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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (left), President of the European Council Donald Tusk (right) and the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker walk next to each other after a Ukraine-EU summit in Kiev on July 13, 2017. | Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

Brussels and Kiev celebrate fresh ties but Dutch disagreement casts shadow over talks.

By David Stern

7/13/17, 9:51 PM CET

Updated 7/15/17, 11:47 AM CET

KIEV Ukrainian and European Union leaders ended a two-day summit Thursday that celebrated their growing closeness while also highlighting points of tension between the two sides.

European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission PresidentJean-Claude Juncker arrived in Kiev on Wednesday evening for talks with President Petro Poroshenko and other top officials.

Itshould have been a victory lap after one of the most successful periods in relations with Brussels in Ukraines history. Last month, the EU granted Ukrainians the right to travel to Europes Schengen zone without visas one of their most prized foreign policy goals. This week, the EUratified a far-reaching Association Agreement with Kiev, which had been more than a decade in the making.

But a disagreement over wording, which left organizers without a final summit communiqu, cast a shadow over the gathering.

At issue was a line declaring that the European Union acknowledges Ukraines European aspirations and welcomes its European choice which had been included in a statement after the EUs 2015 Eastern Partnership summit, as well as written into the ratified political and trade agreement.

But a disagreement over wording, which left organizers without a final summit communiqu, cast a shadow over the gathering.

According to European diplomats, Dutch officials insisted additional language be inserted into the final statement, to reflect a 2016 European Council decision thatthe Association Agreement did not guarantee Ukraine a path to become an EU member. The Dutch parliament had earlier ratified the deal on the condition that this did not lead to automatic membership for Ukraine.

EU officials said Ukraine and its EU allies insisted the line must be included without alteration. So in the end, the seven-page document, which had been laboriously negotiated over weeks, was not issued.

Some observers were at a loss as to why a compromise could not be reached perhaps by leaving out the line altogether.

Practically, this is not a big deal, said one European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. But symbolically its damaging. It shows a lack of unity.

Atthe moment this is more a question of language than policy. The Netherlands, officials say, is supportive of Ukraine in private discussions; however, Dutch officials take a harder line in public, fearful of providing political ammunition to the countrys far right.

Within the EU theres a certain amount of unity, at least for the moment, over the policy toward Ukraine reflected by the extension last month of sanctions against Russia for its annexation of Crimea and destabilization campaign within Ukraine.

The Association Agreement is viewed as the capstone of this consensus, though the path to ratification was strewn with rocks.

Moscow opposed the deal from the outset, pressuring Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraines president at the time, to reject it in 2013. This unleashed pro-Western protests and clashes in the capital, which ultimately drove Yanukovych from power.

The agreement was signed, but fighting broke out in Ukraines east, which grew into a conflict thats killed more than 10,000 people and decimated the countrys economy. Meanwhile, Dutch voters rejected the Association Agreement in a referendum, concerned over what commitments it made to the Ukrainians.

After Dutch concerns were assuaged by fellow EU leaders, there was a sense of mission accomplished among European and Ukrainian officials in Kiev on Thursday. Tusk even handed Poroshenko a document formally confirming ratification.

Moscow opposed the deal from the outset, pressuring Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraines president at the time, to reject it in 2013.

[This] was a kind of milestone summit, to summarize all the work that has been done, said European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis. Now we are discussing how to fully use the potential of the Association Agreement and deepen cooperation in a number of sectors.

But though membership is not on the table at the moment, Ukrainian officials are keen to establish other incentives they can work toward and hold out to the public as possibilities for the future. In remarks after the summit, Poroshenko expressed hopes for Ukraine to become a member of the EU customs union and Schengen open-border zone.

EU officials were noncommittal.

Furthermore, it remains to be seen how fully Ukraine implements the Association Agreements commitments, which comeinto full effect in September and involve wide-ranging political, legal, economic and quality-control reforms.

Ultimately, Ukraines endemic corruption was the biggest point of concern. EU leaders warned their Ukrainian counterparts that this had to be their primary focus, otherwise all the hard work of the past years couldbe undone.

What were asking we wont be lecturing the country because this isnt a country that needs to be lectured is to increase the fight against corruption, Juncker said. Corruption is undermining all the efforts this great nation is undertaking.

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EU and Ukraine close but not that close - POLITICO.eu

July 13, 2017; BBC News, Europe

Polands slide toward authoritarianism has been spilling over into the environmental sector, but a new ruling by European Union officials could halt the damage.

According to the BBC, the trouble started when the Polish government increased logging in a conservation area called the Biaowiea Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Europes last ancient forest, to curb a bark beetle infestation. The move faced backlash from by Green activists and others trying to protect the endangered species inside the 350,000-acre preserve that borders Belarus.

The EUs top court issued a ruling this week.

The EU Commission took the unusual step of asking the court to impose an immediate ban on the logging because it takes on average two years to reach a judgment in cases like these, and the EU is worried the logging is already causing irreparable damage If it eventually rules that Poland has infringed EU environmental regulations, it can impose hefty fines on Warsaw.

The New York Times even highlighted the yearlong battle to save the forest.

The protesters, backed by environmentalists, say all invasive operations in the primeval forest endanger its ecosystem The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, is on their side, too. Last week, during a meeting in Krakow, the delegates adopted a decision in which they urged Polish government to halt logging in the forest, especially in old-growth tree stands. UNESCO is also considering adding the forest to theList of World Heritage in Danger, a move usually reserved for land and properties threatened by armed conflicts and natural disasters.

Avid international civil society watchers may note that Poland is one of many countries where illiberal democracy is taking hold, particularly after U.S. President Donald Trump visited the country last week to admonish the creep of government bureaucracy, berate fake news journalists, and spread his nationalist message before the Group of 20 summit in Germany.

EU officials also criticized Polands administration over a new law allowing parliament to appoint judges, arguing that the change will politicize the justice system and undermine the separation of powers, according to the BBC.

Although activists are planning a protest in Warsaw for the weekend, Reuters noted that the opposition has been unable to marshal any real public protest against the ruling partys moves, reflecting Poles frustration with a system in which even simple court cases can last years.

Increasingly, the European Union has stepped up as a watchdog. Just this week, the EU Commission announced plans to open cases against the three states that have failed to take in asylum-seekers per a 2015 plan: Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

Poland and Hungary have refused to take in a single person under a plan agreed in 2015 to relocate 160,000 asylum-seekers from Italy and Greece, which had been overwhelmed by mass influx of people from the Middle East and Africa, Reuters reported. The Czech Republic had initially taken in 12 people from their assigned quota of 2,691, but said earlier in June it would take no more in, citing security concerns.

However, the European Unions internal conflicts could threaten its role in the future.

The blocs divisive migration disputes have come at a time its unity and resolve are already being tested by Brexit, weak economies and higher support for populist, Eurosceptic and nationalist-minded parties on the continent, Reuters reporters Gabriela BaczynskaandFoo Yun Chee wrote. It pits the formerly communist easterners against the wealthy westerners and countries on the Mediterranean coast, with Italy leading calls to punish Poland and Hungary by taking away some of the generous EU funds they benefit from.Anna Berry

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European Union Steps Up to Save Polish Forest - The Nonprofit Quarterly (registration)

The "Emir" of ISIS-K was killed "in a strike on the group's headquarters in Kunar Province, July 11," Chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said in a statement.

US Navy Captain Bill Salvin, spokesman for US Forces Afghanistan provided additional detail of how Abu Sayed was killed.Salvin said he was killed in an airstrike by a US drone.The initial Pentagon statement described Sayed being killed in a "raid".

Secretary of Defense James Mattis told reporters on Friday that the death of a leader likeSayed"sets them back for a day a week, a month, it's about who it is and what kind of people are below them. It is obviously a victory on our side in terms of setting them back, it's the right direction."

Gen. John Nicholson, Commander, US Forces Afghanistan said in a statement, "This operation is another success in our campaign to defeat ISIS-K in Afghanistan in 2017. Abu Sayed is the third ISIS-K emir we have killed in the last year and we will continue until they are annihilated. There is no safe haven for ISIS-K in Afghanistan."

Hafiz Sayed Khan was killed in July 2016 and another emir Abdul Hasib was killed during a joint US-Afghan commando raid in April.

April's raid also resulted in the deaths of several other high ranking leaders of ISIS-K, the terror group's regional branch, and 35 ISIS fighters. Two American soldiers died in the attack, perhaps from friendly fire, military officials said at the time.

The presence of Sayed in Kunar is noteworthy, the other two leaders were killed in neighboring Nangarhar province the terror organization's traditional powerbase.

Afghan and US forces launched a counter ISIS-K offensive in early March 2017 and Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, has pledged to drive the terror group out of Afghanistan by the end of 2017.

Unlike elsewhere in Afghanistan where US troops primarily serve a training and supporting role, US special operations forces have been directly engaged in the offensive against ISIS in Afghanistan, conducting raids and strikes in the country's eastern provinces.

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US raid killed leader of ISIS in Afghanistan - CNNPolitics.com

Sesame Street's new Afghan character, a 4-year-old Afghan boy puppet named Zeerak, performs during the taping for the sixth season of the Afghan version of Sesame Street, called Baghch-e-Simsim, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Rahmat GulAP

(KABUL, Afghanistan) Last year, Afghanistan's version of "Sesame Street" introduced a little girl character aimed at inspiring girls in the deeply conservative Muslim nation. Now a new muppet is joining the cast: her brother, who will show boys the importance of respecting women.

Zeerak, whose name means "Smart" in Afghanistan's two official languages, is a 4-year-old boy who enjoys studying and learning. He joins 6-year-old sister Zari, whose name means "Shimmering," on Afghanistan's version of the show, "Baghch-e-SimSim," or "Sesame Garden."

Both muppets wear traditional Afghan clothing the baggy trousers and long embroidered shirt known as a shalwar kameez for him and colorful native dresses and a cream-colored hijab, or headscarf, for her. They join the rest of "Sesame Street's" multi-cultural line-up, which includes muppets specially created for local versions of the program in Bangladesh, Egypt and India.

Massood Sanjer, the head of TOLO TV, which broadcasts the program in Afghanistan, said that after the overwhelmingly positive response to Zari from both parents and children, the goal was to create a boy character to emphasize the importance of gender equality and education in a country where the vast majority of girls don't go to school and the literacy rate for women is among the lowest in the world.

"In a male-dominant country like Afghanistan, I think you have to do some lessons for the males to respect the females. So by bringing a male character to the show who respects a female character, you teach the Afghan men that you have to respect your sister the same way as you do your brother," Sanjer said.

In keeping with that goal, Zeerak proclaimed in a recent episode of the program, "I love Zari so much and as much as I love Zari, I love her friends too."

It's an important message broadcast on a medium with a nationwide reach: While television in Afghanistan is largely restricted to urban areas, "Sesame Street" is also broadcast on radio in both official languages, Pashtun and Dari, expanding its audience to most of the country.

Both Zari and Zeerak were created in New York and their costumes incorporate fabrics and designs from all of Afghanistan's major ethnic groups to promote inclusiveness in a society racked by decades of conflict.

Afghanistan has been at war for almost 40 years, since the 1979 Soviet invasion and the subsequent mujahedeen war that lasted a decade. That was followed by a devastating civil war in which warlords drew lines based on ethnicity and killed tens of thousands of people in Kabul alone.

The Taliban took over in 1996, and their five-year rule was one of brutal extremism in which they banned women from work and girls from going to school, confining them to their homes. The radical Taliban regime was forced from power by the 2001 U.S. invasion that ushered in a democratic experiment and billions of dollars in international aid to help rebuild the country.

Ahmad Arubi, the producer of the local version of "Sesame Street," said he is hopeful that the new characters will eventually have a wider audience outside of Afghanistan.

"Possibly, in the coming years other Muslim countries, which are running this program, might use our characters, such as Zeerak and Zari. They might use our scripts, translate them in their own languages and use them in their countries," he said.

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Muppet Promotes Respect for Women in Male-Dominant Afghanistan - TIME

U.S. troops killed the head of ISISs Afghanistan branch, known as Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), during a June 11 airstrike on the groups headquarters in the Kunar province, the Pentagon announced Friday. Abu Sayed took over as leader of the group after his predecessor, Abdul Hasib, was killed by Afghan and U.S. forces during a joint raid in April. Before Hasib, ISIS-K was run by Hafiz Sayed Khan, who died in a drone strike in late July 2016. In a statement, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said Tuesdays strike had also killed other ISIS-K members and will significantly disrupt the terror groups plans to expand its presence in Afghanistan.

Sayeds death marks a significant advancement in the U.S. effort to drive ISIS out of Afghanistan by the end of this year. While ISIS is predominately based in Iraq and Syria, the militant group extended its operations to Afghanistan in 2015. For now, ISIS retains limited territory in Afghanistan, with major strongholds in Kunar and the eastern province of Nangarhar. While the Pentagon estimated that around 2,500 ISIS fighters were stationed in Afghanistan in 2015, they have since reported that ISIS-K is now down to less than 1,000 militants. In addition to battling U.S. and Afghan forces, ISIS-K has also clashed with the Taliban, which maintains a much larger presence in the nation.

In June, an anonymous U.S. administration official told the Associated Press that the Pentagon was planning to send an additional 4,000 troops into Afghanistan to train and advise Afghan forces, who many argue have reached a stalemate in their operations against the Taliban. There are currently around 8,500 U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan, who are divided between fighting against the Taliban and conducting counterterrorism missions against al-Qaeda and ISIS. The AP reports that the additional troops would be engaged in both operations.

In June, U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis told Congress that we are not winning in Afghanistan right now, adding that he plans to correct this as soon as possible. The comments followed criticism from Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, who said Mattis lacked a concrete strategy for victory. The death of Abu Sayed comes at a critical time in the war in Afghanistanespecially considering that battles against ISIS have diverted resources away from Taliban-focused operations.

It is obviously a victory on our side in terms of setting [ISIS-K] back. Its the right direction, Mattis told reporters on Friday, though he struggled to say how long the group would be thrown off by the loss of their leader. Mattis speculated that a death like Sayeds would place ISIS-K at a disadvantage for a day, a week, a month, depending on what kind of people are below [him]. On the same day, John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said the deaths of three ISIS-K leaders in a single year emphasized that there is no safe haven for ISIS-K in Afghanistan."

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Pentagon Says ISIS Leader in Afghanistan Is Dead - The Atlantic