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- By RFE/RL
Turkey, Armenia Voice Optimism Ahead Of Normalization Talks
Turkey and Armenia both expressed optimism on January 13 ahead of the start of talks in Moscow to normalize relations as part of a broader Russia-mediated regional peace effort involving Azerbaijan.
Special envoys from Turkey and Armenia will hold the first round of direct talks in Moscow on June 14 following months of behind-the-scenes diplomacy aimed at building a broader rapprochement in the South Caucasus region.
Relations between Armenia and Turkey have historically been complicated over the 1915 mass killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottomans.
But it was the war between Armenian separatists and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh during the Soviet Union's chaotic breakup in 1991 that soured any potential for relations between Ankara and Yerevan. Armenia's victory prompted Turkey to seal the border in 1993 in support of its Turkic allies in Baku.
Regional dynamics changed when Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a six-week conflict in the autumn of 2020 over Nagorno-Karabakh, which had been under ethnic Armenian control for nearly three decades.
NATO member Turkey threw its weight behind Azerbaijan in the war, which ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire in November 2020 that allowed its Turkic ally to regain control over parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding territory, with Russian peacekeepers on the ground.
“Ever since Azerbaijan liberated territory under occupation, we have entered a new period in the Caucasus,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a meeting of EU ambassadors in Ankara on January 13.
“We have begun a process to normalize relations with Armenia. It’s important for Armenia to seize the opportunity and establish positive relations with Azerbaijan in order for steps (to normalize relations) to yield results,” he added.
Following years of frozen ties, Armenia expects dialogue to lead to the establishment of diplomatic relations under the principle of “no preconditions,” Vahan Hunanian, a spokesman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry, said on January 13 ahead of talks in Moscow.
“We expect that as a result of the process, diplomatic relations will be established between Armenia and Turkey and the border between the two countries, which was unilaterally closed by Turkey in the early 1990s, will be opened,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed.
Yerevan and Ankara in December announced that they would appoint special envoys to lead the talks. Former Turkish Ambassador to the United States Serdar Kilic will represent Ankara and Vice Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, Ruben Rubinian, will lead negotiations for Yerevan.
In the meantime, Armenia lifted a ban on the import of Turkish goods that was imposed over Ankara's backing of Azerbaijan in the 2020 war with Armenia.
Turkey in December also announced that charter flights to Armenia would be allowed. On January 13, Turkish budget carrier Pegasus Airlines said it will begin regular charter flights between Istanbul and Yerevan in early February.
Armenia and Turkey last tried to normalize relations in 2008-2009 in what was dubbed “football diplomacy,” but the sides were ultimately unable to reach agreement.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have also held several rounds of EU and Russian-mediated talks since the Nagorno-Karabakh war to overcome border tensions and advance diplomacy.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Armenian Service and sondakika.com
Iranian Teachers Demand Better Pay In 'Power Of The Pen' Protest
Iranian teachers took to the streets of more than 50 cities across Iran to demand better working conditions and pay. Amateur video posted on social media on January 13 showed teachers holding up pens and chanting for justice in nationwide protests.
Hungary To Offer Fourth COVID-19 Booster Shot
Hungary will offer a fourth COVID-19 vaccine shot to people who ask for it, after conferring with a doctor.
“Anyone can get a fourth coronavirus jab based on a consultation with a doctor," said Gergely Gulyas, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff, on January 13.
On January 12, Denmark became the first EU member state to offer a fourth shot to its most vulnerable citizens. Israel and Chile are also offering fourth shots.
Hungary is experiencing a fifth wave of infections driven by the highly contagious omicron variant.
Early data from multiple countries show the variant causes less severe illness and fewer hospitalizations and deaths compared to delta, especially among the vaccinated.
Gulyas said the government does not expect a rapid increase in hospitalizations and deaths despite expectations that infections will likely hit all-time highs.
New COVID-19 infections jumped to 9,216 on January 13 from 7,883 the previous day, but the number of patients treated in hospital declined.
In Hungary, 40,164 people have died of COVID-19.
Just over six million Hungarians have received at least two shots, and 3.3 million have also received a third booster, out of a population of 9.8-million.
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
Moldova Pays Gazprom December Gas Bill, Asks For January Extension
Moldova’s gas distribution company, Moldovagaz, says it has paid Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom for natural gas supplied in December as the country struggles to pay for higher energy prices.
"Moldovagaz has transferred the full payment for natural gas supplied in December 2021 to Gazprom," the company said in a statement posted on its website on January 13.
Moldova in October declared a state of emergency and started buying gas from countries other than Russia after its contract with Gazprom expired at the end of September and the two sides failed to agree on details and the pricing of a new long-term deal.
But in a breakthrough in late October, the Moldovan government and Gazprom announced a new price formula for a five-year agreement to keep gas flowing.
Moldovagaz still has until January 20 to make a down payment for this month's gas bill, according to the contract with Gazprom.
Moldovan Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Andrei Spinu said on January 11 that the purchase price has increased from $550 per thousand cubic meters in December to $647 in January, a hike that could cause problems for one of Europe's poorest countries.
Spinu said he had asked Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller to consider the possibility of postponing the advanced payment for January by 10-20 days so that Moldovagaz could accumulate funds.
Some observers say Russia is using energy against the impoverished country sandwiched between EU member Romania and Ukraine for electing pro-Western President Maia Sandu in 2020 in a vote that rejected Russia-backed incumbent Igor Dodon.
Russia has rejected the accusations, saying the hike was purely commercial and reflected global markets.
With reporting by unimedia.md and TASS
Bulgarian Far-Right Protesters Try To Storm Parliament During Rally Against COVID Restrictions
Supporters of Bulgaria's far-right Rebirth (Vazrazhdane) party tried to storm the country's parliament building during a protest against COVID-19 restrictions. An estimated 1,000 people took part in the rally on January 12 in downtown Sofia that turned into a clash with police. Hundreds of law enforcement officers were deployed. They finally stopped the protesters when they reached the parliament's entrance. The Rebirth party leader, lawmaker Kostadin Kostadinov, addressed the rally in a video message from quarantine at home. Bulgaria, an EU member, has one of the highest COVID-19 death rates in the world.
Iranian Teachers Stage Protests In More Than 50 Cities Over Work Conditions, Pay
Hundreds of teachers have joined protests in more than 50 Iranian cities, demanding higher salaries and better labor conditions.
Reports indicated that teachers protested in the capital, Tehran, as well as Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad, Rasht, Qom, and other cities around the country.
Reports said at least three protesters were detained.
The teachers reportedly criticized what they referred to as the government’s "indifference to education" while also calling for the release of their detained colleagues.
The protesters demanded that the government move more quickly on a planned grading system for teachers based on experience and performance. They also want their pensions to be aligned with the salaries of working teachers as soon as possible.
“Rise up! Rise up!” some of the protesters chanted in Tehran, according to amateur videos posted online.
The protesters also chanted slogans such as: "If embezzlement is reduced, our problems will be solved!"; "We only heard promises, we didn't see justice.”; and “Incompetent parliament, shame on you!”
Teachers have staged several protests in recent weeks. Security forces have sometimes responded using heavy-handed tactics and arresting some participants.
The protests come amid soaring inflation as the impact of crippling U.S. sanctions and years of mismanagement have hit the country hard.
Last month, Iran's parliament passed legislation to raise teachers' salaries following several days of countrywide protests and a strike that impacted the Islamic republic's education system.
Measures passed by legislators on December 15 guarantee teachers will earn about 80 percent of the salaries of university faculty members, one of the protesters' demands.
Education Minister Yousef Nouri promised that the law, which had been repeatedly introduced in parliament in recent years but failed to pass, would be swiftly implemented after its approval, the government news agency IRNA reported.
With reporting by AFP
Internet In Turkmenistan, Already The World's Slowest, Faces Further Restrictions
ASHGABAT -- Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has ordered the National Security Ministry to impose further controls on the Internet in the tightly controlled Central Asian nation, which is already known for having the world's slowest and most expensive service.
Berdymukhammedov said at a televised session of the State Security Council on January 12 that "control over the Internet had not been properly conducted in 2021."
He ordered the National Security Ministry to focus more on people who post on social networks "ideas damaging to Turkmenistan's constitutional structures, actions that disrupt social order, and propagate terrorism, extremism, ultra-nationalism, and other illegal activities."
Berdymukhammedov's orders come days after protests over gas price hikes in neighboring Kazakhstan led to deadly nationwide unrest and the removal of Kazakhstan's first president, Nursultan Nazarbaev, from the political scene. During the protests, Kazakh authorities switched off the Internet and restricted mobile-phone operations for five days.
Berdymukhammedov has ruled his country with an iron fist, tolerating little dissent while shutting it off from the outside world amid an economic crisis that has pushed many of its citizens into poverty.
The hard-line government in Ashgabat has stepped up control on people's access to information in recent years in an attempt to contain the message coming out of Turkmenistan about people's hardships, while also blocking any information coming from abroad that is critical of the Turkmen government.
In December, the U.K.-based Cable.co.uk said in a report on worldwide broadband speed that Turkmenistan, with an average Internet speed of 0.50 megabits per second (Mbps), was the slowest of all 224 countries surveyed in 2021. In Turkmenistan, it took just over 22 hours and 34 minutes to download a movie file with a size of 5 gigabytes.
- By RFE/RL
Watchdogs Urge Kazakh Officials To Respect Rights After Unrest
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have urged Kazakh authorities to respect human rights after detaining thousands amid anti-government rallies that turned deadly in the former Soviet republic's largest city, Almaty, last week.
Kazakh officials have said that almost 10,000 people were arrested across the country after protests over a sharp hike in the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the remote western region of Manghystau spread all the way to Almaty.
The unrest escalated and turned deadly as security forces battled against some in the streets who allegedly attacked police, captured and torched government buildings, and looted shops.
In its World Report 2022 issued on January 13, HRW said that Kazakh authorities "have failed to prioritize protecting human rights during the country’s current crisis, and should urgently cancel any order to shoot to kill without warning and uphold the rights of those in detention."
“With dozens, perhaps hundreds killed and thousands in detention, the human rights concerns over the crisis in Kazakhstan are acute and need to be urgently addressed,” HRW's Europe and Central Asia director, Hugh Williamson, said.
“The global spotlight is on authorities in Kazakhstan to show that they respect people’s basic human rights. Kazakhstan should be transparent about the recent events, investigate abuses by government forces, and hold those responsible accountable.”
A day earlier, Amnesty International demanded that Kazakhstan immediately release journalists and activists arrested during and after the unprecedented protests in the oil-rich Central Asian nation.
Amnesty said that individuals who did not commit internationally recognized crimes but were arrested arbitrarily and for violating Kazakhstan’s controversial law on public gatherings must be also released immediately.
The rights group also called on Kazakh authorities to conduct thorough and unbiased investigations into all reported human rights violations during the protests, including cases where police are accused of using deadly weapons against peaceful demonstrators.
The exact number of protesters killed during the unrest remains unknown, although Kazakh authorities have said that at least 18 law enforcement officers were killed.
A Telegram-channel affiliated with the Kazakh government said on January 10 that 164 civilians died during the unrest, but the Health Ministry said later that the figure was not true and was mistakenly published due to a technical malfunction.
"The silence of authorities regarding the exact number of victims from the unrest and the circumstances of their deaths is outrageous. The information about victims among the civilian population must be revealed immediately," Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said.
During the protests, Kazakh authorities switched off the Internet and restricted mobile-phone operations for five days.
Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev blamed rights activists and independent journalists for "inciting" the protests, which led to the arrest of several reporters in different towns and cities across the country. Some reporters are still said to be missing.
"Authorities must restore unlimited access to the Internet, unblock all other forms of communication, and stop repressing those who collect and share information. During a crisis, independent information has a decisive impact," Struthers said.
Officials in Kazakhstan said earlier this week that order has been restored in most of Kazakhstan.
Toqaev requested help from the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) as the protests spread on January 5.
The CSTO quickly sent more than 2,000 troops to Kazakhstan, mainly Russian soldiers, but also small contingencies from CSTO member states Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia.
On January 13, CSTO troops began withdrawing from Kazakhstan in a process authorities have said will last 10 days.
Russia-Led CSTO Troops Begin Withdrawal From Kazakhstan
NUR-SULTAN -- Troops from the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) have begun to withdraw from Kazakhstan after being called in to help stabilize the Central Asian nation following deadly unrest sparked by a fuel price hike amid an apparent standoff with loyalists of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev.
The "collective peacekeeping forces...are starting to prepare equipment and materiel for loading into the planes of the military transport aviation of the Russian aerospace forces and returning to the points of permanent deployment," said a Russian Defense Ministry statement carried by Russian news agencies.
The CSTO -- an alliance comprised of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, and Tajikistan -- have said the pullout should take about 10 days to complete, though Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on January 13 that it may take only seven days to finish.
The CSTO troops arrived in Kazakhstan last week after President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev declared a state of emergency on January 5 and asked the bloc for military assistance when the protests turned deadly, with security personnel and mobs clashing on city streets nationwide.
The exact number of people killed in the violence remains unclear. Although the official death toll was announced as 164, Toqaev has said hundreds of civilians and security forces were killed and injured.
Toqaev claimed that "foreign-trained terrorists" were behind the protests in an attempt to overthrow the government. But analysts say there appears to be an internal power struggle between the president and followers of Nazarbaev, who has remained a powerful figure in the country since handpicking Toqaev as his successor in 2019.
After dismissing the cabinet, Toqaev removed the 81-year-old Nazarbaev as head of the National Security Council, a powerful position from which the longtime leader continued to exert considerable influence over the oil-rich Central Asian nation.
Toqaev also fired the head of the country’s National Security Committee (KNB), longtime Nazarbaev ally Karim Masimov, and then had him arrested on a charge of high treason. Several other security officials were also detained.
The KNB said in statement on January 13 that Masimov is being investigated for "actions aimed at forcibly seizing power."
According to the statement, Masimov's former deputies, Daulet Erghozhin and Anuar Sadyqulov, have been also arrested in conjunction with the case.
Toqaev sought to reassure citizens that he was working toward economic stability, ordering the central bank and the financial regulations agency to ensure foreign exchange market stability in order to build confidence in the local currency -- the tenge.
With reporting by AFP and TASS
- By RFE/RL
Energy Monitor Says Gazprom Largely To Blame For Natural-Gas Storage Deficit In Europe
The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) has blamed Russia for worsening Europe's natural-gas crisis, saying that high prices and low storage levels largely stem from the behavior of state-owned gas supplier Gazprom.
Europe is grappling with an energy shortage that’s resulted in record gas and power prices over the past few months. Gas storage levels are at only 50 percent capacity, compared with the historical average of 70 percent at this point in the year.
Fatih Birol, executive director of the Paris-based, 30-member IEA, said the current storage deficit is largely due to Gazprom. Russia could send up to one-third more gas through existing pipelines, said Birol, whose organization provides policy recommendations on affordable and sustainable energy.
“We believe there are strong elements of the tightness in European gas markets due to Russia’s behavior," Birol told reporters.
Birol cited other pipeline supporters, such as Norway, Algeria, and Azerbaijan, saying that they had increased their supplies to Europe, while Gazprom reduced its exports by 25 percent in the fourth quarter compared with a year ago "despite high market prices,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Gazprom has met its obligations under long-term contracts and blamed high spot gas prices on European decisions to move toward volatile short-term market pricing. He has also asserted that German gas customers have been reselling Russian gas to Poland and Ukraine rather than addressing their own market’s needs.
Birol stated directly that Russia is using gas to put political pressure on Western Europe.
He noted that low Russian gas flows to Europe “coincide with heightened geopolitical tensions over Ukraine,” adding, “I just wanted to highlight this coincidence.”
Russia has moved nearly 100,000 troops near Russia’s border with Ukraine and made demands that NATO cease any further eastward expansion. It also wants German and European Union regulators to approve its newly built Nord Stream 2 pipeline that would bypass other countries and start bringing natural gas directly to Germany.
With reporting by AP, Bloomberg, and Reuters
Novi Sad Becomes European Capital Of Culture For One Year
The northeastern Serbian city of Novi Sad officially became European Capital of Culture on January 13 after a yearlong delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The European Capital of Culture designation was created by the European Commission to highlight the richness and diversity of cultures in Europe.
Novi Sad’s program during 2022 will follow the concept originally sketched out for 2021, which consists of four areas under the theme "For New Bridges."
The program is designed to help the city develop its strategy for the sustainable development of its cultural sector with a focus on strengthening cultural institutions and participation, and renewing cultural heritage.
Novi Sad citizens and visitors will be offered various cultural programs throughout the year, both from the popular and the alternative cultural scene. According to the organizers, Novi Sad will host more than 4,000 artists during the year.
The European Capital of Culture was established in 1985 to emphasize the richness and diversity of European cultures, strengthen cultural ties between Europeans, bring together people from different European countries, promote mutual understanding, and strengthen a sense of European unity.
Since the designation was launched by a resolution of EU ministers of culture, more than 40 European cities have won the title.
Novi Sad holds the title of European Capital of Culture in 2022 with two other cities: Kaunas in Lithuania and Esha in Luxembourg.
Many cities use the designation to enable wider access to culture, improve their image, develop tourism, and strengthen cultural and creative industries.
Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Balkan Service
- By RFE/RL
HRW Urges Democratic Leaders 'To Do Better' In Face Of Authoritarian Rise
Human Rights Watch says the world's democratic leaders need "to do better" in meeting global challenges if they are to build momentum in toppling autocrats after a wave of protests against authoritarian rule last year.
In its World Report 2022, released on January 13, the rights watchdog said autocratic leaders faced significant backlash in 2021, but democracy will only flourish if democratic leaders do a better job of addressing global problems to show people that democracy delivers.
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The report notes that leaders with autocratic tendencies call the shots in many parts of the world, including Russia and China, while continuing to make inroads in regions where the democratic process is being undermined through illicit actions, including corruption, meant to consolidate the authoritarians' grip on power.
"Today’s democratic leaders are not rising to the challenges facing the world," HRW Executive Director Kenneth Roth noted in the introduction to the report.
“In country after country, large numbers of people have taken to the streets, even at the risk of being arrested or shot, which shows the appeal of democracy remains strong.... But elected leaders need to do a better job of addressing major challenges to show that democratic government delivers on its promised dividends,” he added.
The report says that leaders with authoritarian tendencies frequently use government funds to finance self-serving projects rather than public needs.
Roth points out that in Hungary, for example, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has spent European Union subsidies on football stadiums, "which he used to pay off cronies, while leaving hospitals in a decrepit state."
In Russia, the report says the legislative crackdown that began in November 2020 intensified ahead of September general elections, especially by expanding and toughening legislation on "foreign agents" and "undesirable foreign organizations."
Russia's "foreign agent" laws require those designated to register with the authorities and label their content with an intrusive disclaimer, with criminal fines for not doing so.
Kremlin critics say the "foreign agent" designation brings up Soviet-era connotations that are intended to root out any independent civic activity in Russia.
Many activists, journalists, and associates of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny have left the country in recent months amid increasing pressure on independent media and those voicing dissent. Several of those who left were on the "foreign agent" list.
"Authorities used some of these laws and other measures to smear, harass, and penalize human rights defenders, journalists, independent groups, political adversaries, and even academics," the report notes, adding that authorities "took particular aim at independent journalism."
In Belarus, the report says, authorities last year escalated smear campaigns and prosecutions against political and civic activists, independent journalists, and human rights defenders on trumped-up, politically motivated charges, following a wave of protests in 2020 triggered by strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka's claim of victory in a presidential election widely seen as manipulated in his favor.
In China, President Xi Jinping solidified his grip on power "while the government doubled down on repression inside and outside the country in 2021," it said. Furthermore, Beijing's “zero-tolerance” policy toward COVID-19 strengthened the authorities’ hand as they imposed harsh policies in the name of public health.
Despite so many examples of authoritarian gains last year, the report notes that there is hope for a resurgence of democracy in some parts of the world, as "alliances of opposition parties have formed" ahead of forthcoming elections in countries such as Hungary and Turkey.
Roth says that since autocrats can no longer rely on "subtly manipulated elections" to preserve power, a growing number are "resorting to overt electoral charades that guarantee their desired result but confer none of the legitimacy sought from holding an election."
"This growing repression is a sign of weakness, not strength," Roth said.
"If democracies are to prevail, their leaders must do more than spotlight the inevitable shortcomings of autocratic rule," he added.
- By RFE/RL
OSCE Meeting Ends, No Movement Made In Russia-Ukraine Crisis
A third round of talks in Europe in a week aimed at defusing tensions between Russia and the West appears to have ended in deadlock, with neither side budging on their core positions in tense diplomacy seeking to avoid a major security crisis.
Diplomats offered a dire assessment of developments at a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna on January 13, taking place against the backdrop of Western concerns that a Russian military buildup on Ukraine's doorstep may be a prelude to an invasion.
"It seems that the risk of war in the OSCE area is now greater than ever before in the last 30 years," Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said, launching his country's yearlong chairmanship of the 57-member security organization.
"For several weeks we have been faced with the prospect of a major military escalation in Eastern Europe," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a series of demands for security guarantees in Europe, including NATO not accepting new members like Ukraine and Georgia and limits on allied deployments in Eastern European NATO members.
Western officials say Russia’s combative rhetoric and buildup of some 100,000 troops near Ukraine is an attempt to pressure the United States and European allies to bend toward the Kremlin's wish list.
Moscow insists its military deployment is a response to what it sees as the growing presence of NATO in its sphere of influence and denies it plans to invade Ukraine.
The U.S. envoy to the OSCE talks said the West should not give in to blackmail.
"As we prepare for an open dialogue on how to strengthen security for the benefit of all, we must decisively reject blackmail and never allow aggression and threats to be rewarded,” U.S. Ambassador Michael Carpenter told the OSCE meeting.
Reinforcing Moscow's increasingly tough stance on demanding security guarantees from the West, Russia’s representative Alexander Lukashevich told the OSCE that his country would take action if its concerns were not taken seriously.
"If we don't hear a constructive response to our proposals within a reasonable time frame and an aggressive line of behavior towards Russia continues, we will be forced to draw appropriate conclusions and take all necessary measures to ensure strategic balance and eliminate unacceptable threats to our national security,” he said after the talks in Vienna.
"Russia is a peace-loving country. But we do not need peace at any cost. The need to obtain these legally formalized security guarantees for us is unconditional,” he added.
Lukashevich said Russia wasn't getting "a constructive response" to its proposals.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said: "I believe that the only way for the Russians to confirm their lack of intention to solve problems by force is to continue the discussion in the established formats, in particular in the OSCE."
OSCE observers monitor the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where a nearly eight-year war between Russia-backed separatists and government forces has killed more than 13,200 people.
The barrage of pessimistic comments overshadowed hopes for a quick breakthrough after a week of high-stakes diplomacy that saw Russian representatives meet with NATO members in Brussels following a two-year hiatus and top diplomats from Moscow and Washington holding bilateral strategic talks in Geneva.
Briefing reporters after the week of talks, U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States had not determined whether Russia has made the political decision to further invade Ukraine and that there was still hope to make diplomacy prevail.
"We're ready to make progress at the negotiating table... and we're ready to take the necessary and proper steps to defend our allies, support our partners and respond robustly to any naked aggression that might occur,” Sullivan said.
In Berlin, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sounded a little more upbeat, suggesting negotiators under the so-called Normandy format could soon meet to find a political path to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
As mediators, both Germany and France have tried several times to revive the Normandy talks, which include Ukraine and Russia. The last high-level meeting within the four-way framework occurred in Paris in 2019.
With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
U.S. Senate To Vote On Republican-Backed Nord Stream 2 Sanctions Bill; Democrats Propose Rival Legislation
The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote this week on a bill sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz (Republican-Texas) to slap sanctions on the operators of the Nord Stream 2 natural-gas pipeline in Europe.
Cruz struck a deal with Democrats last month to get a vote on the sanctions bill by January 14 in exchange for lifting his hold on dozens of President Joe Biden's ambassadorial nominations. Senator Jon Ossoff (Democrat-Georgia) said the vote would take place on January 13.
Senate Democrats on January 12 unveiled rival legislation to impose sweeping sanctions on Russian government and military officials and key banking institutions if Moscow "escalates hostile action in or against Ukraine."
The Democrats' bill would sanction Russia, including top Russian government and military officials and key banking institutions, if Moscow invades Ukraine. It also would expedite security assistance to Ukraine and bolster its defenses.
Cruz's bill, which would need 60 votes to pass under the terms of the deal struck with Democrats, is not expected to garner enough support to advance. And if it passed, its prospects in the House of Representatives are uncertain.
The senator has said sanctions are needed immediately to stop the project. His bill would slap sanctions on the pipeline within 15 days of passage and would impose sanctions regardless of whether Russia invades Ukraine and allow Congress to reinstate the sanctions should the president waive them.
The $11 billion undersea pipeline, controlled by Russia's state gas company Gazprom, was completed in September after years of controversy but has not yet received regulatory approval from Germany.
The Baltic Sea pipeline is set to double Russian gas supplies to Germany, which the EU's biggest economy says is needed to help it transition away from coal and nuclear energy.
But critics say Nord Stream 2 will increase the EU’s energy reliance on Russia, while enabling Moscow to reroute gas exports around Ukraine, depriving the country of billions of dollars a year in transit fees.
Senator Robert Menendez (Democrat-New Jersey) on January 12 proposed the rival bill, which provides an alternative for Democrats who support sanctions on Nord Stream 2.
"This legislation makes it absolutely clear that the U.S. Senate will not stand idly by as the Kremlin threatens a re-invasion of Ukraine,” Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.
Menendez's bill also would seek public disclosure of assets held by President Vladimir Putin and his family in and outside Russia. It also would seek an estimate of the total annual income and personal expenditures of Putin and his family members from 2017-21.
National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said Cruz's bill to impose new sanctions over Nord Stream 2 regardless of whether Russia invades Ukraine removes the leverage that the threat of sanctions provides.
“We support Senator Menendez’s legislation, which would trigger severe costs to Russia’s economy if Russia further invades Ukraine, just like President Biden and our allies and partners have made clear we will do,” Horne said.
With reporting by Reuters and AP
France Warns Of 'Negative Consequences' After Iran Puts Dual-National Academic Back In Prison
Iran has re-incarcerated French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah after she had spent more than a year under house arrest, the French Foreign Ministry said on January 12.
Adelkhah, a researcher at the elite Paris Institute of Political Studies, was arrested in 2019 at Tehran airport and handed a five-year prison sentence in 2020 for conspiring against national security.
It was unclear why Iranian authorities decided to place the anthropologist and specialist in Shi’a Islam back in prison, after allowing her to live under house arrest since October 2020.
The French Foreign Ministry voiced "astonishment" at the decision to re-incarcerate the academic with "no explanation or preliminary warning.”
"The decision to re-incarcerate her, which we condemn, can only have negative consequences on the relationship between France and Iran and reduce the trust between our two countries,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"France demands the immediate release of Ms. Adelkhah,” it added.
A group of her supporters said Adelkhah had been placed in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, where her health and life could be under threat.
"The Iranian government is cynically using our colleague for external or internal purposes that remain opaque, and that have nothing to do with her activities," it added.
The surprise move by Iranian authorities comes as France and other world powers are in drawn-out talks aimed at reviving the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal.
Adelkhah's French colleague and partner, Roland Marchal, who was detained with her, was released in March 2020 in a prisoner exchange between Iran and France.
Marchal was swapped for engineer Jalal Ruhollahnejad, who faced extradition to the United States over accusations he violated U.S. sanctions against Iran.
At least a dozen Western nationals or dual nationals are believed to be held in Iran.
Western governments and activists accuse Iran of using such prisoners as hostages to extract concessions from the West.
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters.
- By RFE/RL
U.S. Sanctions Individuals Based In China And Russia For Aiding North Korean Weapons Programs
The United States has sanctioned six North Koreans, one Russian, and a Russian company for procuring goods from Russia and China for North Korea's weapons programs.
The new U.S. sanctions on January 12 come after a series of North Korean missile launches, including two in the past week.
“Today’s actions, part of the United States’ ongoing efforts to counter the DPRK’s (North Korea) weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, target its continued use of overseas representatives to illegally procure goods for weapons,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.
The sanctions target North Korean national, Choe Myong Hyon, a Vladivostok-based representative of North Korea’s Second Academy of Natural Sciences (SANS), for procuring telecommunications-related equipment from Russia.
In a related action, the State Department sanctioned North Korean national O Yong Ho, Russian national Roman Anatolyevich Alar, and Russian entity Parsek for contributing to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery.
Four Chinese-based North Korean representatives of SANS-subordinate organizations -- Sim Kwang Sok, Kim Song Hun, Kang Chol Hak and Pyon Kwang Chol -- and one other North Korean, O Yong Ho, were also targeted.
The sanctions freeze any U.S.-related assets of those targeted and prohibit all dealings with them.
The latest sanctions come after North Korea conducted another suspected ballistic missile launch on January 11 on the same day six countries in the UN Security Council, including the United States and Japan, urged North Korea "to refrain from further destabilizing actions... and engage in meaningful dialogue towards our shared goal of complete denuclearization."
In 2021, North Korea said it had successfully tested a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile, a long-range cruise missile, a train-launched weapon, and what it described as a hypersonic warhead.
The continued saber-rattling comes while the nuclear negotiations of Washington and Pyongyang have stalled following the collapse of talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019.
UN Security Council resolutions ban North Korean ballistic missile and nuclear tests and impose sanctions.
With reporting by Reuters
Hungary Caps Prices On Basic Foods As Inflation Pinches Families Ahead Of Elections
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has announced price caps on six basic foodstuffs as of February 1 in order to fight inflation ahead of elections this spring.
Orban said in a video statement on his Facebook page on January 12 that the measure would impact sugar, flour, cooking oil, pork legs, chicken breasts, and milk.
Prices for the products will have to revert back to levels from October 15 last year in every store, he said.
The price caps come as inflation is rising across Europe, with the year-on-year rate in Hungary hitting 7.4 percent in November.
In November, the government put a cap on gasoline prices to 480 forints ($1.55 euros) per dollar.
Orban, a nationalist who has been in power since 2010, faces a challenge to his rule with opposition parties agreeing to unite behind one candidate in the April 3 general election.
Recent polls suggest a close race for Orban's ruling Fidesz party against the opposition's joint candidate for prime minister, Peter Marki-Zay.
Orban’s critics say he and his Fidesz party have dismantled democratic institutions in Hungary, while trashing judicial independence and controlling the media.
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Turkish Foreign Minister Brings Up 'Sensitivities' Of Uyghur Treatment In Visit To China
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he communicated Turkey’s concerns about the treatment of the Uyghur ethnic group to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during talks in Beijing.
“We conveyed our views, expectations, and sensitivities regarding the issues on our agenda, especially the Uyghur Turks,” Cavusoglu said after the talks on January 12, adding that the two sides also discussed economic cooperation.
The Chinese government has been accused of establishing a network of detention camps holding more than 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups in the northwestern Xinjiang region.
The United States and many rights groups have alleged that Beijing is carrying out genocide against the Uyghurs. China denies abuses in Xinjiang and says it is "reeducating" Uyghurs to prevent radical Islam and terrorism.
The issue is sensitive for Turkey because the Turkic Uyghurs share ethnic, religious, and linguistic connections that are a domestic political issue among Turkish nationalists and conservatives.
But Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has been accused of largely remaining silent on the plight of Uyghurs due to economic ties and other interests with the world’s second largest economy.
In July, Erdogan held a phone call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in which he said it was important that Uyghurs live in peace as "equal citizens of China" but that Turkey respects China's national sovereignty.
An estimated 50,000 Uyghurs live in Turkey, the largest diaspora outside of Central Asia.
With reporting by Reuters
Four Israeli Women Arrested For Providing Intelligence To Iran
Four Israeli women who sent pictures and other information to an Iranian operative have been accused of spying for Iran, Israel’s domestic intelligence service said.
The women, who were all Jewish immigrants from Iran according to local media, were indicted for "serious crimes" over the past month, Shin Bet said in a statement on January 12.
The Iranian operative, a man calling himself Rambod Namdar, originally contacted the women on Facebook posing as an Iranian Jew, Shin Bet said.
Although the women suspected the man was an Iranian operative, they still provided him with intelligence in return for payment, according to the statement. In some cases, the contacts went on for several years.
The women are alleged to have sent various photographs to the Iranian, including of U.S. diplomatic missions in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, an election polling station, an Interior Ministry office, and a shopping mall.
The intelligence agency said the information could have been used to carry out terrorist attacks.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett praised intelligence officials for preventing “hostile terrorist activity against the state of Israel."
"Iran's attempts to harm Israel's security are not limited to security and intelligence but also expand to efforts to influence Israel’s citizens, Israel’s society, to sow polarization and division, to undermine Israel’s political stability and damage public confidence in the government,” he said.
Based on reporting AP, dpa, and Haaretz
Bulgarian Protesters Clash With Police In Front Of Parliament Over COVID Restrictions
Protesters opposed to Bulgaria’s COVID-19 restrictions have clashed with police in front of the parliament building in Sofia as the country notched up a record number of infections from the virus.
Protesters were able to break through a police cordon in the unrest on January 12 and make it to the stairs of parliament before being pushed back.
Eight police officers were injured, the Interior Ministry said.
Some protesters then moved to the Council of Ministers building and the Ministry of Health but were contained by police.
Around 1,000 supporters of the nationalist Vasrazhdane (Rebirth) party, which holds 13 seats in parliament's 240-seat chamber, attended the protest.
They said they would remain in front of parliament until their demands for an end to mandatory face masks and so-called green vaccine passes are met.
Anti-pandemic measures require Bulgarians to show a health pass proving vaccination, recovery from infection, or a recent COVID-19 negative test to get into such venues as restaurants, cafes, shopping malls, and gyms.
People are also required to wear masks indoors and on public transport.
Bulgaria is the least vaccinated country in the 27-member European Union, with only a third of its population fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
To incentivize vaccinations, the new centrist government has offered 75 levs ($43.59) to pensioners who get fully vaccinated or receive a booster.
Bulgaria is experiencing a fifth wave of coronavirus infections driven by the omicron variant, with the number of cases reaching a record high of 7,062 on January 12.
The virus has killed 89 people in the past 24 hours in the country, according to official numbers.
With reporting by AP, dpa, and Trud.bg
Lithuania Terminates Railways Contract To Transport Belarus-Produced Potash
Lithuania has terminated its state-owned railway contract with Minsk on the transportation of Belarusian potash amid U.S. sanctions imposed on Belaruskali, the potash-producing giant.
The Baltic state's government on January 12 approved the decision by a special commission, which noted that the agreement between Lithuanian Railways and Belaruskali was not in the interests of Lithuania's national security.
Minister of Transport and Communications Marius Skuodis told reporters that the agreement will be annulled as of February 1.
Belaruskali was added to the U.S. sanctions list in August last year.
The U.S. Treasury in December issued a general license authorizing the winding down of transactions involving Belaruskali's marketing arm, the Belarusian Potash Company (BPC) until April 1, blaming Minsk for creating a migration crisis on the EU-Belarus border.
A scandal erupted in Lithuania in December after it turned out that the Baltic state's companies continue to ship Belarusian potash products, a key ingredient in fertilizer, through its rail network and port of Klaipeda to markets in the EU and elsewhere.
The continuing trade with the Lukashenka regime has sparked controversy in Lithuania, with some calling for the government to step down.
Based on reporting by Delfi and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Iranian Employee In U.K. After Being Freed, British Council Says
The British Council says an Iranian female employee convicted of spying for Israel has been acquitted by a court and is now free and has arrived in the United Kingdom.
Aras Amiri, who worked for the council's London office, was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2019.
The British Council said on January 12 that an appeal her lawyers made to Iran's Supreme Court had been successful.
"We are very pleased to confirm that British Council employee and Iranian citizen Aras Amiri has been acquitted by the Supreme Court in Iran of all charges previously made against her, following a successful appeal lodged by her lawyer. She has been freed from detention and has returned to the United Kingdom," the organization said in a statement.
"We have always refuted the original charges made against Aras," the statement said. "We are very proud of her work in our London office as an arts program officer supporting a greater understanding and appreciation of Iranian culture in the U.K."
Iranian officials did not immediately acknowledge her release.
Another British-Iranian woman who has been detained in Iran since April 2016, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the "soft toppling" of Iran's government while traveling with her young daughter.
With reporting by AP
- By RFE/RL
Kazakh President Says Russian-Led Troops To Start Withdrawal On January 13
President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev says troops from the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will begin leaving Kazakhstan on January 13 after being called in to help stabilize the Central Asian nation after unrest sparked by a fuel price hike turned deadly amid an apparent standoff with loyalists of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev.
A statement on January 12 from the CSTO -- an alliance consisting of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, and Tajikistan -- added that the pullout of the contingent of some 2,000 troops from Kazakhstan should take about 10 days to complete.
Earlier in the day, Toqaev took part in a session of Almaty city's emergency operation task force and met with relatives and colleagues of law enforcement officers killed during the violence. The exact number of people killed in the unrest remains unclear.
The CSTO soldiers arrived in Kazakhstan last week after the leadership of the oil-rich country asked the Russian-led bloc for military assistance when the protests turned deadly with security personnel and mobs clashing on city streets nationwide.
Kazakh media reported on January 12 that another 1,700 people had been detained since the violence subsided, bringing the total number of detentions during the unrest to almost 10,000.
In the face of a mounting crisis, Toqaev declared a state of emergency on January 5 and called on the CSTO to deploy troops to help maintain security.
Toqaev claimed that "foreign-trained terrorists" were behind the protests in an attempt to overthrow the government. But analysts say there appears to be an internal power struggle between the president and followers of former leader Nursultan Nazarbaev, who has remained a powerful figure in the country since handpicking Toqaev as his successor in 2019.
After dismissing the cabinet, Toqaev removed the 81-year-old Nazarbaev as head of the National Security Council, a powerful position from which the longtime leader continued to exert considerable influence over the oil-rich Central Asian state.
Toqaev also fired the head of the National Security Committee (KNB), longtime Nazarbaev ally Karim Masimov, and then had him arrested for high treason. Several other security officials were also detained.
Human rights experts from the United Nations on January 11 called on Kazakhstan's authorities to halt their "unrestrained use of force, including lethal force, against protesters."
Toqaev also recommended that CSTO Secretary-General Stanislau Zas appoint an envoy for peacekeeping operations.
With reporting by TASS and KazTAG
Convicted Father Of Navalny Associate Placed In Detention Center For 'Violating Restrictions'
The father of Ivan Zhdanov, a close associate of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, has been placed in a detention center for allegedly violating restrictions imposed on him after he was handed a suspended prison sentence last month in a corruption case that critics say is politically motivated.
A court in the Arctic city of Naryan-Mar on January 11 ruled that Yury Zhdanov should be arrested for illegally leaving the city for the Nizhny Novgorod region in December without court permission.
Zhdanov's lawyer, Vladimir Voronin, wrote on Instagram on January 12 that his client was currently in a detention center in the Nizhny Novgorod region, adding that the 67-year-old Zhdanov was not aware he was barred from leaving Naryan-Mar, as prosecutor's have appealed his sentence and the court is still considering the motion.
A court in Naryan-Mar handed Zhdanov a three-year suspended prison term on December 19 on charges of fraud and forgery over an alleged recommendation he made to the town's administration to provide a local woman with a subsidized apartment, though it later turned out that the woman's family had previously received housing allocations.
Zhdanov has rejected the charges.
The apartment was later returned to municipal ownership in accordance with a court decision and no one among those who made the decision was held responsible.
Prosecutors appealed the sentence, calling it "mild," and demanding Zhdanov be sentenced to three years in prison.
Ivan Zhdanov, the former chief of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), has accused the presidential administration of trying to pressure him by arresting his father.
The FBK was known for publishing investigative reports on corruption among top Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin.
Last year, FBK and other groups associated with Navalny were labeled as extremist and banned in Russia.
With reporting by TASS
Armenia Reports Third Fatality In Border Clashes With Azerbaijan
Armenia says three of its soldiers have died in fighting along the border with Azerbaijan, raising fears the Caucasus neighbors may be edging toward another war.
The Armenian Defense Ministry said on January 12 that the body of a third soldier had been found in an area where heavy clashes were reported the day before that Yerevan and Baku blamed on each other amid warnings that tensions along the border are escalating.
Azerbaijani officials have already said that one of their soldiers was killed in the battles. Armenian officials had previously announced the deaths of two soldiers before the third soldier's corpse was found with fatal gunshot wounds.
Armenia's Defense Ministry has blamed Azerbaijani forces for sparking the violence by opening fire on January 11 in the border area near Verin Shorzha in the eastern Gegharkunik Province. It also accused Azerbaijani forces of firing artillery across the border and using drone aircraft in the altercation.
In turn, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry reported that its soldier was killed along the border with Armenia "as a result of an Armenian provocation in the direction of Azerbaijan's Kalbacar district."
Azerbaijan denied that its military used artillery or drones, saying its forces were "responding to a provocation by the enemy."
It also said Armenian fire was "suppressed due to corresponding actions taken by units of the Azerbaijani Army."
Baku said that "the entire responsibility for the latest tensions lies with the military-political leadership of Armenia."
Tensions have simmered for years over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan that broke away from Baku's control in the early 1990s.
A six-week war erupted in autumn 2020, claiming more than 6,500 lives.
The fighting ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire under which Armenians ceded territories they had controlled for decades to Azerbaijan. The situation at the border has remained tense despite the accord.
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