European Politics > Russia turning off Euro gas; BoJo bows out; EU Charter now includes Abortion Rights

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Germany fears for gas supply as Russia to shut down Nord Stream pipeline

By Sheri Walsh

Russian gas company Gazprom plans to shut-down the European Union's largest gas pipeline, Nord Stream 1, for maintenance, raising gas supply fears in Germany -- an concerns it may not be turned back on. File photo by Igor Golovniov/Shutterstock

July 5 (UPI) -- Russia plans to shut down Europe's largest gas pipeline, Nord Stream, for annual maintenance, next week with some in Germany fearing the temporary shut-down could become permanent.

Russian gas company Gazprom, which owns the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that runs under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, announced maintenance is scheduled to run from July 11 to 22 to "test mechanical and automated systems."

But some in the European Union, which now relies on the Russian pipeline for about 40% of its gas, are not convinced the testing will run according to schedule.

"We cannot rule out the possibility that gas transport will not be resumed afterwards for political reasons," Klaus Mueller, Head of Germany's energy regulator told CNBC.

If supply "doesn't come back after maintenance because President Putin plays games or wants to hit Europe while it hurts, then the plan to fill up gas storage by the end of summer will probably not work," Henning Gloystein, director of energy, climate and resources at Eurasia Group told CNBC.

Germany, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands are all prepared to use coal-fired plants to make up for any new gas shortages. A number of European countries have also been filling underground storage with natural gas supplies to make sure there is enough fuel for the winter.

Last month, Gazprom announced it was cutting its output to Europe because of a maintenance issue, forcing Germany to warn its citizens to conserve.

"The gas flows from the Nord Stream 1 were throttled yesterday to around 40% of the maximum capacity," Germany's Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection said on its website.

German leaders saw the move as an attack on Europe over its rebuke of Russia's war in Ukraine and now worry next week's maintenance could drag on longer.

"Germany has Europe's biggest population, it's the biggest economy, it's the biggest gas consumer, it's the biggest single importer of Russian gas, and it has got nine land borders," Gloystein said. "So, whatever happens in Germany spills into the rest of Europe."

Bojo the Clown bows out of the Big Top

Boris Johnson agrees to resign, will remain PM for now

By Sean Boynton  Global News

Posted July 7, 2022 2:21 pm

Boris Johnson has resigned as Britain’s prime minister, bringing an end to one of the rockiest tenures for a world leader in modern times after a series of scandals rocked his government’s confidence in him.

Bowing to growing pressure as more than 50 ministers quit and lawmakers said he must go, Johnson spoke outside his Downing Street office Thursday to confirm he would resign.

“It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister,” Johnson said.

However, he said he will remain as British prime minister while a leadership contest is held to choose his successor. He will remain an MP after he steps down, one of his close aides confirmed on Twitter.

“The process of choosing that new leader should begin now. And today I have appointed a cabinet to serve, as I will until a new leader is in place,” Johnson said.

After U.K.’s Boris Johnson steps down, who could become the next PM?

Among the possible candidates to succeed him include former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.

The leader of the opposition Labour party, Keir Starmer, welcomed the news of Johnson’s resignation, but said it should have happened “long ago”.

“He was always unfit for office. He has been responsible for lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale,” Starmer said.

Truss, a Conservative MP, also said Johnson was right to step down as prime minister.

“The PM has made the right decision,” she said. “We need calmness and unity now and to keep governing while a new leader is found.”

Fall from grace

Johnson’s exit marks a remarkable fall from grace for the charismatic Conservative leader, who just two-and-a-half years ago was celebrating an overwhelming election victory and the full backing of his party.

He had vowed to move forward as prime minister after narrowly surviving a confidence vote last month that was triggered by shifting stories about COVID-19 lockdown-breaking parties in government offices — some of which he attended.

But that stance proved untenable after two of his most senior cabinet ministers quit Tuesday over similarly shifting explanations about his handling of a sexual misconduct scandal that dogged a recent government appointee.

Treasury chief Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid resigned within minutes of each other, costing Johnson the support of the men responsible for tackling two of the biggest issues facing Britain — the cost-of-living crisis and surging COVID-19 infections.

Those two were then joined by solicitor general Alex Chalk, who also joined four parliamentary private secretaries, the Conservative Party’s vice-chair and two trade envoys in abandoning Johnson and resigning. Several more ministers and government officials followed that first group out the door Wednesday, further endangering the prime minister.

In their resignation letters, Sunak and Javid both said Johnson’s credibility had been shattered by the growing list of scandals, with Chalk adding that public confidence in the government under its current leadership had “irretrievably broken down.”

European Parliament votes to include abortion rights in EU Charter

By Simon Druker

   

Abortion rights activist Julianne D' Eredita addresses demonstrators June 26 during a march from the U.S. Supreme Court to the White House in Washington to protest the court's overturning of Roe vs. Wade. Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI | License

July 7 (UPI) -- Members of the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution calling for the right to abortion to be included in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the legislative body said Thursday.

The resolution was adopted by a vote of 324 MEPs in favor, 155 against with 38 abstentions.

"A proposal should be submitted to the [European] Council to amend Article 7 of the charter, adding that 'everyone has the right to safe and legal abortion,'" the parliament said in a news release.

Parliamentary members expect the EC to meet to discuss a convention to revise the European Union Treaties at a future date.

This comes after the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned federal protection of abortion rights, leaving to each state to restrict or ban abortion.

Thursday's resolution by the European Parliament also condemns the U.S. Supreme Court decision.

The parliament said it is urging its members to lobby member states to decriminalize abortion and "to remove and combat the remaining legal, financial, social and practical restrictions still hampering access in some member states."

In June, MEPs adopted a resolution calling for the landmark Roe vs. Wade case to be upheld.

Abortion rights vary widely among EU members, with Malta having the strictest restrictions, not allowing the procedure under any circumstances.

"Today, the [European Parliament] has stood up for all women by sending a strong message that will resonate worldwide," MEP Susana Solís Pérez said in a statement to Politico.

"Safe and legal abortion is a fundamental right and, as such, it should be included in our charter."

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European Politics > Ukraine invasion imminent or not? Negotiations with Russia; Germany's Heating costs double; Bojo empties the circus ring

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Ukraine invasion no longer ‘imminent’ – White House

The US is no longer using the word because it created an unintended message,

says Jen Psaki

White House press secretary Jen Psaki gestures as she speaks during the daily White House press briefing on February 02, 2022 in Washington, DC. © Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images

The US government is no longer using the word ‘imminent’ in its narrative around the alleged Russian ‘invasion’ of Ukraine, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, on Wednesday, explaining that it was sending an unintended message.

“I used it once. I think others have used that once, and we stopped using it because I think it sent a message that we weren't intending to send, which was that we knew that President Putin had made a decision,” Psaki said at a press briefing.

“I would say the vast majority of times I've talked about it, I've said he could invade ‘at any time,’” she added.

Psaki’s remarks come after the US envoy to the UN backtracked from the use of ‘imminent’ in an interview with NPR aired on Tuesday.

“No, I would not say that we are arguing that it’s imminent,” Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the broadcaster.

The official transcript of Psaki’s January 25 briefing says otherwise, however. Asked whether the Russian invasion of Ukraine – which the US media and intelligence agencies have claimed since late October would happen any day now – was still “imminent,” here’s what Psaki had to say.

“When we said it was imminent, it remains imminent,” she told one reporter.

“Well, ‘imminent’ has a pretty intense meaning. Doesn’t it?” she said in answer to the very next question. 

“And it’s still the belief that it’s imminent?” was the followup, to which Psaki replied, “Correct.”

Since then, however, Ukrainian media have floated a theory that the whole thing was a big misunderstanding, since there was no exact translation for ‘imminent’ in Ukrainian. The explanation was picked up by Politico, which also claimed that the word was mistranslated as ‘inevitable’ to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

However, Zelensky's native language is Russian, which translates the term – derived from Latin – just fine.

Zelensky, even while he loads up troops in southern Ukraine (bordering Crimea), is demanding that the USA and NATO stop with the hysterics about an imminent invasion. It is driving investment away from Ukraine, which it cannot afford.

Leaked US & NATO replies to Russia: What you need to know

It seems the West has rejected Moscow’s core demands, but proposed steps to ease tensions

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks to the media in Brussels, Belgium, January 12, 2022.

© John Thys/AFP

In December, Russia requested that the US and NATO produce definitive written responses to its proposals on assurances addressing security concerns. The letters were sent to Moscow last week. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters at the time that the correspondence should stay confidential. However, the two letters were allegedly leaked in full to Spanish newspaper El Pais and published on Wednesday.

What did the US and NATO propose?

The West has apparently offered general transparency and confidence-building steps. These include utilizing existing military communication channels, setting up a civilian hotline for emergencies, and the reopening of the respective missions in Moscow and Brussels.

NATO specifically writes about exchanging information about military drills with Russia, and measures like earlier notices of snap exercises and sending more observers to monitor them. This could reduce some day-to-day tension and dangerous incidents along East European borders, as both sides have frequently accused each other of provocative maneuvers in the air and at sea. A particularly grim altercation occurred in the Black Sea last year, when Russia said it had to fire warning shots to ward off a British warship from its waters near Crimea.

There can be hurdles as well. For instance, Russian media reported last week that there were still disagreements with the US-led bloc over the size of its mission in Brussels.

What are Russia and the West arguing about?

The main point of contention seems to be the concept of the ‘indivisibility of security’ in Europe.

Russia often points to the 1999 OSCE Charter for European Security, which says that each country “has an equal right to security,” and countries “will not strengthen their security at the expense of the security of other states.” This formula was affirmed in the OSCE’s declaration at the 2010 summit in Astana (now Nur-Sultan), Kazakhstan. Moscow argues that this means NATO and the US cannot expand their military infrastructure eastward without Russia’s consent.

In the response leaked to El Pais, Washington said it was ready to discuss “our interpretations” of indivisibility of security. This caveat stems from NATO’s insistence that it is a purely defensive alliance that does not pose any threat to Russia, contrary to what Russia itself says.

In a letter to the US and its allies, published on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Western countries of ignoring the concept of indivisibility of security altogether in favor of cherry-picking “elements that suit them” from international documents, namely those guaranteeing the freedom of individual states to choose their alliances. He highlighted that the West’s written responses demonstrated “serious differences” in the understanding of the issue.

Speaking on Russian TV last week, Lavrov argued that it was “difficult” to view NATO as a defensive alliance, considering its interventions in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Libya.

Are we any closer to a breakthrough?

NATO presented a laundry list of demands, including the withdrawal of Russian forces from Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, which implies that Moscow must return Crimea to Kiev.

Russia has repeatedly stated that Crimea’s reunification with the country in 2014 is irreversible. It's also constitutionally impossible, under amendments voted on in 2020. 

It is highly unlikely that Moscow will remove its peacekeepers from Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region, where they have been stationed since the early 1990s, until the frozen conflict there is resolved. It is similarly hard to see Russian peacekeepers being removed from Abkhazia and South Ossetia, whose independence from Georgia was recognized by Russia in 2008.

The US has allegedly written it stands ready to talk about “reciprocal commitments” not to deploy offensive ground-launched missile systems and permanent combat troops in Ukraine, which also implies that Russia must abandon Crimea.

Russia’s demand for NATO to publicly abandon its so-called ‘open-door policy’ of accepting new member states seems equally unrealistic at this point, after the US and NATO reaffirmed the right of any country to seek membership in the bloc.

What’s next?

After a flurry of talks in January, the parties agreed to maintain dialogue and look for a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Russia announced that British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was set to visit the country this month. However, Truss tested positive for Covid on Monday and switched to working remotely.

In a bid to ease tensions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the West last week not to spread panic.

The US and the EU are, meanwhile, gearing up for new sanctions if Russia attacks Ukraine. At a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia once again rejected claims that Russia was planning to attack its neighbor. 

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Heating costs double in Europe’s biggest economy

Germany’s household energy costs saw the greatest rise in 2021

© Getty Images / Peter Dazeley

The cost of heating and electricity in Germany increased by 107% and 41% respectively over the past year, Der Spiegel reported, citing a spokesperson of the Check24 portal, which compares prices for goods and services in the country.

According to data, the average household in Germany had to pay €1,193 for gas and fuel oil in January 2021, with the cost rising to almost €2,472 last month. The main reason for that was the sharp rise in energy prices, the newspaper said, adding that high wholesale gas prices have affected end-user prices.

The price for 5,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity hit a record high of €2,130 in January 2022. That is 41% higher than in the same month last year, Der Spiegel wrote.

According to the Check24 spokesperson, the dramatic rise was the result of the increased cost of generating electricity from coal and gas power plants, as well as a decline in production of renewable energy and higher domestic demand.

I have to believe that opening Nord Stream II would make a big difference.

Four senior aides to Boris Johnson resign from No 10

Published 4 minutes ago

Four senior aides to Boris Johnson have resigned from Downing Street within hours of each other amid growing pressure on the prime minister.

Director of communications Jack Doyle confirmed his exit shortly after the departure of policy head Munira Mirza.

They were followed by the chief of staff Dan Rosenfield and senior civil servant Martin Reynolds.

The top aides' resignations come as Mr Johnson faces increasing questions over his leadership from within his party.

Mr Doyle told staff that "recent weeks have taken a terrible toll on my family life", but that he had always intended to leave after two years.

A statement from a No 10 spokeswoman said Mr Rosenfield had offered his resignation to the prime minister earlier on Thursday, but would stay on while his successor was found.

And Mr Reynolds - the prime minister's principal private secretary - will do the same, but then return to a role at the Foreign Office.

A number of MPs supportive of the prime minister have been tweeting praise, suggesting Mr Johnson was responsible for making necessary staff changes following a damning report by civil servant Sue Gray into rule-breaking parties in No 10 during the pandemic.

However, Ms Mirza quit over the PM's false claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile when he was director of public prosecutions, and his refusal to apologise.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak publicly distanced himself from the PM's original comment, saying: "Being honest, I wouldn't have said it."

And asked if Mr Johnson should apologise, he said: "That's for the prime minister to decide."

Labour's deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said: "No amount of reorganising Downing Street can clean up the sleaze that comes straight from the top.

"With [Mr Johnson's] senior advisers and aides quitting, perhaps it is finally time for him to look in the mirror and consider if he might just be the problem."

European Politics > Austrian Leaders Stepping Down, New Chancellor Named; Macron Labels - BoJo the Clown; Finland Cautions EU; Germany Cautions NATO

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Austrian Chancellor Schallenberg stepping down

Kurz to Leave Politics

2 Dec, 2021 16:56 

FILE PHOTO: Alexander Schallenberg at the presidential palace in Vienna, Austria on October 10, 2021

© REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Alexander Schallenberg has announced he is resigning as chancellor of Austria, just two months after taking office. He said he would remain in the post until his party agrees a new leader in the wake of Sebastian Kurz’s departure.

Just hours earlier, Schallenberg’s predecessor and People's Party leader Kurz said he was leaving politics and would officially step down as party chair on Friday. 

In a statement on Thursday, Schallenberg said he believes “that both positions – head of government and leader of the Austrian party with the most votes – should soon once again be held by the same person.” 

“I am therefore making my post as chancellor available as soon as the relevant course has been set within the party,” he added.

Schallenberg had stepped into the chancellorship after Kurz left office amid corruption allegations in October. Many expected the latter to return, but he announced his retirement from politics completely on Thursday, insisting the move was not an admission of guilt, but rather a personal decision.

The Austrian prosecutor’s office for economic crimes and corruption has opened an investigation into Kurz and a number of his close associates after accusations they manipulated opinion polls alongside misusing public funds to secure favorable media coverage of his policies between 2016 and 2018. Kurz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Karl Nehammer, Austria’s minister of the interior, has been unanimously supported by the ruling conservative party to become the country’s next chancellor.

Macron labels Johnson ‘a clown’ – media

Bojo's a good name for a clown!

2 Dec, 2021 10:53

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson greets France's President Emmanuel Macron (FILE PHOTO)

© Alastair Grant/Pool via REUTERS

The French president has reportedly called British PM Boris Johnson “a clown” and said it was a shame to see such a great country, which France could cooperate with, run by a knucklehead.

According to the weekly satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné, French President Emmanuel Macron made some highly controversial and undiplomatic remarks about British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a meeting in Zagreb in late November.    

Le Canard Enchaîné claimed on Wednesday that Macron said Johnson is apologetic for the way he acts in public and his stance on fishing licenses for French trawlers and the submarine deal which saw a French manufacturer lose a $40 billion contract with Australia.  

“In private, he tells me he's sorry he acts like he does, conceding he has first and foremost to accommodate public opinion,” Macron stated, adding that Johnson has apparently realised that Brexit is in fact a big mess. According to the journal, Macron points to fuel shortages and empty shelves as evidence, although many people have dismissed Brexit as the cause of the supply chain issues. 

Macron apparently described his dealing with the prime minister as “a circus,” noting that they will talk in person, and everything is fine, but then he goes and does something in “an inelegant way.” The comment is seemingly a reference to Johnson’s publication of a letter addressed to Macron on November 25 in which he outlines a plan to deal with the migrant crisis one day after 27 died in a failed English Channel crossing.  

Macron concluded that it is “very sad to see a great country, with which we could do a lot of things, led by a clown. A clown or a proud knucklehead? Or both?” 

Relations between the UK and France have deteriorated to their worst in decades amid rows over Brexit, fishing and the AUKUS submarine pact. 

France reacted to Johnson’s publicized letter last week by withdrawing an invitation to Home Secretary Priti Patel, who was due to meet with her French counterpart in Calais to discuss the migrant crisis. The French move was criticized for being counterproductive. 

'Don't undermine Russia' – Finnish President advises West

6 Dec, 2021 12:49

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto. © Sputnik / Ramil Sitdikov

Despite worsening relations between Moscow and the West, Russia’s interests cannot be ignored, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö has said, explaining how his nation has built relations with its much larger neighbor.

“With the Russians, the most important thing is not to undermine relations and not to ignore them,” the Finnish leader explained in an interview published by The Sunday Times over the weekend.

He gave the example of the former mayor of the Finnish city of Turku, who, he said, met with Vladimir Putin several times in the early 1990s (before Putin became President of Russia). According to Niinistö, Putin was so charmed by the respect shown to him by the mayor, he continues to invite him on trips to Moscow.

Still, the president added, “One must be firm in one’s position.”

Explaining the potential for military tensions on Russia's vast border, Niinistö said, “Of course, they say they want to guarantee the safety of Murmansk Oblast, that they’re building up and fortifying their defenses. But as we all know, the sea is endless in scale. Where does the defense start and how far does it extend?”

In September, Niinistö called on the governments of Europe to rethink their foreign policy and engage in closer dialogue with Russia. “Instead of attempts at cooperation, we have growing distrust and mutual accusations,” he said. “Our relations with Russia are founded on active, direct dialogue.”

In 2018, Finland hosted a summit for discussions between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, the president of the United States at the time. Last week, Finland announced that it was prepared to host a meeting soon between Putin and current American incumbent Joe Biden. The two leaders are set to have a video call Tuesday, during which they will discuss the status of Ukraine, among other issues.

During the Cold War, Finland was known for its practice of abiding by the Soviet Union’s foreign policy rules while maintaining its national sovereignty and separate political system. This was sometimes referred to pejoratively as “Finlandization.”

NATO risks crossing Russian ‘red lines’ – influential German diplomat

6 Dec, 2021 11:36

By Layla Guest

FILE PHOTO. © AFP / Kenzo Tribouillard

Ukraine’s hopes to join NATO fly in the face of Russia’s long-declared boundaries, the head of the influential Munich Security Conference has said, amid concerns from officials in Moscow that the bloc is edging further eastwards.

Speaking as part of an interview with German daily Handelsblatt on Saturday, Wolfgang Ischinger claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin “has long been haunted by the fear” that America still wanted to make Ukraine and Georgia members of the organization.

The chair of the overwhelmingly pro-NATO event acknowledged this was a “red line” for Moscow, and suggested it would be better in the long term for Kiev to adopt a strategy whereby it modeled itself on Finland, which is a member of the EU but not of the US-led military bloc. However, he caveated, “We definitely cannot declare that Ukraine and Georgia will never become members.”

Ischinger’s comments come amid escalating tensions between NATO and Moscow. Last Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said “promises” given by the bloc at the end of the Cold War that it would not move “an inch eastwards” had been largely ignored.

Speaking the day before, Putin announced that he would “insist on guarantees being set out” to stop NATO coming ever closer to his country’s borders and “deploying threatening weapons” nearby.

However, ahead of the talks between the two leaders that are due to take place on Tuesday, his American counterpart, Joe Biden, rejected Russia’s “red lines.” “We’ve been aware of Russia’s actions [concerning Ukraine] for a long time and my expectation is we’re going to have a long discussion with Putin,” he said, amid Western-led accusations that Moscow was planning to invade its neighbor, which the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.

In a recent interview with CNN, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said the bloc had tripled the size of its forces and upped its presence in both the Black Sea and Baltic Sea to counter Russia’s presence there.

Putin has previously stressed that his predecessor, Mikhail Gorbachev, had been given reassurances by Western leaders that the bloc would not push into the space left after the collapse of the USSR. A tranche of documents declassified in 2017, has been widely interpreted as depicting that American, British, and German officials gave assurances to Moscow in the 1990s that NATO would not expand to include Eastern European nations. However, states including Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia were subsequently admitted.

NATO countries in Europe