УКРОПИ

Russia Presents UN Measure to Rein in Chemical Weapons Watchdog

Russia on Thursday presented a draft resolution to the Security Council accusing the UN’s chemical weapons watchdog, the OPCW, of politicization just before a new probe begins of chemical attacks in Syria.

The draft text, seen by AFP, states that the Council — where Russia holds veto power — is the only international body that can impose measures on countries that violate the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) agreed last year to set up a mechanism that would identify the perpetrators of chemical attacks, a move bitterly opposed by Russia and Syria.

Russian proposal

The proposed resolution notes “with concern the continuing politicization of the work of the OPCW and growing deviation from the established practice of taking consensus-based decisions.”

UN diplomats said the Russian proposal was aimed at keeping the OPCW in check as it pushes ahead with the investigation to uncover those behind chemical weapons use in Syria.

“What it’s really about of course is the Russians trying to strangle OPCW,” said a diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The West pushed through the new blaming powers after OPCW reports confirmed chemical weapons use in Syria, as well as a nerve agent attack on Russian former double agent Sergei Skripal in the English city of Salisbury in March 2018.

“The Russian rationale is to weaken the OPCW and the Chemical Weapons Convention, with an eye on Syria but also Salisbury,” said another diplomat.

Time frame for resolution

It remained unclear when the draft resolution would be put to a vote. UN resolutions require nine votes and no vetoes to be adopted in the council.

The proposed resolution is backed by China, diplomats said.

“This looks like a desperate bid to prevent further confirmation that the Syrian government, like ISIS, repeatedly used chemical weapons in violation of international law,” said Louis Charbonneau, UN director for Human Rights Watch.

The Russian mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

OPCW chief Fernando Arias said in March that the new investigation of chemical attacks in Syria would begin in the coming weeks.

Western countries are calling on the team to start work on identifying the culprits behind a deadly attack in the Syrian town of Douma in April 2018.

Missile strike

The United States, Britain and France launched a one-off missile strike on Syria in April last year in response to the use of chemical weapons in Douma. 

The OPCW said in a report that chlorine was likely used in that attack, which killed more than 40 people, but Russia and Syria have rejected those findings. 

Douma attack

The report did not specify who was behind the Douma attack as it was not in the OPCW’s mandate at the time.

In 2015, the council unanimously agreed to establish the OPCW-UN joint investigative mechanism (JIM) to identify those responsible for chemical attacks in Syria.

But in late 2017, Russia vetoed a bid to renew the mandate of the JIM after the panel blamed the Syrian government for chlorine attacks and for using sarin in a deadly assault on the town of Khan Sheikhun that same year.

Russia has used its veto 12 times at the council to shield its Syrian ally from international action. 
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Arctic Nations to Meet Amid Tensions Over Environment, Resources

Top diplomats from the United States, Russia and other nations which border the Arctic meet in Finland on Monday to discuss policies governing the polar region, as tensions grow over how to deal with global warming and access to mineral wealth.

Countries have been scrambling to claim territory or, like China, boost their presence in the region as thawing ice raises the possibility of exploiting much of the world’s remaining undiscovered reserves of oil and gas, plus huge deposits of minerals such as zinc, iron and rare earth metals.

With time-saving Arctic shipping routes also opening up, the Pentagon warned on May 2 of the risk of Chinese submarines in the Arctic.

That followed a sharp statement by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – who will give a speech at the Arctic Council meeting in Rovaniemi, Finland on May 6 – rejecting a role for China in shaping Arctic policy.

“The U.S. has realized that they cannot leave the Russians and Chinese to carve up the Arctic as they see fit,” said Niklas Granholm, deputy director of studies at Sweden’s Defense Research Agency.

The Arctic Council is made up of the United States, Canada, Russia, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland, with the region’s indigenous populations also represented.

China has had observer status at the Council since 2013, and has been increasingly active in the region, outlining a plan for a “Polar Silk Road” last year.

Russia has reopened military bases closed after the Cold War and is modernizing its powerful Northern Fleet. In response, the U.S. has reconstituted its Second Fleet, whose area of responsibility will include the North Pole.

The Arctic Council’s remit excludes military matters, but participants have already clashed, with the Washington Post reporting that the U.S. had refused to sign off on a final declaration, disagreeing with the wording on climate change.

Melting the Ice

“There are different tones with which different countries want to approach climate change,” Finland’s Arctic Ambassador Aleksi Harkonen said.

“It’s not about whether climate change can be mentioned or not. It will be there, in the final declaration.”

Surface air temperatures in the Arctic are warming at twice the rate of the rest of the globe, and the ocean could be ice-free during the summer months within 25 years, according to some researchers.

That could have a profound effect on the world’s weather as well as on wildlife and indigenous populations in the polar region.

President Donald Trump has frequently expressed skepticism about whether global warming is a result of human activity and has withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris climate accord.

That agreement aimed to limit a rise in average global temperatures to “well below” 2C (3.6F) above pre-industrial times by 2100.

Another flashpoint in Finland could be the meeting between Pompeo and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who will discuss the political crisis in Venezuela.

Russia has accused the United States of trying to engineer a coup against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, one of its closest allies in Latin America.

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton told Russia to stop interfering in what he called America’s “hemisphere.”

India, South Korea, Singapore, Italy and Japan have observer status at the Arctic Council in addition to China.
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China, Climate, Russia to Dominate Pompeo Europe Tour

The Trump administration is energizing its campaign to counter China’s growing global influence as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heads to Europe this week on a four-nation trip that will also highlight disputes with Russia over Venezuela and elsewhere as well as deep U.S. isolation on the cause and impact of climate change.

With China seeking a greater presence throughout the continent, U.S. officials said Pompeo will renew warnings over the use of advanced Chinese telecommunications technology as well as blunt Beijing’s aspirations to play a significant role in the Arctic, a region that is rapidly opening up to development and commerce as temperatures warm and sea ice melts. He departs on Sunday just hours after President Donald Trump threatened to boost tariffs on Chinese imports amid the slow pace of trade negotiations.

Despite an apparent internal administration disconnect over Russia’s role in the crisis in Venezuela, Pompeo plans to make Moscow’s support for embattled President Nicolas Maduro a major theme of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday in Finland, where they will both attend a meeting of the Arctic Council.

“I’ll certainly bring up Venezuela,” Pompeo said Sunday. “It will be one of many topics that Foreign Minister Lavrov and I speak about. Whether there is a particular deal that can be reached, only time will tell.”

The Arctic Council meeting itself is likely to be dominated by concerns about the Trump administration’s climate policies that many believe are focused solely on exploiting its resources and pushing back on Russia and China for strategic and security reasons at the expense of the region’s delicate environment.

Huawei Expansion

At his next stops in Germany and Britain, officials said Pompeo would sound the alarm over Chinese tech giant Huawei’s efforts to expand into Europe, reiterating U.S. concerns that China’s government could use the firm to get access to private personal and commercial data and compromise NATO and allied intelligence operations.

In Berlin in meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, the officials said he would again highlight opposition to Germany’s support for the Russian-backed NordStream 2 gas pipeline that Washington believes will increase Europe’s energy dependence on Russia.

In London, where British Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt are struggling to grapple with an impasse over Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, Pompeo plans to deliver a speech extolling the virtues of the “special relationship” between the U.S. and the U.K. Officials said he would also be laying the groundwork for Trump’s state visit to Britain this summer and renewing America’s interest in sealing a U.S.-U.K. trade agreement once Brexit has been completed.

Involvement in Venezuela

Pompeo will see Lavrov in Rovaniemi, Finland on Monday, following a week in which he and Trump national security adviser John Bolton ramped up criticism of Russia and Cuba for propping up Maduro in the face of a U.S.-backed challenge to his leadership from opposition leader Juan Guaido.

But the meeting also comes just three days after Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a lengthy telephone call about the state of relations following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Trump has rejected any suggestion that his campaign colluded with Russia or tried to obstruct the investigation. But he also dialed back on Pompeo and Bolton’s Venezuela complaints, saying Putin didn’t want to get involved in Venezuela.

Pompeo disputed the apparent discrepancy in interviews with three morning television talk shows on Sunday, saying that both Cuba and Russia both need to leave Venezuela.

“No, no difference. No difference. The President has said … that the Russians must leave Venezuela,” he told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “We want everyone out, so that the Venezuelan people can get the democracy they deserve. That includes Mr. Maduro leaving.”

Other than Venezuela, U.S. officials said Pompeo would also raise with Lavrov Russia’s intervention in Syria and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, subjects of perennial discussion with Moscow.

Climate and the Arctic Council

On the Arctic, officials said Pompeo would stress the administration’s insistence on using the forum to promote U.S. economic growth despite risks to the region. Trump announced his intention to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate accord in one of his first foreign policy decisions as president and Pompeo acknowledged to ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that American negotiators had fought to remove references to the Paris agreement from the Arctic Council’s final communique that is to be released on Tuesday.

Officials said Pompeo would laud U.S. reductions in greenhouse gas emissions despite leaving the Paris agreement, although critics argue those reductions are the result of policies enacted before Trump took office and could be reversed. At the same time, officials said Pompeo would reject Chinese attempts to play any kind of decision-making role in the Arctic Council, a group that includes as full members only the eight nations that border the region. Chinese officials have recently begun referring to their country as a “near Arctic” state, a term that has alarmed Americans and others.

Arctic policy will also be a focus of Pompeo’s final stop of the trip, Greenland, where he will meet U.S.-funded scientists and others engaged in studying the impact of climate change in the region.
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Government’s Candidate Wins North Macedonia Runoff

Stevo Pendarovski, the presidential candidate backed by North Macedonia’s center-left government, won the presidency Sunday in a runoff election with a conservative rival.

State election commission chief Oliver Derkorski announced late Sunday that with nearly 99 percent of the votes counted, Pendarovski, the candidate of the ruling Social Democratic Union, had won with 51.8% of the votes. Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, the candidate favored by the conservative opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, got 44.5%.

The two politicians had each received about 42% in the first round of voting April 21, which had three candidates.

Even before the official announcement, Social Democrat supporters had gathered at the party’s headquarters in downtown Skopje, the country’s capital, to celebrate as favorable results trickled in.

“This is a victory for all who are convinced that we have to continue forward together and I promise I’ll serve all the people equally,” Pendarovski said from the Social Democrats’ headquarters. He also thanked the people for their “wise choice.”

“Our path is paved with success. … We all will continue to move forward toward our common goal of progress and … toward NATO and the European Union,” said Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

Siljanovska accepted her defeat but took a rosy view.

“The figures say defeat, but I’ve never felt more fulfilled .,” she said. “I believed I could help Macedonia to gain democracy. … I know that the other candidate has won, but I know that I did not lose the battle.”

The election was seen as a test of the government’s pro-West policies. Pendarovski backed the government deal with Greece that renamed the country in exchange for NATO membership, while Siljankovska criticized it.

A key question in the runoff had been whether voter turnout would reach the 40% threshold needed for the election to be valid. The head of the election commission said the final turnout figure was 46.4% of registered voters, in what he had earlier termed a “peaceful and dignified” election.

Election observers reported a small number of minor infractions, such as voters photographing ballots with cellphones and disturbances outside some polling stations.

Naum Stoilkovski, a VMRO-DPMNE spokesman, complained about police “putting pressure” on party observers.

North Macedonia’s previous constitutional name was the Republic of Macedonia. The name change took effect in February as part of an agreement to end a decades-long dispute with Greece, which blocked the former Yugoslav republic’s path to membership in NATO and the European Union over rights to the Macedonia name.

Both Pendarovski, 55, and Siljanovska, 63, are law professors. Siljanovska said as she cast her ballot Sunday that she would respect the new constitutional name in a professional capacity “but will not use it personally” and planned to do her “best to show that the Prespa agreement (with Greece) has severe (legal) problems.”

Although the presidency is mostly ceremonial, with some powers to veto legislation, the outcome of the vote could trigger an early parliamentary election. Prime Minister Zaev, who staked his reputation on negotiating the name deal, said he would call one if Pendarovski were not elected.

Outgoing President Gjorge Ivanov, a conservative, is serving his second and final five-year term, which ends on May 12. Ivanov opposed the agreement with Greece.
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Let’s Make a Brexit Deal, UK PM May Tells Labour Opposition

British Prime Minister Theresa May says her Conservative government and the opposition Labour Party have a duty to strike a compromise Brexit agreement to end months of political deadlock over Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, May told Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn: “Let’s do a deal.”

She said a cross-party compromise was not her first choice, but “we have to find a way to break the deadlock.”

The Conservatives are desperate to move forward after losing hundreds of positions in last week’s local elections. Labour also suffered losses as voters punished both main parties for the Brexit impasse.

But the prospect of the government compromising and accepting Labour’s demand for close economic ties with the EU has infuriated pro-Brexit Conservatives, who are demanding May’s resignation.
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Pope Travels to Balkan States with Tiny Catholic Minorities

Pope Francis has arrived in Sofia at the start of three days in the former communist states of Bulgaria and North Macedonia, his fourth trip abroad this year. Both countries have tiny Catholic minorities and most of the population considers themselves Orthodox. The pope is likely to use this opportunity to help cement the Vatican’s relations with the Orthodox community in Eastern Europe.

In a message to the Bulgarian people ahead of his Sunday arrival, the pope said his trip to Bulgaria would be a pilgrimage focused on faith, unity and peace. Bulgaria, he added, is home to witnesses of faith since the times when Saints Cyril and Methodius spread the word of the Gospel.

This will be the second time a pope has visited Bulgaria. Pope John Paul II traveled to the country in 2002. No pope has ever visited North Macedonia. Bulgaria has a population of about 7 million people, with Catholics amounting to 1%, while Macedonia has a population of around 2 million, with Catholics amounting to less than 1%.

​Inspired by Saints John XXIII, Mother Teresa

Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said the trip to these Eastern European countries was inspired by Saints John XXIII and Mother Theresa. He said the pope feels he is retracing the steps of these two figures and wants to underscore the good deeds accomplished by John XXIII in Bulgaria when he was nuncio there for 10 years, from 1925 to 1935 and those by Mother Theresa who was born in Skopje in North Macedonia.

Mother Theresa was made a saint by Pope Francis in 2016. She was born in Skopje in 1910 when it was still part of the Ottoman Empire. She became known as “the saint of the gutters” for her work with the poorest of the poor in the slums of the Indian city of Calcutta. Pope Francis will be visiting her memorial and meet poor people helped by the order of nuns she founded, the Missionaries of Charity.

Poverty as well as migration will also be themes of this visit by the pope. Francis will visit a refugee camp in Sofia, which was opened more than five years ago as migrants began flowing into Europe. Today it houses about 300 people, mostly from Syria and Afghanistan.
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Secretive Blogger Rips Into Kremlin, One Click at a Time

He is wheelchair-bound and has limited use of his hands, but Alexander Gorbunov, the author of hugely popular social media accounts in Russia, has emerged as one of President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critics.

Diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy and using his right index finger to type, the 27-year-old author of StalinGulag skewers the “hypocrisy” of Putin’s system and the everyday injustices ordinary Russians face.

Known for his dry wit and generous use of profanities, StalinGulag has built a near 1.5 million strong army of followers on Twitter and Telegram, with a total media outreach believed to include several million more.

For years the StalinGulag author’s identity remained one of Russia’s best-kept secrets, but Gorbunov blew his cover after authorities began harassing his 65-year-old mother and 80-year-old father last week.

Gorbunov, an intelligent, soft-spoken man with a goatee, said he and his wife have been on tenterhooks.

“They can easily arrest and put in prison anyone,” Gorbunov told AFP in an interview, saying that even a short stint in jail could kill him. “They don’t care,” he said.

In an increasing crackdown on dissent, Putin in March signed laws that allow courts to fine and briefly jail people for showing disrespect toward the authorities and to block media for publishing “fake news.”

​‘Damn hero’

Gorbunov, who is a successful self-taught financial trader by day, dreads publicity but this week revealed his identity to BBC and later spoke to AFP after gun-toting police inspected his parents’ home in the North Caucasus city of Makhachkala.

His relatives in Moscow have also been intimidated, he says.

“If the authorities are afraid of what I write they are worthless,” he said.

Gorbunov’s story has stunned Russia.

“This person is a damn hero,” said screenwriter Andrew Ryvkin, while author Denis Bilunov called Gorbunov “the person of the year.”

In a show of solidarity, Pavel Durov, the self-exiled founder of the Telegram messenger app, verified the StalinGulag account and offered his author help in moving abroad.

Neither hero nor activist

Gorbunov said he was heartened by the outpouring of support from Russians who have flooded him with offers of help and money. He has chalked up some 40,000 new followers over the past week.

The blogger insisted he was neither a hero nor an opposition activist. He said he merely puts in writing his thoughts on everything from Russia’s foreign policy blunders to the excessive lifestyle of Putin’s inner circle.

“What’s happening in the country is terrible,” Gorbunov said. “Injustice is what angers me the most.”

In a 2018 post, he issued a dark warning to his readers.

“Really scary times are coming,” he said, urging Russians to look out for each other. “This is the reality and not everyone will get out alive.”

Gorbunov lives with his partner of seven years in a comfortable Moscow apartment, employs two drivers and a live-in aide and enjoys an active social life.

He does not want to reveal his income but says he forks out around 400,000 rubles ($6,145) every month just to cover his rent and pay his helpers.

He refuses to take any medication, saying his condition is incurable and he had no illusions about his future.

“I don’t want to turn my life into a silly battle,” he said. “It’s a battle I am going to lose.”

‘Not an optimist’

A lawyer by training, he works more than 10 hours a day, sometimes waking up at night if the market moves. He writes posts for his StalinGulag accounts when the mood strikes him and he needs a short break from work.

He appears to take some of his inspiration from his favorite book, “Journey to the End of the Night” by French novelist Louis-Ferdinand Celine.

The 1932 World War I classic filled with profanities expresses disgust with the hypocrisy of society and laments the misery of human existence.

​Get on with his life

Gorbunov is fiercely protective of his wife, who sometimes holds his hand as he speaks to AFP and helps him drink from a cup. They met seven years ago but refuse to reveal details about their relationship.

His story has generated huge media interest in Russia, but Gorbunov hopes the buzz will soon subside. He wants to get on with his life, watch the last season of “Game of Thrones” and keep trading and writing his blogs.

He travels sometimes but has never been to Europe.

Not that he plans to leave Russia, even though life for people with disabilities here is a relentless daily struggle, saying he wants to be with his loved ones.

For all his dark humor and keen intelligence, Gorbunov refuses to make any predictions about the future of the country — or his own.

He has a feeling however that he will not see a change of leadership in his lifetime.

“I am not an optimist in this sense,” he said.
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Slovak PM’s White House Visit Spotlights US Defense Accords

VOA’s Russian Service contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump applauded Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini’s announcement that his country plans to increase its military spending to 2% of its GDP in the next three years, as well as purchase U.S.-made F-16 war planes.

A joint statement issued by the two leaders after their White House meeting Friday said the U.S. and Slovakia “seek to build on this and deepen our defense cooperation by concluding a mutually beneficial Defense Cooperation Agreement.”

Earlier, speculation about terms of a bilateral Defense Cooperation Agreement, or DCA, had stirred controversy in the Central European country. The Slovak foreign ministry described as lacking in knowledge and short on facts allegations that a defense cooperation agreement with the U.S. would lead to encroachment upon Slovakia’s sovereignty.

In contrast to protests heard in certain quarters in Slovakia, a number of nations in Central Europe have shown an eagerness to enter into defense cooperation agreements with the U.S.

Last month, a bilateral agreement was signed between the U.S. and Hungary on the sidelines of events marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of NATO, after more than a year and a half of negotiations.

In an interview with VOA, Laszlo Szabo, Hungary’s ambassador to the U.S., described the agreement as both strategic and tactical in nature and as one that sets the terms under which American forces and other foreign troops can operate in Hungary.

Meanwhile, the Czech Republic is negotiating an agreement that is “quite similar,” according to Hynek Kmonicek, the country’s chief diplomat in the U.S. Czechs regard the U.S. as the “backbone of NATO,” he told VOA, adding “if you ask people how they feel about [the] 2% of GDP spent [on military expenditures], it usually has 80% [popular] support, which is quite extraordinary.”

Among Central European countries, Poland is seen as the most enthusiastic when it comes to building ever-closer ties with the United States in military and security affairs.

Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said in an interview with VOA’s Russian Service that Poland realizes relying on its own defense forces will not be sufficient when it comes to a security guarantee, even as the Polish government is working to strengthen its military forces, including increasing the number of soldiers. The minister said the “military presence of our allies on our soil is crucially important.”  

Not that Poland feels a direct military threat from Russia at the moment, said Czaputowicz, but from what Poland can see, Russia is prone to taking advantage of situations when it “senses a weakness; like in Donbas, like in Crimea,” referring to Russian attempts to annex territory in Ukraine. Poland, he said, plans to increase its defense spending to up to 2.5% of its GDP.  The relative absence of an imminent military threat that Poland currently feels, as Czaputowicz sees it, is precisely due to Russia’s calculation of both how the country itself and its allies will react.

As negotiations between the U.S. and Slovakia on a bilateral Defense Cooperation Agreement unfold, Rachel Ellehuus, a former Pentagon official and current deputy director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), cautions that the U.S. Congress has signaled that it will not allow funds from the European Deterrence Initiative to be spent in countries that have not signed a defense cooperation agreement with the U.S. She also points out that the guarantee of “assured access” by U.S. military to signatory countries’ facilities could be a sticking point with certain allies.

That said, Ellehuus describes bilateral Defense Cooperation Agreements as “pragmatic measures to enhance NATO deterrence and defense, while also ensuring needed protections for U.S. troops.

“Think of them as legal agreements that strengthen the provisions in the NATO SOFA,” she said, referring to Status of Forces Agreements among NATO member states.

From an operational angle, “mitigating Russia’s time-distance advantages” over the U.S. and allies, should conflict break out, is crucial to deterrence and defense, according to Billy Fabian, a Research Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment (CSBA).

 
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UK Government Seeks Brexit Compromise After Poll Fiasco

Britain’s governing Conservative Party said Saturday that it is ready to compromise to secure a Brexit deal after suffering its worst result in local elections for more than 20 years.

In contests for local authorities across England, the party lost about 1,300 seats, a quarter of its total, as voters punished the government for the U.K’s Brexit impasse. The opposition Labour Party also suffered losses as voters switched to smaller parties and independent candidates.

Almost three years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, the date and terms of Brexit remain uncertain following months of gridlock in Parliament.

Many Conservatives blame Prime Minister Theresa May for failing to deliver Brexit and want her to quit. This week’s electoral drubbing increased pressure on May, who was heckled at a Conservative event Friday by a party member shouting “Why don’t you resign? We don’t want you.”

Both the Conservatives and Labour said the message coming from voters was: Get on with Brexit.

The parties plan more meetings next week to try to agree on departure terms that could win the support of Parliament.

Talks so far have become stuck on divisions between the Conservatives and Labour over how close an economic relationship to seek with the EU after Brexit. Labour says the U.K. should remain in a customs union with the bloc to avoid barriers to trade. The government wants a looser relationship with the EU that would let Britain strike new trade deals around the world.

Environment Secretary Matt Hancock said he remained skeptical about a customs union, but the government needed “to be in the mood for compromise.”

“The mood of the nation is get on, deliver Brexit and then move on,” he told the BBC.

Others argue that the message coming from voters is more complex. The local elections saw a big surge for the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats and the Greens, parties that support a new referendum with the option of remaining in the EU.

Labour lawmaker Lisa Nandy said both main parties had suffered because voters were “losing faith with the system as a whole.”

“People are really, really frustrated about Brexit, but the major frustration comes from the perceived inability of the two major parties — including Labour — to get our act together and start dealing with the very many and real problems people have got,” she said.

The Conservatives and Labour are bracing for worse results in May 23 elections for the European Parliament, where they face opposition from new forces on the political scene — the anti-EU Brexit Party and the pro-European Change UK.

 
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