Новости за 22.03.2021

China has blacklisted five MEPs, three European national MPs, two European scholars, and four entities, including the "Political and Security Committee of the Council of the European Union". The individuals, plus their families, were put under an asset-freeze and visa-ban the same day the EU imposed measures on Chinese officials over Uighur-abuses. China's targets were said to "severely harm China's sovereignty and interests and maliciously spread lies and disinformation".

EU foreign ministers blacklisted four Chinese officials over "serious human rights violations" against the Uighur minority Monday, in their first sanctions on Beijing since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. They also listed two Russians for crimes, including "torture", against LGBTI people, two Libyan militia chiefs wanted for massacres, two North Korean officials, and one from South Sudan, as well as four entities, including one from Eritrea, over "extra-judicial killings".

Violence broke out in the central German city of Kassel on Saturday at an anti-lockdown protest by 20,000 people, Reuters reports. "Bottles were thrown and there were attempts to break through barriers," police said on Twitter, after using water cannon and pepper spray. Crowds carried placards saying "No compulsory vaccination" and "Democracy will not tolerate censorship" and refused to wear masks or social-distance.

Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov urged Russia to dial down espionage activity in his country after prosecutors charged six people for spying last week. "Once again it could be necessary to declare Russian diplomats as unwanted. With regards the operation yesterday, I again address their superiors to stop spying in Bulgaria," Borissov said, Reuters reports. The US and UK voiced solidarity against Russia's "malign activities", while Russia complained of "demonisation".

Keith Schembri, the one-time chief-of-staff of former prime minister Joseph Muscat, was hauled into police detention Saturday on 11 charges of corruption, including money laundering, criminal conspiracy, fraud, and forgery, The Times of Malta reports. His arrest is ongoing fall-out from investigations into the 2017 murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who wrote about Schembri and Muscat's corruption schemes. The murder itself was ordered by a Maltese oligarch, however.

The German Green Party promised to scrap the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline with Russia if they enter government. "The pipeline project Nord Stream 2 is not only a political project because of its climate and energy implications but also because it causes damage on the geopolitical level," its programme said. The party did well in recent regional elections, but Nord-Stream 2 could be a coalition deal-breaker with the CDU.

Fewer Europeans trust the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine after several countries reported side-effects, such as blood clots, an opinion poll by YouGov showed on Monday, even though scientific studies have found it is safe and effective, Reuters reports. Sixty-one percent of French adults surveyed said the vaccine was unsafe, a rise of 18 percentage points compared to February, YouGov said.

Europe should be ready to kick Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan where it hurts (in his economy) if he goes back to his gas-drilling piracy in the Mediterranean, EU officials have said.

MEPs working on the new EU-wide asylum reforms have cast doubt on whether agreement will be reached with their co-legislating member state counterparts. A proposal to create independent monitors on human rights is also on shaky ground.

The EU Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly said the European Commission was guilty of "maladministration" by failing to make a timely assessment of any environmental impact from the EU-Mercosur trade deal before finalising negotiations in 2019.

Ahead of the EU summit, on Monday foreign affairs ministers are set to approve a new package of sanctions on individuals in several countries, including China and Russia, over human rights abuses.

Those who want to get the jab have to register and book a place on the government-run vaccination platform at the clinic nearest to them - which, for many in large urban areas, proved impossible to do.

The Left won't let this pass. The European Parliament must establish a Committee of Inquiry to investigate the EU Commission for illegal conduct, maladministration and negligence, and to make sure these mistakes don't happen again.