washington — Since the Taliban seized control in August 2021, China, Iran and Russia have been steadily courting Afghanistan’s de facto government for influence. The three countries have kept their embassies open in Kabul and were among the first to hand over Afghan embassies to the Taliban at home.

Last month, Moscow, Beijing and Tehran were the most high-profile participants at the Taliban’s first conference on regional cooperation in Kabul.

But what are the real prospects of China, Russia, Iran and the Taliban cooperating in the region?

Analysts tell VOA that while Beijing, Moscow and Tehran may be united in a common goal to oppose the U.S. in the region, that is perhaps the only area where their interests align, analysts say.

“Anti-Americanism is the one idea” that brings China, Iran and Russia together, said Alex Vatanka, founding director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

He told VOA that Tehran, Moscow and Beijing “want to push the United States out of Eurasia and Central Asia … [but] how much can they on the operational level cooperate? That’s a big question.”

He added that “anti-Americanism” alone cannot keep the partnership together as there “is nothing ideological to bring them together.”

According to a newly released U.S. State Department’s strategy document, China, Iran and Russia seek “strategic and economic advantage, or at a minimum, to put the U.S. at a disadvantage.”

“China, Iran and Russia have cultivated very close ties with the Taliban,” said Nilofar Sakhi, a lecturer at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, adding that they are trying to “have political and economic influence in the region.”

Despite close ties, none of the three countries has formally recognized the Taliban’s government and their interests in the region all differ.

Pragmatic approach

Late last month, China was the first country to formally accept the credentials of the Taliban’s ambassador.

Some former diplomats and analysts say the move was akin to formal recognition. Sun Yun, the director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington does not agree.

China still has to “formally extended political recognition to the Taliban’s government,” Sun told VOA. Even so, compared to Western countries, China has established “very close” relations with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

“China adopts a pragmatic approach in Afghanistan,” said Sun, adding that early on Beijing realized that the U.S.-backed former Afghan government did not have “the popular support to continue” governing Afghanistan.

Beijing had been cultivating ties with the Taliban for years before the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul.

Sun said that “what has happened in the past two and a half years substantiated that assessment that the Taliban regime is not going anywhere.”

She added that security, economic and political factors are “all part of a broader consideration that comes to the foundation of China’s policy toward Afghanistan.”

For China, one key concern is about any breach of militancy from Afghanistan into its western region of Xinjiang.

Beijing also has economic interests in Afghanistan, including extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship of the Belt and Road Initiative, to Afghanistan and investing in minerals in Afghanistan.

China has also been vocal in criticizing the U.S. and NATO for freezing Afghanistan’s assets and “leaving the Afghan people in a serious humanitarian crisis” in the country.

Complicated past

Though Iran has not formally recognized the Taliban, it handed over the Afghan embassy in Tehran to the Taliban in February 2023.

The Middle East Institute’s Vatanka said that the Iranian regime has not recognized the Taliban because of some bilateral issues, including border security and water distribution.

Last year, tensions between Iran and the Taliban over the Helmand River’s flow of water escalated to a deadly clash, which killed two Iranian security guards and one Taliban border guard.

Iran and the Taliban have had complicated relations in the past.

During the civil war in Afghanistan in the 1990s, Iran was supporting the forces fighting against the Taliban, particularly after the Taliban killed nine Iranian diplomats in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif in 1998.

“It is still too early for the Iranians to forget what the Taliban was” when it was in power in the 1990s, said Vatanka.

Full of contradiction

Like Iran, Russia was another country that supported forces fighting the Taliban during the civil war in the 1990s.

Ghaus Janbaz, a former Afghan diplomat to Moscow, told VOA that Moscow’s policy toward Afghanistan has been “full of contradictions” in recent years.

Janbaz added that Russia is politically supporting the Taliban, but at the same time, its “military and security officials criticize the Taliban and cite an uptick in terrorist activities in Afghanistan.”

He said that before the Taliban’s takeover, Moscow had diplomatic relations with the former Afghan government, but it also supported “the Taliban at all the levels.”

“It is similar now. Russia has ties with the Taliban, but an anti-Taliban leader was invited to Moscow,” Janbaz said. “They say it was not an invitation by the government, but nothing happens without the approval of the government in Russia.”

An Afghan anti-Taliban leader, Ahmad Masoud, participated in a conference on Afghanistan in Russia in November 2023.

Janbaz says that despite Moscow’s close ties with the Taliban, “I do not think that in the near future, Moscow will extend recognition to the Taliban’s regime.”

He said that similar to China and Iran, Russia’s policy toward the Taliban is driven by regional geopolitics.

“Tactically they might have an alliance against the West, but there are strategic differences” between these countries, Janbaz said.

This story originated in VOA’s Afghan Service.
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A new bill allowing authorities to confiscate the property of Russians convicted of deliberately spreading what is deemed as fake news about Russia’s armed forces could soon become law. If signed into law, it would also allow the state to seize the property of Russian emigres who criticize the war in Ukraine. Kateryna Besedina has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: David Gogokhia.
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VATICAN CITY — Argentina’s President Javier Milei visited his compatriot Pope Francis in the Vatican on Monday, bearing pastries and gifts as he seeks to make up with the pontiff he had long dismissed and derided.

Milei, a maverick right-wing libertarian, had heaped insults on Francis during his vote campaign, calling him an “imbecile who defends social justice.” But he has shifted tone in office as he tries to shore up support at home amid mounting challenges.

He hailed the pope as “the most important Argentine in history” in an interview at the weekend. On Monday, he brought alfajores de dulce de leche pastries and a brand of lemon biscuits the pope likes, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said.

Francis and Milei met as Argentina faces its worst economic crisis in decades, with inflation at more than 200% and the newly installed Milei in difficulty following parliamentary rejection of a major reform package. 

They spoke for about one hour, the Vatican said.

Francis, a former archbishop of Buenos Aires who has angered some of his compatriots by not visiting his homeland since becoming pope in 2013, has said he may finally visit “suffering” Argentina in the second half of this year.

Securing such a visit could help Milei shore up support from his conservative Catholic base, and help the president push ahead with his reforms.

On the weekend, Milei stressed Francis’ moral leadership role for a majority-Catholic country like Argentina.

Francis has previously said he did not want to be politically exploited by Argentinian politicians. On Friday, he said “radical individualism” permeates society like a “virus,” in words that may jar with Milei’s radical free-market instincts.

Francis and Milei exchanged warm words on Sunday, at the end of a canonization Mass in St Peter’s Basilica for the first female Argentine saint, Maria Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, an 18th century consecrated lay woman better known as “Mama Antula.”

Francis, who is 87 and has difficulty walking, was in a wheelchair as he went to greet Milei after the service. He smiled at him, extended his hand and told him, “You cut your hair!”

Milei, who still wears his hair unconventionally long for a politician, joked about having cleaned up his act and asked if he could hug and kiss the pope. A smiling Francis replied: “Yes, son, yes.”
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NICOSIA — Closer relations between Turkey and the European Union are contingent on Turkish engagement in solving the decades-old partition of Cyprus, the EU country’s president said on Monday.

Turkey has been an official candidate to join the EU for decades, but accession talks have stalled in recent years over EU concerns about Ankara’s record on human rights and respect for the rule of law.

Cyprus, an eastern Mediterranean island that was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 prompted by a brief Greek-inspired coup, has veto rights over Turkey’s EU ambitions, like all other members of the bloc.

The Republic of Cyprus joined the EU in 2004, while the northern half of the island is a self-declared state recognized only by Turkey.

“Cyprus is a strong supporter of closer relations between the EU and Ankara; [such] closer relations pass through developments and a solution to the Cyprus problem,” Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides told reporters after meeting Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s president in Nicosia.

Steinmeier, on an official visit to the island, said Turkish actions on Cyprus should be taken into account in assessing its overall relations with the EU.

“Member states should send this message to Turkey,” he said, speaking through an interpreter.

Peace talks to resolve the longstanding conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots collapsed in 2017. Nicosia wants the EU to appoint an emissary to oversee attempts to revive talks, though says it would be supportive of any role of the United Nations, which takes the lead in Cyprus peacemaking.

Violence between the two Cypriot communities broke out in 1963, prompting the deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping force that still patrols a 180-km (116-mile) long cease-fire line.

Germany’s cabinet last week approved the dispatch of police officers who will join the civilian police contingent of the U.N. force, Steinmeier said.
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ATHENS, Greece — More than 1,500 protesters gathered in central Athens on Sunday to oppose legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage in Greece. The bill is set for a vote in parliament in the coming days.

Greece’s conservative government is sponsoring the bill, but it will require votes from center and left opposition parties to be approved. However, even some center-left lawmakers have gone on record as opposing the bill.

Organizers of Sunday’s rally — religious groups — described the bill as a threat to the traditional family. Many of the protesters chanted “hands off our children.”

“Unfortunately, the woke agenda has also reached Greece and that agenda includes the marriage of homosexuals,” Dimitris Natsios, leader of the far-right and strongly religious Niki party told The Associated Press.

“Greece is a Christian Orthodox country, and our tradition does not allow this. … We know and respect one type of marriage: The Orthodox Christian wedding. Our Constitution also does not provide for this, so this bill is unconstitutional and runs counter to our faith in Christ,” Natsios said.

The Niki party, founded in 2019, entered Parliament in 2023. In the most recent election, in June, it came in sixth, with 3.70% of the vote and elected 10 lawmakers to the 300-member assembly.

Many same-sex couples in Greece seeking to start a family currently get married in countries where same-sex weddings are legal.

Greece has legalized “cohabitation contracts” for same-sex couples since December 2015. It also allowed sex identity change by simple declaration without mandating psychiatric evaluation and sex reassignment surgery in October 2017.

If the bill is approved, Greece would become the first majority Orthodox country to legalize same-sex marriage.
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ATHENS, Greece — Greece has announced new measures to protect locals from a deluge of mainly Chinese nationals purchasing homes and property in exchange for residency rights in the West — what is commonly known as a “Golden Visa” scheme.

For many of China’s newly well-off citizens, the incentive to emigrate has been rising, feeding what is being dubbed worldwide as “investment migration” businesses.

In recent years, there has been a massive rush of Chinese nationals to Greece, and that has created a serious housing crisis.

On Friday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he would increase the threshold of real estate investment from $269,491 to $862,372 in certain pockets of the country to ease the crisis.

“It is a major investment boost for the country but also a serious measure we are considering to shield the local market,” he told lawmakers in the Greek parliament.

In a rare show of bipartisan support, opposition leaders sided with the plan.

Because of a lingering housing shortage, they are now urging the government to block foreign homebuyers, like the Chinese, from making a fortune off their investments, leasing them for short-term rentals rather than occupying them for residential purposes alone.

A local near the foot of the Acropolis, Greece’s star attraction and the hub of Chinese and other tourists — says finding an affordable apartment to lease in the area has become difficult.

“All you see are tourists staying in these flats. The prices for locals have become excessively high,” he said.

Since launching the Golden Visa program in 2014, Greece has been granting five-year renewable residence permits to foreigners in exchange for a minimum property investment of nearly $270,000.

In the last year alone, the number of permits issued has quadrupled, with Chinese nationals topping the list at 80 percent. Turks fleeing the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are second, with Lebanese nationals and Israelis both taking third position, according to data released from the Bank of Greece.

Government sources tell VOA the highest charges for Greece’s Golden Visas will apply for the country’s most coveted property — in central Athens and glitzy Greek islands like Mykonos and Santorini — a favorite among Chinese nationals.

 
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Budapest, Hungary — Antifascist activists gathered in Hungary’s capital Saturday to oppose an annual commemoration held by far-right groups, underscoring diplomatic tensions between Budapest and Rome over the detention of an Italian citizen in a Hungarian jail.

Hundreds of activists marched through central Budapest alongside a heavy police presence and called for “freedom for every antifascist.” They said they sought to prevent the far-right from observing the “Day of Honor,” an annual event marking the failed attempt by Nazi and allied Hungarian soldiers to break out of Budapest during the Red Army’s siege of the city in 1945.

The demonstration came as an Italian antifascist activist is being held in a Hungarian jail for allegedly being involved in assaults against suspected participants in the Day of Honor commemoration in Budapest last year.

Images of the activist, Ilaria Salis, chained and shackled at a Budapest court hearing sparked official protests by the Italian government. Prosecutors are seeking an 11-year sentence for the woman.

Luca Kruczynski, 35, a participant at the antifascist march Saturday, said he had  

traveled from Berlin with friends “to protest against the neo-fascist groups that are  

having their events here now every year.”

He said he had concerns that Salis’ prosecution would be a “political trial.”

“We see that Nazis are going to group up on different occasions and in different cities all over Europe,” he said. “There are people who say no to this, and who have a close eye on this and tell them, ‘Here and no further.’”

A separate group of activists gathered in Milan on Saturday to call attention to Salis’ case. Hungary’s government has denied that Salis is being held in inappropriate conditions.

Italy’s government has called on Hungary to observe European and international law, which calls for the need to respect the dignity of prisoners, “including the way in which defendants are transferred to court and the guarantees of a fair trial.”

Last week, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni spoke about Salis’ detention with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The case is delicate for the far-right-led government of Meloni, who has forged friendly ties with the nationalist Orban.

Italy’s foreign and justice ministers have refused a request to seek pre-trial detention at home in Italy or in the Italian embassy in Budapest for Salis, citing the sovereignty of Hungary’s court system.

Salis’ father met with Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Justice Minister Carlo Nordio on Monday in a bid to persuade them to intervene on his daughter’s behalf but walked away disappointed. 

In a joint statement Monday, Nordio said he suggested to the father that Salis’ Hungarian lawyer make the case in court to change the conditions of her confinement, while Tajani said that he has twice personally intervened with the Hungarian government on her behalf.

The leader of the Italian opposition, Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein, noted Monday that Premier Giorgia Meloni’s far-right-led government only moved on behalf of Salis after seeing “the chains and shackles.”

“It is difficult not to think that Meloni is embarrassed” in front of her European ally, Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, Schlein said. 
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Russia attacked Ukraine with another barrage of drones. This comes as additional U.S. funding for Kyiv’s efforts to defend itself faces hurdles in a divided U.S. Congress. As VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports, the two U.S. presidential front-runners have diametrically opposed views on Ukraine and NATO.
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London — King Charles III attended Sunday services for the first time since his cancer diagnosis, offering a cheerful wave as he walked out of the parish church that has regularly served as a place of worship for the royal family. 

Charles and Queen Camilla went to St. Mary Magdalene Church, close to Sandringham House in eastern England where the king retreated to recuperate following his first treatment for an unspecified form of cancer. The estate, some 110 miles (180 kilometers) north of London, offers the monarch a place of shelter where he can isolate from the risk of infection. 

The appearance came a day after he expressed thanks for the messages of support he has received from the public. In a statement issued late Saturday, the monarch said that such thoughts are “the greatest comfort and encouragement.” 

“It is equally heartening to hear how sharing my own diagnosis has helped promote public understanding and shine a light on the work of all those organizations which support cancer patients and their families across the U.K. and wider world,” he said in a statement. 

“My lifelong admiration for their tireless care and dedication is all the greater as a result of my own personal experience.” 

Buckingham Palace announced the diagnosis on Monday. Charles was last seen on Tuesday as he left his home at Clarence House in London after starting his treatment. 

Sandringham, the private home of the past six British monarchs, sits amid parkland, gardens and working farms. It has been owned by the royal family since 1862. 
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Paris — Children of immigrants born in Mayotte, the French overseas territory situated between Madagascar and the African mainland, will no longer automatically become French citizens, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said late on Sunday.   

“It will no longer be possible to become French if one is not the child of French parents,” Darmanin told journalists upon his arrival on the island, announcing the scrapping of birthright citizenship there — a first in recent French history.   

Located close to the impoverished Comoro islands off the East African coast, the former French colony has become the center of fierce social unrest, with many residents blaming undocumented immigration for the deteriorating conditions.   

Much poorer than mainland France, Mayotte has been shaken by gang violence and social unrest for decades. The situation has recently worsened amid a water shortage.   

Since January, island residents have been staging strikes and erecting roadblocks to protest against what they say are unacceptable living conditions, paralyzing large parts of local infrastructure.   

The reform, which Darmanin said was the idea of French President Emmanuel Macron, will require a change of the constitution.   

It comes less than three weeks after France’s highest court scrapped large parts of a new immigration law designed to toughen access to welfare benefits for foreigners and curb the number of new arrivals into the country.   

Immigration is a hot-button issue in France, one of Europe’s strongholds for far right anti-immigration parties.   

Darmanin said, however, that “there is no question of doing this for other territories of the Republic.” 

 
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NEW YORK — Republican front-runner Donald Trump said Saturday that, as president, he warned NATO allies that he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that are “delinquent” as he ramped up his attacks on foreign aid and longstanding international alliances.

Speaking at a rally in Conway, South Carolina, Trump recounted a story he has told before about an unidentified NATO member who confronted him over his threat not to defend members who fail to meet the trans-Atlantic alliance’s defense spending targets.

But this time, Trump went further, saying had told the member that he would, in fact, “encourage” Russia to do as it wishes in that case.

“‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?'” Trump recounted saying. “‘No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.'”

NATO allies agreed in 2014, after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, to halt the spending cuts they had made after the Cold War and move toward spending 2% of their GDPs on defense by 2024.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates responded, saying that: “Encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes is appalling and unhinged – and it endangers American national security, global stability, and our economy at home.”

Trump’s comments come as Ukraine remains mired in its efforts to stave off Russia’s 2022 invasion and as Republicans in Congress have become increasingly skeptical of providing additional aid money to the country as it struggles with stalled counteroffensives and weapons shortfalls.

They also come as Trump and his team are increasingly confident he will lock up the nomination in the coming weeks following commanding victories in the first votes of the 2024 Republican nominating calendar.

Earlier Saturday, Trump called for the end of foreign aid “WITHOUT “STRINGS” ATTACHED,” arguing that the U.S. should dramatically curtail the way it provides money.

“FROM THIS POINT FORWARD, ARE YOU LISTENING U.S. SENATE(?), NO MONEY IN THE FORM OF FOREIGN AID SHOULD BE GIVEN TO ANY COUNTRY UNLESS IT IS DONE AS A LOAN, NOT JUST A GIVEAWAY,” Trump wrote on his social media network in all-caps letters.

Trump went on to say the money could be loaned “ON EXTRAORDINARILY GOOD TERMS,” with no interest and no date for repayment. But he said that, “IF THE COUNTRY WE ARE HELPING EVER TURNS AGAINST US, OR STRIKES IT RICH SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE, THE LOAN WILL BE PAID OFF AND THE MONEY RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES.”

During his 2016 campaign, Trump alarmed Western allies by warning that the United States, under his leadership, might abandon its NATO treaty commitments and only come to the defense of countries that meet the alliance’s guidelines by committing 2 percent of their gross domestic products to military spending.

Trump, as president, eventually endorsed NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause, which states that an armed attack against one or more of its members shall be considered an attack against all members. But he often depicted NATO allies as leeches on the U.S. military and openly questioned the value of the military alliance that has defined American foreign policy for decades.

As of 2022, NATO reported that seven of what are now 31 NATO member countries were meeting that obligation — up from three in 2014. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has spurred additional military spending by some NATO members.

Trump has often tried to take credit for that increase, and bragged again Saturday that, as a results of his threats, “hundreds of billions of dollars came into NATO”— even though countries do not pay NATO directly.
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Helsinki, Finland — Two seasoned politicians face off in Finland’s presidential election on Sunday, with the president’s role having gained importance in light of the country’s NATO membership and rising tensions with neighboring Russia.

Some 4.3 million voters will have to choose between former conservative Prime Minister Alexander Stubb and ex-Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, a Green Party MP running as an independent.

The changing geopolitical landscape in Europe will be the main concern for the new head of state, who — while having limited powers compared to the prime minister — leads the country’s foreign policy together with the government and also acts as supreme commander of Finland’s armed forces.

Relations between Moscow and Helsinki deteriorated following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, prompting Finland to drop decades of military nonalignment and join NATO in April 2023.

Russia, with whom Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer border, swiftly warned of “countermeasures.”

“The fact that we’ve just joined NATO has a lot of significance because the building of the NATO institution in Finland and what it will look like will largely be a task for the new president,” Theodora Helimaki, doctoral researcher in political science at the University of Helsinki, told AFP.

“The top two were perhaps the most experienced in terms of foreign policy,” she added regarding the first round.

Radio silence

Stubb came out ahead in the first round on January 28 with 27.2% of votes, while Haavisto came in a close second with 25.8% of the vote — qualifying them for the second round.

An opinion poll by public broadcaster Yle published on Thursday saw Stubb getting 54% of the vote, compared to 46% for Haavisto.

In the post-Cold War period, Helsinki maintained good relationships with Moscow.

Outgoing president Sauli Niinisto, first elected in 2012, once prided himself on his close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin before becoming one of his most trenchant critics.

Niinisto contacted him directly to announce the decision to join NATO.

Since then, there has been radio silence and neither candidate is expecting a phone call from the Kremlin if they win the election.

In August 2023, Finland observed an influx of migrants entering through its eastern border without visas.

Helsinki claimed Moscow was pushing the migrants to destabilize it, and in response closed their border in November — a move supported by both candidates.

Stubb and Haavisto, who have both served as foreign minister, share similar visions for the country’s position toward Russia, calling for additional sanctions against Moscow and support for Ukraine.

“The European Union can do much more to help Ukraine,” Haavisto said during a televised debate on Thursday evening.

“Ukraine’s road is our road, and at the moment they are fighting for the freedom of Europeans. They deserve all the support that we can give to them,” Stubb agreed.

Nuclear arms

For Helimaki, the differences between the candidates come down to nuance on certain issues, such as the storage or transport of nuclear weapons in Finland.

Haavisto does not want them on Finnish soil though he recognizes that as a member of NATO, the Nordic country must take part in exercises relating to the alliance’s nuclear policy.

Stubb meanwhile feels that the country should not exclude “any part” of NATO’s nuclear deterrence.

Given the lack of significant foreign policy differences, voters are likely to make their decision based on their political preferences, according to Matti Pesu, leading researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

“While Stubb’s liberalism is related to Western organizations and Western values, Haavisto has more of a global emphasis: the U.N., peace, development,” Pesu told AFP.

When it comes to personality, Stubb comes across as a “kind of modern politician and fairly open in how he talks,” while Haavisto “is a more traditional, more careful Finnish politician.”

Voter turnout in the first round was 75% and polling stations open at 9:00 a.m. local time and close at 8 p.m. 
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BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary’s conservative president resigned Saturday amid public outcry over a pardon she granted to a man convicted as an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case, a decision that unleashed an unprecedented political scandal for the long-serving nationalist government.

Katalin Novak, 46, announced in a televised message that she would step down from the presidency, an office she has held since 2022. Her decision came after more than a week of public outrage after it was revealed that she issued a presidential pardon in April 2023 to a man convicted of hiding a string of child sexual abuses in a state-run children’s home.

“I issued a pardon that caused bewilderment and unrest for many people,” Novak said Saturday. “I made a mistake.”

Novak’s resignation came as a rare piece of political turmoil for Hungary’s nationalist governing party, Fidesz, which has ruled with a constitutional majority since 2010. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Fidesz has been accused of dismantling democratic institutions and rigging the electoral system and media in its favor.

Novak, a key Orban ally and a former vice president of Fidesz, served as Hungary’s minister for families until her appointment to the presidency. She has been outspoken in advocating for family values and the protection of children.

She was the first female president in Hungary and the youngest person to hold the office.

But her term came to an end after she pardoned a man sentenced to more than three years in prison in 2018 for pressuring victims to retract their claims of sexual abuse by the institution’s director, who was sentenced to eight years for abusing at least 10 children between 2004 and 2016.

“Based on the request for clemency and the information available, I decided in April last year in favor of clemency in the belief that the convict did not abuse the vulnerability of the children entrusted to him,” Novak said Saturday. “I made a mistake, because the decision to pardon and the lack of justification were apt to raise doubts about zero tolerance for pedophilia. But here, there is not and nor can there be any doubt.”

Also implicated in the pardon was Judit Varga, another key Fidesz figure who endorsed the pardon as Hungary’s then-minister of justice. Varga was expected to lead the list of European Parliament candidates from Fidesz when elections are held this summer.

But in a Facebook post Saturday, Varga announced that she would take political responsibility for endorsing the pardon and “retire from public life, resigning my seat as a member of parliament and also as leader of the EP list.”
…

BERLIN — Three Dutch citizens were found dead in western Switzerland after an apparent hiking accident, police said Saturday.

The mother and her two adult children, who had been reported missing Thursday, were found near the Rochers-de-Naye mountain in the canton of Vaud, local police said in a statement.

The 57-year-old woman, her 25-year-old daughter and her 22-year-old son set off on a hike Wednesday morning and were not heard from since. A large-scale search operation was launched Thursday, and the grim discovery — the bodies of all three were found Friday morning about 300 meters (1,000 feet) below a steep path.

Police did not give details about the nature of the deaths or any details about the apparent accident scene.

The mother and daughter were on vacation in Switzerland while the son lived in the region, police said. The three victims were not identified by name, in line with Swiss privacy rules.
…

washington — A major Chinese bank for Russian importers, Chouzhou Commercial Bank, ceased operations with Russian and Belarusian companies, the Russian Vedomosti newspaper reported Wednesday. 

In addition to Chouzhou Commercial Bank, Vedomosti reported that other Chinese and Hong Kong banks are tightening regulations around transactions with Russia to ensure they comply with Western sanctions. The Kremlin has acknowledged the instability of relations between Russian companies and Chinese banks.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s government is “working” with the Chinese government to resolve the commercial problems between the two nations.

Since the West’s initial sanctions on Russia in February 2022 after its invasion of Ukraine, Chinese banks have become key commercial partners for Russian companies, facilitating increased Sino-Russian trade.

Vedomosti reported that Chouzhou’s decision was related to U.S. President Joe Biden’s December 22 executive order, which strengthened sanctions on financial institutions that aid the Russian military.

Ali Wyne, a senior research and advocacy adviser for U.S.-China at the nonprofit International Crisis group, said the move was a sign that sanctions are working.

“The United States is working harder to dissuade financial institutions from assisting Russia’s efforts to circumvent sanctions. Chinese lenders are taking note and maneuvering to avoid secondary sanctions,” Wyne told VOA in a statement.

Russian analysts said Chouzhou’s decisions, which coincide with the major Lunar New Year holiday season in China, would lead to short-term logistical delays.

“All the troubles are superimposed on the Chinese New Year, so the Russians will not be able to start solving this problem until the beginning of March,” Russian freelance economic journalist Maxim Blunt said to VOA Russian.

“This will not stop mutual trade, but it will certainly add to the problems on the railways and in the ports. Logistics chains between Russia and China are already overloaded, and now this is compounded by overstocking of warehouses and other problems.”

Blunt said Russian consumers would most likely face shortages or inflation as a result.

“Since China is Russia’s main trading partner, we should expect either a shortage or a rise in the price of a wide range of goods, from industrial equipment to wide ports,” Blunt said. “Another brick has been laid in the wall that separates Russia from the civilized market.”

Despite the increased costs, Chouzhou’s decision will not be paralyzing for Russia, according to Russian Sinologist Aleksei Chigadaev of Leipzig University. 

“Of course, the Russian economy will not collapse from this,” Chigadaev told VOA Russian. “The main segment that the bank serves seems to be small and medium-sized businesses. There is no exact customer data in the public domain.

“But judging by where it is located and which Russian companies are served in it, these are most likely small enterprises that are engaged in wholesale purchases of consumer goods, clothing, souvenirs and so on. Therefore, they will now record losses and come up with new payment schemes.”

Chigadaev said these tensions show that China is prioritizing its relationship with the U.S. over Russia.

“The Chinese do not mind making money on supplies to Russia, but as soon as it comes to choosing between the Russian market and the American market — and now the question often arises in this way — then, of course, they will choose the latter,” Chigadaev said. “This will be the end of any partnership.”

Wyne said, however, that Chouzhou’s decision does not necessarily reflect a recalibration in the Sino-Russian relationship.

“Whether one considers the frequent interactions between their presidents and defense ministers, the deepening of their military cooperation or the record trade that they posted last year, Beijing and Moscow are drawing closer, not drifting apart,” Wyne wrote.

“China appears to have concluded that it can simultaneously strengthen its ties with Russia and sustain the current thaw in its ties with the United States.” 
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london — In British history, the secrecy of the monarch’s health has always reigned supreme. Buckingham Palace’s disclosure that King Charles III has been diagnosed with cancer shattered that longstanding tradition. 

On the heels of the shock and well-wishing that followed the official statement Monday came the surprise that the palace had announced anything at all. Indeed, the unprecedented missive was sparse on details: Charles, 75, had begun treatment for a cancer it did not name after being diagnosed during a recent corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate. The king is stepping back from public duties but carrying on state business during his treatment, which he’ll receive as an outpatient, the palace said. 

“The King has cancer,” The Times of London declared in a terse banner headline Tuesday. It was unlike any other in British history. 

Never complain, never explain, as Charles’ late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was known to say. Charles has withheld details of his illness and treatment, and in that way is carrying on her approach. But in beaming a sliver of light from inside the palace walls and his own life, the king has broken with his mother and royal tradition.

Royals’ health a mystery

The world still does not know the cause of Elizabeth’s death in 2022 at the age of 96. In the final years of her life, the public was told only that the queen was suffering from “mobility issues.” Her death certificate listed the cause simply as “old age.” 

The British public wasn’t told that Charles’ grandfather, King George VI, had lung cancer before his death in February 1952 at the age of 56, and some historians have claimed that the king himself wasn’t told he was terminally ill. 

Given that Charles rules in a media-saturated age, “I do think it’s incumbent on him to reveal more than he’s revealed,” said Sally Bedell Smith, author of “Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life.” 

“He was admirably candid in what he said about being treated for an enlarged prostate, and his impulse was to be open and also to encourage men to have the necessary examinations,” she added. “But then he reverted to the traditional royal form, which is mystery, secrecy, opacity.” 

On Tuesday, former royal press secretary Simon Lewis told BBC Radio 4 that Charles’ openness about his cancer diagnosis has been his style as a monarch. 

“I think 20 years ago we would have got a very abrupt, short statement, and that’s about it,” he said. The palace statement goes as far as possible, “given that the King has had a diagnosis of cancer and, as a lot of people know, processing that is a pretty tough process.” 

One reason for disclosing his illness, the palace statement said, was “in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer.” Cancer patient advocates reported glimmers of success on that front, with Cancer Research UK reporting a 42% rise in visits to its cancer information page, according to Dr. Julie Sharp, the group’s head of health and patient information. 

The jump “reflects that high-profile cancer cases often act as a prompt to encourage people to find out more or think about their own health,” she said. 

But there was another pragmatic reason: To keep control of the information in the age of lightning-fast social media and misinformation. The palace statement said Charles “has chosen to share his diagnosis to prevent speculation.” 

Privacy part of past

In the annals of power, leaders and their advisers strive to maintain — or at least, not undermine — the perception of being in strong and in control. Because to allow any perception of vulnerability or weakness could spark a fight for the gavel or the crown — or encourage a coup. 

The former Soviet Union was famous for neglecting to mention when its leaders are sick or dead — think Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, secretly sick and soon deceased one after the other in the 1980s. Each event sparked scrambles for succession. 

In the United States, there’s little to no debate about the public’s right to know the health status of their leaders. It’s a key feature of the 2024 presidential rumble between President Joe Biden, 81, and former president Donald Trump, 77, with other contenders, such as GOP hopeful Nikki Haley, arguing that they’re both too old to preside. 

And on February 1, U.S.. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin — sixth in the presidential line of succession — apologized for keeping secret his cancer diagnosis and surgery. In a rare press conference, he acknowledged missing a key chance to use the experience as a teaching moment for those he leads across the Defense Department and, even more importantly, for Black Americans. 

How much does the British public have a right to know? 

Whether the monarch owes the world more information about his health than other Britons do is a tense subject. 

Royals are private citizens but also, in a sense, part of the public trust given that they are subsidized by British taxpayers and play an important — though largely powerless — constitutional role. Unelected, they inherit their wealth under a 1,000-year-old monarchy that Republican activists have long tried to dislodge. 

And though some polls show the public is friendly toward Charles, opposition and apathy to the monarchy are both growing. In a recent study by the National Center for Social Research, just 29% of respondents thought the monarchy was “very important” — the lowest level in the center’s 40 years of research on the subject. Opposition was highest among the young. 

Remaining relevant is part of what makes Charles’ legacy and succession so urgent. Maintaining at least the appearance of vitality can be key to leaders’ pursuit of and hold on power. The king, the palace was careful to note, would step away from public-facing duties during his treatment but continue to manage other duties of state. 

In Charles’ case, succession has long been set: Next in line is his son, William, the prince of Wales. But the king’s illness makes William’s preparation more critical at a time when he’s also caring for his wife, Kate, princess of Wales, who is recovering from abdominal surgery. 

Charles’ news was received with great sympathy in a country in which 3 million people live with cancer, according to Macmillan Cancer Support, a London-based charity. On average, it says, one person is diagnosed with cancer in the UK every 90 seconds. That’s about 1,000 new cancer cases detected every day, according to the National Health Service. 

That the king has joined those ranks — and, critically for a British monarch, shared that vulnerability with the world — heralded for some a new era of transparency in an era of social media and misinformation. 
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