Elezioni parlamentari in Bielorussia. Polonia: Sbloccati fondi europei. 🗞️ Rassegna del 26/02/2024

Ucraina

(Reuters) Ukraine military destroys Russian surveillance plane - air force commander

• Ukraine's military on Friday destroyed a Russian A-50 surveillance aircraft, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said, the second time in a little more than a month that Ukraine has reported downing the sophisticated plane.
• The A-50, which first came into service near the end of the Soviet era, is a large airborne early warning and control aircraft that can scan several hundred kilometres for enemy aircraft, ships and missiles. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's military intelligence directorate, told the Financial Times a month ago that Russia had eight A-50s at that time.
• Ukraine's military in January said its air force destroyed a Russian Beriev A-50 surveillance plane.

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-25/war-in-ukraine-zelenskiy-says-31-000-troops-killed-during-two-year-conflict

Russia

Il caso Navalny:

(BBC) Authorities return body of Alexei Navalny to mother 8 days after death

• The body of leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny has been returned to his mother, his spokeswoman says.
• Navalny's mother Lyudmila had reportedly been told to agree to a "secret" burial. If she refused, he would be buried at the prison colony where he died. After signing a death certificate saying he had died of natural causes, she was then given three hours to agree to a "secret" funeral for her son.
• Navalny’s mother earlier in the week recorded several videos saying the authorities were “blackmailing her” into agreeing to a secret funeral for her son.

La risposta degli Stati Uniti:

(Reuters) Biden meets family of Russian opposition leader Navalny, promises sanctions on Putin

• U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday met the wife and daughter of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died last week in a prison camp, and called him "a man of incredible courage". Biden, speaking to reporters in California, reiterated that Washington plans to impose a wide array of sanctions on Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin following Navalny's death.

Nuove sanzioni dagli Stati Uniti:

(Associated Press) US is imposing more than 500 new sanctions on Russia’s war machine, indicts Russian businessmen

• Nella giornata di venerdì 23, il Dipartimento del Tesoro statunitense ha annunciato di voler imporre altre 500 nuove sanzioni alla Russia, in risposta alla morte in carcere dell’oppositore Alexei Navalny. Queste sono la più grande tranche di sanzioni dall'invasione dell'Ucraina da parte della Russia nel febbraio 2022.
• Queste sanzioni arrivano sulla scia di una serie di nuovi arresti e incriminazioni, annunciati giovedì 22 dal Dipartimento di Giustizia, che prendono di mira uomini d'affari russi, tra cui il capo della seconda banca più grande della Russia, e i loro intermediari.
• Gli Stati Uniti sono riusciti a trasferire più di 5 milioni di dollari di asset russi confiscati in Europa a sostegno della difesa dell'Ucraina, hanno affermato giovedì i funzionari statunitensi. Tuttavia, il processo di giustificare ogni confisca di presunti asset illeciti in tribunale è un lavoro meticoloso per legge, e si svolge nel corso degli anni.

Bielorussia

(Radio Free Europe) Polls Close In Belarus Elections Called A 'Sham' By U.S. And 'Farce' By Opposition

• Only four parties, all of which support Lukashenka's policies, were officially registered to compete in the polls. About a dozen parties were denied registration last year.
• Voting began on February 20. According to the Central Election Commission, as of 6 p.m., voter turnout was 70.3 percent. Results are expected to be announced on February 26, the commission said.
• Following the vote, Belarus is expected to form a new, 1,200-seat All-Belarus Popular Assembly that will have broad powers to appoint judges and election officials and to consider amendments to the constitution. The new body will include elected local legislators, as well as top officials, union members, and pro-government activists.
• Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya described the elections as a "farce" and called for a boycott. In a separate message posted on X, Tsikhanouskaya said on February 25 that her video address to the Belarusian people about the elections and Russia's invasion of Ukraine had been displayed on 2,000 screens in public spaces throughout Belarus. The action, she said, was organized by a coalition of former police and security forces officers.
• Early voting, which began on February 20, is widely seen by observers as a mechanism employed to falsify elections. The Belarusian opposition has said the early voting process allows for voting manipulation, with ballot boxes unprotected for a five-day period.
• The elections are widely considered to be manipulated and officials did not invite election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
• The Vyasna Human Rights Center alleged that many voters were forced to participate in early voting, including students, soldiers, teachers, and other civil servants.
• Polling stations were guarded by police, along with members of a youth law-enforcement organization and retired security personnel. Armed rapid-response teams were also formed to deal with potential disturbances.

(Deutsche Welle) Belarus: Lukashenko says he'll run for president in 2025

• Belarus' longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko said he would run for president again in 2025, the country's state news agency BeITA reported Sunday.
• "Tell them (the exiled opposition) that I'll run," Lukashenko told journalists at a polling station after voting in the country's parliamentary and local council elections. "No responsible president would abandon his people who followed him into battle", he added.

Israele

(Reuters) Netanyahu's post-war plan sees Israel keeping security control over Palestinian areas

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has presented his first official "day after" plan for the Gaza Strip once the war ends. The document proposes Israel would maintain security control over all land west of Jordan, including the occupied West Bank and Gaza - territories where the Palestinians hope to establish an independent state.
• In the long-term goals listed, Netanyahu rejects the "unilateral recognition" of a Palestinian state. He says a settlement with the Palestinians will only be achieved through direct negotiations between the two sides - without naming who the Palestinian party would be.
• In Gaza, it proposes replacing Hamas administrative control with local representatives "who are not affiliated with terrorist countries or groups and are not financially supported by them", setting demilitarisation and deradicalisation as goals to be achieved in the medium term.
• The plan does not elaborate on when that intermediary stage would begin or how long it would last. But it conditions the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip, much of which has been laid to waste by Israel's offensive, on its complete demilitarisation.

(BBC) Israel mulls ceasefire plan as progress reported

• On Saturday evening, the Israeli war cabinet was briefed on negotiations in Paris with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US.
• Later, it was reported that Israel was sending a delegation to Qatar for further talks this week.
• On Sunday, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said an understanding of the "basic contours" of a hostage deal and temporary ceasefire had been reached.

(Associated Press) Netanyahu says a cease-fire deal would only delay ‘somewhat’ an Israeli military offensive in Rafah

• Netanyahu has said he’ll convene the Cabinet this week to approve operational plans for action in Rafah, including the evacuation of civilians. “Once we begin the Rafah operation, the intense phase of the fighting is weeks away from completion. Not months,” Netanyahu told CBS. ““If we don’t have a deal, we’ll do it anyway. It has to be done because total victory is our goal and total victory is within reach.”
• U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told NBC that President Joe Biden hadn’t been briefed on the Rafah plan and said, “We believe that this operation should not go forward until or unless we see (a plan to protect civilians).”

Europa

Polonia:

(Euronews) Brussels to unblock €137 billion in EU funds for Poland as early as next week

• La Commissione Europea si sta preparando a sbloccare fino a €137 miliardi di fondi di coesione e di recupero per la Polonia, che fino ad ora non ha potuto accedere a questi fondi a causa di preoccupazioni legate allo stato di diritto.
• L’annuncio è stato fatto dalla Presidente Ursula von der Leyen durante un viaggio in Polonia, dove ha parlato accanto al Primo Ministro Donald Tusk. Il progresso arriva dopo che funzionari polacchi si sono recati a Bruxelles per presentare un “piano d’azione” di nove bozze di legge volte a ripristinare l’indipendenza giudiziaria dai tribunali superiori del paese ai tribunali inferiori.
• Dopo essere salito al potere a metà dicembre, Tusk ha promesso di reimpostare le relazioni tra Bruxelles e Varsavia, ripristinare la democrazia e rilasciare i fondi congelati, che il paese ha urgentemente bisogno di pagare per progetti di sviluppo per accelerare le transizioni verdi e digitali.
• Entrambi i pacchetti di denaro sono legati al ripristino dell’indipendenza giudiziaria e obbligano il governo polacco ad annullare gli effetti delle controversie modifiche introdotte dal PiS, in particolare riguardo la camera disciplinare della Corte Suprema, che era stata autorizzata a punire i magistrati in base alle loro sentenze.

Austria:

(Financial Times) Former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz found guilty of perjury

• Il giudice Michael Radasztics ha condannato Kurz a una pena detentiva condizionale di otto mesi con un periodo di prova di tre anni.
• Secondo la legge austriaca, la sentenza non avrà effetto legale fino a quando non saranno esauriti i ricorsi di Kurz. L’ex leader austriaco ha dichiarato di essere stato “ingiustamente dichiarato colpevole” e che il processo era stato avviato da “avversari politici”. Il suo avvocato ha dichiarato che avrebbe fatto appello contro la sentenza.
• Il caso contro Kurz, aperto dai procuratori austriaci più di due anni fa, si è concentrato su dichiarazioni che aveva fatto nel 2020 a una commissione parlamentare d’inchiesta sulla corruzione nel suo governo.
• Kurz, allora ancora cancelliere, è stato accusato di aver mentito alla commissione sotto giuramento dopo aver detto che non aveva avuto un ruolo decisivo nella nomina di un alleato a capo della società di partecipazione statale austriaca, ÖBAG.
• Messaggi trapelati dai telefoni di funzionari governativi hanno successivamente dipinto un quadro diverso. Kurz è stato infine incriminato nell’agosto dello scorso anno.
• Lo scandalo crescente sull’indagine lo ha costretto a lasciare l’incarico una seconda e ultima volta nel 2021.

Politica internazionale

Nord America

Stati Uniti:

(Reuters) Trump wins South Carolina, beating Nikki Haley in her home state

• Donald Trump has won the South Carolina Republican primary election, defeating Nikki Haley with 52.9% of the vote.
• Trump celebrated his victory, noting record-breaking voter turnout in South Carolina.
• The result further solidifies Trump's lead in the race to be the Republican nominee for president, setting up a potential showdown with Joe Biden in November.

Medio Oriente

Yemen:

(CBS) U.S. and U.K. conduct fourth round of joint airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen

• US and UK forces launched strikes against 18 Houthi targets in Yemen, responding to attacks on Red Sea shipping.
• Strikes targeted sites including weapons storage facilities, drones, air defense systems, and a helicopter.
• Houthis denounced US-British aggression, vowing to continue military operations in defense of their country.