World press on Charlie Hebdo, Ukrainian regulations, anti-Russian sanctions and Belarus economics (January 8, 2015)

 

The New York Times published an article called "‘Dangerous Moment’ for Europe, as Fear and Resentment Grow"The sophisticated, military-style strike Wednesday on a French newspaper known for satirizing Islam staggered a continent already seething with anti-immigrant sentiments in some quarters, feeding far-right nationalist parties like France’s National Front.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, which is estimated to have the largest Muslim population in Europe.The Washington Post today writes an article “Merkel: working on possible meeting on Ukraine in Kazakhstan” Major powers trying to resolve the conflict in Ukraine are working to set up a possible meeting in Kazakhstan, but it remains unclear whether it will happen and it won’t resolve the crisis overnight if it does, Germany’s leader said Thursday.Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in late December that he planned to meet Jan. 15 in Astana, the Kazakh capital, with Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Russian and French presidents. However, German and other officials haven’t confirmed the plan.The four countries’ foreign ministers are working on a “possible meeting in Astana” but more talks are needed over the coming days before it is clear whether it can go ahead, Merkel said after meeting Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Merkel, who will receive Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Friday, didn’t specify a date for the meeting. 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.”Merkel made clear that the entire Minsk agreement needs to be fulfilled before European Union sanctions against Russia can be lifted.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” and that there also now appears to be a constructive and “different Russian attitude” on diplomatic issues other than Ukraine.The New York Times also writes about Angela Merkel in its article “Merkel Says Moscow Must Show Tangible Progress to Ease Ukraine Crisis”. 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 on Wednesday 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 is “EU Seeks New Dialogue With Russia on Ukraine-Latvia” The European Union is looking for a way to launch a new dialogue with Russia over Ukraine, the Latvian foreign minister said on Thursday after meeting EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. "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 this weekend.“Poland to seek NATO response to Russia's Baltic exercises” says an article in 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."Siemoniak also denied that a U.S. Senate report, which in December made clear by implication that Poland had allowed the CIA to run secret detention facilities on its soil, had damaged the relationship between the two allies. Polish officials have expressed disappointment that the published version of the report contained enough detail to implicate Poland, putting it at risk of reprisal attacks.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. Former Soviet countries are feeling the pain as Russia, often the main trading partner, suffers from Western sanctions over Ukraine and a sliding oil price, which sent the Russian rouble 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.The Belarusian central bank, which cut the Belarusian rouble's official rate by about 7 percent on Monday, said it was further clipping the rate to 13,760 roubles per dollar starting on Jan. 9, from 12,740.Last month Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko sacked the prime minister and other senior ministers, after warning them there would be dismissals if they missed his economic objectives. At that time he said Belarus would not devalue its currency over Russian rouble weakness. The central bank has also imposed a 30 percent tax on buying foreign currency because of increased demand, although it lowered this to 10 percent for companies earlier this week and scrapped the duty entirely for individuals on Thursday.The Daily Mail writes about Turkey in its article “Suspected Kurdish militants attack Turkish police in southeastBest regards,Kate Vynnyk2015-01-08 23:23 GMT+03:00 английская версия <eng@vestikavkaza.ru>:The Washington Post today writes an article “Merkel: working on possible meeting on Ukraine in Kazakhstan” Major powers trying to resolve the conflict in Ukraine are working to set up a possible meeting in Kazakhstan, but it remains unclear whether it will happen and it won’t resolve the crisis overnight if it does, Germany’s leader said Thursday.Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in late December that he planned to meet Jan. 15 in Astana, the Kazakh capital, with Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Russian and French presidents. However, German and other officials haven’t confirmed the plan.The four countries’ foreign ministers are working on a “possible meeting in Astana” but more talks are needed over the coming days before it is clear whether it can go ahead, Merkel said after meeting Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Merkel, who will receive Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Friday, didn’t specify a date for the meeting. 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.”Merkel made clear that the entire Minsk agreement needs to be fulfilled before European Union sanctions against Russia can be lifted.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” and that there also now appears to be a constructive and “different Russian attitude” on diplomatic issues other than Ukraine.The New York Times also writes about Angela Merkel in its article “Merkel Says Moscow Must Show Tangible Progress to Ease Ukraine Crisis”. 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 on Wednesday 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 is “EU Seeks New Dialogue With Russia on Ukraine-Latvia” The European Union is looking for a way to launch a new dialogue with Russia over Ukraine, the Latvian foreign minister said on Thursday after meeting EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. "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 this weekend.“Poland to seek NATO response to Russia's Baltic exercises” says an article in 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."Siemoniak also denied that a U.S. Senate report, which in December made clear by implication that Poland had allowed the CIA to run secret detention facilities on its soil, had damaged the relationship between the two allies. Polish officials have expressed disappointment that the published version of the report contained enough detail to implicate Poland, putting it at risk of reprisal attacks.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. Former Soviet countries are feeling the pain as Russia, often the main trading partner, suffers from Western sanctions over Ukraine and a sliding oil price, which sent the Russian rouble 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.The Belarusian central bank, which cut the Belarusian rouble's official rate by about 7 percent on Monday, said it was further clipping the rate to 13,760 roubles per dollar starting on Jan. 9, from 12,740.Last month Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko sacked the prime minister and other senior ministers, after warning them there would be dismissals if they missed his economic objectives. At that time he said Belarus would not devalue its currency over Russian rouble weakness. The central bank has also imposed a 30 percent tax on buying foreign currency because of increased demand, although it lowered this to 10 percent for companies earlier this week and scrapped the duty entirely for individuals on Thursday.The Daily Mail writes about Turkey in its article “Suspected Kurdish militants attack Turkish police in southeastSuspected Kurdish militants fired a rocket at an armoured police vehicle and opened fire on a police station in the southeastern Turkish town of Cizre on Thursday, injuring two officers in a surge of violence threatening a fragile peace process.Security sources said the two officers were injured when their vehicle was hit by a rocket as they drove across a bridge while on patrol in the town. There was a brief gun battle as officers returned fire in the attack on the police station.Four people, two of them teenagers, have been killed over the past few weeks in clashes in Cizre.Some of the violence has been Kurdish infighting between Islamist Kurds and youth groups linked to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, but Kurdish protesters have also clashed with the Turkish police.Thirty-five people died in early October after Kurds rioted in several southeastern cities over what they perceived as the government's refusal to help Syrian Kurds fighting Islamic State militants in the besieged Syrian border town of Kobani.

 

The New York Times published an article called "‘Dangerous Moment’ for Europe, as Fear and Resentment Grow"The sophisticated, military-style strike Wednesday on a French newspaper known for satirizing Islam staggered a continent already seething with anti-immigrant sentiments in some quarters, feeding far-right nationalist parties like France’s National Front.

 

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, which is estimated to have the largest Muslim population in Europe.The Washington Post today writes an article “Merkel: working on possible meeting on Ukraine in Kazakhstan” Major powers trying to resolve the conflict in Ukraine are working to set up a possible meeting in Kazakhstan, but it remains unclear whether it will happen and it won’t resolve the crisis overnight if it does, Germany’s leader said Thursday.

 

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in late December that he planned to meet Jan. 15 in Astana, the Kazakh capital, with Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Russian and French presidents. However, German and other officials haven’t confirmed the plan.
The four countries’ foreign ministers are working on a “possible meeting in Astana” but more talks are needed over the coming days before it is clear whether it can go ahead, Merkel said after meeting Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Merkel, who will receive Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Friday, didn’t specify a date for the meeting. 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.”
Merkel made clear that the entire Minsk agreement needs to be fulfilled before European Union sanctions against Russia can be lifted.
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” and that there also now appears to be a constructive and “different Russian attitude” on diplomatic issues other than Ukraine.

 

The New York Times also writes about Angela Merkel in its article “Merkel Says Moscow Must Show Tangible Progress to Ease Ukraine Crisis”. 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 on Wednesday 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 is “EU Seeks New Dialogue With Russia on Ukraine-Latvia” The European Union is looking for a way to launch a new dialogue with Russia over Ukraine, the Latvian foreign minister said on Thursday after meeting EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. "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 this weekend.

 

“Poland to seek NATO response to Russia's Baltic exercises” says an article in 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."
Siemoniak also denied that a U.S. Senate report, which in December made clear by implication that Poland had allowed the CIA to run secret detention facilities on its soil, had damaged the relationship between the two allies. Polish officials have expressed disappointment that the published version of the report contained enough detail to implicate Poland, putting it at risk of reprisal attacks.

 

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. Former Soviet countries are feeling the pain as Russia, often the main trading partner, suffers from Western sanctions over Ukraine and a sliding oil price, which sent the Russian rouble 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.