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Participant In Navalny Rallies Gets Three Years In Russian Prison
A court in the Russian city of Vladimir has sentenced a man to three years in prison on a criminal charge of attacking a police officer during January 23 rallies in support of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.
The Lenin district court in Vladimir, 200 kilometers east of Moscow, on March 5 found Vitaly Timofeyenko guilty of using pepper spray against a police officer during the dispersal of the demonstrators.
Timofeyenko admitted to using the spray, but said he did so to help another protester who was being held on the ground by the police.
Prosecutors had sought a prison term of five years for the defendant, in what is the second known criminal conviction for a participant in the January 23 pro-Navalny rallies across Russia.
On March 2, a 26-year-old resident of the Volga River city of Kostroma was sentenced to 18 months of forced labor for attacking a police officer in a similar rally on January 23.
The nationwide demonstrations held on January 23 and January 31 were against the arrest of the Kremlin critic, who was detained at a Moscow airport on January 17 upon his arrival from Germany, where he was recovering from a poison attack, which several European laboratories concluded was a military-grade chemical nerve agent, in Siberia in August 2020.
Navalny has insisted that his poisoning was ordered directly by President Vladimir Putin, which the Kremlin has denied.
Last month, a Moscow court ruled that while in Germany, Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an old embezzlement case that is widely considered as being politically motivated. Navalny's 3 1/2 year suspended sentence from the case was converted to a jail term, though the court said he will serve 2 1/2 years in prison given time he had been held in detention.
More than 10,000 supporters of Navalny have been detained across Russia during and after the January rallies. Many of the detained men and women were either fined or handed several-day jail terms At least 90 were charged with criminal misdeeds and several have been fired by their employers.
With reporting by MBKh Media and Mediazona
Crimean Tatar Leader Barred From Entering Crimea Until 2034
ARMYANSK, Ukraine -- Russia has barred long-time Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev from entering Crimea for the next 13 years.
Russian authorities initially barred Dzhemilev from entering Crimea for five years in March 2014 after Moscow illegally annexed Crimea.
However, a decision by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in 2019 to extend the ban became public on March 5 during Dzhemilev's ongoing trial -- being held in absentia -- in Russian-controlled Crimea.
Prosecutors at the ongoing trial in the Crimean city of Armyansk have accused Dzhemilev of attempting to illegally enter Crimea, negligent possession of a firearm, and the illegal possession of ammunition.
The 77-year-old Ukrainian lawmaker has rejected all of the charges, calling them politically motivated and linked to his official rejection of Russia's control over Crimea.
Dzhemilev was the chairman of the Crimean Tatar's self-governing assembly -- the Mejlis -- which was banned by pro-Moscow representatives in Crimea after the annexation.
Dzhemilev was a leading human rights activist during the Soviet era and served six jail sentences in Soviet prison camps from 1966 to 1986.
He is also known for going on a 303-day hunger strike -- the longest in the history of the Soviet human rights movement.
Rights groups and Western governments have denounced what they call a campaign of oppression targeting members of the Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatar minority and others who opposed Moscow's rule.
The majority of Crimean Tatars opposed the Russian takeover of their historic homeland.
- By Todd Prince
U.S. Slaps Sanctions On Ukrainian Oligarch Kolomoyskiy Over Corruption Accusations
The United States says it has banned powerful Ukrainian tycoon Ihor Kolomoyskiy from entering the country in another sign that President Joe Biden's new administration is taking a tougher stance on endemic corruption in Ukraine.
In a March 5 statement announcing the travel ban, Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed "concern about [Kolomoyskiy's] current and ongoing efforts to undermine Ukraine's democratic processes and institutions, which pose a serious threat to its future."
Kolomoyskiy's critics in Ukraine accuse the tycoon of undermining efforts to implement political and economic changes -- including judicial, banking, and graft reform backed by Washington and Brussels -- with the help of dozens of loyalists in the parliament.
Lawmakers close to the tycoon are seeking to remove Artyom Sytnyk as the head of Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), which has been investigating cases tied to Kolomoyskiy. The magnate's media empire has also been critical of the work of NABU.
The State Department ban "is clearly a message to all these parliamentarians trying to protect Kolomoyskiy," Daria Kaleniuk, the executive director of the Kyiv-based Anti-Corruption Action Center, told RFE/RL.
The United States has already gone after at least one member of parliament close to Kolomoyskiy. In January, the Treasury Department sanctioned Oleksandr Dubinskiy for meddling in the 2020 U.S. elections. The move blocks any U.S. assets he possesses, including dollar-denominated accounts. Dubinskiy was subsequently kicked out of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's Servant of the People party.
In a tweet, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk called the travel ban an "intermediate result," adding that Kolomoyskiy's "partners and minions will not escape responsibility" either.
The actions from the State Department make official what had been a years-long rumor that Kolomoyskiy was banned from traveling to the United States.
The magnate in 2017 even hired the Washington-based lobby firm Arent Fox for $50,000 to help him get an E-2 investor visa, a sign he was facing difficulties.
In addition to Kolomoyskiy, Blinken designated his wife, Iryna Kolomoyska; his daughter, Angelika Kolomoyska; and his son, Israel Zvi Kolomoyskiy, making them also ineligible for entry into the United States.
The State Department actions do not impose any financial sanctions on Kolomoyskiy, which is the jurisdiction of the Treasury Department. However, large U.S. banks are likely to avoid working with him, Sarah Felix, an anti-money-laundering expert and founder of Palerma Consulting, told RFE/RL.
Energy, Metals, Media
Kolomoyskiy is one of the most influential tycoons in Ukraine, owning assets ranging from media and airlines to energy and metals. He also briefly served as governor of Dnipropetrovsk, where many of his businesses are based, from 2014 to 2015.
Kolomoyskiy's media assets are credited with helping Zelenskiy, a former comic with no political experience, win the April 2019 presidential election in a landslide.
The tycoon is rumored to have influence in the administration while activists say he controls at least 30 parliament deputies in the president's party.
In his statement, Blinken accused Kolomoyskiy of being "involved in corrupt acts that undermined rule of law and the Ukrainian public’s faith in their government’s democratic institutions and public processes" while serving as governor. Kolomoyskiy used "his political influence and official power for his personal benefit," Blinken’s statement said.
Separately, the FBI is investigating Kolomoyskiy and business partner Hennadiy Boholyubov in connection with the $5.5 billion bailout of PrivatBank, once Ukraine's largest lender.
The tycoons are accused of embezzling billions of dollars from the bank through fraudulent loans and using some of the proceeds to buy assets in the United States, including real estate and metals plants.
The United States is seeking the seizure of three commercial real estate properties owned by the tycoons and allegedly purchased with the embezzled funds. Kolomoyskiy and Boholyubov deny the accusations and last month filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government.
Ukraine's Reform Struggles
The United States and Europe have been supporting Kyiv with aid and political backing ever since Russia illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and backed separatists in two provinces in eastern Ukraine.
However, Washington and Brussels attached strings to the aid, including demanding Ukraine carry out tough economic and political reforms that would weaken the enormous influence of a small group of tycoons like Kolomoyskiy who have impeded the nation’s development.
One of the bills demanded by the West was the so-called "Anti-Kolomoyskiy" bill designed to clean up the banking sector and prevent owners of nationalized lenders from regaining control.
While Ukraine has made much progress on economic and political reforms since 2014, the country has failed to live up to Washington's expectations, with some achievements like anti-corruption reform being partially rolled back.
The Biden administration has said it will make battling corruption and strengthening democratic institutions a key component of its foreign policy agenda.
In a move many viewed as a message by the new Biden administration to Kyiv about the centrality of reform to the bilateral relationship, Blinken last month named Zelenskiy's ousted prosecutor-general, Ruslan Ryaboshapka, an "anti-corruption champion."
Ryaboshapka, who briefly served from 2019 to 2020, reportedly angered tycoons with his investigations.
Blinken in January told the Senate during his confirmation hearing that even if the United States helped Ukraine contain Russian aggression, the country would fail to build a durable democracy if it did not tackle corruption.
With reporting by Liubomyra Remazhevsika in Kyiv
- By RFE/RL
Belarus Request For Tsikhanouskaya Extradition Rejected By Lithuania
Belarusian authorities have officially requested that Lithuania extradite opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who has been living in the Baltic country since leaving amid safety fears following a disputed presidential election that sparked mass protests that have been put down violently by authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
The Prosecutor-General's Office of Belarus said on March 5 that Tsikhanouskaya is wanted by Minsk for "crimes committed against public order, public safety, and the state."
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis issued a statement soon after the request was made public, saying Vilnius will ignore it.
"Lithuania was, is, and will be a stone wall behind which all democratic forces persecuted by regimes can find asylum. Therefore, all those who obtained asylum in Lithuania can feel themselves safe -- they will not be handed to regimes for being persecuted for their fight for democracy, freedom of speech or religion. Our answer to the Belarusian regime is -- We will not look into your request," Lansdbergis said in the statement.
Tsikhanouskaya, who along with her supporters say she won the presidential poll, took part in the August 2020 election as a candidate after her husband was jailed while trying to mount a candidacy of his own.
She left the country along with her children for Lithuania due to security concerns shortly after the vote, which election officials said Lukashenka won by a landslide.
Thousands of Belarusians, including dozens of journalists covering the protests, have been detained by authorities, some handed prison terms, 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.
The latest sentence against a protester was pronounced by a Minsk court on March 5. Alyaksandr Trotski, a 45-year-old businessman, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer. He denies the charge and many activists say the case was politically motivated.
The 66-year-old Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994, has denied any wrongdoing with regard to the election and has refused to negotiate with the opposition over 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.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Belarus Service and BelTA
Iran Claims To Have Disrupted Hijacking Of Passenger Jet, But Details Scant
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) claims to have prevented the hijacking of a passenger plane, but has offered few details on what allegedly happened.
The elite paramilitary force said on its website on March 5 that the purported hijacking targeted an Iran Air Fokker 100 jet heading from the southwestern city of Ahvaz to the northwestern city of Mashhad on the evening of March 4.
The aircraft made an emergency landing in the central city of Isfahan, the statement said, adding that the alleged hijacker was "neutralized.” It not clear if that means arrested or killed.
No one was reported injured in the incident.
The IRGC said the hijacker, who was not identified, had sought to divert the flight to a Persian Gulf state.
A Fokker 100 was scheduled to take off from Ahvaz for Mashhad at 7:15 p.m. on March 4, according to the plane-tracking website FlightRadar24.com.
Iranian domestic flights reportedly carry armed air marshals from the IRGC to disrupt any attempted attack or hijacking.
With reporting by dpa and AP
Romanian Sex-Tape Satire Wins Top Prize At Berlin Film Festival
Romanian director Radu Jude's comedy about a woman in damage control after a porn clip of her is posted on the Internet has won the Berlin Film Festival's top prize.
Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn was awarded the Berlinale's Golden Bear, the jury said in statement on March 5, saying the movie has a “rare and essential quality of a lasting artwork.”
The sexually explicit dark comedy “captures on screen the very content and essence, the mind and body, the values and the raw flesh of our present moment in time. Of this very moment of human existence,” the judges said.
The film stars Katia Pascariu as a teacher whose private sex tape is leaked, triggering a witch hunt by the parents of the children at her school in contemporary Bucharest.
Shot during the coronavirus pandemic, it shows almost every character wearing a mask.
Jude has said he did not want to give a sermon with his film but denounce social hypocrisy and frustrations surrounding sexuality.
With reporting by dpa and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Moscow Warns Of Retaliatory 'Stop List' On U.S. Citizens Over Navalny Sanctions
Moscow says it plans a retaliatory "stop list" on U.S. citizens in response to Washington's decision to impose new sanctions against several senior Russian officials over the poisoning of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.
"Taking into account how [the United States is] behaving now, how they published all the [sanction] lists, I think we will surprise them soon, as well. We are working on it," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a televised interview on March 5.
Washington announced on March 2 that it was sanctioning seven senior Russian officials, including Putin’s deputy chief of staff, after a U.S. intelligence assessment concluded with "high confidence" that officers from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) were behind the August poisoning of Navalny.
The Kremlin critic was detained in Moscow in January immediately upon returning from Germany, where he had been recovering from the attack, which several Western laboratories determined was done with a Novichok-type chemical nerve agent.
Navalny has accused President Vladimir Putin of being behind the attempted assassination attack, which the Kremlin has denied.
The U.S. announcement came on the heels of European Union sanctions against four senior Russian officials -- Aleksandr Kalashnikov, the federal prisons administrator; Aleksandr Bastrykin, the head of the Investigative Committee; Igor Krasnov, Russia's prosecutor-general; and Viktor Zolotov, tghe director of the National Guard.
The United States also sanctioned Kalashnikov and Krasnov, as well as Sergei Kiriyenko, first deputy chief of staff; Andrei Yarin, the chief of the Kremlin’s domestic policy directorate; FSB Director Aleksandr Bortnikov; Aleksei Krivoruchko, deputy minister of defense responsible for armaments; and Pavel Popov, deputy minister of defense responsible for research activities.
Washington also imposed export restrictions on 14 parties involved in biological and chemical production, including nine commercial entities in Russia.
Earlier this week, some international and Russian media reports said that the United States might impose additional sanctions against Russian businessmen and the country's foreign debt over Russia's possession of chemical weapons.
Commenting on those reports on March 5, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the potential new sanctions "crazy."
"Nobody has imposed sanctions against Russian businessmen yet. And we, of course, hope that, let's say, such crazy calls will stay on the media pages and will not find, let's say, a fertile ground in the U.S. official establishment," Peskov said.
Peskov did not elaborate on possible Russian moves if new sanctions are imposed.
"Hypothetical assumptions of any kind are barely appropriate here. Let's wait and see what actually happens," Peskov said.
Navalny is currently in a prison near Moscow after a court in February ruled that, while in Germany, he violated the terms of parole from an older embezzlement case that is widely considered politically motivated. He was ultimately ordered to serve around 2 1/2 years in prison.
With reporting by TASS and Interfax
Angry Kazakh Mothers Demand More Government Support, Response
ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Dozens of mothers, some of whom have children with medical conditions, have gathered at Almaty's city hall days before International Women's Day to demand city officials increase support to families.
The women entered the building of the city administration on March 5, demanding that Mayor Baqytzhan Saghyntaev meet with them and chanting, "Saghyntaev, come out!"
The women complained that they had been added to the city administration's list for distribution of free apartments to families in need, but had failed to move up despite being on it for years.
The women also demanded more financial and social support for handicapped children.
Saghyntaev did not meet with the women, sending the chairwoman of the city administration's directorate on social issues, Nazira Toghyzbaeva, and the deputy chief of the housing directorate, Ermek Amirov, to talk to the women.
The two officials explained that the state program on the distribution of free apartments to families with lower incomes is being implemented and that all families included on the list can follow the process online. They added, however, that special programs for supporting families with several children, as well as those with handicapped children, have yet to be worked out.
In the capital, Nur-Sultan, dozens of mothers have been demanding increased social allowances since late February. Many have spent several nights camped inside the building of the city administration.
Earlier this week, 32 mothers in Nur-Sultan officially filed their demands with the Ministry of Social Support, which informed them that they will receive an official response in mid-April.
The women answered that they will not leave the city administration building until they receive the responses.
- By RFE/RL
HRW: Kyrgyz Draft Constitution Endangers Rights, Weakens Checks And Balances
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is urging Kyrgyzstan to withdraw a draft constitution submitted to lawmakers last month, saying it undermines human rights norms and weakens the checks and balances necessary to prevent abuses of power.
“The current draft constitution does not reflect the high human rights standards Kyrgyzstan says it aspires to,” Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher at the New York-based human rights watchdog, said in a statement on March 5.
Kyrgyzstan has been in political crisis since parliamentary elections in October led to protests that triggered the toppling of the government and the resignation of then-President Sooronbai Jeenbekov.
President Sadyr Japarov was among several prominent politicians freed from prison by protesters during the unrest. He had been serving a 10-year prison sentence for hostage-taking during a protest against a mining operation in northeast Kyrgyzstan in October 2013. He has denied the charge.
Since winning a presidential election in January, Japarov has advanced the draft constitution.
Votes of at least 80 members of the caretaker parliament, or a two-thirds majority, are required to adopt the proposed constitution before it is put to a national referendum.
HRW said the legislature should postpone consideration of the text until after a new parliament has been elected to “allow for a full deliberative and consultative constitutional reform process.”
The government should also refer the draft to the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission of constitutional experts.
“President Japarov has pledged to uphold and respect human rights,” Sultanalieva said, adding: “A new constitution lays the foundation for these actions, so it is vitally important for this document, and the process of preparing it, to uphold beyond all doubt the highest standards of human rights and the rule of law.”
In its annual report released earlier this week, the Washington-based human rights watchdog Freedom House said the draft constitution “could reshape Kyrgyzstan’s political system in the mold of its authoritarian neighbors.”
HRW said provisions in the draft regarding the role of the executive and parliament “erode the constitution’s current system of checks and balances.” It cited a proposed article providing the president with powers previously exclusive to the parliament, such as initiating new laws and referendums, in addition to the existing power of veto.
The group said two other articles would allow the president to indirectly recall the mandates of members of parliament. If the president obtains the support of a majority of lawmakers, the head of state can strip a parliament member’s immunity from criminal prosecution, which HRW said would create “the conditions for political pressure on members who are critical of the ruling party or the president.”
Other “problematic” provisions would transfer power from the parliament to the president to appoint members of the cabinet, and appoint and dismiss judges, the prosecutor-general, the chairman of the central bank, as well as nominate and dismiss half of the Central Election Committee.
HRW noted that several proposed articles “directly violate” international human rights standards, including one that would prohibit activities, public events, and dissemination of information contrary to the “moral values and the public consciousness of the people of Kyrgyzstan.”
The draft constitution also excludes an article guaranteeing freedom of identification of ethnic identity, a move that would create “a dangerous potential for ethnic profiling and discrimination against ethnic minorities.”
The draft also includes a provision imposing “unnecessary, burdensome” financial reporting requirements on nongovernmental organizations, trade unions, and political parties.
- By RFE/RL
Moldova Becomes First European Country To Receive COVID-19 Vaccines Under COVAX Scheme
Moldovan President Maia Sandu says her country has received a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines under the global COVAX scheme for poorer countries, a first for Europe.
"These 14,400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will help us continue to immunize health-care staff and curb the spread of the virus. We are doing all we can to allow citizens of Moldova to gain access to more free-of-charge COVID-19 vaccines as fast as possible," Sandu said on Facebook.
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The pro-Western president thanked Germany and other EU member states, as well as the United States, Britain, Canada, Japan, and the European Commission for showing “solidarity.”
In a statement on March 4, the World Health Organization said the country had secured enough doses of vaccines through COVAX to cover about 1.7 million people, roughly half of its population.
Moldova has struggled in the global scramble to gain access to vaccines and welcomed donations.
The Moldovan drug regulator last month registered three vaccines -- Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and the Russian-made Sputnik V -- for use in Moldova.
Moldova's vaccine procurement has stirred a domestic political row as former President Igor Dodon, a Moscow-backed politician who lost to Sandu in November 2020, accused her of trying to block the entry of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. Sandu's office denied doing so.
Last week, Romania donated 21,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Moldova, enabling one of Europe's poorest countries to begin its vaccination campaign.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in December pledged Moldova 200,000 vaccine doses from its quota allotted by the European Union.
Moldova has registered more than 191,000 coronavirus infections and over 4,000 fatalities.
With reporting by RFE/RL’s Moldovan Service
- By RFE/RL
Jailed Belarusian, Iranian Exile, Slain Afghans Among U.S. 'Women Of Courage' Honorees
The U.S. State Department will honor 14 “extraordinary” women from Belarus, Iran, and other countries who have demonstrated leadership, courage, resourcefulness, and a willingness to sacrifice for others.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will host the annual International Women of Courage (IWOC) awards in a virtual ceremony on March 8 -- International Women's Day -- to honor jailed Belarusian opposition figure Maryya Kalesnikava, as well as Shohreh Bayat, an Iranian chess arbiter who went into exile after violating her country’s strict Islamic dress code, the State Department said in a statement on March 4.
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It said a group of seven other “extraordinary” women leaders and activists from Afghanistan who were assassinated while serving their communities will also receive an honorary award.
The IWOC award, now in its 15th year, is presented annually to women from around the world who have “demonstrated exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality, and women’s empowerment -- often at great personal risk and sacrifice.”
This year’s recipients include Kalesnikava, a ranking member 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.
The opposition says the election was rigged and the West has refused to accept the results. Thousands of Belarusians have been jailed during months of crackdowns on the street demonstrations against strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
Kalesnikava was arrested in September and charged with calling for actions aimed at damaging the country's national security, conspiracy to seize state power, and organizing extremism.
Ahead of the presidential election, “Belarusian women emerged as a dominant political force and driver of societal change in Belarus due in no small part to” Kalesnikava, according to the State Department.
The opposition figure “continues to be the face of the opposition inside Belarus, courageously facing imprisonment, it said, adding that she “serves as a source of inspiration for all those seeking to win freedom for themselves and their countries.”
The State Department said Bayat will be honored for choosing “to be a champion for women’s rights rather than be cowed by the Iranian government’s threats.”
Bayat, the first female Category A international chess arbiter in Asia, sought refuge in Britain after she was photographed at the 2020 Women’s Chess World Championship in Shanghai without her head scarf, or hijab, as her country mandates.
“Within 24 hours, the Iranian Chess Federation -- which Shohreh had previously led -- refused to guarantee Shohreh’s safety if she returned to Iran without first apologizing,” the State Department said.
“Fearing for her safety and unwilling to apologize for the incident, Shohreh made the heart-wrenching decision to seek refuge in the U.K., leaving her husband -- who lacked a U.K. visa -- in Iran.”
In addition to the individual IWOC awards, Blinken will also present an honorary award to seven Afghan women whose “tragic murders" in 2020 underscored the “alarming trend of increased targeting of women in Afghanistan.”
The women include Fatema Natasha Khalil, an official with the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission; General Sharmila Frough, the head of the Gender Unit in the National Directorate of Security; journalist Malalai Maiwand; women’s rights and democracy activist Freshta Kohistani; and midwife Maryam Noorzad.
- By RFE/RL
Senators Warn U.S.-Bulgarian Relationship Faces 'Serious Challenges' As Sofia Prepares For Elections
WASHINGTON -- U.S. lawmakers called on Bulgaria to respect democratic values and the rule of law as it prepares for national elections next month, warning the current state of its domestic affairs is posing “serious challenges” to the bilateral relationship.
In a statement issued late on March 4 -- a day before campaigning officially begins for Bulgarian parliamentary elections in early April -- the lawmakers said they would like to see stronger relations with the Eastern European nation, including on security and energy issues.
However, “persistent corruption, declining media freedom, politicization of the judiciary, and other threats to the rule of law pose serious challenges to the U.S.-Bulgaria bilateral relationship,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (Democrat-New Jersey) and ranking member Jim Risch (Republican-Idaho) said in the statement.
"As the April parliamentary elections draw near, it is imperative that the government of Bulgaria protect these values," they said.
Bulgaria was rocked by demonstrations last summer as thousands of citizens took to the streets to protest against a growing perception of corruption under Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who has led the country for most of the past decade.
Bulgaria, a member of the European Union and NATO, scored lowest in the bloc on both Transparency International’s 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index and Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index.
Delyan Peevski, a media mogul and lawmaker close to Borisov, accounts for some 80 percent of the print media in Bulgaria, as well as private television networks and websites, according to Reporters Without Borders, giving him enormous influence, especially during an election season.
“These rankings underscore the breadth of the challenges facing Bulgaria. The Bulgarian government and judiciary must work to uphold the rule of law for all, not just some, and the media must have the freedom to report the truth without facing harassment, violence, or punishment,” the lawmakers said.
Last year’s anti-government protests were driven in part by claims that Borisov’s ruling GERB party is controlled from behind the scenes by Peevski and his Movement for Rights and Freedom.
President Rumen Radev, who supported the protesters, has charged that a "mafia" controls Borisov's government and the country's notoriously politicized Prosecutor-General’s Office.
Two wealthy Bulgarian families hired Washington-based lobby firm Alexandria Group International last year after the Borisov government opened criminal cases against them. The families claim the government is trying to illegally seize their assets.
In a report issued to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Alexandria Group described Peevski as one of the “key architects of Bulgaria’s democratic decline and devolution into a criminal state,” including the capture of privately held assets by extralegal means.
Peevski in December hired BGR Group, Washington's third-largest lobbying firm by revenue, to help him with “issues in the U.S.” Neither a Peevski representative nor BGR responded at the time to a request for comment.
Borisov’s party is expected to come in first in the April elections, according to the latest polling data. His GERB is facing off against a host of parties, including several start-ups.
Borisov’s failure to combat corruption and uphold the rule of law aren’t the only issues that have rankled the United States.
Bulgaria has continued to move ahead with its section of a pipeline that will carry natural gas from Russia to Serbia via Turkey and Bulgaria.
The pipeline enables Russia to reroute some natural gas exports destined for the Balkans and Central Europe around Ukraine.
Washington opposes the project and has threatened to sanction it on the grounds that it strengthens the Kremlin’s influence on Europe’s energy sector and deprives Kyiv of needed transit fees.
- By RFE/RL
NATO: EU Cannot Protect Europe Alone Amid Threats From Terrorism, Russia
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned against any attempts to “divide Europe from North America” and said that the European Union “cannot defend” the continent alone amid the threat of terrorism and Russia's "destabilizing behavior."
“Any attempt to divide Europe from North America will not only weaken NATO, it will also divide Europe,” he said in a speech at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, on March 4.
“So I do not believe in Europe alone, or North America alone. I believe in North America and Europe together, in NATO, in strategic solidarity. Whatever challenges we face, we are stronger together,” he added.
Stoltenberg, in a separate interview with AFP, added that while he welcomed Brussels' efforts to boost spending and streamline its defense industry, he was dubious about calls for Europe to develop "strategic autonomy" of the type being pushed by French President Emmanuel Macron.
"I support EU efforts on defense, because more defense spending, new military capabilities, and addressing the fragmentation of the European defense industry -- all of that will be good for European security, for transatlantic security, for all of us," he told AFP.
"So all these efforts -- as long as they complement NATO -- we welcome them, but the EU cannot defend Europe."
In his speech, he said a strong transatlantic bond is the “bedrock” of Europe’s security.
“For more than 70 years, NATO has embodied this unique relationship. Our alliance is the only place that brings North America and Europe together every day to discuss common security challenges,” he said.
"More than 90 percent of the people in the European Union, they live in a NATO country. But only 20 percent of NATO's defense spending comes from NATO EU members," Stoltenberg said.
Previous U.S. President Donald Trump had strained relations with NATO’s European members, claiming they were not contributing enough to their own defense, leaving it to U.S. taxpayers to pick up the bill, and at times questioning the relevance of the long-standing alliance.
However, President Joe Biden has called for closer cooperation with NATO allies and is seen as a much friendlier partner for Europe, although he, too, has expressed the need for Europe to meet spending commitments. Biden is expected to attend a summit of NATO nations later this year.
Stoltenberg cited NATO’s renewed importance in the face “brutal forms of terrorism” and of Russia’s "destabilizing behavior."
“Through the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (Islamic State), we have helped liberate vast territory and millions of people in Iraq and Syria.
“Following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO has implemented the largest reinforcement of our collective defense in a generation. Deploying combat-ready troops in the east of our alliance, to deter any aggression,” he said.
“This attempt to redraw borders by force, as we saw in Ukraine and Crimea, happened only a few years ago,” rendering the need to prevent conflict and to defend Europe “very real,” he said.
With reporting by AFP
- By RFE/RL
In Apparent New Aim At Web Freedoms, Putin Wants 'Moral Laws' For The Internet
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for the Internet in Russia to be bound by "moral laws" that he says will stop society from "collapsing" -- suggesting that Russian children are being exploited by his political opponents at anti-Kremlin demonstrations.
Putin's televised remarks on March 4 come amid mounting efforts by Moscow to exert greater influence over U.S. social media giants and frustration from Russian authorities over what they say is the failure of U.S. social media firms to follow Russian laws.
As tens of thousands of Russians demonstrated across Russia to protest the jailing of Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny, Moscow accused U.S. social networks of failing to take down what it says are fake posts about anti-Kremlin demonstrations.
In December, the State Duma, the parliament's lower house, backed substantial new fines on platforms that fail to delete banned content and a separate bill that would allow U.S. social media giants to be restricted if they "discriminate" against Russian media.
Russian authorities have also accused Putin's political opponents in Russia of getting children to take part in unsanctioned opposition protests.
"We encounter [online] child pornography, child prostitution, and drug dealing where it is precisely children and teenagers who are the target audience," Putin said.
He accused the organizers of anti-government demonstrations of bringing children "out onto the street to be hooligans" who "fight with the police, and then hiding behind the children, actually putting them in front."
But Russian opposition leaders say that is a false and deliberate smear tactic.
The remarks by Putin, who has gradually cracked down on web freedoms in Russia over the past decade, appear to signal another effort to restrict the Internet even further in the face of a new wave of dissent following the August poisoning and subsequent imprisonment of Navalny.
With reporting by Reuters and Interfax
RFE/RL Correspondents Attacked In Dushanbe While Reporting On Gas Price Hikes
DUSHANBE -- Two correspondents from RFE/RL's Tajik service have been attacked in the capital, Dushanbe, while preparing a report on gasoline price hikes.
Shahlo Abdullo and Mullorajab Yusufi were assaulted on March 4 as they interviewed a driver at a gas station.
"The attack on two of our reporters in Tajikistan who were only doing their jobs is absolutely unacceptable," RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said.
"We expect Tajik police to fully investigate this incident and make sure the rights of journalists to report openly and without obstruction is protected now and in the future," he added.
The two correspondents said an employee of the gas station approached and demanded they stop the interview. The employee then pushed Abdullo while trying to cover the lens of her video camera.
As Yusufi intervened while filming the incident with his mobile phone, the attacker assaulted him while saying that the journalists had no right to film on the property without written permission from the company.
Yusufi denied they were filming on the company’s land, saying they were only talking with several drivers who complained about an abrupt increase in the price of gasoline in the Central Asian nation.
Yusufi was treated by a doctor for minor facial injuries.
Investigators at Dushanbe's Sino district police department launched a preliminary investigation into the incident after the two journalists filed a complaint.
Opposition Politician Says Talks With Armenian PM On Snap Polls Unsuccessful So Far
The leader of an Armenian opposition parliamentary faction says talks with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on holding early parliamentary elections have failed to reach a deal so far.
Pashinian, who faces a political crisis and a call from the army to resign, has said he is open to holding snap elections, but only if the opposition agrees to certain conditions.
"We have held negotiations. No understanding has been reached with the prime minister," Bright Armenia leader Edmond Marukian told reporters after meeting with Pashinian on March 4.
Political tensions in Armenia have been high, with supporters of Pashinian and the opposition staging competing rallies in the capital.
Pashinian has faced mounting protests and calls from the opposition for his resignation following a six-week conflict between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh last year.
At the heart of the turmoil is the Russian-brokered deal Pashinian signed in November that brought an end to the fighting after Armenian forces suffered territorial and battlefield losses from Azerbaijan's Turkish-backed military.
Under the deal, Armenia ceded control over parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven surrounding districts of Azerbaijan that had been occupied by Armenian forces since the early 1990s.
Marukian said more talks, which should also involve other political forces, might move the sides closer to an agreement on an early vote.
"We agreed that the topic cannot be closed solely by us," Marukian said. "Other forces are needed, because we cannot dissolve the parliament based only on our position."
The talks on March 4 were held a day after thousands of opposition supporters rallied in the capital, Yerevan, to demand Pashinian's resignation.
That rally came after Armenia's political crisis was plunged into deeper uncertainty following the president’s refusal to sign an order to dismiss the head of the military.
Pashinian moved to dismiss the chief of the General Staff after accusing top military brass last week of attempting a coup when they called on Pashinian to resign over his handling of last year's war with Azerbaijan.
On March 2, for a second time, Armenia’s largely ceremonial president, Armen Sarkisian, refused to approve the order dismissing the chief of the General Staff Onik Gasparian.
However, the president did not ask the Constitutional Court to rule on whether the order to fire Gasparian complies with the constitution, a technicality that legal experts said means the dismissal would likely take effect automatically if the head of state does not appeal to the top court by March 4.
Last week, the discontent spilled over into the military after Pashinian dismissed Tiran Khachatrian, the first deputy chief of the general staff, who mocked the prime minister's analysis of Russian weapons used in the war against Azerbaijan.
In response, several dozen high-ranking military officers signed a letter accusing Pashinian and his government of bringing the country "to the brink of collapse" and calling for his resignation.
Pashinian said the move amounted to "an attempted military coup" and immediately moved to fire Gasparian, adding a new layer to the political crisis.
Pashinian, whose My Step faction dominates parliament, has refused opposition demands to resign but has hinted at accepting early parliamentary elections under certain conditions.
With reporting by Reuters, AP, and Interfax
Two More Kazakh Activists Sentenced For Links To Banned Political Groups
TARAZ, Kazakhstan -- A court in southern Kazakhstan has handed parole-like sentences to two women for their links with the banned organizations Koshe (Street) Party and the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement amid an ongoing crackdown on individuals supporting the two opposition groups.
On March 4, a city court in Taraz sentenced both Nazira Lesova and Nazira Lepesova to two years of "freedom limitation" after finding them guilty of organizing and participating in the activities of the groups. Lepesova was also sentenced to 100 hours of community work.
Both women rejected the charges, calling them politically motivated. They also said they would the rulings.
Two days earlier, the same court sentenced another activist, Zhazira Qambarova, to two years of "freedom limitation" on the same charge.
Several activists across the Central Asian nation have been handed "freedom limitation" sentences for their involvement in the activities of the Koshe Party and DVK, as well as for taking part in rallies organized by the two groups.
The DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government. Kazakh authorities labeled the DVK extremist and banned the group in March 2018.
Human rights groups have said that Kazakhstan's law on public gatherings contradicts international standards as it requires preliminary permission from authorities to hold rallies.
It also envisions prosecution for organizing and attending unsanctioned demonstrations even though the nation's constitution guarantees its citizens the right of free assembly.
Five More Jehovah's Witnesses Accused Of Extremism In Russia
Five Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia's Komi Republic have been accused of organizing and taking part in the activities of an extremist group amid a continued crackdown on the religious group, which has been banned in the country since 2017.
Russia's Investigative Committee said on March 4 that a court in the city of Syktyvkar ordered one suspect in the case to be placed in pretrial detention. Two Jehovah's Witnesses were placed under house arrest and another two were ordered not to leave the city while an investigation in the case takes place.
Jehovah's Witnesses said a day earlier that police searched at least 14 homes of members of their congregation in Syktyvkar.
The announcement came days after a court in Russia's Republic of Khakassia sentenced two Jehovah’s Witnesses -- 69-year-old Valentina Baranovskaya and her son Roman Baranovsky -- to two and six years in prison respectively.
The United States has condemned Russia's continued crackdown on Jehovah's Witnesses and other peaceful religious minorities.
For decades, the Jehovah's Witnesses have been viewed with suspicion in Russia, where the dominant Orthodox Church is championed by President Vladimir Putin.
The Christian group is known for door-to-door preaching, close Bible study, rejection of military service, and not celebrating national and religious holidays or birthdays.
Since the faith was outlawed in Russia, many Jehovah's Witnesses have been imprisoned in Russia and the Russia-annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea on the Black Sea.
According to the group, dozens of Jehovah's Witnesses have either been convicted of extremism or are in pretrial detention.
In September 2019, Washington banned two high-ranking regional officers from Russia's Investigative Committee from entering the United States over the alleged torture of seven detainees who were Jehovah's Witnesses.
The Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center has recognized dozens of Jehovah’s Witnesses who've been charged with or convicted of extremism as political prisoners.
Police Search Home Of Tatar NGO's Leader In Kazan, Summon Him For Questioning
KAZAN, Russia -- The chairman of the All-Tatar Public Center (TIU) says police and security officers in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan have searched his home and summoned him for questioning in a case concerning the incitement of hatred.
Farit Zakiyev told RFE/RL that police and officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB) came to his apartment in Kazan early on March 4 and searched the premises, confiscating his and his wife's smartphones.
Zakiyev said he was informed that the case was launched regarding a 2019 event related to the annual commemoration of Tatars who died during the 1552 siege of the city by Russian troops.
"They ordered me to come for questioning to the Investigative Committee tomorrow at 2 p.m., but did not say in what capacity I was summoned. This is absolute lawlessness. It is strange that I am even implicated in the case to start with because the event in question was organized by private individuals not by my organization," Zakiyev said.
TIU, which has been functioning since 1989, is known for activities promoting Tatar culture, language, and traditions, as well as equal rights for ethnic Tatars.
Some participants in the annual event in October 2019 were sentenced at the time to community work or fined for praying and reading the Koran and using words about "Tatarstan's statehood."
In October 1552, Russian Tsar Ivan IV, also known as Ivan the Terrible, conquered the Khanate of Kazan after two weeks of resistance. Many of the Khanate's Muslim population were killed after the siege or forcibly Christianized afterward.
Last month, Zakiyev held a hunger strike, protesting a motion by prosecutors to label his organization as extremist and shut it down. A court decision on the prosecutors' motion is pending.
The situation mirrors similar developments in the neighboring Republic of Bashkortostan, where last year a court banned a prominent Bashqort group that had long promoted the Bashkir language and culture.
The court on May 22 labeled the group extremist and banned its operations based on what it called the "presence in the organization of individuals who had been convicted on extremism charges."
The group's leader, Fail Alsynov, said at the time that the extremism charges against members of his organizations were politically motivated.
Both TIU and Bashqort activists have faced pressure in recent years after staging several rallies and other events challenging the policies of both local and federal authorities, including Moscow's move to abolish mandatory indigenous-language classes in regions with large populations of indigenous ethnic groups.
- By RFE/RL
Rights Group Says Turkmen Activist Detained In Moscow On Arrival From Istanbul
The Moscow-based Memorial human rights organization says police have detained a Turkmen man known for his public criticism of the Turkmen government as he arrived in Russia from Turkey.
Memorial said in a statement on March 3 that 27-year-old Rozgeldy Choliev was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport the day before after he arrived from Istanbul.
According to Memorial, Choliev used to study at a university in Russia's North Caucasus region of Karachai-Cherkessia, where he was admitted in 2018.
In 2020, he was expelled from the university after he published articles on the Internet criticizing the Turkmen government. His relatives in Turkmenistan, which is tightly controlled by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, also faced pressure at the time.
Despite the fact that he had a valid Russian visa in his passport, Russian border guards tried to send him back to Turkey, but stopped after Choliev said he wanted political asylum, emphasizing that human rights organizations were aware of his situation.
Choliev was told that due to the coronavirus pandemic, he could not enter Russia and because there are currently no flights to Turkmenistan, he must return to Turkey, where he will be met by Turkmen Embassy officials.
Choliev rejected that option, so the Russian authorities said they would invite officials from the Turkmen Consulate in Russia to "decide your situation."
Memorial says that although Choliev is not officially wanted either in Turkmenistan or in Russia, he has not been given a chance to officially meet with Russian immigration officials to file a request for political asylum.
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 his authoritarian predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov, in 2006.
According to Human Rights Watch, Berdymukhammedov, "his relatives, and their associates control all aspects of public life, and the authorities encroach on private life."
Choliev, whose wife and child are in Karachai-Cherkessia, tried to come to Russia in November, but the Russian airline Aeroflot did not allow him to board the plane.
The chairwoman of the Civil Assistance rights group in Russia, Svetlana Gannushkina, said on March 3 that a lawyer from her organization will work on Choliev's case.
"There is no doubt that in the case of a forced return to Turkmenistan, the opposition [activist] will face serious problems over his critical statements. His relatives have urged him not to come back under any circumstances," Memorial said.
Memorial also said that Choliev's wife, Myakhrijamal Khudainazarova, who is a student of the Karachai-Cherkessia State University, was approached by the dormitory supervisor, who checked if her stay in Russia was legal and told her that police will visit her soon.
- By RFE/RL
Iranian Court Orders Dissolution Of Prominent Anti-Poverty NGO
A court in Iran has ordered the dissolution of a prominent Iranian NGO that fights poverty.
Imam Ali's Popular Students Relief Society (IAPSRS) announced the court decision on Twitter on March 3 without providing details, including whether it plans on appealing the ruling.
The decision came after Iran's Interior Ministry filed a complaint against the NGO and called on the judiciary to order its dissolution, a move that Human Rights Watch (HRW) said "fits a broader pattern of repression faced by civil society, but with the targeting of IAPSRS, authorities are now even shuttering groups that have been officially registered with the government."
The NGO has come under increasing pressure from the authorities, who last year arrested the group's founder, Sharmin Meymandinejad, and two other members, including the media-relations director.
Meymandinejad was charged with "insulting the [supreme] leader and founder of the Islamic republic," HRW reported.
He was released on bail in October 2020. His health had reportedly deteriorated in jail, where he was held in solitary confinement.
Michelle Bachelet, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said last year that she was alarmed by the Iranian government's increased pressure on IAPSRS.
"For over 20 years this NGO has provided crucial support to marginalized sections of Iran’s society, in particular vulnerable children," Bachelet said in a July 2020 statement.
"Children's lives will be at stake if the authorities proceed to force their hand over how it is managed, and lock up their staff."
The hard-line Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), had accused Meymandinejad, whom it identified only by his initials, of contacts with "anti-Iran centers outside the country" under the cover of a charity group.
The IRGC has in recent months arrested dual nationals, environmentalists, and others on charges of espionage that have been widely dismissed by critics and civil rights activists as baseless.
Hard-liners have in recent years criticized the charity and accused it of being misused for political purposes and damaging the Islamic republic by highlighting problems, as well as working with foreign countries and international bodies.
The charity organizes university students and other volunteers to help the poor and others in times of natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda and AP
Russian Activist Convicted Of Mocking Putin Released
SAMARA, Russia -- A court in the Russian city of Samara has found civil rights activist Karim Yamadayev guilty but said he should be released after spending more than a year in detention for mocking President Vladimir Putin and two of his close associates online.
The Central District Military Court on March 4 found Karim Yamadayev guilty of public calls for terrorism and insulting authorities and ordered him to pay a fine of 300,000 rubles ($4,000).
The court also barred Yamadayev, who was held in the Tatarstan region before being moved to Samara, from being an administrator on social networks for 2 1/2 years.
Prosecutors had asked the court to sentence Yamadayev to six years and seven months in prison, but no jail time was included in the sentence.
Yamadayev, a former police officer in Tatarstan, was arrested in January 2020and charged over a video he posted in late 2019 on his YouTube channel, Judge Gramm.
The video in question features Yamadayev, dressed as a judge, reading death sentences to two men whose heads are covered with black sacks. White signs hang from their necks with the names "Dmitry Peskov" and "Igor Sechin."
Peskov is Putin's long-serving press spokesman, while Sechin is the powerful chief of the state-owned oil giant Rosneft.
Another man in the show portrays a third defendant, who also has his head covered with a black sack and a sign with the name "Vladimir Putin."
- By RFE/RL
EU Drug Watchdog Reviewing Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 Vaccine
Europe's medicines regulator says it has started a "rolling review" of the Russian-developed Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, a key step toward approval for use across the 27-nation European Union.
The human medicines committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will review data from ongoing trials of the vaccine until there is enough clinical data for approval, the Amsterdam-based EMA said in a statement on March 4.
Last month, peer-reviewed, late-stage trial results published in The Lancet medical journal showed the two-dose regimen of Sputnik V was 91.6 percent effective against symptomatic COVID-19, about the same level as the leading Western-developed vaccines.
EMA's "rolling reviews" are intended to speed up the process of approving a successful vaccine by allowing researchers to submit findings in real time, even before final trial data is ready.
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The agency has already approved vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca /Oxford, and is expected to give its verdict on Johnson & Johnson's single-shot vaccine next week. Reviews for CureVac and Novavax's candidates are also under way.
The head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which has funded the vaccine and is responsible for selling it globally, said on March 4 that the country would be able to provide the vaccine for 50 million Europeans from June if it was approved by the EMA
Kirill Dmitriyev also said that the country expected several European countries to approve Sputnik V this month.
Slovakia earlier this month received its first shipment of Sputnik V doses, becoming the second EU member state to obtain the vaccine after Hungary, even though it lacks approval by the EMA.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP
- By RFE/RL
Washington Singles Out Growing Rivalry With 'China, Russia, Other Authoritarian States'
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has singled out a "growing rivalry with China, Russia, and other authoritarian states" as a key challenge facing the United States.
A White House document outlining Biden's national-security policies, made public on March 3, describes China, the world's second-largest economic power, as "the only competitor potentially capable of combining its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to mount a sustained challenge to a stable and open international system."
The 24-page document also warns that Russia "remains determined to enhance its global influence and play a disruptive role on the world stage."
Meanwhile, Iran and North Korea are pursuing "game-changing capabilities and technologies, while threatening U.S. allies and partners and challenging regional stability."
Both Beijing and Moscow "have invested heavily in efforts meant to check U.S. strengths and prevent us from defending our interests and allies around the world," according to the document, titled Interim National Security Strategic Guidance.
It says that in the face of challenges from "an increasingly assertive China and destabilizing Russia," the U.S. military would shift its emphasis away from "unneeded legacy platforms and weapons systems to free up resources for investments" in cutting-edge technologies.
After four years of former President Donald Trump's "America first" approach, Biden has vowed to confront "authoritarianism" in China and Russia while reengaging with allies and centering multilateral diplomacy.
Washington and Beijing are at odds over influence in the Indo-Pacific region, China's economic practices, and human rights in Hong Kong and the Xinjiang region.
Moscow's relations with Washington are at post-Cold War lows, strained by issues including the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, Russia's alleged meddling in elections in the United States and other democracies, and the poisoning of Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny.
In a foreign-policy speech at the State Department, Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the U.S. relationship with China as "the biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century," while several other countries also represent "serious challenges" for the United States, including Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
"Our relationship with China will be competitive when it should be, collaborative when it can be, and adversarial when it must be," Blinken said.
The United States needs to "engage China from a position of strength," which requires working with allies and partners, engaging in diplomacy and in international organizations, "because where we have pulled back, China has filled in," and "standing up for our values when human rights are abused in Xinjiang or when democracy is trampled in Hong Kong."
- By RFE/RL
U.S. Expresses 'Deep Concern' After Moscow Court Confirms 'Foreign Agent' Fines Against RFE/RL
The U.S. State Department has expressed "deep concern" about what it calls Russian government efforts "to clamp down on the exercise of freedom of expression."
The March 3 statement from State Department spokesman Ned Price came the same day that a Moscow judge rejected five appeals by U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty against fines imposed on the company under Russia's controversial "foreign agent" law.
"We are concerned by today's denial of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's appeals of fines unjustly imposed under Russia's repressive foreign-agent-registration laws," Price said. "These laws are a further transparent effort to impede the work of RFE/RL outlets, which are already severely limited in their ability to broadcast on television and radio in Russia and to prevent them from bringing real and objective news to the Russian people."
Price called Moscow's actions "unacceptable" and added, "We will continue to support the presence of independent and international media outlets in Russia."
Judge Aleksei Krivoruchko of the Tverskoi district court on March 3 confirmed fines imposed on RFE/RL for failing to mark written and broadcast materials in accordance with regulations set by the state media-monitoring agency Roskomnadzor. A lower court imposed the fines on February 10.
"RFE/RL rejects the imposition of these fines and does not accept the Russian court's decision to strike down our appeal of them," RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said in response to the rulings.
"We consider Russian Internet regulator Roskomnadzor's self-labeling regulations -- in fact, orders to deface our content platforms and intimidate our audiences -- to be a state-sponsored assault on media freedom that violates the Russian Constitution and Russia's media law," he said, adding that "RFE/RL will continue to object, protest, and appeal these requirements."
Despite ongoing appeals in more cases on the issue, RFE/RL now has 60 days to pay the fines and come into compliance with the regulations or face the potential closure of its operations inside Russia. It can also further appeal the March 3 decision.
"RFE/RL will not abandon our growing audience in Russia, who continue to engage with our objective and independent journalism despite the Kremlin's pressure campaign," Fly said.
"RFE/RL will not be deterred by these blatant attempts to influence our editorial independence and undermine our ability to reach our audience at a moment when the Russian people are demanding the truth," he added.
Since January 14, Roskommnadzor has opened 260 cases against RFE/RL for violations of the labeling requirements. A Moscow court has already levied fines in 142 cases, with the total fines approaching a value of nearly $1 million.
Russia's so-called "foreign agent" legislation was adopted in 2012 and has been modified repeatedly. It requires nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign assistance and that the government deems to be engaged in political activity to be registered, to identify themselves as "foreign agents," and to submit to audits.
Later modifications targeted foreign-funded media.
In 2017, the Russian government placed RFE/RL's Russian Service on the list, along with six other RFE/RL Russian-language news services, and Current Time, a network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
At the end of 2020, the legislation was modified to allow the Russian government to include individuals, including foreign journalists, on its "foreign agent" list and to impose restrictions on them.
In December 2020, Russia added five individuals to its "foreign agent" list, including three contributors to RFE/RL's Russian Service. All five are appealing their inclusion on the list.
Roskomnadzor last year adopted rules requiring listed media to mark all written materials with a lengthy notice in large text, all radio materials with an audio statement, and all video materials with a 15-second text declaration.
Human Rights Watch has described the "foreign agent" legislation as "restrictive" and intended "to demonize independent groups."
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
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