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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named Matt Whitaker, a former acting attorney general from his first presidency, as the U.S. ambassador to NATO, the cornerstone Western military alliance whose member countries Trump has criticized for not spending enough money on defense.

In a statement, Trump described Whitaker, 55, as “a strong warrior and loyal patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO allies and stand firm in the face of threats to peace and stability.”

As with several of Trump’s choices for positions in his new administration, the nomination of Whitaker to the 32-country North Atlantic Treaty Organization based in Brussels is unusual in that his professional background does not match the job to which he is being named. Whitaker has a long career as a lawyer but is not steeped in foreign or military policy.

Whitaker, like numerous other Trump appointees, has been an ardent Trump loyalist. Whitaker has been a vocal critic of the two federal criminal cases brought against Trump that are now likely to be erased as he assumes power again on January 20.

During his first administration, Trump goaded other NATO countries that did not meet the alliance’s military spending goal: 2% of their national economic output. As he left office in 2021, six of the NATO countries were spending that much on defense. But 23 of the 32 do now as the threat of Russian aggression against nearby NATO countries mounted after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which is not a NATO country but wants to join.

During his presidency, Trump assailed the countries who were not spending enough on defense, saying they were in arrears in their “dues” to NATO.

“NATO was busted until I came along,” Trump said at a political rally earlier this year. “I said, ‘Everybody’s going to pay.’”

Trump said that “one of the presidents of a big country” at one point asked him whether the U.S. would still defend the country if they were invaded by Russia even if they “don’t pay.”

“I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ They couldn’t believe the answer.”

“No, I would not protect you,” Trump recalled saying to that president. “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.”

Under the NATO treaty, member nations are obligated to protect each other militarily if they are attacked. The obligation has been invoked only once in the 75-year history of the alliance that was formed in the aftermath of World War II. That was when other NATO countries joined the United States in fighting al-Qaida in Afghanistan after the terrorist group attacked the U.S. in 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.

Whitaker, a former federal prosecutor in the Midwestern state of Iowa, served as acting attorney general between November 2018 and February 2019, as special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was ending.

Before then, Whitaker was chief of staff to Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, before being picked to replace his boss after Sessions was fired amid Trump’s lingering outrage over his decision to withdraw from the Russia investigation. Whitaker held the acting attorney general position for several months without Senate confirmation, until William Barr was confirmed as attorney general in February 2019.

Other appointments

Trump has been making new top appointments to his nascent administration on an almost daily basis.

Late Tuesday, he named Linda McMahon as his nominee to lead the Education Department, even though Trump and some Republican lawmakers want to abolish the agency and hand over most education policy decisions and much of the current federal funding to state and local control.

McMahon served as the head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s previous term in office and is well known for her decadeslong role, along with her husband, in helping lead World Wrestling Entertainment.

“Linda will use her decades of leadership experience, and deep understanding of both education and business, to empower the next generation of American students and workers and make America number one in education in the world,” Trump said in a statement. “We will send education back to the states, and Linda will spearhead that effort.”

Also on Tuesday, Trump announced he’d nominate Wall Street financier Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary in his new administration.

Additionally, the president-elect picked Dr. Mehmet Oz, a longtime television show host, as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that oversees the government’s two key health insurance programs for older Americans and impoverished people. Trump backed Oz’s failed attempt to win a Senate seat in Pennsylvania in 2022.
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MADRID — Spain will legalize about 300,000 undocumented migrants a year, starting next May and through 2027, the country’s migration minister said Wednesday.

The policy aims to expand the aging country’s workforce and allow foreigners living in Spain without proper documentation to obtain work permits and residency. Spain has largely remained open to receiving migrants even as other European nations seek to tighten their borders to illegal crossings and asylum seekers.

Spain needs around 250,000 registered foreign workers a year to maintain its welfare state, Migration Minister Elma Saiz said in an interview on Wednesday. She contended that the legalization policy is not aimed solely at “cultural wealth and respect for human rights; it’s also prosperity.”

“Today, we can say Spain is a better country,” Saiz told national broadcaster Radiotelevision Espanola.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has often described his government’s migration policies as a means to combat the country’s low birthrate. In August, Sanchez visited three West African nations in an effort to tackle irregular migration to Spain’s Canary Islands.

The archipelago off the coast of Africa is seen by many as a step toward continental Europe with young men from Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and elsewhere embarking on dangerous sea voyages there seeking better job opportunities abroad or fleeing violence and political instability at home.

The new policy, approved Tuesday by Spain’s leftist minority coalition government, simplifies administrative procedures for short and long-term visas and provides migrants with additional labor protections. It extends a visa offered previously to job-seekers for three months to one year.

By mid-November, some 54,000 undocumented migrants had reached Spain this year by sea or land, according to the country’s Interior Ministry. The exact number of foreigners living in Spain without documentation is unclear.

Many irregular migrants make a living in Spain’s underground economy as fruit pickers, caretakers, delivery drivers or other low-paid but essential jobs often passed over by Spaniards.

Without legal protections, they can be vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Saiz said the new policy would help prevent such abuse and “serve to combat mafias, fraud and the violation of rights.”

Spain’s economy is among the fastest-growing in the European Union this year, boosted in part by immigration and a strong rebound in tourism after the pandemic.

In 2023, Spain issued 1.3 million visas to foreigners, according to the government.
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BERLIN — China has overtaken Germany in the use of robots in industry, an annual report published by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) showed on Wednesday, underscoring the challenges facing Europe’s biggest economy from Beijing.

In terms of robot density, an important indicator for international comparisons of the automation of the manufacturing industry, South Korea is the world leader with 1,012 robots per 10,000 employees, up 5% since 2018, said the IFR, which is based in Germany.

Singapore comes next, followed by China with 470 robots per 10,000 workers – more than double the density it had in 2019.

That compares with 429 per 10,000 employees in Germany, which has had an annual growth rate of 5% since 2018, said IFR.

“China has invested heavily in automation technology and ranks third in robot density in 2023 after South Korea and Singapore, ahead of Germany and Japan,” said IFR president Takayuki Ito.

Germany has in the past relied heavily on its industrial base and exports for growth but is facing ever tougher competition from countries like China. It expects economic contraction for the second year running in 2024, making it the worst performer among the Group of Seven rich democracies.
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MOSCOW/IRTYSH VILLAGE, RUSSIA — Russian farmers say they will sow less wheat after heavy losses this year, switching to more profitable crops such as peas, lentils, or sunflowers.

Such decisions will have direct implications for global wheat prices and inflation in major buyers like Egypt, as Russia is the world’s top exporter of the grain.

The trend represents a challenge for President Vladimir Putin’s plan to expand exports and cement Russia’s position as an agriculture superpower, while trying to gain more international clout amid confrontation with the West over its actions in Ukraine.

The country’s wheat harvest will decline to 83 million tons this year due to frosts and drought, down from 92.8 million tons in 2023 and a record 104.2 million tons in 2022. New forecasts point to a clouded outlook for next year as well.

Although Russia has been exporting wheat at a near record pace in the recent months, exports are expected to slow due to a bad harvest and export curbs aimed at containing domestic price growth, including an expected cut in export quota by two-thirds from January 2025.

At a farm in Siberia’s Omsk region, which was hit by heavy rain during the peak of the harvesting season, farmer Maxim Levshunov takes advantage of a rare sunny day to collect what remains in the fields.

He chuckles as he picks up ears of wheat that sprouted early due to the moisture. Now, most of his crops are only suitable for animal feed, meaning the farm will receive a fraction of the price, and income, it had hoped for.

“We’ll probably start moving away from wheat, cutting back as much as possible. So, we’ll be thinking about what more profitable crops we can replace it with right now,” Levshunov told Reuters.

As this year’s harvesting campaign comes to an end, Russian farmers are assessing their losses from the exceptionally bad weather and considering their next steps amid falling profit margins for wheat, Russia’s main agricultural export.

Winter wheat became the first victim as areas sown with it are set to shrink by 10% this year, the lowest since 2019, according to data from Rusagrotrans, Russia’s flagship grain rail carrier.

“There are losses on each ton. The selling price does not cover the cost,” said Arkady Zlochevsky, head of the Russian Grain Union industry lobby, predicting that Russia’s 26% share of the global wheat trade will shrink.

Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut joked that farmers might pray to Saint Ilya, the patron saint of weather in Russia, to improve conditions for winter crops. The joke did not go down well with farmers, who are considering more pragmatic options.

Some say they have already decided to plant less wheat next year. Others are waiting to see how global wheat prices perform in the next few weeks before making a final decision.

“The profitability of grain crops is approaching zero. The company has reduced the volume of winter wheat sowing by 30%. There are two drivers now — soybeans and sunflower,” said Dmitry Garnov, CEO of Rostagro Group, which owns land in the Penza and Saratov regions around the Volga River.

Rising costs of equipment and fuel, high export duties, a rising benchmark interest rate that hit 21% in October as the country’s central bank fights inflation, and the removal of some agricultural subsidies have also eaten into profit margins.

“It is evident that in 2022-2024, the price has been practically the same, while the cost of grain production has increased by at least 28%,” said Sergei Lisovsky, a member of the lower house of Russia’s parliament from the Kurgan region.

Lisovsky argued that the high export duty for grains, introduced in 2021, as well as rising transportation costs for regions with no direct access to seaports, were also factors behind low margins.

“Therefore, as of today, farmers are not planting grain, not because of the autumn drought, but because they are waiting to see what the price will be, and have not yet made a decision,” Lisovsky added, referring to spring wheat sowing.

In Russia’s most fertile Krasnodar region, the profitability of wheat is still holding around 10%, but some large local farms are also pondering a change of strategy as droughts become more severe each year.

“It is gradually getting warmer in the south, and we need to think about changing the structure of the sowing areas for the future,” said Yevgeny Gromyko, executive from Tkachev Agrocomplex, one of Russia’s largest landowners, and a former deputy agriculture minister.

The niche crops have the potential to become new export success stories with Russia’s allies among the BRICS countries, aiding the government in achieving Putin’s goal of increasing agricultural exports by half by 2030.

Russia overtook Canada this year as the top peas exporter to China. Regulators in India, the leading importer of lentils, used to make daal, a staple for millions of people, gave a green light to Russian imports.

Russia takes pride in being the world’s top wheat exporter, with the older generation recalling the food shortages of the Soviet era and the humiliating grain imports from Cold War foes like the United States and Canada.

However, for struggling farmers, it is declining profits, not global status, that matter most.

“Many farms that specialized exclusively in wheat crops have operated at a loss this year and will face very serious financial difficulties, potentially leading to bankruptcy,” Levshunov said.
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Several international human rights organizations have raised alarm about Azerbaijan’s crackdown on rights defenders, government critics and journalists before the start of the COP29 climate change conference currently being held in its capital, Baku. 

“We urge every delegation attending COP29 to press the Azerbaijani government to end its clampdown on civil society, guarantee the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly throughout and beyond the conference, and take meaningful action to reverse the deterioration of human rights in the country,” Amnesty International said in a statement before the start of the event on Nov. 11.

The United Nations’ annual conference on combating global warming, COP29, began last week as the Azerbaijani government escalated its crackdown on government critics.

Azerbaijani authorities have jailed at least 14 journalists since November 2023. Many of them are facing charges of currency smuggling. All of them deny the allegations, calling them bogus.

On November 12, a group of Azerbaijani civil society representatives issued an open appeal to COP29 participants, claiming that after Azerbaijan was announced as the conference host in December 2023, the country’s government began to silence dissidents and alternative voices.

“In a short period of time, opposition leaders, human rights defenders, socio-political activists, independent media organizations, including the leaders and employees of ‘Abzas Media,’ ‘Toplum TV,’ ‘Kanal 13,’ and the civil society organization Institute for Democratic Initiatives, were detained on politically motivated charges. The trial of those arrested was postponed until December, as they coincided with COP29,” they said.

The Azerbaijani government, which has rejected accusations that the arrests were politically motivated, insists that journalists and activists are being detained “on the basis of credible suspicions of violations of individual articles of the Criminal Code [of the Republic of Azerbaijan].” 

Climate change and human rights

On Tuesday, COP29 hosted a debate titled “No Climate Justice Without Civic Space and Meaningful Participation,” organized by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and several other human rights organizations.

After the event, Fuad Hasanov, head of the nongovernmental organization Democratic Monitor, told VOA that the main theme of the debate was that it is impossible to hold discussions on climate change in an environment where the space for civil society is limited.

Panel members also called on Azerbaijani authorities to release all political prisoners, including journalists, and to create conditions for the free operation of independent civil society institutions and the media.

In a letter to President Ilham Aliyev published on Monday, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty also urged the immediate release of all political prisoners.

“I share with you my concern about the recent arrests of a number of human rights defenders, journalists and civil society activists,” O’Flaherty said in the letter.

O’Flaherty said that as a member of the Council of Europe, Azerbaijan should create a safe environment for human rights.

“I urge the Azerbaijani authorities to take the necessary steps to ensure that all laws and practices in connection with freedoms of association, assembly and expression and the situation of human rights defenders, journalists and civil society activists in the country comply with relevant Council of Europe human rights standards,” O’Flaherty said.

Rufat Safarov, executive director of the human rights organization Defense Line, told VOA that the 29th annual U.N. Climate Change Conference should not have been held in Baku. He said this legitimizes the country’s authorities, who deny fundamental rights and freedoms in Azerbaijan, on the international stage.

“In an environment where law is worthless, human rights are ignored, political rights are denied, violence has become the official state policy, and there are 319 political prisoners, holding COP29 in Baku serves the interests of the repressive regime at best,” Safarov said.

Azerbaijan response

The unsigned response letter from Azerbaijani authorities to the Council of Europe commissioner emphasizes that Azerbaijan remains committed to upholding its international obligations, including those under international human rights law, and ensuring the safety and freedom of all persons. The letter was made available on the Council of Europe commissioner’s website Monday.  

The letter stated: “It should be emphasized that no journalist or media representative is being targeted for carrying out their professional work in Azerbaijan. Every individual, irrespective of their standing, is equal before the law and is expected to adhere to the legislation in force, as this forms the foundation of the rule of law principle.

“Therefore, it is of utmost importance to exercise due diligence and refrain from any actions, especially calling for immediate release of the persons under criminal investigation, that may be construed as interfering with the judicial process.”

Lawmaker Bahruz Maharramov, a member of the parliament’s Human Rights Committee, told VOA on Thursday that the attacks on Azerbaijan from the West under the guise of human rights and democracy on the eve of and during COP29 are “an instrument for cheap imperialist intentions.”

“In this sense, the claims and statements of those circles are irrelevant for us, and we rightly consider these claims to be part of a smear campaign against Azerbaijan,” he said.

This story originated in VOA’s Azerbaijani Service.
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