Ukraine moves closer to joining the European Union as leaders agree to start membership talks. But money to sustain its war effort against invading Russia hit a familiar roadblock with an ally of Russia’s president in the EU. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi the story.
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Washington — U.S. and Ukrainian researchers say Western nations are making progress in trying to curb illicit transfers of Western electronic components to a Russian facility suspected of making Iranian-designed attack drones, but that more needs to be done.

The White House released a U.S. intelligence finding June 8 asserting Russia was receiving Iranian materials needed to build an attack drone manufacturing plant in its Alabuga special economic zone.

Russia has said it relies on its own resources in using drones to attack Ukraine; Iran has acknowledged supplying drones to Russia but only before Moscow’s February 2022 Ukraine invasion. Neither Russia’s Washington embassy nor Iran’s U.N. mission in New York responded to questions about the Alabuga plant emailed by VOA Thursday.

The researchers pointed to the U.S. Commerce Department’s December 6 placement of 11 Russian companies on its list of entities requiring a license for items subject to export controls. Commerce officials cited the companies’ association with the suspected Alabuga drone facility. Commerce expanded the items subject to U.S. export controls in February to include semiconductors and other drone components used by Russian and Iranian entities on the Entity List.

David Albright, president of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, one of the researchers interviewed by VOA in recent weeks, said he “commends” Commerce for sanctioning the 11 Russian companies and considers the move a sign of progress.

Vladyslav Vlasiuk, a Ukrainian sanctions researcher serving as an adviser to the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, also welcomed the U.S. move.

“We are happy that the U.S. government is taking actions aimed at thwarting certain Russian facilities, including Alabuga, and thus making an impact on Russia’s military industry,” Vlasiuk told VOA in a Thursday phone call.

Vlasiuk and Albright said the Biden administration should go further, though.

The administration has not sanctioned JSC Alabuga, the plant’s owner, although several of its apparent subsidiaries were added to the Commerce list December 6.

Albright said the U.S. Treasury and State departments should sanction JSC Alabuga and associated companies to discourage foreign businesses from dealing with them, calling such designations “long overdue.”

Vlasiuk said Ukraine also would like to see the United States sanction JSC Alabuga and other companies that Kyiv has identified as engaged in Russia’s drone industry.

Asked by VOA for the U.S. position on sanctioning JSC Alabuga, Commerce said November 28 it “does not comment on potential deliberations related to Entity List actions.”

The statement added that “continuing to respond to Russia’s unjustified war against Ukraine remains a high priority for the department” and listed several U.S. actions taken to crack down on illicit networks for sending chips and other items to Russia.

The State Department referred VOA questions about Alabuga to Commerce, while the Treasury Department did not respond to a November 25 VOA email about Alabuga.

Albright also pointed to the interest of several European governments in using his institute’s research on the Alabuga plant to try to disrupt its access to electronic components made by companies headquartered in their territories. His research is based on documents apparently leaked from Alabuga to The Washington Post, which first reported their existence in August.

Albright’s institute has reported that the documents appear authentic and describe Alabuga supply-chain procurement, production capabilities, and plans for manufacturing Russian-branded copies of Iran’s Shahed 136 attack drone.

While more than half of the electronics on the assembly list for Alabuga’s Shahed 136 drones are made by U.S. companies, according to Albright’s review of the documents, some of the rest come from four Europe-based companies, his institute has said. Those include Switzerland-based TE Connectivity and u-blox, Netherlands-based NXP Semiconductors, and STMicroelectronics, which is headquartered in Switzerland and has manufacturing plants in the Netherlands.

“Switzerland and the Netherlands certainly are interested in the information we have to offer,” Albright said.

Vlasiuk also credited the two European nations for working with Ukraine on the issue.

“We are in constant communication with the Dutch government on sanctions and they have been very helpful and proactive,” Vlasuk said. “As for the Swiss, it has been a little harder, but we also are in contact and they mostly are adopting the sanctions of the EU, which is good.”

In response to VOA questions about Alabuga and Albright’s research, the Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry said it is a “priority” to prevent the circumvention of sanctions designed to make it as difficult as possible for Russia to continue waging war on Ukraine.

“To that end, we undertake many actions with international partners, both visible and invisible. The ministry cannot comment on contacts with individual companies or organizations,” it said.

The Swiss government provided no comment after VOA emailed its Washington embassy last month to request one.

Albright and Vlasiuk said Western electronics makers also must do more to stop their parts from ending up in Alabuga’s drones.

“In the electronics industry, companies send off millions of components to distributors who could care less about the end user,” Albright said. “So electronics manufacturers need to rapidly work with distributors on policies promoting due diligence. Manufacturers need to say we are just not going to make sales of these critical items unless we really know who the end user is.”

Vlasiuk said Ukraine is unhappy with finding Western parts in attack drones launched by Russia and with how the manufacturers explain the phenomenon. “They say, ‘we are not supplying anything officially to Russia,’ Of course they do not. So I think that they could have tightened their compliance and know-your-customer procedures,” Vlasiuk said.

In a Saturday statement sent to VOA, a spokesperson for Swiss company u-blox said the use of its products in embargoed countries’ weapons systems is a “clear breach” of conditions of sale for its customers and distributors. “We investigate any infringement of this policy very thoroughly and will take legal action in case of infringement,” the spokesperson said.

Asked about Alabuga, u-blox said it is in regular contact with government officials and several NGO representatives.

Regarding how u-blox parts were found in drones used by Russia, the spokesperson said there are several likely explanations, including that the components were purchased before sanctions were in place, that they were part of excess inventory sold by customers to brokers in countries not sanctioning Russia and then shipped into Russia, that they were smuggled into Russia, or that they were removed from products such e-scooters, e-bikes, cars and construction machines and put into Russian drones.

Dutch company NXP Semiconductors also sent VOA a statement on Friday, saying it is “committed” to complying with the law and “working diligently to ensure its products are not improperly diverted to embargoed countries including Russia, Iran and Belarus for use in weapons and other systems for which they were not designed or intended.”

“Our team is in ongoing contact with regulators around the world on this issue, working within an industry-wide effort to prevent illegal chip diversion,” the company added, referring to an initiative of the Semiconductor Industry Association, of which it is a member.

TE Connectivity and STMicroelectronics did not respond to VOA requests for comment emailed on Friday.
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Paris — Notre Dame Cathedral got its rooster back Saturday, in a pivotal moment for the Paris landmark’s restoration.

The installation by a crane of a new golden rooster, reimagined as a dramatic phoenix with licking, flamed feathers, goes beyond being just a weathervane atop the cathedral spire. It symbolizes resilience amid destruction after the devastating April 2019 fire — as restoration officials also revealed an anti-fire misting system is being kitted out under the cathedral’s roof.

Chief architect Philippe Villeneuve, who designed this new rooster, stated that the original rooster’s survival signified a ray of light in the catastrophe.

“That there was hope, that not everything was lost. The beauty of the [old] battered rooster … expressed the cry of the cathedral suffering in flames,” Villeneuve said. He described the new work of art, approximately half a meter long and gleaming in the December sun behind Notre Dame Cathedral, as his “phoenix.”

Villeneuve elaborated on the new rooster’s significance, saying: “Since [the fire] we have worked on this rooster [the] successor, which sees the flame carried to the top of the cathedral as it was before, more than 96 meters from the ground. … It is a fire of resurrection.”

In lighthearted comments, the architect said that the process of design was so intense he might have to speak to his “therapist” about it.

Before ascending to its perch, the rooster — a French emblem of vigilance and Christ’s resurrection — was blessed by Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich in a square behind the monument. The rooster — or “coq” in French — is an emotive national emblem for the French because of the word’s semantics — the Latin gallus meaning Gaul and gallus simultaneously meaning rooster.

Ulrich placed sacred relics in a hole inside the rooster’s breast, including fragments of Christ’s Crown of Thorns and remains of St. Denis and St. Genevieve, infusing the sculpture with religious importance.

The Crown of Thorns, regarded as Notre Dame’s most sacred relic, was among the treasures quickly removed after the fire broke out. Brought to Paris by King Louis IX in the 13th century, it is purported to have been pressed onto Christ’s head during the crucifixion. A sealed tube was also placed in the sculpture containing a list the names of nearly 2,000 individuals who contributed to the cathedral’s reconstruction, underscoring the collective effort behind the works.

Amid the rooster benediction ceremony, Notre Dame’s new restoration chief, Philippe Jost, also detailed pioneering measures taken to safeguard the iconic cathedral against future fires — in rare comments to the press.

“We have deployed a range of fire protection devices, some of which are very innovative in a cathedral, including a misting system in the attics, where the oak frame and in the spire are located,” Jost said. “And this is a first for a cathedral in France.”

French President Emmanuel Macron, who last week visited the site to mark a one-year countdown to its re-opening, announced that the original rooster will be displayed in a new museum at the Hôtel-Dieu. This move, along with plans to invite Pope Francis for the cathedral’s reopening next year, highlights Notre Dame’s significance in French history and culture.

The rooster’s installation, crowning a spire reconstructed from Eugène Viollet-le-Duc’s 19th-century design, is a poignant reminder of its medieval origins as a symbol of hope and faith.

Its longstanding association with the French nation since the Renaissance further adds to its historical and cultural significance, marking a new chapter of renewal and hope for Notre Dame and the French people.
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LISBON, Portugal — Portugal’s Socialist Party (PS) on Saturday elected Pedro Nuno Santos to lead them in a March 10 snap parliamentary election, following Antonio Costa’s resignation as prime minister and party leader last month amid a corruption investigation.

The 46-year-old former infrastructure minister beat acting Interior Minister Jose Luis Carneiro, who was seen as a more moderate candidate, with 62% of the vote to become the PS secretary-general.Nuno Santos, who has described himself as “a cobbler’s grandson, son of a businessman,” is from the left wing of the center-left party and is known for successfully coordinating support in parliament for a previous government with the far-left in 2015-19.

Costa, in power since 2015, resigned on November 7 over an investigation into alleged illegalities in his government’s handling of green energy projects. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has called a snap election for March 10.

Nuno Santos had himself resigned in late 2022 in a scandal around a large severance payout by state-owned airline TAP, which he oversaw as infrastructure minister. Although the scandal dented his popularity, analysts have long seen him as Costa’s successor.

Nuno Santos eulogized Costa in his victory speech, praising the strong economic growth of the past few years, financial stability and a significant reduction of public debt.

“We want to build Portugal where nobody is excluded or forgotten,” he said as he advocated a strong welfare state, adding though: “We do not want the state to replace companies, we want companies as partners.”

His main rival in the upcoming general election is Luis Montenegro, 50, of the center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD), who has promised tax cuts in a bid to secure a majority and said he expected the implosion of the majority Socialist administration to play into his hands.

Most opinion polls put the PS neck and neck with the PSD, and many analysts fear a post-election quagmire and a potential strengthening of the role of the populist, anti-establishment party Chega.  
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chisinau, moldova — Moldovan President Maia Sandu hailed the adoption by parliament Saturday of a new defense strategy — calling for anchoring Moldova alongside its Western allies — and identifying Russia as a threat to the former Soviet state. 

Sandu posted on Facebook two days after the European Union agreed to open talks on extending its membership with both Moldova and neighboring Ukraine — more than 21 months into Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Sandu has denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and accused Moscow of plotting a coup to oust her. She said the new security strategy outlined the “main threats” facing Moldova and how to “effectively counter” them. “There are two principal threats to our national security — the aggressive policy of the Russian Federation against our country as a whole and deep-rooted corruption in Moldova,” she wrote. 

Members of Sandu’s Party of Action and Solidarity hold a majority in Moldova’s parliament, which on Friday adopted the strategy focusing on closer ties with the EU, Romania, the United States and NATO. 

But Moldova is to retain the “neutral” status set down in its constitution and, unlike Ukraine, is not seeking NATO membership. 

The document said the new strategy was “vital in the current geopolitical context to limit the risks facing Moldova.” 

“It is clear that the Russian Federation in the near future will not abandon its hostile actions against Moldova,” the document read. “We must therefore learn to live in conditions of a protracted, high-intensity hybrid war.” 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova denounced the document as “Russophobic,” saying Moscow had always respected Moldova’s interests. 

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov derided the EU’s decision to launch membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova, saying neither country met the bloc’s criteria for membership. 

The Moldovan Foreign Ministry’s press secretary, Igor Zaharov, said Peskov’s comments were a clear indication that Moldova was drawing clear of Moscow’s sphere of influence. 

“We are decisively moving along the European path,” Zaharov told Radio Moldova. “This naturally makes the Russian political class unhappy or even indignant, but we have chosen this path and ask outside forces to stay out of our internal decisions.” 
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VATICAN CITY — A Vatican court Saturday sentenced a once powerful Italian cardinal to five years and six months in jail for financial crimes at the end of a historic trial.

Angelo Becciu, 75, a former adviser to Pope Francis who was once considered a papal contender himself, was the most senior clergyman in the Catholic Church to face a Vatican criminal court.

He and nine other defendants, including financiers, lawyers and ex-Vatican employees, were on trial for accusations of financial crimes focused on an opaque London property deal.

Court President Giuseppe Pignatone read out the verdict Saturday, with Becciu accused of embezzlement, abuse of office and witness tampering.

His lawyer, Fabio Viglione, said they respected the sentence but would “certainly” appeal. He was also handed a fine of 8,000 euros ($8,727).

At the heart of the trial is the 350 million euro ($380 million) purchase of a luxury property in London, as part of an investment that began in 2014 and ended up costing the Vatican tens of millions of euros.

A test of Francis’ reforms

The trial, which began in July 2021, has shone a light on the Holy See’s murky finances, which Francis has sought to clean up since taking the helm of the Catholic Church in March 2013.

It is also a test of his reforms.

Just weeks before the trial, Francis gave the Vatican’s civilian courts the power to try cardinals and bishops, where previously they were judged by a court presided over by cardinals.

Prosecutor Alessandro Diddi had requested seven years and three months in jail for Becciu and between almost four and 13 years for the others.

Becciu had always strongly protested his innocence, denouncing the accusations against him as “totally unfounded” and insisting he never took a cent.

For its part, the Holy See viewed itself as “an offended party” and has asked through Secretary of State Pietro Parolin for the court to “punish all crimes.”

Four Vatican entities are civil parties. They had requested compensation from the defendants, including 177 million euros ($193 Million) for moral and reputational damage.

Since the trial opened, there have been more than 80 hearings in the dedicated room within the Vatican Museums, where a portrait of a smiling Pope Francis hangs on the wall.

The process had been mired by procedural wrangling, with defense lawyers complaining about a lack of access to key evidence.

Once high ranking

Becciu, a globe-trotting former Vatican diplomat, has been a near constant presence in the courtroom.

He was number two in the Secretariat of State, the Vatican department that works most closely with the pope, from 2011 to 2018.

He was moved to lead the department that deals with the creation of saints, before abruptly resigning in September 2020, after being informed of an investigation against him.

Initially, he told the trial, this was about a probe into 125,000 euros of Vatican money he donated to a charity in his native Sardinia, which prosecutors claim benefited his brother, who ran the organization.

But he was later drawn into investigations into the purchase and sale of the property on London’s Sloane Avenue — resulting in losses that, according to the Vatican, dipped into resources intended for charitable causes.

When the trial opened, prosecutors painted a picture of risky investments with little or no oversight and double-dealing by outside consultants and insiders.

Among the defendants are two brokers involved in the London deal, Gianluigi Torzi and Raffaele Mincione, as well as Enrico Crasso, a former Vatican investment manager, and former Vatican employee Fabrizio Tirabassi.

Becciu is also accused over payments made to a Sardinian woman, Cecilia Marogna — who is also on trial — which he claims were to help negotiate the release of a Colombian nun kidnapped in Mali.
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RUKLA, LITHUANIA — Two German Leopard tanks damaged in Ukraine were test driven in Lithuania on Friday following repairs, to showcase how the Baltic NATO member has become a hub for such work.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas sat on a turret on one of the tanks as he was driven along a rough road in the military training area in the central town of Rukla.

“What can I say?… A powerful tank,” he told reporters.

The tanks presented on Friday — among the first repaired in Lithuania — are expected to reach Ukraine next month, nearly two years after it was invaded by Russia.

According to the latest public data, Western countries have delivered 71 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

Some have already been damaged beyond repair during Ukraine’s counteroffensive.

Lithuania will be Europe’s only country to repair Leopard 2 A6 and A5 tanks, the company responsible for the work said.

“For these variants, this is the only hub,” Sebastian Dietz, CEO of Lithuania Defense Services, or LDS, told reporters.

The company was established by German industry giants Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, or KMW, which also manufacture the Leopard tank.

LDS took in its first tanks in October and, according to the current contract, will conduct repair work until the end of next year.

According to Dietz, the repairs were commissioned by Rheinmetall and KMW and are being carried out according to an agreement between the German and Ukrainian defense ministries.

LDS said it was ready to accept as many tanks as needed.

“We can’t plan how many units will be damaged on the battlefield,” LDS managing director Aivaras Kasuba told reporters.

Dietz said that judging from the units they have received, the tanks sustain all kinds of combat-related damage — “direct hits, mines, drone attacks and also water.”

The Leopard 2 tank was created during the Cold War, with potential clashes with the Soviets in mind.

Almost a quarter-century after the Leopard 2 was delivered to the West German army, these tanks are now being used in Ukraine against Russian forces that are still heavily dependent on Soviet arms.
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washington/istanbul — Turkey’s justice minister announced Thursday that Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s son is expected to return to Turkey to face trial over a fatal traffic accident in Istanbul.

Yilmaz Tunc, Turkey’s justice minister, told reporters that Ankara held talks with Somali judicial authorities over extraditing Mohamed Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

“In the coming days, the defendant will come to Turkey, and the trial process will take place,” Tunc said.

Accident

On November 30, Mohamud hit Yunus Emre Gocer, a motorcycle courier in the Fatih district of Istanbul, while driving a vehicle with a diplomatic license plate. The 38-year-old victim was immediately taken to the hospital, where he died on December 6.

According to police documents that VOA Turkish obtained, after providing testimony, Mohamud was released on the same day of the accident per an Istanbul prosecutor’s instructions.

In a press statement last Friday, the Istanbul prosecutor’s office announced that following Gocer’s death, it issued a detention order for Mohamud accusing him of involuntary manslaughter, but he had already left the country on December 2.

The prosecutor’s office said an arrest warrant for Mohamud was issued on December 8.

Iyaz Cimen, the lawyer for Gocer’s family, says the Somali president’s son was allowed to leave Turkey due to “a chain of negligence.”

“We went to the police station on the evening of the accident day where [the police] ignored us. We requested detention at the prosecutor’s office for eight days from November 30 to December 7. [Mohamud] was not arrested, and in fact, any judicial control, including a travel ban, was not placed,” Cimen told VOA.

On the other hand, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told The Associated Press on Tuesday that his son did not flee Turkey and stayed in Istanbul for several days after the crash.

“It was an accident. He did not run away, and he hired a lawyer for this purpose,” the Somali president said. “And there was no arrest warrant. … So, he has a business, and he came out of the country.”

Mohamud added that he is advising his son to present himself to the Turkish court, noting that his son is an adult and “the decision is his — but I am giving that advice.”

The Somali president also extended his condolences to Gocer’s family.

Investigation

Ankara has launched an investigation of the police officers who conducted the crime scene investigation and wrote the initial police report, Tunc posted on social media on Monday.

Also on Monday, a Somali diplomat in Turkey, who requested anonymity, told The Associated Press that Mohamud has since traveled to Dubai. He added that the Somali president’s family travels with diplomatic passports and previously lived in Turkey.

On Tuesday, a Turkish official told Reuters that Ankara sought information from Somali authorities on the incident and the use of a diplomatic car.

“Someone who does not have diplomatic status has no right to use these vehicles,” the official told Reuters. According to the official, as the Somali president’s son does not enjoy “immunity or diplomatic exceptionality,” and it makes no difference that he was driving a vehicle with a diplomatic plate.

VOA contacted Turkey’s justice and foreign ministries but did not receive a response.

Tunc has not disclosed Mohamud’s whereabouts but has noted that there is no mutual legal assistance treaty between Somalia and Turkey.

“However, these are issues that can be achieved within the framework of bilateral relations,” Tunc said.

“We expect that the suspect will actively participate in the trial process amid its return to Turkey and that the family’s damage here will be remedied,” Cimen, the Gocer family’s lawyer, told VOA.

The accident has stirred controversy in Turkey over the police and judicial system.

Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, visited Gocer’s family on Tuesday and said, “If any citizen committed this crime or were involved in this accident, that person would be detained, interrogated, arrested, and if that person were not arrested, a travel ban would be imposed. Everyone knows this.

“But when [that person] is the son of a foreign statesman, what kind of privilege is this? What kind of public administration is this? What kind of justice is this?” Ozel added.

Ankara has built close ties with Mogadishu, as it is part of the Somalia “Quint” group alongside the United States, United Kingdom, Qatar and United Arab Emirates, which was formed to ensure security and counterterrorism support for the African country. The last Quint meeting was held in Ankara in October.

Turkey has its largest overseas military base in Somalia, where it trains Somali forces. In 2016, Erdogan opened the Turkish Embassy in Mogadishu, which he called “the largest Turkish embassy in the world.”

Turkish companies are active in the country for many development projects as Turkish state-run Ziraat bank opened a branch in Mogadishu in October 2023 and became the first foreign bank to operate in Somalia in over a half-century.

Some information came from The Associated Press and Reuters. This story originated in VOA’s Turkish Service, and VOA Somali contributed to this report.
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Danish police made several arrests Thursday, saying they carried out the operation “on suspicion of preparation for a terrorist attack.”

The arrests were made in “a coordinated action” in several locations in Denmark early Thursday.

No other details were given. The Copenhagen police and Denmark’s domestic intelligence service were to give a press conference later.

“This is extremely serious,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at a European Union summit in Brussels. “It shows the situation we are in in Denmark. Unfortunately.”

“It is absolutely true when both (Denmark’s intelligence agencies) say that there is a high risk in Denmark,” Frederiksen said. “It is of course completely unacceptable in relation to Israel and Gaza, that there is someone who takes a conflict somewhere else in the world into Danish society.”

The terror threat level in Denmark current is at level four, the second highest.

Earlier this month, the European Union’s home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, warned that Europe faces a “huge risk of terrorist attacks” over the Christmas holiday period due to the fallout from the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

In July 2022, a gunman at a shopping mall in Copenhagen killed three people and injured seven. The man, who believed the victims were zombies, was sentenced in July to detention in a secure medical facility. He had been charged with murder and attempted murder in the rampage at the huge Field’s shopping center on the outskirts of Copenhagen.

In 2015, a 22-year-old Danish Muslim gunman killed two people and wounded five others at a free speech event and a synagogue in Copenhagen.

Earlier this month, the Danish parliament passed a law making it illegal to desecrate any holy text, after a handful of anti-Islam activists carried out public desecrations of the Quran, sparking angry demonstrations in Muslim countries. 
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STATE DEPARTMENT — The top diplomat on European and Eurasian affairs at the U.S. State Department expressed optimism regarding Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, despite Hungary’s looming threat to veto the bid at a two-day summit starting Thursday.

The senior official also predicted that Russian President Vladimir Putin will “wait through” the results of European elections in 2024 and the U.S. presidential election next November before making peace in Ukraine.

On Wednesday, James O’Brien, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, spoke to VOA State Department bureau chief Nike Ching on issues facing Eurasia countries.

Putin “thinks that the way he wins is that Ukraine support drops,” said O’Brien. While not commenting on U.S. domestic politics, O’Brien said, “It’s clear if President Biden is [reelected] that President Putin’s hopes will not come to bear.”

EU heads of state are set to decide this week whether to launch formal membership talks with Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Russia’s closest ally in the EU, is threatening to veto the move.

“What’s clear is the 27 members stand strong in favor of the union growing, including Ukraine once it’s ready, and continuing financial support, as well. He’s [Orban] one voice, and we’ll see how the discussion goes among the leaders once they’re made,” O’Brien told VOA.

O’Brien also welcomed a prisoner swap between Azerbaijan and Armenia at their border on Wednesday as a significant step toward “building a normal bilateral relationship” between the two countries after decades of conflict.

But he played down the likelihood of the U.S. hosting the next round of Azerbaijan-Armenia peace talks in Washington before the end of this year.

“We’re running out of time this year. We’ll do our best,” O’Brien told VOA.

The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: Today, Azerbaijan and Armenia exchanged prisoners at their border. How significant is this?

James O’Brien, assistant secretary of state: I think what’s really significant is that the two countries are talking with each other and reaching practical agreements. So, they announced this prisoner release last week, and now just this week, the prisoners are now home. And they issued a joint statement that indicated support for one another in many ways, including their international aspirations for Azerbaijan to host the COP, which they’ve now been awarded, and hopefully both countries will benefit, and for Armenia’s international aspirations, as well. And that kind of demonstration of support is a key part of building a normal bilateral relationship.

VOA: After your meeting in Baku, would you describe business as usual in the U.S.’s relationship with Azerbaijan? Would the State Department host foreign ministers from Azerbaijan and Armenia by the end of this year?

O’Brien: What we’ve said to both countries is that we’re very happy to facilitate them concluding a peace agreement. We’ve already hosted several rounds of peace talks between the two foreign ministers, and we would do that again if the sides determined that that will help them conclude a successful peace.

VOA: By the end of this year?

O’Brien: Well, we’re running out of time this year. We’ll do our best.

VOA: Kyiv was struck by Russian missiles overnight. Ukraine’s top mobile operator was hit by the biggest cyberattack. Can you talk about the latest developments, and how does the U.S. target Russian military procurement networks?

O’Brien: I think it was very helpful for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to come here. What we see is that Ukraine has taken back more than half the territory that Russia seized since February of 2022. It’s continuing to advance on the battlefield. It has opened up its own Black Sea trading routes, and that’s the key to its economy recovering. With the assistance that our European partners are going to provide, and then we would provide, we think Ukraine can build on this success and emerge victorious in this war. That will produce a Ukraine that’s very well-prepared to become wealthy and has a population anxious to join the European Union and the transatlantic organizations like NATO, all of which is a good thing for the security and prosperity of the United States.

VOA: A senior U.S. official has said that Russian President Putin will not make peace in Ukraine before he sees the results of the November 2024 U.S. election. Do you agree with that assessment?

O’BRIEN: So, I think yes. I mean, President Putin is on his own diplomatic offensive, visiting several countries, being filmed talking openly about the prospect of the war. And throughout, he’s trying to persuade people that he believes time is on his side, and he thinks if they continue to fight, that ultimately Russia will win. I think this is simply a bluff.

I think the long-term trends are not in favor of Russia, and his one hope is to attack civilian infrastructure, like the bank, or the places civilians live in Kyiv and elsewhere, in order to inflict pain in the hope that that will make Ukraine sue for peace. Or he has to hope that there’ll be some dramatic change in international support for Ukraine. That’s why he’ll wait through our election, and I think other European elections, over the next year.

VOA: Just to clarify, do you mean that Putin will not make peace in Ukraine until he sees President Biden being reelected, or he sees the Republican candidate being elected?

O’Brien: Well, I think he wants to see the result of elections across Europe and the United States. [The] European Union has elections next year. He thinks that the way he wins is that Ukraine’s support drops. Now, on [the] U.S. election, I’m not going to talk domestic politics. I will say, President Biden just said yesterday, ‘I will not walk away from Ukraine. I want to see Ukraine win, and Ukraine will win.’ So, it’s clear if President Biden is elected, that President Putin’s hopes will not come to bear.

VOA: Can you comment on the upcoming EU summit and potential veto from Hungary over Ukraine’s membership talks?

O’Brien: These are historic moments. The members of the European Union, all the leaders, are going to meet over the next days, and they will decide on budgetary support for Ukraine for the next four years, on a package of financial support for the states of the Western Balkans to encourage reform among those six countries, and a broader package. And they will decide whether they want the union to commit itself to enlarging — to adding up to nine new countries. That’s a 33% increase in the size of the European Union. Prime Minister Orban has been very outspoken and let his views be understood elsewhere. I think what’s clear is the 26 members stand strong in favor of the union growing, including Ukraine once it’s ready, and continuing financial support, as well. He’s one voice, and we’ll see how the discussion goes among the leaders once they’re made.
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Madrid — More than 80 Spanish media organizations are filing a $600 million lawsuit against Meta over what they say is unfair competition in a case that could be repeated across the European Union.

The lawsuit is the latest front in a battle by legacy media against the dominance of tech giants at a time when the traditional media industry is in economic decline.

Losing revenue to Silicon Valley companies means less money to invest in investigative journalism or fewer resources to fight back against disinformation.

The case is the latest example of media globally seeking compensation from internet and social media platforms for use of their content.

The Association of Media of Information (AMI), a consortium of Spanish media companies, claimed in the lawsuit that Meta allegedly violated EU data protection rules between 2018 and 2023, Reuters reported.

The newspapers argue that Meta’s “massive” and “systematic” use of its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platform gives it an unfair advantage of designing and offering personalized advertisements, which they say constitutes unfair competition.

Irene Lanzaco, director general of AMI, told VOA it estimated the actions of Meta had cost Spanish newspapers and magazines $539.2 million in lost income between 2018 and 2023.

“This loss of income has meant it is more difficult for the media to practice journalism, to pay its journalists, to mount investigations and to hold politicians to account for corruption,” she said.

“It means that society becomes more polarized, and people become less involved with their communities if they do not know what is going on.”

Analysts say this is an “innovative” strategy by legacy media against tech giants that is more designed to engage people outside the news business.

Until now, traditional media cases against Silicon Valley centered on the theft of intellectual property from the news business, but the Spanish suit made a claim related to alleged theft of personal data.

“Previously, all the cases that legacy media has brought have been about the piracy of intellectual property — ‘We report the news, and these people are putting it on their websites without paying for it,’” Kathy Kiely, the Lee Hills chair in Free Press Studies at the Missouri School of Journalism, told VOA.

“But what this case is about is that these social media platforms have access to a lot of information about the audience to gain unfair advantage in advertising,” she said.

The lawsuit was filed with a commercial court in Madrid, reported Reuters, which saw the court papers.

Matt Pollard, a spokesman for Meta Platforms, told VOA, “We have not received the legal papers on this case, so we cannot comment. All we know about it is what we have read in the media.”

The complainants include Prisa, which publishes Spain’s left-wing daily El País; Vocento, owner of ABC, a right-wing daily; and the Barcelona-based conservative daily La Vanguardia.

They claim that Meta used personal data obtained without the express consent from clients in violation of the EU General Data Protection Regulation in force since May 2018, which demands that any website requests authorization to keep and use personal data.

“Of course in any other EU country, the same legal procedure could be initiated,” as it concerns an alleged violation of European regulations,” Nicolas González Cuellar, a lawyer representing AMI, told Reuters.

Kiely said the Spanish case may engage the broader public and policymakers, in Europe and beyond.

“[This legal case] introduces a new strategy. It is not just about the survival of the local news organization. It is about privacy,” she said. “This engages people outside the news business in a way that piracy of the intellectual property does not.”

The lawsuit is the latest attempt by media organizations who have struggled to make tech giants pay fair fees for using and sharing their content.

The legal battle comes as the Reuters Institute’s 2023 Digital News Report found that tech platforms like Meta and Google had become a “running sore” for news publishers over the past decade.

“Google and Facebook [now Meta] at their height accounted for just under half of online traffic to news sites,” the report said.  “Although the so-called ‘duopoly’ remains hugely consequential, our report shows how this platform position is becoming a little less concentrated in many markets, with more providers competing.”

It added, “Digital audio and video are bringing new platforms into play, while some consumers have adopted less toxic and more private messaging networks for communications.”

Spanish media scored a victory against Alphabet’s Google News service, which the government shut down in 2014 before its reopening in 2022 under new legislation allowing media outlets to negotiate fees directly with the tech giant.

Last month, Google and the Canadian government reached an agreement in their dispute over the Online News Act, which would see Google continue to use Canadian news online in return for the company making annual payments to news companies of about $100 million.

Radio Canada and CBC News reported last month that the Canadian federal government estimated earlier this year that Google’s compensation should amount to about $172 million, while Google estimated this value at $100 million.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the agreement was “very good news.”

“After months of holding strong, of demonstrating our commitment to local journalism, to strong independent journalists getting paid for their work … Google has agreed to properly support journalists, including local journalism,” he said.

Google said it would not have a mandatory negotiation model imposed on it for talks with the media in Canada. Instead, it preferred to deal with a single media group that would represent all media, allowing the group to limit its arbitration risk.

Google had threatened to block Canadian news content on its platforms because of the legislation but did not.

In contrast, Meta ended its talks with the Canadian government last summer and stopped distributing Canadian news on Facebook and Instagram.

Last month, the Reuters Institute’s 2023 report said that 29% of Canadians used Facebook for news. Around 11% used Facebook Messenger, and 10% used Instagram for the same purpose.
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Turkey is looking for key concessions at the European Union Summit in its longtime bid to join the bloc. EU leaders are focused on Ukraine at this meeting, but as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, analysts say Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has some powerful leverage.
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