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Trump To Nominate Chief Diplomat For European-Eurasian Affairs

United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

U.S. President Donald Trump intends to nominate A. Wess Mitchell, who heads a think tank on Central and Eastern Europe, as assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, the White House announced on July 20.

Mitchell, whom the White House described as an expert on NATO and transatlantic relations, founded the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in 2005 and has been its president and CEO since 2009.

If approved by the Senate, he will fill a key State Department position that has been vacant since January 20, when Victoria Nuland, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, left the post upon Trump’s inauguration.

The office covers a large array of countries, many in potential conflict areas, including the Balkans and the Caucasus.

Nuland was considered the point person on the conflict in Ukraine, but those duties have subsequently been split off. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on July 7 announced that Kurt Volker, Washington’s NATO ambassador under the previous two U.S. administrations, would become the special envoy for the war-torn country.

During the 2012 U.S. presidential election, Mitchell served on the national security team for the campaign of Republican candidate Mitt Romney, according to the CEPA website.

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Apparent Fire-Bombing Disrupts Voting At Russian Consulate In Chisinau

Fire was reported at the Russian Consulate in Chisinau as Russians voted in the presidential election on March 17.
Fire was reported at the Russian Consulate in Chisinau as Russians voted in the presidential election on March 17.

Voting for Russia's presidential election was disrupted at the Russian Consulate in Chisinau on March 17 after an apparent fire-bombing. Flames and smoke broke out in the consulate's courtyard as dozens of voters were lined up to cast their ballots in an election widely expected to be won by incumbent President Vladimir Putin. A man was reportedly detained following the incident, which eyewitnesses said was caused when someone shouting "I hate Russia" threw something over the consulate fence. Images showed scorch marks on the wall of the consulate and smoke rising from the courtyard. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Moldovan Service, click here.

Paris Olympics Could Feature Only 40 Russian Athletes, Says IOC's Coates

Protesters rally against allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in the 2024 Olympics in Paris in Lausanne, Switzerland, in March 2023.
Protesters rally against allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in the 2024 Olympics in Paris in Lausanne, Switzerland, in March 2023.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) Vice President John Coates is unsure how many Russians will compete as neutral athletes at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, but thinks reports that it might be as low as 40 could be close to the mark. Under sanctions put in place because of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, for which Belarus acted as a staging post, the IOC is allowing only some Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in Paris under tight restrictions. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has described the December decision to allow them as "shameful."

Georgia's South Ossetia Reportedly Discusses Possible Inclusion Into Russia

Alan Alborov (file photo)
Alan Alborov (file photo)

South Ossetia, a breakaway region in Georgia, has discussed its possible inclusion into Russia with Moscow, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing South Ossetia's parliament speaker on March 17. "We are discussing all these issues in close coordination with Russia, taking into account our bilateral relations and treaties," it quoted Alan Alborov as saying in response to a question about the possibility of holding a referendum on the subject.

Traffic Accident In Southern Afghanistan Leaves 21 Dead, 38 Injured

A motorbike crashed into a passenger bus, which then hit a fuel tanker on the opposite side of the road, said a traffic official. (file photo)
A motorbike crashed into a passenger bus, which then hit a fuel tanker on the opposite side of the road, said a traffic official. (file photo)

A traffic accident in southern Afghanistan left at least 21 people dead and 38 injured, according to a provincial traffic department. The accident occurred on the morning of March 17 in the Gerashk district of Helmand Province on the main highway between the southern Kandahar and western Herat provinces, a statement from the department in Helmand said. A motorbike crashed into a passenger bus, which then hit a fuel tanker on the opposite side of the road, said a traffic official in Helmand. An investigation into the accident was under way, he added.

Ukraine Launches Far-Ranging Drone Attacks Amid Russia's Presidential Vote

A drone flys over Belgorod on March 14.
A drone flys over Belgorod on March 14.

Ukraine launched a massive new wave of drone attacks on March 17 as Russians cast ballots on the final day of a presidential vote set to extend President Vladimir Putin's rule for another six years. The Russian Defense Ministry reported downing 35 Ukrainian drones overnight, including four in the Moscow region. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said there were no casualties or damage. According to the Defense Ministry, another two drones were shot down over the Kaluga region south of the Russian capital and the Yaroslavl region northeast of Moscow. More Ukrainian drones were downed over the Belgorod, Kursk, and Rostov regions.

Updated

'Noon Against Putin' Protesters Line Up For Russian Presidential Election

Russians line up to vote at a polling station in Tolyatti at noon local time on March 17.
Russians line up to vote at a polling station in Tolyatti at noon local time on March 17.

Long lines formed at polling stations across Russia's 11 time zones in time for the "Noon Against Putin" protest against a presidential election expected to virtually gift Vladimir Putin another six years of rule.

Voting on March 17, the last day of the election held over a span of three days, took place with virtually no opposition to the long-serving incumbent.

Putin's greatest political rival, Aleksei Navalny, died a month before the polls in an Arctic prison amid suspicious circumstances while serving sentences widely seen as politically motivated.

Other serious opponents to Putin are either in jail or exile or were barred from running against him amid a heightened crackdown on dissent and the independent media.

The situation left only three token rivals from Kremlin-friendly parties on the ballot -- Liberal Democratic Party leader Leonid Slutsky, State Duma deputy speaker Vladislav Davankov of the New People party, and State Duma lawmaker Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party.

Despite Navalny's death, his idea of using the "Noon Against Putin" action to show the strength of the opposition lived on. The protest, a workaround of Russia's restrictive laws on public assembly, called on people to assemble at polling stations precisely at noon.

Russian Opposition Plans 'Noon Against Putin' Election Protests
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Protest voters answered the call across the country as the deadline moved from Russia's Far East toward Moscow, and from then to the western area of the country and parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia.

Videos and images posted on social media showed long lines of voters formed at noon in Novosibirsk, Chita, Yekaterinburg, Perm, and Moscow among other Russian cities.

The protests were accompanied by a heavy police presence and the threat of long prison terms for those seen as disrupting the voting process.

The Moscow prosecutor's office said in warning of criminal prosecution against those who interfere with the vote that it was a result of social media posts "containing calls for an unlimited number of people to simultaneously arrive to participate in uncoordinated mass public events at polling stations in Moscow [at noon on March 17] in order to violate electoral legislation."

Lawyer Valeria Vetoshkina, who has left the country, told Current Time that if people do not bring posters and do not announce why they came to the polling station at that hour, it would be hard for the authorities to legitimately declare it a “violation.”

But she warned that there are "some basic safety rules that you can follow if you're worried. The first is not to discuss why you came, just to vote. And secondly, it is better to come without any visual means of agitation: without posters, flags, and so on."

The OVD-Info human rights group issued a statement labeled "How to Protect Yourself" ahead of the planned protest, also saying not to bring posters or banners and "do not demonstrate symbols that can attract the attention of the police, do not shout slogans. If you are asked why you came at noon, do not give the real reason."

Russian election officials, officially, said that as of the morning of March 17 more than 60 percent of the country's 114 million eligible voters had cast ballots either in person or online.

Observers widely predict that there was virtually no chance that Putin would not gain another term in office. A victory would hand him his fifth presidential term over a span of 24 years, interrupted only by his time spent as prime minister from 2008-2012.

Over the first two days, some Russians expressed their anger over Putin's authoritarian rule by vandalizing ballot boxes with a green antiseptic dye known as "zelyonka" and other liquids, with Russian officials and independent media reporting at least 28 cases.

Incidents were reported in at least nine cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, and Volgograd.

Ella Pamfilova, head of Russia's Central Election Commission (TsIK), on March 16 said there had been 20 cases of people attempting to destroy voting sheets by pouring liquids into ballot boxes and eight incidents of people trying to destroy ballots by setting them on fire or by using smoke bombs.

On March 16, independent media reported that Russian police had opened at least 28 criminal probes into incidents of vandalism in polling stations, a number expected to grow.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy head of the Security Council, on March 16 denounced election protesters as "villains" and "traitors" who are aiding the country's enemies, particularly Ukraine.

"This is direct assistance to those degenerates who are shelling our cities today," he said on Telegram. "Criminal activists at polling stations should be aware that they can rattle for 20 years in a special regime [prison]," he added.

Many observers say Putin warded off even the faintest of challengers to ensure a large margin of victory that he can point to as evidence that Russians back the full-scale war Moscow launched against Ukraine in February 2022.

Meanwhile, Ukraine stepped up attacks on Russia leading up to the election, including strikes deep inside the country.

On March 17, Russia's Defense Ministry reported downing 35 Ukrainian drones overnight, including four in the Moscow region. Other drones were reportedly downed in the Kaluga and Yaroslavl regions neighboring the Moscow region, and in the Belgorod, Kursk, and Rostov regions along Russia's southwestern border with Ukraine.

On March 16, Ukrainian forces shelled the border city of Belgorod and the village of Glotovo, killing at least three people and wounding eight others, Russian officials said.

The same day, a Ukrainian drone strike caused a fire at an oil refinery that belongs to Russian oil giant Rosneft in the Samara region, some 850 kilometers southeast of Moscow, regional Governor Dmitry Azarov said. An attack on another refinery was thwarted, he added.

Ukraine generally does not comment on attacks inside Russia, but Reuters quoted an unidentified Ukrainian source as saying that Kyiv's SBU intelligence agency was behind strikes at three Samara region Rosneft refineries -- Syzran, Novokuibyshevsky, and Kuibyshevsky, which is inside the Samara city limits.

"The SBU continues to implement its strategy to undermine the economic potential of the Russian Federation that allows it to wage war in Ukraine," the news agency quoted the source as saying.

Russian authorities, who have accused Kyiv of launching assaults designed to disrupt voting, claimed that Ukraine on March 16 dropped a missile on a voting station in a Russian-occupied part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region, although the report could not be verified.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, Reuters, and AP

India Captures Bulgarian-Managed Ship From Pirates, Rescues Crew

The navy said in a post on social media that all 35 pirates aboard the ship, the Maltese-flagged bulk-cargo vessel Ruen, had surrendered.
The navy said in a post on social media that all 35 pirates aboard the ship, the Maltese-flagged bulk-cargo vessel Ruen, had surrendered.

Indian naval forces including special commandos seized a cargo vessel that had been hijacked by Somali pirates, rescuing 17 crew members, a spokesperson for the navy said on March 16. The navy said in a post on social media that all 35 pirates aboard the ship, the Maltese-flagged bulk-cargo vessel Ruen, had surrendered, and the ship had been checked for the presence of illegal arms, ammunition, and contraband. The Ruen was hijacked last year and the navy said it had intercepted the vessel on March 15. The ship was listed as being managed by Bulgarian company Navigation Maritime Bulgare.

Iran's Medical Council Warns Of Doctor Shortage Due To Emigration

The report cited the ongoing economic crisis in Iran as a key reason for medical personnel choosing to leave. (file photo)
The report cited the ongoing economic crisis in Iran as a key reason for medical personnel choosing to leave. (file photo)

Iran's Medical Council in a March 16 report warned that the country is facing a shortage of doctors, especially pediatric surgeons, because of the increasing number of physicians emigrating from the country. The nongovernmental organization's report cited the ongoing economic crisis in Iran as a key reason for medical personnel choosing to leave. Mohammad Raiszadeh, head of the council, previously called the "emptying of physicians" a "serious" crisis and warned about the future of Iran's health sector. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.

Trump Son-In-Law Kushner Plans Luxury Projects In Serbia, Albania

Former U.S. President Donald Trump (left), his daughter Ivanka Trump (center), and her husband, Jared Kushner, attend a mixed-martial-arts event at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, on March 9.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump (left), his daughter Ivanka Trump (center), and her husband, Jared Kushner, attend a mixed-martial-arts event at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, on March 9.

Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former U.S. President Donald Trump, has disclosed plans to develop luxury projects in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, and on Albania's Adriatic Sea coastline. "Excited to share some early design images for development projects we have been creating for the Albanian coast and downtown Belgrade," he wrote on social media with artist renderings of four sites. The New York Times on March 15 reported that among the projects is a luxury hotel, 1,500 residential units, and a museum in Belgrade at the site of the vacant former Yugoslav Army headquarters that was destroyed by NATO bombings in 1999.

Iranian Religious Scholar, Women's Rights Activist Arrested, Husband Says

Sedigheh Vasmaghi (file photo)
Sedigheh Vasmaghi (file photo)

Sedigheh Vasmaghi, a prominent Iranian religious scholar and political activist, has been arrested by plainclothes security agents, her husband, Mohammad Ebrahimzadeh, said on March 16. Vasmaghi was arrested at her home by four agents -- three men and a woman – with what they said was a court order. They seized her laptop, medications, and her cane, her husband said. Vasmaghi had been summoned by the authorities in the past and is an outspoken critic of the clerical establishment and the compulsory hijab. She had worn a head scarf for years, but in recent months she appeared without a head scarf to protest the repression of women, she told RFE/RL. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.

Bulgarians Lay To Rest Patriarch Neophyte, Who Opposed Russian War

Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte is laid to rest in Sofia on March 16.
Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte is laid to rest in Sofia on March 16.

Thousands of people in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, joined with Orthodox Christian leaders on March 16 to bid a final farewell to Patriarch Neophyte, who died on March 13 after a long illness. The popular Neophyte, who became patriarch in 2013, was an outspoken critic of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Patriarch Bartholomew, the Istanbul-based spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, led the funeral service of the Bulgarian patriarch. Following Neophyte's death, Bulgaria’s leadership called for four days of mourning, while President Rumen Radev postponed the scheduled handover of the mandate to form a new government until March 18. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Bulgarian Service, click here.

Updated

Several Troops Killed In Suicide Attack On Pakistan Military Post

Casualty figures are expected to rise as firing between the militants and security forces continued. (file photo)
Casualty figures are expected to rise as firing between the militants and security forces continued. (file photo)

Pakistan says seven soldiers were killed and 17 wounded in a militant attack that targeted a sprawling army post in the volatile North Waziristan district near the Afghan border on March 16.

"The terrorists rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the post, followed by multiple suicide-bombing attacks, which led to the collapse of a portion of a building," the Pakistani military said in a statement.

Residents in North Waziristan in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province said a powerful explosion shook doors and damaged windows at around 6.15 a.m. local time.

The army said five soldiers died in the truck bombing and two officers in the shoot-out that ensued. All six assailants were killed and a clearance operation was still under way in the area, it added.

The army did not name the militant group behind the attack. But a newly formed militant group, Jaish-e Fursan-e Muhammad, claimed responsibility for the assault.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and paid tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives.

North Waziristan has long been a hotbed of militants operating on both sides of the border. Pakistani officials say attacks have risen in recent months, many of them claimed by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP).

After the Afghan Taliban returned to power following the withdrawal of the U.S.-led forces from the country, many TTP members have reportedly found sanctuary in Afghanistan, using it to launch more frequent attacks on Pakistani troops and civilians.

It has damaged the relationship between Islamabad and the Taliban-led government in Kabul, which denies allowing Afghanistan to be used by militants.

Pakistani military officials have previously claimed that their mop-up operations in North Waziristan cleared the area of Taliban fighters and other militant groups.

With reporting by Reuters
Updated

Zelenskiy Praises Range Of Ukraine's Drones Following Attacks Deep Inside Russia

A photo posted on the official Telegram account of the Belgorod region's governor on March 16 purports to show the aftermath of fresh attacks on Belgorod.
A photo posted on the official Telegram account of the Belgorod region's governor on March 16 purports to show the aftermath of fresh attacks on Belgorod.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has hailed the new long-range capabilities of his military’s combat drones following reports of attacks deep inside Russian territory.

"In these weeks, many have already seen that the Russian system of warfare has weak points and that we can reach these points with our weapons," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address on March 16.

He did not name a specific attack but the remarks came after reports that three oil facilities in Russia's Samara region -- more than 1,000 kilometers inside Russia -- had been set ablaze in drone attacks on March 15.

Earlier on March 16, Ukrainian forces launched multiple attacks on Russia, killing at least three people in the border city of Belgorod and hitting an oil refinery in the Samara region, Russian officials said.

A man and two women died in the Ukrainian shelling that also wounded three others in Belgorod, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram.

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The official added that five people were also wounded when a Ukrainian drone hit a car in the village of Glotovo, some 2 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

A Ukrainian drone strike caused a fire at an oil refinery that belongs to Russian oil giant Rosneft in the Samara region, some 850 kilometers southeast of Moscow, regional Governor Dmitry Azarov said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Social-media videos showed images of buildings on fire. Azarov said that an attack on another refinery was thwarted.

The attacks come a day after a Russian ballistic missile strike killed at least 20 people and wounded more than 70 others in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa.

Two Iskander-M missiles fired from Russian-occupied Crimea struck a residential area in Odesa on March 15, Governor Oleh Kiper said.

Several of the victims were medics and rescuers who were killed by a second missile after they rushed to the scene to treat people hurt in the initial strike, Kiper added.

In his evening video address on March 15, Zelenskiy vowed that Russia would receive a "fair response" from Kyiv's forces.

On March 16, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had detained a 61-year-old Russian man for planning what it called a terrorist attack on Ukraine's behalf on a trans-Siberian railway junction in the Ural Mountains' Sverdlovsk region.

State news agency TASS quoted the FSB as saying the man had been recruited by Kyiv's intelligence services in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv and sent to Russia. The agency said the man had confessed to the charges and was cooperating with the investigation.

Ukraine has previously said it was targeting the trans-Siberian railway, a key route for Russian freight traversing the country.

The March 16 Ukrainian attacks come as Russia entered the second day of voting in a presidential election that is all but certain to extend Vladimir Putin’s rule by another six years after he crushed dissent. Putin has accused Kyiv of trying to disrupt the election.

With reporting by Reuters and AP
Updated

Russian Police Investigate At Least 28 Cases Of 'Vandalism In Polling Stations'

A woman pours a liquid into a ballot box during the Russian presidential election in Moscow on March 15.
A woman pours a liquid into a ballot box during the Russian presidential election in Moscow on March 15.

Russians completed the second day of voting late on March 16 in a three-day presidential election that has seen sporadic protests as some people, defying threats of stiff prison sentences, showed their anger over a process set up to hand Vladimir Putin another six years of rule.

Russian officials and independent media on March 16 reported some three dozen incidents of individual protests at polling stations, with some people attempting to destroy voting sheets by a variety of methods.

Russian authorities also stepped up threats of long prison terms for those who attempt to disrupt the voting process, including during a planned noon action on March 17.

More than one-third of Russia's 110 million eligible voters cast ballots in person and online on the first day of the country's three-day presidential election, the Central Election Commission (TsIK) said after polls closed on March 15 in the country's westernmost region of Kaliningrad.

Balloting started up again on March 16 in the Far East of Russia and continued in all 11 time zones of the country, as well as the occupied Crimean Peninsula and four other Ukrainian regions that Moscow partially controls and baselessly claims are part of Russia.

Putin is poised to win and extend his rule by six more years after any serious opponents were barred from running against him amid a brutal crackdown on dissent and the independent media.

The ruthless crackdown that has crippled independent media and human rights groups began before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched, but has been ratcheted up since.

Almost exactly one month before the polls opened, Putin's most vocal critic, opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, died in an isolated Arctic prison amid suspicious circumstances as he served sentences seen as politically motivated.

Independent media on March 16 reported that Russian police had opened at least 15 criminal probes into incidents of vandalism in polling stations by midday, a number expected to grow.

Some Russians expressed their anger over Putin's authoritarian rule by vandalizing ballot boxes with a green antiseptic dye known as "zelyonka" and other liquids.

Among them was a 43-year-old member of the local election commission in the Lenin district of Izhevsk city, the Interior Ministry said on March 16.

The official was detained by police after she attempted to spill zelyonka into a touchscreen voting machine, the ministry said. Police didn’t release the woman’s name, but said she was a member of the Communist Party.

Green Dye And Fire Spoil Ballot Boxes In Incidents Across Russia
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Similar incidents were reported in at least nine cities, including St. Petersburg, Sochi, and Volgograd.

In Moscow, police arrested a woman who burned her ballot inside a voting booth in the city’s polling station N1527 on March 15, Russian news agencies reported, citing election officials in the Russian capital.

The news outlet Sota reported that that woman burned a ballot with "Bring back my husband” handwritten on it, and posted video purportedly showing the incident.

There also was one report of a firebombing at a polling station in Moscow, while In Russia's second-largest city, St. Petersburg, a 21-year-old woman was detained after she threw a Molotov cocktail at an entrance of a local school that houses two polling stations.

"It’s the first time I've see something like this -- or at least [such attacks] have not been so spectacular before," Roman Udot, an election analyst and a board member of the independent election monitor Golos, told RFE/RL.

"The state launched a war against [the election process] and this is the very striking harvest it gets in return. People resent these elections as a result and have started using them for completely different purposes [than voting]."

Ella Pamfilova, head of Russia's Central Election Commission, said that over the first two days of voting there had been 20 incidents of people pouring liquids into ballot boxes and eight cases of attempted arson or the use of smoke bombs.

Russia's ruling United Russia party claimed on March 16 that it was facing a widespread denial-of-service attack -- a form of cyberattack that snarls internet use -- against its online presence. The party said it had suspended nonessential services to repel the attack.

Meanwhile, Russian lawmakers proposed amendments to the Criminal Code to toughen punishments for those who try to disrupt elections "by arson and other dangerous means." Under the current law, such actions are punishable by five years in prison, and the lawmakers proposed to extend it to up to eight years in prison.

No Serious Challengers

Before his death, Navalny had hoped to use the vote to demonstrate the public's discontent with both the war and Putin's iron-fisted rule.

He called on voters to cast their ballot at 12 p.m. on March 17, naming the action "Noon Against Putin." HIs wife and others have since continued to call for the protest to be carried out.

Russian Opposition Plans 'Noon Against Putin' Election Protests
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Viral images of long lines forming at this time would indicate the size of the opposition and undermine the landslide result the Kremlin is expected to concoct.

The Moscow prosecutor's office threatened criminal liability for those who come to the polling stations at noon on the last day of voting. The office said it could regard long lines at noon as interfering with the work of election commissions.

Putin, 71, who has been president or prime minister for nearly 25 years, is running against three low-profile politicians -- Liberal Democratic Party leader Leonid Slutsky, State Duma deputy speaker Vladislav Davankov of the New People party, and State Duma lawmaker Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party -- whose policy positions are hardly distinguishable from Putin's.

Boris Nadezhdin, a 60-year-old anti-war politician, was rejected last month by the TsIK because of what it called invalid support signatures on his application to be registered as a candidate. He appealed, but the TsIk’s decision was upheld by Russia's Supreme Court.

"Would like to congratulate Vladimir Putin on his landslide victory in the elections starting today," European Council President Charles Michel wrote in a sarcastic post on X, formerly Twitter, on March 15.

"No opposition. No freedom. No choice."

Ukraine and many Western governments have condemned Russia for holding the vote in regions it occupies parts of, calling the move illegal.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres added his voice to the criticism on March 15, saying he "condemns the efforts of the Russian Federation to hold its presidential elections in areas of Ukraine occupied by the Russian Federation."

His spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, added that the "attempted illegal annexation" of those regions has "no validity" under international law.

Many observers say Putin warded off even the faintest of challengers to ensure a large margin of victory that he can point to as evidence that Russians back the war in Ukraine and his handling of it.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

Bulgarian Political Bloc Condemns Verbal Attack On Jewish Member

Bulgarian legislator Daniel Laurer (file photo)
Bulgarian legislator Daniel Laurer (file photo)

Bulgaria's reformist We Continue the Change/Democratic Bulgaria political bloc (PP-DB) on March 15 condemned an incident the day before in which a mob cornered a Jewish member of parliament representing the PP-DB in a cafe, calling him names and shouting anti-Semitic phrases at him.

The PP-DB said in a statement that it strongly opposes any kind of “discriminatory speech and hooligan attacks” and called the attack against member of parliament Daniel Laurer unacceptable and called for those involved in the “hooligan attack” to be held accountable.

"We are using this opportunity to express again strong concern about the currently unpunished incitement of ethnic hatred in Bulgarian society,” the statement said. “With the clear knowledge that it is done for election purposes, we are convinced that tacitly encouraging such behavior is far from harmless."

The statement was in response to an incident on March 14 in which a group of about 20 people verbally attacked Laurer. The demonstrators entered a cafe where Laurer was and started shouting anti-Semitic phrases such as "Go to Israel," "Jewish SOB,” and "Jews destroyed this world” and calling Laurer names.

The group eventually allowed Laurer to leave the cafe but continued taunting him as he walked to the nearby National Assembly building.

Some of the people in the group had taken part in a protest sponsored by the Revival party that was held earlier on March 14 in front of the U.S. Embassy. The Revival party, which has expressed anti-European and pro-Kremlin views, is the fourth-largest in the Bulgarian parliament.

Human rights organizations called the verbal attack on Laurer a hate crime and demanded an investigation. Thus far, Bulgaria’s law enforcement agencies have remained silent.

The PP-DB together with the GERB form Bulgaria’s governing coalition, which supports a pro-Western course. Laurer previously served as minister of innovation and growth in former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov's government.

The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) announced on March 15 that it had sent a message to the prosecutor's office about the attack on Laurer, saying the incident is a clear example of hate speech.

The attack on Laurer “is a dangerous escalation of fascist propaganda against which the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office is inactive," the BHC said.

The press center of the Interior Ministry said the identity of the people who participated in the incident had been established. Police were due to submit a report to the prosecutor-general's office.

The prosecutor-general’s office in Sofia said in January that it opened an investigation into an incident in which obituaries of Adolf Hitler were pasted onto the exterior of the Sofia Synagogue.

The Jewish community said at the time that there had been an increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the country.

Europe To Use Frozen Russian Profits To Buy Arms For Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pose at a press conference in Berlin on March 15.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pose at a press conference in Berlin on March 15.

Ukraine's European supporters will use profits on frozen Russian assets to finance arms purchases for Kyiv, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on March 15 following a meeting with his French and Polish counterparts in Berlin. Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reaffirmed their support for Ukraine at the meeting. Scholz told a joint news conference afterward that the “windfall” profits from Russian assets frozen in Europe would support arms purchases. European support has become increasingly key as U.S. President Joe Biden has been unable to get a big Ukraine aid package through Congress.

Orban Calls For Hungarians To 'Occupy Brussels' In Upcoming Elections

In a speech on March 15, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has often clashed with the EU during his time in power, said Hungary had to choose between "Brussels and Hungarian freedom."
In a speech on March 15, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has often clashed with the EU during his time in power, said Hungary had to choose between "Brussels and Hungarian freedom."

BUDAPEST -- Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a nationalist who has held power in Hungary for the past 14 years, has issued a stinging rebuke of the European Union and called on his countrymen to help "occupy Brussels" in elections set for the bloc this summer.

In a speech during a national holiday to commemorate Hungary’s failed 1848 revolution against Habsburg rule, the right-wing populist, who has often clashed with the EU during his time in power, said Hungary had to choose between "Brussels and Hungarian freedom" in the vote.

"They start wars, destroy worlds, redraw countries' borders and graze on everything like locusts," Orban told the crowd from the steps of the National Museum.

“We Hungarians live differently and want to live differently.”

Orban and his Fidesz ruling party have been accused by critics at home and abroad of backsliding on democracy, threatening judicial independence, and of being hostile toward migrants and people from the LGBT community.

The Hungarian prime minister has talked openly about his plans to turn the country from a democracy into an "illiberal state," and the government has taken control of much of Hungary's print and broadcast media.

Budapest also has repeatedly used its veto power to thwart initiatives supported by the rest of the bloc such as refusing to send weapons to Ukraine to help it repel invading Russian forces and maintaining economic and diplomatic ties with Moscow during war, souring relations with Brussels dramatically as Hungary prepares to take over the EU's rotating presidency on July 1.

With elections for the European parliament now less than three months away, Orban told the crowd, many of whom were brought in on buses from elsewhere in the country, 2024 will be a "turning point" for the right wing.

“Brussels is not the first empire that has set its eyes on Hungary,” said Orban, who last week traveled to the United States to meet with former President Donald Trump while avoiding any meetings with President Joe Biden or his administration.

“The peoples of Europe today are afraid that Brussels will take away their freedom.... If we want to preserve Hungary’s freedom and sovereignty, we have no choice: We have to occupy Brussels.”

Orban's fiery anti-EU rhetoric came a day after U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman warned Budapest about its expanding relationship with Russia saying it raised “legitimate security concerns.”

Opposition politicians, speaking at other rallies, delivered messages that contrasted with those of Orban. Among the opposition politicians who addressed the crowds was businessman Peter Magyar, who has said he plans to launch a new party to challenge Fidesz.

"No matter what faults the European Union has, this is the club that we are a member of," said Magyar, who was once close to Fidesz.

Magyar said there is a moral, political, and economic crisis in Hungary, and the majority of Hungarians "have lost confidence in the entire political elite."

He listed examples of corruption in Hungary ranging from wasted EU funds to shortcomings in health-care, education, and child protection and said the current government can be defeated in an election.

"If Hungarian voters finally see a real, incorruptible, 'nonblackmailable,' honest, open, and free-from-extremism political force, more and more people will believe that there is hope for change, perhaps faster than many would think," Magyar said.

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of late Russian opposition figure Aleksei Navalny, spoke in a video message at a Budapest rally sponsored by Mayor Gergely Karacsony and student associations. She described Orban as an accomplice of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Be brave," Navalnaya said, repeating one of her husband’s central messages. She added that beyond Orban there are other Putin supporters in Europe.

Putin dared to start its full-scale invasion of Ukraine because he knew that he would get help from some backers in Europe, she said. Just as Putin does not represent all of Russia, Hungary cannot be equated with all that Orban represents, she said.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa

Activist Says Kyrgyz President Accepted $3 Million From Tycoon In 2020

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Raimbek Matraimov, the former deputy chairman of the customs service (composite photo)
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Raimbek Matraimov, the former deputy chairman of the customs service (composite photo)

Associates of Kyrgyz activist Melis Aspekov, who was sentenced last month to seven years in prison on charges of plotting mass disorder, have published a letter in which Aspekov claims President Sadyr Japarov accepted $3 million from Raimbek Matraimov, the former deputy chairman of the customs service. The letter, which the activists published on March 15 on Facebook, says Japarov received the money in October 2020 when he was released from prison. Japarov's office has rejected Aspekov's claims. Aspekov, who in 2020-21 was at the center of corruption scandal, was sentenced on February 28 to seven years in prison for promoting mass disorder. (CORRECTION: A previous version of this story said Japarov was involved in the corruption scandal.)

U.S. Envoy Frustrated With Kurti's Refusal To Reverse Serbian Dinar Ban

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar told RFE/RL after meeting with Kurti on March 15 that the ban on the dinar is causing Kosovar citizens "a lot of pain."
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar told RFE/RL after meeting with Kurti on March 15 that the ban on the dinar is causing Kosovar citizens "a lot of pain."

PRISTINA -- Frustration is growing among Kosovo's Western backers, a senior U.S. diplomat told RFE/RL's Balkan Service, because of Prime Minister Albin Kurti's refusal to reverse a ban on the use of Serbia's dinar in the country's ethnic-Serb dominated north.

The restriction, which bans financial institutions from using any currency other than the euro for local transactions, took effect on February 1, ratcheting up tensions between Serbia and Kosovo in the face of efforts by Washington and Brussels to get the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade back on track.

"What is happening now with the decision of the Central Bank [of Kosovo] is that there are many [Kosovar] citizens who are feeling a lot of pain, people who are not getting their modest salaries," Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. envoy for the Western Balkans U.S. Gabriel Escobar told RFE/RL after meeting with Kurti on March 15 at the end of a three-day visit.

Kosovo is not a member of the European Union or its common currency area, the eurozone, but it unilaterally adopted the euro in 2002 to help bring monetary stability and to simplify and reduce transaction costs inside and outside the country.

Belgrade, which has never acknowledged its former province's 2008 declaration of independence, still pays many ethnic Serbs at institutions in Serb-dominated parts of Kosovo in dinars. Many also hold their pensions and get child allowances in dinars.

Escobar told RFE/RL during the interview in Pristina that Kurti had told him the decision to reverse the ban was not his to make.

"The prime minister said that it was the decision of an independent institution (the central bank)," Escobar said.

"We are talking about [people] with disabilities, pensioners, students -- the most vulnerable people -- and this decision has affected them very deeply," he said.

The central bank argues that the change doesn’t stop anyone from accepting money from any country, it just means the money is converted into euros. Still, it adds a layer of cost and complication to the daily lives of ethnic Serbs still tied to the dinar.

The U.S. diplomat, however, said the dinar issue "will be a topic of discussion in Brussels" on March 19 when the chief negotiators of Kosovo and Serbia are scheduled to meet, and that he still hopes a solution will be reached.

Escobar decried what he called the lack of communication between Kurti's government and the United States, one of Kosovo's key Western allies.

"We will always be a close friend of Kosovo, but that doesn't mean we're not going to have differences with individuals and with individual governments. And I think that's where we are right now, we are entering a period of a lack of communication. And we, at least from the American side, are doing everything that we can to repair that relationship," he said.

Referring to Kurti's ruling party, Escobar admitted there is a "lot of frustration with this Vetevendosje government not just in Washington, but in Brussels, Rome, Berlin, and Paris as well."

Escobar has previously warned that the ban on the circulation of the Serbian dinar impacts the most vulnerable people in the Serb community.

The decision "has caused some real hardship for some of the citizens of this country," he said.

Separately, the EU has warned both Kosovo and Serbia that refusal to compromise on the issue jeopardizes both countries' chances of joining the 27-member bloc.

Diplomatic sources have told RFE/RL the March 19 meeting in Brussels is expected to cover the sequencing plan for the implementation of the agreement on the path toward normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia among other issues, including the dinar.

Updated

Several Russians Vandalize Polling Stations In Protest On First Day Of Presidential Vote

The Central Election Commission urged police to increase security at polling stations, which are open from March 15-17 for Russia's presidential election.
The Central Election Commission urged police to increase security at polling stations, which are open from March 15-17 for Russia's presidential election.

About a dozen Russians, defying threats from authorities of long prison sentences, have vandalized ballot boxes and polling stations across the country in protest of a presidential election that is almost certain to hand Vladimir Putin six more years as president.

Police in Moscow on March 15, the first of three days of voting, detained a woman after she poured a green antiseptic dye known as "zelyonka" into a ballot box after she deposited her voting sheet.

The Investigative Committee said the woman was detained and a probe had been launched into "obstructing the implementation of voters' rights."

At another polling station in the capital, a man was detained after he poured a similar liquid into a ballot box.

Reports from several areas across the country -- including the city of Borisoglebsk in the Voronezh region that borders Ukraine, the southwestern city of Rostov-on-Don, the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, the Volgograd region that borders Kazakhstan, the North Caucasus region of Karachai-Cherkessia, and Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimea -- also highlighted voter protests using the dye.

Meanwhile, the Baza Telegram channel published a video from a polling station in Moscow, showing a woman pouring a flammable substance on a voting booth and setting in on fire.

In Russia's second-largest city, St. Petersburg, a 21-year-old woman was detained after she threw a Molotov cocktail at an entrance of a local school that houses two polling stations.

Ella Pamfilova, chairwoman of the electoral commission, warned those found guilty of disrupting voting during the three days would face up to five years in prison.

Russian elections are tightly controlled by the Kremlin and are neither free nor fair but are viewed by the government as necessary to convey a sense of legitimacy.

They are mangled by the exclusion of opposition candidates, voter intimidation, ballot stuffing, and other means of manipulation. Those who were expected to be Putin's main challengers currently are either incarcerated or have fled the country, fearing for their safety.

Adding to the anger of some is the inclusion of four regions of Ukraine that Russia illegally annexed since it launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.

In the Russian-occupied southeastern city of Skadovsk in Ukraine's Kherson region, an explosive device detonated at a polling station but caused no casualties, Russian-installed officials said.

Many Western governments have called conducting of elections in the occupied areas "a grave violation of international law."

With reporting by AFP, Baza, and Mediazona

Russia Asked Imprisoned 70-Year-Old Rights Defender Orlov To Fight In Ukraine

Oleg Orlov, the 70-year-old human rights campaigner and co-chairman of the Nobel Prize-winning Memorial group, who is charged with repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian Army, attends his verdict hearing in Moscow on February 27.
Oleg Orlov, the 70-year-old human rights campaigner and co-chairman of the Nobel Prize-winning Memorial group, who is charged with repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian Army, attends his verdict hearing in Moscow on February 27.

The Memorial human rights group said on March 15 that imprisoned 70-year-old veteran human rights defender Oleg Orlov was offered exoneration if he agreed to join Russia's war effort in Ukraine. According to Memorial, guards at a Moscow detention center made the offer to every inmate, including Orlov, upon arrival. Orlov rejected the offer, reminding the guard that he was 70 years old and had been handed a 30-month prison term in late February for publicly condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Orlov maintains his innocence. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

Finland Moves To Block Asylum-Seekers From Entering Via Russia

Barriers are placed at the closed Vaalimaa border checkpoint between Finland and Russia in Virolahti, Finland, in January.
Barriers are placed at the closed Vaalimaa border checkpoint between Finland and Russia in Virolahti, Finland, in January.

Finland plans to adopt temporary legislation that will allow its border authorities to block asylum-seekers seeking to enter its territory from Russia, the government said. Finland closed all crossings on its 1,340-kilometer border with Russia late last year amid a growing number of arrivals who lacked valid documents to enter the European Union. However, a few asylum-seekers have continued to arrive and the government believes the numbers could rise significantly with the advent of spring and a rise in temperatures. Helsinki accuses Moscow of funneling migrants to the border, a claim the Kremlin has denied.

Belarus Hands Tajik Man Accused Of Evading Russian Military Service To Moscow

Russia's Investigative Committee said Belarusian authorities have detained an unidentified Tajik man who fled Russia in October along with another Tajik national to evade military conscription after both obtained Russian citizenship before the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Investigative Committee said on March 15 the man was extradited to Russia and confessed to evading military service. The second man remains at-large. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion, migration police raided homes of Central Asian migrant workers, checking their documents. Those who have Russian passports have been forced to join Russian troops fighting in Ukraine. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

Bodies Of 100 Soldiers Returned To Ukraine

During the last exchange, Ukraine returned the bodies of 58 soldiers and Russia 61, the agency said. (file photo)
During the last exchange, Ukraine returned the bodies of 58 soldiers and Russia 61, the agency said. (file photo)

The bodies of 100 fallen Ukrainian soldiers were returned to Ukraine, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War -- a Ukrainian government agency -- reported on March 15. The Ukrainian military is handing the bodies over to law enforcement officials and forensic experts to identify them. After identification, the bodies will be handed over to the families for burial, the agency said, adding that the International Committee of the Red Cross offered assistance in the repatriation of the bodies. During the last exchange, Ukraine returned the bodies of 58 soldiers and Russia 61, the agency said. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

Updated

NGOs Urge Kyrgyz President To Veto Controversial 'Foreign Agents' Bill

The Kyrgyz parliament in session (file photo)
The Kyrgyz parliament in session (file photo)

BISHKEK -- A chorus of calls from leading nongovernmental organizations in Kyrgyzstan and abroad is demanding that President Sadyr Japarov veto a controversial bill modeled on Russia’s repressive “foreign agents” laws that they say will significantly restrict freedom of expression in the country.

Kyrgyz lawmakers approved the legislation requiring nonprofits receiving foreign funding to register with the government as "foreign representatives" in its third and final reading without debate on March 14. Japarov is widely expected to sign the bill into law in the coming days.

Since the bill was first introduced last year, civil society activists have warned of the consequences, especially given that similar legislation in Russia laid the groundwork for the systematic dismantling of civil society.

"The approval of the bill by the Supreme Council deputies indicates that they are politically corrupt and any violations of Kyrgyzstan’s citizens' rights and freedoms stay unpunished. Respected president, we call on you to use your constitutional right and veto the bill on 'foreign representatives," the joint statement by a group of NGOs said.

"Such a decision would set an example for the protection of citizens’ rights and freedoms and respect of justice in the country," the statement added.

According to the bill, noncommercial organizations and media outlets that receive foreign funding and are engaged in broadly defined "political" activities will be obliged to report about their activities to the authorities. The legislation will also introduce wide oversight powers by the authorities and potential criminal sanctions for undefined criminal offenses.

Deputy Prime Minister Edil Baisalov, in an online briefing on March 14, attempted to persuade NGOs and civil rights activists that the legislation will not impose any problems for them and rejected ongoing concerns and criticism.

Amnestly International, however, also called on Japarov to veto the law, citing expectations it will have a "highly restrictive" impact on civil society.

"This move not only undermines the right to freedom of association and threatens the independence of NGOs, but also erodes the very fabric of the once-vibrant civil society in Kyrgyzstan," said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia director.

“The passing of this legislation by parliament is deeply troubling.... The president can, and should, veto this legislation. It is crucial for international partners of Kyrgyzstan to remind its government and lawmakers what freedom of association means in practice, and compel them to immediately engage in meaningful dialogue with civil society organizations so that this harmful legislative initiative does not become law," she added.

Since 2012, Russia has used its “foreign agents” law to label and punish critics of government policies, including the February 2022 full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

The vague laws have been used to persecute organizations working in diverse fields such as education, culture, health care, environmental protection, human rights defense, and especially independent media.

Once Central Asia's standout country for independent journalism, intrepid reporting, and media innovation, Kyrgyzstan fell 50 places in the global media monitor Reporters Without Borders' most recent global ranking, sitting at 122nd place -- only 12 spots above its longtime authoritarian neighbor, Kazakhstan.

That plunge was in large part due to the authorities' decision to put severe restrictions on RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service -- including freezing its bank accounts -- in October 2022.

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