Europe

Greenpeace gets tagged as undesirable organization in Russia

MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/: Russia’s ministry of justice has put Greenpeace International on its list of undesirable organizations.

"The Russian ministry of justice added Greenpeace International (Stichting Greenpeace Council, the Netherlands), an international non-government non-profit organization, to the list of foreign and international non-government organizations whose activity is recognized as undesirable in Russia," it said on Monday.

War between NATO, Russia possible, Czech General Staff head says

PRAGUE, May 29. /TASS/: War between NATO and Russia is the worst of all possible worlds, but it is not impossible, says General Karel Rehka, Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces.

"We view war between Russia and the North Atlantic Alliance as the worst-case scenario, but it is not impossible. [It is] possible," Rehka said at a conference in the Czech parliament Monday, according to the novinky.cz website.

KFOR officers attack Serbs in Kosovo, several people injured — newspaper

BELGRADE, May 29. /TASS/: KFOR (a NATO-led international security force in Kosovo) officers attacked Serbs who were protesting in front of the administrative building in the Zvecan municipality in Kosovo and Metohija, the Vecernje Novosti newspaper reported on Monday.

Ukraine aide proposes post-war demilitarised zone in Russia

KYIV, May 29 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian presidential aide said on Monday a demilitarised zone of 100-120 km (62-75 miles) should be established inside Russia along the border with Ukraine as part of a post-war settlement.

The zone would be necessary to protect Ukrainian regions from Russian attacks, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

"The key theme of the post-war settlement should be the establishment of safeguards to avoid the recurrence of aggression in the future," he wrote.

Vatican chastises bishops who stoke division on social media

VATICAN CITY, May 29 (Reuters) - The Vatican urged bishops and high-profile lay Catholic leaders on Monday to tone down their comments on social media, saying some were causing division and stoking polemics that harmed the entire Church.

The appeal was part of a 20-page document by the Vatican's communications department titled, "Towards Full Presence. A Pastoral Reflection on Engagement with Social Media."

Polish president signs 'Tusk Law' on undue Russian influence

WARSAW, May 29 (Reuters) - Poland's president said on Monday he would sign a bill to allow a panel to investigate whether the opposition Civic Platform (PO) party allowed the country to be unduly influenced by Russia and as a result too dependent on its fuel when it was in power.

The liberal PO, in government from 2007 to 2015, rejects the claims and says the law is designed to destroy support for its leader and former prime minister Donald Tusk ahead of an election scheduled for October or November.

Putin signs law on denunciation of European armed forces treaty

MOSCOW, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Monday on the denunciation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE).

The relevant document has been published on Russia's official legal information portal.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Russia's denunciation of the CFE will have no direct impact because the mechanism has been non-working for a long time.

"The Russian side simply brought the situation de facto into line," Peskov said.

Spanish PM calls early general election after local elections defeat

MADRID, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday called a general election for the country on July 23.

Sanchez announced his decision from his official residence following the defeat of his Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) to the People's Party (PP) in the elections for 12 of Spain's regional governments and over 8,000 city halls on Sunday.

Kosovo ex-president on trial for war crimes allowed to visit his sick mother

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci, who is on trial in The Hague on 10 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, was in Kosovo on Monday to visit his sick mother, the court said.

An email message from the Kosovo Specialist Chambers said that “due to compelling humanitarian grounds, … the Trial Panel has instructed the Registry to manage a custodial visit to Kosovo for Hashim Thaci to meet family.”

Russia issues arrest warrant for Lindsey Graham over Ukraine comments

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Interior Ministry on Monday issued an arrest warrant for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham following his comments related to the fighting in Ukraine.

In an edited video of his meeting on Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that was released by Zelenskyy’s office, Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, noted that “the Russians are dying” and described the U.S. military assistance to the country as “the best money we’ve ever spent.”

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