News
Iran Warns Of Fourth COVID Surge Due To Mutant Virus
The Iranian health minister has warned about a fourth COVID-19 surge in Iran due to the spread of a mutated virus in his country.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rohani has told state television that "alarm bells were ringing for a fourth coronavirus wave" as at least nine cities and towns in southwestern Iran were declared high-risk "red" zones after a rise in cases on February 12.
In a February 13 meeting with the heads of Iranian medical colleges broadcast live on state television, Health Minister Saeed Namaki said: "Hard days are beginning for us and you must prepare to fight the most uncontrollable mutated virus which is unfortunately infecting the country."
Namaki said Iran's first three deaths this week from the virus variant that was first found in Britain -- including the death of a 71-year-old woman with no history of travel -- suggested that the mutant strain of the virus was spreading and soon "may be found in any city, village or family."
He urged Iranians to avoid gatherings in order "not to turn weddings into funerals" during what is traditionally one of the most popular wedding months in the country.
Iran started a vaccination drive on February 9, two weeks after declaring there were no "red" cities left in the country.
Iran has recorded more than 1.5 million cases and 58,883 deaths from COVID-19.
Based on reporting by Reuters and IRNA
- By RFE/RL
Fuel Tanker Explosion Triggers Massive Fire At Afghan-Iranian Border
HERAT, Afghanistan -- A fuel tanker exploded on the Afghan-Iranian border on February 13, causing a massive fire and a chain reaction that destroyed more than 500 trucks carrying natural gas and fuel.
Afghan officials and Iranian state media said the blast occurred on the Afghan side of the border in the western Afghan province of Herat at the Islam Qala border crossing.
Wahidullah Tawhidi, a spokesman for Afghanistan's Ministry of Power Supply, said the blaze forced Afghanistan to shut down its electrical supply from Iran -- leaving the provincial capital of Herat in darkness after nightfall.
Initial reports said at least seven people were injured. But Wahid Qatali, Herat’s provincial governor, suggested the number of casualties could be much higher -- saying:: "“For the time being, we can’t even talk about the casualties."
Qatali said it wasn’t immediately clear what caused the explosion. He said Afghan firefighters did not have the means to put out the enormous blaze and had requested support from Iran in the form of firefighting aircraft.
Mohammad Rafiqu Shirzy, a spokesman for the regional hospital in the city of Herat, said the intensity of the flames meant ambulances were having trouble reaching the wounded or getting close to the site of the blast.
But he confirmed that at least seven people injured by the fire had been admitted to the hospital in the city of Herat, about 120 kilometers east of the border.
Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted truck drivers who said that more than 500 trucks carrying natural gas and fuel were burned.
The Associated Press reported that two explosions at the border crossing were powerful enough to be spotted from space by NASA satellites.
The first was at about 1:10 p.m. local time and the next was about half an hour later.
The fire was continuing to burn after nightfall.
The road between the city of Herat and Islam Qala is a dangerous stretch of highway that Afghans rarely travel on during the night for fear of attacks by criminal gangs.
Taliban militants also travel freely in the area. Afghan security services had set up checkpoints and were assisting ambulances and emergency vehicles traveling to and from the border crossing.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quoted Mohsen Nejat, director-general of crisis management in Iran's Khorasan Razavi Province. as saying that Iranian "rescue forces and fire fighters were under way to extinguish the fire inside Afghanistan" at the request of Herat's provincial governor.
Iranian state television reported that fire also spread to the Dogharoon customs facilities on the Iranian side of the border.
It reported that Iranian firefighters, troops from the Iranian Army, and Iranian border guards were all working to try to extinguish the blaze.
Other trucks carrying natural gas and fuel were directed to leave the scene.
The United States allows Afghanistan to import fuel and oil from Iran as part of a special concession that exempts Kabul from U.S. sanctions against Iran.
Satellite photos taken on February 13 before the explosion showed dozens of tankers parked at the border crossing.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan, AP, Reuters, AFP, and Tolonews.com
Earthquake Shakes Armenia's Capital
A 4.7-magnitude earthquake shook the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on Feburary 13, prompting residents to flee buildings into the streets in fear of an aftershock.
Armenia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations reported some destruction in Yerevan, and local news reports said items were knocked off shelves in stores.
The ministry has reported about 20 minor aftershocks.
One person was injured, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on his Facebook page.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Center said the quake’s magnitude was 4.7 and its epicenter was 13 kilometers south of Yerevan.
With reporting by AP
- By Current Time
Police Search Navalny's Chelyabinsk Office, Activists Say
Law enforcement officers have searched the Chelyabinsk offices of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, activists reported on February 13.
The activists said on Twitter that the search took place while nobody was present at the offices in the Urals city.
"We came to the headquarters and found this," the activists tweeted together with several pictures of the ransacked office. "The premises were raided while we were working remotely," they said.
The 44-year-old Navalny, a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was arrested on January 17 after returning to Russia from Germany where he had been treated for a nerve-agent poisoning he says was ordered by Putin. The Kremlin denies it had any role in the poison attack against Navalny.
Tens of thousands of Russians took part in street rallies on January 23 and 31 in protest at Navalny's detention, which sparked outrage across the country and much of the West.
In a change in tactics from mass street rallies that resulted in thousands of arrests, Navalny's team has called on people across Russia to switch on their mobile-phone flashlights for 15 minutes beginning at 8 p.m. local time on February 14 -- shining the light into the sky from courtyards and posting pictures of the protest on social media.
In an attempt to limit the planned February 14 flashlight-protest, Russia's federal media regulator ordered media outlets, including RFE/RL's Russian Service and Current Time TV, to delete all reports about the event.
The official order from Roskomnadzor was received by media groups on February 12.
It says Russian authorities consider any reporting about the planned flashlight protest to be a call for people to take part in an unsanctioned public demonstration and mass disorder.
Roskomnadzor's order was also sent to online newspapers Meduza and Open Media, and the TV-2 news agency in the Siberian city of Tomsk.
Navalny's team in Tomsk said they were also warned by the city prosecutor's office on February 12 that they could be held liable for staging an unsanctioned protest action.
Telegram channel Baza reported on February 13 that in Bryansk, 379 kilometers southwest of Moscow, students were banned from using flashlights on the premises of the local university on the day of February 14.
Leonid Volkov, director of Navalny's network of teams across Russia, announced the change of tactics on February 9 in response to police crackdowns against mass street demonstrations that have led to tens of thousands of arrests across Russia.
The "flashlight" protest is a tactic similar to what demonstrators have been doing in neighboring Belarus following brutal police crackdowns targeting rallies against authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
Volkov says it is a nonviolent way for Russians to show the extent of outrage across the country over Navalny's treatment without subjecting themselves to arrests and police abuse.
Police cracked down harshly on the demonstrations, putting many of Navalny's political allies behind bars and detaining thousands more -- sometimes violently -- as they gathered on the streets.
A Russian court on February 2 ruled Navalny was guilty of violating the terms of his suspended sentence relating to an embezzlement case that he has called politically motivated.
The court converted the sentence to 3 1/2 years in prison. Given credit for time already spent in detention, the court said Navalny must serve another 2 years and 8 months behind bars.
That prompted fresh street protests across the country. But Volkov called for a pause in street rallies until the spring -- saying weekly demonstrations would only result in more mass arrests.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, Meduza, TV-2, Dozhd, and Znak
Russia Imposes Sanctions On Nine Ukrainian Companies
Russia has slapped economic sanctions on nine Ukrainian firms, the latest in a list of businesses that it targets with such penalties.
The companies targeted by "special economic measures" under the new Russian decree, which was published late on February 12, include Ukrainian vessel builder Craneship, towage firm Donmar, cargo operator Transship, and metal producer Maxima Metal.
The decree did not say why the companies had been targeted. The latest move brings the number of Ukrainian companies sanctioned by Russia to 84.
Relations between Ukraine and Russia deteriorated in 2014 after Moscow annexed the Crimean Peninsula and began supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine. The conflict, now in its seventh year, has killed more than 13,200 people.
Russia denies Kyiv's accusations that its military has been involved in the conflict.
The West has slapped a range of sanctions since then on Russia, which has retaliated with its own measures.
There was no immediate response from Ukraine to the move.
In a sign of further strains in Moscow's ties to the West, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on February 12 that it was ready to sever ties with the European Union if the bloc hit it with painful economic sanctions.
Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa
More Progress Needed From Ukraine For New Tranche, IMF Says
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Ukraine must show more progress on reforms to reach an agreement for a new tranche under a $5 billion program with the international lender.
The statement by the IMF representative in Kyiv on February 13 came after the fund's mission held talks with Ukraine.
"Discussions will continue," Goesta Ljungman said in a statement, adding that the talks were productive.
The talks centered on strengthening governance of the National Bank, improvements to the legislative and regulatory framework for bank supervision and resolution, policies to reduce the medium-term fiscal deficit, legislation restoring and strengthening the anti-corruption framework and the judiciary, as well as on energy policy, Ljungman said.
Ukraine expects to receive $2.2 billion in three equal tranches from the IMF in 2021, National Bank Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko told Reuters.
The IMF in June approved the $5 billion loan program and disbursed the first tranche of $2.1 billion to help the pandemic-hit Ukrainian economy.
However, further loans have been put on hold due to the slow pace of reforms in Ukraine.
The IMF also voiced concern over the government's decision last month to regulate household gas prices.
Based on reporting by Reuters
- By Todd Prince
U.S. Lawmakers Call On Biden To Fulfill Trump Administration Promise To Invest In Eastern European Energy Infrastructure
WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan group of lawmakers has asked the Biden administration to move ahead with a U.S. pledge made under the previous administration to invest $300 million in energy infrastructure projects in Central and Eastern Europe as Congress seeks to counter Russian and Chinese influence in the region.
The Trump administration in 2020 agreed to contribute up to $1 billion to the Three Seas Initiative Infrastructure Fund through the U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which in December approved an initial investment of $300 million. However, amid a bumpy presidential transition, the money has yet to be transferred.
The fund was set up by 12 nations in Central and Eastern Europe, which lie between the Baltic, Adriatic, and Black seas and are members of the European Union, to address historical infrastructure gaps that have left the region heavily dependent on Russia for energy imports. Congress last year passed a resolution announcing its support for the fund.
The group of nations is seeking to expand energy infrastructure running north and south to counter the predominance of infrastructure built during Soviet times to run from Russia westward through Central and Eastern Europe. Each of the 12 nations is expected to contribute to the fund.
"The current infrastructure deficit leaves the region overly dependent on Russia and China for energy and economic needs. Unfortunately, these malign actors seek to sow discord in the transatlantic alliance through hybrid warfare operations, compromised telecommunications hardware, and the export of authoritarian ideals," the representatives said in a February 11 joint letter to the president.
"Our support for the Three Seas Initiative will help provide a solid footing for our allies and partners to achieve these goals," they said.
'Undue Influence'
Moscow has been accused by Western governments of using its dominant energy position as a "weapon" to maintain influence in the former communist nations of Central and Eastern Europe.
Russia twice cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine in 2006 and 2009 in the dead of winter amid a disagreement over prices, exposing Kyiv’s total dependence on its eastern neighbor for imports. The shutoffs shook the nations of Europe and forced them to accelerate their energy diversification.
Ukraine has ended direct imports of natural gas from Russia, purchasing energy from its western neighbors. Several Eastern European countries, especially in the Balkans, are still heavily dependent on Russia for natural gas and oil imports.
In their letter to Biden, the U.S. lawmakers highlighted the importance of using the fund to expand energy infrastructure connections to Ukraine.
Global natural gas production has surged in recent years, led by the United States, opening an opportunity for Central and Eastern Europe to diversify imports away from Russia. However, a lack of infrastructure, including liquefied natural gas terminals, pipelines, and interconnectors have hampered the speed of progress.
The Three Seas Initiative Infrastructure Fund seeks to address those problems. The 12 nations have contributed nearly $1.5 billion to date, with the majority coming from Poland, Daniel Kochis, an analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, said in a January 5 commentary.
Kochis said the fund would be more effective in solving the infrastructure gap in Europe if it were permitted to invest in non-EU countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, and those in the Western Balkans.
While Russia’s influence in those countries has always been strong, China has been making important inroads in recent years, especially in the Western Balkans.
"Chinese investments have often focused on those nations that aren't fully ensconced within the transatlantic community. Broadening the scope of the Three Seas Initiative will help to steel vulnerable nations against undue influence from China," Kochis said.
- By RFE/RL
U.S. Senators Urge Biden To Follow Through On Pipeline Sanctions
Two U.S. senators have urged President Joe Biden to ensure the implementation of sanctions aimed at stopping the Nord Stream 2 gas-pipeline project from Russia to Germany.
Senators Jim Risch (Republican-Idaho) and Jeanne Shaheen (Democrat-New Hampshire) urged the State Department in a letter on February 12 not to delay issuing a report to Congress required under sanctions passed last month in the annual defense policy bill.
The report, due by February 16, will identify companies involved in constructing, insuring, and verifying Nord Stream 2. The law requires the companies listed in the report to be sanctioned.
The letter made reference to "press reports that the German government has put forth an offer that would require the United States to disregard statutorily mandated sanctions."
Risch and Shaheen didn’t provide details, but reports in German media have said Germany sought to cut a deal with the Trump administration to let the nearly completed pipeline be finished.
An environmental and consumer protection group said on February 9 that the German government offered financial support of up to 1 billion euros ($1.21 billion) to invest in facilities for the import of U.S. liquefied natural gas. The Trump administration pushed U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas as an alternative to Russian gas.
According to a document published by the Environmental Action Germany (DUH), German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz offered funding in August. In return, Washington was asked to permit the "unhindered construction and operation of Nord Stream 2.
'A Dirty Deal'
Sascha Mueller-Kraenner, the DUH executive director, called it a "scandal" and a "dirty deal at the expense of third parties." The German Finance Ministry has not commented on the matter.
State Department spokesman Ned Price reiterated on February 12 that the United States sees the pipeline project as a "bad deal" for Europe.
"It's a bad deal because it divides Europe, it exposes Ukraine, and Central Europe to Russian manipulation. It goes against Europe's own stated energy and security goals," Price said.
But he said "sanctions are only one" of many tools, and that the department will work closely with allies and partners to reinforce European energy security and safeguard against "predatory behavior."
About 150 kilometers of pipe transiting Danish and German waters of the Baltic Sea must be laid to complete the pipeline controlled by the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom.
The pipeline is intended to carry 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from Russia to Germany, but work was halted in December following the threat of sanctions from Washington.
The pipeline would affect Ukraine by depriving it of transit fees from existing pipelines that transverse its territory.
With reporting by Reuters and Bloomberg
- By RFE/RL
Turkey Reportedly Arrests Iranian Official Over Dissident's Murder
An Iranian official suspected of instigating the killing of an Iranian dissident in 2019 has been arrested in Turkey, Reuters has reported.
Quoting unnamed sources, Reuters said it had confirmed a report by Turkey's Sabah newspaper that Mohammad Reza Naserzadeh was detained earlier this week on suspicion of planning the shooting of Masud Molavi Vardanjani, a critic of Iran's political and military leadership.
Sabah reported that Naserzadeh worked at the civic registry department of the Iranian Consulate in Istanbul. Reuters said it could not independently confirm that information.
The incident could strain ties between regional powers Turkey and Iran. Iran's Foreign Ministry called the newspaper report "baseless."
Vardanjani, a former Iranian intelligence operative who exposed corruption involving Iranian officials, was shot and killed in Istanbul on November 14, 2019 -- a year after leaving the Islamic republic. He had been put under investigation by Iranian authorities.
A Turkish police report published in March 2020 said Vardanjani had an “unusual profile.” It said he had worked in cybersecurity at Iran’s Defense Ministry before becoming a vocal critic of the Iranian regime.
Two senior Turkish officials told Reuters in 2020 that Vardanjani's killing was instigated by intelligence officials at the Iranian Consulate in Istanbul.
At the time, one of the Turkish officials identified the two suspects by their initials. One set of initials matched Naserzadeh's.
A senior U.S. administration official said in April 2020 that Washington had grounds to believe that Iran's Intelligence and Security Ministry was directly involved in the killing of Vardanjani.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh denied that any consulate staff had been involved in Vardanjani's shooting death.
The Foreign Ministry's website said Iran was in talks with Turkish officials to shed light on the issue.
Last week, a Belgian court sentenced an Iranian diplomat to 20 years in prison on charges of planning an attack on an exiled opposition group.
It was the first trial of an Iranian official on terrorism charges in Europe since Iran's 1979 revolution.
With reporting by Reuters
COVID-19 Vaccine Delay Stirs Political Tensions In North Macedonia
Political tensions have been stirred up in North Macedonia by the government's failure to deliver its first COVID-19 vaccination shot while neighboring countries boast about progress in their vaccination programs.
A government statement in Skopje on February 12 said "technical" issues had delayed the expected delivery of 8,000 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines from neighboring Serbia this week.
The handover of vaccines had been expected on February 11 during a ceremony at the Tabanovce border crossing that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had been scheduled to attend. Vucic's office said more documentation was needed after the event was canceled.
North Macedonia has yet to secure a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine for its population of 2.1 million.
The main opposition party, VMRO-DPMNE, called on the center-left government to resign after the latest delay. It said "incompetence" on the part of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev had forced him to "beg” other countries for vaccines.
North Macedonia is hoping to receive 840,000 vaccine doses in February under a scheme led by the World Health Organization to help poorer countries immunize their populations. But manufacturing delays in recent weeks have held up those plans -- as well as similar plans for Ukraine and Moldova.
Earlier this week, the Macedonian authorities signed an agreement to receive 200,000 doses of the Chinese SinoPharm vaccine. They hope to launch their vaccination program later in February.
Another 800,000 vaccines are expected to arrive in the country later in 2021 through the EU. But officials in Skopje also have asked neighbors Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia for assistance, along with Poland and Hungary.
Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Balkan Service and AP
Report: Russian Court To Hear Navalny Appeal On Sentence Change February 20
The Moscow City Court will consider an appeal of the decision to convert opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's suspended sentence to real jail time on February 20, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
RIA Novosti reported on February 12 that it learned of the hearing through a lawyer with knowledge of the court's decision.
The Kremlin critic on February 2 was ordered to serve 2 years and 8 months in prison for violating the terms of a suspended sentence imposed on him from a widely criticized 2014 embezzlement case.
Navalny could not report to parole officers because he was recovering from a coma in Germany after being poisoned with a nerve-agent in Siberia last August, in an attack he blames on Putin and his security agents. The Kremlin dismisses the allegations.
Navalny was immediately arrested on returning to Russia in January, triggering nationwide protests and a crackdown on his allies and supporters.
Based on reporting by RIA Novosti
Russian Media Ordered To Delete Reports On Planned 'Flashlight' Protest
MOSCOW -- Russia's federal media regulator has ordered media outlets, including RFE/RL's Russian Service and Current Time TV, to delete all reports about a planned mobile-phone "flashlight" protest against the jailing of Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.
The official order from Roskomnadzor was received by media groups on February 12. It says Russian authorities consider any reporting about the planned flashlight protest to be a call for people to take part in an unsanctioned public demonstration and mass disorder.
Roskomnadzor's order also was sent to online newspapers Meduza and Open Media, and the TV-2 news agency in the Siberian city of Tomsk.
Navalny's team in Tomsk said they also were warned by the city prosecutor's office on February 12 that they could be held liable for staging an unsanctioned protest.
Navalny's team has called on people across Russia to switch on their mobile-phone flashlights for 15 minutes beginning at 8 p.m. on February 14 -- shining the light into the sky from courtyards and posting pictures of the protest on social media.
Leonid Volkov, director of Navalny's network of teams across Russia, announced the change of tactics on February 9 in response to police crackdowns against mass street demonstrations that have led to tens of thousands of arrests across Russia.
The "flashlight" protest is a tactic similar to what demonstrators have been doing in neighboring Belarus following brutal police crackdowns targeting rallies against authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
Volkov says it is a nonviolent way for Russians to show the extent of outrage across the country over Navalny's treatment without subjecting themselves to arrests and police abuse.
The 44-year-old Navalny, a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was arrested on January 17 after returning to Russia from Germany where he had been treated for a nerve-agent poisoning he says was ordered by Putin. The Kremlin denies it had any role in the poison attack against Navalny.
Navalny's detention sparked outrage across the country and much of the West, with tens of thousands of Russians taking part in street rallies on January 23 and 31.
Police cracked down harshly on the demonstrations, putting many of Navalny's political allies behind bars and detaining thousands more -- sometimes violently -- as they gathered on the streets.
A Russian court on February 2 ruled Navalny was guilty of violating the terms of his suspended sentence relating to an embezzlement case that he has called politically motivated.
The court converted the sentence to 3 1/2 years in prison. Given credit for time already spent in detention, the court said Navalny must serve another 2 years and 8 months behind bars.
That prompted fresh street protests across the country. But Volkov called for a pause in street rallies until the spring -- saying weekly demonstrations would only result in more mass arrests.
Authorities have criticized Volkov's call for flashlight protests.
Kremlin-friendly political observer Aleksei Martynov accused Navalny's team of stealing the idea from commemorations of Soviet war veterans.
With reporting by Meduza, TV-2, Dozhd, and Znak
- By RFE/RL
France, Germany, U.K. 'Strongly Urge' Iran To Halt Breach Of Recent Nuclear Deal
The so-called E3 European powers have urged Iran to reverse its decision to violate a landmark nuclear deal by producing uranium metal and avoid "noncompliant" steps before it's too late.
Britain, France, and Germany issued the plea on February 12 following a call the previous day by Russia's deputy foreign minister for Iran to "show restraint" as a new U.S. administration weighs possible paths to rejoining the multilateral Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA) from 2015.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi informed member states on February 10 that the UN atomic watchdog's inspectors had confirmed this week that 3.6 grams of uranium metal had been produced at an Iranian nuclear facility in Isfahan.
"We strongly urge Iran to halt these activities without delay and not to take any new noncompliant steps on its nuclear program," the E3 said in a statement. "In escalating its noncompliance, Iran is undermining the opportunity for renewed diplomacy to fully realize the objectives of the JCPOA."
Ex-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States in 2018 from the agreement and reimposed punishing sanctions against Iran, but President Joe Biden campaigned ahead of the U.S. elections in November 2020 on seeking a way to revisit that move.
The Biden administration has insisted that Iran move to full compliance with the JCPOA before Washington will return to the deal, but Tehran has rejected any preconditions.
U.S. and other intelligence sources have suggested Iran could be just months away from nuclear bomb-making if it chose to pursue such a weapon, given its return to some sensitive nuclear activities since Trump's withdrawal.
Tehran has resolutely insisted it wants nuclear technology for a civilian energy program and not a weapon, although the IAEA and some Western governments point to a history of obfuscation and deceit by Iranian officials in the face of past concerns.
"We reiterate that Iran has no credible civilian justification for these activities, which are a key step in the development of a nuclear weapon," the statement by the E3 repeated.
The nuclear agreement, which exchanged sanctions relief for curbs on technology, put a 15-year ban on Iran "producing or acquiring plutonium or uranium metals or their alloys."
Russia -- which along with the E3 and China is a signatory to the JCPOA -- has sought to keep diplomatic channels open to Tehran as it cooperates on Syria, Libya, and on other problems in the region.
"We understand the logic of their actions and the reasons prompting Iran," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said of Tehran on February 11. "Despite this, it is necessary to show restraint and a responsible approach."
The nuclear agreement -- reached by Iran, the United States, China, Russia, Germany, France and Britain -- put a 15-year ban on Iran "producing or acquiring plutonium or uranium metals or their alloys."
Tehran has gradually breached the deal since the U.S. pullout by building up its stockpile of low-enriched uranium, refining uranium to a higher level of purity, and using advanced centrifuges for enrichment.
After the assassination in Iran of a top nuclear scientist in December 2020 that Tehran blames on Israel, Iranian officials signaled their intention to research uranium metal production.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
- By RFE/RL
Hungary Becomes First EU State To Use Russian Vaccine
Hungary on February 12 was on its way to become the first EU nation to use Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, breaking ranks with the rest of the 27-member bloc.
"Today we are beginning to vaccinate with the Sputnik V vaccine, this is taking place in the designated vaccination stations," Cecilia Muller, Hungary's chief medical officer, told a daily press briefing in Budapest.
Hungary last month gave emergency approval to the Russian vaccine, ordering 2 million doses to be delivered over three months, enough to inoculate 1 million people, rather than wait for a green light from the EU's European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Budapest also approved the Chinese-made Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine -- again the first in the EU to do so -- and said it had ordered 5 million doses.
Hungary has often come into conflict with Brussels, mainly on migration, and repeatedly criticized what it says is the slow pace of vaccine approval and procurement by the EU's health agencies.
"Each day we spend waiting around for Brussels, we would lose 100 Hungarian lives," Prime Minister Viktor Orban said during his weekly interview with state radio on February 12.
On February 12, Hungary reported 99 new deaths from COVID-19, bringing the country's overall death toll to 13,543, while the number of infections and coronavirus patients in hospitals has begun rising sharply this month.
Orban blamed the surge in infections on the probable spread of the variant of the disease first detected in Britain.
However, he said there was no need for further lockdown measures to curb the spread, as a planned acceleration of inoculations with Russian and Chinese vaccines could offset the rise in cases in coming weeks.
"If we start inoculations with the Chinese vaccine as well, by Easter we will be able to vaccinate all the [more than 2 million] people who have registered for vaccines," Orban said.
Russia registered Sputnik V in August 2020, months ahead of Western drugmakers but before the start of large-scale clinical trials, which prompted skepticism from experts.
However, results published in The Lancet medical journal last week showed that Sputnik V is 91.6 percent effective against the virus.
Just over 300,000 Hungarians -- health-care workers and the most vulnerable among the elderly -- in a population of almost 10 million have so far received at least one shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine. Hungary also started using the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine this week.
Hungary's tourism industry has been seriously hit by the pandemic, with restaurants and bars being closed since November 2020 and a curfew enforced from 8 p.m.
With reporting by AFP, AP, dpa, and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Uzbekistan Aims For Full Transition To Latin-Based Alphabet By 2023
Uzbekistan plans to fully transition the Uzbek language from the Cyrillic script to a Latin-based alphabet by January 1, 2023.
The Justice Ministry said in a statement on February 11 that the government approved the target date and a corresponding road map for the plan a day earlier.
The government's decision comes less than four months after President Shavkat Mirziyoev issued a decree to expedite the full transition of the Uzbek language to a Latin-based alphabet.
Uzbek, as well as other Central Asian languages, was written in an Arabic script until the late 1920s. It then switched to Latin script as part of a larger Latinization of Turkic languages, before the Soviets introduced Cyrillic in 1940.
In 1993, less than two years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan began to transition back to a Latin script but Cyrillic is still widely used.
After going through various iterations, a working group at Tashkent State University presented a final draft of the updated Uzbek alphabet based on the Latin alphabet in 2019.
The updated alphabet consists of 30 characters: 29 letters and an apostrophe to denote a hard sign, specific sounds, or intonations..
In neighboring Kazakhstan, the process of switching to the Latin alphabet has been going on since 2017, when former President Nursultan Nazarbaev first instructed the government to work on the transition to a Latin-based alphabet by 2025.
Another Central Asian country, Turkmenistan, switched from the Cyrillic script to Latin in 1993, while Azerbaijan, a Turkic-speaking former Soviet republic in the South Caucasus, replaced its Cyrillic-based alphabet with the current Latin-based script on December 25, 1991.
The move to shift to Latin script was in part driven by political considerations, in order to distance the Turkic-speaking nations from years of Russian influence and develop a stronger national identity in the young states. The Latin script is also considered better suited to Turkic languages.
The Soviet-era transition of Turkic languages to Cyrillic was in part implemented to distance Central Asian states and Azerbaijan from Turkey, which as part of a Westernization drive changed its Persian-Arabic script to a Latin one in the 1920s.
The switch away from Arabic script among Turkic languages in the former Soviet Union was designed to distance the Muslim Central Asian nations from the Islamic world.
Russia 'Ready To Cut Ties' With EU If Sanctions Threat Carried Out
Russia says it is prepared to sever ties with the European Union if the bloc follows through with threats to implement tough new economic sanctions against Moscow over the detention and jailing of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.
Speaking in an interview with the YouTube channel Solovyev Live on February 12, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that if further sanctions are imposed on Russia and they "create risks" to the country's economy, "then yes," relations could be broken off.
Lavrov's comments come a day after diplomatic sources suggested the European Union was likely to impose travel bans and asset freezes -- possibly within weeks -- on allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We do not want to be isolated from international life, but we must be ready for this. If you want peace, then you should prepare for war," Lavrov said.
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added at a meeting with reporters on February 12 that Moscow had to be ready to provide replacement elements for anything in its vital infrastructure if foreign sanctions called for it.
The 44-year-old Navalny, Putin's top critic, was arrested on January 17 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was treated for a nerve-agent poisoning that he says was ordered by Putin, which the Kremlin has denied.
The detention sparked outrage across the country, with tens of thousands of Russians taking to the streets in rallies. Police, in turn, cracked down harshly on the demonstrations, putting many of Navalny's allies behind bars for the actions, and then detaining thousands more -- sometimes violently -- as they gathered.
It also prompted condemnation from the United States and the European Union and demands for Navalny's immediate release and proper investigations into his poisoning in August last year.
In the past week, Russia has expelled several diplomats from EU countries after the Kremlin accused them of participating in the protests. The moves have been matched tit-for-tat by Sweden, Poland, and Germany, which have told Russian diplomats to pack their bags and head home.
The two sides were already at odds over Russia's 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea and its support for separatist formations waging a war against Kyiv in parts of eastern Ukraine, the EU's rejection of a disputed presidential election in Belarus and criticism of a brutal crackdown by the government of strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and other issues.
Germany's Foreign Ministry called Lavrov's comments on February 12 " really disconcerting and incomprehensible."
Moscow has accused the West of hysteria and double standards over Navalny and has accused the United States and others as meddling in Russia's internal affairs.
Lavrov pushed that theme in the February 12 interview, saying the threats weren't about Navalny, but a broader course "coordinated by the entire collective West, which goes beyond mere deterrence of Russia and evolves into an aggressive deterrence of Russia."
"They don't like us because we have our own idea of what's going on in the world," he said.
Jailed anti-corruption campaigner Navalny was back in court on February 12 for his latest legal battle.
Navalny is accused of slandering a World War II veteran who took part in a promotional video in support of last year's constitutional amendments that cleared the way for Putin to run for two more terms in office after 2024, if he wants.
Meanwhile, Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, flew from Moscow to Frankfurt in a sign that -- following her brief detention recently -- she might be concerned for her safety amid a sweeping crackdown in Russia on Navalny allies.
German magazine Der Spiegel, citing sources, reported Navalnaya arrived in the country for "private" matters.
A court in Moscow on February 10 ordered the arrest of Leonid Volkov, an exiled ally of Navalny's, in a move seen as part of an effort by authorities to squelch demonstrations demanding the release of Navalny.
Russian security agents -- including one allegedly linked to Navalny's poisoning -- tailed another Kremlin critic, Vladimir Kara-Murza, in the days and weeks before his two near-fatal poisoning illnesses, investigative group Bellingcat said this week in a new report.
Kara-Murza, who lives in suburban Washington, has built strong alliances with senior U.S. lawmakers, believes he was targeted for his support for the U.S. Magnitsky Act, a 2012 law targeting alleged Russian human-rights abusers with sanctions.
Kyrgyzstan's Ex-Grand Mufti Implicated In Corruption Case Released From Custody
BISHKEK -- Kyrgyzstan's former top Muslim cleric, Grand Mufti Maksatbek Hajji Toktomushev, has been released from custody and ordered not to leave Bishkek while investigations are carried out over allegations of corruption.
A court in Bishkek ruled late on February 11 that Toktomushev may be released as long as he does not leave the capital until the case goes to trial.
Dozens of Toktomushev's supporters rallied in front of the court building while the former grand mufti's pretrial restrictions were being defined.
On February 10, the State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said Toktomushev was suspected of being involved in the alleged misuse of funds raised by worshipers for a hajj pilgrimage to Mecca later this year.
Toktomushev, who in his capacity was also head of Kyrgyzstan's Religious Directorate -- the state agency in charge of Islamic affairs -- had handed in his resignation over the affair on February 10.
The directorate's press office told RFE/RL that Toktomushev's place will be taken by his deputy until a replacement is elected.
The UKMK announced on February 10 that the directorate's chief accountant, whose identity was not disclosed at the time, had been arrested on suspicion of misusing the equivalent of almost $2 million raised by worshipers.
According to the UKMK, the accountant's arrest occurred on February 9 during an alleged attempt to bribe a UKMK officer.
On February 12, the Birinchi Mai district court sent the accountant, who was identified as Jenishbai Bekiev, to pretrial detention until April 10.
The directorate's press office has said that it won't publicly comment on the case until after the trial.
A majority of the Central Asian nation's population of 6 million are Sunni Muslims.
Turkmen Leader's Son Takes On New Roles; Rapid Rise Renews Talk Of Succession
ASHGABAT -- Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has appointed his son Serdar to the posts of deputy prime minister and chairman of the Supreme Control Chamber, renewing speculation the 63-year-old autocrat is grooming his son to be his successor.
State media outlets reported on February 12 that according to the presidential decrees signed the day before, Serdar Berdymukhammedov also became a member of the State Security Council.
The promotions come a year after the younger Berdymukhammedov assumed the post of minister of industry and construction. A year before that, he was promoted to the post of provincial governor.
The rapid rise of Berdymukhammedov's son, whose political career started in late 2016 when he became a lawmaker, appears to lay the groundwork for the 39-year-old to eventually take over the tightly controlled Central Asian state.
Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has run the former Soviet republic since 2006, tolerating no dissent and becoming the center of an elaborate personality cult. Turkmens often refer to him as "Arkadag" (The Protector).
Serdar Berdymukhammedov is often referred to in state media as "the son of the nation," and his appearances in television reports along with his father are called "the symbol of generations' continuance."
In his new job, Serdar Berdymukhammedov will supervise activities related to digitalization and the introduction of innovative technologies to the state and social infrastructure, as well as the health-care, education, financial and economic sectors, his father said in a televised statement.
Government critics and human rights groups say Berdymukhammedov has suppressed dissent and made few changes in the secretive country since he came to power after the death of autocrat Saparmurat Niyazov.
Like his late predecessor, Berdymukhammedov has relied on subsidized prices for basic goods and utilities to help maintain his grip on power.
According to Human Rights Watch, Berdymukhammedov, "his relatives, and their associates control all aspects of public life, and the authorities encroach on private life."
Harsher Charges Revealed Against Jailed Belarusian Opposition Figures Kalesnikava, Znak
MINSK -- Opposition sources say that the Belarusian authorities have added charges including conspiracy to seize state power and organizing extremism to the cases of jailed opposition figures Maryya Kalesnikava and Maksim Znak.
Both are among the detained ranking members of the Coordination Council, an opposition group set up after Belarus's disputed presidential election in August with the stated aim of facilitating a peaceful transfer of power.
News of the fresh prosecutions came after the first day of a Soviet-style "All-Belarusian People's Assembly" mounted by Alyaksandr Lukashenka to float possible reforms and development in a move that appears designed to buy him time amid unprecedented protests against his regime.
Lawyer Dzmitry Layeuski and the Telegram channel of jailed would-be presidential candidate Viktar Babaryka disclosed the emergence of the new charges against Kalesnikava and Znak, which could carry prison sentences of up to 12 years.
The opposition says the election was rigged and the West has refused to accept its results.
Western governments have also repeatedly called for the release of senior opposition leaders and thousands of protesters jailed during months of crackdown on the street demonstrations against Lukashenka.
Kalesnikava and Znak were arrested in September and Kalesnikava was charged with calling for actions aimed at damaging the country's national security via the media and the Internet after she urged people to protest the official election results.
Znak was previously charged with public calls for actions aimed at harming the country's security, sovereignty, territorial integrity, national security, and defense.
Both have rejected the charges as politically motivated.
Crisis In Belarus
Read our coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues his brutal crackdown on NGOs, activists, and independent media following the August 2020 presidential election.
Mass demonstrations engulfed the country after Lukashenka claimed victory and a sixth consecutive term.
Opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who ran for president after her husband was jailed while trying to mount a candidacy of his own, left the country for Lithuania shortly after the election due to security concerns.
Thousands of Belarusians, including dozens of journalists covering the protests, have been detained and hundreds beaten in detention and on the streets.
Several protesters have been killed in the violence, and some rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture being used by security officials against some detainees.
Lukashenka has denied any wrongdoing with regard to the election and refuses to negotiate with the opposition on stepping down and holding new elections.
The European Union, United States, Canada, and other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate leader of Belarus and have slapped him and senior Belarusian officials with sanctions in response to the "falsification" of the vote and postelection crackdown.
The 66-year-old Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994, opened the two-day "People's Assembly" on February 11 by saying that a foreign "blitzkrieg" on Belarus had failed.
The U.S. Embassy in Belarus issued a statement on February 11 saying that the assembly was "neither genuine nor inclusive of Belarusian views and therefore does not address the country's ongoing political crisis."
- By RFE/RL
HRW Joins Other Rights Watchdogs In Condemning Uzbek Blogger's Arrest
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has joined other rights organizations in condemning the arrest of Uzbek video blogger Otabek Sattoriy, calling the extortion case against him "dubious" and urging the Central Asian country's government to drop all charges and release him.
"Otabek Sattoriy's blogging on sensitive issues such as alleged corruption and farmers' rights has put him in local authorities' crosshairs," Mihra Rittmann, senior Central Asia researcher at HRW, said in a statement on February 12.
"Uzbek authorities should release Sattoriy, drop the charges for lack of evidence, and respect and protect freedom of expression," Rittmann added.
The 40-year-old founder and editor of the video blog Halq Fikiri (People's Opinion), which is streamed on his Telegram and YouTube channels, was detained in late January.
A court in the southern city of Termiz on February 1 placed him in pretrial detention on suspicion of extorting a new mobile phone from the head of a local bazaar.
HRW said in the statement that the authorities claim that Sattoriy extorted a new phone from the head of a local bazaar in Termiz, while his relatives and a colleague insist that unknown individuals attacked Sattoriy in late December when he was trying to collect material at the bazaar for his report about irregularities there.
The head of the bazaar later agreed to replace the broken phone and brought it to Sattoriy in late January, and several men in plain clothes detained the blogger right after that, HRW said,citing Sattoriy's relatives.
Sattoriy's lawyer has called the case against his client "fabricated."
"Targeting Sattoriy with questionable criminal charges is a blow to freedom of speech," HRW's Rittmann said. "The authorities should release Sattoriy from pretrial detention and, unless they can present any credible evidence of criminal wrongdoing, drop the case."
The Uzbek Prosecutor-General's Office, however, said on February 11 that the criminal case against Sattoriy was "lawful."
Since Shavkat Mirziyoev became president in late 2016, the Uzbek authorities have promised to ease media restrictions put in place by his predecessor, longtime authoritarian leader Islam Karimov, that earned the government a reputation as a chronic abuser of rights.
Despite some improvements, rights groups say the media is still being kept on a short leash.
Sattoriy has been known as a harsh critic of regional Governor Tora Bobolov. In one of his recent postings, Sattoriy openly accused the local government of launching fabricated criminal cases against bloggers and vowed to continue to raise the issue of corruption among officials despite the "crackdown."
The HRW statement comes on the heels of similar reports from Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, which have also condemned Sattoriy's arrest and demanded his release.
Since his arrest, Sattoriy has already been tried in a separate case and was found guilty of defamation and distributing false information. According to the Prosecutor-General's Office, the blogger was ordered to pay a fine for the offenses.
Uzbekistan is ranked 156th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2020 World Press Freedom Index.
Gas Leak Suspected In Russian Supermarket Blast
A supermarket in the southern Russian city of Vladikavkaz was engulfed by a powerful explosion before opening hours early on February 12, causing major damage but apparently no deaths.
Authorities suggested it was caused by a gas leak, an all-too frequent danger from suspect infrastructure and sometimes lax safety enforcement in the sprawling country of around 144 million people.
The building housing the Magnit supermarket was said to have been nearly completely destroyed.
A security guard who was said to be sleeping inside the store at the time of the blast and found by rescuers reportedly escaped mostly unharmed.
"I fell asleep when it was nearly morning and woke up from the explosion," the guard said afterward, according to RIA Novosti. "I crawled out of there somehow."
The Interior Ministry said the market "exploded...it was like a house of cards" and said the cause was unknown.
But later reports suggested a gas explosion was to blame.
Based on reporting by Current Time and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Back In Court, Navalny Tells Russian Judge To 'Stop Disgracing Yourself'
A court appearance by jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny has resumed with a testy exchange with the judge in a slander case involving a World War II veteran, resuming a trial that was interrupted last week.
The anti-corruption campaigner has described the slander case as a fabricated Kremlin public-relations campaign meant to harass and discredit him.
Navalny is accused of slandering a World War II veteran who took part in the promotional video in support of last year's constitutional amendments that cleared the way for President Vladimir Putin to run for two more terms in office after 2024, if he wants.
As the process resumed on February 12, Navalny and his lawyers expressed frustration that while filming was prohibited at the hearing, some national media outlets received video feeds taken from the courtroom.
"Let's ask a normal journalist if any of them received the video as well," Navalny said.
"You don't have a right to ask questions," the judge responded.
"I am very frustrated and want you to pay attention to the situation that every time a witness is unable to answer my questions, you stop the hearing and let the witness leave the courtroom so that he's instructed outside what to say and how to answer my questions," Navalny fired back.
He accused the judge of having a "poor knowledge of the Criminal Code" and "speaking like a parrot," according to a TV Dozhd account retweeted to Navalny's Twitter feed.
"I believe that you need to stop disgracing yourself and arranging a political theater, and take some courses," Navalny was quoted as saying.
The trial centers on a social-media post from June in which Navalny, one of Putin's most vocal critics, described those in the video as "traitors," "people with no conscience," and "corrupt lackeys."
Russia's Investigative Committee argues the comments contained "deliberately false information denigrating the honor and dignity" of the World War II veteran.
If convicted, Navalny faces a fine, community service, or jail time.
The trial was interrupted last week after the plaintiff, Ignat Artyomenko, said he was feeling ill and was taken away by ambulance.
Before he was rushed away, the 94-year-old veteran said he wanted a public apology from Navalny, who said he believed that the elderly man was being used "like a doll on a chain."
Navalny also suggested Artyomenko, who attended the proceedings by video from his home, was mentally unable to follow the trial.
"You have perverted criminal law, and now you are using Artyomenko to defend the thief Putin and his friends with [Artyomenko's] medals," Navalny told the court.
The trial comes after the Kremlin critic on February 2 was ordered to serve 2 years and 8 months in prison for violating the terms of probation imposed from a widely criticized 2014 embezzlement case.
Navalny could not report to parole officers because he was recovering from a coma in Germany after being poisoned with a nerve-agent in Siberia last August, in an attack he blames on Putin and his security agents. The Kremlin dismisses the allegations.
Navalny was immediately arrested upon his return to Russia in January, triggering nationwide protests and a crackdown on his allies and supporters.
- By RFE/RL
EU, WHO Announce Vaccine Program For Six Eastern European Countries
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union are launching a 40 million euro ($48.5 million) regional program to help six Eastern European countries with COVID-19 vaccinations.
The program will involve Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, the EU and UN health agency said on February 11.
"By strengthening preparedness and readiness of the countries for vaccinations, this program will prepare the countries for the effective receipt and administering of vaccines, including those from COVAX and through vaccine-sharing mechanisms with EU member states," the European Commission said.
COVAX is a global initiative aimed at providing shots to poorer countries.
The six countries are part of the Eastern Partnership that seeks to strengthen ties between the EU and several Eastern European states.
The EU will pay for the vaccine program over a three-year period while the WHO will help implement it.
Navalny Lawyer Calls New Russian Charges Against Her 'Revenge'
Lyubov Sobol, a prominent lawyer for jailed Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), has been indicted on fresh charges she labeled political "revenge" for daring to speak to an alleged security officer behind the assassination attempt against the Kremlin critic.
The case against Sobol, who is under house arrest for allegedly violating COVID-19 restrictions during recent anti-government protests, comes amid a widening crackdown on Navalny's allies and supporters.
Using her Facebook account, Sobol's team wrote on February 11 that the Investigative Committee case against the lawyer related to her December detention, when she and journalists attempted to speak to a security agent at his home.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) officer, Konstantin Kudryavtsev, has been linked to the August poisoning of Navalny, which Western countries say was carried out with a military-grade nerve agent.
In December, Navalny published a recording of what he said was a phone conversation with Kudryavtsev. The man speaking with Navalny in the 49-minute phone call, in which the anti-corruption campaigner posed as an FSB official, described details of the operation to poison him.
The FSB and the Kremlin have denied any role in the poisoning.
According to the Investigative Committee, Sobol and others used or threatened to use violence as they tried to gain entry into the apartment to speak with Kudryavtsev about the poisoning. The charges were brought by Kudryavtsev's mother-in-law.
In the Facebook post, Sobol's team described the case as political "revenge" for the lawyer not being afraid to ask questions of the alleged assassin.
Navalny was arrested on January 17 upon his returned to Russia from Germany, where he received life-saving treatment after the nerve-agent poisoning.
The detention sparked outrage across the country, drawing tens of thousands of people to the streets. At least 10,000 people were detained.
A court later ordered Navalny to serve 2 years and 8 months in prison for violating terms of his probation while in Germany in a 2014 fraud case widely considered political.
Most of Navalny's allies have been detained, fined, put under house arrest, or forced to leave the country in recent weeks.
- By RFE/RL
RFE/RL Accuses Russia Of Violating Treaty Through 'Foreign Agent' Law
PRAGUE -- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty says Russia is violating a bilateral investment treaty by targeting the organization’s news operations within Russia under its controversial “foreign agent” law.
The assertion, made public by RFE/RL in a statement issued on February 11, comes as Russian regulators have hit the company with a series of fines in recent weeks.
Media regulator Roskomnadzor has demanded RFE/RL comply with strict requirements to label content published and broadcast within Russia as financed by foreign sources. Those demands include prominent 15-second disclaimers shown at the start of every television, radio, or video program, be it online or broadcast.
RFE/RL, one of three foreign news organizations to be labeled as a “foreign agent” and the only one facing fines, has not complied. In response, Roskomnadzor has served RFE/RL with 260 notices of violations. When they go through the court system in the coming weeks, the total fines levied will amount to almost $1 million.
In its statement, the company said Moscow’s move violated a bilateral investment treaty signed in 1994 between Russia and the Czech Republic that obligates Moscow to treat Czech investments in Russia fairly. It called on Russia to negotiate to try to resolve the dispute.
If Russia is not willing to do so, the treaty allows for international arbitration proceedings against Moscow, the company said.
“These punitive measures by the Russian government are a nervous reaction aimed at driving RFE/RL out of business at a time when our audience in Russia is skyrocketing,” said Daisy Sindelar, the organization’s acting president and editor in chief.
“We intend to use every legal avenue available to defend our operations in Russia, so we can continue to deliver the accurate, unflinching journalism our audiences expect and depend on," she said.
Prague HQ
Funded by the U.S. Congress, RFE/RL is a private nonprofit organization incorporated under Delaware law in the United States. RFE/RL’s global headquarters have been based in the Czech Republic since moving there from Munich in 1995, and its operations there are executed through a Czech legal entity called a "branch."
For that reason, the company argues its investments in Russia are covered under the 1994 treaty between Prague and Moscow.
With dozens of employees in Prague, about 50 full-time staff in Russia, and close to 300 freelance reporters across the country, RFE/RL’s Russian-language operations -- TV, radio, and online -- make it one of the largest independent foreign news organizations within Russia.
Press watchdogs have said the effort appears aimed at closing down all of RFE/RL’s operations in Russia, which currently reach nearly 6.7 million people a week.
First passed in 2012 and expanded several times since, the “foreign agent” law gives authorities the power to brand nongovernmental organizations, human rights groups, and news media deemed to receive foreign funding for political activity as “foreign agents,” a label that carries pejorative Soviet-era connotations.
The law subjects these organizations to bureaucratic scrutiny and spot checks and requires them to attach the “foreign agent” label to their publications. They must also report on their spending and funding.
Among other things, the law requires certain news organizations that receive foreign funding to label content within Russia as being produced by a “foreign agent.” It also puts RFE/RL journalists at risk for criminal prosecution.
RFE/RL executives have said Russian regulators singled out the organization for punishment as compared with other foreign news organizations. The only other news organizations to be hit with the “foreign agent” designation and ordered to label their content, but not yet fined, are Voice of America and a small Czech outlet called Medium-Orient -- neither of which currently have a physical presence in the country.
Last month, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers called for new sanctions against Moscow if the Kremlin moves to enforce the fines and stringent restrictions.
Since early in Vladimir Putin’s presidency, the Kremlin has steadily tightened the screws on independent media. The country is ranked 149th out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index produced by Reporters Without Borders.
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
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