Ansa news

(ANSA-AFP) - BEIJING, MAY 16 - Chinese leader Xi Jinping said Thursday that he and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on the need for a "political solution" to the war in Ukraine, following talks between the two presidents in Beijing. "Both sides agree that a political solution to the Ukraine crisis is the correct direction," Xi told media alongside Putin in a joint press conference broadcast by Russian television. (ANSA-AFP).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 16 - Defence Minister Robert Kalinak announced that Prime Minister Robert Fico's condition has stabilised following surgery, but it remains serious, according to the Tasr agency. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 15 - Local media reports say Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot, BBC reported today. According to TASR, Mr Fico was shot in front of a building in Handlova, central Slovakia, where a government meeting was taking place. Journalists on the scene reported hearing several shots. He was taken to the hospital, and police detained his alleged assailant. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 15 - Ilaria Salis is "enthusiastic" at the prospect of getting out of jail, her father Roberto said after the antifascist's longstanding request for house arrest in Budapest was finally granted on Wednesday. "Ilaris is enthusiastic about being able finally to leave prison and we are extremely happy that we will be able to finally re-embrace her," he told ANSA in the latest development in the case of the 39-year-old Monza elementary school teacher on trial for attacking two neoNazis…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 15 - The Kosovo police, in an operation in the north of the country, found and seized a significant quantity of weapons and ammunition, together with police uniforms, Pristina's authorities said today. The operation was carried out in the town of Zvecan. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 15 - The number of irregular border crossings into the European Union fell by nearly a quarter (23%) in the first four months of 2024, to around 63 400, according to preliminary data released by Frontex today. The Western Balkans and Central Mediterranean saw the greatest decreases in irregular crossing detections among the major migratory routes (-69% and -62%, respectively), while the Western African and Eastern Mediterranean routes saw the greatest increases (+375% and…

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 15 - Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Wednesday expressed skepticism after Russian President Vladimir Putin told Xinhua that Moscow was open to talks about the war in Ukraine, while stressing that any negotiations must not lead the end of Ukraine as a free country. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 15 - A vote on the resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica that was rumoured to be scheduled for today will instead take place on Thursday, May 23, according to Bosnian media, citing UN General Assembly sources. Western powers support the resolution, but Serbia and the Bosnian Serbs are vehemently opposed to it. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 14 - Hungary's prison service said Tuesday Ilaria Salis can vote in the June 8-9 European elections she is standing in as a Green-Left Alliance (AVS) candidate, rejecting her father Roberto's claims are "baseless". It said the 39-year-old Monza elementary school teacher and anti-fascist on trial for allegedly attacking two neoNazis in February last year was entitled to vote as were all Hungarian detainees. Roberto Salis said Monday the Hungarian authorities were denying his daughter…

(ANSA) - TRIESTE, 14 MAG - Yesterday, a significant event unfolded as a delegation led by the esteemed Austrian Minister of Education, Science and Research, Martin Polaschek, visited the headquarters of the European Consortium for Research Infrastructures in Central Europe (ERIC) in Trieste. The visit was a testament to the importance of international research collaborations, focusing on fruitful partnerships involving Austria, the Czech Republic, and Italy at Elettra Sincrotrone. The group - as…

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 14 - The European Commission said Tuesday that Austria was breaching EU rules on free movement with restrictions it has been imposing at its border with Italy at the Brenner Pass. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 14 - The UN Security Council will hold a new session on the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina tomorrow. The central topic is expected to be the controversial resolution on the Srebrenica genocide, which will be voted on soon by the United Nations General Assembly. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 13 - "The Albania operation is an example of a model that we must try in order to solve the problem of illegal immigration," said Petr Fiala, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, in joint declarations issued at the conclusion of their meeting at Palazzo Chigi with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. "Countries outside of Europe that can guarantee a solution should be sought," he added. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 13 - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic today after visiting Belgrade since yesterday with Olena Zelenska, President Volodymyr Zelensky's wife. According to media reports, the meeting's topics included bilateral relations and the two countries' European paths. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 13 - Reinhold Lopatka, the leading candidate of the ÖVP (Austrian People's Party) in the elections, has categorically rejected the possibility of collaborating with the FPO (Austrian Freedom Party, populist right) at the federal level. In relation to the European Parliament, Lopatka reiterated his opposition to any form of collaboration with the FPO. However, Lopatka has expressed an openness to right-wing conservative parties such as Fratelli d'Italia. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 13 - European lawmakers agreed on CO2 targets for heavy-duty vehicles, phasing out almost all new diesel truck sales by 2040. Manufacturers must reduce the average emissions of new trucks by 45% in 2030, 65% in 2035, and 90% in 2040. Italy voted against, along with Poland and Slovakia. However, the Czech Republic chose to abstain. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 13 - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has rebuked newly sworn-in North Macedonia President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova for referring to her country as "Macedonia" rather than its constitutional name "North Macedonia," warning that further violations of the two countries' 2019 name agreement could jeopardise Skopje's EU membership ambitions, according to the daily Kathimerini. (ANSA).

(ANSA-AFP) - VILNIUS, MAY 13 - Lithuania's president and prime minister will face off in the second round of the Baltic state's presidential vote on May 26 after the incumbent failed to win an overall majority in the first round on Sunday. With almost all the ballots counted in the Baltic state which was once part of the Soviet Union, President Gitanas Nauseda was ahead with 46 percent of the vote while Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte had 16 percent. The election has been dominated by fears over…

(ANSA) - SKOPJE, 12 MAG - The conservative Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, the first woman Head of State in the former Yugoslav country, sworn in as the new president of North Macedonia today during a ceremony in Parliament in Skopje. When reading the oath formula, however, she used the term 'Macedonia' and not 'Republic of North Macedonia', the new one inserted in the constitution after last years' agreement that ended an almost 30-year dispute with Greece. For this she was taken back by the president…

(ANSA-AFP) - VILNIUS, 12 MAG - Lithuania voted Sunday in a presidential election dominated by security concerns with the main candidates all agreed the NATO and EU member should boost defence spending to counter the perceived threat from neighbouring Russia. The Baltic state of 2.8 million people fears it could be next in Russia's crosshairs if Moscow wins its war against Ukraine. While the top three contenders agree on defence, they have diverging views on social issues and on Lithuania's relations…

(ANSA) - SARAJEVO, 11 MAG - Local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be held on October 6. The Central Election Commission announced this in Sarajevo, underlining that the vote will take place in compliance with changes recently imposed on the Bosnian election law by International High Representative Christian Schmidt. So far, there has been no reaction in Republika Srpska to the announcement about the October vote, and the Bosnian Serb leadership's decision is awaited to see whether it will…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, 11 MAG - The health condition of Ratko Mladic, the former military leader of the Bosnian Serbs held in the Hague Tribunal prison where he is serving a life sentence for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Bosnian War, has deteriorated further. As his son Darko said today, the general now has severe kidney problems due, according to him, to mistakes by local doctors in The Hague. The situation, he underlined, is that now his father cannot get out of bed due…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, 11 MAG - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he plans to travel to New York again next week to address the U.N. General Assembly again and call for a vote against the Srebrenica genocide resolution. This document is expected to be submitted to the Assembly for consideration. Serbia opposes it, arguing that the real goal of the resolution is to place the stigma of 'genocidal people' on the Serbs, which Belgrade rejects, believing that there were heinous crimes in Srebrenica,…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 10 - The presence of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Italy's Friuli Venezia Giulia region (FVG) "can play an important role in the current context in which the region is committed to transforming itself from a border land to a land of connection," said Friuli Venezia Giulia Region President Massimiliano Fedriga on the occasion of the Abdus Salam Centre for Theoretical Physics' 60th anniversary. "Thanks to its reputation and commitment…

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 10 - Italy ranks first among the EU big guns when it comes to the circular economy, according to a report released on Friday by the Circular Economy Network (Cen) and the National Agency for New Technology, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (Enea). The report compared the performance of the EU's five largest economies - Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Poland - using the European Commission's circular-economy indicators. Italy came first with 45 points, followed by…

(ANSA-AFP) - VILNIUS, MAY 10 - Lithuania votes Sunday in a presidential election dominated by security concerns as the NATO and EU member plans to boost defence spending to counter the perceived threat from neighbouring Russia. The Baltic state of 2.8 million people fears it could be next in Russia's crosshairs if Moscow wins its war against Ukraine, which began with an invasion in 2022. Opinion polls give the incumbent, 59-year-old former banker Gitanas Nauseda, a comfortable lead over the other…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 10 - The European Commission has disbursed the first tranche of loans totaling 50 million euros as part of North Macedonia's macro-financial assistance operation. The EU's executive stated in a note that the aid package is intended to help the Balkan country's economy, which has been severely impacted by the recent energy crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - ROME, 10 MAG - How nationalisms can undermine, inside and outside European borders, and how, likewise, the Western liberal-democratic project constitutes an outcome that is not necessarily a foregone conclusion for Polish public opinion, will be discussed on may 15 starting at 5:30 p.m. at the 'Luigi Einaudi' foundation in Rome. Introducing the proceedings will be the foundation's secretary general, Andrea Cangini. Guest speaker, starting with his latest essay 'Polonia restituta' (Il Mulino,…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 10 - "After submitting 78 signatures of the elected MPs in the 11th convocation of the Croatian Parliament, I was entrusted with the mandate to form the Croatian Government," HDZ leader and current Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on X today. "Even in the third term, we continue to work for improvement," he added. The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which has been in power since 2016, reached an agreement with the far-right Homeland Movement to form a new government in…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAY 10 - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara next Monday: a trip that, according to Kathimerini, will not bring any "news," but will primarily be "a trip to confirm" that relations between the two countries can improve through openness to dialogue. (ANSA).