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Estonian President: Russia-NATO Agreement from 1997 is 'Obsolete'
Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves believes that under the current conditions, the Russia- NATO Founding Act from 1997 is obsolete, as he stated in the interview with Eesti Päevaleht. According to him, the agreement provided for a permanent but limited presence of NATO forces in the newly formed states of the former Soviet Union, but it did not envision the current security situation. “It includes language that under the current and expected security situation the permanent forces will not …
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Ukraine intends to restore TV and radio broadcasts to Crimea
The National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine has established a working group to restore broadcasting in the south of the Kherson region and to Crimea. This was reported by the Press Service of the Ministry.
The group was created "for the purpose of protecting the informational space and the informational sovereignty in the south of the country". The group is headed by Crimean citizen and Member of the National Council of Television and Radio broadcasting of Ukraine, …
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French and German Foreign Ministers visit Kiev
On the 22nd of February, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Germany and France, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Jean-Marc Ayrault, who arrived in Berlin on the same day, flew from the German capital for a two-day visit to Kiev.
They flew on board a German governmental plane immediately after a brief meeting and press conference in the departure lounge of the government terminal at the Tegel airport. The negotiating agenda was more than full.
Firstly, the Special Representative of the OSCE in …
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Crimean Tatar leader issues statement on anniversary of deportation of Chechen and Ingush peoples
The head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars, Refat Chubarov, issued a statement on Tuesday on the anniversary of the forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush peoples in 1944 to honor the memory of the victims of state repression.
“72 years ago, on February 23rd, by the communist regime of the USSR, a special operation began on the total deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from their historical lands. Over half a million people were forcibly evicted, about half of the Ingush and …
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PARNAS office in Moscow evacuated because of bomb threat
The Moscow office of the People’s Freedom Party (PARNAS) was evacuated on Tuesday after a bomb threat was received.
Ilya Yashin, key leader of the opposition party, was due to present his reported entitled “National Security Threat”, in which he outlined the activities of Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov.
Upon receiving word of the bomb threat, Yashin asked the audience to remain on the ground and not to panic.
“The bomb is in my hands”, Yashin said, holding up the report.
The police demanded …
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Russian Duma demands that Eurovision ban performance of song by representative of Ukraine
The State Duma of the Russian Federation urges the leadership of Eurovision to prohibit Ukrainian singer Jamala from participating in their contest with a song about the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, Russian media reported.
According to the Russian website Ekho Moskvii, the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Vadim Dengin, said that this song is being used to "offend Russia once again."
The Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Refat Chubarov, …
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Yashin: 30,000 Chechen soldiers are loyal only to Kadyrov
Law enforcement organizations in Chechnya, which were created on the basis of nationality, consist of a total of 30,000 people. These people follow the command of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Head of the Chechen Republic. This was stated in a report entitled “National Security Threats”.
Ilya Yashin, a friend of murdered Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, wrote the report in preparation for the anniversary of Nemtsov’s death. The New Times published a chapter from this report on the 22nd of …
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Italian Prime Minister to visit St. Petersburg
Matteo Renzi, the Prime Minister of Italy, plans to visit St. Petersburg, as announced at the Foreign Press Association conference.
The head of the Government of the European state will visit St. Petersburg in June, as reported by RIA Novosti. He will participate in the St. Petersburg Economic Forum.
It is worth noting that 2016 is a jubilee year for the forum that will be held from the 16-18th of June. Last year several foreign countries, including the US, boycotted the forum due to the …
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Russian plane violated Lithuanian airspace twice last week
The press service of the Ministry of Defense of Lithuania reported that Lithuanian fighters intercepted a Russian aircraft on two separate occassions last week.
On February 17th, fighter jets were scrambled from the Siauliai Airbase to intercept a Russia IL-20 transport plane heading for Kaliningrad. Two days later, the same aircraft was intercepted and esorted by Lithuanian fighters on its way back to mainland Russia.
According to the Ministry of Defense of Lithuania, the Russian IL-20 …
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Evidence continues to mount suggesting Russian ground troops are active in Syria
Howitzers MSTA-B, tanks T-90A, armored personnel carrier BTR-82A - photos of these weapons were posted on the Citeam.org website, which suggests that all these weapons were transferred from the Russian airbase, Hmeymim, to the east of Syria, as reported by Deutsche Welle.
Citeam.org is a website belonging to the "team involved in the investigation of military conflicts in Ukraine and Syria." The team, founded in May 2015, is known under the English name the Conflict Intelligence Team. One of …