UK minister says Brexit talks yield 'positive' signals

March 05, 2019

BRUSSELS (AP) — Brexit talks with the European Union are making progress, a senior British government minister said Tuesday, as Prime Minister Theresa May seeks concessions from Brussels to help persuade lawmakers to back her deal in a series of crucial votes next week.

Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29 — the first country ever to do so — but British lawmakers have rejected a draft deal sealed by May and her EU counterparts in November. Both they and EU lawmakers must endorse any agreement.

"I think the signals we are getting are reasonably positive," Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the BBC. "I don't want to overstate them because I still think there's a lot of work to do, but I think they do understand that we are being sincere."

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier was due to meet U.K. Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and Attorney General Geoffrey Cox in Brussels later on Tuesday seeking to break the deadlock. The objections in London center on a provision demanded by Brussels to guarantee there are no barriers along the currently invisible border between EU member state Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K. Britain wants reassurances that this mechanism would be temporary.

EU leaders insist that the legally binding divorce agreement governing Britain's departure can't be reopened. But Hunt told the BBC that his country is "prepared to be flexible" about how changes are achieved, and argued that the Europeans are coming around to the idea that May "can get a majority in Parliament."

With time running out, the chances of Britain crashing out without any deal at all are growing, although Hunt said his government wants to avoid such a potentially devastating scenario. EU leaders want to avoid that too.

In Poland, leaders were discussing Tuesday a plan to prepare for that eventuality. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and his Cabinet were taking up the draft legislation during their regular weekly meeting Tuesday. Konrad Szymanski, a deputy foreign minister responsible for European issues, told Polish news agency PAP that the plan should help alleviate the most acute consequences of a no-deal Brexit.

Also hanging in the balance is the fate of hundreds of thousands of Poles who have settled in the U.K. since Poland joined the EU in 2004. The Bank of England has warned that "significant market volatility" is likely if Britain crashes out.

Minutes of the recent meeting of the bank's Financial Policy Committee warned that in a "disorderly Brexit," a range of financial assets, including the pound and stocks, "would be expected to adjust sharply, tightening financial conditions for U.K. households and businesses."

They said that EU banks and insurance companies could also immediately face tougher requirements on their holdings of U.K. debts, which would reduce demand for U.K. assets. However, the committee said markets have "proved able to function effectively through volatile periods" and that the U.K.'s core banking system is strong enough to withstand the economic shock of a disorderly Brexit.

Lawless reported from London.

As Brexit looms, UK 'preppers' stock up and hunker down

March 01, 2019

LONDON (AP) — For almost as long as Britain and the European Union have been wrangling over Brexit, Melvin Burton has been preparing for a bumpy landing. He's growing vegetables, drying fruit and buying in bulk. He reels off the cornucopia of cans filling his shed and the cupboard under his stairs: "Tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, corned beef, tuna, honey, baked beans, tins of ham. Cat food, of course, because I don't want them to go hungry."

"I started buying stuff about a year and a half ago," said the 45-year-old, who lives with his wife and 8-year-old son in a village near Cambridge in eastern England. "No one seemed to be accepting that there was a real problem."

Plenty of people think there is a problem now. Britain is scheduled to leave the EU in less than a month, on March 29, but its departure terms are still unknown. A U.K.-EU deal designed to ensure a smooth departure has been rejected by Britain's Parliament, and lawmakers are due to vote in mid-March on three starkly differing options: leave with a deal, leave without a deal or postpone Brexit. Quitting the bloc without a deal would, overnight, bring tariffs, customs checks and other barriers between Britain and the EU, and could bring gridlock to British ports.

U.K. officials and companies have been bracing for potential trade disruption by stockpiling everything from ice cream and chocolate cookies to essential medicines and body bags. But the government still warned this week that British people and businesses are unprepared for the shock of a "no-deal" exit.

Britain imports almost a third of its food from the EU — even more during the early spring "hunger gap," when domestic crops have yet to be harvested and retailers rely on fresh produce from Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and further afield.

Supermarket chief executives have warned the government that Britain's available storage space is full, and "even if there were more space it is impossible to stockpile fresh produce, such as salad leaves and fresh fruit."

The government says there will be severe disruption to freight across the English Channel and "reduced availability and choice of products," especially fresh fruit and vegetables, if Britain leaves the EU on March 29 without a divorce deal. And it has warned that "there is a risk that consumer behavior could exacerbate, or create, shortages in this scenario."

Some people, like Burton, are taking no chances. He's a member of a Facebook group titled "48 Percent Preppers," with more than 10,000 members. The name refers to the 48 percent of electors who voted to remain in the EU in Britain's 2016 referendum. "Remain" voters make up the bulk of Brexit hoarders; "leave" supporters are apt to dismiss warnings of food and medicine shortages as "Project Fear."

Members of the group and several similar online forums swap tips on what to buy and how to store it, whether to stock up on fuel and how to knit their own clothes. Others have seen a commercial opportunity. One company in northern England sells "Brexit boxes" containing freeze-dried food, a water filter and a fire-starter for almost 300 pounds ($400).

In London, seed importer Paolo Arrigo put together 12 months' worth of easy-to-grow seed packets — carrots, beans, lettuce, pumpkin, tomatoes — and labelled it a Brexit Vegetable Growing Survival Kit. He has sold hundreds in a few weeks.

"By sowing something each month, you can harvest something each month," said Arrigo, who runs his family's business, Seeds of Italy. "And that means that you've got a supply of fresh vegetables to feed your family in case there's any interruption in supplies."

Arrigo's business is relatively Brexit-proof, because "seeds sell better in a crisis." But he thinks leaving the EU is a big mistake, and understands why people are worried. "I had never heard the word 'preppers' before a month ago, and I kind of assumed it was Americans who were buying guns and ammo and tinned food and water," Arrigo said. "Now I belong to four Brexit preppers websites. Whether you agree with it or not, it is a thing. People are stockpiling, and that is because of the uncertainty.

"That's where we are as a country: digging for Brexit," he said, echoing a World War II campaign urging Britons to grow vegetables and "dig for victory." Many Britons think the Brexit preppers are overreacting, and they remain a minority. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said this week that "we're not picking up evidence of household stockpiling in any material sense."

Some skeptics compare Brexit hoarding to the Y2K millennium bug: a catastrophe that never came to pass. But Burton, who tests software for a living, says internet meltdown was avoided at the turn of the millennium because "we spent vast quantities of people and money and man hours making sure it didn't happen."

He's not confident Britain is that well prepared for Brexit — though he hopes he's wrong. "I would be very, very happy if it turns out that none of this is going to be necessary," Burton said. "This is a pain in the neck. I'd rather not be doing all this. I would rather be coming home, worrying about what I'm going to watch on Netflix and then ordering an Indian takeaway."

Irish drivers warned to get paperwork for 'no-deal' Brexit

February 28, 2019

LONDON (AP) — Ireland's deputy prime minister said Thursday that the European Union wants to work with Britain to ensure there is a Brexit deal, as Irish drivers were warned they will need new paperwork to cross the currently invisible border to Northern Ireland if the U.K. leaves the bloc without an agreement.

The Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland says it has issued insurance firms with 1 million application forms for the internationally recognized "Green Card" insurance document. British drivers traveling to Ireland or other EU countries will also need the paperwork — just one of a host of new rules and hurdles citizens will need to negotiate if Britain crashes out of the bloc without a framework for departure terms and future relations.

Currently, auto insurance in any EU country covers the whole bloc. If Britain leaves with a deal, there will be no change until at least the end of 2020. Britain is due to leave the 28-nation bloc on March 29, but so far its Parliament has rejected the government's divorce deal with the EU, raising the prospect of a chaotic "no deal" Brexit.

Governments in EU countries, as well as in Britain, have warned citizens and businesses to prepare for potential disruption to trade and travel as tariffs, customs checks and other barriers are erected between Britain and its biggest trading partner.

But U.K. authorities admitted this week that neither individuals nor businesses are ready for a "no-deal" departure, and "the short time remaining before 29 March 2019 does not allow government to unilaterally mitigate the effects of no deal."

British lawmakers rejected May's deal with the EU last month, largely over a provision to guarantee there are no customs posts or other barriers along the Irish border. The mechanism, known as the backstop, is a safeguard that would keep the U.K. in a customs union with the EU to remove the need for checks until a permanent new trading relationship is in place.

May wants to revise the deal to reassure opponents that the backstop would only apply temporarily. But EU leaders insist that the legally binding Brexit withdrawal agreement can't be reopened. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney said the EU "wants to work with the U.K. to try to give the reassurance and clarification" it needs on the border issue.

But he said the EU had made it "very clear" that the text of the withdrawal agreement will not be reopened. "What they'll be providing will be an addition, but in a way that doesn't undermine the meaning of that text, which I think is very important from an Irish perspective," Coveney said in Dublin.

May says U.K. lawmakers will get to vote again on her deal — including any amendments she secures — by March 12. If it is rejected, Parliament will then vote on whether to leave the EU without an agreement or seek to postpone Brexit by up to three months.

Any delay would require approval from all 27 remaining EU nations. Austria's leader said Thursday that if Britain seeks an extension to prevent a disorderly exit, Vienna would back it. But Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said he wanted to see Britain leave before European Parliament elections in late May.

Kurz said that "the participation of a country that wants to leave the European Union in European Parliament elections would, I think, seem more than absurd." Speaking after meeting Kurz in Vienna, chief EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said any delay "must serve not to put off the problem but to resolve the problem" in the British Parliament.

"Today, above all we need decisions, much more than extra time," he said.

Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this story.

UK lawmakers vote to hold prime minister to Brexit promises

February 27, 2019

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Theresa May insisted Wednesday that Britain will leave the European Union on schedule next month, amid signs that her promise to give Parliament a vote on delaying Brexit was boosting support for her unpopular EU divorce deal.

May has bowed to pressure from within her Conservative government and given Parliament the chance to delay Britain's scheduled March 29 departure if lawmakers fail to approve her divorce agreement with the bloc.

The change of course was welcomed by pro-EU members of Britain's divided Parliament, who sought further guarantees the government would not try to renege on May's commitment. Lawmakers in the House of Commons voted 502-20 in favor of a symbolic motion underscoring May's promise.

Some pro-Brexit lawmakers, who fear delaying Brexit day could be used to try to stop Britain's withdrawal altogether, abstained from the vote. On Tuesday, May gave Parliament a greater say over Brexit to forestall a rebellion by pro-EU members of her government, who threatened to quit and vote with the opposition in order to rule out a disruptive "no-deal" Brexit. She said Parliament will get to vote again on her deal with the EU by March 12. If it is rejected, lawmakers will then vote on whether to leave the EU without an agreement or seek to postpone Brexit by up to three months.

May stressed that she personally opposes extending the Brexit deadline, and said "the United Kingdom remains on course to leave the European Union with a deal" if lawmakers "hold their nerve." Writing in the Daily Mail, May said talks with the EU about securing changes to the divorce deal to make it more palatable to Parliament have "begun to bear fruit."

The House of Commons rejected May's deal with the EU by a huge margin last month — largely over concerns about a provision to guarantee an open border between the U.K.'s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland — and sent May back to Brussels to get changes.

The EU is adamant that the legally binding withdrawal agreement can't be changed, though the bloc's negotiators are holding talks with U.K. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox about potential tweaks or additions to reassure pro-Brexit British lawmakers that the border "backstop" is only a temporary measure.

May is calculating that the prospect of a delay may persuade pro-Brexit lawmakers to support her deal despite their reservations. Many Brexiteers feel the Irish backstop portion of the deal keeps the U.K. bound closely to EU trade rules, unable to strike new agreements around the world.

Brexit-backing Conservative lawmaker Edward Leigh said Wednesday that colleagues should back the agreement because "the choice is no longer perhaps between an imperfect deal and no deal — it is between an imperfect deal and no Brexit."

Lawmakers rejected a bid Wednesday by the main opposition Labour Party to force the government to embrace its alternative Brexit plan, which calls for retaining close ties with the EU. Labour has said if it can't get its plan through Parliament, it will campaign for a second referendum on Britain's EU membership.

The government caved in on a vote it looked set to lose, agreeing to guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in Britain whether or not the U.K. leaves the bloc without a Brexit deal. "That such an amendment is needed is in itself a very sad state of affairs," said Alberto Costa, the Conservative lawmaker behind the motion. He said 3 million EU citizens in Britain and 1 million U.K. citizens in other EU countries "should never have been used as a bargaining chip.

British businesses welcomed the prospect of a Brexit delay. They warn that without a deal, Britain risks a chaotic departure that could disrupt trade between the U.K. and the EU, its biggest trading partner.

Confederation of British Industry head Carolyn Fairbairn said leaving without a deal would be "a wrecking ball on our economy" and giving the option to delay "feels like an option on sanity." Delaying Brexit would require approval from all 27 other EU countries, whose leaders are annoyed by what they see as the inability of feuding British politicians to agree on what kind of relationship the U.K. wants with the bloc.

Chief EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said Wednesday that there must be clarity that extending negotiations wouldn't just prolong the impasse facing both sides. EU politicians say Britain must have a good reason for seeking a pause.

French President Emmanuel Macron said any such request would need to be justified by "a clear perspective on the goal." "We don't need time. We need decisions," he said at a joint news conference in Paris with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Merkel said the EU wouldn't refuse Britain "a bit more time." She said "we are aiming for an orderly solution — an orderly withdrawal by the British from the European Union."

Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Danica Kirka in London contributed to this story.

German hospital luring Brexit-worried Polish nurses from UK

February 26, 2019

DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Worried about Brexit? Come to Germany where you get better salaries, better weather, tastier food — and a shorter trip for visits home to Poland. That's a German hospital's pitch to Polish nurses working in Britain, who are among scores of European workers worried about what will happen to their work permits and right of residence if the United Kingdom leaves the European Union on March 29.

The university hospital of Duesseldorf put out the ads in two Polish weekly papers in Britain late last month. It's more than a friendly Brexit lifeline extended to citizens of a neighboring country: the hospital is in dire need of nursing staff and is hoping to fill that shortage with experienced professionals whose time in Britain may be running out.

"We have already received first inquiries," Torsten Rantzsch, the director of nursing at the hospital in western Germany, told The Associated Press. He said the ads were deliberately written in a tongue-in-cheek style, but that "we also wanted to offer an alternative to Polish colleagues, namely the security of an EU country."

Tens of thousands of European Union citizens currently living and working in Britain are concerned about what will happen to their status when the UK leaves the 27-country bloc. With just a month to go before Brexit day, there has been no clarity on their future status — and that uncertainty is worsened by the prospect of a no-deal Brexit.

Since Poland joined the EU in 2004, 20,000 of the country's 280,000 nurses have left their home country for Britain and elsewhere in Western Europe. The advertisement features Duesseldorf's pretty skyline with the city's landmark TV tower in front of blue skies and the Rhine River in the foreground, with the pitch written in both Polish and German.

The hospital decided to focus its campaign specifically on Poles, because many learn German in school and would be able to fit in quickly, Rantzsch said. "We deliberately kept the advertisement in German ... because we wanted to address German-speaking nursing staff," said Rantzsch, adding that the Duesseldorf university hospital needs to hire 100 additional nurses. Overall there's a shortage of 70,000 nursing staff in German hospitals.

The hospital has already had good luck turning abroad to fill its shortage of skilled nurses. In 2012, Duesseldorf's university hospital — and many other hospitals across Germany — started looking for nurses in Spain and other European countries with higher unemployment or lower wages at the time, like Italy, Hungary and Romania.

One of the first international recruits in Duesseldorf, Susana Garcia from Spain, first found out about the opportunity from the newspaper ads. She says she loves her job at the university hospital. "Working conditions here in Germany are super," the 29-year-old nurse said. "We have full-time contracts even though we're very young, we've been here now for six years."

Grieshaber reported from Berlin. Vanessa Gera contributed from Warsaw, Poland.

Brexit: Parliament gets to decide between no deal and delay

February 26, 2019

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May bowed to intense political pressure Tuesday and handed control of Brexit to Parliament, telling lawmakers they will get to choose between leaving the European Union on schedule — with or without a divorce deal — and asking the EU to postpone departure day.

May said that if Parliament rejects her deal with the EU in a vote due by March 12, lawmakers will vote the next day on whether to leave the bloc without an agreement. If that is defeated, as seems likely, they will vote on whether to ask the EU to delay Brexit by up to three months.

May said the promises were "commitments I am making as prime minister and I will stick by them." Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, but so far the government has not been able to win Parliament's backing for its divorce deal with the bloc. That leaves the U.K. facing a chaotic "no-deal" Brexit that could cause disruption for businesses and people in both Britain and the EU.

May shifted position after members of her own government joined calls for her to rule out a "no-deal" departure. Three government ministers wrote in Tuesday's Daily Mail that they would vote with opposition lawmakers to stop a no-deal departure unless May agreed to delay Brexit and guarantee "we are not swept over the precipice on March 29."

May said her goal remains to lead Britain out of the EU on schedule and with a deal. "I don't want to see an extension," she said, adding that any delay to Brexit should be "as short as possible." Delaying Brexit would require approval from all 27 other EU countries. The bloc has said it is likely to agree, but only if Britain has a good reason for the pause.

Businesses warn that without a deal Britain risks a chaotic departure that could disrupt trade between the U.K. and the EU, its biggest trading partner. The uncertainty has already led many British firms to shift some operations abroad, stockpile goods or defer investment decisions.

Businesses and the markets breathed a sigh of relief at May's statement, which did not rule out "no deal" but at least pushed it a bit further away. The pound rose above $1.32, its highest level for a month.

"Today, we have seen real movement towards ruling out a chaotic and damaging no-deal on March 29," said Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses. But many lawmakers pointed out that British politics remains deadlocked over Brexit, with both May's governing Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party deeply split on the issue.

Pro-EU Conservative legislator Ken Clarke said delaying Brexit would not break the logjam, but only see the "present pantomime" continue, with "similar chaos about where we are going." The House of Commons rejected May's deal with the EU last month — largely over concerns about a provision to guarantee an open border between the U.K.'s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland — and sent May back to Brussels to get changes.

The EU is adamant that the legally binding withdrawal agreement can't be changed, though the bloc's negotiators are holding talks with U.K. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox about potential tweaks or additions around the margins.

May's concession to Parliament came ahead of a series of votes Wednesday in which pro-EU lawmakers planned to try to force the government to rule out a "no-deal" Brexit. Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn accused May of "continuing to run down the clock."

"Every delay, every bit of badly made fudge just intensifies the uncertainty for industry, business, investment being held back, jobs being lost and more jobs being putting at risk," he said. Labour, which has its own internal schism over Brexit, took a step Monday toward campaigning for a new EU membership referendum as a way to break the deadlock. The left-of-center party said it would back a second public vote if the House of Commons rejects its alternative Brexit plan, which calls for Britain to retain close economic ties with the EU.

Corbyn said that if May's deal was approved by Parliament, "we believe there must be a confirmatory public vote to see if people feel that's what they voted for" in the 2016 EU membership referendum. But the idea of a new referendum faces opposition from some Labour lawmakers in areas that voted to leave the bloc, who say reversing Brexit would betray the will of voters.

"We can't ignore millions of Labor 'leave' voters," said Labour lawmaker Caroline Flint.

EU official Tusk calls on May to delay Brexit

February 25, 2019

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — European Union official Donald Tusk added pressure on British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday to delay the country's departure from the bloc, saying it would be a "rational solution."

Tusk said that "all the 27 (member states) will show maximum understanding and goodwill" to make such a postponement possible after two days of talks between May and several European leaders at the EU-Arab League summit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh failed to produce a breakthrough in the negotiations.

May met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker early Monday as she sought elusive changes to the U.K.-EU divorce agreement. Britain's Parliament has rejected the deal once, and May has just over a month to get it approved by lawmakers before the U.K.'s scheduled departure day of March 29.

May says a new vote won't be held this week and could come as late as March 12. Tusk, the European Council president, said that such a timeframe might get too tight to avoid a chaotic and costly cliff-edge departure.

"I believe that in the situation we are in, an extension would be a rational solution," Tusk told reporters. At the moment though, and after his talks with her on Sunday, Tusk said that "Prime Minister May still believes that she is able to avoid this scenario" of extending the departure beyond March 29.

Tusk refused to say how long such an extension should be as rumors swirled it should go to anything from two months to almost two years. U.K. lawmakers' objections to the Brexit deal center on a provision for the border between the U.K.'s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. The mechanism, known as the backstop, is a safeguard that would keep the U.K. in a customs union with the EU to remove the need for checks along the Irish border until a permanent new trading relationship is in place.

May wants to change the deal to reassure British lawmakers that the backstop would only apply temporarily. But EU leaders insist that the legally Brexit binding withdrawal agreement, which took a year and a half to negotiate, can't be reopened.

A group of British lawmakers will try this week to force the government to delay Brexit rather than see the country crash out of the bloc without a deal. They want Parliament to vote Wednesday to extend the negotiating process.

Labour lawmaker Yvette Cooper, one of those behind the move, said it was irresponsible of the government that just a few weeks before Brexit "we still don't know what kind of Brexit we are going to have and we're not even going to have a vote on it until two weeks before that final deadline."

"I don't see how businesses can plan, I don't see how public services can plan and I think it's just deeply damaging," Cooper told the BBC.

Raf Casert reported from Brussels. Jill Lawless contributed from London.

Main UK opposition party takes step to back new Brexit vote

February 25, 2019

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Theresa May returned from a seemingly unproductive meeting with European Union leaders Monday to a growing attempt by British lawmakers to stop her from taking Britain out of the EU on March 29 without a divorce deal.

With May and the EU at odds over not just how, but when Brexit should happen, her political opponents were getting increasingly desperate to take control of Britain's muddled departure from the bloc. At an EU-Arab League summit in Egypt, the EU warned Britain it faces the prospect of delaying its planned March 29 departure or the consequences of a chaotic exit. European Council President Donald Tusk, who chairs meetings of EU nation leaders, said Monday it would be "rational" to postpone Brexit day.

May insisted she intends for Britain to leave as planned in a little more than a month. But her often divided opponents may be coalescing around a plan to prevent Britain crashing out of the EU with no agreement in place.

The main opposition Labour Party took a big step Monday toward backing a new referendum on the country's EU membership. The party has previously said it would support a referendum as a last resort if it could not secure a new election or make changes to May's EU divorce deal. Britain's Parliament has so far rejected the deal struck between May's government and the bloc, and is due to hold a series of votes Wednesday on next steps in the Brexit process.

Labor has proposed its own withdrawal plan as an alternative to the government's deal with the EU. The party said Monday it would back a second public vote if the House of Commons rejects its plan this week, as is widely expected.

Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn said the party is committed to "putting forward or supporting an amendment in favor of a public vote to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit being forced on the country." The party did not specify what voters might be asked to consider in any future vote, though it has previously said the option of Britain remaining an EU member would be included.

Labor has previously said it would only support a second referendum as a last resort if it could not secure a new general election or make changes to May's divorce deal. The change in approach follows the resignations of nine Labour lawmakers last week, partly over the party's failure to back another Brexit referendum. It is likely to cheer many party members, who have backed calls for a so-called "people's vote."

While there is little chance of a second referendum taking place without the support of Labour, the path to another Brexit vote is far from clear. It would require the support of numerous lawmakers from the governing Conservative Party, for example.

Since lawmakers rejected May's deal with the EU last month, the prime minister has sought to get changes from Brussels on a provision for the border between the U.K.'s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.

The mechanism, known as the backstop, is a safeguard that would keep the U.K. in a customs union with the EU to remove the need for checks along the Irish border until a permanent new trading relationship is in place.

May wants to revise the deal to reassure opponents from her Conservative Party, as well as from a Northern Ireland party that props up her minority government, the backstop would only apply temporarily.

But EU leaders insist that the legally binding Brexit withdrawal agreement, which took a year and a half to negotiate, can't be reopened. The impasse has raised concerns that Britain will leave the EU without a deal, a scenario that would likely mean new tariffs on British exports and serious disruption to trade between the two sides. The Bank of England has warned that the British economy could shrink by 8 percent in the months after a disorderly Brexit.

May has said a new vote on any revised Brexit deal won't be held this week and could come as late as March 12. A number of British lawmakers are seeking to wrest control of the process from the government and are looking to get support for an amendment that would require May to seek an extension to the Brexit date if Parliament fails to back her deal.

"I don't see how businesses can plan. I don't see how public services can plan, and I think it's just deeply damaging," Labour lawmaker Yvette Cooper, one of those behind the move, told the BBC. On Monday, the EU's Tusk warned that the chances of a withdrawal agreement being concluded in time are receding, and that sticking by the planned Brexit date would be too risky.

"I believe that in the situation we are in, an extension would be a rational solution," Tusk told reporters at an EU-Arab League summit in Egypt after talks with May that he said included discussions over extending the Brexit process.

May insisted a deal in time was still possible. "It is within our grasp to leave with a deal on 29th of March and I think that that is where all of our energies should be focused," May said. She said that "any delay is a delay. It doesn't address the issue."

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte warned her against "sleepwalking" into a chaotic Brexit next month. "It's absolutely unacceptable. And I think your best friends have to warn you for that," Rutte told the BBC. "Wake up. This is real."

Raf Casert in Brussels and Pan Pylas in London contributed.

May delays Brexit vote, risking further Cabinet discord

February 24, 2019

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday delayed a vote on her Brexit deal in the Parliament, saying it should take place by March 12, a little more than two weeks before the U.K. is due to leave the European Union.

The move has the potential to further sow discord within her Cabinet. Three senior Cabinet members already had suggested Saturday that they may break ranks with her and back amendments to delay Britain's departure unless a deal is agreed upon by Parliament over the next week.

But May told reporters Sunday as she traveled to Egypt for an EU-Arab League summit and talks with European Council President Donald Tusk that her negotiating team would return to Brussels on Tuesday for talks aimed at wringing concessions out of her reluctant EU partners.

"As a result of that we won't bring a meaningful vote to Parliament this week. But we will ensure that that happens by March 12," she said. Britain is due to leave the EU in just over a month on March 29. The U.K. would be the first country to leave the bloc and the move is full of deep economic and political consequences. But May has been unable to convince the U.K. Parliament to endorse the draft Brexit deal she agreed with the Europeans in November. Any deal must also be endorsed by the European Parliament before the deadline.

"It is still within our grasp to leave the European Union with a deal on March 29," May said. An EU official poured cold water on any hopes for concessions from Tusk on Britain's departure terms at their meeting in the resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, saying "there will be no deal in the desert."

The official insisted that EU leaders wouldn't formally discuss Brexit at the summit, suggesting that little might come from the talks with Tusk beyond a photo opportunity to show that May is unrelenting in her pursuit of concessions. The official wasn't permitted to speak publicly about Brexit while talks are ongoing.

British lawmakers will consider various Brexit options this week as May continues to seek concessions from her EU counterparts. No visible signs of progress have emerged in recent weeks as the 27 other member countries continue to insist that they will not renegotiate the legally-binding divorce deal.

Ireland publishes no-deal Brexit bill it hopes it won't need

February 22, 2019

LONDON (AP) — The Irish government published legislation Friday designed to ease the damage if Britain leaves the European Union next month without a Brexit divorce deal — but said it hoped the law would never be needed.

The Irish government plans to fast-track the bill through Ireland's parliament before the U.K.'s scheduled departure from the bloc on March 29. As a major trading partner of Britain, and the only EU country that shares a land border with the U.K., Ireland faces a huge economic hit if a "no-deal" Brexit introduces tariffs, customs checks and other barriers between Britain and the EU.

Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney said the bill would try to "offset the worst effects of a disorderly Brexit." It seeks to support Irish businesses and ensure that citizens can still get health care and pension payments in the U.K.

But Coveney said a no-deal Brexit would be "lose, lose, lose — for the U.K., for the EU and for Ireland." "I hope we never have to use the provisions set out in this piece of legislation. I hope we never have to commence this bill," he said. "Simply put, as a result of a lot of hard work my only desire is see this legislation sit on the shelf."

British Prime Minister Theresa May and the EU struck a Brexit deal late last year laying out the terms of an orderly departure and establishing a long transition period so businesses can trade under existing rules while future trade relations are worked out.

But Britain's Parliament rejected the deal last month and sent May back to the EU seeking changes. EU leaders insist that the legally Brexit binding withdrawal agreement, which took a year and a half to negotiate, can't be reopened.

Still, the two sides are still holding talks, which the U.K. has called "constructive." May is due to meet European Council President Donald Tusk at an EU-Arab summit in Egypt on Sunday, although there is little prospect of a breakthrough.

With Brexit just five weeks away, May is stuck between an intransigent EU and a resistant U.K. Parliament. Three lawmakers from her own Conservative Party quit the party this week over the government's handling of Brexit.

May faces facing another showdown in Parliament next week with British lawmakers eager to wrest control of the Brexit process from the government and halt the slide to a chaotic "no-deal" exit. May must tell Parliament on Tuesday whether she is ready to re-submit her Brexit deal for approval. If not, legislators will get a chance Wednesday to try to change the government's course.

Ukraine full results: president's party has solid majority

July 26, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — Full results from Ukraine's parliamentary election Friday gave the party of the country's president 254 of the 424 seats in the Verkhovna Rada. The Central Elections Commission issued the final tally from the July 21 election that showed the Servant of the People party winning a sizable majority.

The party takes its name from the television sitcom that propelled its star, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, into the presidency. When Zelenskiy took office in May, the Rada was dominated by his opponents and he called early elections in hope of getting a majority.

None of the new Servant of the People lawmakers has previous experience in parliament. The Interfax news agency reports the party is ordering them to attend a week of intensive economics instruction. A Russia-friendly party led by a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin placed a distant second in the election. Three other parties tallied enough votes to obtain parliament seats.

Ukraine president's party buoyed by exit poll after election

July 21, 2019

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's party was headed to win the biggest share of votes in the Ukraine's snap parliamentary election, according to an exit poll Sunday, but it was unclear if the party nailed down a solid majority in the legislature.

The poll of 13,000 voters showed Servant of the People getting 43.9% of the vote for party-list candidates, far ahead of rivals. But 199 of the 424 seats being filled were for single constituencies, which the poll didn't assess.

Overall, five parties cleared the 5% threshold necessary to get party-list seats, according to the poll. In all, the parties got less than 80% of the overall vote, suggesting that Zelenskiy's party was likely to win a majority of the party-list seats.

The vote count was proceeding slowly, with less than 1% of the polling stations' results tallied 3 ½ hours after voting ended. Nonetheless, Zelenskiy was buoyed by the exit poll's findings. "This shows great trust by the people of Ukraine to our party," he said.

He said "the main priorities for us and for every Ukrainian are the stopping of war, the return of our prisoners and victory over the corruption that remains in Ukraine." Zelenskiy, who took office in May, called the election three months ahead of schedule because the parliament was dominated by his opponents. He is seeking a majority that would support his promised fight against Ukraine's endemic corruption and for other reforms.

His Servant of the People party is named after the television comedy in which he played a teacher who unexpectedly becomes president. After voting, Zelenskiy said one of the new parliament's first tasks should be to consider lifting parliament members' immunity from prosecution.

A party led by one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest associates, tycoon Viktor Medvedchuk, was in second with 11.5% of the vote, according to the exit poll. It was followed by the European Solidarity party of former President Petro Poroshenko, whom Zelenskiy defeated in a landslide in the country's spring presidential election.

Zelenskiy's party intends to continue a pro-Western course toward joining the European Union and NATO, combining this with economic reforms and an intensified fight against endemic corruption. "With Zelenskiy, a new political team should come into politics that will continue the reforms that Poroshenko spoke about beautifully but did not do," 35-year-old lawyer Viktor Shumeiko said at a polling station in Kiev.

Medvedchuk says Ukraine's proper course is to improve its relations with Moscow, which plummeted after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and its support for Russia-backed separatists fighting government troops in a war that has killed more than 13,000 people.

Dmitry Rushailo, a 57-year-old doctor voting in Kiev, agreed. "The Kremlin will stop the war if Medvedchuk comes into power," he said. "Half the country speaks Russian, but neither the old or new authorities listen to us. Why should we have the EU and NATO if the war doesn't stop and we become poorer?"

Medvedchuk proposes that Ukraine grant autonomy to rebel areas in the east and offer amnesty to the separatists. He said Ukraine could get a 25% discount on natural gas imports from Russia if it takes steps that satisfy the Kremlin.

Since Putin is the godfather of Medvedchuk's daughter, his statements likely reflect Kremlin thinking. Medvedchuk and the Russian leader met Thursday in St. Petersburg. Dmytro Razumkov, head of Zelenskiy's party, said it is ready to negotiate with Russia on mechanisms for conflict resolution and seeks peace in the east "but not at any cost."

"What Medvedchuk says is not a strategy for returning territories, not a strategy for ending the war," he said. The exit poll, conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology and the Razumkov Center think-tank, had a margin of error of 2.5%.

Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this story.

TV comedian Zelenskiy sworn in as Ukraine's president

May 20, 2019

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Television star Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been sworn in as Ukraine's next president after he beat the incumbent at the polls last month. The ceremony was held at Ukrainian parliament in Kiev on Monday morning.

Zelenskiy ditched the idea of a traditional motorcade and walked to the parliament through a park packed with people. Flanked by four bodyguards, he was giving high-fives to some of the spectators and even stopped to take a selfie with one of them.

Zelenskiy, a popular comedian with no political experience, overwhelmingly won the presidential election against incumbent Petro Poroshenko in a victory that reflected Ukrainians' exhaustion with politics-as-usual.

Rumors about Zelenskiy's potential bid first surfaced when he played the Ukrainian president in a television show several years earlier.

Will Ukrainian comedian be any match for Vladimir Putin?

April 22, 2019

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Volodymyr Zelenskiy's landslide victory in Ukraine's presidential election has thrust a comedian and political novice into the middle of the most dangerous flashpoint between Moscow and the West since the end of the Cold War.

Whether Zelenskiy is any match at all for Vladimir Putin, a canny and ruthless KGB veteran who has led Russia for nearly 20 years, remains to be seen. Zelenskiy, who played an accidental president in a hugely popular sitcom but has no real political background, has vowed to keep Ukraine on its pro-Western course. At the same time, he has pledged to quickly reach out to Moscow to negotiate an end to the five years of fighting in Ukraine's industrial east against Russian-backed separatists, a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people.

Arkady Moshes, an expert on Russia and Ukraine with the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, said the Kremlin may try to exploit Zelenskiy's lack of political experience. Moscow "can on the one hand offer him something and basically outplay him diplomatically, and on the other hand threaten Zelenskiy as an inexperienced commander-in-chief with the destabilization of the situation in the east," he said.

With nearly all ballots counted in Sunday's election, the 41-year-old Zelenskiy won 73% of the vote to President Petro Poroshenko's 24%, reflecting disillusionment with the old elite amid economic woes, deep-seated corruption and the war.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and has fomented the fighting in Ukraine's industrial heartland in a bid to maintain its influence in the country and keep the former Soviet state from joining the European Union and NATO. NATO doesn't welcome nations with unsettled territorial conflicts.

The question is whether Zelenskiy will have any more success than his predecessor in halting the hostilities. "Everything will depend on Putin — whether the Kremlin will continue to use the conflict in the east to put the brakes on Kiev's movement toward the EU and NATO," said Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Penta Center, a Kiev-based think tank.

Russia paid a steep price for its actions in Ukraine, with the U.S. and the EU responding with sanctions that have limited Moscow's access to global financial markets and restricted imports of key technologies. The Kremlin may now be eager to engage in talks with Zelenskiy in the hope that a lull in the fighting will pave the way for the lifting of Western restrictions.

On the campaign trail, Poroshenko warned over and over that Zelenskiy could be easy prey for the steely Russian leader. But Zelenskiy could also face powerful resistance at home. A case in point: Zelenskiy has said he will push for implementation of the 2015 Minsk peace deal, the internationally brokered agreement that would enable Russia to maintain influence in Ukraine by allowing broad autonomy for the rebel east. But the Ukrainian public has made it clear it opposes any concessions to Russia.

"Any Ukrainian ruler's room for concessions in the Russian direction is very limited," Moshes said. During the campaign, Zelenskiy said he would continue efforts to join the EU and NATO but emphasized that becoming part of the alliance should be approved by a nationwide referendum.

Zelenskiy, who comes from Ukraine's Russian-speaking east and spent years working in Moscow during his entertainment career, has many friends in Russia's artistic community who were excited by his election.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev welcomed Zelenskiy's election, saying, "There is still a chance for Ukraine to improve its relations with Russia." Zelenskiy has also pledged to try to integrate people in separatist-controlled areas into Ukraine — a promise that contrasted with the policy of Poroshenko, who made it extremely difficult for those living in the rebel regions to get pensions and other benefits.

In addition, he has vowed to seek a quick release of Ukrainian prisoners held by separatists and Ukrainian sailors seized by Russia during a naval incident in the Black Sea in November. "I will do all I can to bring our guys back home," he said.

Some observers speculated the Kremlin may release the sailors to create goodwill for future talks. Asked about that, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov was noncommittal, saying the seamen have yet to face trial. They are accused of violating the Russian border, charges they deny.

Still, members of Zelenskiy's team were vague on how he will proceed in trying to negotiate peace in the east. "There is no magic wand," Oleksandr Danylyuk, a former finance minister who worked as campaign adviser for Zelenskiy, told The Associated Press. "We will proceed step by step."

Along with the conflict with Russia, Zelenskiy will face a daunting challenge in trying to root out corruption and reverse a sharp plunge in living standards. While voters saw his lack of political experience as an advantage, observers warned that the reality could be different.

For one thing, Poroshenko's party and its allies control the parliament, making it difficult for Zelenskiy to form his team and pursue his own course. "Zelenskiy's approach is naive and romantic," said Fesenko of the Penta Center, who predicted the president-elect will now face pressure from various political and business clans who will try to put their people on his team.

Isachenkov reported from Moscow.

Ukraine's presidential vote pits comedian against incumbent

April 21, 2019

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Polls opened Sunday in Ukraine's presidential runoff as the nation's incumbent leader struggles to fend off a strong challenge by a comedian who denounces corruption and plays the role of president in a TV sitcom.

Opinion surveys ahead of the vote have shown 53-year-old President Petro Poroshenko trailing far behind comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy, reflecting public dismay with endemic corruption, a moribund economy and a five-year fight against Russia-backed insurgents in the country's east.

Zelenskiy, 41, got twice as many votes as Poroshenko in the first round three weeks ago. Like his sitcom character, a teacher thrust into the presidency after a video of him blasting corruption goes viral, he has focused on fighting graft, riding the wave of public distrust of Ukraine's political elite.

"I have grown up under the old politicians and only have seen empty promises, lies and corruption," said Lyudmila Potrebko, a 22-year-old computer programmer who cast her ballot for Zelenskiy. "It's time to change that."

Poroshenko, a billionaire candy magnate before taking office, has relied on traditional political barnstorming, using sympathetic television stations to extensively cover his appearances. Zelenskiy, however, has largely stayed away from the campaign trail and eschewed interviews. He has run his campaign mainly on Instagram, where he has 3.7 million followers.

Poroshenko's attempts to counter the challenger online have often been awkward, including a video that showed Zelenskiy being run over by a truck with a streak resembling a line of cocaine left behind. There is no evidence that Zelenskiy, a fitness fan, uses drugs.

The campaign was marked by fierce mutual criticism and a jockeying for dominance, wrapping up with Friday's debate at the nation's largest sports arena in which both rivals fell on their knees in a melodramatic moment to ask forgiveness of those who lost relatives on the eastern battlefront.

Millions of Ukrainians who live in the rebel-controlled east and in Russia-annexed Crimea are unable to vote. The incumbent campaigned on the same promise he made when he was elected in 2014: to lead the nation of 42 million into the European Union and NATO — the goals that look elusive amid Ukraine's economic problems, pervasive corruption and fighting in the east. A visa free deal with the EU spawned the exodus of millions of skilled workers for better living conditions elsewhere in Europe.

Poroshenko also has boasted of his successful push to create a new Ukrainian Orthodox Church independent from Moscow's Patriarchate and pushed for a bill that would outlaw the Russian language, which remains widely spoken in Ukraine.

"Poroshenko has done a lot of good things for the country, creating its own church, getting the visa-free deal and taking Ukraine away from the empire," said 44-year-old businessman Volodymyr Andreichenko who voted for him.

But Poroshenko's message has fallen flat with many voters who are struggling to survive on meager wages and pay soaring utility bills. "We have grown poor under Poroshenko and have to save to buy food and clothing," said 55-year-old sales clerk Irina Fakhova. "We have had enough of them getting mired in corruption and filling their pockets and treating us as fools."

Zelenskiy, who comes from Ukraine's mostly Russian-speaking east, has opposed the Russian language restrictions and mocked the creation of the new church as a campaign stunt. He has focused heavily on corruption allegations that have dogged Poroshenko and showered the president with questions about his assets during Friday's debate. Poroshenko denies any link to an alleged embezzlement scheme involving one of his companies and a top associate.

Like Poroshenko, Zelenskiy pledged to keep Ukraine's on its pro-Western course, but said the country should only join NATO if voters approve that in a referendum. He promised that his No. 1 priority would be direct talks with Russia to end fighting in eastern Ukraine that erupted after Russia's annexation of Crimea and has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014.

Zelenskiy's image has been shadowed by his admission that he had commercial interests in Russia through a holding company, and by his business ties to self-exiled billionaire businessman Ihor Kolomoyskyi, a Poroshenko archrival who owns the TV station that aired the sitcom the actor starred in as well as his comedy shows.

"Both candidates stand for integration into Europe, both kneel to honor those killed in the war with Russia, both are linked to oligarchs," 67-year-old teacher Dmytro Volokhovets said with a touch of sarcasm. "But Zelenskiy will win because he's young and new."

Just a few hours before polls opened, a court in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev heard a suit filed by a Zelenskiy foe who claimed that the actor tried to bribe voters when his campaign offered tickets to the debate and demanded that his registration be annulled. The court rejected the demand early Sunday.

Ukraine campaign heats up with new court, truck video

April 11, 2019

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's president on Thursday ordered the creation of a special anti-corruption court in an apparent attempt to catch up with his challenger, who has taken a commanding lead in the presidential runoff race.

A poll conducted by the Reiting survey group found comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy with 61% support while President Petro Poroshenko had 24% ahead of a runoff set for April 21. The poll released Thursday was based on answers from 3,000 respondents and had a margin of error of 1.8 percentage points.

The 41-year-old comic actor, who plays the role of the nation's president in a hugely popular TV sitcom, has never held political office. Zelenskiy's popularity, however, reflects public longing for a fresh leader who has no ties to Ukraine's corruption-ridden political elite and can propose a new way to settle the grinding five-year conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine that has left 13,000 people dead since 2014.

He easily beat Poroshenko in the first round on March 31, garnering 30% of the vote, while the incumbent got just under 16%. Amid an increasingly heated campaign, Zelenskiy's office on Thursday accused Poroshenko's election headquarters of posting a video in which Zelenskiy is run over by a heavy truck. It said it perceives the video as a clear threat that warrants additional security measures.

Poroshenko's campaign denied that it was responsible for putting out the video and Ukrainian police said they launched a criminal investigation into the incident. Poroshenko, 53, saw his approval ratings plummet amid Ukraine's economic woes and a sharp plunge in living standards amid a conflict with Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in 2014.

He has cast himself as a strong statesman capable of standing up to Russia, claiming that Zelenskiy's lack of political experience will make him an easy prey for the Kremlin. But even though most of the world has rejected Russia's annexation of Crimea, there are no signs that Ukraine under any political leader is getting the territory back.

Poroshenko also has been repeatedly accused of turning a blind eye to corruption. In addition, the exposure of a military embezzlement scheme that allegedly involved top Poroshenko associates as well as a factory controlled by the president has badly dented his popularity. Poroshenko has denied any links to the scheme.

In an apparent bid to deflect criticism, Poroshenko on Thursday signed a decree to appoint members of the High Anti-Corruption Court — a longtime demand of both the United States and the European Union.

"By setting up the Anti-Corruption Court, we are completing the creation of an independent anti-corruption infrastructure," he said.

Ukraine comedian leads presidential election, runoff likely

April 01, 2019

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Early results in Ukraine's presidential election showed a comedian with no political experience with a sizable lead over 38 rivals but far from a first-round victory, while the incumbent president and a former prime minister were close contenders to advance to the runoff.

The strong showing of Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Sunday's voting appeared to reflect Ukrainians' desire for new blood in a political system awash in corruption and a new approach to trying to end the war with Russia-backed separatists in the country's east that has wracked the country for nearly five years.

With 20 percent of the polling station protocols counted, Zelenskiy had 30 percent, while incumbent President Petro Poroshenko was a distant second with about 17 percent and Yulia Tymoshenko with 13, the elections commission said early Monday. The results were closely in line with a major exit poll.

The top two candidates advance to a runoff on April 21. Final results in Sunday's first round are expected to be announced later Monday. The election was shadowed by allegations of widespread vote buying. Police said they had received more than 2,100 complaints of violations on voting day alone in addition to hundreds of earlier voting fraud claims, including bribery attempts and removing ballots from polling places.

Zelenskiy stars in a TV sitcom about a teacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral and his supporters hold out hope that he can fight corruption in real life. "This is only the first step to a great victory," Zelenskiy told reporters after the exit poll was announced.

"Zelenskiy has shown us on the screen what a real president should be like," said voter Tatiana Zinchenko, 30, who cast her ballot for the comedian. "He showed what the state leader should aspire for — fight corruption by deeds, not words, help the poor, control the oligarchs."

Campaign issues in the country of 42 million included Ukraine's endemic corruption, its struggling economy and a seemingly intractable conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine that has killed 13,000 people since 2014.

Concern about the election's legitimacy have spiked in recent days after Ukraine's interior minister said his department was "showered" with hundreds of claims that supporters of Poroshenko and Tymoshenko had offered money in exchange for votes.

Like the popular character he plays, Zelenskiy, 41, made corruption a focus of his candidacy. He proposed a lifetime ban on holding public office for anyone convicted of graft. He also called for direct negotiations with Russia on ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

"A new life, a normal life is starting," Zelenskiy said after casting his ballot in Kiev. "A life without corruption, without bribes." His lack of political experience helped his popularity with voters amid broad disillusionment with the country's political elite.

Poroshenko said "I feel no kind of euphoria" after the exit poll results were announced. "I critically and soberly understand the signal that society gave today to the acting authorities," he said. It is not clear whether he would or could adjust his campaign enough to meet Zelenskiy's challenges over the next three weeks.

Poroshenko, 53, a confectionary tycoon when he was elected five years ago, pushed successfully for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be recognized as self-standing rather than a branch of the Russian church.

However, he saw approval of his governing sink amid Ukraine's economic woes and a sharp plunge in living standards. Poroshenko campaigned on promises to defeat the rebels in the east and to wrest back control of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 in a move that has drawn sanctions against Russia from the U.S. and the European Union.

Speaking at a polling station Sunday, the president echoed his campaign promises of taking Ukraine into the EU and NATO. The president's priorities persuaded schoolteacher Andriy Hristenko, 46, to vote for him

"Poroshenko has done a lot. He created our own church, bravely fought with Moscow and is trying to open the way to the EU and NATO," Hristenko said. Ukraine's former prime minister, Tymoshenko, shaped her message around the economic distress of millions in the country.

"Ukraine has sunk into poverty and corruption during the last five years, but every Ukrainian can put an end to it now," she said after voting Sunday. During the campaign, Tymoshenko denounced price hikes introduced by Poroshenko as "economic genocide" and promised to reduce prices for household gas by 50 percent within a month of taking office.

"I don't need a bright future in 50 years," said Olha Suhiy, a 58-year-old cook. "I want hot water and heating to cost less tomorrow." A military embezzlement scheme that allegedly involved top Poroshenko associates as well as a factory controlled by the president dogged Poroshenko before the election. Ultra-right activists shadowed him throughout the campaign, demanding the jailing of the president's associates accused in the scandal.

Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko both used the alleged embezzlement to take hits at Poroshenko, who shot back at his rivals. He described them as puppets of a self-exiled billionaire businessman Igor Kolomoyskyi, charges that Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko denied.

Many political observers have described the presidential election as a battle between Poroshenko and Kolomoyskyi. Both the president and the comedian relied on an arsenal of media outlets under their control to exchange blows. Just days before the election, the TV channel Kolomoyskyi owns aired a new season of the "Servant of the People" TV series in which Zelenskiy stars as Ukraine's leader.

"Kolomoyskyi has succeeded in creating a wide front against Poroshenko," said Vadim Karasyov, head of the Institute of Global Strategies, an independent Kiev-based think tank. "Ukraine has gone through two revolutions, but ended up with the same thing — the fight between the oligarchs for the power and resources."

AP journalists Mstyslav Chernov in Kiev, and Jim Heintz and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, contributed to this report.

Exit poll says comedian leads Ukraine presidential election

March 31, 2019

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A comedian with no political experience was the top vote-getter in Ukraine's presidential election on Sunday, an exit poll predicted, but said he fell well short of the absolute majority needed to win outright in the first round.

The poll said incumbent President Petro Poroshenko was in a distant second place, closely followed by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. The election was shadowed by allegations of widespread vote buying. Police said they had received more than 1,600 complaints of violations on voting day alone in addition to hundreds of earlier voting fraud claims, including bribery attempts and removing ballots from polling places.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who stars in a TV sitcom about a teacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral, led the field of 39 candidates with 30.4 percent of the vote, according to an exit poll by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology and the Razumkov public opinion organization. Poroshenko tallied with 17.8 percent support and Tymoshenko had 14.2 percent, it said. The poll claimed a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

The top two candidates will face off in presidential runoff on April 21. Final results in Sunday's first round are expected to be announced Monday morning. "Zelenskiy has shown us on the screen what a real president should be like," said voter Tatiana Zinchenko, 30, who cast her ballot for the comedian. "He showed what the state leader should aspire for — fight corruption by deeds, not words, help the poor, control the oligarchs."

Campaign issues in the country of 42 million included Ukraine's endemic corruption, its struggling economy and a seemingly intractable conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine that has killed 13,000 people since 2014.

Concern about the election's legitimacy have spiked in recent days after Ukraine's interior minister said his department was "showered" with hundreds of claims that supporters of Poroshenko and Tymoshenko had offered money in exchange for votes.

Like the popular character he plays, Zelenskiy, 41, made corruption a focus of his candidacy. He proposed a lifetime ban on holding public office for anyone convicted of graft. He also called for direct negotiations with Russia on ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

"A new life, a normal life is starting," Zelenskiy said after casting his ballot in Kiev. "A life without corruption, without bribes." His lack of political experience helped his popularity with voters amid broad disillusionment with the country's political elite.

"(We have) no trust in old politicians. They were at the helm and the situation in the country has only gotten worse — corruption runs amok and the war is continuing," said businessman Valery Ostrozhsky, 66, another Zelenskiy voter.

Poroshenko, 53, a confectionary tycoon when he was elected five years ago, pushed successfully for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be recognized as self-standing rather than a branch of the Russian church.

However, he saw approval of his governing sink amid Ukraine's economic woes and a sharp plunge in living standards. Poroshenko campaigned on promises to defeat the rebels in the east and to wrest back control of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 in a move that has drawn sanctions against Russia from the U.S. and the European Union.

Speaking at a polling station Sunday, the president echoed his campaign promises of taking Ukraine into the EU and NATO. He said holding a fair, free election was "a necessary condition for our movement forward, to Ukraine's return to the European family of nations," and was confident about the ballot despite the bribery allegations.

"I'm sure that the election was well organized," Poroshenko said. "The expression of the will of the citizens will be protected." The president's priorities persuaded schoolteacher Andriy Hristenko, 46, to vote for him

"Poroshenko has done a lot. He created our own church, bravely fought with Moscow and is trying to open the way to the EU and NATO," Hristenko said. Ukraine's former prime minister, Tymoshenko, shaped her message around the economic distress of millions in the country.

"Ukraine has sunk into poverty and corruption during the last five years, but every Ukrainian can put an end to it now," she said after voting Sunday. During the campaign, Tymoshenko denounced price hikes introduced by Poroshenko as "economic genocide" and promised to reduce prices for household gas by 50 percent within a month of taking office.

"I don't need a bright future in 50 years," said Olha Suhiy, a 58-year-old cook. "I want hot water and heating to cost less tomorrow." A military embezzlement scheme that allegedly involved top Poroshenko associates as well as a factory controlled by the president dogged Poroshenko ahead of the election. Ultra-right activists shadowed him throughout the campaign, demanding the jailing of the president's associates accused in the scheme.

Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko both used the alleged embezzlement to take hits at Poroshenko, who shot back at his rivals. He described them as puppets of a self-exiled billionaire businessman Igor Kolomoyskyi, charges that Zelenskiy and Tymoshenko denied.

Many political observers have described the presidential election as a battle between Poroshenko and Kolomoyskyi. Both the president and Kolomoyskyi relied on an arsenal of media outlets under their control to exchange blows. Just days before the election, the TV channel Kolomoyskyi owns aired a new season of the "Servant of the People" TV series in which Zelenskiy stars as Ukraine's leader.

"Kolomoyskyi has succeeded in creating a wide front against Poroshenko," said Vadim Karasyov, head of the Institute of Global Strategies, an independent Kiev-based think tank. "Ukraine has gone through two revolutions, but ended up with the same thing — the fight between the oligarchs for the power and resources."

Mstyslav Chernov in Kiev, Ukraine and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

Comedian leads presidential polling in Ukraine

March 30, 2019

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A comedian who's never held political office tops the public opinion polls ahead of Ukraine's presidential election, but even he appears to be falling far short of enough support to win in the first round.

Ukrainians on Sunday will choose from among 39 candidates for a president they hope can guide the country of more than 42 million out of troubles including endemic corruption, a seemingly intractable war with Russia-backed separatists in the country's east and a struggling economy.

President Petro Poroshenko, who was elected three months after those protests, is running for another term but a poll released Friday by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology showed him with support of just 13.7 percent of the voters.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who shot to national prominence by playing the role of president in a television comedy series, topped the poll at 20.9 percent. Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister making her third run at the presidency, was in third with 9.7 percent.

If no candidate gets an absolute majority of the votes on Sunday, a runoff between the top two will be held April 21. Nearly a quarter of those who intend to vote say they remain undecided, according to the survey.

All the leading candidates advocate Ukraine eventually joining NATO and the European Union, and the election will be closely watched by those organizations for indications of whether Ukraine is developing democratic processes.

Concern about the election's freedom and fairness spiked this week after the country's interior minister said he was looking into hundreds of claims that campaigners for Poroshenko and Tymoshenko were offering money to voters to support their candidates.

Zelenskiy, 41, is famous for his TV portrayal of a schoolteacher who becomes president after a video of him denouncing corruption goes viral. Even before he announced his candidacy, Zelenskiy's name was turning up high in pre-election public opinion polls, with potential voters seemingly encouraged by his "Servant of the People" TV series (which became the name of his party).

Like his TV character, Zelenskiy the candidate has focused strongly on corruption. He proposes a lifetime ban on holding public office for anyone convicted of corruption and calls for a tax amnesty under which someone holding hidden assets would declare them, be taxed at 5 percent and face no other measures. He also calls for direct negotiation with Russia on ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

"We are tired of the old politicians who give out new promises, while they themselves only steal and increase corruption," Zelenskiy supporter Oleg Derun said Saturday. Poroshenko, the 53-year-old incumbent, came to power in 2014 with the image of a "good oligarch." The bulk of his fortune came from the Roshen confectionery company, hence his nickname "The Chocolate King."

Critics denounce him for having done little to combat Ukraine's endemic corruption and for failing to end the war in the east. He has made economic reforms that pleased international lenders, but that burdened Ukrainians with higher utility bills. He did, however, score significant goals for Ukraine's national identity and its desire to move out of Russia's influence. He signed an association agreement with the European Union so Ukrainians now can travel visa-free to the European Union. He pushed successfully for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be recognized as self-standing rather than just a branch of the Russian church.

Poroshenko reinforced the latter issue on Saturday, even though campaigning is not allowed on the day prior to elections, by holding public prayers with the head of the new Ukrainian church, Poroshenko "needs time to complete reforms, which are moving, but slowly," said soldier Ihor Shumeiko, who attended the prayer service.

Tymoshenko is playing heavily to the economic distress of millions of Ukrainians. She has promised to reduce prices for household gas by 50 percent within a month of taking office, calling the price hikes introduced by Poroshenko "economic genocide." She also promises to take away constitutional immunity for the president, the judiciary and lawmakers.

She was named prime minister after the 2004 Orange Revolution protests in which she was a major figure. But her image darkened as she and President Viktor Yushchenko quarreled chronically, and she lost to Moscow-leaning Viktyor Yanukovych in the 2010 presidential election.

In 2011, she was arrested and charged with abusing power as premier in a natural gas deal with Russia. Tymoshenko said the proceedings were politically motivated revenge, and Western governments voiced concern about her incarceration. She was released amid the disorder of the 2014 overthrow of Yanukovych, and lost a presidential election to Poroshenko three months later.

Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this story.

'Complete collapse of economies' ahead as Africa faces virus

April 05, 2020

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Some of Uganda's poorest people used to work here, on the streets of Kampala, as fruit sellers sitting on the pavement or as peddlers of everything from handkerchiefs to roasted peanuts.

Now they're gone and no one knows when they will return, victims of a global economic crisis linked to the coronavirus that could wipe out jobs for millions across the African continent, many who live hand-to-mouth with zero savings.

“We've been through a lot on the continent. Ebola, yes, African governments took a hit, but we have not seen anything like this before,” Ahunna Eziakonwa, the United Nations Development Program regional director for Africa, told The Associated Press. “The African labor market is driven by imports and exports and with the lockdown everywhere in the world, it means basically that the economy is frozen in place.

"And with that, of course, all the jobs are gone.” More than half of Africa's 54 countries have imposed lockdowns, curfews, travel bans or other measures in a bid to prevent local transmission of the virus. They range from South Africa, where inequality and crime plague Africa's most developed country, to places like Uganda, where the informal sector accounts for more than 50% of the country's gross domestic product.

The deserted streets in downtown Kampala, Uganda's capital, underscore the challenge facing authorities across the world's poorest continent, home to 1.3 billion people: how to look after millions of people stuck at home for weeks or even months of lockdown.

With some governments saying they're unable to offer direct support, the fate of Africa’s large informal sector could be a powerful example of what experts predict will be unprecedented damage to economies in the developing world. Among the millions made jobless are casual laborers, petty traders, street vendors, mechanics, taxi operators and conductors, housekeepers and waitresses, and dealers in everything from used clothes to construction hardware.

Unless the virus' spread can be controlled, up to 50% of all projected job growth in Africa will be lost as aviation, services, exports, mining, agriculture and the informal sector all take a hit, Eziakonwa said.

"We will see a complete collapse of economies and livelihoods. Livelihoods will be wiped out in a way we have never seen before," she warned. The U.N. Economic Commission for Africa has said the pandemic could seriously dent already stagnant growth in many countries, with oil-exporting nations like Nigeria and Angola losing up to $65 billion in revenue as prices fall.

Economies in sub-Saharan Africa are seen as especially vulnerable because many are heavily indebted and some struggle just to implement their budgets under less stressful circumstances. Now the continent might need up to $10.6 billion in unanticipated increases in health spending, and revenue losses could lead to debt becoming unsustainable, UNECA chief Vera Songwe said in March.

Urgent calls for an economic stimulus package have followed. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has spoken of an “existential threat" to Africa's economies while seeking up to $150 billion from G20 nations. A meeting of African finance ministers agreed that the continent needs a stimulus package of up to $100 billion, including a waiver of up to $44 billion in interest payments.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa backed the calls for a stimulus package, saying in a recent speech that the pandemic “will reverse the gains that many countries have made in recent years." Several African nations have been among the fastest-growing in the world.

The International Monetary Fund on March 25 said it had received requests for emergency financing from close to 20 African countries, with requests from another 10 or more likely to follow. The IMF has since approved credit facilities for at least two West African nations — Guinea and Senegal — facing virus-related economic disruption.

Further challenges exist. Rampant corruption in many African countries feeds inequality, and poor or non-existent public services stoke public anger that sometimes escalates into street protests and deadly violence.

Measures to control the spread of COVID-19 could make that worse as people trapped at home go hungry. UNECA has called for emergency actions to protect 30 million jobs immediately at risk across Africa, particularly in the tourism and airline sectors, saying the continent will be hit harder than others with an economic toll that will exacerbate "current fragilities.”

After Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni announced that food markets could remain open under orders to decongest crowded areas, some fruit vendors were assaulted by armed men and had goods confiscated, drawing an apology from the army commander. Museveni later announced an effective lockdown, closing public transport and all but essential businesses.

“What am I going to eat if he stops us from working? Museveni cannot do that,” said Marius Kamusiime, who operates a passenger motorcycle. “We may have to go back to the village if this corona becomes serious."

On a continent where extended families are common, some say, one job loss can spell doom for up to a dozen or more people. “Sitting down is not an option because they don’t have money locked away," said Eziakonwa, the UNDP official in charge of Africa.

Some governments such as Rwanda are distributing food to those who need it, but there are questions about sustainability. “We do know what to do to bring the economy back to life. What we don’t know is how to bring back people to life,” said Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo. He has created a virus alleviation fund to look after the neediest and has donated the equivalent of his salary for three months.

But many want to see more support, including tax relief that benefits a wider section of the urban poor. In Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced temporary tax relief to people described as low-income earners — those earning up to $240 in monthly wages — as well a reduction in the maximum income tax rate from 30% to 25%. He also gave $94 million to “vulnerable members of our society" to protect them from economic damage.

But other leaders say they cannot afford such benefits. Noting that “the rich countries are unlocking staggering sums” to stimulate their economies, Benin's President Patrice Talon said that his West African country, “like most African countries, does not have these means.”

Francis Kokutse in Accra, Ghana; Elias Meseret in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Virgile Ahissou in Cotonou, Benin contributed.

France turns to speedy trains to catch up in virus response

April 05, 2020

PARIS (AP) — The high-speed train whooshing past historic World War I battle sites and through the chateau-speckled Loire Valley carried a delicate cargo: 20 critically ill COVID-19 patients and the breathing machines helping keep them alive.

The TGV-turned-mobile-intensive-care-unit is just one piece of France's nationwide mobilization of trains, helicopters, jets and even a warship, deployed to relieve congested hospitals and shuffle hundreds of patients and medical personnel in and out of coronavirus hotspots.

“We are at war,” President Emmanuel Macron tells his compatriots, again and again. But as the 42-year-old leader casts himself as a warrior and harnesses the might of the armed forces, critics charge that he waited far too long to act against this foe. France, one of the world’s wealthiest countries with one of the best health care systems, they say, should never have found itself so deep in crisis.

Macron had just emerged from weeks of damaging retirement strikes and a year of violent “yellow vest” protests over economic injustice when the pandemic hit. Now he is struggling to keep the house running in one of the world’s hardest-hit countries.

The Rungis food market south of Paris, Europe’s biggest, is transforming into a morgue as France's death count races past 7,500. Nearly 7,000 patients are in intensive care, pushing French hospitals to their limit and beyond. Doctors are rationing painkillers and re-using masks.

France’s centralized state and powerful presidency make it easier to coordinate the exceptional patient-moving efforts, which have crisscrossed the country and even extended to overseas territories. But the pandemic has exposed weaknesses in the world-renowned state hospital system after decades of cost cuts. When the president visited a Paris hospital on the front lines of the virus battle, an angry neurologist challenged him to reinvest massively.

“When it was about saving Notre Dame, many were moved,” Dr. Francois Salachas said, a reference to the Paris cathedral that was severely damaged by fire a year ago, prompting immediate, massive pledges of public and private funds for reconstruction. “This time it’s about saving public hospitals, which are going up in smoke at the same speed as Notre Dame almost did.”

Many think Macron did not anticipate the severity with which the virus could hit and set a bad personal example. Similar criticisms have been leveled at other world leaders including the presidents of Mexico, Brazil and the United States.

In February, Macron made a point of repeatedly kissing Italy’s premier on a visit to Naples to show there was nothing to fear. At the time the virus was already spreading fast across France, but limited testing meant health authorities didn’t yet know.

In early March, he toured a retirement home even as he announced that families should no longer visit elderly relatives. That same day he went with his wife to a Paris theater where the owner tweeted that the president wanted to show that “life goes on.” By then the official virus infection numbers in France were doubling every two days.

In mid-March, as COVID-19 was ravaging neighboring Italy, France went ahead with the first round of nationwide municipal elections. First lady Brigitte Macron strolled the banks of the Seine, which were crowded with Parisians enjoying a sunny day despite recommendations of social distancing.

It wasn’t until March 16 that Macron abruptly changed his tune, declaring war on the virus and announcing nationwide confinement measures. A week later he appeared wearing a face mask for the first time at a field hospital set up by troops outside Mulhouse, the eastern city that saw an eruption of cases stemming from a five-day evangelical gathering.

The armed forces took on a key role, as military and hospital authorities worked out the system to shuttle patients to less-strained hospitals and medics to virus zones in need. The first “medicalized” TGV made its inaugural trip on March 26. Doctors in protective gear pushed gurneys along the nearly empty platform of the train station in the eastern city of Strasbourg as safety warnings echoed from loudspeakers. Inside the double-decker cars, patients and webs of tubes and wires were squeezed past luggage racks and rows of seats. Once they were secured, the train sped off toward less impacted hospitals in the west.

While the militarized mobilizations are broadly popular, public debate mushroomed over issues such as the relatively low numbers of people being tested for the virus in France and shortages of medical equipment. Macron ordered all face masks requisitioned for medical personnel after it became evident France entered the crisis well short of the necessary supply.

“The question of masks is now the priority question for the French," said Jean-Daniel Levy of polling agency Harris Interactive, adding that the public feels the government “didn’t take enough responsibility” for it at the outset.

France has had to send some patients for treatment to neighboring Germany, which has conducted massive nationwide testing and confirmed more cases than France while recording a death toll about one-fifth as high so far.

Macron, a centrist, has taken fire from both ends of the political spectrum. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen told France 2 television that “the government lied about the preparedness of the country,” while far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said Macron, a former investment banker, “used to think that the free market would meet the country’s needs, so his mental framework collapsed.”

Among the broader public, Macron “is seen as relatively authoritarian,” Levy said. That hurt him during the protest movements but helps his popularity now because “we want to have a strong authority figure” to manage the crisis.

In the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, a fact-finding mission is scrutinizing the government’s handling of the emergency. Macron, however, said while visiting a mask manufacturing company that it’s not yet time to focus on what went wrong.

“When we’re fighting a battle, we must all be united to win it,” the president said. “And I think those who seek to send people to trial when we have not yet won the war are irresponsible.”