Page 6 - bne_Magazine_September_2017

6 I The Month That Was bne September 2017 Politics Central Europe
The Polish government’s efforts to reform the judiciary, and consequent standoff with Brussels, could under- mine investor confidence and hamper economic growth, Moody’s warned.
Czech President Milos Zeman said that he will appoint the winner of the October parliamentary elections as prime minister. The comment came just after police asked for the parliamentary immunity of Andrej Babis to be lifted over an allegedly fraudulent EU grant he received.
The former head of Slovakia’s state rail infrastructure company has claimed that a rucksack containing €300,000 in cash found abandoned at a motorway service station was his. The scandal could spark more protests after Interior Minister Robert Kalinak and Prime Minister Robert Fico’s were accused of involvement in a real estate scam.
Lithuania and Ukraine expressed anger after the Polish home affairs ministry proposed a new passport design that features depictions of the Ukrainian city of Lviv and Lithuanian capital Vilnius that once belonged to Poland.
Southeast Europe
All interim ministers from the opposi- tion Democratic Party (DP) in Albania resigned after only three months on the job, opening the way for Prime Minister Edi Rama to appoint a new government.
Moldova asked the UN to discuss the withdrawal of the Russian troops from the breakaway province of Transnistria, prompting outrage from its unrecognized government and, inevi- tably, Russia.
Moldova declared Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin perso-
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na non grata citing his “offensive state- ments” about the Moldovan authorities in a recent television interview. Both the Moldovan and Romanian authori- ties previously closed their airspace to Rogozin to prevent him from attending an event in the Moldovan separatist republic of Transnistria.
Eastern Europe
North Korea’s success in testing
an intercontinental ballistic mis- sile used Ukrainian engines, bought on the black-market, the New York Times reported on August 14, cit-
ing an expert analysis and classi-
fied assessments by US intelligence agencies. President Petro Porosh- enko has ordered an investigation.
Yulia Tymoshenko’s Fatherland party is leading the polls in Ukraine with 11.2%, according to a poll conducted by two leading Kyiv think-tanks. Fatherland is a pro-EU populist party and styles itself as the real opposition. The Poro- shenko Bloc, the president’s eponymous party, would earn 9.3% of those likely
to vote.
Russia has the most barriers to trade for European exporters, according to a report from the European Commission (EC). The EC identifies 372 barriers to trade currently in use, with the largest stock of barriers (33) imposed by Russia.
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili left Poland for Lithuania. The former head of state is now state- less with both his Georgian and Ukrai- nian citizenships having been rescinded.
Eurasia
Iran’s President Rouhani warned Iran could quit the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers “within hours” if the Trump administration keeps tightening its unilateral sanctions screw. If Tehran abandoned it, the Iranians would return to the previous nuclear development programme. It would be at a more advanced stage than when the deal led to its withdrawal, Rouhani pointed out.
The Israeli defence ministry is reportedly investigating Aeronautics Defence Systems Ltd for allegedly attempting to “trial attack” Armenian soldiers to demonstrate UAV capabilities to Azerbaijan. Maariv newspaper said
a company demonstration team went
to Baku and flew an Orbiter 1K UAV towards an "enemy target" on a "suicide" mission.
Three Kyrgyz opposition parties
are to merge and propose a single candidate for the October 15 presi- dential election. The move might give the opposition a chance of winning the contest against Social Democratic Party candidate.
Kyrgyz opposition leader Omurbek Tekebaev was sentenced to eight years in prison for taking a $1mn bribe from a Russian businessman – a charge he says was politically motivated. Presidential elections are slated for October.
Armenia’s prime minister Karen Karapetyan enjoys the highest approval ratings of any politician in his country (60%), according to a poll conducted by the Aharon Adibekyan polling centre. Appointed in Septem- ber 2016 in the aftermath of a political crisis, Karapetyan has embarked on
a reform program to boost economic growth and fight entrenched corrup- tion and nepotism.