Новости за 21.10.2021

The European Parliament announced that Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has won the Sakharov Prize for defending human rights. The parliament's president David Sassoli wrote on Twitter: "Alexei Navalny is the winner of this year's #SakharovPrize. He has fought tirelessly against the corruption of Vladimir Putin's regime. This cost him his liberty and nearly his life. Today's prize recognises his immense bravery and we reiterate our call for his immediate release."

Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann, a fierce critic of the European Central Bank's loose monetary policy, will step down more than five years early, opening the door for Germany's new government to pick a less confrontational successor, Reuters reports. Weidmann said he would leave for personal reasons at the end of this year, just days after the ECB is set to make a decision on winding down pandemic-era stimulus.

"Hatred, violence and intolerance" were no longer hiding in the "dark corners" of the internet or secret societies, but becoming mainstream and risking the "undermining of democracy", EU equality commissioner Helena Dali told MEPs Wednesday, referring to fascist groups in Italy who recently staged anti-vaccination riots. She urged a "prompt and comprehensive response" to combat neo-nazi groups across the continent, with Italy already having arrested the leaders of one party.

The UK could soon be experiencing as many as 100,000 coronavirus cases per day, Britain's health minister Sajid Javid said on Wednesday, as the country's health service said hospitals were already on the brink with winter just beginning, Deutsche Welle reports. The stark warning came 24 hours after the UK recorded its highest Covid death toll since March.

The EU and US have "serious concerns about increasingly divisive rhetoric in Bosnia", US secretary of state Antony Blinken and EU foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell said Thursday, alluding to secessionist talk by the leaders of its Serbian entity, Republika Srpska. "This region belongs in the European Union" they added, while urging local politicians to "resume constructive dialogue, and take steps to advance progress on the EU integration path".

Dutch lawyers are seeking damages on the behalf of a Syrian family they say were unlawfully returned to Turkey from Greece on a Frontex-operated return mission.

Russia is hosting the Taliban for talks in Moscow in an effort to boost its influence across central Asia, Deutsche Welle reports. Moscow officials also called for action against "Islamic State" fighters, who Russia says have increased their presence in Afghanistan since the Taliban's takeover. Officials from 10 different countries, including China and Pakistan, are attending the talks. Moscow said it was not yet ready to recognise the Taliban government.

The summit discussion comes after the EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said this week the bloc's executive will take action against Warsaw, for challenging the supremacy of EU law.

MEPs have backed the EU's Farm to Fork strategy for sustainable food systems, despite considerable efforts by agri-food lobbyists to delay and weaken the proposal.

The EU has called for an end to energy price speculation, but it is still unclear how far the commission is willing to go to stem market forces.

Romania was criticised during a crisis in the Suez canal earlier this year when the country was the source of 130,000 of the 200,000 live animals stranded without food and water during the shipping bottleneck.

Fair Trials, EDRi and other civil society organisations are calling on MEPs to hold true to protect our fundamental rights. We urge MEPs to vote against the revision of Europol's mandate, which distinctly lacks meaningful accountability and safeguards.