12:24
24.3.2014
Cost for #EU 28 and Russia without gas imports from #Russia. Source: http://t.co/TDUEPIZpZ6 #Crimea #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/5PmJrIxxnw
— Anders Östlund (@andersostlund) March 24, 2014
12:17
24.3.2014
RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports that more than 1,000 residents of Crimea and southeastern Ukraine have contacted a hotline offering emergency assistance to people looking to relocate to Transcarpatia.
More than 200 IDPs have already resettled in the southwestern region, most of whom have moved in with friends or relatives. Local officials say they are prepared to use motels, retirement homes, and other public buildings in case of "massive" refugee flows.
Read the whole article (in Ukrainian) HERE:
More than 200 IDPs have already resettled in the southwestern region, most of whom have moved in with friends or relatives. Local officials say they are prepared to use motels, retirement homes, and other public buildings in case of "massive" refugee flows.
Read the whole article (in Ukrainian) HERE:
12:01
24.3.2014
Following President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's comments yesterday, our newsdesk has some more on the Crimea fallout in Belarus:
The chairwoman of the Central Election Commission in Belarus says she believes events in neighboring Ukraine affected voter turnout in local elections in her country.
Talking to journalists on March 24, Lidziya Yarmoshina said that "even passive voters in Belarus came to the polling stations because, after the events in Ukraine, they understood that they need a strong power structure in order to keep the state functioning."
Yarmoshina said more than 77 percent of voters nationwide took part in elections for almost 19,000 deputies on local councils yesterday.
She said voters understand that they can support "strong power" by taking part in elections.
In Minsk, the capital, 61 percent of voters went to the polls, while in some regions voter turnout was reported to be as high as 80 percent. (Interfax, belta.by)
Talking to journalists on March 24, Lidziya Yarmoshina said that "even passive voters in Belarus came to the polling stations because, after the events in Ukraine, they understood that they need a strong power structure in order to keep the state functioning."
Yarmoshina said more than 77 percent of voters nationwide took part in elections for almost 19,000 deputies on local councils yesterday.
She said voters understand that they can support "strong power" by taking part in elections.
In Minsk, the capital, 61 percent of voters went to the polls, while in some regions voter turnout was reported to be as high as 80 percent. (Interfax, belta.by)
11:54
24.3.2014
Fascinating interview in Telegraf.lv with Oleg Syropyatov, a professor at Ukraine's Military Medical Academy, on the "psychiatric epidemic" starting in Ukraine.
"People got a feeling of enthusiasm and uplift [from coming to Maidan]. But this uplift was an adrenalin rush that went on for a really long time, and so many people are exhausted. The doctors working on Maidan say there are already a lot of psychoses. People with altered states of consciousness. Unfortunately, this traumatic stress disorder is undoubtedly going to spread through the public. It's a deep-seated, very strong trauma. People in this condition can develop a kind of trench disease. If you recall history, the First World War was fought in the trenches. People waited for a very long time, sitting in the trenches, suffering from a lack of action. And then it turned into a bloody revolution."
11:20
24.3.2014
#Obama and Dutch PM delivering remarks now inside #Rijksmuseum. Jointly condemn #Crimea intervention as "flagrant breach of intl. law"
— Douglas Herbert (@dougf24) March 24, 2014
#Obama, speaking in front of Rembrandt's "Night Watch": "This is definitely one of the most impressive backdrops I've had for a press conf"
— Douglas Herbert (@dougf24) March 24, 2014
11:11
24.3.2014
Here's another update on U.S. Barack Obama's trip to The Hague:
After meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Amsterdam, U.S. President Barack Obama said the United States and Europe are united in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions in Crimea.
Speaking in the Netherlands at the start of a European tour, Obama said Europe and the United States are united in support of the Ukrainian government and its people.
He called Washington's NATO allies its closest partners on the world stage and said Europe is the cornerstone of American engagement with the world.
After meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Amsterdam, U.S. President Barack Obama said the United States and Europe are united in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions in Crimea.
Speaking in the Netherlands at the start of a European tour, Obama said Europe and the United States are united in support of the Ukrainian government and its people.
He called Washington's NATO allies its closest partners on the world stage and said Europe is the cornerstone of American engagement with the world.
10:59
24.3.2014
Last week Russian media was claiming that Ukrainian PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk was offering to parcel off western Ukraine to Poland. Now it turns out it was actually Vladimir Zhirinovsky who made the offer.
The Gazeta.pl news site reports the LDPR leader sent a letter to the Polish Foreign Ministry calling on Warsaw to follow Russia's example and hold a unification referendum in Ukraine's Volyn, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, and Rivne regions.
Zhirinovsky reportedly sent similar proposals to Hungary and Romania, suggesting they use a similar strategy to acquire Transcarpatia and Chernivtsi respectively. The plan -- which presumably envisions a Russian acquisition of eastern Ukraine -- envisions leaving only a small central region of the country intact.
Any takers? Not in Poland, at least. Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Wojciechowski said, "The proposal is so strange, that no one is taking it seriously. It's outrageous to suggest that Poland would participate in dividing up the territory of an ally. Only a sick mind could come up with something like this."
10:32
24.3.2014
Breakdown of #Crimea's $4.3 billion economy. http://t.co/NZLSu3aqzF pic.twitter.com/VCbbfd71bo
— Andrew McChesney (@ARMcChesney) March 24, 2014
10:27
24.3.2014
Now Russia wants the world involved: PM @MedvedevRussiaE says intl talks needed to solve Crimea post-secession energy/water crisis-@Reuters
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) March 24, 2014
10:20
24.3.2014
Aksyonov: Russian (and Ukrainian-born) deputy PM Dmitry Kozak will head the integration and development commission for Crimea. Apparently this is a reward for his successful management of the Sochi Olympics -- including his assertion that he was secretly spying on Western journalists and therefore knew they were exaggerating about decrepit state of their hotels.