УКРОПИ

Dutch Husband of Shamima Begum Wants to Take her Home

The Dutch man who married a British teenager after she ran away to join the Islamic State group says he wants to return home to the Netherlands with Shamima Begum and their newborn son.

Yago Riedijk, 27, told the BBC from a Kurdish-run detention center that he met Begum within days of her arrival in Syria when she was 15. He said in an interview aired Sunday that the marriage was “her own choice.”

When asked if marrying a 15-year-old was appropriate, he said: “To be honest, when my friend came and said there was a girl who was interested in marriage, I wasn’t that interested because of her age, but I accepted the offer anyway.”

Riedijk says that while he fought for IS, he now rejects the group and tried to leave it.

Begum fled east London with two other friends to travel to Syria to marry IS fighters in 2015 at a time when the group’s online recruitment program lured many impressionable young people to its self-proclaimed caliphate.

Begum, now 19, resurfaced at a refugee camp in Syria and recently told reporters she wanted to come home. But her apparent lack of remorse has triggered criticism in Britain and the family has expressed its own shock at her lack of repentance.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid has revoked her citizenship — even while saying he wouldn’t make a decision that would render a person stateless. Her family has insisted she isn’t a dual citizen. The case will be argued in the courts.

Although it’s unclear if Begum has committed a crime, her comments — and those of her husband — throw into sharp relief larger questions about how Western societies will deal with others who joined IS, but want to return to their home countries now that the extremist group is on the verge of collapse.

 
…

Israeli Leader Condemns Attack on French Synagogue Memorial

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned an attack on a Holocaust memorial in the French city of Strasbourg.

Netanyahu on Sunday condemned the “horrific, anti-Semitic” defacing of a monument marking the site of a synagogue destroyed by the Nazis in 1940.

French police on Saturday launched an investigation the incident, in which a heavy memorial stone was moved off its base in the eastern city. The incident comes amid a rise in anti-Semitic attacks in France in recent months, including spray-painting of swastikas on around 80 Jewish gravestones last month.

Netanyahu called upon “all leaders of enlightened countries to join in denouncing it in a systematic and continuous fashion. The first way to combat anti-Semitism is to denounce, to condemn it unequivocally.”
…

44 Migrants Detained on Ferry in Calais

French authorities say about 50 migrants attempted to scurry aboard a cross-Channel ferry that had arrived from Dover, England into the northern French port of Calais late Saturday.

Officials say 44 of the refugees were apprehended, dashing their hopes of reaching England on the vessel’s return trip.

Two of the migrants fell into the water, but were quickly rescued.

Maritime officials say ferry traffic was delayed for several hours as police searched the ship.

Authorities say at least 100 migrants stormed into the port Saturday night.

The French news agency, AFP,  reports that police were continuing to look Sunday morning for a least four more migrants the police believed were still hiding out on the same ship where the other migrants had been apprehended.

 
…

Estonia Votes in Parliamentary Election

Voters in Estonia are going to the polls Sunday for a parliamentary election.

Prime Minister Juri Ratas and his center-left Center Party are the front-runners, but they are expected to get some stiff competition from the far-right EKRE party, which has promised generous social spending.

In 2007, Estonia became one of the first nations to be hit by a modern type of enemy assault that has since been dubbed cyberwarfare. The attack came from Russia.

Since the cyberattack, Estonia, a former Soviet republic, has evolved into what many consider the most technologically advanced country in the world.

Key to that effort is e-Estonia, a unique project that links government officials to all citizens through a maze of platforms based on the “X-Road,” a government platform also used by major private companies.

Through the X-Road, citizens can participate in such activities as health care, banking, taxpaying, policing and education through a broadband or fiber optic network connecting the whole country. Legislators can digitally enact laws through a program called e-cabinet, while citizens use i-voting to elect and communicate with politicians. And there is free Wi-Fi virtually everywhere.

Throughout most of its history, the Baltic nation of 1.3 million people has been dominated and exploited by larger neighbors. But now, analysts say, the e-Estonia project has helped put the nation’s past behind it.
…

Milan Anti-Racism Rally Draws Tens of Thousands

Tens of thousands of people have marched in Italy’s financial capital against policies by the populist government that they say promote racism.

The Milan city official in charge of migrant policy, Pierfrancesco Majorino, put the number of marchers under the banner “People First” at 200,000.

He wrote on Twitter: “Salvini, count us” aimed at League leader Matteo Salvini, who as interior minister has blocked the arrival in Italy of humanitarian ships that have rescued migrants fleeing Libya.

The demonstration, which finished in front of the Duomo cathedral, had a festival mood with bongo drums, trumpets and DJ music.

The head of the CGIL labor confederation, Maurizio Landini, said Italy’s government “is promoting the wrong policies, and is not fighting inequalities.”

 
…

Erdogan Threatens to Reverse Local Election Results 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose AK Party is facing major defeats this month in local elections, is being accused of behaving like a “dictator” after his threat to remove victorious pro-Kurdish mayoral candidates.

Erdogan, addressing supporters this week, issued a stark threat to voters in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast: Candidates deemed sympathetic to the PKK Kurdish separatist group who are elected will be removed.

“If you happen to send the opportunities provided by the state to Qandil [where PKK leaders are based in neighboring northern Iraq], we will once again, immediately and without waiting any further, appoint our trustees,” Erdogan said.

The warning was aimed at Turkey’s second-largest opposition party, the pro-Kurdish HDP. Ankara accuses the HDP of being the political wing of the PKK, a charge it denies. Already, dozens of elected HDP mayors have been removed from office and jailed, accused of aiding the PKK.

The HDP’s leadership is calling on voters to take back control of the towns and cities seized by Ankara.

The pro-Kurdish party dismisses terrorist allegations against its candidates. “If they remove any of our successful candidates, it’s not that the elected mayors are terrorists but rather Erdogan is a dictator,” said Ertugrul Kurkcu, honorary president of the HDP.

Validated candidates

Kurkcu points out the Higher Election Board, which administers elections in Turkey, has validated all the HDP’s mayoral candidates. The HDP claims any alleged transgressions by its candidates during campaigning should be a matter for the Turkish judiciary, rather than the president.

Erdogan’s warning is being interpreted as an attempt at voter intimidation.

“This is a kind of a threat to Kurdish voters: If you want to have peace and tranquility in the region, you have to elect my candidates. If you vote for the opposition, I will sack the mayors. I am going to lead you like sheep,” said Kurkcu. “But after all these huge struggles for democracy, I do not see honorable Kurds or honorable citizens who will accept this threat. Instead, it provokes anger and rebellion.”

Kurkcu’s position may be well-founded. The HDP “will sweep all Kurdish-majority cities and towns despite massive intimidation and black propaganda,” predicted analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners.

Analysts say there is growing anger among many Kurds over the security crackdown that has been in place since the collapse of the 2015 peace process with the PKK.

Towns ravaged

In Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast, many towns and city centers were reduced to rubble as security forces ousted Kurdish fighters. Human rights groups say more than 200,000 people have been left homeless.

Along with over 80 pro-Kurdish HDP mayors removed from their posts and imprisoned, dozens of the party’s parliamentary deputies languish in jail, including its former charismatic leader, Selahattin Demirtas. They are all being held on terrorism charges.

State-appointed trustees now administer nearly all towns and cities in southeast Turkey. Many of the cultural reforms encouraging the Kurdish language have been rolled back, including the use of Kurdish on official signs.

Erdogan, in his early years in power as prime minister, had positioned himself as an advocate for Kurdish rights. He was rewarded electorally with his AK Party, securing more votes than the HDP in polls.

However, the collapse of the peace process with the PKK amid mutual recriminations saw Erdogan abandon the courting of Kurds and turn toward  Turkish nationalism. “There is a lot of distrust by Erdogan. Erdogan was sincerely believing in the peace process and believes the PKK and HDP abused this,” said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

​Aligned with nationalists

Since the December 2015 general election, Erdogan’s AK Party has deepened its relationship with Turkey’s hard-line Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has been in the forefront of calls for a crackdown on the pro-Kurdish movement.

With the Turkish economy mired in recession and public discontent mounting, Erdogan now depends on the MHP’s support in the March elections. Analyist Yesilada said Erdogan has little choice but to continue his hard-line rhetoric against the pro-Kurdish movement.

“AKP doesn’t have the votes to retain Istanbul and Ankara,” Yesilada said. “Erdogan has to throw something to [MHP Chairman Devlet] Bahceli. … So we will see the worst manifestations of populism.”

However, the HDP is determined to make Erdogan pay a heavy electoral price.

“In western Turkey, our party is not listing candidates in seven major cities,” said Kurkcu, “meaning that we are directing our voters, around 10 percent of the electorate, to add their vote to the general opposition. This is not a vote for the main opposition but rather against Erdogan.”

The HDP’s surprise move could prove decisive, with opinion polls indicating the opposition ahead in many of Turkey’s main cities and Istanbul too close to call. Analysts suggest a serious setback for the AKP could be the impetus for Erdogan again resetting the political agenda by reaching out to Kurds and abandoning his Turkish nationalist ally.
…

Hungary’s Orban Faces Revolt in EU Parliamentary Grouping

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was facing a groundswell of revolt Friday from allied center-right parties that want to kick him out of their European Parliament group less than three months ahead of the May elections.

Several Christian Democrat parties already have voiced their opposition to the continued membership of the EPP umbrella group of Orban’s Fidesz party. In recent years, Orban has been strongly identified with anti-migrant rhetoric.

Luxembourg Christian Democrat leader Frank Engel said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press he wants the EPP to take a decision ahead of the March 21-22 European Union summit in Brussels “because I have no intention of engaging in an election campaign with Fidesz still on board.”

Engel joined two Belgian parties in writing in a letter to the grouping’s presidency asking for Fidesz to be excluded because the Hungarian leader “has been acting in striking contradiction” with the EPP’s Christian Democrat values.

The EPP, they said, was too important “to be undermined within our own ranks by what we are so determined to fight: nationalism-based populism and open hostility against European integration.”

Dutch and Portuguese parties have echoed that complaint, which has swelled over recent months — that Orban is too far to the political right of traditional Christian Democrat values.

Orban’s stance on migrants from conflict zones has alarmed many within the group. He has accused European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who is part of the EPP, of being too lax on immigration. Orban has plastered Budapest with posters showing Juncker as a gloating force of evil.

Juncker’s Commission issued a rebuttal on Thursday against Orban’s allegations — hardly the unity the grouping wants to display three months ahead of elections.

Dutch Christian Democrat leader Rutger Ploum said “recent events have shown that informal talks with Fidesz no longer have the desired effect.”

And Portugal’s CDS/PP party said in a letter to the EPP presidency that the differences with Fidesz “are too substantial” for Orban’s party to remain inside the group.

Orban hopes anti-migration forces will become a majority in all EU institutions, including the European Parliament and EU Commission, the bloc’s executive body.

Lajos Kosa, a Fidesz founder and an Orban government commissioner, was confident the party would not be expelled from the EPP for what he called “clarifying the truth.”

Expulsion “was also raised earlier by pro-immigration EPP politicians, but it has not happened so far and we don’t expect it now, either,” Kosa told broadcaster ATV. “The debate and clarification of facts ahead of the EU election is in the public interest.”

Engel said he was sure more Christian Democrat parties would join his call by early next week, enough to reach a threshold that the EPP group would have to discuss the issue, likely on March 20.

“There are certainly more to come,” he said.
…

Polls Show Americans, Russians Have Evolving Views of Each Other

Americans’ views of Russia have plummeted to levels not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to a newly released survey by the U.S.-based Gallup polling center.

The data say 52 percent of Americans see Russian military power as a direct threat to U.S. vital interests, and that a third identify Russia as the United States’ arch rival, thereby displacing North Korea from the top position in Gallup’s semi-annual ranking of perceived U.S. enemies.

The percentage of Americans who view Russia unfavorably also increased a single percentage point to 73 in the latest poll, a record high in Gallup’s trends.

The findings follow a January 2018 poll by the independent Moscow-based Levada Center showed that two-thirds of Russians called the United States their main enemy.

Pavel Sharikov, a senior research fellow at the Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, says although the latest results are a cause for concern, the outlook may not be as bleak as it seems.

“From my perspective, both Moscow and Washington have contributed to these numbers,” he said, noting that numerous variables – from Western sanctions over Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and accusations of meddling in U.S. elections, and the recent collapse of the INF weapons treaty – have sparked unprecedented levels of belligerent rhetoric.

“From the United States, there is a lot of criticism toward Russia, which Russian politicians take very seriously and very dramatically, and they react to this criticism” with escalated threats,” Sharikiv said.

“This sentiment in Russia [is] that it should remain a strong military power…the president’s and generals’ rhetoric about the Russian military being on the rise, about Russian weapons systems being so robust,” he said. “This is also what leads to Americans perceiving Russians and Russia as a military threat. So these polls are a very big concern.”

But general Russian public perceptions of the United States, Sharikov said, differ significantly from opinions held among the pro-Kremlin community. And a spate of recent polls in Russia, he added, indicate an increasingly positive perception of Americans.

“It used to be, a couple of years ago, the general Russian public opinion was that Russia and the United States are enemies, but I have looked at the recent polls of the Levada Center, and there has been a very clear trend toward a positive perception of the United States and Europe among Russians, especially among the younger generation,” he said.

“For a very long time, the negative perception of the United States was very clearly related to a very high rating of President [Vladimir] Putin, so right now there is no correlation,” he said. “And while President Putin’s ratings are very dynamic – and, right now, it’s getting lower – the general Russian public opinion is getting more positive toward the United States.”

Andrei Kolesnikov, a political analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center, says general public fears of warfare expressed by people polled on “both sides of the ocean” aren’t likely to affect diplomatic ties in any significant way.

“Major political decisions are being made at a different level,” he said. “Besides, the relations between the countries are already quite poor. It just doesn’t help to improve the situation when ordinary people start thinking in a negative way.”

Outside St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg, where just days ago the choir sparked controversy with a performance of a Soviet-era satirical song about a nuclear submarine attack on the United States, locals appeared to be more nonchalant about the Gallup findings.

“This kind of published research just reinforces existing fears and biases and ultimately worsens relations,” said one young St. Petersburg resident, an engineering student, who asked to remain anonymous.

“People will believe whatever they see reported on television and online,” she said. “And, in Russia, what do they hear most about? U.S. political interference in other countries and sanctions. So of course they view the U.S. as a major enemy.”

On the streets of Moscow, too, one young professional, a psychology professor, echoed the opinion that news reports loaded with mutually antagonistic statements by U.S. and Russian officials – not to mention myriad online media threads – largely exaggerate perceptions of reciprocal enmity.

“All this gossip about Russian aggression began during Soviet times, in the mid-20th century or even earlier, and it’s never going to stop until people unplug from mass media,” he said, rolling his eyes at the mention of Gallup and Levada Center polls.

“I guess you can perceive me as an enemy if you want, but you’re perfectly safe to come have a drink with me if you like,” he added, laughing. “Thirst can be a truly dangerous thing, right?”

One Moscow-based American largely echoed that sentiment, emphasizing interpersonal connections over international relations.

“I think these polls are asking too general of a question and most people are totally politically incompetent,” said Robert, who chose to withhold his last name. “I think everyone should have a voice and democracy is a necessity but international politics isn’t a simple thing, and even experienced politicians can’t understand a lot of it – too many moving parts and cultural misunderstandings.”

Adding that he believes Russia and the United States are mutual enemies at the national level, he sees most of the conflict unfolding in geopolitical proxy disputes in places such as Syria.

“As an expat in Russia, and former expat in China and Cambodia, I don’t feel distrust or angst from locals, although they would have logical reason to feel it,” he said. “I feel different from the locals, of course, but my connection with them is on a personal level, not a political one. They realize and I realize, too, that governmental decisions are far, far removed from individual people themselves, especially in non-democratic countries like those I’ve lived in.

“I’ve spoken with people about politics in each of these countries and every one of them has shared my feelings of people connections, not political connections, between individuals,” he added.

Gallup conducted the poll among 1,016 Americans living in all 50 states between Feb. 1 and Feb. 10.

Olga Pavlova contributed to this report from Moscow.

 
…

Finding Fortune in Moscow a Challenge for Migrants

Russia’s economy has stagnated for some years and suffers under sanctions imposed by the West after it annexed Crimea in 2014. Still, Moscow remains a vibrant city that attracts immigrants from around the world, most of them from the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. For many of those migrants, the search for prosperity is often not easy. Ricardo Marquina has more from Moscow in this report narrated by Jim Randle.
…

UN Security Council Fails to Find Consensus on Venezuela Crisis

The U.N. Security Council failed to agree Thursday on either a U.S. or Russian proposal to find a way forward on the Venezuelan crisis.

The 15-nation council voted on two draft resolutions. The U.S. text had the support of the majority of the council members but was blocked by Russia and China, while a Russian draft garnered only four positive votes.

The U.S. text stressed the need to “prevent further deterioration” of the humanitarian situation and to allow unhindered access for the delivery of aid throughout the country.

The government of disputed President Nicolas Maduro has refused to recognize that there is a humanitarian crisis in the country and is not permitting aid from the United States to enter the country, saying it is a pretext for a U.S. military invasion.

The American draft also expressed “deep concern” that the May 2018 presidential elections that gave the incumbent Maduro a second six-year term were “neither free nor fair” and called for a political process leading to new elections. It also showed support for the “peaceful” restoration of democracy and rule of law.

“Regrettably, by voting against this resolution, some members of this council continue to shield Maduro and his cronies, and prolong the suffering of the Venezuelan people,” said U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams.

“Regardless of the results of today’s vote, this resolution shows that democracies around the world, and especially in Latin America, are mobilizing behind interim President [Juan] Guaido,” he said of the National Assembly leader who declared himself interim president Jan. 23.

Russian response 

The Russian resolution called for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, but added that Maduro needed to approve aid deliveries. The Russian text also expressed “concern over the threats to use force” against Venezuela.

Moscow’s envoy said Washington’s proposal was an effort to “escalate tensions and to implement their scenario for an unconstitutional change of government.” Vassily Nebenzia warned that the focus on the humanitarian situation was merely “a smoke screen.”  

“We are seriously concerned at the fact that today’s meeting may be exploited as a step for preparations of a real — not humanitarian —intervention as a pretext for external intervention as a result of the alleged inability of the Security Council to resolve the situation in Venezuela,” Nebenzia said.

Last Saturday, troops and Maduro supporters blocked the entry of trucks carrying food and medical supplies in violent clashes at Venezuela’s borders with Colombia and Brazil. Four people were killed, and dozens were injured.

Venezuela’s U.N. envoy said that Saturday’s violence was an “international incident,” not a domestic one, and he asserted that all was well in his country.

“Venezuela today is completely at peace, a peace preserved by the constitutional government of President Nicolas Maduro, who is in full exercise of his legal powers and who guarantees the protection of national territory, as well as the well-being of the Venezuelan people and effective control over the country,” Ambassador Samuel Moncada said. “Let me repeat: There is no type of violence in Venezuela. If there are threats against peace, those threats come from abroad.” 
…

Turkey Flexes Naval Muscle Amid Regional Tensions

Turkey is carrying out its largest naval exercises in a display of its rapidly growing navy. The show of force comes amid rising regional tensions over territorial and energy exploration rights disputes.

Dubbed “The Blue Homeland,” the drills involve more than 100 ships operating across the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean. On display in the 10-day exercise are many of Turkey’s newest warships, along with the use of high-tech domestically produced drones.

“Turkey is a regional power, and this naval exercise is to show the world that Turkey is a player,” said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University, “It is a show of strength in military terms to any country in the region.”

“They should be aware how important it is to be with Turkey or to work together with Turkey or the risk of being against Turkey,” he added. “It is showing the flag, the showing of the muscles. We are here in the Mediterranean; we have our interests in Cyprus, we have our interests in gas exploration and economic interests.”

Turkey has many outstanding disputes with Greece over territorial waters, which saw the two NATO members in the past go to the brink of war. Energy exploration in Cypriot waters is also a new point of rising tension.

The Mediterranean island is divided between Greek and Turkish-Cypriot communities since a Turkish military intervention in 1974, following a Greek-inspired coup. The international community only recognizes the Greek-Cypriot administration. However, Ankara says the Greek-Cypriots must collaborate with the Turkish-Cypriot government in energy exploration after recent massive finds of natural gas in the island’s territorial waters.

“Nothing at all can be done in the Mediterranean without Turkey,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced last week. “We will not allow that, [unilateral Greek Cypriot energy exploration].“

He declared that Turkey would begin drilling for oil and gas near Cypriot waters with two new exploration ships.

Despite Ankara’s rhetoric, Greek Defense Minister Evangelos Apostolakis sought to play down the naval exercises, calling them “regular Turkish military training activities.”

Unnerving Cyprus, Greece

Analysts say Turkey’s powerful display of modern naval prowess will likely unnerve both Nicosia and Athens, which is the Greek-Cypriots’ main ally.

“Turkey has resumed expanding its naval power after a decade, so we are talking about important material capabilities and the expansion of the Turkish navy should threaten the Greeks,” said international relations professor Serhat Guvenc of Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.

“But Greece has been struggling to come out of this deep recession,” he added, “Therefore they don’t have money to respond to this Turkish naval expansion.”

Turkey’s growing military capabilities are forcing new regional alignments, say analysts such as Guvenc.

“Athens is trying to remedy the lack of financial resources with the involvement of third parties, namely Russia and the United States,” he said.

Greece traditionally has good relations with Russia, which has been building up its naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean as part of its backing of the Damascus government in Syria’s civil war. Until recently, however, the Greek government has had a frosty relationship with Washington.

“[Greek Prime Minister Alexis] Tsipras was elected on a relatively anti-Western, anti-American platform,” he added, “But Greek-American relations have been improving, and the Greek government has been the most cooperative in decades in terms of promoting military cooperation with the United States.”

In December, Greece and the United States launched a strategic dialogue to increase cooperation.

“We recognize Greece as a key player in the east Mediterranean. Greece emerges as a leader of regional stability. Our strategic dialogue will lead to a stronger future,” said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo also added that Washington was working to strengthen relations with “democratic allies there, like Greece and Cyprus and Israel.”

The three countries are already cooperating in the development of significant gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean. They also have had strained ties with Turkey.

“Turkey’s policy toward its neighbors is threatening and aggressive, and this is and will have repercussions,” said political scientist Cengiz Aktar of Athens University.

“We should not forget that Greece is expected to sign in the [coming] months, a mini security arrangement with the United States, to which Egypt, Israel and Cyprus could potentially join as non-NATO countries, and this is clearly aimed at Turkey,” he added.

Turkey maintains that it poses no threat to any of its neighbors and that it is only committed to defending its rights and those of its allies. But analysts warn such words will likely do little to allay neighbors’ concerns, with Turkey committed to expanding its armed forces, in particular, its navy.
…