Europe

A MILITARY BASE IN SOUTHEASTERN POLAND (AP) — On the front lines in Ukraine, a soldier was having trouble firing his 155 mm howitzer gun. So, he turned to a team of Americans on the other end of his phone line for help.

“What do I do?” he asked the U.S. military team member, miles away at a base in southeastern Poland. “What are my options?”

28 Jan 2023; MEMO: Far-right Danish politician, Rasmus Paludan, committed another provocative act on Friday, burning a second copy of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, this time in front of the Turkish Embassy in Denmark, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Paludan, the leader of the Danish far-right party, Stram Kurs (Hard Line), sought to make a statement to journalists before the provocation from a point across from the Embassy, ​​under police protection.

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/: Russian forces continued their offensive in the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye areas, tightening their grip on Ugledar in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Friday.

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/: Only the successful completion of the special military operation may serve as the foundation for "meaningful and productive" talks on the situation in Ukraine, says First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, ex-Russian Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov.

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/: Moscow doesn’t rule out that IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi may visit Russia soon to discuss issues of further cooperation, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.

"We don’t rule out a possible visit by an IAEA delegation led by Mr. Grossi to Russia in the near future to discuss the parameters of our further cooperation," she said.

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/: The citizens of NATO’s member-states should understand that the bloc is completely involved in confrontation with Russia in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a news briefing on Friday.

"The citizens of NATO’s countries should know that their bloc is completely involved in confrontation with our country. And this confrontation is growing," Zakharova said.

STOCKHOLM, Jan 27 (NNN-XINHUA) – “The migratory situation in the European Union (EU) is strained,” the member states’ justice and home affairs ministers agreed, at their Council meeting here yesterday.

“There is an urgent need to strengthen the external borders, increase returns, and prevent irregular migration,” they said, according to a statement, issued by the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU.

VIENNA, Jan 27 (NNN-XINHUA) – Austrian President, Alexander Van der Bellen, was sworn in yesterday, inaugurating his second six-year term.

Van der Bellen won the presidential election in Oct last year, with 56.7 percent of the vote. He has served as Austrian president since 2017.

“I will fulfill my duty to the best of my knowledge and belief,” the 79-year-old said, in his inaugural address, at the Austrian parliament in Vienna, yesterday.

BERLIN, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Russia has twisted comments by Germany's foreign minister about the war in Ukraine for propaganda purposes, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday, stressing Berlin's position that NATO must not become party to the conflict.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock riled Moscow with comments at an event in Strasbourg on Tuesday, when, speaking in English, she said that "we are fighting a war against Russia, and not against each other".

WARSAW, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Poland will send an additional 60 tanks to Ukraine on top of the 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks it has already pledged, the Polish prime minister said in an interview with Canadian television on Thursday.

Warsaw, which has positioned itself as one of Kyiv's staunchest allies, had pressed hard for Germany to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and to allow other countries to do so as well, a demand which Berlin agreed to on Wednesday.