Page 4 - bne_March2019_20190306 magazine

4 I The Month That Was bne March 2019
Politics
Eastern Europe
The European Union (EU) has agreed new sanctions against Russia follow- ing Moscow's attack of the Ukrainian Navy's boats in the Sea of Azov, Vice President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini told reporters on February 18.
President Vladimir Putin offered a generous package of benefits and tax breaks to the Russian people during his “homely” state of the nation speech on February 20 will costs RUB100bn- RUB120bn ($1.5bn- $1.8bn) as the Kremlin switches direction away from modernising its army and back to boost- ing the quality of life of the people.
The Council of the European Union has extended for one year a limited set of remaining sanctions against Belar-
us, which include an arms embargo and an asset freeze and a travel ban against four former law enforcement officials.
Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, greenlighted on February 7 in the final readings the amendments to the nation’s constitution regarding the strategic course of the state to secure Ukraine’s full membership in the European Union (EU) and NATO.
Central Europe
15 candidates will run in Slovakia’s spring 2019 presidential election. There is no clear frontrunner in the race, although a recent poll cited by Reuters puts European Commission Vice Presi- dent Maros Sefcovic and scientist and entrepreneur Robert Mistrik in the lead.
Germany will invest €110mn to improve its military bases in Lithu- ania by 2021, German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said. Germany leads a 1,200-strong Nato force in the Baltic state intended to shore up the Alli- ance’s eastern borders with Russia.
An EU anti-fraud committee visited Estonia and Denmark following the Danske Bank money laundering scandal. Members of the European Parliament's Special Committee on Tax Crimes, Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance met with regulators, prosecutors and the bank's new management.
Lithuania’s president rejected the nomination of Irma Gudziunaite as environment minister, saying she lacks experience. Lithuania has been criti- cised for having the EU’s only all-male cabinet following Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis’s December reshuffle.
Southeast Europe
Hitting the local elections campaign trail, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan touted the quadrillions
of Turkish lira invested around the country by successive governments run by his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the past 16 years – but Erdogan gave the numbers in old lira, with no mention of the decision made under him in 2005 to knock six zeros off
the currency.
The Socialist Party (PSRM) of Moldo- va’s pro-Russian President Igor Dodon might form a fragile majority in parlia- ment after the February 24 elections, according to a poll conducted by the International Republican Institute (IRI). However, the complex electoral process, under which half of the lawmakers are elected through a majority vote and the other half through a proportional vote, might result in surprises.
An opposition protest turned violent in Albania, when supporters of the Democrat- ic Party tried to break into the government building. The party has since announced its MPs will quit the parliament.
Ex-PM Nikola Gruevski and four other former officials from North Macedonia’s opposition VMRO-DPMNE party are being probed for organising the inva- sion of the Macedonian parliament in April 2017. Over 100 people including the country’s current Prime Minister Zoran Zaev were injured in the violence.
Eurasia
Kazakh President Nursultan Naz- arbayev denied any plans to hold
a snap election, saying there was
no such planning “at this point”. His remarks came amid speculation about the possibility of an early election after he requested that the country's Consti- tutional Council clarify what powers he would hold upon leaving office.
Iran and Turkmenistan held talks on potential Caspian Sea projects. The fact that such talks took place might be seen as encouraging as relations between Tehran and Ashgabat have been roiled in recent years with both sides refusing to relent on their standpoint as regards historical gas debts the Turkmen claim Iran owes.
Central Asian countries are still mostly “Not Free” in the Freedom in the World ranking from NGO Freedom House. The only exceptions are Mon- golia, which is classified as “Free”, and Kyrgyzstan, the second freest country in the region, categorised “Partly Free”.
After weeks of protests, the Mongolian parliament elected Gombojav Zandan- shatar as its new speaker following the ousting of Miyegombo Enkhbold due to an alleged abuse of power. Enkhbold’s departure, following accusa- tions of corruption, is expected to soothe some of the public anger.
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