World
Talks on an EU-wide Russian oil ban could drag on until end of May
![Talks on an EU-wide Russian oil ban could drag on until end of May Talks on an EU-wide Russian oil ban could drag on until end of May](https://static.euronews.com/articles/stories/06/69/93/94/1000x563_cmsv2_07e4789f-8a7e-54cd-bc99-d1ac77336d5e-6699394.jpg)
An bold proposal to ban all Russian oil imports from the European Union’s market stays caught in negotiations, as a number of member states argue the fast power swap will wreak financial havoc.
After greater than every week of intense discussions, there’s nonetheless no settlement in sight.
Hopes are low {that a} breakthrough may be achieved in the course of the weekend and even at a gathering of overseas affairs ministers on Monday.
Talks are anticipated to tug on and may stretch till the extraordinary EU summit scheduled to happen on 30 and 31 Might, diplomats advised Euronews, the place a political resolution on the highest stage might be discovered.
The principle level of competition stays the timeline envisioned by the European Fee: a phase-out of all Russian crude in six months and all refined oil merchandise by the top of the 12 months.
The measure will apply to each seaborne and pipeline oil.
This has put a gaggle of three landlocked international locations — Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic — in a bind: the trio are bodily related to the Russian-operated Druzhba pipeline and procure the vast majority of provides from the huge conduit.
Hungary and Slovakia initially pushed for a tailor-made extension to finish the embargo by December 2024, whereas the Czech Republic requested for June 2024, the date by which it expects to be related to the Transalpine Pipeline.
Bulgaria, which has entry to the ocean, has joined the sceptical group and requested for the same dispensation. The federal government argues the oil refinery in Burgas, which is owned by Russian power multinational LUKOIL, wouldn’t be capable of function solely with out Russian oil.
The stakes are excessive for the EU to introduce the embargo, seen as one of many final resorts to curtail the Kremlin’s potential to finance the invasion of Ukraine after the earlier rafts of sanctions didn’t inject the required financial ache to drive Vladimir Putin’s hand.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Fee, flew earlier this week to Budapest and met with Viktor Orbán, prime minister of Hungary, in a bid to iron out variations and attain a deal. However von der Leyen left the assembly empty-handed, saying “additional work is required”.
Hungary has since then doubled down on its resistance. In an interview with Spanish newspaper El País, the nation’s overseas affairs minister, Péter Szijjártó, stated the power transition would take over 5 years and require between €500 and €550 million, along with €200 million to spice up the capability of the Adria pipeline.
“We advised the president of the European Fee that his proposal was an issue for us. We can’t vote in favour until an answer is obtainable,” Szijjártó stated.
“No such plan has been introduced up to now. The rational factor can be for the ban on Russian oil imports to use to shipments by sea. Nonetheless, deliveries by pipeline needs to be exempted.”
Even when most Russian oil barrels arrive into the bloc by way of ports, eradicating pipeline provides from the embargo would open up a substantial loophole within the collective motion and provide Moscow an unrestricted path to maintain reaping income from the European market.
An official from a hardliner nation advised Euronews exemptions usually are not a “good thought,” pose a “menace to competitors guidelines” and needs to be accompanied by further taxes and a prohibition to promote Russian oil to different international locations.
The Fee has stated it’s open to negotiating protracted timelines and “pragmatic options” for international locations in “very particular” conditions however has up to now refused to take away pipeline provides from the proposed embargo.
EU sanctions require the unanimous approval of all 27 member states. This implies the group of 4 might maintain up the ultimate determination for so long as they assume essential to safe their carve-outs.
Negotiations are going down at a political and technical stage, with nationwide representatives, the French presidency of the EU Council and the Fee all concerned within the talks.
President von der Leyen is but to carry the video name with “regional companions” that she introduced on Monday. The decision was presupposed to happen on Tuesday however has been indefinitely postponed
“We are going to name that once we really feel that the options that we discover are sufficiently ripe to be mentioned by the leaders,” a Fee spokesperson stated on Thursday.
Diplomats worry Viktor Orbán may need to drag the talks till EU leaders meet on 30 Might for a unprecedented summit the place a political, slightly than technical, resolution might be discovered, diplomatic sources advised Euronews.
The summit’s agenda will embrace “defence, power and Ukraine,” based on European Council President Charles Michel, who convened the summit in early April, nicely earlier than the oil embargo was introduced.
Orbán had beforehand stated sanctioning Russian fossil fuels was a “crimson line” for his nation, regardless of having voted in favour of an EU ban on Russian coal. Extra just lately, the prime minister in contrast the proposed oil embargo to “a nuclear bomb dropped on the Hungarian economic system.”
Splitting the sixth package deal of sanctions in two elements to approve the opposite measures – comparable to expelling Sberbank, Russia’s largest financial institution, from the SWIFT system – whereas ready for the approval of the oil ban shouldn’t be an choice in the meanwhile, stated a EU official, talking on situation of anonymity.
The query of cash is ready to characteristic prominently within the ongoing discussions.
The Fee will current on Wednesday its much-anticipated REPower EU initiative, a plan to steadily wean the bloc off Russian fossil fuels.
The announcement is predicted to incorporate monetary contributions to assist the expensive power transition of member states, significantly of those that presently rely probably the most on Russian imports.
The ban on Russian oil is taken into account probably the most radical and consequential step taken by the EU in response to the Ukraine conflict.
For the reason that onset of the battle on 24 February, the 27 member states have spent about €24 billion on Russian oil, based on a monitoring software arrange by the Centre for Analysis on Vitality and Clear Air (CREA), an impartial analysis organisation.
This text has been up to date to incorporate new developments and reactions.
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World
American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 5 others 'brutally murdered' by Hamas right before rescue: IDF
![American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 5 others 'brutally murdered' by Hamas right before rescue: IDF American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 5 others 'brutally murdered' by Hamas right before rescue: IDF](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/hersh.png)
Hamas terrorists killed six hostages Saturday, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, as Israel Defense Forces closed in for a rescue attempt in the tunnels deep below Gaza’s Rafah.
Goldberg-Polin’s family confirmed his death early Sunday. His body was one of six recovered on Saturday. The IDF revealed that Hamas killed the hostages, who had been held for nearly 11 months, just as they were on the brink of freedom.
“According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,” IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement.
Goldberg-Polin, 23, was abducted at a music festival in southern Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against the Jewish State. He lost part of his left arm to a grenade in the attack. His body was recovered Saturday in the tunnels under Rafah, along with Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sergeant Ori Danino.
DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS ISRAEL MUST ‘WIDEN THE GOALS’ OF WAR TO RETURN RESIDENTS TO THE NORTH
Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin has been confirmed dead. (Israel’s Minister of Defense)
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said, “He who murders abductees – does not want a deal. We are in a difficult day. The heart of the entire nation was torn.”
“Along with all the citizens of Israel, I was shocked to the core by the terrible cold-blooded murder of six of our abductees.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he “embrace[s] their families with all my heart, and apologize[s] for failing to bring them home safely.”
A dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, Goldberg-Polin immigrated to Israel with his family in 2008 at the age of seven, according to a statement from his family. He leaves behind his parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, and his two sisters.
Goldberg-Polin’s family and friends traveled the world demanding his release and met with world leaders, including officials in the Biden administration.
President Biden said he is “devastated and outraged” by the news of Goldberg-Polin’s death.
“It is as tragic as it is reprehensible,” he said. “Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.”
Vice President Harris, also the Democratic nominee for president, said her prayers are with Goldberg-Polin’s loved ones as they mourn his loss.
“Hamas is an evil terrorist organization,” Harris said. “With these murders, Hamas has even more American blood on its hands. I strongly condemn Hamas’ continued brutality, and so must the entire world. From its massacre of 1,200 people to sexual violence, taking of hostages, and these murders, Hamas’ depravity is evident and horrifying.”
ISRAEL KILLS PALESTINIAN COMMANDER MUHAMMAD JABER ‘ABU SHUJAA’ AS FIGHTING INTENSIFIES: IDF
![Hersh Goldberg-Polin](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/1200/675/polin.png?ve=1&tl=1)
Goldberg-Polin, 23, was abducted at a music festival in southern Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. (IDF)
“The threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel — and American citizens in Israel — must be eliminated and Hamas cannot control Gaza,” she added. “The Palestinian people too have suffered under Hamas’ rule for nearly two decades.”
“A few hours ago, we informed the families that the bodies of their loved ones had been located by IDF troops in an underground tunnel in Rafah,” IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement. “According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them.”
Fox News’ Yonat Friling contributed to this report.
World
Photos: Mass polio vaccination drive kicks off in Gaza amid Israeli strikes
![Photos: Mass polio vaccination drive kicks off in Gaza amid Israeli strikes Photos: Mass polio vaccination drive kicks off in Gaza amid Israeli strikes](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/AFP__20240901__36F32UL__v1__Preview__PalestinianIsraelConflictHealth-1725178114.jpg?resize=1200%2C630)
Palestinian health authorities and United Nations agencies on Sunday began a vaccination drive against polio in the Gaza Strip, hoping to prevent an outbreak in the territory ravaged by nearly 11 months of Israeli bombardment.
Authorities plan to vaccinate children in central Gaza until Wednesday before moving to the more devastated northern and southern parts of the Strip, aiming to inoculate about 640,000 children. On Saturday, a few children were vaccinated before the formal start of the campaign.
“This is the first few hours of the first phase of a massive campaign, one of the most complex in the world,” said Juliette Touma, communications director of UNRWA, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency.
“Today is test time for parties to the conflict to respect these area pauses to allow the UNRWA teams and other medical workers to reach children with these very precious two drops. It’s a race against time,” Touma told the Reuters news agency.
Israel and Hamas, which have so far failed to conclude a deal to end the war, said they would cooperate to allow the campaign to succeed.
The World Health Organization said on Thursday that Israel has agreed to limited pauses in its military operations to facilitate the campaign. There were initial reports of Israeli strikes in central Gaza early on Sunday, but it was not immediately known if anyone was killed or wounded.
Hospitals in Deir el-Balah and Nuseirat confirmed that the campaign had begun on Sunday. Israel said on Saturday that the vaccination programme would continue through September 9 and last eight hours a day.
The vaccinations will be held at some 160 sites across the territory, including medical centres and schools. Children below 10 years of age will receive two drops of oral polio vaccine in two rounds, the second to be administered four weeks after the first.
Gaza recently reported its first polio case in 25 years – a 10-month-old boy, now paralysed in the leg. The WHO says the presence of a paralysis case indicates there could be hundreds more who have been infected but are not showing symptoms.
Most affected children do not experience symptoms and those who do usually recover in a week or so, the UN health agency said. There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented. When polio causes paralysis, it is usually permanent. The disease can be fatal if the paralysis affects breathing muscles.
The vaccination campaign faces a host of challenges, from ongoing war to devastated roads and hospitals shut down by the war. About 90 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, with hundreds of thousands crammed into squalid tent camps.
Health officials have expressed alarm about disease outbreaks as rubbish piles up and the bombing of critical infrastructure has sent putrid water flowing through the streets. Widespread hunger has left people even more vulnerable to illness.
“We escaped death with our children and fled from place to place for the sake of our children, and now we have these diseases,” said Wafaa Obaid, who brought her three children to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah for vaccination.
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