World
State of the Union: Ukraine grain deal fails as Russia garners support
![State of the Union: Ukraine grain deal fails as Russia garners support State of the Union: Ukraine grain deal fails as Russia garners support](https://static.euronews.com/articles/stories/07/53/74/18/1000x563_cmsv2_3ecdca67-c6b7-504e-b7f7-86e1a3c4e350-7537418.jpg)
This week noticed talks between the European Fee and 5 Jap European nations fail over a standoff over the imports of tariff-free Ukrainian grain, which bordering nations argue is distorting the market and miserable costs for native farmers.
The dispute has seen commerce bans on Ukrainian items and raised questions over how lengthy the EU’s solidarity with the war-torn nation would final.
Earlier than the talks, Brussels had pitched a collection of what it referred to as “distinctive” measures which might have allowed for the transit of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds via the 5 nations, however with out being bought for home consumption or saved of their territories.
A brand new bundle of help for affected farmers value €100 million was additionally on the desk, however a deal did not materialise.
“We underlined the significance of quickly following a standard EU strategy, fairly than unilateral options to keep away from a number of bans and options which put the inner market in danger,” the European Commissioner for Commerce, Valdis Dombrovskis, and Janusz Wojciechowski, the Commissioner for Agriculture, each mentioned following the unsuccessful talks.
“The Fee took word of the views introduced by members. We agreed to proceed political consultations within the coming days in view of a swift resolution.”
The 5 involved member states, 4 of which border Ukraine, had complained for weeks now that low-cost Ukrainian grain was flooding their markets, filling up storage and placing native producers at an obstacle.
As a part of its help to Kyiv, the EU agreed final yr to droop tariffs and duties on a variety of Ukrainian merchandise, together with foodstuffs, with the goal of serving to the nation maintain its fragile economic system and compensate for the disruption within the Black Sea route, which is beneath tight Russian management.
The transfer has helped ease the transport of Ukrainian cereals, on which many creating nations closely rely, and had a optimistic impact in bringing down world commodity costs.
Lavrov excursions Latin America
The Kremlin will probably be lapping up a lot of these divisions within the EU over Ukraine, particularly at a time when Moscow is pulling out all of the stops with regards to worldwide diplomacy.
When you’re listening to Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov, you get the impression that Russia is the world champion of human rights.
This week, the Kremlin’s largest spin physician was on a visit to Latin America, attempting to enlist allies towards “the Collective West”, as he put it.
In Venezuela, he met with President Nicolas Maduro, a like-minded beacon of democracy who, by the way in which, simply launched his personal tv present on a public channel, a yr earlier than the subsequent elections.
Praising Russia and Venezuela’s dedication to the rules of the UN constitution, Lavrov, with a straight face, had this to say.
“We communicate from a unified place in defence of the suitable of individuals to find out their very own future, their future with out exterior interference, with out dictate and blackmail. And with out, after all, makes an attempt to affect them via unlawful unilateral and restrictive measures.”
Ukraine’s spring counteroffensive
In the meantime, the EU and the USA reaffirmed their enduring assist for Ukraine, particularly militarily.
However specialists are starting to surprise if this is sufficient to flip the tide of the battle.
The scenario on the bottom has been at a stalemate for months now, and speak about a Ukrainian spring offensive has thus far turned out to be simply that: discuss.
Rafael Loss, a international and safety coverage knowledgeable on the European Council on Overseas Relations, mentioned in an interview that motion on that entrance may be anticipated quickly.
“Spring simply began and we’re actually seeing preparations,” he instructed Euronews.
“We needs to be acknowledging that the beginning of Ukraine’s spring offensive will look fairly complicated. The Ukrainians will try to confuse the Russian management. They’ll attempt to probe Russia’s traces and occupied areas to determine weaknesses the place they will punch via with the assistance of Western-provided fashionable tanks, infantry preventing autos, long-range artillery and so forth and so forth.
“However we have additionally seen that Russia’s winter offensive has form of fizzled out,” Loss added.
No matter army issues Russia may need, they hold bringing loss of life and destruction to the civilian inhabitants in Ukraine.
This week, one individual died and a number of other have been injured when Russian artillery hit a market within the southern metropolis of Kherson.
The world is near partially occupied provinces the place fierce preventing continues as Russian forces battle to advance.
Russian troops retreated from Kherson final November, and have been reinforcing their positions on the other financial institution of the Dnipro river in anticipation of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
One thing that also left the individuals of Kherson a Russian goal.
A lot for Sergey Lavrov’s proper of individuals to find out their very own future with out exterior interference.
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World
A suicide bomber detonates in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 people and injuring 13
![A suicide bomber detonates in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 people and injuring 13 A suicide bomber detonates in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 people and injuring 13](https://dims.apnews.com/dims4/default/dcac1a4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/700x394+0+28/resize/1440x810!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F90%2F29%2F4e3c1cc7446089a9101a7bdff4c8%2Fdefaultshareimage-copy.png)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Police in the Afghan capital say a suicide bomber carried out an attack Monday, killing at least six people and injuring 13 others.
The blast took place in the southwestern Qala Bakhtiar neighborhood in Kabul, said Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the Kabul police chief.
The dead included one woman, he said, while 13 people were wounded, all of them civilians who were taken to a hospital for treatment.
A police investigation is underway. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.
The Islamic State group’s affiliate, a major rival of the ruling Taliban, has carried out previous attacks on schools, hospitals, mosques and Shiite areas throughout the country.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 during the chaotic departure of U.S. and NATO troops after 20 years. Despite initial promises of a more moderate stance, the Taliban gradually reimposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah, as they did during their previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
World
Germany's right wing poised for major wins as centrist parties stumble
![Germany's right wing poised for major wins as centrist parties stumble Germany's right wing poised for major wins as centrist parties stumble](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-2169317905.jpg)
Germany’s right wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is expected to win its first election since the party was formed in 2013, as anti-mass immigration sentiment sends voters to the polls.
Exit polls on Sunday showed AfD securing a winning 33.5% share of the vote in Thuringia and 31.5% in Saxony. Meanwhile, the center-left Social Democratic Party – to which Chancellor Olaf Scholz belongs – brought in less than 8% of the vote in both states, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The election follows a wider trend of success for conservative groups across Europe in recent months. French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron’s government narrowly quashed a conservative takeover of the French parliament earlier this year.
Analysts say the ultimate impact that AfD and other party politicians can have will be determined by how willing centrists are to work with them.
GERMAN RIGHT WING CANDIDATE STABBED IN LATEST ATTACK AHEAD OF ELECTIONS
DRESDEN, GERMANY – AUGUST 29: A skinhead supporter of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party waves a German flag while taunting leftist, anti-fascist protesters following the final AfD Saxony election rally prior to state elections on August 29, 2024, in Dresden, Germany. The AfD is currently leading in polls in both Saxony and Thuringia ahead of state elections scheduled for Sunday in both states. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
“The center-right will decide to what extent an AfD win would be a turning point: So far, they have been relatively consistent in excluding cooperation — more so than in other Western European countries,” Manès Weisskircher, a political scientist at the Dresden University of Technology, told the Journal.
The German elections this weekend come just days after a Syrian immigrant killed three people in a stabbing spree in Solingen, Germany. ISIS claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack shortly after.
![Emergency services and police at a stabbing scene in Germany Friday](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1200/675/Stabbing-scene-Germany.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Emergency services and police are deployed near the scene where three people were killed and injured in an attack at a festival in Solingen, western Germany, the German dpa news agency reported, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (Gianni Gattus/dpa via AP)
Federal prosecutors in Germany identified the suspect as Issa Al H., omitting his family name because of German privacy laws.
GERMAN TERROR ATTACK SUSPECT IDENTIFIED AS A SYRIAN REFUGEE, CHANCELLOR VOWS TO IMPLEMENT STRICT IMMIGRATION
ISIS said the attacker targeted Christians “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”
Der Spiegel magazine, citing unidentified security sources, said that the suspect had moved to Germany late in 2022, and sought asylum.
![Scholz gives speech in Berlin](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/06/1200/675/GettyImages-2156486483-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is facing a surge in right-wing sentiment across Germany. (John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images)
Similar attacks by Muslim migrants across Europe have spurred anti-immigration sentiment. Even the left-leaning Scholz called for strengthening immigration laws and ramping up deportations in the wake of the attack.
“We will have to do everything we can to ensure that those who cannot and are not allowed to stay in Germany are repatriated and deported,” Scholz said while visiting the sight where the stabbing happened.
“This was terrorism, terrorism against us all,” he said.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report
World
Seven EU members hadn’t received any post-Covid funding by end-2023
![Seven EU members hadn’t received any post-Covid funding by end-2023 Seven EU members hadn’t received any post-Covid funding by end-2023](https://static.euronews.com/articles/stories/08/69/58/16/1200x675_cmsv2_e50ff906-3ebe-5eb2-bccc-66f739cec99e-8695816.jpg)
Continued delays are jeopardising the EU’s €724bn post-Covid recovery fund, warns a new report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA).
Three years after creating a huge fund to stimulate post-pandemic recovery, EU member states have used under a third of the €724bn in grants and loans, EU auditors said in a report published today (2 September).
By the end of 2023, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden had not received any post-Covid money at all, the EU Court of Auditors said.
Almost all member states have experienced delays in submitting payment requests, whether due to political turmoil, uncertainty over the rules, or national administrative capacity, the report said.
The Netherlands and Hungary did not sign operational agreements, the first step required to access EU funds, while Sweden did not submit a payment application, it added – while others such as the Netherlands were held back by protracted coalition negotiations.
“For the Recovery and Resilience Plan you really need political consensus and support and that the government stands behind the plan, and the Netherlands was waiting for that stability,” Ivana Maletić, senior auditor at the Luxembourg-based EU agency, told Euronews in an interview.
In the more complex case of Hungary, Viktor Orbán’s government has to meet 27 milestones intended to fight corruption and safeguard judicial independence, which he hasn’t yet done.
The other four countries — Belgium, Finland, Ireland and Poland — submitted payment requests later than others, so they were still being assessed by the European Commission, which directly manages and implements the fund, at the end of 2023.
One quarter not completed on time
Unlike cohesion funds, the normal vehicle for EU regional spending, post-pandemic financial support is tied to progress on meeting commitments, and member states are behind schedule in meeting these targets and absorbing funds.
“Timely absorption of the RRF is essential: it helps to avoid bottlenecks in carrying out the measures towards the end of the Facility’s lifespan, and reduces the risk of inefficient and erroneous spending,” said Maletić, who led the audit.
Halfway through the six-year implementation plan for the post-pandemic funds, 24% of the planned reforms and investments have not been completed on time — meaning that a significant number of the trickiest promises have yet to be fulfilled, the ECA found.
With the RRF due to expire in August 2026 and no extension expected, EU auditors are recommending the Commission provide further support to strengthen how similar funds are designed in future.
“It can happen that for some actions, member states receive substantial amounts of funds without finalising them at all because it will not be possible to finalise them within the given time,” a senior auditor told a press conference on Monday (2 September) — though Brussels then doesn’t have the power to claw back money.
The EU executive however rejected auditors’ recommendations to stop funding incomplete actions and recover transfers.
“The Commission does not consider that payments based on progress is a risk and has no legal basis to recover funds already disbursed in relation to milestones and targets already and still fulfilled,” said its response.
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