rferl--2020-05-21--U.S. Senate Committee Issues Subpoena In Probe Of Hunter Biden’s Ukraine Ties

A Republican-led U.S. Senate committee has voted to subpoena documents for an investigation into Hunter Biden , son of former Vice President Joe Biden , the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee .
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted on May 20 along party lines to subpoena information from Blue Star Strategies , a lobby firm that worked with Burisma , a gas company in Ukraine that paid Hunter Biden to serve as a board member .
President Donald Trump was impeached on abuse-of-power and obstruction charges in the Democratic-led House of Representatives for improperly pressuring Ukraine to investigate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the Republican-controlled Senate .
Democrats accuse the Republicans of seeking the investigation in a bid to help Trump ’ s reelection campaign .
Senator Ron Johnson ( Republican-Wisconsin ) , chairman of the panel , has said the investigation is not designed to influence the presidential election .
His colleague , Senator Rick Scott ( Republican-Florida ) said , “ We need to get to the truth about the Bidens ' relationship with Burisma .
These hearings will provide the Senate with the full picture . ''
Democrats say that the Republican @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aid Russia ’ s disinformation campaign ahead of the November election .
Senator Gary Peters ( Democrat-Michigan ) , the ranking Democrat on the committee , said the probe `` risks amplifying efforts of our foreign adversaries to interfere in the 2020 elections . ''
Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement that Johnson was `` running a political errand '' for Trump .
Trump has alleged that the former vice president used his position between 2009 and 2017 to pressure the Ukrainian government to dismiss Prosecutor-General Viktor Shokin to benefit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigation into the gas company .
No evidence of Trump ’ s claims has emerged and the former vice president ’ s handling of Ukraine was backed by other Western powers concerned about tackling corruption in Ukraine .
Following the committee vote , Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ( Democrat-New York ) accused Republicans of promoting `` conspiracy theories . ''
Republicans are probing the foundations of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election .
Trump says the whole investigation was biased from the start .
The Senate Judiciary Committee , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Carolina ) , is investigating surveillance warrants used in the FBI 's probe of Russian meddling in 2016 .
Meanwhile , the U.S. Justice Department is probing the origins of the Russia investigation , with some Republicans claiming the investigation will show the president is right .
With reporting by AFP , AP , dpa , and Reuters

A Republican-led U.S. Senate committee has voted to subpoena documents for an investigation into Hunter Biden, son of former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted on May 20 along party lines to subpoena information from Blue Star Strategies, a lobby firm that worked with Burisma, a gas company in Ukraine that paid Hunter Biden to serve as a board member.
President Donald Trump was impeached on abuse-of-power and obstruction charges in the Democratic-led House of Representatives for improperly pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. The president was acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate.
Democrats accuse the Republicans of seeking the investigation in a bid to help Trump’s reelection campaign.
Senator Ron Johnson (Republican-Wisconsin), chairman of the panel, has said the investigation is not designed to influence the presidential election. His colleague, Senator Rick Scott (Republican-Florida) said, “We need to get to the truth about the Bidens' relationship with Burisma. These hearings will provide the Senate with the full picture."
Democrats say that the Republican investigation into Biden and his son will aid Russia’s disinformation campaign ahead of the November election.
Senator Gary Peters (Democrat-Michigan), the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the probe "risks amplifying efforts of our foreign adversaries to interfere in the 2020 elections."
Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement that Johnson was "running a political errand" for Trump.
'Conspiracy Theories'
Trump has alleged that the former vice president used his position between 2009 and 2017 to pressure the Ukrainian government to dismiss Prosecutor-General Viktor Shokin to benefit his son and Burisma and quash an investigation into the gas company.
No evidence of Trump’s claims has emerged and the former vice president’s handling of Ukraine was backed by other Western powers concerned about tackling corruption in Ukraine.
Following the committee vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat-New York) accused Republicans of promoting "conspiracy theories."
Republicans are probing the foundations of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump says the whole investigation was biased from the start.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican-South Carolina), is investigating surveillance warrants used in the FBI's probe of Russian meddling in 2016.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department is probing the origins of the Russia investigation, with some Republicans claiming the investigation will show the president is right.
With reporting by AFP, AP, dpa, and Reuters


rferl--2020-05-21--'Rage Is Brewing': Navalny Warns Of Public Anger Over Russia's COVID-19 Response

Russian citizens are expressing greater protest sentiment as the spread of the coronavirus and the state ’ s fight against it has left many people dissatisfied , including doctors and small-business owners , said one of the nation ’ s most influential opposition activists .
`` Right now the degree of protest activity among citizens is probably one of the highest in recent times , ” Aleksei Navalny , the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation , said in a video interview with RFE/RL from his Moscow home on May 20 .
`` Such rage is brewing now among those that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or direct politics .
These are doctors , representatives of small business , and ordinary people that are now without an income , '' he said .
Russia has been hit hard by the coronavirus , with more than 300,000 registered cases , the second-highest globally after the United States .
The virus has put huge pressure on the nation ’ s underfunded health-care system , with dozens of doctors dying from COVID-19 and some taking their own lives .
Moreover , small-business owners are being pushed to the brink of bankruptcy amid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the growing number of unemployed people are facing a cash crunch .
Yet the government has been slow to tap the more than $ 160 billion it has meticulously saved up over the years in a rainy-day fund .
Navalny and his team have proposed a plan that calls for the government to make more of the fund ’ s cash available to citizens and small businesses .
During the interview , he criticized the government for prioritizing spending on the security services and state companies like Rostekh , the defense conglomerate , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ system .
The government needs to double or triple spending on health care in order to eradicate its deficiencies , Navalny said .
Russia ’ s last significant outbreak of protest activity occurred in Moscow during the summer of 2019 , when several opposition politicians seeking a seat in the city parliament had their candidacy rejected by the local election commission , sparking weeks of rallies that brought tens of thousands of people into the streets .
Navalny said his team was focused on agitating against the upcoming vote to approve constitutional changes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remain in power until 2036 and regional elections in September .
Navalny called on people not to participate in the vote and that if they are forced to go to the polls , to cast their ballot against the constitutional changes .
Russian elections are often marred by gross violations , such as ballot stuffing , and are closely observed by opposition activists .
Navalny last year recommended citizens vote against candidates representing the ruling United Russia party , a strategy that cost some pro-Putin politicians their seat .
However , amid concerns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Russian government earlier this month passed legislation allowing online voting , a move criticized by the opposition as opening the door to vote falsification beyond the detection of observers .
`` No mechanisms of control exist at all .
In principle , there is no way to monitor the results , '' Navalny told RFE/RL .
He said the growing frustration among the population opens the window for the Communist Party and the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party ( LDPR ) -- the so-called `` loyal '' opposition parties that the government tolerates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but said he expects the state to hamper their efforts .
The government has already imposed new election-campaign regulations and given the police greater power , he said .
`` There are possibilities opening up for [ the Communists and the LDPR ] , but the government is now systematically shutting all these windows of opportunity , '' he said .

Russian citizens are expressing greater protest sentiment as the spread of the coronavirus and the state’s fight against it has left many people dissatisfied, including doctors and small-business owners, said one of the nation’s most influential opposition activists.
"Right now the degree of protest activity among citizens is probably one of the highest in recent times,” Aleksei Navalny, the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, said in a video interview with RFE/RL from his Moscow home on May 20.
"Such rage is brewing now among those that earlier were not visible in protest activity or direct politics. These are doctors, representatives of small business, and ordinary people that are now without an income," he said.
Russia has been hit hard by the coronavirus, with more than 300,000 registered cases, the second-highest globally after the United States. The virus has put huge pressure on the nation’s underfunded health-care system, with dozens of doctors dying from COVID-19 and some taking their own lives.
Moreover, small-business owners are being pushed to the brink of bankruptcy amid the resulting lockdown, while some of the growing number of unemployed people are facing a cash crunch. Yet the government has been slow to tap the more than $160 billion it has meticulously saved up over the years in a rainy-day fund. Navalny and his team have proposed a plan that calls for the government to make more of the fund’s cash available to citizens and small businesses.
During the interview, he criticized the government for prioritizing spending on the security services and state companies like Rostekh, the defense conglomerate, and not the nation’s health-care system. The government needs to double or triple spending on health care in order to eradicate its deficiencies, Navalny said.
Russia’s last significant outbreak of protest activity occurred in Moscow during the summer of 2019, when several opposition politicians seeking a seat in the city parliament had their candidacy rejected by the local election commission, sparking weeks of rallies that brought tens of thousands of people into the streets.
Vote On Constitutional Changes
Navalny said his team was focused on agitating against the upcoming vote to approve constitutional changes that could allow President Vladimir Putin to remain in power until 2036 and regional elections in September.
Navalny called on people not to participate in the vote and that if they are forced to go to the polls, to cast their ballot against the constitutional changes. Russian elections are often marred by gross violations, such as ballot stuffing, and are closely observed by opposition activists.
Navalny last year recommended citizens vote against candidates representing the ruling United Russia party, a strategy that cost some pro-Putin politicians their seat.
However, amid concerns about crowds during the coronavirus threat, the Russian government earlier this month passed legislation allowing online voting, a move criticized by the opposition as opening the door to vote falsification beyond the detection of observers.
"No mechanisms of control exist at all. In principle, there is no way to monitor the results," Navalny told RFE/RL.
He said the growing frustration among the population opens the window for the Communist Party and the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) -- the so-called "loyal" opposition parties that the government tolerates -- to win more votes in September, but said he expects the state to hamper their efforts. The government has already imposed new election-campaign regulations and given the police greater power, he said.
"There are possibilities opening up for [the Communists and the LDPR], but the government is now systematically shutting all these windows of opportunity," he said.


rferl--2020-05-21--U.S. Afghan Envoy Urges All Sides To Reduce Violence After Talks In Kabul

U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has urged a reduction in violence `` by all sides '' in Afghanistan , saying innocent Afghans are bearing too much of the brunt of the war .
Khalilzad , the architect of a February agreement with the Taliban clearing the way for a U.S. troop withdrawal , met Taliban leaders in Qatar on May 20 , hours after meeting Afghan government leaders in Kabul .
`` On violence , I told the Talibs , violence by all sides must fall , '' Khalilzad said on Twitter , adding that he also met with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Abdul Ghani Baradar .
Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada released a statement on May 20 for the Eid al-Fitr holiday , calling for progress on peace but also telling his fighters to stay `` focused on their objectives '' and `` consolidate ... ranks , '' which government security officials criticized as inciting violence .
Earlier in the day , Khalilzad met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his former rival Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul .
Ghani and Abdullah signed a power-sharing agreement on May 17 , ending a months-long impasse over a disputed election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would now focus on the U.S.-brokered peace process effort .
The power struggle between Ghani and Abdullah , both of whom claimed to have won Afghanistan 's presidential election in September , had been one of the main impediments to the start of intra-Afghan negotiations to end more than 18 years of war .
The talks were to begin on March 10 under the agreement between the Taliban and the United States , which calls for U.S. and foreign troops to withdraw from Afghanistan following an intra-Afghan deal and in exchange for security @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comes amid an uptick in violence that threatens to unravel a peace deal signed by the United States and the Taliban in February .
At least 14 people were killed in attacks late on May 19 on two mosques in Afghanistan where worshippers were breaking their Ramadan fast .
The Taliban denied carrying out the killings , which came after last week 's attack on a maternity hospital in Kabul in which 24 people , included newborns , were shot dead .
The Taliban also denied carrying out that attack , which Washington @ @ @ @ @ @ @ State ( IS ) militant group .
Akhundzada said the militants were committed to the deal and called on Washington `` not to waste '' the opportunity offered by the agreement to end the United States ' longest war .
Akhundzada also urged U.S. officials “ to not afford anyone the opportunity to obstruct , delay , and ultimately derail this internationally recognized bilateral agreement . ''
The Taliban has so far rejected repeated calls for a cease-fire by the Afghan government .

The education of girls and women is universally accepted in more than 200 countries and territories, including nearly 50 Muslim-majority nations.
But Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers have banned teenage girls from attending school after the sixth grade since they returned to power two years ago. The ban was extended in December to women in universities.
Countless protests by Afghans inside the country, pressure from the international community, and lobbying by Muslim scholars and clerics have failed to convince the fundamentalist Taliban leaders to reopen schools.
Experts are divided over whether the ban is rooted in how the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam is shaped by conservative Pashtun tribal customs and cultural practices or if it is prompted by how senior Taliban ideologues interpret Islamic teachings.
Most Taliban leaders are ethnic Pashtun, Sunni Muslim clerics. Many were educated in Deobandi madrasahs in neighboring Pakistan. Deobandism emerged as a puritanical Islamic revivalist movement in 19-century British Colonial India. Based on the Sunni Hanafi school of jurisprudence, it is a prominent strain among Islamists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Tribal Influences
Sami Yousafzai, a veteran Afghan journalist and commentator, argues that the Taliban restrictions against women are linked to social customs and cultural practices in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
Most Taliban leaders come from various Pashtun rural tribal communities in these regions bordering Pakistan.
"They believe that a woman's place is either inside a house or in a grave," Yousafzai said of the basic Taliban belief influenced by the status of women in the families of clerics and religious leaders in these Pashtun regions.
“Women living in the households of the current Taliban policymakers were never educated and never left their homes,” said Yousafzai, who has tracked the Islamist group since it emerged as a ragtag militia in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar in late 1994. “These women never performed any government or nongovernmental jobs.”
Yousafzai says the Taliban backs policies shaped by this worldview by leaning on Islamic teachings supporting such ideas. He says Taliban leaders rely on sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad that discourage women from leaving their homes.
“Their primary belief is that pubescent girls should not leave home under any circumstance,” he said. “This is why they view women leaving home for education or work as engaging in moral corruption.”
In Afghanistan, a Muslim nation of some 40 million people, activists and rights advocates accuse the Taliban of implementing "gender apartheid" by denying women education, work, freedom of movement, and deciding how they can appear in public.
Most Muslims agree that Islam allows women to get an education. Yet the Taliban publicly says that it will allow girls access to education only after ensuring complete gender segregation and other unspecified conditions.
Almost all Afghan secondary schools were gender segregated and universities imposed a strict separation between men and women after the Taliban takeover.
Yousafzai says in conservative and traditional Muslim societies around the world, some clerics also favor restrictions on women's education, work, and their role in public life. But the governments in those countries usually oppose or limit such ideas.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia -- one of the most conservative Sunni Muslim nations -- has allowed women to drive and granted them freedom of movement without a male guardian. These steps are part of a reform and modernity drive by Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
The Taliban ban on education has invited universal condemnation from Muslims globally.
“The Taliban's ban on women's education is not rooted in [the Islamic] Shari’a law but rather reflects cultural biases that contradict the teachings of Islam,” said Salam al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in the United States.
He said that contrary to Taliban practices, “Islam emphasizes the importance of seeking knowledge and encourages all individuals, regardless of gender, to acquire an education.”
Historical Conflict
But Islamic scholars and those who have attempted to convince the Taliban about reopening girls schools offer a different explanation.
John Mohammad Butt, an Islamic scholar and former BBC broadcaster who is the only Westerner to graduate from India’s Darul Uloom Deoband, argues that the Taliban's policy on girls' education is not tribal but shaped by the century-old conflict over modern education.
“The problem is that girls' education in Afghanistan -- indeed, contemporary education in general -- has generally been introduced in Afghanistan in line with a secular agenda,” he said.
In the 1920s, a coalition of conservative clerics and tribal and community leaders deposed reformist King Amanullah Khan. He wanted to modernize Afghanistan along Turkish leader Kamal Ataturk's secular lines and championed modern education and rights for women.
This opposition to modernity and secularism continued, and conservative clerics opposed women's education and work. It became a key part of the Islamist opposition to the pro-Soviet Afghan communist governments after the April 1978 military coup that ended the Afghan monarchy. The mujahedin accused the communists of spreading immorality by promoting women’s education and empowerment.
“This has led to particular wariness on the part of conservative circles in Afghanistan with regard to girls' education,” Butt said.
'Deep Ideological Conviction'
Obaidullah Baheer, a political science lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan, became part of an effort to rescind the ban by talking to the Taliban last year.
But he says the effort failed because “the ban is a matter of deep ideological conviction” for the current supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.
Baheer says that the most prominent Taliban leaders have studied in Pakistani madrasahs and were thus disconnected from village and tribal life.
“They have been indoctrinated by the Deobandi school of thought so that they now enforce the strictest version of Islam on the Afghan population,” he said.
He argues that the ban on girls’ schools is a deliberate policy championed by Akhundzada, who he says has endorsed Taliban Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani's Arabic language book The Islamic Emirate And Its System. In this book, Haqqani supports a fringe Islamic opinion of preferring the choice of one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives, Sawdah Bint Zam'ah, who chose to stay at home until her death.
Baheer says Haqqani ignores his other wives and other female companions that played an active role in many sectors of society and how they served as students and teachers for men.
“This fringe opinion is not held by all Taliban leaders but is one that the current absolute sovereign, the Taliban emir, seems to be convinced of,” he said.
Butt says that even Haqqani has acknowledged the principle that if there is something that women need to act upon, then that is also something that women need to learn about.
“I hope the Taliban authorities will come to realize in the not-too-distant future that education for women will make Afghan women into better Muslims,” he says. “It will enable them to make a stronger contribution to the well-being of their country.”
Two years after grappling with the issue, Western diplomats appear to be encouraging Afghan conservative and clerical circles to find ways to end the ban.
Tom West, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, recently tweeted that Afghan women must be educated and contribute to the economy to help their country stand on its own two feet.
“If change to policies is made, it will be because Afghans have asked for it, not a result of foreign requests,” he wrote.


rferl--2020-05-21--Sofia District Mayor Wants Monument To 'Soviet Liberators' Removed

A Sofia district mayor is calling for the removal of a communist-era monument from a public park in the Bulgarian capital commemorating the `` Soviet liberators '' of Bulgaria in 1944 , earning an angry rebuke from Russia .
The controversy comes amid a diplomatic spat between Russia and the Czech Republic over last month ’ s removal of a controversial statue of a Soviet marshal in Prague .
`` I continue to hope that the mayor of Sofia will finally respond to my call for the liberation of our city from the symbols of the totalitarian era , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Lozenets district , wrote in a Facebook post on May 20 .
Pavlov was responding to a May 13 letter by Russia ’ s ambassador to Bulgaria , in which the diplomat expressed `` deep indignation '' at the Sofia official ’ s proposal to remove the monument from his district .
Pavlov said he had forwarded Ambassador Anatoly Makarov ’ s letter to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry and was awaiting its reaction .
During World War II , Bulgaria was an ally of Nazi Germany until September 4 , 1944 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into the Eastern European country .
On September 9 , a coup brought Bulgaria into the Soviet orbit and the country remained one of Moscow ’ s most obedient satellites under hard-line communist rule for 45 years .
Bulgaria is now a member of the European Union and NATO .
The monument in question , located in Cherni Vrah Park , includes a bronze sculpture depicting two Soviet soldiers , an inscription reading `` Glory to the Soviet liberators , '' as well as marble reliefs also representing Soviet soldiers .
Pavlov has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a museum .
In case remains of Soviet soldiers are found under the monument , he said , they should be `` buried according to humanitarian law '' in one of Sofia ’ s cemeteries .
In his letter , Ambassador Makarov said that excavating the remains `` could be interpreted as an attempt to rehabilitate Nazism . ''
`` I think it is high time we talk calmly about the past 75 years , ” Pavlov told RFE/RL on May 21 .
`` I just want us to start gathering the facts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we can calmly.
” In a joint statement on May 8 , the United States and nine Central and Eastern European foreign ministers denounced Russia ’ s `` regrettable effort to falsify history . ''
The officials released the statement ahead of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II to honor the victims and `` all soldiers who fought to defeat Nazi Germany . ''
But they also used the occasion to recall that the victory over Nazism `` did not bring freedom to all of Europe '' as the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Europe .
The statement was released by Bulgaria , the Czech Republic , Estonia , Hungary , Latvia , Lithuania , Poland , Romania , Slovakia , and the United States .
In September 2019 , Bulgaria slammed a Sofia exhibition organized by the Russian Embassy marking “ the liberation of Eastern Europe from Nazism , ” saying the region had instead being subjected to a half century of repression by “ Soviet army bayonets.
” And the April removal from a Prague district of a statue of Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on May 9 , 1945 , has strained relations between Russia and the Czech Republic .
The Prague district said the statue would be moved to a museum and a new monument honoring the city 's liberation would take its place .
Russia has lashed out angrily over the move , and tensions were heightened further when Czech media reported that Moscow planned to poison the three Prague politicians in retaliation for supporting moves that have irritated Russia , including the removal of Konev 's statue .
The three officials -- Prague 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ district mayors -- along with members of their families have been under police protection since then .
Russia , accused of carrying out numerous attacks on perceived enemies abroad , has dismissed the reports .

A Sofia district mayor is calling for the removal of a communist-era monument from a public park in the Bulgarian capital commemorating the "Soviet liberators" of Bulgaria in 1944, earning an angry rebuke from Russia.
The controversy comes amid a diplomatic spat between Russia and the Czech Republic over last month’s removal of a controversial statue of a Soviet marshal in Prague.
"I continue to hope that the mayor of Sofia will finally respond to my call for the liberation of our city from the symbols of the totalitarian era," Konstantin Pavlov, the mayor of Sofia’s Lozenets district, wrote in a Facebook post on May 20.
Pavlov was responding to a May 13 letter by Russia’s ambassador to Bulgaria, in which the diplomat expressed "deep indignation" at the Sofia official’s proposal to remove the monument from his district.
Pavlov said he had forwarded Ambassador Anatoly Makarov’s letter to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry and was awaiting its reaction.
During World War II, Bulgaria was an ally of Nazi Germany until September 4, 1944, four days before Soviet forces swept into the Eastern European country. On September 9, a coup brought Bulgaria into the Soviet orbit and the country remained one of Moscow’s most obedient satellites under hard-line communist rule for 45 years.
Bulgaria is now a member of the European Union and NATO.
The monument in question, located in Cherni Vrah Park, includes a bronze sculpture depicting two Soviet soldiers, an inscription reading "Glory to the Soviet liberators," as well as marble reliefs also representing Soviet soldiers.
Pavlov has said that it should be relocated to a museum. In case remains of Soviet soldiers are found under the monument, he said, they should be "buried according to humanitarian law" in one of Sofia’s cemeteries.
In his letter, Ambassador Makarov said that excavating the remains "could be interpreted as an attempt to rehabilitate Nazism."
"I think it is high time we talk calmly about the past 75 years,” Pavlov told RFE/RL on May 21. "I just want us to start gathering the facts and then talk about it -- if we can calmly.”
In a joint statement on May 8, the United States and nine Central and Eastern European foreign ministers denounced Russia’s "regrettable effort to falsify history."
The officials released the statement ahead of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II to honor the victims and "all soldiers who fought to defeat Nazi Germany."
But they also used the occasion to recall that the victory over Nazism "did not bring freedom to all of Europe" as the Soviet Union imposed communist rule in Eastern Europe.
The statement was released by Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and the United States.
In September 2019, Bulgaria slammed a Sofia exhibition organized by the Russian Embassy marking “the liberation of Eastern Europe from Nazism,” saying the region had instead being subjected to a half century of repression by “Soviet army bayonets.”
And the April removal from a Prague district of a statue of Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev, whose armies completed Prague’s liberation on May 9, 1945, has strained relations between Russia and the Czech Republic.
The Prague district said the statue would be moved to a museum and a new monument honoring the city's liberation would take its place.
Russia has lashed out angrily over the move, and tensions were heightened further when Czech media reported that Moscow planned to poison the three Prague politicians in retaliation for supporting moves that have irritated Russia, including the removal of Konev's statue.
The three officials -- Prague's mayor and two of the city's district mayors -- along with members of their families have been under police protection since then.
Russia, accused of carrying out numerous attacks on perceived enemies abroad, has dismissed the reports.


rferl--2020-05-21--Reports: Chechen Leader Kadyrov Has Suspected Coronavirus

Ramzan Kadyrov , the Kremlin-backed authoritarian leader of Russia 's North Caucasus region of Chechnya , is currently under medical observation due to a suspected coronavirus infection , Russian news agencies report .
The 43-year-old Kadyrov `` is suspected of having coronavirus .
He 's under medical observation , '' Interfax quoted a medical source in Moscow as saying on May 21 .
Baza , an independent online news agency , reported that Kadyrov was taken by plane to “ one of the best clinics in Moscow '' on May 20 , after the Chechen leader showed symptoms of an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Chechen leader has been diagnosed with pneumonia after possibly being infected by the coronavirus .
A severe case of COVID-19 can lead to pneumonia .
Officials did not immediately confirm the reports .
Wearing a protective suit , Kadyrov on April 20 visited a Grozny hospital where coronavirus patients are being treated .
He has also participated in collective prayers .
The reports about Kadyrov come as authorities in Chechnya and neighboring Daghestan have imposed restrictions to deter people from gathering in groups this weekend , as the mostly Muslim-populated regions mark @ @ @ @ @ @ @ locally as Uraza Bairam , to mark the end of the month of Ramadan .
Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov said on May 21 that all movements , except for emergency services , will be banned from May 23 to 26 across the republic , adding that a violation of the rule `` will be punished in accordance with the law . ''
In Daghestan , authorities announced on May 21 that two cities , Kizlyar and Kizilyurt , will be locked down during the four-day celebration of Eid al-Fitr .
A decision @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yet to be taken .
Usually , Muslims gather in mosques for mass prayers to mark Eid al-Fitr but in many former Soviet republics and other countries , Muslims are set to mark the holiday at home because of the outbreak .
Russia now has the second-highest total of reported COVID-19 cases , after the United States .
The Russian case tally rose to 317,554 on May 21 , while the death toll climbed to 3,009 .
Russian officials have been accused of lowering its coronavirus mortality rates by ascribing deaths to pneumonia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to work this week after catching the coronavirus , the Kremlin has said .
President Vladimir Putin 's spokesman Dmitry Peskov , Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova , and Construction Minister Vladimir Yakushev have also tested positive .
With reporting by Interfax and Baza

Chechen and Russian officials remain tight-lipped about the condition or whereabouts of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a day after news reports said he had been hospitalized in Moscow for possible coronavirus infection.
If confirmed, Kadyrov would join the list of several other prominent Russian officials, including Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who have been infected with the virus.
Interfax and RIA-Novosti cited unnamed medical officials on May 21 as saying that Kadyrov, 43, had been flown to a Moscow facility and was under medical supervision.
The Telegram channel Baza reported that Kadyrov was taken by plane to "one of the best clinics in Moscow" on May 21, after he showed symptoms of an acute respiratory viral infection.
Earlier, the head of Grozny TV, which is controlled by Chechen regional authorities, insisted that Kadyrov was still in control, though he did not explicitly deny the reports on the Chechen leader's hospitalization.
Kadyrov "is personally in control of the situation, he is taking all necessary measures. The work of his headquarters is under his personal control," Akhmed Dudayev said in a video posted to his Instagram account.
'A Hostage Of His Image'
Kadyrov has sought to project an air of authority amid the coronavirus pandemic. As of May 21, Chechnya had officially reported 1,046 confirmed cases, and 11 fatalities from the disease.
Recently, he lashed out at complaints that regional medical workers lacked masks and other proper equipment to protect them against infection.
Grigory Shvedov, editor of the news site Caucasian Knot, said medical workers, who are normally fearful of the authoritarian Kadyrov, have grown more fearful of the coronavirus, and were speaking out more frequently.
Shvedov explained that the silence surrounding Kadyrov's condition was due in large part to the fact that falling ill would undermine the strongman image he has projected.
"Ramzan Kadyrov is a hostage of his image, that he is strong, he can do anything, that there are no problems. Therefore, even if he is sick -- God grant him health -- if he is sick, he does not talk about it," he told Current Time.
Ramadan Concerns
The reports about Kadyrov come as authorities in Chechnya and neighboring Daghestan ratchet up restrictions to deter people from gathering in groups this weekend to celebrate the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan.
Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov said that all movements, except for emergency services, would be banned for three days beginning May 23.
In Daghestan, authorities announced a lockdown on two major cities; officials in the regional capital, Makhachkala, had not yet taken similar measures.
Russia has the second-highest total of reported COVID-19 cases, after the United States.
The Russian case tally rose to 326,448 on May 22, while the death toll climbed to 3,249.
Russian officials have been accused of lowering its coronavirus mortality rates by ascribing deaths to pneumonia.
Aside from Mishustin and Peskov, Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, and Construction Minister Vladimir Yakushev have also tested positive for the disease.
Peskov, as of May 21, remained hospitalized.


rferl--2020-05-21--Harutyunian Sworn In As President Of Disputed Nagorno-Karabakh Region

Arayik ( Ara ) Harutyunian has been sworn in as de facto president of Nagorno-Karabakh , the unrecognized breakaway Azerbaijani region .
The inauguration ceremony held on May 21 in the city of Shushi was attended by an Armenian delegation led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian .
Harutyunian , the former prime minister of the disputed region , won a runoff election on April 14 .
Nagorno-Karabakh was seized by Armenian-backed separatists who declared independence amid a 1988-1994 conflict that killed at least 30,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands .
Since a fragile , Russian-brokered truce in 1994 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of ethnic Armenian forces that Azerbaijan says include troops supplied by Armenia .
The region 's claim to independence has not been recognized by any country .
Since then , periodic skirmishes have taken place in the region .
Russia , the United States , and France are the co-chairs of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ) , which acts as a mediator in resolving the crisis .
The group has been struggling for years to mediate a solution .
With reporting by Armenpress @ @ @ @ @

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that there can be no advancement in the relationship between the United States and Afghanistan's Taliban rulers unless there is an improvement in the treatment of women in the country.
Speaking to reporters on August 15, the two-year anniversary of the Taliban’s seizure of power in Kabul, Blinken said the United States continues to work to hold the Taliban accountable for the commitments that it's made, particularly when it comes to the rights of women and girls.
"We've been very clear with the Taliban -- and dozens of countries around the world have been very clear -- that the path to any more normal relationship between the Taliban and other countries will be blocked unless and until the rights of women and girls among other things are actually supported," Blinken said.
No country has recognized the Taliban-led government, and the United States has avoided direct economic engagement in part over the treatment of women and girls, who have seen their rights drastically curbed by the hard-line Islamists. This includes a ban on women working in local and international nongovernmental organizations and a ban on education beyond the sixth grade.
The Taliban stormed back to power in August 2021 after President Joe Biden withdrew U.S. troops under the terms of an agreement reached in February 2020 between the Taliban and the administration of then-U.S. President Donald Trump.
Blinken defended the pullout and said the United States was not focused on other priorities.
"The decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was an incredibly difficult one, but also the right one," Blinken said. "We ended America's longest war. For the first time in 20 years, we don't have another generation of young Americans going to fight and die."
A number of international human rights organizations earlier on August 15 called the Taliban's two years of rule shameful and worrying.
Amnesty International and several other international human rights organizations demanded in a statement an effective response to the situation, noting the Taliban's strict decrees against human rights in Afghanistan, especially against women and girls.
The organizations said in a statement that in the past two years, the Taliban has increasingly imposed harmful policies against women and girls and religious and ethnic minorities that clearly violate Afghanistan's obligations under international human rights law.
The Taliban has previously rejected reports on the treatment of women as propaganda of international organizations. The militant group's leaders have said they have strengthened all the rights of women in Afghanistan in light of Islamic principles.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Taliban, said in an interview with the AP marking the second anniversary of the Taliban takeover of the country that the Taliban views its rule of Afghanistan as open-ended and as drawing legitimacy from Islamic law. He also suggested a ban on female education will remain in place.
Female activist Soheila Yousefi calls the situation alarming and wants the world to pay attention.
"The international community should take serious action in this regard because the world chose to be silent in these two years and did not take any practical steps. Our request is that they should look at the current situation in Afghanistan, then take a serious and comprehensive review."
The Taliban did not respond to Radio Azadi's questions before the release of the report, but the rulers have spoken of strengthening human rights in Afghanistan, especially the rights of women and girls, according to Islamic principles.
With reporting by AP and AFP


rferl--2020-05-21--U.S. To Exit Open Skies Treaty Over Russian Violations

The United States on May 22 will notify the signatories of the Open Skies treaty that it intends to withdraw from the pact because of violations by Russia .
Washington will provide notification to the other 34 signatories to the accord that it will withdraw in six months but may reconsider “ should Russia return to full compliance with the Treaty , '' U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement .
U.S. President Donald Trump said there was a `` very good chance we 'll make a new agreement or do something to put that agreement back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ May 21 that he thinks the United States and Russia have a very good relationship , `` but Russia did n't adhere to the treaty .
So , until they adhere we will pull out . ''
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko said the U.S. departure from the treaty would be a “ blow ” to European security .
Trump was trying to justify the exit from a `` fundamental treaty '' via `` technical issues '' that should be resolved within the treaty , Grushko said .
Explainer : Why Are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Washington ?
The 18-year-old treaty aims to increase international stability by allowing signatory nations to conduct surveillance flights over one another ’ s territories to observe military installations and other objects .
Pompeo said examples of Russia 's violations include the denial of access to observation flights within a 10-kilometer corridor along Russia ’ s border with Georgia 's regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia .
Russia has also placed a restriction on flight distance over Kaliningrad , “ despite the fact that this enclave has become the location of a significant military @ @ @ @ @ @ @ short-range nuclear-tipped missiles targeting NATO , ” Pompeo said .
The United States also rejects Russia ’ s designation of an Open Skies refueling airfield in Crimea , Ukraine as another attempt to advance its claim of the peninsula , he said .
Pompeo said the actions have undermined the central confidence-building function of the treaty , fueling distrust and threats to U.S. national security , “ making continued U.S. participation untenable.
” He said the United States and its partners that signed the treaty have lived up to their commitments and obligations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continuously ” violated it in various ways for years .
The withdrawal is the latest move by Trump to unilaterally pull the United States from a major global treaty .
Last year Washington withdrew from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia .
The exit is likely to strain relations with Moscow and upset European allies and some members of the U.S. Congress .
The concept of allowing Russia and the United States to conduct aerial reconnaissance flights over each other ’ s territory was first put forward by President Dwight Eisenhower in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ balked at the idea .
There was no movement toward a treaty until 1989 when President George H.W .
Bush breathed new life into it .
It still took until January 2002 before the treaty entered into effect .
With reporting by the New York Times , AP , Reuters , and AFP

A top Russian diplomat has accused the United States of seeking to undermine international security after President Donald Trump gave notice on withdrawing from the Open Skies treaty, citing what U.S. officials said were repeated Russian violations.
Speaking on May 22, one day after officials said the United States would move to withdraw from the 18-year-old treaty, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Washington had provided no facts to back up its allegations that Moscow has repeatedly violated the terms of the Open Skies treaty, which allows members states to conduct surveillance flights over one another's territories to observe military installations.
The U.S. claims "are totally unfounded," he said.
The U.S. announcement is the latest move by the Trump administration to pull out of major international treaties, exits that have prompted watchdog groups and some members of the U.S. Congress to warn of the increased possibility of an arms race or accidental military confrontations.
In a statement on May 21, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington will provide notification to the other 34 signatories that it will withdraw in six months, but may reconsider "should Russia return to full compliance with the treaty."
Trump also gave mixed messages as he made the announcement, signaling that the move might be a bargaining ploy to get Russia to hold new talks on the treaty.
He said there was a "very good chance we'll make a new agreement or do something to put that agreement back together." He did not give any further details.
The United States and Russia have a very good relationship, he told reporters on May 21, "but Russia didn't adhere to the treaty. So, until they adhere we will pull out."
Signed in 1992, Open Skies entered into force a decade later and now has 35 members. The agreement aims to increase international stability by allowing nations to conduct surveillance flights over one another’s territories to observe military installations and other objects.
Pompeo alleged that examples of Russia's violations include the denial of access to observation flights within a 10-kilometer corridor along Russia's border with Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Arms experts say this restriction may technically not fall under the agreement’s provision.
Pompeo said Russia has also placed restrictions on some flights around the Baltic Sea region of Kaliningrad amid a military buildup that he said might include short-range nuclear-tipped missiles.
Russia has also designated an airfield in the annexed Crimean Peninsula as an Open Skies refueling base, Pompeo said. He alleged that was illegal attempt by Russia to cement its claim to the Ukrainian region, which Moscow seized in 2014.
'Flagrantly And Continuously' Violated
Pompeo insisted the United States and its partners that signed the treaty have lived up to their commitments and obligations, but Russia "has flagrantly and continuously" violated it in various ways for years.
The exit has upset European allies, many of whom are members of the treaty, and some members of the U.S. Congress.
France, Germany, and eight other European countries said they regretted the U.S. move.
"We regret the announcement by the United States of its plan to pull out of the Open Skies treaty, even though we share the concerns about how the accord is being carried out by the Russian Federation," the countries said in a joint statement issued by France's Foreign Ministry.
EU foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell later said that "withdrawing from a treaty is not the solution to address difficulties in its implementation and compliance by another party."
"While continuing to urge Russia to return immediately to the full implementation of the treaty, I call upon the United States to reconsider their decision," Borrell said.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged Russia to comply with the treaty in the hope that Washington might reverse its decision to withdraw from the accord.
"All NATO allies are in full compliance with all provisions of the treaty," Stoltenberg said, while for many years Russia had "imposed flight restrictions inconsistent with the treaty, including flight limitations over [its Baltic exclave of] Kaliningrad, and restricting flights in Russia near its border with Georgia."
U.S. Representative Eliot Engel, the Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the move to withdraw was illegal, arguing that existing law required the White House to give Congress 120 days' notice.
"There is something particularly dangerous about a president, a secretary of state, and a secretary of defense knowingly breaking the law in ways that jeopardize our safety and national security," Engel said in a statement.
The threatened withdrawal was the latest effort by the Trump administration to unravel major global security treaties. Last year Washington withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, also accusing Russia of repeated violations.
The last major bilateral arms control treaty, New START, is scheduled to expire in February 2021. While Russia has pushed for a five-year extension, the Trump administration has balked, saying it wants the deal to be broadened to include China.
That agreement caps the number of nuclear warheads and so-called delivery systems held by the United States and Russia.
Trump's lead arms negotiator, Marshall Billingslea, said on May 21 that U.S. officials planned to hold talks with the Russians over the future of New START, even as the Chinese have signaled they do not plan to join that first meeting.
"The United States cannot keep participating in this treaty if Russia is going to violate it with impunity." Billingslea said.
The idea of allowing Russia and the United States to conduct aerial reconnaissance flights over each other’s territory was first put forward by U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower in July 1955. But the Soviet Union balked at the idea.
There was no movement toward a treaty until 1989, when President George Bush breathed new life into it.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP


rferl--2020-05-21--U.S. Says Military Plane With Ventilator Shipment Arrives In Moscow

A U.S. military plane carrying ventilators has landed in Moscow to help Russia in its battle against the coronavirus outbreak .
The U.S. Embassy said on May 21 that the 50 ventilators were the first tranche of a $ 5.6 million `` humanitarian donation '' to Russia that will eventually include a total of 200 U.S.-manufactured ventilators .
Even though U.S.-Russian relations remain at post-Cold War lows , the embassy said the two countries `` must set aside policy differences and focus on the needs of our people . ''
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on May 21 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ next week .
Russia now has the second-highest total of reported COVID-19 cases after a surge of new infections over the past month .
Russia 's case tally rose to 317,554 on May 21 after 8,849 new infections were reported , while the death toll climbed to the 3,009 mark after 127 people died in the last 24 hours .
The United States has the largest number of reported cases globally at over 1.55 million , with the death toll exceeding 93,471 .
Russia in April sent ventilators to the United States as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Washington has said it had paid for the equipment but the Russian sovereign wealth fund , RDIF , on May 19 claimed Russia had paid for it .
Moscow has ordered thousands of locally made ventilators , but was forced to sideline them after they were reported to have caused fatal fires in two Russian hospitals earlier this month .
The same ventilator type was part of the batch of medical supplies Russia sent to the United States .

A U.S. military plane carrying ventilators has landed in Moscow to help Russia in its battle against the coronavirus outbreak.
The U.S. Embassy said on May 21 that the 50 ventilators were the first tranche of a $5.6 million "humanitarian donation" to Russia that will eventually include a total of 200 U.S.-manufactured ventilators.
Even though U.S.-Russian relations remain at post-Cold War lows, the embassy said the two countries "must set aside policy differences and focus on the needs of our people."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on May 21 that another shipment of ventilators is expected next week.
Russia now has the second-highest total of reported COVID-19 cases after a surge of new infections over the past month.
Russia's case tally rose to 317,554 on May 21 after 8,849 new infections were reported, while the death toll climbed to the 3,009 mark after 127 people died in the last 24 hours.
The United States has the largest number of reported cases globally at over 1.55 million, with the death toll exceeding 93,471.
Russia in April sent ventilators to the United States as cities like New York faced a shortage. Washington has said it had paid for the equipment but the Russian sovereign wealth fund, RDIF, on May 19 claimed Russia had paid for it.
Moscow has ordered thousands of locally made ventilators, but was forced to sideline them after they were reported to have caused fatal fires in two Russian hospitals earlier this month.
The same ventilator type was part of the batch of medical supplies Russia sent to the United States.


rferl--2020-05-21--Plans To Merge Three Russian Regions Spark Concerns, Protests

Plans by Russia 's government to merge the northwestern region of Arkhangelsk , the Nenets Autonomous District , and the Republic of Komi , have sparked protest among residents who fear losing their ethnic identity .
Since leaders of the Arkhangelsk region and the Nenets Autonomous District signed a memorandum on merging their territories into one single administrative unit last week , protests have broken out in Naryan-Mar , the Nenets district capital .
On May 19 , the working group on the merger announced a proposal to add the Republic of Komi to the territorial unit as well .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ signed by almost 1,900 people as of midday on May 21 , states that residents of the Nenets region `` are categorically against this memorandum , hastily signed at a time when our country is in a difficult epidemiological situation and when its wide public discussion is absolutely impossible . ''
Ethnic regions and republics in Russia are very sensitive to any changes of their status , fearing a loss of autonomy , which already has been weakened in recent years by Kremlin policies .
Viktor Uiba , the acting head of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ video statement late on May 20 that the plan was unacceptable .
`` I am against such talks and such thoughtless actions .
I believe that such an initiative must come from the people , the local population , and not imposed from above , '' Uiba said , adding that the status of republic is much higher than that of just a region .
Some have said they fear a watering down of indigenous languages such as Uralic Komi , which has state-language status along with Russian in the Republic of Komi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Arctic circle and includes the frigid former Soviet prison-camp city of Vorkuta .
Yasavei , the association of the Nenets people , issued a statement on May 19 warning the merger would cause economic problems for the oil-rich territory and lead to a weakening of their native language , Nenets -- which belongs to the Uralic language stem distantly related to Finish , Estonian , and Hungarian .
All of the Russian Federation ’ s ethnic republics , except Tatarstan , have changed the titles of their leaders from president to head in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lost their independence in adopting laws and regulations .
The Kremlin 's decision to abolish mandatory local language classes at regional schools three years ago was rubber-stamped by a majority of regional parliaments despite protests by residents who fear their languages will fade away without the rules in place .

Plans by Russia's government to merge the northwestern region of Arkhangelsk, the Nenets Autonomous District, and the Republic of Komi, have sparked protest among residents who fear losing their ethnic identity.
Since leaders of the Arkhangelsk region and the Nenets Autonomous District signed a memorandum on merging their territories into one single administrative unit last week, protests have broken out in Naryan-Mar, the Nenets district capital.
On May 19, the working group on the merger announced a proposal to add the Republic of Komi to the territorial unit as well.
An online petition, which had been signed by almost 1,900 people as of midday on May 21, states that residents of the Nenets region "are categorically against this memorandum, hastily signed at a time when our country is in a difficult epidemiological situation and when its wide public discussion is absolutely impossible."
Ethnic regions and republics in Russia are very sensitive to any changes of their status, fearing a loss of autonomy, which already has been weakened in recent years by Kremlin policies.
Viktor Uiba, the acting head of the Republic of Komi, said in a video statement late on May 20 that the plan was unacceptable.
"I am against such talks and such thoughtless actions. I believe that such an initiative must come from the people, the local population, and not imposed from above," Uiba said, adding that the status of republic is much higher than that of just a region.
Some have said they fear a watering down of indigenous languages such as Uralic Komi, which has state-language status along with Russian in the Republic of Komi, a vast region that spans the Arctic circle and includes the frigid former Soviet prison-camp city of Vorkuta.
Yasavei, the association of the Nenets people, issued a statement on May 19 warning the merger would cause economic problems for the oil-rich territory and lead to a weakening of their native language, Nenets -- which belongs to the Uralic language stem distantly related to Finish, Estonian, and Hungarian.
All of the Russian Federation’s ethnic republics, except Tatarstan, have changed the titles of their leaders from president to head in recent years, while regional parliaments have lost their independence in adopting laws and regulations.
The Kremlin's decision to abolish mandatory local language classes at regional schools three years ago was rubber-stamped by a majority of regional parliaments despite protests by residents who fear their languages will fade away without the rules in place.


rferl--2020-05-21--EU May Break Own Protocol By Participating In Russia-Backed Crimea Event

The European Union and several of its member states may break the bloc 's own guidelines on contacts with de facto authorities of the Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula by participating in a Moscow-backed videoconference on the situation in the region .
Two diplomats from EU member states , who were not authorized to speak on the record , told RFE/RL that representatives at various levels from up to 19 out of 27 EU member states , as well as the EU ’ s UN delegation , plan to participate in the event on May 21 .
A concept note on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Russian Federation to the United Nations and seen by RFE/RL , welcomes all `` New-York based representatives of the UN member states '' to an Arria-formula videoconference on the situation in Crimea .
This included people at the level of permanent representatives , deputy permanent representatives and experts , as well as the press .
In March 2014 , Moscow seized control of Ukraine ’ s Crimean Peninsula after sending in troops and staging a referendum dismissed as illegal by at least 100 countries .
Moscow is also backing separatists in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ killed more than 13,200 people since April 2014 .
As part of its response to the annexation , the European Union drew up strict guidelines for all of its diplomats , as well as diplomats of its member states , stating that there can be `` no participation in , or attendance of any level at any event that could be identified in advance as only aiming at acknowledgment of Crimea/Sevastopol ’ s status and de facto annexation.
” An Arria-formula meeting , frequently used by the UN , is an informal arrangement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be briefed about international security issues .
In the meeting , Russia 's UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya will deliver opening and closing remarks , while proponents of Russia 's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula will make panel presentations .
These include Moscow-approved figures , such as Asadullah Bairov , the deputy mufti of Crimea ; Anastasia Gridchina , the head of the Ukrainian community on the peninsula ; and Ervin Musaev , the deputy director-general of the Crimean TV channel Millet .
The concept note claims that `` in order for the participants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meeting will provide an opportunity to listen and learn the real picture of the situation on the ground from those who currently reside in Crimea , being at the same time representatives of various national groups of the inhabitants of the peninsula.
” The EU will also be represented at the meeting , however , as will the German permanent representative .
Belgium and France have also signaled that they will attend , though it was not clear at what level .
The levels and numbers of participating EU member states varies , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Netherlands , Poland , Romania , and the three Baltic states have stated that they will snub the meeting .
Some of the officials RFE/RL contacted voiced fears that the presence of EU diplomats will compromise the nonrecognition guidelines and be used for propaganda purposes , even if they speak out against the annexation in the meeting .
RFE/RL sought comment from the EU about its participation in the meeting but did not receive an answer .
The two-page Russian concept note ahead of the meeting states that `` after the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Kyiv , inhabitants of several regions of eastern Ukraine expressed their disapproval of the unlawful actions of the then-Ukrainian Maidan leaders . ''
It also notes that `` today 's Crimea enjoys all the rights and benefits of a Russian region and all of its population groups enjoy all the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens .
Socio-economic situation has improved significantly -- in fact , the peninsula has become one of the fastest developing regions of the country.
” RFE/RL contacted Ukraine 's UN Ambassador Serhiy Kyslytsya for comment on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ give an opinion on EU countries participating in the meeting , he noted that participants were unlikely to hear `` anything new . ''
`` The Russians and their actors will repeat yet another mantra about the 'voluntary reunification of the Crimean people with Russia , ' and the international community will reiterate the basic truths , '' such as the Crimean Peninsula being `` temporarily occupied '' with Russia as the `` occupying power , '' which Kyslytsya said `` must stop human rights violations .
”

The European Union and several of its member states may break the bloc's own guidelines on contacts with de facto authorities of the Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula by participating in a Moscow-backed videoconference on the situation in the region.
Two diplomats from EU member states, who were not authorized to speak on the record, told RFE/RL that representatives at various levels from up to 19 out of 27 EU member states, as well as the EU’s UN delegation, plan to participate in the event on May 21.
A concept note on the conference, authored by the permanent mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations and seen by RFE/RL, welcomes all "New-York based representatives of the UN member states" to an Arria-formula videoconference on the situation in Crimea. This included people at the level of permanent representatives, deputy permanent representatives and experts, as well as the press.
In March 2014, Moscow seized control of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula after sending in troops and staging a referendum dismissed as illegal by at least 100 countries. Moscow is also backing separatists in a war in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 13,200 people since April 2014.
As part of its response to the annexation, the European Union drew up strict guidelines for all of its diplomats, as well as diplomats of its member states, stating that there can be "no participation in, or attendance of any level at any event that could be identified in advance as only aiming at acknowledgment of Crimea/Sevastopol’s status and de facto annexation.”
An Arria-formula meeting, frequently used by the UN, is an informal arrangement that allows members of the institution to be briefed about international security issues.
In the meeting, Russia's UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya will deliver opening and closing remarks, while proponents of Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula will make panel presentations.
These include Moscow-approved figures, such as Asadullah Bairov, the deputy mufti of Crimea; Anastasia Gridchina, the head of the Ukrainian community on the peninsula; and Ervin Musaev, the deputy director-general of the Crimean TV channel Millet.
The concept note claims that "in order for the participants to have comprehensive information, the Arria meeting will provide an opportunity to listen and learn the real picture of the situation on the ground from those who currently reside in Crimea, being at the same time representatives of various national groups of the inhabitants of the peninsula.”
The EU will also be represented at the meeting, however, as will the German permanent representative. Belgium and France have also signaled that they will attend, though it was not clear at what level.
The levels and numbers of participating EU member states varies, but so far only Bulgaria, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and the three Baltic states have stated that they will snub the meeting.
Some of the officials RFE/RL contacted voiced fears that the presence of EU diplomats will compromise the nonrecognition guidelines and be used for propaganda purposes, even if they speak out against the annexation in the meeting.
RFE/RL sought comment from the EU about its participation in the meeting but did not receive an answer.
The two-page Russian concept note ahead of the meeting states that "after the coup d’état in February 2014 in Kyiv, inhabitants of several regions of eastern Ukraine expressed their disapproval of the unlawful actions of the then-Ukrainian Maidan leaders."
It also notes that "today's Crimea enjoys all the rights and benefits of a Russian region and all of its population groups enjoy all the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens. Socio-economic situation has improved significantly -- in fact, the peninsula has become one of the fastest developing regions of the country.”
RFE/RL contacted Ukraine's UN Ambassador Serhiy Kyslytsya for comment on the event.
While he didn’t give an opinion on EU countries participating in the meeting, he noted that participants were unlikely to hear "anything new."
"The Russians and their actors will repeat yet another mantra about the 'voluntary reunification of the Crimean people with Russia,' and the international community will reiterate the basic truths," such as the Crimean Peninsula being "temporarily occupied" with Russia as the "occupying power," which Kyslytsya said "must stop human rights violations.”


rferl--2020-05-21--COVID-19: Pakistani Lawmaker, Ex-Governor Die After Positive Tests; Chechnya Imposes Eid Restriction

COVID-19: Pakistani Lawmaker, Ex-Governor Die After Positive Tests; Chechnya Imposes Eid Restrictions

The global death toll from the coronavirus is almost 330,000 with more than 5 million infections confirmed , causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness .
A legislator in the provincial assembly of Punjab and a former provincial governor died on May 20 in separate hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus .
Shaheen Raza , 60 , a member of the ruling Tehrik-e-Insaaf Party , passed away in a hospital in Punjab province , marking the first death of a lawmaker from coronavirus in Pakistan .
Pakistani President Arif Alvi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ condolences to her family .
“ I would like to console the death of Punjab MPA Ms Shaheen Raza Chheema , ” the Pakistani president said in a tweet on May 20 The official Radio Pakistan station reported that Prime Minister Imran Khan had also sent condolences .
Separately , the former governor of Balochistan Province , Syed Fazal Agha , who had tested positive for the coronavirus and was admitted to a hospital in Karachi , Sindh Province , died on May 20 , Pakistan 's Dawn newspaper reported , quoting hospital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and 985 deaths from COVID-19 , the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus , according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University .
Pakistan has relaxed the lockdown , and people are freely shopping in the markets for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr festival .
Meanwhile , mosques have also been opened for the prayers , and many people have gathered without proper precautions .
Khan has repeatedly expressed his opposition to a complete lockdown , arguing that this will result in serious financial problems for lower-paid workers .
Several Pakistani parliamentarians and government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Prominent among them are Sindh Province Governor Imran Ismail , National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar , and former provincial minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain .
Authorities in Russia 's North Caucasus regions of Chechnya and Daghestan have imposed restrictions to deter people from gathering in groups this weekend as the mostly Muslim-populated regions mark the Eid al-Fitr Islamic holiday , known locally as Uraza Bairam , to mark the end of the month of Ramadan .
Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov said on May 21 that all movements , except for emergency services @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to 26 across the republic , adding that a violation of the rule `` will be punished in accordance with the law . ''
In neighboring Daghestan , authorities announced on May 21 that two cities , Kizlyar and Kizilyurt , will be locked down during the four-day celebration of Eid al-Fitr .
A decision on Makhachkala , the capital , had yet to be taken .
A day earlier , President Rustam Minnikhanov , head of the mostly Muslim-populated Republic of Tatarstan in the Volga region , told Russian President Vladimir Putin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the holiday at home due to the pandemic .
Usually , Muslims gather in mosques for mass prayers to mark Eid al-Fitr but in many former Soviet republics and other countries , Muslims are set to mark the holiday at home because of the outbreak .
Authorities in Turkmenistan , where no coronavirus cases have been officially reported , have cancelled traditional ceremonies and celebrations marking the end of the academic year at schools and school-graduation events .
RFE/RL 's correspondents reported on May 21 that education authorities made the decision without elaborating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Ashgabat told RFE/RL that their teachers had told them there would n't be graduation ceremonies and banquets this year , but did not explain why .
Turkmenistan remains the only nation in the Central Asian region that has not officially admitted a single coronavirus case , though experts are skeptical of the claim given the lack of transparency and the absence of an independent media in the country .
In Kyrgyzstan , authorities in Bishkek said that as of May 25 , fitness clubs , swimming pools , and sports centers will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regulations to prevent the spread of the virus .
Sports venue personnel will be required to wear masks and gloves , while customers will be provided with hand sanitizer and instructed on how to keep a distance of at least 2 meters from others .
Sports venues specializing in contact and group sports will remain closed .
Health authorities said on May 21 that the number of coronavirus cases in Kyrgyzstan was 1,313 , including 14 deaths .
In Uzbekistan , authorities said that as of May 22 , arts galleries , museums @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and cities will be open for those who take sanitary precautions such as masks and social distancing .
In Tashkent , the Tashkent City Park resumed operations on May 20 .
As of May 21 , the number of coronavirus cases in the country was reported at 2,950 , including 13 deaths .
In neighboring Tajikistan , officials said on May 20 that the number of coronavirus cases in the country was 2,140 , including 41 deaths .
Tajikistan did not officially register a coronavirus case until April 30 , just ahead of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ World Health Organization .
Still , many in the country doubt the data and believe the government has been underreporting figures .
In Kazakhstan , where the largest number of COVID-19 cases in Central Asia have been reported , the latest figures are 7,234 cases with 35 deaths .
With reporting by RFE/RL 's Turkmen , Kyrgyz , Uzbek , Tajik , Kazakh , and North Caucasus services and RFE/RL 's Radio Mashaal

The global death toll from the coronavirus is almost 330,000 with more than 5 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness.
Here's a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL's broadcast regions.
Pakistan
A legislator in the provincial assembly of Punjab and a former provincial governor died on May 20 in separate hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus.
Shaheen Raza, 60, a member of the ruling Tehrik-e-Insaaf Party, passed away in a hospital in Punjab province, marking the first death of a lawmaker from coronavirus in Pakistan.
Pakistani President Arif Alvi expressed grief over her death and offered condolences to her family.
“I would like to console the death of Punjab MPA Ms Shaheen Raza Chheema,” the Pakistani president said in a tweet on May 20
The official Radio Pakistan station reported that Prime Minister Imran Khan had also sent condolences.
Separately, the former governor of Balochistan Province, Syed Fazal Agha, who had tested positive for the coronavirus and was admitted to a hospital in Karachi, Sindh Province, died on May 20, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported, quoting hospital sources.
Pakistan has recorded 45,898 infections and 985 deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Pakistan has relaxed the lockdown, and people are freely shopping in the markets for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr festival.
Meanwhile, mosques have also been opened for the prayers, and many people have gathered without proper precautions.
Khan has repeatedly expressed his opposition to a complete lockdown, arguing that this will result in serious financial problems for lower-paid workers.
Several Pakistani parliamentarians and government figures have tested positive for the coronavirus. Prominent among them are Sindh Province Governor Imran Ismail, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar, and former provincial minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain.
North Caucasus
Authorities in Russia's North Caucasus regions of Chechnya and Daghestan have imposed restrictions to deter people from gathering in groups this weekend as the mostly Muslim-populated regions mark the Eid al-Fitr Islamic holiday, known locally as Uraza Bairam, to mark the end of the month of Ramadan.
Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov said on May 21 that all movements, except for emergency services, will be banned from May 23 to 26 across the republic, adding that a violation of the rule "will be punished in accordance with the law."
In neighboring Daghestan, authorities announced on May 21 that two cities, Kizlyar and Kizilyurt, will be locked down during the four-day celebration of Eid al-Fitr. A decision on Makhachkala, the capital, had yet to be taken.
A day earlier, President Rustam Minnikhanov, head of the mostly Muslim-populated Republic of Tatarstan in the Volga region, told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the republic's residents will mark the holiday at home due to the pandemic.
Usually, Muslims gather in mosques for mass prayers to mark Eid al-Fitr but in many former Soviet republics and other countries, Muslims are set to mark the holiday at home because of the outbreak.
Central Asia
Authorities in Turkmenistan, where no coronavirus cases have been officially reported, have cancelled traditional ceremonies and celebrations marking the end of the academic year at schools and school-graduation events.
RFE/RL's correspondents reported on May 21 that education authorities made the decision without elaborating.
Several senior students of secondary schools in Ashgabat told RFE/RL that their teachers had told them there wouldn't be graduation ceremonies and banquets this year, but did not explain why.
Turkmenistan remains the only nation in the Central Asian region that has not officially admitted a single coronavirus case, though experts are skeptical of the claim given the lack of transparency and the absence of an independent media in the country.
In Kyrgyzstan, authorities in Bishkek said that as of May 25, fitness clubs, swimming pools, and sports centers will resume operations on condition of complying with regulations to prevent the spread of the virus.
Sports venue personnel will be required to wear masks and gloves, while customers will be provided with hand sanitizer and instructed on how to keep a distance of at least 2 meters from others.
Sports venues specializing in contact and group sports will remain closed.
Health authorities said on May 21 that the number of coronavirus cases in Kyrgyzstan was 1,313, including 14 deaths.
In Uzbekistan, authorities said that as of May 22, arts galleries, museums, and parks in some selected towns and cities will be open for those who take sanitary precautions such as masks and social distancing.
In Tashkent, the Tashkent City Park resumed operations on May 20.
As of May 21, the number of coronavirus cases in the country was reported at 2,950, including 13 deaths.
In neighboring Tajikistan, officials said on May 20 that the number of coronavirus cases in the country was 2,140, including 41 deaths.
Tajikistan did not officially register a coronavirus case until April 30, just ahead of the arrival of a mission from the World Health Organization.
Still, many in the country doubt the data and believe the government has been underreporting figures.
In Kazakhstan, where the largest number of COVID-19 cases in Central Asia have been reported, the latest figures are 7,234 cases with 35 deaths.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Turkmen, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Tajik, Kazakh, and North Caucasus services and RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal


rferl--2020-05-22--Georgia To End Pandemic Regulation Limiting Vehicles To Three People

TBILISI -- Drivers in Georgia will be able to have more than two passengers as of May 23 when some @ @ @ @ @ of people in a vehicle will be relaxed .
Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said on @ @ @ @ @ to have a driver and maximum two passengers in back seats in cars will remain @ @ @ @ @ Gakharia had announced earlier that a state of emergency , including a curfew , will @ @ @ @ @ 22 due to the `` favorable epidemiologic situation '' in the South Caucasus nation , @ @ @ @ @ continue to be lifted gradually .
On May 21 , Georgian lawmakers approved the first @ @ @ @ @ the government to impose sanitary restrictions to combat the virus without having to declare a @ @ @ @ @ to Georgia 's health authorities , 724 coronavirus cases have been registered in the country @ @ @ @ @

TBILISI -- Drivers in Georgia will be able to have more than two passengers as of May 23 when some coronavirus restrictions on the number of people in a vehicle will be relaxed.
Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said on May 22 that the regulation to have a driver and maximum two passengers in back seats in cars will remain only for taxi cabs.
Gakharia had announced earlier that a state of emergency, including a curfew, will not be prolonged after May 22 due to the "favorable epidemiologic situation" in the South Caucasus nation, adding that other restrictions will continue to be lifted gradually.
On May 21, Georgian lawmakers approved the first reading of a bill allowing the government to impose sanitary restrictions to combat the virus without having to declare a state of emergency.
According to Georgia's health authorities, 724 coronavirus cases have been registered in the country, including 12 deaths.


rferl--2020-05-22--Tajik Police Use Firearms To Disperse Rare Protest By Chinese Workers

DUSHANBE -- Tajik police have used firearms to break up a rare protest by Chinese workers employed by a Tajik-Chinese mining company in the Central Asian nation 's northern region of Sughd .
Interior Ministry officials told RFE/RL on May 21 that some 60 Chinese workers had protested in the town of Zarnisor a day earlier .
A spokesman for the Sughd regional police department told RFE/RL that local police shot live rounds into the air to disperse the protesters after it boiled over .
No gunshot wounds or injuries were reported .
The mining company 's administration says police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refused to stop the rally .
The workers ' demands remain unclear as it is not possible to access them .
Tohirjon Azizzoda , the governor of the Mastchoh district where the company 's mines are located , told RFE/RL that the Chinese workers had been demanding the payment of overdue salaries .
He added , however , that the workers from China had rallied earlier last month , saying that their work terms had been fulfilled and they wanted to return home .
`` The regional government explained to them then that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Beijing had suspended all border crossings due to the coronavirus outbreak , '' Azizzoda said .
The Chinese workers , mostly engineers , work in terms .
Workers from the previous term that left Sughd for China earlier in the year to celebrate the Chinese New Year have been unable to return for the same reason .
The Tajik-Chinese Mining Company that was created in 2009 operates lead and zinc mines in Tajikistan .

DUSHANBE -- Tajik police have used firearms to break up a rare protest by Chinese workers employed by the Tajik-Chinese Mining Company in the northern region of Sughd.
Interior Ministry officials told RFE/RL on May 21 that some 60 Chinese workers had protested in the town of Zarnisor a day earlier.
A spokesman for the Sughd regional police department told RFE/RL that local police shot live rounds into the air to disperse the protesters after it boiled over. No gunshot wounds or injuries were reported.
The mining company's administration says police were called after the protesting Chinese workers refused to stop the rally.
The workers' demands remain unclear, as it is not possible to access them.
Tohirjon Azizzoda, the governor of the Mastchoh district where the company's mines are located, told RFE/RL that the Chinese workers had been demanding the payment of overdue salaries.
He added, however, that the workers from China had rallied earlier last month, saying that their work terms had been fulfilled and they wanted to return home.
"The regional government explained to them then that they were unable to enter China as Beijing had suspended all border crossings due to the coronavirus outbreak," Azizzoda said.
The Chinese workers, mostly engineers, work in terms. Workers from the previous term that left Sughd for China earlier in the year to celebrate the Chinese New Year have been unable to return for the same reason.
The Tajik-Chinese Mining Company, which was created in 2009, operates lead and zinc mines in Tajikistan.


rferl--2020-05-22--Pakistani Passenger Jet Crashes Near Karachi, Casualties Unclear

Pakistan 's aviation authority says a Pakistani International Airlines ( PIA ) aircraft with at least 99 passengers on board @ @ @ @ @ area in the southern port city of Karachi .
No details were immediately available on @ @ @ @ @ or the crew in the May 22 crash .
The Civil Aviation Authority said in @ @ @ @ @ involved an Airbus A320 flown by PIA that was traveling from Lahore to Karachi .
@ @ @ @ @ social media showed plumes of black smoke rising over a residential neighborhood not far from @ @ @ @ @ Witnesses said the jet appeared to attempt to land two or three times before going @ @ @ @ @ agency quoted a spokesman with the airline as saying there were 107 passengers on board @ @ @ @ @ .

Ninety-seven people have been confirmed dead in the crash of a Pakistani International Airlines (PIA) plane into a residential area in the southern port city of Karachi.
Provincial health officials said on May 23 that two people survived the crash of Flight PK8303, which was carrying 91 passengers and eight crew.
All passengers and crew have been accounted for, and the bodies of those killed had been recovered from the crash site, the Sindh Health Ministry said. Nineteen of the bodies have been identified.
There were reports that people had been killed on the ground, but it was unclear how many and whether their bodies had been recovered.
The Airbus A320 traveling from the eastern city of Lahore crashed on May 22 on a second approach to the Karachi's Jinnah International Airport.
One of the survivors, Muhammad Zubair, told Geo TV that the plane came down for one landing, briefly touched down, then took off again.
About 10 minutes later the pilot announced to passengers he was going to make a second attempt, then crashed on approaching to the runway, Zubair said according to Geo TV.
The plane was flying smoothly and no one was aware it was about to crash, the BBC quoted Zubair as saying.
The plane had developed a technical fault, according to Interior Minister Ijaz Ahmad Shah, who said the pilot issued a mayday call after the aircraft lost an engine.
The airline's CEO, Arshad Mahmood Malik, identified one survivor as the president of the Bank of Punjab, Zafar Masud.
The bank said he had suffered fractures but was "conscious and responding well.”
Malik told a news conference that Pakistan's independent safety investigations agency would probe the crash.
Airbus said in a statement that the plane had first entered service in 2004 and was acquired by PIA a decade later and had logged around 47,100 flight hours. It said it had no confirmed information about the accident.
The crash occurred as Muslims prepare to celebrate Eid al-Fitr this weekend -- the breaking of the Ramadan fast. Many Pakistanis are travelling back to their homes in cities and villages for the holiday.
It also came days after Pakistan began allowing commercial flights to resume following a coronavirus lockdown.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was "shocked and saddened" by the crash, tweeting that he was in touch with Malik.
He also said he was grateful for the condolences sent by world leaders over the loss of "precious lives."
"The people of Pakistan value this support and solidarity in our hour of grief," he wrote on Twitter.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and the BBC


rferl--2020-05-22--Kyiv, Sofia Clash Over Ukraine's Plan To Redraw District Lines In Ethnic-Bulgarian Region

Ukraine and Bulgaria have clashed over Kyiv ’ s plans to change administrative divisions within a district in the southern Odesa region with a sizeable ethnic-Bulgarian minority .
Ukraine 's Foreign Ministry on May 21 protested a resolution adopted by Bulgaria 's parliament that urges the government to intervene , claiming that the division of the Bolhrad district in Ukraine into several districts would change the territory ’ s demographic statistics , thus depriving the ethnic Bulgarian population of the status of a sizeable minority there .
According to Bulgarian lawmakers , such a division might lead to abolishing education @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residing in the district .
Ukraine 's Foreign Ministry said that the issues related to `` the administrative-territorial structure of Ukraine fall within the exclusive competence of the state authorities of Ukraine . ''
`` Attempts by a foreign state to interfere in the internal affairs of Ukraine are completely unacceptable , '' the statement said .
The issue of ethnic minorities and their languages has become a major issue in Ukraine in recent years .
In 2017 , amid harsh criticism from ethnic minorities , Ukraine adopted a new language law that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ introduce their languages in regions where they represented more than 10 percent of the population .
The move was criticized by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which said the new law `` does not appear to strike an appropriate balance between the official language and the languages of national minorities . ''
Notable minority groups in Ukraine include Russians , Poles , Romanians , and Hungarians .
The law has also incensed officials in other neighboring countries , particularly Russia , which used the language issue as one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Crimea in 2014 and the backing of pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine where some 13,200 people have been killed since violence broke out in April 2014 .
With reporting by Ukrinform and Radio Bulgaria

Ukraine and Bulgaria have clashed over Kyiv’s plans to change administrative divisions within a district in the southern Odesa region with a sizeable ethnic-Bulgarian minority.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry on May 21 protested a resolution adopted by Bulgaria's parliament that urges the government to intervene, claiming that the division of the Bolhrad district in Ukraine into several districts would change the territory’s demographic statistics, thus depriving the ethnic Bulgarian population of the status of a sizeable minority there.
According to Bulgarian lawmakers, such a division might lead to abolishing education in Bulgarian for some 300,000 ethnic Bulgarians residing in the district.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said that the issues related to "the administrative-territorial structure of Ukraine fall within the exclusive competence of the state authorities of Ukraine."
"Attempts by a foreign state to interfere in the internal affairs of Ukraine are completely unacceptable," the statement said.
The issue of ethnic minorities and their languages has become a major issue in Ukraine in recent years.
In 2017, amid harsh criticism from ethnic minorities, Ukraine adopted a new language law that overturned 2012 legislation which allowed minorities to introduce their languages in regions where they represented more than 10 percent of the population.
The move was criticized by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which said the new law "does not appear to strike an appropriate balance between the official language and the languages of national minorities."
Notable minority groups in Ukraine include Russians, Poles, Romanians, and Hungarians.
The law has also incensed officials in other neighboring countries, particularly Russia, which used the language issue as one of the justifications for its forcible seizure of Crimea in 2014 and the backing of pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine where some 13,200 people have been killed since violence broke out in April 2014.
With reporting by Ukrinform and Radio Bulgaria


rferl--2020-05-22--IMF, Ukraine Pencil $5 Billion Deal To Help With Dept Repayments

The International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) and Ukrainian officials reached a staff-level agreement on a new $ 5 billion stand-by arrangement to help Kyiv cope with economic shock caused by the coronavirus pandemic .
The agreement is subject to approval by the IMF 's management and executive board , which will look at the deal `` in the coming weeks , '' the IMF said in a statement .
The agreement aims to provide balance of payments and budget support over a period of 18 months .
IMF Ukraine mission chief Ivanna Vladkova Hollar says it will ensure that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to growth and resume broader reform efforts when the crisis ends . ''
The arrangement also is expected to `` catalyze additional bilateral and multilateral financial support , '' she added in the statement .
The fund 's governing executive board generally follows the recommendations of the technical teams .
Ukrainian lawmakers last week approved banking legislation paving the way for billions in assistance to flow from the IMF .
Ukraine has been in talks with the IMF for months about a loan tied to reforms to help the country meet a spike @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on May 20 that he was certain a memorandum with the IMF would be signed by the end of May to bolster the country 's finances .
`` We have large debts to international entities .
We are a serious nation , but we are a poor country .
We are paying off billions of U.S. dollars annually to international organizations , '' Zelenskiy told a press conference to mark his first anniversary in power .
`` We will sign this memorandum , I am sure that we will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not be delayed , '' he added

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Ukrainian officials reached a staff-level agreement on a new $5 billion stand-by arrangement to help Kyiv cope with economic shock caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The agreement is subject to approval by the IMF's management and executive board, which will look at the deal "in the coming weeks," the IMF said in a statement.
The agreement aims to provide balance of payments and budget support over a period of 18 months.
IMF Ukraine mission chief Ivanna Vladkova Hollar says it will ensure that Ukraine is "well poised to return to growth and resume broader reform efforts when the crisis ends."
The arrangement also is expected to "catalyze additional bilateral and multilateral financial support," she added in the statement.
The fund's governing executive board generally follows the recommendations of the technical teams.
Ukrainian lawmakers last week approved banking legislation paving the way for billions in assistance to flow from the IMF.
Ukraine has been in talks with the IMF for months about a loan tied to reforms to help the country meet a spike in debt repayments this year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on May 20 that he was certain a memorandum with the IMF would be signed by the end of May to bolster the country's finances.
"We have large debts to international entities. We are a serious nation, but we are a poor country. We are paying off billions of U.S. dollars annually to international organizations," Zelenskiy told a press conference to mark his first anniversary in power.
"We will sign this memorandum, I am sure that we will sign it in May. It cannot be delayed," he added