John McCain VS Putin

1967: John McCain var en marineflyger i Vietnamkrigen…
1967: Hvem var Putin?

Snoop Dogg Loves Belarus

Famous American rapper, songwriter and actor Snoop Dogg has used Belarusian folk ornaments to adorn a collection of clothes and other items available in his online shop.
The collection, named SNOOP LOVES BELARUS, includes T-shirts, backpacks, and cases for phones and tablets. The design was worked out by Boorj, an artist from the HoodGraff street-art team from Vitsebsk, Belarus.

Boorj, who now works in St. Petersburg, Russia, told RFE/RL's Belarus Service that Snoop Dogg got in touch with him via the Internet by the end of 2013.
“Snoop loves various ornaments and patterns. He was very surprised that Belarus has such an unusual ornament. And he told us – let's do it. So we dashed off,” says Boorj.

Kilde :  http://www.svaboda.org/content/article/26675945.html

NATO Secretary General: Number of intercepted Russian planes increased 3 times

NATO has intercepted over 100 Russian planes in the airspace of the Alliance members.
The statement was made by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels at a joint briefing with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, UNIAN reports.
“I don't want to speculate too much over [Russia's] intentions or purposes. We are reacting in an appropriate way. We are continuing our reassurance measures,” Stoltenberg said.
He confirms the information that Russia increased its activity both in the airspace and along the border with Ukraine. The NATO Secretary General noted Russia was showing its strength by increasing military flights. “We are doing what we are supposed to do,” he stressed.
According to him, the number of intercepted Russian planes was over 100 this year, which is about three times as much as the total number of intercepts the whole of last year.

Kilde : http://charter97.org/en/news/2014/11/5/124621/

Våpenhvilen i Ukraina i en tynn tråd

Våpenhvileavtalen mellom Ukraina og opprørerne i øst ser ut til å gå i oppløsning. Begge parter beskylder hverandre for å undergrave fredsprosessen.

VG følger

• Ukraina

Ukrainas president Petro Porosjenko ga onsdag ordre om at det skal sendes forsterkninger til byene øst i landet. Samme dag kunne det høres artillerieksplosjoner rundt flyplassen i Donetsk, der ukrainske soldater i ukevis har holdt stand mot separatister som forsøker å ta kontroll over flyplassen. Svart røyk steg også opp fra den regjeringskontrollerte landsbyen Peski, som ligger like ved flyplassen.
Ukrainas statsminister Arsenij Jatsenjuk sier at det er uaktuelt å bevilge penger til de østlige regionene så lenge opprørerne har kontroll.
– Så lenge Donetsk og Luhansk er kontrollert av terrorister, vil ingen utgifter i området bli finansiert over statsbudsjettet, sa Jatsenjuk under et regjeringsmøte onsdag. Regjeringen vil fortsatt levere gass og elektrisitet for å spare «vanlige folk», ifølge statsministeren.

Skjør avtale

De siste to månedene har det vært utallige brudd på våpenhvilen, som ble inngått i Minsk 5. september. Etter at de russiskvennlige separatistene i Donbass-regionen trosset protestene fra Kiev og holdt egne valg på nye ledere søndag, ser situasjonen enda mørkere ut.
Valget befester skillet mellom de to selverklærte, prorussiske republikkene i øst og resten av Ukraina. Både EU og USA mener valget bidrar til å undergrave fredsprosessen, mens russerne sier de respekterer valgresultatet.

Søndagens valg i de opprørskontrollerte områdene øst i Ukraina har vakt sinne i Kiev, som har svart med å oppheve loven som ga regionen et visst selvstyre. Bildet er fra et valglokale i Donetsk.
Foto: Maxim Zmeyev, Reuters

I Minsk-avtalen var det enighet om tiltak som skulle gi områdene selvstyre, ikke selvstendighet.
Valget kan føre til at EU gir separatistlederne i Ukraina innreiseforbud, opplyste den utenrikspolitiske rådgiveren til Tysklands statsminister Angela Merkel onsdag.
– Dette er folk som burde være på listen over dem som ikke får visum, sier Christoph Heusgen
Fra før av er en rekke høytstående russere ført opp på listen.

Truer flere byer

Separatistene har truet med å utvide sitt territorium, spesielt mot byen Mariupol ved Svartehavet. Det har fått Porosjenko til å gi militæret ordre om å sende forsterkninger østover, for å kunne stå imot «en mulig offensiv i retning Mariupol, Berjansk, Kharkiv og Nord-Luhansk».
– Ukraina vil fortsatt gi sterk støtte til fredsplanen. Men den ukrainske staten er nødt til å hindre spredningen av denne kreftsvulsten, sier Porosjenko.

Opphevet selvstyre

Separatistene anklager på sin side regjeringen i Kiev for å ha brutt fredsavtalen ved å oppheve en lov som ga de østlige regionene begrenset selvstyre.
– Kievs oppheving av den særskilte statusen for Donbass er til stor skade for fredsprosessen, sier separatistlederne i en felles uttalelse. De føyer til at de er villige til å reforhandle avtalen.
Porosjenko har varslet en ny lov som vil gjøre Donbass-regionen til en «særskilt økonomisk sone». Ettersom han anser søndagens valg som ugyldig, fastholder han at det skal holdes et nytt og legitimt valg i regionen, administrert av den ukrainske regjeringen, men et slikt valg er neppe gjennomførbart med det første.

Kilde: http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/ukraina/vaapenhvilen-i-ukraina-i-en-tynn-traad/a/23329650/

Dziady

Dette er en av de eldste folketradisjoner, som har mer enn tusen års historie og stor verdi for hviterussere og ukrainere. På Dziady hedrer vi minnet om avdøde forfedre. Minnestundene begynte på lørdag. 

"Hvis man husker sine røtter, er man sterkere til tider".

 Det kan sammenlignes med et tre: Desto dypere røttene er, desto mer næring får treet. Desto dypere røtter i familien, desto sterkere er familien.

"Uten fortid - ingen framtid"

EU extended sanctions against Belarus

However, the black list has been shortened.
The Council of the European Union has extended sanctions against Belarus for 1 year. The decision on it has been adopted on October 30, the press-service of the Council of the European Union informs.
This decision has been adopted as “not all political prisoners have been released and rehabilitated, and the situation with respect to human rights, rule of law and democratic principles has not been improved considerably,” the message reads.
The EU has also updated the list of individual persons and legal entities, touched by the sanctions. Thus, the Council has passed a decision that there are no grounds any more for 24 individuals and 7 legal entities to be affected by the sanctions.
“This decision does not reflect any changes in the EU policy towards Belarus, explained in the decisions of the European Council as of October 15, 2012: the EU continues its policy of critical interaction with Belarus, aimed at assistance to human rights respect, rule of law and democratic principles in Belarus,” the report reads.
After the black list was corrected, 219 Belarusian officials, including Lukashenka, and 25 companies remain under visa and economic sanctions of the EU. The sanctions have been imposed against “purses” of the dictator – Yury Chyzh, Uladzimir Peftsieu (Vladmimr Peftiev) and Anatoly Tsernauski (Anatoly Ternavsky), and their firms. The restrictive measures against Belarusian authorities are used because of systematic violations of human rights by him, and crackdown on opposition and civil society.

Kildet :  http://charter97.org/en/news/2014/10/30/123636/

Lithuania’s president: ‘Russia is terrorizing its neighbors and using terrorist methods’

By Lally Weymouth September 24

NEW YORK

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine has raised fears that the Baltic states — all three of which are NATO members — could be next. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite warned of the danger when she spoke this week with The Post’s Lally Weymouth. Excerpts:
Q. Do you approve of President Obama’s bombing of Syria?
A. Yes, [he showed] some leadership. Lack of leadership today in the world — in Europe and the United States — is one reason these terrorists are growing so fast.
Do you feel the lack of leadership in your part of the world?
Yes. Lack of leadership has allowed terrorist groups such as ISIS [the Islamic State] to grow, and on the question of Ukraine, it has allowed Russia to become a state with terrorist elements.
How do you see the situation in Ukraine?
The situation is still deteriorating. Russian troops are still on the territory of Ukraine. That means that Europe and the world are allowing Russia to be a country which is not only threatening its neighbors but is also organizing a war against its neighbors. It is the same international terrorism as we have in Iraq and Syria.
In Ukraine, it is a real war. The European Union and most of the leaders in the world are trying to talk about it as if it is not war but some kind of support of terrorist elements. We saw Crimea. In the very beginning, it was green men, and it became Russian military. Now it is the same in eastern Ukraine. And I’m sure that it is not the last territory where Putin is going to demonstrate his powers.
Where do you think he is going now?
If we will be too soft with our sanctions or adapt sanctions but not implement them, I think he will go further trying to unite east Ukraine with south Ukraine and Crimea. He recently said that in two days he is capable to reach Warsaw, the Baltic states and Bucharest. So that is an open threat to his neighbors.
Might he go to Transnistria?
If we will allow him to go, he will go anywhere. The problem is that Putin’s Russia today is ready and willing to go to war. Europe and the West are not ready and not willing to go to war. There is no leadership in Europe or in the world able to stop Putin. Afterwards, we will be surprised that new territories are taken, that new countries are partitioned, and it will be a lot more costly and too late maybe to solve it.
Are you worried he will next attack the Baltics?
If he will not be stopped in Ukraine, he will go further.
So Article 5 and NATO are not enough?
No. Everybody declares that NATO’s Article 5 will take place. But it will not stop Putin from his plans if he does not see real actions from the European and world leaders. They are only talking. We need to stop him in Ukraine. And until now, that is not understood. That is why I am saying that in Europe today, leadership is taken by Putin, not by the West.
Is Putin’s aim to split Europe?
The danger of Russia’s behavior today is not smaller than what we have with ISIS [the Islamic State] in Iraq and Syria.
So you think both ISIS and Russia are terrorists?
Yes. I think that Russia is terrorizing its neighbors and using terrorist methods.
But the world is more concerned with ISIS.
Of course. It is the primary goal. Unfortunately, this is a perfect position for Putin to do what he wants. In reality, these so-called peace negotiations in Minsk were done under the ultimatum of Putin. Western countries and the European Union gave into his conditions, meaning practically the partitioning of Ukraine.
The U.S. sent Ukraine MREs [meals ready to eat] and they were delivered in German trucks so as not to offend Putin.
Why are we so busy trying not to offend Putin, who is today sending his troops to kill and occupy Ukrainian territory? Why are we not sensitive about what Ukrainians are feeling? Sooner or later we will call him a terrorist and a criminal . . .
Does the situation remind you of the Sudetenland?
The situation before the Second World War? Yes, of course. We with open eyes are allowing the partition of Ukraine.
Do you feel you have enough protection after the Wales summit?
After Wales, NATO is revived, not sleeping any more. We have something to improve our security. We need to invest more. But how much time do we have?
So the sanctions are not hurting Putin?
They are not sufficient. But if he will go further, maybe countries will apply more serious sanctions.
The head of Ukrainian intelligence told a U.S. official that they had to agree to the cease-fire.
Yes. The Europeans and other countries asked [Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko to agree to conditions that were unacceptable because [they amounted to a partition] of Ukrainian territory.
So Russia got Crimea and now eastern Ukraine?
With the applause of European and other leaders in the world because they didn’t help Ukraine at all.
You worry about your own country.
All neighboring countries to Russia are under threat now. He is threatening them and joking that they are not real states.
Will the result be a war?
We can avoid a war. If both sides are ready to go to war, there will never be a war. If Russia is willing to go to war and the West avoids it, Russia will go as far as it will. . . .
The U.S. appears to be more interested in making a nuclear deal with Iran.
That is a problem. If we see that for some reason we are selling out independent countries, what moral values are we fighting for?
You think that is true?
When I see how the process is going, it is very much possible. The conditions of the cease-fire were done on Russia’s proposal. The West is not militarily supporting Ukraine. Russia is allowed to do whatever it wants on Ukraine’s territory. It is a shame on all the Western leaders to allow an aggressor to do what he wants with a sovereign country in the 21st century.
I am happy Obama finally showed leadership on Iraq and Syria. I hope this will allow him to show leadership on Ukraine. Leadership comes with learning. You are not born a leader but you can become a leader.
That leaves Lithuania in a difficult position.
We were occupied for 50 years, and we know how to deal with this neighbor. What is surprising is that countries far away that have never been touched by aggressive Russian policy are afraid of dealing with Russia.
Only countries with a border, Baltic states and Poland, are vocal. It is our one tool to fight Russia: to be vocal and courageous and to shame leaders of the West for not taking the responsibility for protecting freedom, sovereignty and democracy in Europe.

Kilde:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/lithuanias-president-russia-is-terrorizing-its-neighbors-and-using-terrorist-methods/2014/09/24/eb32b9fc-4410-11e4-b47c-f5889e061e5f_story.html