Crimean Tatar leader heads list of EU Sakharov Prize candidates:
By RFE/RL
BRUSSELS -- Crimean leader Mustafa Dzhemilev, Yazidi activists Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar, and Turkish journalist Can Dundar have been named as the final candidates for the 2016 Sakharov Prize given annually by the European Parliament.
Dzhemilev, 72, has been banned from Crimea since Russia invaded and annexed the peninsula in early 2014.
He was the chairman of the Crimean Tatars' Mejlis, or council, until it was banned by pro-Moscow representatives in Crimea.
He was a leading human rights activist during the Soviet era and was jailed several times.
Murad and Aji Bashar were both captured by the Islamic State extremist group and enslaved when their village in northern Iraq was taken over by the militants in 2014.
They managed to escape and are now promoting women's and minority rights. The pair was nominated by both the social-democratic group and the liberal group in the parliament.
Can Dundar is the former editor in chief of the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet and was arrested when his newspaper reported that the Turkish intelligence service was smuggling arms to rebels in Syria. He is backed by the Greens as well as the far-right and far-left parties in the parliament.
The trio were shortlisted by members of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Development committees.
The winner -- who will receive 50,000 euros ($55,000) -- will be decided by the European Parliament president and the leaders of the eight political groups in the assembly on October 27.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
Crimean Tatar activist Ervin Ibragimov disappeared on May 24. Ibragimov is a former Bakhchisarai city council deputy and a member of the executive committee of the World's Congress of the Crimean Tatars. Several Crimean Tatars went missing after Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula in March 2014. Some of them were later found dead.
In Moscow, close to Kremlin, activists hung posters featuring Ibragimov's image in an effort to draw the attention of the international community to the kidnappings and murders.
Here's a video that explains the campaign:
Heads Of NATO, EU Call For Strength But Dialogue With Russia
The heads of NATO, the European Council, and the European Parliament said they remain committed to taking a hard line against Russia while staying engaged in dialogue.
At a forum in Germany on October 10, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, European Council President Donald Tusk, and European Parliament President Martin Schulz called for a balanced policy toward Moscow.
"We should not declare Russia to be a pariah. Instead, we should tell Moscow, 'We condemn what you are doing wrong but will keep the channel for dialogue open for when you're ready,'" Schulz said.
Stoltenberg called for a constructive relationship with Russia despite the largest military buildup by NATO since the Cold War, which he said is now mostly complete.
"We don't want to increase our presence [further], but we'll continue to send a signal that our troops can be reinforced if needed," he said. "It's very important to avoid a new Cold War. We don't want a new arms race."
Tusk also said normal relations with Russia is a goal, but since the extension of EU sanctions imposed over Russia's forcible annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014, nothing has changed.
That means the sanctions are likely to be extended again, he said.