Новости за 11.06.2017

A long-awaited day finally dawned. Thousands of Ukrainians entered Schengen Area countries on June 11 without first having to obtain visas, on the first day of visa-free travel to 34 European nations. Visa-free travel was possible for those who already have biometric passports — containing a microchip with personal data, including fingerprints. A day to […]

Police in Moscow say they are preparing for “provocations” during upcoming Russian opposition protests, in a warning to the thousands expected to rally against Russian government corruption on Monday. Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny summoned an unprecedented number of protesters in March, spanning at least 25 cities. The protests came off the back of a popular […]

Visa-free short-stay access to the EU has begun for Ukrainians – but only those with biometric passports. Cheering, hundreds entered the EU in what President Poroshenko called a symbolic “final breakaway” from Moscow. On Sunday, Ukrainians celebrated their first day of visa-free access to most of the EU’s 28 nations following a measure adopted by […]

BEIRUT — A U.S.-backed Syrian opposition force said Sunday it has captured a northwestern neighborhood of the Islamic State group’s de-facto capital of Raqqa the second district to fall in their hands in days after the group launched a wide offensive to gain control of the extremists’ de facto capital. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces […]

LONDON — British police say everyone arrested over the Manchester concert bombing has been released without charge, but detectives are still not sure whether the attacker had accomplices. Salman Abedi detonated a knapsack bomb as crowds were leaving an Ariana Grande concert on May 22, killing 22 people. He also died. Read more here

Ukrainians were on Sunday celebrating the first day of visa-free access to the European Union, with hundreds crossing the border as President Petro Poroshenko proclaimed a dramatic “breakaway” from Moscow. The move is symbolic for Kyiv, where a pro-EU revolt in 2014 toppled the previous Russia-backed government and was followed by Moscow’s annexation of the […]

The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has opened his presidential election campaign office in Perm. He met local volunteers from the campaign and discussed an upcoming nationwide anti-corruption protest on Monday. The opposition leader plans to open 77 affiliated offices around Russia to push his bid to become president next year. Read more here

Anti-Putin activists planning a demonstration in Moscow on Sunday have been ordered to gather far from Red Square, for fear that the crowd’s size will embarrass the Kremlin. Another group of protesters has been relegated to a remote forest, reported The Sunday Times of London. Read more here

Hundreds of Ukrainians entered the EU on Sunday, marking the first day of visa-free travel into the EU for Ukraine, according to Agence France-Presse. “The visa-free regime for Ukraine has started! Glory to Europe! Glory to Ukraine!” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko tweeted early Sunday. Read more here

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and President of Slovakia Andrej Kiska took part in a symbolic ceremony at the Slovak-Ukrainian border on the occasion of the introduction of a visa-free regime between Ukraine and the Schengen countries, according to an UNIAN correspondent. The leaders of the states opened a symbolic “door” to Europe at the Uzhgorod […]

The first visa-free train with a group of more than 40 Ukrainian activists, experts, analysts, artists and journalists has departed from Kyiv to the Polish city of Przemysl, according to an UNIAN correspondent. Representatives of the Ukrainian government and foreign diplomats solemnly saw off the train from the central railway station of Kyiv. Read more […]

LONDON — One of the first police officers on the scene of the London Bridge attack says he was met by pandemonium, as people fled in panic and the wounded lay on sidewalks. But he also described how, within minutes, police had killed the attackers, ushered bystanders to safety and begun treating and evacuating the […]

MOSCOW – Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny is calling on thousands of his supporters to join him at nationwide anti-government protests to mark Russia Day on Monday. Navalny’s supporters have filed applications to hold demonstrations in some 200 towns and cities across the country. Read more here

A gunman who killed at least four people in a village southeast of Moscow has been shot dead in a firefight with security personnel, Russian state media report. TASS news agency on June 11 quoted spokeswoman Irina Volk as saying “the joint operation of the Interior Ministry and National Guard forces is over. The gunman […]

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions says he has agreed to appear on June 13 before a Senate committee investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In a June 10 letter seen by news agencies, Sessions said he made his decision to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee in light of testimony by former […]

On June 11, the decision of the Council of the European Union to introduce a visa-free regime for short trips of Ukrainian citizens to 30 countries of the European Union and the Schengen zone came into force. A visa-free regime allows Ukrainians who have a biometric passport of a citizen of Ukraine to stay and […]

A deal among oil-producing countries to curb production and balance an oversupplied market will achieve its objective in the first quarter of next year, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said, after prices slipped on news of a build-up in U.S. inventories. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other crude producers including Russia agreed on […]

PARIS — French voters are choosing lawmakers in the lower house of parliament on Sunday in a vote that is crucial for newly-elected president Emmanuel Macron. A total of 7,882 candidates are running for 577 seats in the National Assembly in Sunday’s first round of the two-stage legislative elections. Top vote-getters advance to the decisive […]

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Voters in Kosovo were casting their ballots Sunday in an early general election for the new 120-seat parliament. At stake are thorny issues of the border demarcation deal with Montenegro that brought down the previous government, and the approval of another deal with Serbia giving more rights to the ethnic Serb minority. […]

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani says dialogue will solve the diplomatic crisis dividing the Gulf Arab nations. Read more here

Thousands gathered on European Square in central Kyiv as dusk fell on June 10 to celebrate the introduction of visa-free travel for Ukrainians to most European Union countries. The crowd enjoyed a concert organized by the authorities as the clock ticked down to the introduction of the visa-free regime at midnight on June 11. Ukrainian […]

Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli congratulated Ukrainians on the launch of the visa-free travel across the European Union, the Ukrainian president’s press service reports. The EU Ambassador noted that three years ago Ukrainians had made their European choice and today “the first concrete and real confirmation of this European choice takes […]

MOSCOW – The authorities in numerous cities across Russia have harassed and intimidated schoolchildren and university students who participated in anti-corruption demonstrations on March 26, 2017, Human Rights Watch said today. Officials also harassed and intimidated parents for allowing children to take part in protests. “Rather than responding to legitimate public demands for accountable government, the […]

In an interview with DW’s Zhanna Nemtsova, Erna Solberg said that she doesn’t consider Russia to be a threat to Norway’s security. The prime minister also fully backed the European Union’s sanctions against Moscow. “We don’t believe that Russia is a direct threat to Norway, but we believe that Russia has become more unpredictable in […]

Ukrainians officially gain visa-free travel to the European Union as early morning arrived on June 11, a move the country’s president earlier welcomed as a “a final ‘goodbye’ to the Russian Empire.” Read the story here