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Polish minister suggests country could quit EU
due to ‘blackmail’ over judicial reforms
6 Aug, 2021 11:29
Poland’s justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, has indicated that his government could consider leaving the EU bloc over “illegal blackmail” attempts by its top court amid a dispute over proposed judicial reforms.
Speaking to Polish daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita, Ziobro slammed the EU ahead of an August 16 ruling to obey a decision from the Court of Justice or face potential financial repercussions, threatening that his country would not remain in the EU “at any cost.”
The warning to EU officials about their dictation of Poland’s domestic affairs was paired with a firm declaration that the government would not succumb “to the illegal blackmail of the European Union carried out by the Court of Justice.”
The belief that the EU is a good uncle and gives us money, and that we should accept all its demands at all costs, is propaganda and false.
Ziobro, who leads the United Poland party, the junior member of the governing coalition, has led the judicial reforms the EU have argued undermine the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law – a key principle of the bloc.
The disagreement between the EU and Poland centers on the member state’s judicial reforms, which began to be introduced after the Law and Justice Party took office in 2015. The reforms made changes to the retirement age of Supreme Court justices, resulting in the removal of 20 judges, changes to the term length of ordinary court judges, and the implementation of a measure allowing for justices to be investigated and punished for court rulings.
The recent Court of Justice ruling focuses on the last of these, with the European Commission demanding that Poland disband a disciplinary chamber for judges that political opponents and the EU have claimed has been politicized. Poland’s Supreme Court partially froze the disciplinary group on Thursday, but the ruling Law and Justice Party has been divided over whether to fully comply with the EU’s decision.
EU member states urge Brussels to send refugees back
to war-torn Afghanistan
10 Aug, 2021 11:41
Afghanistan, August 10, 2021. © Reuters / Stringer
Despite growing levels of conflict in Afghanistan amid the US-led troops withdrawal, six European Union member states have banded together to urge the EU Commission to continue deporting Afghans back home.
Belgium’s Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Sammy Mahdi confirmed that he had urged the European Commission to reconsider blocking the deportation of Afghans back to their war-torn country. Mahdi was joined by Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Greece in a letter which asked the Commission to “continue to guarantee the forced return of certain Afghans.”
“Stopping returns sends the wrong signal and is likely to motivate even more Afghan citizens to leave their home for the EU,” the countries said in the letter, as reported by Reuters.
On Twitter, Madhi argued that “just because regions of a country are not safe, it does not mean that each national of that country is automatically entitled to protection.”
He added that Afghans who, after a thorough and independent investigation, appear to have “no need for asylum” cannot remain in Belgium.
The letter, and Madhi’s justification for the request, has received criticism online. One journalist responded saying “care for human life is not a marketing ploy” and that asking to send people back to countries at war is “not a well thought out policy.”
Earlier in July, Kabul requested that EU member states put a pause on deporting Afghans back to Afghanistan for three months. The European Court of Human Rights also opposed the deportations, leading Austria to postpone the flights last week.
Concerns are centered around the rapidly worsening conflict with the Taliban, who on Monday captured their sixth provincial capital in Afghanistan. The militants’ offensive has intensified since the withdrawal of US and European troops from Afghanistan began.
It's very surprising that Germany is on that list. Quite a change in policy over the past 6 years.
US invited to station troops & rocket systems in Ukraine in potential
major escalation of tense standoff across border with Russia
10 Aug, 2021 14:49
A top Ukrainian politician has called on Washington to deploy its military, including army units and air defense systems, to the troubled Eastern European nation, in what would undoubtedly be seen by Moscow as a grave provocation.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Reznikov revealed he had made the request as part of a visit to the United States, during a meeting with the Jamestown Foundation, a think-tank which the Russian government has previously accused of spreading propaganda against the country.
“It is important to expand the security package for Ukraine,” Reznikov said. “First of all, with the stationing of air defense forces, and even by deploying American units.” The politician added that Ukrainian legislation already allows for foreign troops to be based in the country.
Russia has repeatedly said that the presence of US military personnel on its borders with Ukraine would be a major red line in the simmering political conflict between the two nations. In February, Kiev called on NATO to begin flying warplanes and troop transports near the disputed Crimean Peninsula. Moscow has insisted that such moves are “provocative” and increase the chances of a potentially catastrophic incident, undermining regional stability.
At the same time, Reznikov said that an increased presence of Western forces in his country was necessary because of Russian dominance over the Black Sea, the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, and Moscow’s “influence in the Balkans.”
In addition, the deputy prime minister repeated allegations that the Kremlin may be planning to station nuclear weapons in Crimea. Russian officials, including Yury Gempel, the head of the Crimean parliament’s diplomatic committee, have blasted the claims as “unsubstantiated.” State Duma member Andrey Kozenko went further, saying those pushing the purported conspiracy without evidence should see “a psychotherapist” rather than making appeals to the West.
I am inclined to believe Kozenko is right. I'm sure Americans are not that insane as to be tempted to place weapons on the Russian border thereby turning Ukraine into a modern-day Cuban missile crisis. Ukraine, itself, should not be that stupid. The last time they did something really stupid it cost them the Crimea. This trick would cost them much more.
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