14 Friday International Friday, June 25, 2021 Germany and France seek EU backing on Putin summit bid Kremlin says Putin backs increased EU-Russia dialogue MOSCOW/BRUSSELS: President Vladimir EU leaders to relaunch regular meetings with Putin backs a proposal from Germany and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a controver- France for the EU to restart summits with Russia, sial bid that Ukraine slammed as “dangerous”. the Kremlin said yesterday. Berlin and Paris late Wednesday put for- “We assess the initiative positively,” Kremlin ward a last-minute proposal for the bloc to spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Putin contemplate the idea of a potential summit is a supporter of creating mechanisms for dia- with Putin in the wake of US President Joe logue and contacts between Brussels and Biden’s sit-down with him in Geneva last week. Moscow.” Moscow said Putin was a “supporter” of the Peskov was responding to a question about a proposal, which would potentially revive a proposal by Berlin and Paris for the 27-member regular fixture that was frozen in 2014 after bloc to contemplate a potential summit with the the takeover of Crimea by Russia. Kremlin chief. Many EU member states oppose “In my opinion, we as the European Union the idea and Ukraine’s foreign minister blasted must also seek direct contact with Russia and the proposal earlier yesterday ahead of a debate the Russian president,” Chancellor Angela on the issue by the European Union’s leaders. Merkel told Germany’s parliament ahead of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the summit. yesterday “a lot is unclear” including the “It is not enough for the American president agenda of the proposed summit. “It is neces- to talk to the Russian president,” she said, stress- sary for our colleagues to explain what they ing that the European Union too “must also cre- mean and what they are aiming for,” Lavrov ate different formats for talks”. Merkel, who could BRUSSESL: Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel (right), talks to Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on the first day of a said at a press conference. be attending her last EU summit with German European Union (EU) summit at The European Council Building in Brussels yesterday. —AFP Ties between the bloc and Russia have dete- elections set for September, insisted that the 27- riorated since Moscow annexed Crimea from member bloc should meanwhile put up “a united Ukraine in March 2014. The last summit between front against the provocations” by Russia. tives to resume EU summits with Russia without member states-especially in eastern Europe- EU chiefs in Brussels and Putin took place in seeing any progress from the Russian side will who were blindsided by the push and remain early 2014. ‘Dangerous deviation’ be a dangerous deviation from EU sanctions deeply wary of talking to the Kremlin. EU am- Brussels has imposed waves of sanctions on Ukraine’s foreign minister blasted the Ger- policy,” Dmytro Kuleba said after meeting the bassadors failed to thrash out a common posi- Moscow, which has responded with its own man-French effort to sit down formally with EU’s foreign policy chief in Brussels. tion on the proposal on Wednesday and left it counter-measures. Putin given that the longtime leader had failed to Merkel and French President Emmanuel for the leaders to hammer out the details when Germany and France will attempt to persuade demonstrate any willingness to change. “Initia- Macron will face resistance from numerous EU they discuss the issue later. —AFP Gibraltar votes Husband of exiled in postponed Belarus opposition abortion referendum leader stands trial GIBRALTAR: Gibraltar was voting yesterday on plans to ease dra- MOSCOW: The husband of Belarusian opposition leader Svet- conian abortion laws in a referendum delayed for over a year by the lana Tikhanovskaya went on trial yesterday in the ex-Soviet na- coronavirus pandemic. The issue has exposed sharply opposing tion, a rights group said, months after historic protests erupted views within the tiny, normally closely-knit British enclave at the over a disputed presidential election. southernmost tip of Spain, which is home to some 32,000 people. The mass anti-government demonstrations broke out in August The referendum was initially slated for March 19, 2020 but was post- 2020 after President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Be- poned as virus cases began spiralling at the start of the pandemic. larus with an iron grip for nearly three decades, claimed a sixth After the polls opened at 9:00 am (0700 GMT), a line of so- term in power in what Tikhanovskaya and several Western leaders PRAGUE: This file photo taken in Prague on June 9, 2021 shows Belarusian op- cially-distanced voters waited to cast their ballots at Inces Hall the- believe was a rigged vote. position leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya (right) holding a picture of her hus- atre, its facade covered with a vibrant mural. Heading towards the These have now subsided, but independent journalists and ac- band, the opposition figure jailed blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky. —AFP theatre, voters passed two banners, one with a scan of an unborn tivists continue to receive jail terms in a government crackdown. baby saying “Their lives are in your hands. Vote no!” and a smaller Sergei Tikhanovsky, a popular YouTube blogger who had cam- green placard reading “Yes for care compassion and change.” paigned against Lukashenko before being arrested, stood trial in The hearing in Gomel was held behind closed doors inside a Except in cases where it would save the mother’s life, abortion the city of Gomel in southeastern Belarus, the independent Viasna detention center where Tikhanovsky has been kept for over a year, is currently banned in Gibraltar on pain of life imprisonment, al- rights group said. Viasna said. A video shared online by a pro-government journalist though such a penalty has not been applied in modern times. The He faces up to 15 years in jail. Five other activists are also on showed the six defendants being brought to the hearing with their government is proposing changes to the law to allow abortion trial, including historic opposition figure Mikola Statkevich. hands handcuffed behind their backs. Wearing plain T-shirts and where a woman’s mental or physical health is at risk — such as in Tikhanovsky had planned to run against Lukashenko in the 2020 trousers, the men were placed inside a cage for defendants. cases of rape or incest — or when foetuses have fatal physical de- August presidential elections but was detained on charges of vi- As Statkevich walked in, he shouted “Long live Belarus!”, the fects. “It’s very important to give value to every single life, and olating public order soon after announcing his presidential bid. slogan of the opposition during last year’s demonstrations. The yes of course, women have got rights, but so have the babies,” His wife Svetlana-a stay-at-home mum and political novice- Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes in Belarus, 67-year-old pensioner Marie-Luisa Bruzon told AFPTV after took his place and quickly gained popularity, becoming said in March that Tikhanovsky and his associates “manipulated voting against. —AFP Lukashenko’s main opponent in the election. public consciousness” using social media. —AFP