BBC News | Ukraine EU membership 'will become a truth' BBC News Ukraine will one day become a member of the European Union, the country's vice prime-minister for European Integration has said. Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze told BBC's Hardtalk that reforms in Ukraine are bringing the country closer to membership. |
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Ukraine EU membership 'will become a truth' - BBC News
President Trump called Russia a destabilizing influence in Europe and the Middle East, and urged it to join the community of responsible nations, in his strongest remarks yet against the regime of Vladimir Putin, whom he is scheduled to meet Friday in Hamburg for the first time.
His remarks in Warsaws Krasinski Square, which marks the 1944 Warsaw uprising against the Nazis, came after the U.S. agreed to sell Patriot missiles to Poland. The president also used the opportunity to reiterate the NATO commitment to mutual defense, a declaration he did not make during the NATO summit in May, prompting consternation among U.S. allies wary of Russias ambitions.
To those who would criticize our tough stance, I would point out that the United States has demonstratednot merely with its words but with its actionsthat we stand firmly behind Article 5, the mutual-defense commitment, Trump said Thursday. Words are easy, but actions are what matters. And for its own protection, Europe, and you know this, everybody knows this, everybody has to know this, Europe must do more.
Trump has repeatedly said NATO members must spend more on defensea position in line with past U.S. administrations. But he has been criticized because he appeared to suggest U.S. commitment to mutual defense was predicated on its allies defense spending.
Although Trump chided Russia for its role in Ukraine and Syria, he was more circumspect about the role Moscow played in interfering in the U.S. election.
I think it was Russia, and it could have been other people in other countries, he said at a news conference with Andrzej Duda, the Polish president, earlier Thursday. Nobody really knows for sure.
In fact, U.S. intelligence agencies say Russia almost certainly interfered in the 2016 election with a view to favor Trump, though they also say theres no evidence Moscows efforts succeeded.
Trump, in his remarks in Krasinski Square, laid out his vision of the threats faced by the West, and cited Polands historic experience, where for centuries it was alternately invaded by Russia and Germany, as a reminder that the defense of the West ultimately rests not only on means but also on the will of its people to prevail.
The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive, Trump said. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?
Trump has long viewed terrorism as the main threat facing the West and the Western way of life, and has wanted a coalition among like-minded nations to fight it. In this call, he has also criticized Europes open-borders policy on Syrian refugees and criticized the EU, in general, and Germany, in particular, on everything from trade to regulation. But in Thursdays remarks, Trump reserved his most pointed criticism for Russia: He condemned its actions in Ukraine, which is a major concern for Poland and other Eastern and Central European nations that are wary of Moscows attempt to reassert its dominance in its historic sphere of influence, as well its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that countrys civil war, and he urged Russia to join the community of responsible nations in our fight against common enemies and in defense of civilization itself.
In Moscow, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman rejected the idea Russia was destabilizing the region. He added that Russia was keenly awaiting Trumps first meeting with Putin on Friday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meeting in Hamburg.
Trumps visit to Europe is being closely watched and provides the president an opportunity for a reset in relations with Americas closest allies, which have been labeled as tense since he attended the G7 meeting in Italy in May over, in part, his comments about NATO and climate change.
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Trump, in Warsaw Speech, Criticizes Russia's 'Destabilizing' Role in Ukraine, Syria - The Atlantic
Donald Trump appears before the media in Poland. Photo: Michal Fludra/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Lawyers have a concept called arguing in the alternative, in which a counsel makes a series of mutually exclusive defenses against the prosecutions case. (My client shot him in self-defense/The victim was never shot at all/Somebody else shot him.) The strategy can work in a court of law, where a prosecutor must establish proof beyond a reasonable doubt. It does not work so well in real-life situations where you are trying to appear believable. Unless youre Donald Trump, in which case having long ago established your conviction that nothing you can do or say would alienate your core supporters (i.e., the Fifth Avenue Principle) you can present alternative facts or alternative arguments without embarrassment. In Europe today, Trump was asked about Russian meddling in the election. Trump surreally alternated between casting doubt on the certainty of Russian involvement, and flaying his predecessor for his failure to punish Russia:
Trump begins by casting doubt on whether Russia truly directed the hacks of Democratic emails:
I think it could have been other people and other countries. Could have been a lot of people interfered.
Then he pivots to his argument that, despite being given clear evidence of Russian involvement, Barack Obama failed to publish Russia swiftly enough:
Barack Obama found out about this, in terms of it it were Russia why did he do nothing about it? He was told it was Russia, by the CIA, as I understand it, and he did nothing about it. They say he choked Thats the real question, why did he do nothing from August, all the way to November 8th.
Then he pivots back to insisting the evidence of Russian involvement is not that solid:
Mistakes have been made Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure. I remember when I was sitting back listening about Iraq, weapons of mass destruction how everybody was 100 percent sure that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Guess what? That led to one big mess. They were wrong and it led to a mess.
And then, finally, Trump pivots back again to Obamas failure to act:
And then, finally, Trump pivots back again to Obamas failure to act:
But my big question is why did Obama do nothing about it from August all the way to November 8th.
To take the latter point first, Obamas tepid response to the Russian attack can certainly be questioned. Trump is referring to a lengthy Washington Post report, which includes the I feel like we sort of choked quote from an official. Trump goes on to (correctly) opine that Obama failed to act because he believed Hillary Clinton was going to win anyway.
But why else did Obama refuse to take more forceful action against Russia? Because Republicans clearly signaled they would treat any such action or statement by the administration as an illegitimate partisan effort to sway the election. The Republican leadership, briefed on the attack at the time, cast doubt on the intelligence and refused cooperation. Trump was publicly denying Russian involvement (it could have been some 400-pound guy on his bed, he insisted in September) while also publicly stating over and over that the election was going to be rigged.
So while Obama may have made the wrong decision, he didnt have any safe options. If he denounced the Russian attack or took stronger retaliatory action, and Clinton won (as most officials of both parties expected), he risked allowing the Republican Party to question his actions and delegitimize the election result. They would have called Obamas intelligence blaming Russia cooked. Like Trump is doing right now. Decisions are harder to make when you have to consider the legitimacy of an election being contested by partisan adversaries who are free to make alt-arguments.
There were no injuries, but the minor derailment caused more even delays at the troubled station.
Doctors said the congressman, who was shot last month, tolerated the procedure well.
The erosion of global power tends to become evident in a crisis.
A vote crucially affected by, say, foreign interference might be an injury without an obvious Constitutional remedy.
Let conservatives vote to fully repeal Obamacare then have moderates and Democrats immediately pass a bill strengthening the law.
The Trump administration wants to make space great again, too.
Seismic air-gun blasts help detect oil reserves. They also kill zooplankton the basis of every ocean food web. Trump is about to lift a ban on them.
Pat Toomey spills a secret: Republicans didnt have a policy plan because they didnt think theyd have the power to enact it.
The Atlantic City casino is having a liquidation sale.
Walter Shaub Jr. has clashed with the White House for months. Now hes leaving the government altogether.
The Education secretary is blocking new rules that would make it easier for students defrauded by for-profit colleges to have their debts forgiven.
White House staff reportedly started looking too late.
Agata Kornhauser-Duda avoided shaking the presidents hand like a pro.
The Trump administration is now openly threatening to use the Justice Department as a tool for punishing critical speech.
Trump lavishes praise on Poland, reaffirms his commitment to NATO, and even brings up Russia to a cheering audience.
Initially praised as brilliant, Cruzs idea of letting insurers offer cheap, skimpy health plans is now looking like a deadly threat to sick people.
Something will have to be done about North Korea, Trump told reporters in Poland.
The president displays his signature alt-arguments on the international stage.
After several decades, the effort to build a U.S. missile shield has had only mixed results.
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Trump: Obama Should Have Punished Russia, Which Might Be Innocent - New York Magazine
Wall Street Journal (subscription) | Not Obama Is Not Enough Wall Street Journal (subscription) Fewer small businesses tried to hire in June while slightly more reduced employment, according to the monthly National Federation of Independent Business jobs survey due out later today. After months of optimistic readings, it seems that allowing the ... |
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Not Obama Is Not Enough - Wall Street Journal (subscription)
The contrast could not be more extreme: a loud, pushy, anti-intellectual President Donald Trump versus a soft-spoken, recessive, philosophical former president, Barack Obama. The difference has become especially glaring in recent days, with Trump repeatedly breaking the tradition of a new president refraining from dissing his predecessor.
Trump has, in fact, gone out of his way to attack Obama, as in his recent nonsensical reversal wherein he attacked Obama for his lack of response to Russian meddling in the 2016 election: Obama did NOTHING, Trump tweeted. He went on to accuse Obama of colluding with the Russians!
By now the world is familiar with this Trump ploy: He engages in unscrupulous business deals, so he labels Hillary Clinton Crooked Hillary. He lies, so he calls Ted Cruz Lyin Ted. On and on. Anyone who calls him out on any failure gets the same accusation hurled back in his or her face, and to a shocking extent this trick works. Or it works with Trump supporters, who dont seem to care if he wrecks their health care, allows factories to poison their water, or provides massive tax cuts for the rich people they admire so much. This is making America great again.
The truth is, Obama confronted Putin directly about intervening in our political system and put in place sanctions, though he clearly didnt do enough. I feel like we sort of choked, one former colleague of Obama has said, according to an article in the Washington Post. This is too bad, as the Russians pulled off the crime of the century, possibly derailing Clinton, a tough critic of Russia. Today we have an incompetent President who (for reasons we might discover soon enough) appears unwilling to oppose the Russian regime.
Obamas weak responses to Trump have been troubling. I dont know why he didnt simply open the intelligence files on Putin to the American public, saying: My God, look what the Russians are trying to do! Put up your guard! There can be no sound reason for not alerting the people of this country to a major attack on their most cherished right, the right to vote.
Im also unhappy about Obamas response to Trumpcare. His language was strong enough:
The Senate bill, unveiled today, is not a health care bill, he wrote in a Facebook post, blasting the Republican legislation that seeks to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. He calls the proposed Republican plan a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America.
That is exactly what he should have said, but why is he only saying it in a Facebook post rather than in remarks to the press or in speeches.
Again and again, Trump strikes and Obama turns the other cheek. Whats going on here?
There is a longstanding Christian tradition of turning the other cheek, and thats usually the best approach to abuse. But one should remember that Jesus also turned over the tables of merchants and moneychangers in Herods Temple in Jerusalem. He accused them of transforming the holiest site in Judaism into a den of thieves. (Mark 11:17) I wonder if the analogy here, with Trump and his cohorts, isnt more apt than we think.
A friend of mine recently suggested that Obama was, at heart, a quietist. This is a mystical tradition that involves a quieting of the conscious mind, a withdrawal into the deepest layers of self, even self-annihilation. Political quietism involves stepping back from the activities of the world to focus on religious truth, and it condemns self-aggrandizement and the naked reach for power. It rejects the quest for wealth
But quietism seems misguided in this context. Political life is where we create a community. What is government but our community made visible? If we are to create a community that takes pride in how it cares for its own, one that promotes decent values, such as humility and tolerance and the wish to share, we have no choice but to step forward, to declare ourselves and speak up for our values.
Obama needs to find his voice now in ways that, during his time in the Oval Office, he was too often reluctant to do, perhaps fearing the immense power of the bully pulpit
But now there is a real bully in the pulpit, and Obama like the rest of us has no choice but to speak, and to act.
My hope for Obama is that, in his post-presidency, he steps forward boldly to say whatever feels true in his mind. And he must do so in the most public ways. I would urge him to speak up, not indirectly on Facebook, but to declare himself more publicly and without reservation, revealing his ideas, his passions. There may be some fatal flaw here, of course, one that disallows a full-throated singing of his song. But I hope it isnt so.
Jay Parini, a poet and novelist, teaches at Middlebury College in Vermont. His latest book is New and Collected Poems, 1975-2015. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
Jay Parini, a poet and novelist, teaches at Middlebury College in Vermont. His latest book is New and Collected Poems, 1975-2015. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
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Obama can't keep turning the other cheek with Trump - The Philadelphia Tribune