EVENT

An MP calls for Obama to wake up

The Republican member of the US lower chamber of Congress Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who is likely to head the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs in January, believes that Barack Obama should revise relations with Russia.

“It is time for President Obama to wake up and recognize the brutal nature of the regime he is dealing with in Moscow and to rethink his ‘reset’ policy with Russia,” noted Ros-Lehtinen. The MP emphasized that she is “appalled by the savage attacks on [the journalists] Oleg Kashin and Anatoly Adamchuk.”

“These most recent incidents remind us yet again how the Russian regime is willing to use brutal tactics such as beatings and murders to viciously silence those who struggle for human rights and rule of law in Russia,” AFP reports Ros-Lehtinen as saying.

Erdogan blames the EU

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accused the European Union of delaying the process of Turkey’s EU accession by changing the membership requirements. He claimed that the Turks are impatient with the 50-year waiting period at the EU’s gates. “We have to wait longer and longer in the negotiation process,” Erdogan noted, “We face disrespect and numerous slights. Turkey is paying a high price and passes serious laws. As a result, the government and the people found themselves in an awkward and insulting situation.” In the annual report on the EU expansion perspectives, which was recently published in Brussels, the European Commission stated that the EU is not ready to accept Turkey. “I do not agree that we are wasting time,” Stefan Fule, EU Commissioner for Enlargement, stated. “We have been holding the acceptance negotiations for many years. We see progress in Turkey’s reforms, a lot has changed.” In its report the European Commission noted that Turkey has not yet normalized relations with Cyprus, which is a member of the EU. It is one of the main obstacles on the Turkish path to the EU.

European defenders of animal rights demand to close the Kyiv zoo

European animal rights defenders are planning to appeal to the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) with the recommendation of closing the Kyiv zoo. “I will recommend that EAZA’s governing body close the Kyiv zoo. We [European animal defenders] see this zoo as a prison for innocent animals and consider that it is better to close it. Such conditions do not correspond to European standards,” said the president of the British animal welfare society Naturewatch Foundation John Ruane, informs INTERFAX. He pointed out that the Ukrainian capital’s government practically does not concern itself with the issue of the care for the zoo’s fosterlings, and does not intend to solve the problem of homeless animals in a humane way. “Yesterday we met with Mr. Holubchenko [deputy chairman of the Kyiv City State Administration. – Ed.] and representatives of management regarding the issue of homeless animals. We pointed out that the bodies of power either do not understand anything or simply do not want to solve the problem,” Ruane shared his impressions. He also informed that on Wednesday evening he received video recordings from different regions of Ukraine, particularly the eastern regions, with evidence of homeless animals and pets poisoning. “After getting back to England we will create a site showing these horrible videos,” the president of the animal welfare society explained his plans. He also stressed that the cases of illegal animal killings, especially through poisoning by unknown toxins, should be dealt with “at the highest level.” In turn, the president of the Austrian animal welfare society Tierhilfwerk Christian Janatsch expressed regret that there have been few accomplishments during their 14-year struggle for animal rights in Ukraine. “We only managed to close down the knackery in Pyrohove (Kyiv region) and creating there a shelter for homeless animals, in the times of Oleksandr Omelchenko’s mayorship,” he stated, adding that from now on the capital’s government only “gave promises, but produced no results.”