Page 4 - bne_Magazine_February_2019

4 I The Month That Was bne February 2019
Politics
Eastern Europe
Russian President Vladimir Putin
has extended sanctions on Ukraine’s transit of goods through Russia to Kazakhstan until July 1, 2019, accord- ing to a decree published on the Kremlin website on January 9. Goods from Ukraine can be imported to Russia only through one customs checkpoint, which is located on the border between Belarus and Russia. Cargo must be identified using seals, including those based
on global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) technology.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church formally broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church on January 6, in a coup for President Petro Poroshenko who is campaigning in the upcom-
ing presidential election on an “army, language, faith” platform. The “tomos” enshrines the Ukrainian church’s auton- omy and the ceremony was attended by many of the Ukrainian political elite.
Ukraine’s national gas company Naf- togaz filed a new $12bn claim against Russian state-owned gas monopo-
ly Gazprom in international courts for potentially impairing gas deliveries, Naftogaz CEO Andrei Kobolev said on January 9 in an interview with Ukraine’s Channel 5.
Ukraine’s Central Election Commission has registered four more candidates to run for the office of president of Ukraine in the election on March 31 this year. The names registered to compete in the race now include: MP Serhiy Kaplin, self-nominated candidate Vitaliy Skotsyk, founder of the Justice socio-political move-
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ment Valentyn Nalyvaychenko and nomi- nee of the United Self-Help party, incum- bent Lviv city mayor Andriy Sadovyi. The frontrunner in the polls, opposition leader, former prime minister and head of Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party Yulia Tymoshenko, has been campaigning for months, but has not registered yet.
Central Europe
Slovak President Andrej Kiska attempted to block a new law that introduced a 2.5% special levy of net turnover for retail chains in Slovakia by refusing to sign the legislation, Hospodarske Noviny reported. However, the law will become law despite the president’s effort.
Southeast Europe
Bulgaria’s government will start talks with the US on the acquisition of F-16 fighter jets after picking its offer as the most preferred in a tender launched in 2018, Defence Minister Krassimir Kara- kachanov said. However, President Rumen Radev said the selection of the F-16 jets was not made in a transparent manner.
Nearly 2,000 people in Turkey have been sentenced to life imprisonment since the failed coup of July 2016, state news agency Anadolu reported. Around 160,000 people have been arrested, detained or dismissed from their jobs since the attempted overthrow of Presi- dent Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Romania’s president is seeking to block adoption of an emergency decree on pardons and amnesty. Klaus Iohannis said he will attend all government meetings in what is seen as an attempt to block the decree – which would benefit top politicians convicted in corruption cases – being adopted.
Albania’s opposition Democratic Party returned to parliament after a lengthy boycott. A senior party official said Democrats are returning to support
demands from students who have been protesting for two weeks, and the move doesn’t mean an improvement in rela- tions with the ruling Socialists.
Frontex teams will soon be deployed at the border between Croatia and Bosnia, EU Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis said, as quoted by N1 Zagreb. The deployment comes on the background of increasing numbers of migrants travelling westwards, and reports from NGOs of violent treatment of migrants at the border.
Eurasia
Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are plan- ning to launch a “Silk Visa” programme in February which will mean visas issued for visits to Uzbekistan will be valid in Kazakhstan, and vice versa. Kazakhstan’s cooperation with Uzbekistan has been growing since the death of longtime Uzbek autocrat Islam Karimov in late 2016.
The Turkmen authorities introduced an unofficial ban on featuring “the earth pig” in New Year decorations for 2019 in the capital city Ashgabat, opposition-run news website Chronicles of Turkmeni- stan reported. The explanation is that the symbol of the new year can be deemed offensive to Islamic traditions, as pigs are considered unclean animals in Islam.
The newlywed son-in-law of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani resigned from a senior institutional appoint- ment two days after taking up the post after accusations of nepotism. The exit of 33-year-old Kambiz Mehdizadeh came after reports said he married one of Rouhani's daughters in August.
The Kyrgyz parliament approved a
bill that will strip the immunity of its ex-presidents, in a first reading held on December 13. A total of 100 lawmakers in the 120-seat chamber voted for the bill, while two voted against it. The other lawmakers were not present.