Ukraine stops buying Russian gas, closes airspace

November 25, 2015

MOSCOW (AP) — Tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated Wednesday as Ukraine decided to stop buying Russian natural gas — hoping to rely on supplies from other countries — and closed its airspace to its eastern neighbor.

Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and its support for separatist rebels in the east has brought relations between the two countries to a post-Soviet low. Ukraine has since been trying to cut its dependence on Russian gas.

Russia's state-controlled gas company, Gazprom, said Wednesday that it stopped sending gas to Ukraine on Wednesday morning and will supply no more because Ukraine has not paid in advance for more deliveries.

Ukraine said it was its own decision to stop buying gas from Russia after it was offered better prices from other European countries. Those other countries import gas from Russia but can pipe it back to Ukraine.

The stoppage comes less than two months after the two countries signed an EU-brokered deal ensuring supplies through March. Under the deal, Russia lowered the price it charged Ukraine to the same level granted to neighboring countries, from $251 per 1,000 cubic meters to about $230.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller on Wednesday warned Ukraine and Europe of possible gas disruptions following the cut-off. Russia uses Ukraine's pipelines to transport a part of its gas deliveries to other European countries.

Ukraine's "refusal to buy Russian gas threatens a safe gas transit to Europe through Ukraine and gas supplies to Ukraine consumers in the coming winter," Miller said. The Gazprom chief said Ukraine had been buying up gas to store for the coming winter in the past two months but claimed it was not enough to get it through the winter.

On the other hand, the EU's executive arm, the European Commission which has been mediating the gas row between the sides, noted that Ukraine's gas reserves are well stocked and that the mild recent weather means that consumption has been below average.

"We are not particularly concerned about the gas flows from Russia to Ukraine at the moment," said Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen. Past gas disputes between Russia and Ukraine have led to cutoffs. One standoff in 2009 caused serious disruptions in shipments EU countries in the dead of winter.

Temperatures in Ukraine, where most homes rely on gas for central heating, were below freezing Wednesday morning. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk also announced that his government has decided to close the country's airspace to all Russian planes as "an issue of the national security as well as a response to Russia's aggressive actions.'

Ukraine last month banned all Russian airlines from flying into Ukraine but Russian planes have been allowed to fly over its territory.

Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.

Preliminary results: Slovenians reject same-sex marriage law

December 20, 2015

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenians rejected same-sex marriage by a large margin in a referendum on Sunday, according to near-complete results, in a victory for the conservatives backed by the Catholic Church in the ex-communist EU nation.

The results released by authorities show 63.5 percent voted against a bill that defines marriage as a union of two adults, while 36.5 percent were in favor. Slovenia's left-leaning Parliament introduced marriage equality in March, but opponents pushed through a popular vote on the issue. The "Children Are At Stake" group has collected 40,000 signatures to challenge the changes before any gay couples were able to marry.

"This result presents a victory for our children," said Ales Primc, the group's leader. Ljudmila Novak, from New Slovenia, described the outcome as a "clear defeat" of the leftist government, which backed the changes.

Supporters of same-sex marriage have called for Slovenia to join Western European nations that have allowed more gay rights. Conservatives and the right-wing opposition have campaigned on traditional family values, arguing that marriage equality paves the way for gay and lesbian couples to adopt children.

Although Slovenia is considered to be among the most liberal of the ex-communist nations, gay rights remain a contentious topic in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation of 2 million. Voters in the former Yugoslav republic rejected granting more rights to gay couples in a referendum in 2012.

Violeta Tomic, a lawmaker from the United Left party which initially put forward the bill, said referendum results presented a temporary setback only. "It's not over yet. Sooner or later the law will be accepted," she said.

The Slovenia vote illustrates a cultural split within the European Union in which more established western members are rapidly granting new rights to gays, while eastern newcomers entrench conservative attitudes toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Igor Zagar, a 55-year-old professor from the capital, Ljubljana, said he voted in favor of marriage equality to "support the secular state and against the interference of the church into political issues."

Gregor Jerovsek, a 40-year-old mechanic from Ljubljana, said he believed that "the family should not be a field for experimentation." "A traditional family should remain the key value of our society," he said.

Romania: government removes sheepdog restrictions

December 16, 2015

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A day after thousands of shepherds protested in the capital, Romania's government has lifted a ban on sheep grazing in the winter months and regulations limiting the number of sheepdogs.

Government spokesman Dan Suciu said the government temporarily removed two articles from a law designed to protect hunters in an emergency ordinance Wednesday, and would find a permanent solution by April. Shepherds say the law is an attack on their rights and centuries of traditions.

The law limited shepherds to three dogs for flocks of sheep in the mountains, and a single dog on the plain. It also banned sheep grazing from December to April. Hunters say the dogs attack deer and wild boar that they hunt.

There are 10 million sheep in Romania.

Romania OKs visit by Russian official under EU travel ban

November 27, 2015

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania's foreign ministry has defended a visit by a Russian legislator who is on a European Union sanctions list, saying restrictions do not apply for international meetings.

State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin arrived in Romania on Friday for a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. The foreign ministry said Romania was "obliged" to allow Naryshkin enter Romania because the EU travel ban establishes "that restrictions do not apply in the situation where a state member has obligations of international law, which comes from a multilateral accord which confers privileges and immunity."

Naryshkin spoke to the Romanian Senate later and lawmakers representing the ethnic Ukrainian community walked onto the Parliament floor where he was speaking to protest his presence. They held a banner saying: "2008-Georgia, 2014-Ukraine, Who's next? Putin Stop."

Naryshkin carried on with his speech, without further interruption.

New Polish authorities raid NATO spy center, fire staff

Warsaw (AFP)
Dec 18, 2015

Poland's new conservative government on Friday continued a controversial drive to replace senior officials with its own appointees when it raided a NATO counter-espionage center in Warsaw and fired its senior staff.

Colonel Krzysztof Dusza, the sacked head of the Counter Intelligence Center of Excellence, said defense ministry officials and military police raided the joint Polish-Slovak center in the early hours of Friday.

"I told them their presence here was illegal. When they left, I asked the police to put seals on the door," Dusza told public television, adding he had informed Slovakia "and other foreign partners".

The defense ministry issued a terse statement on the incident, saying only that it had installed a new interim director, Colonel Robert Bala.

In office since November, the new administration has already sparked uproar with its attempts to replace constitutional judges, a move that triggered mass protests.

Dusza insisted he was still at the helm because a joint Polish-Slovak decision was necessary to oust him.

"We expect a thorough clarification of the situation from our Polish partners," said the Slovak defense ministry, adding it was following the affair "very closely".

Polish deputy defense minister Bartosz Kownacki told local media the center's officials had been sacked a week ago but held on "illegally to their posts, rejecting orders."

Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told public radio they "had lost the right of access to confidential documents and should be replaced by others who have such rights."

Former defense minister Tomasz Siemoniak apologized on behalf of Poles to Slovakia over the raid, dubbing it "an absolute scandal" and "an unprecedented act in a NATO member country."

Antoni Macierewicz, the current defense minister and a hardliner within the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, is reputed to have carried out extensive purges in the military intelligence services in 2006 when he was deputy defense minister.

Designed to expand NATO's intelligence-gathering capabilities in the light of new threats, especially from Russia, the Polish-Slovak center was formally endorsed by NATO in October.

But a NATO official in Brussels told AFP that Friday's raid on the military center was a uniquely Polish affair as the center "has not yet been accredited by NATO."

"In general terms, Centers of Excellence are international research centers, which are nationally or multi-nationally funded and staffed, and work alongside the Alliance, but they are not NATO bodies," said the official, who did not wish to be named.

The center's headquarters are located in Warsaw. The southern city of Krakow is scheduled to host the unit eventually.

Slovakia, Poland's neighbor to the south, is to also to host a branch.

Poland joined NATO in 1999 and Slovakia followed suit in 2004.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/New_Polish_authorities_raid_NATO_spy_centre_fire_staff_999.html.

Poland's ruling party tries to solve conflict with new law

December 17, 2015

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's ruling party on Thursday proposed new legislation concerning the Constitutional Tribunal that, it says, should calm the political storm surrounding the special court.

The conflict between the ruling right-wing Law and Justice party and the pro-EU opposition over control of the court has led to peaceful street demonstrations by both sides and has provoked concerned comments from some leaders in the EU. The opposition, which controls the constitutional court, accuses the government of undermining Poland's democracy. More demonstrations by government opponents are planned on Saturday.

Law and Justice's proposal increases the number of judges needed to make key rulings, requires a two-thirds majority for its rulings instead of the current simple majority, transfers the power to swear in judges from the president to the parliament speaker and moves its headquarters out of Warsaw, which is supposed to free it from political pressure.

Despite vehement opposition protests, the parliament and the president — both controlled by the ruling party — are expected to adopt the legislation eventually. Law and Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski believes that without influence in the 15-member tribunal he will not be able to implement the sweeping social and political reforms he has promised. The tribunal has the power to put a check on new legislation. Currently most of its judges were appointed by the previous ruling team, now in the opposition. Law and Justice's attempts to place its own five choices there, and the opposition's resistance, led to a constitutional crisis in the country.

Prime Minister Beata Szydlo was to meet European Parliament head Martin Schulz in Brussels on Thursday. She has said she wants Schulz to apologize for having said that the developments in Poland have a "coup d'etat" character.

The European Parliament is to debate the situation on Jan. 19, a move that is criticized in Poland as unnecessary. "There are no grounds for this debate or for saying that democracy in Poland is threatened," said Tomasz Poreba, a member of the EU parliament for the ruling party.

Government critics in Poland fear rights are under threat

December 16, 2015

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — European Union flags have disappeared from government press conferences. The constitutional court has suffered a huge blow to its authority. Grassroots initiatives have sprung up to protect the country's young democracy.

Poland is in the grip of dizzying political changes since the nationalistic right-wing party, Law and Justice, took power last month and acted quickly to solidify its hold over this nation of nearly 38 million people. Their most controversial move has been an attempt to pack the Constitutional Tribunal — the only real check on the party's power after it took control of the presidency and parliament in elections this year — with loyal supporters.

Many Poles fear their hard-earned democracy is in jeopardy. "They have started to violate the foundations of the democratic state of law. This is unprecedented. In Poland's 26 years of democracy, a ruling party has never behaved like this," said Hanna Szuczewska of the Committee for the Defense of Democracy, a movement founded days after the new government took power in November.

Prime Minister Beata Szydlo lashed out Wednesday against such accusations, saying the "opposition is trying to provoke a political row ... that is harmful to Polish citizens." Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski says the Constitutional Tribunal was filled with people loyal to the previous centrist government, led by the Civic Platform party, and changes must be made so it "no longer protects the previous crony system."

"We must reorganize Poland and it must be a huge reorganization," Kaczynski told supporters at a pro-government march Sunday. "But we are denied that right today, even though we won the election." Accusations of anti-democratic behavior are powerful in a nation where fighting for freedom is a deep tradition. Poland is the birthplace of two major figures in the struggle against Soviet communism: Lech Walesa and Pope John Paul II. Millions joined Walesa's Solidarity movement in the 1980s. More recently, Poland has been the region's most successful post-communist transformation, with fast economic growth and an increasingly prominent role in European affairs.

Walesa, alarmed by the country's political direction, called this week for a referendum on shortening the government's four-year term. Law and Justice rule "will lead to a lot of misfortune. It will end badly," Walesa told private Radio Zet.

A pro-democracy demonstration Saturday drew 50,000 people to Warsaw's streets. Some marchers compared the recent political changes to the authoritarian turn taken in Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"This is Warsaw, not Budapest!" went one chant. The next day, however, some 35,000 rallied in Warsaw in support of the new government — underlining the deep chasm between those who support the government's Catholic and Euroskeptic vision and those who support a secular, pro-European world view.

A conflict over the appointment of new judges to the court — a legally complex drama that has played out over past weeks — has appeared to reduce the court's impartiality. Law and Justice is still not heeding a ruling by the court that said three judicial appointments by the previous government were valid.

Another controversy has been a presidential pardon for Mariusz Kaminski, the new government's minister for security services who was convicted of abuse of power during a previous stint in power. "What is happening in Poland has the character of a coup d'etat," the head of the European Parliament, Martin Schutz, said Monday.

Schutz's comment sparked an angry reaction by Polish leaders, with Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski calling it "irresponsible" and noting that democracy in Poland remains strong. He pointed out that the election that brought Law and Justice to power was free and undisputed and that all developments now taking place are being monitored by a free press.

Law and Justice says it simply wants to fix what it sees as damage done 26 years ago by a political compromise between the former communists and Solidarity. That negotiated political transformation allowed former communists to take control of some of the nation's resources and maintain some political influence. Kaczynski and his allies also object to what they consider to be excessive power by foreign countries, corporations and banks in Poland.

His party wants to reshape many aspects of society and replace hundreds of officials in government institutions — something that offends many Kaczynski opponents, but also often happens regularly after a change of power in Poland and in older democracies like the United States. Another law being drawn up would give the government greater control over the state-run media, a cause of concern for Polish journalists and media watchdogs.

"They want to control every aspect of life, every sphere of the public scene," said Krzysztof Izdebski, a human rights lawyer who co-founded another new democratic initiative, We Are Watching You. Yet Kaczynski and his allies say they are fulfilling will of the nation. The party won nearly 38 percent of the vote in the October but its support has since dropped to 27 percent, according to a poll by the TNS agency published Tuesday. The poll has a margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

At the heart of the controversy is Kaczynski, seen to be the real power behind both the prime minister and the president. A former prime minister himself from 2006-2007, Kaczynski's rule was marked by domestic political turmoil and tensions with neighboring Germany and other European powers. Law and Justice, however, says it was just protecting the country from outside powers that wanted to erode Poland's sovereignty.

Signaling a return to a more nationalistic agenda, Szydlo has abandoned her predecessors' practice of holding government press conferences in front of both Polish and EU flags, saying she prefers Poland's "most beautiful white-and-red flags."