Death toll in east Ukraine mine blast reaches 33

March 05, 2015

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Officials in a separatist rebel-held city in east Ukraine say the death toll from an accidental explosion at a coal mine has risen to 33.

Alexei Kostrubitsky, head of the emergencies ministry for the rebel government, said late Thursday the last missing miner had been found dead. The blast occurred before dawn Wednesday more than 1,000 meters (3,200 feet) underground at the Zasyadko mine in Donetsk city. It is the largest city held by the separatist rebels who have been fighting Ukrainian forces since April.

Rebel officials said the accident was caused by methane gas. Zasyadko mine has a history of deadly accidents, including one in November 2007 that killed 101 workers, and two more the following month that killed a total of 57.

Coal mine blast kills at least 24 in war-torn east Ukraine

March 04, 2015

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — A rebel-held city scarred by months of conflict in eastern Ukraine suffered more tragedy Wednesday when a methane gas explosion in a coal mine killed at least 24 workers and left nine missing.

As rescue efforts stretched past sundown, separatist authorities were accused by Ukraine's government of failing to do enough to save the lives of the miners. The blast occurred before dawn more than 1,000 meters (3,200 feet) underground at the Zasyadko mine in the city of Donetsk in the coal-rich Donbass region. Nearly a year of bitter fighting by pro-Moscow rebels and Ukrainian troops in the east has killed more than 6,000 people.

Rebel officials said the accident was caused by the ever-present danger of methane gas, rather than artillery fire. There were contradictory accounts of the toll of dead and missing by the rival authorities. The rebel government that controls Donetsk was slow to divulge information, while a senior official in the capital of Kiev was swift to give a death toll of 32, only to retract it several hours later.

The blast occurred as 230 workers were in the mine, and nearly 200 of them were quickly evacuated, but uncertainty lingered throughout the day about dozens of others. Rebel officials insisted into the afternoon that only one person had died. But a slightly wounded miner who gave his name only as Sergei told The Associated Press that he saw five bodies being pulled out.

By nightfall, Yuliana Bedilko, a representative for the rebel-managed rescue services at the site of accident, said another 23 bodies had been located below ground, bringing the overall number of confirmed dead to 24.

Under cover of darkness, a truck pulled up in the heavy rain to the mine's opening in preparation to take the bodies away. A woman emerging from the mine was heard wailing in grief from a distance. Rebel officials had said earlier that 32 workers were unaccounted for, suggesting 16 still remained trapped as of the evening. A news agency run by the separatist government reported that 14 people were injured in the accident.

Igor Murygin, a 42-year-old miner being treated for burns at a hospital in Donetsk, said he was blown off his feet by the explosion. "When I came to, there was dust everywhere. People were groaning," said Murygin, who suffered burns over 20 percent of his body.

The mine had recently installed new equipment and nothing appeared to be out of order, he added. Speaking in Kiev, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused rebels of preventing a team of 60 Ukrainian rescuers from reaching the mine to provide assistance. But leading rebel representative Denis Pushilin denied that Ukrainian authorities had offered any help.

"If we truly need assistance, we will turn to Russia," Pushilin was quoted as saying by the rebel-run Donetsk News Agency. Miners arriving for their morning shift ended up doing most of the work to clear away debris. Reaching the stricken section was complicated because the entrance that was closest to the accident had been shut by the artillery fire that has beset Donetsk.

Separatist officials arrived at the mine throughout the morning, but all refused to respond to questions, frustrating relatives of miners looking for answers. Valentina Petrova came to the mine looking for her 47-year-old son, Vladimir.

"He was supposed to retire next year. Everyone is angry that they say on TV that 32 people died, but nobody tells us anything," she said. The mine has a history of deadly accidents, including one in November 2007 that killed 101 workers, and two more the following month that killed a total of 57.

Workers complained about many safety violations at the site. "We work like crazy for peanuts. We want this place to be safe. We want our children to be able to work here," said a miner who only gave his first name, Kostya.

He told the AP that two of his brothers had been injured in earlier explosions at the mine. Safety officials say 99 people were killed in Ukraine's coal mines in 2014, with 13 of those deaths directly attributable to the fighting in the east, where mines have frequently been hit in artillery duels.

Associated Press writer Peter Leonard in Kiev contributed to this report.

Ukraine's leader urges peacekeeping mission for the east

March 02, 2015

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's president signed a decree Monday opening the way to a formal request for international peacekeepers to be stationed in eastern regions where government forces are battling Russian-backed separatists.

President Petro Poroshenko's office said the appeal for a contingent of peacekeepers will be addressed to the United Nations and the European Union. His office gave no specific details on the mission's composition or any timetable for it but Russia is strongly against the idea.

Fighting has waned substantially in eastern Ukraine in recent days as a cease-fire deal forged last month increasingly takes effect, but both sides have complained of sporadic violations. Military spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko said Monday that one serviceman was killed and another four were wounded over the previous day. He did not specify the circumstances of those casualties.

The U.N. human rights office has raised its toll of the fighting, saying more than 6,000 people have died since the conflict began in April. Under the terms of the cease-fire accord, the warring sides must pull back their heavy weaponry by distances of between 50 kilometers (30 miles) and 140 kilometers (90 miles) from the front line. That drawback started last week, although progress has been uncertain.

Separatist military spokesman Eduard Basurin said Sunday that rebels have pulled back all their weaponry as stipulated in the peace agreement. That claim has yet to be confirmed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is overseeing the withdrawal process.

Lysenko accused separatists of making a show of drawing back weapons only to return them to their original front line positions at night. He said Ukrainian troops would continue their own withdrawals only if the situation did not worsen.

"But it is too early to talk about this as every day we see violations of the cease-fire, including with the use of heavy weapons that the militants ought to have withdrawn," he said. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Monday with his Russian counterpart in Geneva in what appeared to be less than amicable talks amid the continuing tensions over Ukraine. Neither man smiled or spoke substantively as they shook hands at the start of the talks, which took place less than a week after Kerry told Congress that Russian officials have lied "to my face" about Moscow's role in Ukraine.

That comment drew a rebuke from the Russian foreign ministry. U.S. officials have pointed out that Kerry did not specifically accuse Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of lying to him. While Russia denies its troops are fighting in Ukraine, the U.N. has cited "credible reports (that) indicate a continuing flow of heavy weaponry and foreign fighters" from Russia.

Ukraine has been steadily intensifying its war-readiness since the conflict in the east broke and has embarked on numerous waves of partial military mobilizations. On Monday, Poroshenko presented legislation to parliament to boost the size of the country's armed forces to 250,000.

Interfax-Ukraine news agency cited Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk as saying last week that boosting the size of the army to that amount would require enlisting an additional 68,000 troops.

Ukraine's new US-born finance chief enduring baptism by fire

March 01, 2015

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — War-torn Ukraine is a long way from Wood Dale, Illinois.

But Natalie Jaresko, the country's new finance minister who was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, says she feels just as much at home here as she takes on a daunting task: overhauling a Soviet-era economy at a time when public finances are being drained by war.

It's been a baptism of fire for the 49-year-old former banker, who only got her Ukrainian citizenship the day she was appointed minister in December but has lived in the country for over two decades. She hopes the fact she is not part of the entrenched political elite will help as she attempts a root-and-branch reform of the economy.

"I don't see myself as a politician," she told The Associated Press at her office in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. "I'm a technocrat minister and I don't have a political career ahead of me. I'm not running for office."

The job is as big as it is urgent. She estimates that the war has consumed about 20 percent of the economy, taking out a region rich in industry and commodities. Corruption is endemic throughout Ukraine. Red tape and a lack of financing are hindering business. Foreign investors are wary of the geopolitical instability. Inflation is forecast to hit a staggering 26 percent this year as the hryvnia currency has fallen 70 percent since last year, when former President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted by popular protests.

Amid all this, the government is living a hand-to-mouth existence — it must pay Russia up front for gas supplies at a time when it is quickly running out of money. Ukraine and Russia will hold more talks on the gas issue Monday.

Jaresko's first success in the job came this month when she clinched a promise for a $40 billion four-year lifeline from the International Monetary Fund and Western nations. However, that eye-catching headline figure includes up to $15 billion of expected debt renegotiation with private investors by the government in Kiev, a sum which is by no means guaranteed. High-stakes debt renegotiations are likely to start by the second week of March and conclude by June, according to Jaresko, who says her U.S. background gives Ukraine an edge.

"Coming from the private sector and coming from the Western side, I can understand both the demands and the perspectives of the creditors as well as . the Ukrainian side and the Ukrainian perspective," she said. "Bringing those two together is a skill set that I bring to the table."

After studying at DePaul University in Chicago, during which time she lived in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood, Jaresko's moved in the mid-1990s to Kiev as head of the economic section at the U.S. embassy. She then ran the Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF), which invests USAID funds into small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine and Moldova.

She and her then-husband later founded Horizon Capital, an investment firm that now manages WNISEF. Jaresko says she no longer has any ownership or control at Horizon Capital. Jaresko's appointment gifted Russia's state media a line of attack — an American banker representing Washington's interests rather than the Ukrainian people — but Jaresko says she does not feel any need to prove her Ukrainian credentials.

"I've always been a Ukrainian. I'm a Ukrainian citizen now, that's a difference, but I have worked and lived in this country - this is my home - for 23 years," she said. "Like any minister right now, I feel the need to prove my credentials as a reformer, but I don't think it makes a difference that I was previously an American citizen."

Ukrainian law obliges Jaresko to renounce her American passport within two years, although she declined to say whether she had yet done so. Jaresko is one of three foreign-born cabinet ministers as President Petro Poroshenko looks to bring in outside expertise. Mirroring the policy that brought her into government, Jaresko has assembled a multinational team partnering U.S.-educated Ukrainians with advisers seconded from the U.S., German and Polish governments, as well as Ivan Miklos, who reformed the tax system as Slovakia's finance minister from 2010-12.

"I think it's important for us not to reinvent the wheel," she said, adding that her foreign advisers should "help us to skip over many of the steps, or many of the mistakes, that may have been made by others in the past."

Ukraine, rebels start pulling back heavy weapons in the east

February 26, 2015

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Warring parties in Ukraine took a major stride toward quelling unrest in the country's east Thursday with the declared start of a supervised withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line.

Ukrainian and separatist officials have noted a sharp decline in violence, although the chances of a long-lasting settlement remain clouded by lingering suspicions. While announcing the pullback, Ukraine's Defense Ministry warned that it would revise arms withdrawal plans in the event of any attacks.

"Ukrainian troops are in a state of total readiness to defend the country," it said in a statement. The pullback was supposed to have started over a week ago under a peace deal agreed upon earlier this month by the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine that has killed nearly 5,800 people since April. The intensity of fighting has declined notably in recent days, despite daily charges by both sides that the other is violating the Feb. 15 cease-fire.

Rebels in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions insist they have spent the last few days drawing back their heavy weapons — a claim not yet verified by independent observers. Donetsk separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko mirrored Ukrainian willingness to immediately resort to combat if provoked.

"Military equipment will be returned to their positions. Any attacks on our cities and villages will be nipped in the bud," he said. The press office for Ukrainian military operations in the east said in a statement that government forces on Thursday started moving 100 mm anti-tank guns back the 25-kilometer (16-mile) minimum stipulated by the peace deal. AP journalists in the southeastern government-held port city of Mariupol on Thursday saw weapons matching that description heading away from the front.

Near Olenivka, a town south of the rebel-held stronghold of Donetsk, AP journalists saw rebel forces moving at least six 120 mm self-propelled howitzers from the front line. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has hundreds of monitors in the region, has not yet reported on the progress of the withdrawal.

In Rome, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he welcomed indications of reduced fighting, but repeated claims that Russia has supplied separatists with large quantities of weapons. "Russia has transferred in recent months over 1,000 pieces of equipment — tanks, artillery, advanced air defense system — and they have to withdraw this equipment and they have to stop supporting the separatists," Stoltenberg told reporters Thursday.

Russia denies that it arms the rebels. Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the OSCE monitoring mission, said the weapons withdrawal requires both sides to inventory their arms and provide details about how and where they are to be relocated.

"It's not enough to be invited to follow the removal process part of the way. It has to be complete," he said. "It's not a shopping list, you cannot pick and choose." Ukraine's military said Thursday its positions had not been shelled the previous night, but military spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko spoke of isolated armed confrontations, including near Donetsk.

The rebels claimed Tuesday to have begun their heavy weapons pullback, but that has not been independently confirmed. Eduard Basurin, spokesman for the separatist forces, told the Russian TV station LifeNews that withdrawals from five locations were planned for Thursday, monitored by the OSCE. The locations he named included Olenivka, where AP journalists saw the 120 mm self-propelled howitzers being moved.

"The OSCE mission has been provided with all the documents they requested, which detail where equipment would be transported from and in which direction," Basurin told LifeNews. Kiev has until now demurred from pulling back its heavy weapons, insisting that the separatists fully observe the cease-fire. That stand was dismissed as "ridiculous" by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"Everyone understands that there isn't an ideal truce and an ideal regime of ceasing fire," Lavrov said Thursday. Lavrov later discussed the Ukraine crisis with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, his ministry said.

In a further sign of unease over the shaky cease-fire, the White House said President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, was meeting Thursday with her French, German and British counterparts to discuss Ukraine, as Obama continues to weigh whether to send lethal assistance to the Kiev government.

Vadim Ghirda reported from Olenivka, Ukraine. Associated Press journalist Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.

Report: Cluster bombs have been used in Ukraine conflict

February 25, 2015

MOSCOW (AP) — Illegal weapons such as cluster bombs have been used in the Ukraine conflict, Amnesty International said while also criticizing both sides in the fighting for the high number of civilian deaths.

"Taking into account everything we understand for now, we think that they (cluster bombs) were used by both sides," the organization's senior director for research, Anna Neistat told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday, adding it was difficult to determine.

In its annual report released Wednesday, Amnesty International also said both sides in the conflict are to blame for the high number of civilian deaths stemming from the indiscriminate firing of unguided mortars and rockets in populated areas.

Nearly 5,800 people have been killed since the fighting between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops began in April. In eastern Ukraine "both sides failed to take reasonable precautions to protect civilians, in violation of the laws of war," Amnesty International said.

The group has also recorded abductions, torture and summary killings by volunteer battalions on the government side and by units fighting with the separatists, Neistat said. Under a fragile peace deal reached on Feb. 12, both sides are required to pull back heavy weapons between 25 and 70 kilometers (15 to 45 miles) from the front line, depending on their caliber. The Ukrainian military said Tuesday that its forces would not withdraw their weapons until a cease-fire takes hold.

Ukraine rebels claim weapons pullback begins

February 24, 2015

KHARTSYZK, Ukraine (AP) — Howitzers were moving away from the largest rebel-held city in eastern Ukraine, heading further into separatist-controlled territory, and the rebels said they have begun a large-scale pullback of heavy weapons in line with an international peace plan.

That plan aims to form a wide buffer zone between separatists' and Ukrainian forces' artillery. The pullback claim by Eduard Basurin, a top commander for rebels in the Donetsk region, couldn't immediately be confirmed. Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the observer mission that is monitoring the fighting in eastern Ukraine, said he couldn't comment until receiving monitors' reports at the end of the day.

Rebels in the neighboring separatist Luhansk region also said a pullback was taking place. But Associated Press journalists saw about a dozen howitzers moving from Donetsk city through the town of Khartsyzk, about 10 kilometers (six miles) east of the line of conflict. Their final destination was unclear.

The peace plan that was signed Feb. 15 calls for heavy weapons to be pulled back by each side from the front line by 25 to 70 kilometers (15 to 45 miles), depending on their caliber. The cease-fire has been troubled by violations, leading to concern that it wouldn't solidify and that fighting would continue.

Russia denies Ukrainian and Western claims that it is supplying the rebels with troops and equipment, with the possible aim of a full-scale war. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview with state television on Monday, said "such an apocalyptic scenario is hardly possible."

A rebel website cited Basurin as saying about 100 122-mm howitzers would be moved on Tuesday. There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian side, but military officials have said that they won't pull back weapons until a cease-fire fully takes hold.

On Tuesday, military spokesman Lt. Col. Anatoliy Stelmakh said rebels had shelled the town of Popasna seven times and launched one barrage on the village of Luhanske. Stelmakh also said rebels tried to storm Ukrainian positions near the southern village of Shyrokyne, which is near the strategic Azov Sea port of Mariupol. Concerns persists that rebels aim to take Mariupol to help establish a land corridor between mainland Russia and the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed last March.

Associated Press writer Jim Heintz in Kiev contributed to this report.

Slovakia seeking Black Hawk helos

by Richard Tomkins
Washington (UPI)
Feb 23, 2015

The U.S. State Department has given approval for the possible sale of UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters to Slovakia under the Foreign Military Sales program.

Notice of the required State Department approval was given to Congress by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees the program.

"The proposed sale will improve Slovakia's capability to deter regional threats and strengthen its homeland defense, as well as support counterterrorism operations," DSCA said. "The sale of these UH-60 helicopters will bolster Slovakia's ability to provide border patrol, rapid reaction, and field expedient fire-fighting capability for its air and ground forces in counterterrorism, border security, and humanitarian operations."

Slovakia, once part of Czechoslovakia and a member of the Warsaw Pact, is specifically seeking nine of the Sikorsky aircraft.

Also included in the proposed sales package would be 20 T700-GE-701D engines, 20 embedded global positioning systems/inertial navigation systems; aviation mission planning systems; an aviation ground power unit; identification friend or foe transponders; high-frequency radios omni ranging/instrument landing system; and tactical air navigation systems.

Logistics services would also be part of the deal, which carries a value of $450 million.

The principal contractors would be Sikorsky Aircraft and General Electric Aircraft Company.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Slovakia_seeking_Black_Hawk_helos_999.html.

Crowds take first ride on Warsaw's new subway line

March 08, 2015

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Thousands of Warsaw residents have taken their first rides on the Polish capital's second subway line, just over a year later than expected.

The 6-kilometer (4-mile) line that opened Sunday runs under the Vistula river, linking the eastern Praga district with downtown and western districts. It took five years to build and cost some 4.2 billion zlotys ($1.1 billion).

The opening was scheduled for the fall of 2013, but findings of buried, unexploded World War II explosives and a major water leakage that flooded a nearly-finished station delayed the work. The M2 line is expected to improve public transport for Warsaw's 1.8 residents and has become even more important since the unexpected closing three weeks ago of a major bridge that was damaged by a fire.

Macedonia opposition claims government manipulated elections

March 11, 2015

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Macedonia's main opposition party on Tuesday published what it says is new evidence of government vote-manipulation in three recent elections, following up on accusations of a massive wire-tapping scandal.

At a party rally, Zoran Zaev's Social Democrats released what they said were recorded conversations between conservative government officials and Macedonia's intelligence chief. Addressing more than 2,000 party supporters, Zaev repeated calls for conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski to immediately hand over power to an interim government that would ensure "free and fair elections."

The party claimed the officials discussed vote-buying and intimidation ahead of 2011 and 2014 parliamentary elections, and 2013 local elections. The alleged plans included incapacitating elevators at polling centers in opposition-dominated constituencies, and pressuring teenagers of voting age in orphanages to vote for the conservatives.

Zaev has claimed that Gruevski was behind the alleged illegal wiretapping of more than 20,000 people, including politicians, judges, journalists, police, religious leaders and foreign ambassadors. Gruevski denies wrongdoing, claiming the recordings were fabricated with the help of foreign spies. He has accused Zaev of plotting a coup.

Zaev's party has boycotted parliament since last April's elections. It claims the recordings were provided by "patriots" in Macedonia's intelligence service.

Macedonia opposition leader: Premier behind illegal wiretaps

March 02, 2015

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — The leader of Macedonia's leftist opposition on Monday accused the conservative prime minister of ordering illegal wiretaps of his closest aides: the finance minister and interior minister.

Zoran Zaev, who heads the Social-Democratic Alliance for Macedonia, published excerpts of alleged conversations he says were recorded illegally between Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski and Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska.

In the latest twist in Macedonia's wiretapping scandal, the two appear to complain about spending cuts ordered by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. Speaking at a news conference later Monday, Stavreski denounced the leak of the conversation, saying it had been edited "with the purpose of creating divisions" within the government.

"Zaev has reiterated the earlier theory that Macedonia's economy is in collapse and facing bankruptcy," Stavreski said. "But this time with staged conversations with an aim to give the impression there are divisions within the government's economic team."

Zaev has accused Gruevski of illegally wiretapping more than 20,000 people, including politicians, judges, journalists, police, religious leaders and foreign ambassadors. Gruevski has rejected the claims and has accused Zaev of plotting a coup.

Macedonian opposition claims PM targeted opponent's building

February 27, 2015

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Macedonia's opposition leader is accusing the country's prime minister of ordering the demolition of a political opponent's construction project — the latest development in a mass wire-tapping scandal.

Zoran Zaev says the allegation is based on the transcript of a recorded phone call between conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and a government minister responsible for enforcing building regulations.

The government didn't immediately respond to the claims. The leftwing opposition leader has previously claimed that Gruevski ordered wire-taps on more than 20,000 people, including politicians, judges, police and religious leaders, journalists and foreign ambassadors.

Gruevski denies that, saying the recordings were made by unspecified foreign spies. He claims Zaev was planning a coup. Zaev said Friday the 2011 apartment block demolition was a targeted act against Gruevski's former ally-turned-opponent Fijat Canoski.

Hungarians face new ban on shopping most Sundays and nights

March 08, 2015

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarians on Sunday took advantage of the last opportunity to shop on the final day of the week before new regulations kick in greatly limiting opening hours for most stores.

Starting March 15, stores can only open between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. and are banned from opening Sundays. Exceptions include pharmacies, small shops operated by their owners or family members, and stores located in hospitals, prisons, gas stations, airports, bus and train stations.

Newsstands, bakeries and flower shops will be allowed to open Sundays until noon. Spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said the government was trying to adapt local regulations to standards in some other European countries.

"Hungarians are going to get used to it very quickly," Kovacs said. He added that the rules were "realistic" since they also allowed stores to stay open on Sundays in some areas popular with tourists.

The government is favoring smaller Hungarian businesses over large international retail companies like Tesco, Auchan and Lidl. Earlier, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the government's objective was to "prevent anyone from having to work on Sunday."

Unions and trade groups, however, said the shorter opening hours would lead to layoffs. The Hungarian Council of Shopping Centers, the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers and the Democratic Union of Independent Trade Unions said they opposed the new rules and were gathering signatures in support of a referendum on the issue.

Bea Szanto said the ban would make it harder for students like her to find part-time work on weekends. "Today really is a 'Gloomy Sunday,'" Szanto said, referring to a famous Hungarian song from the 1930s.

Shops will be allowed to open four Sundays before Christmas and one Sunday a year of their own choosing. Some malls and large stores said they would offset the Sunday closures by staying open longer on weekdays.

Hungary's premier rejects immigration, multicultural society

February 27, 2015

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban denounced multiculturalism and liberalism Friday and vowed to fight a rising wave of migration that he said is threatening to turn his country into a "refugee camp."

In his annual state of the nation speech, Orban called a multicultural society "a delusion" and defended his conservative government's attempts to abandon "liberal social policies" that he accused of rejecting Christian culture.

"(A Hungarian) does not want to see throngs of people pouring into his country from other cultures who are incapable of adapting and are a threat to public safety, to his job and to his livelihood," Orban said.

He was referring to the torrent of migrants who have entered European Union-member Hungary this year, many of them fleeing poverty in Kosovo and seeking to reach Germany and other western nations. Orban has been criticized in the West for declaring last year that he wanted his nation to be an "illiberal" state and that he considers Russia, Turkey and Singapore to be models of success.

On Friday, he hailed the success of his government's unconventional economic policies, some of which have been criticized by investors for involving higher taxes for banks and many foreign companies. "Hungary has become an economic success story, which is slowly being recognized by Europe," Orban said, noting the country's 2014 estimated growth rate of 3.5 percent, one of Europe's highest, and its low inflation and unemployment rates.

Orban also said a decision last year to convert some $12 billion in mortgages denominated in Swiss francs into forints, the Hungarian currency, had impressed economic analysts. The conversion, Orban said "simultaneously saved the debtors and the banking system."

It was announced just weeks before a January move by the Swiss National Bank, which led to a steep rise in the value of the franc and would have greatly increased mortgage payments for Hungarian homeowners.

In his most colorful quote, Orban praised native Hungarians. "The Hungarian man is, by nature, politically incorrect. That is, he has not lost his common sense," he said.

Greece says Germany owes it compensation for WWII occupation

March 10, 2015

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The radical left-led Greek government insisted Tuesday that the debt-ridden country has never been fully compensated by Germany for its brutal World War II Nazi occupation, linking the issue with Greece's fraught bailout negotiations.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said a 1960 reparation deal with Germany did not cover key Greek demands, including payments for wrecked infrastructure, war crimes and the return of a forced loan exacted from occupied Greece.

Germany has repeatedly rejected previous approaches from Athens on further reparations, saying the question was settled by existing agreements. Relations between the two countries have soured considerably since Greece's acute financial crisis broke out in late 2009. Germany is a major contributor to the international rescue loans that have kept Greece afloat since 2010, and has been a keen proponent of the resented budget and income cuts demanded in exchange to rebuild the country's shattered finances.

Tsipras told parliament that Greece will honor its obligations to bailout creditors, including Germany, but won't "abandon its irrevocable demands" for World War II reparations. His six-week-old government is trying to ease the terms of its rescue loan program.

"We are not giving lessons in morality, but we will not accept lessons in morality either," Tsipras said during a debate on reviving a special parliamentary committee on demanding German war reparations.

"We are prepared to offer every political and legal assistance to ensure that this committee's efforts bear fruit," he said. Greece has not specified how much compensation it could demand from Germany, and the results of an official report into the issue last year remain classified.