European Union

Russia began its biggest military exercise since Soviet times on Tuesday. Up to 300,000 soldiers are to take part - around 3,000 of them from China. The exercises, dubbed Vostok 2018, are taking place in eastern Russia and will continue until the weekend. What is the message behind them?

Serena Williams received three warnings from umpire Carlos Ramos during the US Open women's final. After the match Williams called Ramos a "thief" and accused him of sexism, pointing out that men had not received warnings under similar circumstances. Was her accusation justified?

One in five Latvians receive their salary in an envelope. A new regulation came into effect at the start of September under which the employees of employers who do not pay contributions pay a "voluntary tax" and in exchange receive free health insurance. Moreover the tax authorities plan to write to around 400,000 people and encourage them to pay social insurance contributions. Latvia's press isn't all too convinced by the plans.

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In the event of cancellation of a flight, the airline company must also reimburse commissions collected by intermediaries when tickets are bought, as long as it was aware of them

The Vostok 2018 (or Orient-2018) military exercise, between 11-17 September, will mobilize for four days no less than 300 000 soldiers (virtually all forces of Central and Western Russian military districts of Russia), 36 000 armored vehicles and more than a thousand aircraft (planes, helicopters and drones).

The Chinese and Mongolian armed forces will be invited. There will be an air of Zapad-81 (in 1981 with 100.000 soldiers, a hard message to the West and to the revolted Poland), but more imposing in a way.

Tag: Vostok 2018

AMENDMENTS 1 - 141 - Draft report Report on the 2018 Commission Report on Montenegro
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AMENDMENTS 1 - 176 - Draft report Report on the 2018 Commission Report on Albania
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SOPO
Dismissal of a Catholic doctor from a managerial position by a Catholic hospital due to his remarriage after a divorce may constitute unlawful discrimination on grounds of religion

I asked for more information on the activity of the mission and Iooked for an interview with the EULEX Kosovo mission. Several e-mails signed by no one have arrived : conversation with no-names, unable to understand my request and my questions.

People who treat us as idiots who do not know the sites of the European Union (www.eeas.europa.eu and www.europa.eu). Poison pens who do not dare to sign a letter, people who do not dare to take responsibility. Which simply "did not feel like" transferring questions to the right people. Answers from an EU mission`s information service with visible evidence of not wanting to help. I have never encountered such a situation concerning an EU, UN (etc.) mission or operation...

(I have not had any other choice because unfortunately there is no more e-mail address on the site.)

We strongly doubt the importance of these information services funded by European citizens. They would be obliged to answer us.

They have webpage whose links do not work anymore. (I can imagine the thousands of euros that were paid for this.) But they do not stop creating advertising for themselves, in the name of genderism, book about the biography of the female mission`s members and the other things really very, very important. (In this case, no problem with urls.) Unbelievable.

My books and university textbooks about CSDP and EU missions are used by several universities all over Europe in Africa and elsewhere in education. In our next book on the Balkans this case will be mentioned.

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Dear Mr. Türke,
As already mentioned on 2 and 9 August 2018, we do not have the resources to meet each request for information.
Having explained the above, we hereby inform you that we will not respond to any further inquiries on this matter.

Yours sincerely,
Office of Chief of Staff
EULEX Kosovo

From: Dr. TÜRKE András István [mailto:(...)]
Sent: Wednesday, September 5, 2018 10:33
To: EULEX Kosovo Information
Subject: request for additional informations II.

Dear Office of the Chief of Staff,

Please forward my e-mail towards competent persons, who are able to answer to my questions, like Ms. Alexandra Papadopoulou or Mr. Bernd Thran.
Thanks a lot.

Best regards:
Andras Istvan Türke
director
—
Europa Varietas Institute
www.europavarietas.org

Le 2 août 2018 à 10:13:23, EULEX Kosovo Information (eulexkosovoinformation@eulex-kosovo.eu) a écrit:

Dear Mr Türke,
Thank you for your email and interest in EULEX Kosovo.
Unfortunately, we do not currently have the resources to meet each request for information. While we regret not being able to accommodate your request for information, we would kindly direct you to the EULEX website (www.eulex-kosovo.eu) which contains information about the Mission, its work, press releases, EU in Kosovo, EU External Action, CSDP, and other relevant data. We would also kindly direct you to the websites of EEAS and EU, www.eeas.europa.eu and www.europa.eu respectively for more information.

Yours sincerely,
Office of the Chief of Staff
EULEX Kosovo

From: Dr. TÜRKE András István [mailto:(...)]
Sent: Thursday, 19 July 2018 10:18
To: EULEX Kosovo Information
Subject: request for additional informations

Madam / Sir,

I am director of the independent Swiss based Europa Varietas Institute.

I am writing a book about EU diplomacy and mission in the Western Balkans (1991-2018) and I request for some additional informations about the activity of EULEX Kosovo.

I read a lot of very critical books about EULEX activity during the period 2008-2013, the mission was accused to being biased towards former UCK members.
I would like to know how far the mission has been changed since them.
What are the on-site experiences, the most important challenges to overcome?
What are the lessons learned compared to other EULEX missions?
I would like to have information that is beyond the official EU texts.

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I need some lists
- about prosecutors investigated 400 war crimes
- about the 150 drafted laws
- about EULEX HoMs with period of activity

Other interesting documents are welcome.

I need also these documents but impossible to download, there are a lot of bugs on your site :
http://www.eulex-kosovo.eu/docs/justice/judgments/criminal-proceedings/D...
http://www.eulex-kosovo.eu/docs/justice/judgments/criminal-proceedings/D...
(+ other and older verdicts)

Thanks a lot.

Best regards:
Andras Istvan Türke
director

—
Europa Varietas Institute
www.europavarietas.org

Tag: EULEX Kosovo

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