Speaking in an interview with RFE\/RL<\/a> on the sidelines of an EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday, Sikorski said that, when he reflects on warnings he issued when he was Poland\u2019s foreign minister in 2014 about the danger of Russian intentions in Ukraine, Europe wasn\u2019t prepared to do anything about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe might still be just like 10 years ago in the logic of too little, too late,\u201d he said, stressing that Ukraine urgently needs ammunition and ways to protect its cities and infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Slovakia\u2019s Russia-friendly prime minister this week made an unexpected U-turn<\/a> on Ukraine, pledging support on his first trip to the war-torn country only days after questioning Ukrainian sovereignty. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Robert Fico, who came to office in October after campaigning to sever his nation\u2019s military aid to Kyiv and oppose further sanctions against Russia, on Wednesday met his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal in the city of Uzhhorod, near the Slovak border. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fico claimed there were only \u201cminor\u201d political differences with Kyiv, which were part of \u201cpolitical life\u201d, adding: \u201cWe really want to assist you, we really want to help you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Shmyhal responded that he stood ready to develop \u201cpragmatic and very reliable relations\u201d between the two countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n High-ranking Russian officials were supposed to be on board<\/a> the Il-76 aircraft that crashed in Belogorod Oblast on Wednesday, but the Federal Security Service (FSB) did not allow them to board at “the last moment,” Andrii Yusov, Ukraine’s military intelligence spokesperson, told RFE\/RL on Thursday.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Il-76 transport plane crashed in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast on Jan. 24, <\/strong>allegedly killing everyone on board. Russia’s Defence Ministry then claimed that 65 Ukrainian POWs had been on the plane due to a scheduled prisoner exchange later that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ukraine’s military intelligence agency did not confirm whether prisoners were on the plane, nor commented on what might have caused the crash, but said a prisoner exchange had been planned for that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Yusov, Ukrainian intelligence suggests that several senior military and political officials should have been on board but were instead told by the FSB to use other modes of transport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yusov said that this information became known to Ukrainian intelligence after the plane crashed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Polish<\/strong> President Andrzej Duda on Tuesday pardoned<\/a> two members of the former government, who were then released from prison at his urging, in line with demands from the main opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party that lost power last month. Former interior minister Mariusz Kami\u0144ski and his deputy Maciej were jailed this month after being sentenced for abuse of power in their previous roles. Both men went on hunger strike, claiming to be “political prisoners”, and their jailing triggered large protests by tens of thousands of PiS supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The leaders of the six Western Balkan countries pledged on Monday to make full use<\/a> of the European Union\u2018s financial support plan of six billion euros as they continue to seek membership in the bloc. Serbia<\/strong>, Kosovo<\/strong>, Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/strong>, Montenegro<\/strong>, North Macedonia<\/strong> and Albania<\/strong> are at different stages of the accession process. Their leaders gathered in North Macedonia\u2019s capital, Skopje, and said in a joint statement they were committed \u201cto the development of their countries to follow European standards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same meeting, however, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovi\u0107 warned Bosnia<\/strong> that it will miss the chance<\/a> to start EU accession talks this year if it does not adopt the laws demanded by the EU within the next six weeks. \u201cIf March is missed, this whole year will be lost in terms of making positive decisions about Bosnia. There are no doubts about that,\u201d said Plenkovi\u0107 after the meeting, adding that this is an election year within the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moldovan<\/strong> Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu announced his resignation<\/a> during a press briefing in Chisinau on Wednesday, saying that he has achieved the goal set for him by pro-Western President Maia Sandu to bring Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest countries, closer to integration into the European Union. Mihai Popsoi, the Moldovan parliament’s deputy speaker and a member of Sandu’s governing Action and Solidarity (PAS) party, will become foreign minister, while Cristina Gherasimov, currently one of the three deputy foreign ministers, will be put in charge of a recently created European Integration Bureau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At least 64 people were detained<\/a> across Belarus<\/strong> this week on charges of \u201cinvolvement in extremist groups\u201d and \u201cfinancing extremist activities,\u201d accusations routinely used to target dissenters. The authorities on Tuesday arrested several dozen people in raids marking the latest crackdown on dissent, a local human rights centre said. The Viasna Centre said that some political prisoners who had been released after serving their sentences were among those arrested. Belarusian opposition leader-in-exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya condemned the arrests and said, “No one can feel safe in our country.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crypto bank Nexo has filed a record three billion US dollars billion lawsuit<\/a> against Bulgaria<\/strong> over the actions of prosecutors and other state institutions against its executives, the company said on Wednesday. It is the largest lawsuit ever brought against Bulgaria. \u201cThe amount of the arbitration claim is determined by the significant material and reputational damages resulting from the actions of the institutions during the now terminated, oppressive investigation against the company, its employees and executives,\u201d Nexo claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The EU and US have expressed concern over the timing of the enforcement in Kosovo<\/strong> of a regulation reinforcing the euro as the only official currency<\/a>, especially in Serb-majority municipalities that use Serbia\u2019s<\/strong> dinar on a daily basis. According to Kosovo’s national bank, the new rules, which enter into force on February 1, are designed mainly to fight the flow of counterfeit money. Kosovo has been using the euro since 2002, but people in Serb-majority municipalities in the north of the country use both Serbian dinars and euros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Uzbekistan<\/strong> and China have set their sights on increasing their trade turnover<\/a> to 20 billion US dollars \u201cin the near future,\u201d following\u00a0high-level negotiations in Beijing\u00a0on Wednesday between Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Bilateral trade in 2023 hit the 14 billion US dollars mark. A statement on the Uzbek president\u2019s website attributed this trajectory to the \u201cpowerful breakthrough made in bilateral relations\u201d in recent years. According to Mirziyoyev\u2019s office, Chinese investment in Uzbekistan’s economy has seen a fivefold increase \u201cin recent years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Romania<\/strong> this week became the latest country from emerging Europe to pull out of the Eurovision Song Contest<\/a>, citing the excessive cost of taking part. Also absent from the contest in Malmo, set to take place on May 11, will be Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/strong>, Bulgaria<\/strong>, Hungary<\/strong>, Montenegro<\/strong>, North Macedonia<\/strong>, and Slovakia<\/strong>. Eurovision is funded by the host broadcaster and the other participating broadcasters who pay a fee to take part.\u00a0While the European Broadcasting Union, which organises the event, does not make public the numbers involved, costs in recent years have reportedly run to the tens of millions of euros<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo: Polish Foreign Minister Rados\u0142aw Sikorski. (Sebastian Indra \/ Poland MFA; CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike many news and information platforms, Emerging Europe<\/em> is free to read, and always will be. There is no paywall here. We are independent, not affiliated with nor representing any political party or business organisation. We want the very best for emerging Europe, nothing more, nothing less. Your support will help us continue to spread the word about this amazing region.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You can contribute here<\/a>. Thank you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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