By Vestnik Kavkaza
The New York Times published an article called "‘Dangerous Moment’ for Europe, as Fear and Resentment Grow" devoted to developments in Paris. France is estimated to have the largest Muslim population in Europe. The newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, in its raucous, vulgar and sometimes commercially driven effort to offend every Islamic piety, including the figure of the Prophet Muhammad, became a symbol of an aggressive French secularism that saw its truest enemy in the rise of conservative Islam in France.
The Washington Post today writes that major powers trying to resolve the conflict in Ukraine are working to set up a possible meeting in Kazakhstan. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in late December that he planned to meet Jan. 15 in Astana with Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Russian and French presidents. However, German and other officials haven’t confirmed the plan.
Merkel will receive Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Friday. Diplomatic efforts focus on trying to implement in full a much-violated peace deal that was drawn up in Minsk in September — and Merkel insisted that every point of that agreement must be fulfilled.
“A meeting in Astana won’t lead to all points being fulfilled the next day,” she said. “What we can do is try to make visible progress and at the same time have a reliable road map for other points. What is difficult is that we already often had road maps that weren’t kept to.”
Yatsenyuk said the Minsk deal is still viable and the most urgent priority is to seal the Russia-Ukraine border. He called for continued Western unity in pressing Russia on the deal, saying that Moscow is “desperately trying” to split EU countries, “but they’re going to fail.” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Thursday that there are “some limited positive signs on the Russian side.”
The New York Times also writes about Angela Merkel. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said on Thursday that the crisis in Ukraine could be eased only if Russia made tangible progress on all 12 points of a four-month-old agreement and that sanctions imposed on Moscow for its actions in eastern Ukraine could be lifted only if that overall progress was made.
Germany agreed to guarantee credit worth 500 million euros, or nearly $593 million, for Ukraine, contingent on prior approval for the specific use of the funds, said Beate Braams, a spokeswoman for the Economy Ministry. The German government is seeking prior approval to ensure that the funds are not used for any military purpose.
Before winter, Germany and the European Union helped Russia and Ukraine negotiate a difficult agreement on natural gas deliveries from Russia, both to Ukraine and in transit to other European countries. The agreement runs until March 31.
Another article in the New York Times says that the European Union is looking for a way to launch a new dialogue with Russia over Ukraine. "We agreed we need to find an opportunity for a new political dialogue with Russia regarding events in Ukraine," said Edgars Rinkevics, who chairs the council of EU foreign ministers and will travel to Kiev and Moscow.
According to the Daily Mail, Poland expects the NATO alliance to step up its military exercises around the Baltic Sea after a flurry of activity by Russian warships and jet fighters in the area last month, Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak told Reuters in an interview. The Atlantic alliance has already increased the frequency of air patrols in the region, part of a revival of Cold War tensions sparked by Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and its support for Ukraine's pro-Russian rebels.
Siemoniak said Moscow did not have an exit strategy, and that NATO and the European Union, which has imposed sanctions on Russia together with the United States, should brace themselves for years of conflict. The French government in November put on hold a contract to supply Mistral warships to Russia after coming under pressure from NATO allies. Asked if French-based companies such as Airbus and the Thales could suffer as they bid for contracts in Poland's $41 billion army modernisation programme, Siemoniak said: "I'm counting on France's decision (not to deliver) being permanent, so the problem has been solved. It seems that Russia has also accepted that."
Another article in the Daily Mail runs “Belarus devalues currency again to protect against Russian economic fallout”. Belarus took further emergency steps on Thursday to defend itself from economic turmoil in Russia, devaluing its currency by around 7 percent for the second time this week, raising its main refinancing rate and imposing a new export tax on potash.
Russia, often the main trading partner, suffers from Western sanctions over Ukraine and a sliding oil price, which sent the Russian ruble down by about 40 percent against the dollar last year.
Belarus, with a population of 9.4 million, has had to take swift action to protect its command economy that is closely tied to that of its giant neighbour, which accounts for half of Belarussian exports and provides Minsk with substantial subsidies.
