Page 6 - bne_June 060618

6 I The Month That Was bne June 2018
Politics
Eastern Europe
A total of 82% of Russians approve of President Vladimir Putin’s achieve- ments, according to a poll conducted
by the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre. Putin was sworn in as president for the fourth time on May 7 after win- ning the presidential elections with 77% of the vote.
Nine out of ten Russians (89%) want reform, according to a poll conducted by the state owned pollster, the Rus- sian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM) on May 7. In particular more than half (59%) back changes in most public spheres.
Russia's lower house of parliament confirmed Dmitry Medvedev as prime minister, voting 374 against 56 in favour of him remaining in the job he has held since 2012. He was nominated by Presi- dent Vladimir Putin, who was sworn in for a new six-year term in the Kremlin on May 7.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the implementation of his “May decree” on social spending would require an additional RUB8 trillion ($126bn), although initially the amount of necessary funds was estimated at RUB10 trillion ($157bn).
Ukraine's progress toward European Union accession is supported by 45% of Ukrainians, while only 9% support closer cooperation with the so-called Cus- toms Union led by Russia, according to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). Another third (32%) of respon- dents said Ukraine should neither orient itself towards the EU nor Customs Union.
Central Europe
Big protests were held in Budapest as Hungary’s lawmakers took their oaths at the start of the new parliamentary cycle on May 8, opened by President Janos Ader, who proposed changes in the elec-
www.bne.eu
tion law. The demonstration was on a much smaller scale than at two previ- ous anti-government rallies.
Protests under the banner ‘For a Decent Slovakia’ attracted up to 25,000 people in Bratislava on May 4. Although still a rather high number for the Slovak population, protests weak- ened from the peak on March 16 when 65,000 demonstrated. The rally was held to coincide with the day that slain inves- tigative journalist Jan Kuciak was due to marry his fiancée, who was also killed.
Slovakia's governing Smer-SD party would still win a general election if held now, but support for the centre- left party among potential voters has dropped to 20.5%, a poll by the Focus agency showed.
Southeast Europe
President of Romania, Klaus Iohan- nis has sharply criticised the govern- ment’s first-quarter budget and again asked Prime Minister Viorica Dancila to step down and let a “more compe- tent” person run the government.
Serbia’s Minister of Finance Dusan Vujovic quit citing personal reasons
the same day an IMF mission arrived in Belgrade to begin talks on a new support programme.
Bosnia & Herzegovina will hold gen- eral and presidential elections on October 7 amid high tensions surround- ing ongoing disputes over amendments to the election law. Bosnian Croats want the election law changed to ensure the president will not be elected by Bos- niaks, who dominate parliament.
Bulgarian government plans to draft legislation changes allowing foreign- ers to buy agricultural land, Economy Minister Emil Karanikolov said. This is not the first attempt to introduce the law: an attempted last year was blocked by GERB’s coalition partner, the far-right
United Patriots, of which Karanikolov is a member.
Eurasia
Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal and moved to reim- pose the heaviest sanctions on Tehran. The other major power signatories to the accord – the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China – are now on a collision course with Washington as they intend to stay in the deal. Iran’s pragmatic- centrist President Hassan Rouhani, who helped negotiate the nuclear deal, is now exposed to the hardliners who say he should never have trusted the US.
People’s champion Nikol Pashinian was voted in as Armenia’s new prime minister by MPs following weeks of massive street protests. Pashinian’s first trip was to Sochi where he promised president Vladimir Putin to improve ties with Russia.
Safe sex became the latest battleground in deeply Christian Georgia's culture wars after a court effectively outlawed a brand of condoms featuring religious jokes. The Aiisa (Georgian for “that thing”) company produced the supposed- ly irreverent prophylactics. One takes the tagline “I’d jerk off, but it’s the Epiphany”.
Turkmen authorities banned cars of all colours except white. Owners of non- white cars have to repaint their vehicles by May 25, but there is shortage of white paint. Turkmenistan has already banned bikinis, fingernail polishes, hair dyes and gold jewellery for public servants.