12:44
Turkey supports Rutte’s NATO candidacy
Turkey supports the candidacy of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte as Secretary General of NATO. Turkey confirms this, after various media previously reported this based on NATO sources in Brussels. With the Turkish commitment, Rutte has the green light from 29 of the 32 member states.
Last Friday, Rutte visited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to secure Turkey’s support. Initially, Erdogan did not want to say whether he would support Rutte, although he did say that he was ‘not disappointed’ and spoke of a ‘positive conversation’. Rutte himself said after the visit that he was happy with his conversation with the Turkish leader.
Only Romania, which prefers to see President Klaus Iohannis as NATO chief, and Hungary and Slovakia can still prevent Rutte from the position. The appointment requires the unanimous consent of all NATO countries.
After the United States, Turkey is the largest NATO country, and in terms of the size of its army, Turkey only has to tolerate America. Washington already supported Rutte at an earlier stage and hopes that the appointment will be finalized before the NATO summit in July in the American capital Washington DC.
Jasper Daams
12:07
Polish farmers lift all blockades with Ukraine
Polish demonstrators lifted all blockades with the Ukrainian border this morning after a few months. A Ukrainian border guard said this on national television.
Since last year, Polish farmers have been protesting against ‘unfair competition’ from Ukrainian colleagues by blocking roads to the border with the neighboring country. The European Union decided to relax import duties on Ukrainian agricultural products in 2022 so that Ukrainian farmers could export their grain. The import of cheaper products puts pressure on prices in Poland.
Restrictions will continue to apply to trucks transporting grain – the export product that Polish farmers are most angry about – the Ukrainian border guard says. These trucks are only allowed to cross the border if Poland is not the final destination.
Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky is pleased with the lifting of the months-long blockade. According to him, this is the result of ‘productive discussions’ with Poland. “The negotiations were not easy, but the result is the most important,” Solsky said.
Jasper Daams
10:52
Kyiv: Ukrainians stabbed to death in Germany were soldiers
The two Ukrainians who were stabbed to death in Germany last Saturday were soldiers, according to Kyiv. The victims, men aged 23 and 36, were in Germany for rehabilitation after sustaining injuries in the war, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
At the end of the afternoon on Saturday, the men were attacked in front of a grocery store in the German town of Murnau am Staffelsee, in the German state of Bavaria. The older of the two died at the scene of his injuries, the other man died shortly afterwards in hospital.
After a manhunt, German police arrested a 57-year-old man of Russian nationality, and the public prosecutor’s office is investigating a double murder. It is not yet known whether the stabbing is related to the war in Ukraine. According to German police, the three men knew each other before the stabbing.
Jasper Daams
10:00
Ukrainian spy agency: Telegram blocked bots important for resistance against Russia
Messaging platform Telegram has blocked a number of official bots, according to the Ukrainian military spy agency GUR. The bots – software programs that can independently follow pre-programmed instructions – are important in the resistance against Russian aggression. Among other things, Telegram is said to have blocked the spy agency’s main bot.
Bots can, among other things, imitate conversations with people or collect information. On Telegram, bots also allow users to send social media content to Telegram, or provide followers with real-time information on a channel.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Telegram has played an important role in reporting on the war. Almost all major media, government agencies and public figures in both countries disseminate information through messaging channels. For example, Zelensky posts his daily video messages on the app, and warns the Ukrainian army about air strikes via the same route.
GUR writes that users’ personal data is safe despite the spy agency’s blocking of the bot. However, it warns users about bots with similar names, created by the enemy.
Jasper Daams
06:24
Ukraine increasingly vulnerable to Russian air strikes
The Russian army began its large-scale air raids on Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure in October 2022, but the threat has increased sharply since the end of last year, according to an analysis by the Volkskrant of figures published daily by the Ukrainian army.
Read Pepijn de Lange’s analysis here
04:27
Fall of ‘village of nothing’ symbolic of Russian success
Russian troops are said to have captured Novobachmutivka, a tiny village in Ukraine. The victory appears to be a confirmation of the Russian advance in the area. It is expected that more villages will follow after Novobachmutivka, writes Michel Maas.
Read the whole story here
20:02, Yesterday
Welcome to the live blog of Monday April 29
This was the most important news of Saturday April 27 and Sunday April 28:
• Russia attacked power plants in three different regions on Saturday, according to Ukraine. The attacks took place in the central Dnipropetrovsk province and the western provinces of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk..
• A journalist from the Russian edition of Forbes, Sergei Mingazov, has been placed under house arrest. This was reported by the Russian state news agency RIA. He is accused of spreading disinformation about the Russian military. According to Forbes, Mingazov was arrested by Russian authorities on Friday.
• French President Emmanuel Macron wants to open a discussion about the possibility of using the French nuclear arsenal to defend the rest of the European Union. According to French nuclear doctrine, the country may use its nuclear weapons if France’s ‘vital interests’ are threatened. Macron believes that these ‘vital interests have a European dimension’.
Read the full live blog from last weekend here.
