Brussels: French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday ruled out any expansion of the European Union until the bloc is reformed, as a top EU official warned that the volatile Balkans could face a return to war if countries in the region have no hope of joining.
The Balkans spiraled into conflict in the 1990s as former Yugoslavia broke apart, but ethnic and nationalist tensions continue to simmer more than 20 years on.
EU member states must agree unanimously for any country to become a member. Accession to the 28-nation EU has been a powerful driver of political and democratic reform in countries like Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro — which recently joined NATO — Serbia and its former territory of Kosovo.
But with Britain set to become the first country to leave the bloc next year, Macron told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France that “I will only support an enlargement when there is first a deepening and a reform of our Europe.”
“I don’t want a Balkans that turns toward Turkey or Russia, but I don’t want a Europe that, functioning with difficulty at 28 and tomorrow as 27, would decide that we can continue to gallop off, to be tomorrow 30 or 32, with the same rules,” he said.
But European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, whose institution recommends whether countries should be allowed in, insisted that Europe’s door must remain open.
“If we remove from these countries, in this extremely complicated region, I should say tragically, a European perspective, we are going to live what we already went through in the 1990s,” Juncker said. “I don’t want a return to war in the Western Balkans.”
When he took over at the European Commission four years ago, Juncker vowed that there would be no EU enlargement during his term.
EU and Balkans leaders will meet in Bulgaria on May 17, but no country in the region is likely to be invited to join, even though some are involved in membership negotiations.
Turkey is also a candidate for membership and has been promised fast-track accession negotiations in exchange for ensuring that tens of thousands of migrants — many of them Syrian refugees — don’t enter Europe from its territory. However, the talks are at a virtual standstill.
Countries like France, Germany and Austria would prefer some kind of “privileged partnership” with Turkey to letting it join.
France wants EU expansion freeze amid Balkans war warning
France wants EU expansion freeze amid Balkans war warning
- Accession to the 28-nation EU has been a powerful driver of political and democratic reform in countries like Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro — which recently joined NATO — Serbia and its former territory of Kosovo.
- EU and Balkans leaders will meet in Bulgaria on May 17, but no country in the region is likely to be invited to join, even though some are involved in membership negotiations.
Pope Leo appeals for ‘reason’ amid Israel-Iran airstrikes, calls for dialogue
- Pontiff tells audience in St. Peter’s Basilica he is following the situation with “great concern”
VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo appealed on Saturday for authorities in Iran and Israel to act with “reason” after airstrikes between the two countries killed dozens and sent civilians into shelters, and called on the nations to pursue dialogue.
Leo, in one of the strongest peace appeals yet of his five-week papacy, told an audience in St. Peter’s Basilica he was following the situation with “great concern.”
“In such a delicate moment, I strongly wish to renew an appeal to responsibility and to reason,” said the pope.
“The commitment to building a safer world free from the nuclear threat must be pursued through respectful encounters and sincere dialogue to build a lasting peace, founded on justice, fraternity, and the common good,” he said.
“No one should ever threaten the existence of another,” said Leo. “It is the duty of all countries to support the cause of peace, initiating paths of reconciliation and promoting solutions that guarantee security and dignity for all.”
Leo was elected on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis and is the first pope from the United States. Unlike Francis, who often spoke off the cuff at public events, Leo is more cautious with words and almost always speaks from a prepared text.
The pope read aloud his appeal on Saturday in Italian from a piece of paper.
Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran early on Friday, targeting commanders, military targets and nuclear sites in what it called a “preemptive strike” to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons program.
Iran, which denies that its uranium enrichment activities are part of a secret weapons program, retaliated by launching waves of missiles at Israel, killing at least two people and injuring dozens.
King Charles III to mark Air India tragedy with moment of silence during annual birthday parade
LONDON: King Charles III and other members of the royal family will wear black armbands and there will be a moment of silence during his annual birthday parade Saturday as the monarch commemorates those who died in this week’s Air India plane crash.
Charles requested the symbolic moves “as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy,” Buckingham Palace said.
An Air India flight from the northwestern city of Ahmedabad to London crashed shortly after takeoff on Thursday, killing 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground. The plane was carrying 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. One man survived.
In addition to being Britain’s head of state, Charles is the head of the Commonwealth, an organization of independent states that includes India and Canada.
The monarch’s annual birthday parade, known as Trooping the Color, is a historic ceremony filled with pageantry and military bands in which the king reviews his troops on Horse Guards Parade adjacent to St. James’ Park in central London.
All members of the royal family taking part in the parade will wear black armbands. The moment of silence will occur when the king is on the dais after reviewing the troops.
Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, held a similar moment of silence in 2017 when Trooping the Color took place three days after a fire ripped through the Grenfell Tower apartment bloc in west London, killing 72 people.
Iran warns US, UK and France against helping stop strikes on Israel
- Tehran warns their bases and ships in the region will be targeted
SUMMARY
Tehran has warned the US, UK and France that their bases and ships in the region will be targeted if they help stop Iranian strikes on Israel.
Around 60 people, including 20 children, were killed in an Israeli attack on a housing complex in Iranian capital Tehran.
Israel’s defense chief warns that ‘Tehran will burn’ if it keeps firing missiles at Israeli civilians.
Iran’s civil aviation authority has declared the country’s airspace closed “until further notice.”
CAIRO: Iran has warned the United States, United Kingdom and France that their bases and ships in the region will be targeted if they help stop Tehran’s strikes on Israel, Iran state media reported on Saturday.
Iran’s state TV also reported that around 60 people, including 20 children, were killed in an Israeli attack on a housing complex in Iranian capital Tehran. Two people were also killed in an Israeli attack on a missile site in Assadabad in western Iran.
Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported an Israeli strike near the northwestern Tabriz refinery, saying smoke was rising from the facility.
Iran’s strikes against Israel will continue, with targets set to expand to include US bases in the region in the coming days, Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Saturday, citing senior Iranian military officials.
READ: Iran strikes back at Israel as flights across the region are cancelled
“This confrontation will not end with last night’s limited actions and Iran’s strikes will continue, and this action will be very painful and regrettable for the aggressors,” Fars reported, citing senior military officials.
They were quoted saying that the war would “spread in the coming days to all areas occupied by this (Israeli) regime and American bases in the region”.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that “Tehran will burn” if it keeps firing missiles at Israeli civilians.
“The Iranian dictator is taking the citizens of Iran hostage, bringing about a reality in which they, and especially Teheran’s residents, will pay a heavy price for the flagrant harm inflicted upon Israel’s citizens. If Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front, Tehran will burn,” Katz said in a statement.
READ: How Israeli strikes have pushed Iran’s leadership into a corner
The threat of a wider war comes as Iran and Israel continue targeting each other on Saturday after Israel launched its biggest-ever air offensive against its longtime foe in a bid to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran’s civil aviation authority has declared the country’s airspace closed “until further notice,” state media reported Saturday, as Israel and Iran continued to trade fire for a second day.
“No flights will be operated at any airports in the country in order to protect the safety of passengers... until further notice,” the official IRNA news agency said.
US warship arrives in Australia ahead of war games, summit
- More than 30,000 personnel from 19 militaries have begun to arrive in Australia for Talisman Sabre, the largest Australian-US war-fighting exercise
SYDNEY: A key US warship arrived in Australia on Saturday ahead of joint war games and the first summit between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Donald Trump, which is expected to be dominated by military issues.
The America, the US Navy’s lead amphibious assault ship in the Indo-Pacific, entered Sydney Harbor as the first of three ships in a strike group carrying 2,500 sailors and marines, submarine-hunting helicopters and F-35B fighter jets.
More than 30,000 personnel from 19 militaries have begun to arrive in Australia for Talisman Sabre, the largest Australian-US war-fighting exercise. It will start next month and span 6,500 km (4,000 miles), from Australia’s Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island to the Coral Sea on Australia’s east coast.
The commander of the America, Rear Admiral Tom Shultz, said exercising in Australia was critical for the US Navy’s readiness, while the Australian fleet commander, Rear Admiral Chris Smith, said the “trust and robust nature” of the bilateral relationship allowed the two allies to deal with change.
“The diversity of how we view the world is actually a real great strength in our alliance,” Smith told reporters, adding that Australia also had strong relationships with nations across the region.
Albanese and Trump are expected to meet on the sidelines of a summit in Canada of the Group of Seven economic powers, which starts on Sunday. Washington’s request for Canberra to raise defense spending to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product from 2 percent is expected to dominate the discussion.
The Pentagon said this week it was reviewing its AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership with Australia and Britain. Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said on Saturday this was “not a surprise,” adding the two countries continued to work closely.
But Michael Green, a former national security adviser to President George W. Bush, said it was unusual for the review into AUKUS to be conducted solely by the Pentagon and that Trump might link it to the spending request or to tariffs.
“It is unusual to make the review unilateral and public right before a summit, even if the Australian side knew. That is not good alliance management – it jams the Australian side,” said Green, president of the United States Studies Center in Sydney.
Support for AUKUS in the Congress and US Navy is considerable, however, and the review is unlikely to result in the submarine program being canceled, he said.
India will participate for the first time in Talisman Sabre, along with a large contingent from Europe, said the exercise’s director, Brig. Damian Hill. Australia, Singapore, the US and Japan will hold large-scale live firings of rocket and missile systems, he said.
“It is the first time we are firing HIMARs in Australia, and our air defense capability will work alongside the United States Patriot systems for the first time, and that is really important,” Hill added.
Pakistan says 700 army personnel killed in militant attacks in last 2 years
- Pakistan has suffered a surge in militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces recently
- Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif blames New Delhi for supporting militant outfits in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Around 700 army personnel have been killed in various militant attacks over the past two years, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Saturday, accusing India of supporting terror outfits in the country.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks since November 2022 in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces bordering Iran and Afghanistan. In KP, the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) outfit has carried out some of the deadliest attacks against law enforcers.
In Balochistan, separatist ethnic Baloch militant groups demand independence from the state, accusing Islamabad of denying locals a share in the province’s mineral resources. Islamabad denies the allegations.
“In the past two years, 700 of our soldiers have been martyred,” Asif told lawmakers during a televised parliamentary session. “Our civilians have been martyred. Several districts of a province of ours are being targeted by terrorism.”
The minister said that militant outfits such as the TTP or the separatist Baloch Liberation Army are “agents of India,” alleging that they were fighting New Delhi’s war on Pakistani soil.
“Any person who even has a speck of sympathy toward them is not a Pakistani,” Asif said, vowing that Islamabad would win its war against militancy.
India and Pakistan have traded allegations of supporting militant groups for years. New Delhi blames Islamabad for supporting militant outfits who carry out attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir, an allegation that Pakistan has always rejected.
The two countries engaged in a military confrontation for days last month after India attacked Pakistan with missiles, accusing it of supporting an April 22 attack in the Pahalgam tourist resort in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan denied the allegations and called for an international, credible probe into the incident.
The defense minister expressed solidarity with Iran over Israel’s recent attacks against it, vowing to extend support to the neighboring country.
“In this hour of trial, we are with them in every way,” Asif said. “Whatever help they need at the international level, at the United Nations or any other institution or at the Islamic conference, we will defend their interests there.”
