World
Transnistria’s LGBT community fights Russian influence for its voice
![Transnistria’s LGBT community fights Russian influence for its voice Transnistria’s LGBT community fights Russian influence for its voice](https://static.euronews.com/articles/stories/07/62/10/04/1000x563_cmsv2_89720b48-76f7-525b-836b-87a174786664-7621004.jpg)
One holdover from the Soviet-era in Transnistria, an unrecognised territory between Moldova and Ukraine, is the attitude towards LGBT rights with no visual representation of LGBT people in society.
When Elena Shamshurova was 13, she started to develop feeling for girls, as well as boys. Like any person of her generation, she turned to the internet to get answers, seek out others like her and form a community of like-minded people. But when you live in Transnistria, this comes with particular risks.
“The hardest part was working out if everyone is who they say they are or are they a spy, troll or someone who’s trying to disrupt the group,” Shamshurova, now 19, tells Euronews.
The meet-ups she organised at the beach or in shopping centres quickly grew but so did the danger.
“There is just no such place where you can safely meet with a group – if someone’s seen with a rainbow flag they will immediately be asked to hide it or you’re going to get in trouble,” Shamshurova says.
“At the beginning, it felt pretty dangerous, as there were only a few people who you could actually trust. But it was amazing that people could actually share their feelings and get help from each other in this group.”
Hostile environment
Transnistria, an unrecognised territory between Moldova and Ukraine, announced its independence from Moldova in 1990 and has since become known as one of several post-Soviet frozen conflict zones. While the Transnistria War ceasefire ended the armed military conflict more than 30 years ago, the republic is not internationally recognised.
Another holdover from the Soviet-era is Transnistria’s attitude towards LGBT rights. Same-sex sexual activity was legalised in 2002, with this being one of few rights afforded to LGBT people in the territory. Not only is discussion of homosexuality in this breakaway region, also known as Pridnestrovie, a long-standing taboo but there is no visual representation of LGBT people in society.
Viewed by many in Transnistria as an abhorrent deviation from the norm, openly gay and lesbian people face abuse ranging from threats and verbal attacks to violent assaults.
“In schools, people are getting bullied for information they share on social media, especially for gay men. There are stories from our friends that guys are getting attacked and beaten inside schools by the teachers and classmates,” Shamshurova adds.
Members of the LGBT community, and allies who advocate for their rights, have been intimidated.
In 2017 when photographer Carolina Dutca announced the ‘No Silence’ exhibition to shed light on the situation of LGBT people in Transnistria, the KGB spoke to her and pressured her to cancel the event, she has said. After this meeting, and receiving calls and messages threatening her life, Dutca was forced to cancel the show.
A number of LGBT couples and individuals who lived in Tiraspol, the de facto capital of Transnistria, left the region in recent years, a source tells Euronews. The low level of political rights and civil liberties, combined with hostility towards LGBT people, leave little possibility for LGBT activism.
“All this gives the impression that the rights of LGBTQ+ people in Transnistria are not sufficiently protected, but the Transnistrian authorities treat this topic a little less aggressively than the Russian authorities,” says Nikolay Kuzmin, a Transnistrian journalist and political scientist.
Russian influence
For Shamshurova, the older generation who make up the majority of the population are stuck in an outdated mindset that holds back LGBT rights. “It’s really hard for younger people to make any impact at this point,” she says.
The lack of a free press in the nation makes advocating for LGBT rights in public an almost impossible task, she adds. The most recent report from human rights watchdog Freedom House finds that critical reporting in Transnistria can result in reprisals including criminal charges.
Legislation passed in 2016 increased the control over state media by authorities, including giving them power to appoint editorial staff. “The government is controlling pretty much all the news, events and views that exist in newspapers and on television,” she says.
“We’re struggling to try and fight for LGBT issues to be discussed, with support I think we can make an impact and gets more freedom for our views so that the older generation can hear our experiences.”
The full-scale Russian war of aggression in Ukraine brought more attention to the level of influence Russia has within Moldova and Transnistria.
Last March, the Council of Europe adopted a resolution recognising Transnistria as a Moldovan territory occupied by Russia.
For Angela Frolov, lobby and advocacy programme coordinator at GENDERDOC-M Information Centre, an organisation that works for the defence of LGBT rights in Moldova, access to support Transnistria’s LGBT population is severely limited due to the homophobic regime.
“We think that progress is possible just after Putin’s regime will fail and Transnistria will return under Moldova’s jurisdiction. I’m afraid that nobody can do anything there until they are away from under the Russian influence. The Russian secret services are very strong in the region – most of LGBT people prefer to leave Transnistria,” Frolov told Euronews.
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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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