has no connection with Falun Gong, were also detained. The Interior Ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment. Sara Markovic said the arrests occurred “because the three are practitioners of Falun Gong. It is a forbidden Buddhist practice in China.” Established in the early 1990s, Falun Gong is a spiritual teaching that combines meditation and traditional Chinese gymnastics with a moral philosophy.
- By dpa
Pakistan Declares Emergency To Enroll 26 Million Out-Of-School Kids
Pakistan declared an emergency on May 8 to enroll 26 million children of school-going age who are not registered to seek formal education, the highest number in the world. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that his government was imposing the formal emergency declaration to tackle the daunting task of wooing back children to school. The declaration allows for the mobilization of funds and resources and puts the problem high on the government agenda. A combination of policy and administrative tools would be deployed, as well as incentives to encourage parents to send their kids to the classroom, Sharif said.
Nobel Laureate Slams Iranian Government For Number Of Elderly Female 'Political Prisoners'
Imprisoned Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist Narges Mohammadi has slammed the country’s Islamist government for holding almost two dozen women over the age of 60 incarcerated for “political” offenses.
Mohammadi, who is currently among 69 women held in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison, published a statement on Instagram highlighting the determination of older women trapped in Iran’s prison system, saying it shows their "will for liberation, as well as the cruelty and wickedness of the Islamic republic."
"The presence of these women in the ranks of those who are prepared to pay the heaviest prices indicates a widespread uprising among women for democracy, freedom, and equality, as well as the intensity of societal rebellion against discrimination, oppression, and domination," Mohammadi said, noting that "among the 69 female political prisoners in Evin, 21 are over 60 years old."
Mohammadi was sentenced in May 2016 to 16 years in prison after she established a human rights movement that campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty.
She was released in 2020 but sent back to prison in 2021. In January 2024, an Iranian court extended the 51-year-old Mohammadi's prison sentence by 15 months for “spreading propaganda” against the Islamic republic while in jail.
It was her fifth conviction since March 2021 and the third for activities from prison.
While underscoring the harsh realities faced by activists who continue to stand against authoritarian rule, Mohammadi expressed hope in her Instagram post that their resilience will eventually win out over the “tyranny” of the regime.
"It is evident that the presence of mothers and women spending their sixth and seventh decades in prison reflects the regime's brutality, misanthropy, and ferocity, which is increasingly despised as it turns a blind eye to morals, societal values, and humanity in order to maintain its fragile power," she said.
Mohammadi was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for what the Norwegian Nobel Committee called “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.”
Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda
Afghan Policemen Killed In Blast During Mission To Eradicate Poppy Crops
Three policemen were killed and five others injured when a bomb exploded near a police convoy on a mission to destroy illegal poppy crops in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan region, the country’s Taliban rulers said on May 8. Spokesman Ehsanullah Kamgar said explosives had been placed on a motorcycle when they were detonated. No group immediately claimed responsibility. Protests broke out on May 3-4 in the region when the Taliban attempted to forcefully eradicate the poppy crop. The Islamist group banned poppy cultivation in April 2022 after returning to power in August 2021. Afghanistan is the world's top producer of the poppy, from which opium and heroin are developed. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi, click here.
- By RFE/RL
EU Reaches Deal To Use Proceeds From Russian Assets To Fund Ukraine Military Aid
Ambassadors representing European Union states have reached a deal “in principle” to use the proceeds of Russian assets frozen in the EU to finance military aid for Ukraine, the Belgian government said on May 8. “EU ambassadors agreed in principle on measures concerning extraordinary revenues stemming from Russia’s immobilized assets,” it wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “The money will serve to support Ukraine's recovery and military defense in the context of the Russian aggression.” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that “there could be no stronger symbol and no greater use for that money than to make Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live.”
Ukrainian Parliament Passes Bill To Allow Some Prisoners To Serve In Military
KYIV -- The Ukrainian parliament has approved a bill that would allow some categories of prisoners to serve in the country’s armed forces as it defends itself against a full-scale Russian invasion.
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Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, adopted the law after its second reading on May 8 with 279 members of the 450-member parliament voting in favor.
The bill will require the signature of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has supported the idea.
The Russian military has also recruited in the country’s prisons for potential soldiers to serve in Ukraine in exchange for a release from their sentences. Reports have surfaced in Russia of returning former prisoners terrorizing residents of regional cities and committing major crimes.
Olena Shulyak, the head of Zelenskiy's party, said in a Facebook post that the "draft law opens the possibility for certain categories of prisoners who expressed a desire to defend their country to join the defense forces."
She said service would be voluntary and some prisoners would be excluded, including those convicted of certain offenses such as crimes against the foundations of Ukraine's national security, the intentional murder of two or more people, sexual violence, attempts to kill law enforcement officers, and particularly serious corruption violations.
Shulyak said it will also not apply to convicts who previously held a position of responsibility regardless of the crime they committed (e.g. ministers, deputies, their deputies and assistants, etc.).
More than two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has struggled to maintain its defenses in the face of shortages of manpower and ammunition.
Kyiv has pleaded with Western partners for additional deliveries of weapons but has not requested the deployment of foreign troops.
In April, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law on military mobilization that looks to boost the number of its troops.
The law expands the powers of Ukrainian authorities to issue draft notices, including through an electronic system, a change that is expected to help limit evasion.
A provision on the demobilization of those currently serving in the armed forces was scrapped from the law -- a move likely to be met with anger by Ukrainian troops and their families.
A provision also required all men between the ages of 18 and 60 to update their draft data with military conscription centers across the country.
An unknown number of Ukrainian men fled the country after Russia launched its ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, despite Kyiv's move to ban men of conscription age from leaving the country.
In April, Ukraine also lowered the draft mobilization age from 27 to 25, with 60 being the maximum age.
Russia also imposed strict measures aimed at preventing avoidance of military service after thousands of young men fled the country in the early days following the invasion.
- By Reuters
U.K. Will Expel Russian Defense Attache Over 'Malign Activity'
Britain will expel Russia's defense attache, remove diplomatic status from some properties, and limit the length of Russian diplomatic visas in response to what Home Secretary James Cleverly called Moscow's "malign activity," including an arson attack on a Ukrainian-linked business allegedly orchestrated by the Kremlin. Addressing Parliament on May 8, Cleverly said Britain was already "an extremely challenging operating environment for Russian intelligence services" but the measures would "only serve to strengthen our resilience to the Russian threat." Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said British allegations of Russian involvement in the arson attack were absurd and part of an information war.
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