BUCHAREST, Romania — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned of threats posed by right-wing populists Saturday as he addressed a gathering of center-left European parties ahead of elections for the European Parliament in June. 

Scholz arrived in Romania’s capital Bucharest for a conference of the Party of European Socialists, part of the Socialists and Democrats group, the second biggest in the Parliament. Voters in the 27 EU member states go to the polls June 6-9. 

“Right-wing populists are running election campaigns against our united Europe,” the German leader said at the Palace of the Parliament, which hosted the conference. “They are ready to destroy what we have built for the kids; they stir up sentiment against refugees and minorities.” 

Opinion polls indicate a significant shift to the right in the upcoming election, with the radical right Identity and Democracy group likely to gain enough seats to become the third-largest group in the legislature, mainly at the expense of the Greens and the centrist Renew Europe group. 

Scholz said a prosperous EU capable of “getting things done” is “the best response to populism and autocrats.” He also pledged continued support for Ukraine, saying it’s “key to restoring peace in Europe.” 

Scholz leads an unpopular three-party coalition. Recent national polls have shown his center-left party far behind Germany’s main center-right opposition bloc and at best roughly level with the far-right Alternative for Germany party. 

The Socialists and Democrats President Iratxe Garcia Perez also addressed the issue of rising populism in the June elections, saying those parties “only pose a threat to our European project.” 

The meeting comes after the EU’s largest political party, the center-right European People’s Party, met in Bucharest last month, where representatives endorsed Ursula von der Leyen’s bid for a second five-year term leading the bloc’s powerful Commission.

Jobs and Social Rights Commissioner Nicolas Schmit from Luxembourg was chosen as the Socialists and Democrats lead candidate for Brussels’ top job. The next Commission chief will require approval from leaders of all EU’s member states. Almost half of the EU’s 27 national leaders are members of the European People’s Party. 
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Following Thursday’s meetings in Brussels, NATO’s 32 member states are getting to work on an expanded role in providing military aid to Ukraine. At the session marking the 75th anniversary of the alliance, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg pledged NATO’s support for Ukraine, now and for the long haul. Myroslava Gongadze visits a Ukrainian air base to see how military aid has already strengthened the country’s air force. Camera: Yuriy Dankevych
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WASHINGTON — Next week could prove pivotal for Ukraine, as U.S. legislators reconvene following the Easter break. One of the most pressing topics for discussion is President Joe Biden’s supplemental request, which includes $61 billion for Ukraine. Without these funds, U.S. aid to Ukraine will have de facto halted.

Meanwhile, House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated a potential willingness to provide weapons to Ukraine on loan. Would this address Kyiv’s immediate needs? What are the repercussions of delaying this aid? And what are the prospects for its swift approval? We discussed this with Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova on Thursday.

The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: Madam Ambassador, since the very beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, you’ve been advocating for more help from the American partners. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy once reportedly said, “I need ammunition, not a ride.” And today, as Russians are gathering their troops and may be getting ready for another offensive, what does Ukraine need to stand strong?

Oksana Markarova, Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S.: Well, nothing has changed, and it will not change until we win. So, from President Zelenskyy to defenders on the front line to everyone, including myself here in Washington, we have only one message: We need to win. And for that, we need more weapons, more ammunition, more support for Ukraine and more sanctions, isolation and bringing Russia to justice.

Right now, we’re at a pivotal moment in this fight. During the past two years, we have been able to liberate 50% of the territories. Last year, we literally liberated the Black Sea. We’re conducting very successful strikes against the Russian military, but we are not yet at the point where we can claim victory, and that is solely due to the availability of weapons and support. So, we must stay the course. We have to continue doing what has worked before. And we must do more.

VOA: President Biden has said multiple times that Ukraine has support among Republicans and Democrats on the Hill. However, the supplemental [aid package] has not resulted in a vote, mainly due to a couple of legislators, including Speaker Johnson. When President Zelenskyy visited Washington, you participated in a meeting with Mr. Johnson. I’m curious, what did you have to say to convince him to pass this legislation?

Markarova: We do have strong bipartisan support, and not only do we feel it, but we know it. We are talking to so many people on the Hill and to ordinary citizens, and we hear strong expressions of support from everyone, including Speaker Johnson. I mean, he was publicly supportive of why Ukraine needs to win.

Now, this year has been difficult, and I know that’s not an excuse; it’s just that we have to work harder. This is the fifth supplementary package; four of those we had during the last two years. And not all of them were easy to pass. But this one started as the Ukraine supplementary; it was during Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy’s time, then there was a change of speakership, then there were discussions about a joint supplementary. So, there were many issues which are very important for the United States, not related to Ukraine. We were made part of the package, which delayed discussions on this Ukrainian supplementary bill at different stages.

Now, since February, when the Senate passed a supplementary package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, there has been very active discussion on the Hill. We just needed that support yesterday. And I think the majority of people in the House also understand it. So, we all look forward to next week when the House will come back after the recess. And I really hope, as we heard Speaker Johnson saying, that this is going to be one of the first things that the House will start discussing. We need decisions.

VOA: As you said, the political environment in Washington, D.C., is quite dynamic. So, you had to talk to multiple speakers and the speakers have changed over the last year, a couple of times. How do you deliver those messages regarding Ukraine’s needs? Is it hard to find this human-to-human contact with them?

Markarova: Well, it’s a big team that works on it. And as you said, President Zelenskyy met with Speaker Johnson when he was here. They just had a very good phone call last week. But when I talk to people, whether it’s the speaker’s office or any senator’s, congressman’s, administration, anyone, I don’t think it’s hard to find a style, as you said, of how to talk.

Ukraine is just sharing what really happens on the ground. You know, truth is our best weapon, as we say. We don’t need to come up with ways to say it. We are just informing our friends of what’s going on and why it is important for all of us to win. Putin says publicly that his goal and intent did not change. He wants to destroy us. Everyone understands that this war was unprovoked, that he attacked us for no reason at all. It’s a genocidal, terroristic war of an autocratic state against a peaceful, democratic, much smaller neighbor.

VOA: Do Americans understand the Ukrainian pain here?

Markarova: Yes. When you explain it to them, yes. The problem is getting information to them. Because there is so much going on, and when you are not on TV, sometimes you disappear from the discussion. And frankly, people in some areas ask me whether the war is still ongoing. I don’t mean to criticize them. I’m … saying we have to remind people about us.

That’s why all the brave journalists we have in Ukraine keep working. It’s because of them people throughout the globe were able to see what’s happening, and we have already lost, as you know, more than 70 people in Ukraine. They were journalists, camera people. Russia targets them.

VOA: Ambassador, Speaker Johnson indicated recently that he may be willing to consider a loan to Ukraine, say, a Lend-Lease Act 2.0. However, the State Department has criticized these efforts saying that it’s not acceptable to put more burdens on Ukraine during the war. In the light of this dire situation on the front line, would Ukraine consider this option of getting a loan instead of the supplemental?

Markarova: The Lend-Lease Act, adopted in 2022, addressed a portion of the military support provided during the presidential drawdown. This allowed the United States to provide not only grants through PDA from their own stockpiles but also lease or loan items. What is being discussed now, and again, there are several options, but in general, it’s to provide support to Ukraine in the form of a loan. We’ve heard about 0% loans, long-term loans, among other options. We will see the actual proposal when it’s presented.

Of course, we would be grateful for any type of support. Grants are preferred over loans because they also contribute to our macroeconomic and public finance stability. However, if the United States decides to provide aid in the form of a loan, especially budget support, it will be more challenging and have more implications than a grant. Nevertheless, it will be much better than receiving no assistance.

We are very grateful to the U.S. for not only providing us with help for two years but also providing it in the form of grants, as you know, while other partners mostly offered concessional loans. So, that is also a viable option.

VOA: Ambassador, I’m curious, what is the first thing you plan to do once the war is over? If you can share that. Have you ever thought about it?

Markarova: Oh my God, I never thought about that. I think we all will be so happy and glad. I will probably just take a day off to watch movies and sleep for as long as I can. But jokes aside, I don’t know.

Again, right now, victory is the goal for all of us. But when we win the war, our task will not be over. The very next second, we’ll have to continue working on not only rebuilding but also bringing Russia to justice. And that’s a comprehensive, very big task that a large team in Ukraine, again, led by the president, but with the prosecutor general and all investigators, are doing. And you know, continue working, continue serving the country, continue doing what we can in order to win the peace.
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COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir announced her resignation Friday and said that she will run for president, a ceremonial post that is mostly above the daily political fray.

It was not immediately clear who would succeed her as prime minister, a job she has held since late 2017.

“I had decided some time ago not to seek reelection in the next parliamentary elections. At the same time, I still have a burning desire to continue to offer my services to Icelandic society,” Jakobsdottir said in a video message.

Iceland will hold a vote on June 1 to elect its new head of state.

The island nation of almost 400,000 people faces uncertainty after recent volcanic eruptions that triggered the indefinite evacuation of thousands of people, adding to pressures on an economy already facing high inflation and soaring interest rates.

Still, Jakobsdottir said she believed that the government had made significant progress on the challenges and that the country was on a firmer footing than just a few months ago.

Jakobsdottir has been crucial in keeping together the current coalition of her own Left-Green Movement, the pro-business Independence Party and the center-right Progressive Party.

The government has been in power since 2017, providing unusual stability in a country that went to polls five times from 2007 to 2017, a period marked by political scandals and distrust of politicians following the 2008 financial crisis.
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Madrid — Spain’s announcement this week that it will recognize a Palestinian sovereign state by July could mark a major turning point with other European states poised to follow Madrid’s lead, analysts say.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told Spanish media Tuesday Spain would recognize Palestine diplomatically by July.

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares confirmed the plan, saying it would help an independent Palestine’s entry into the United Nations.

Ignacio Molina, a specialist on Spanish foreign affairs at the Real Elcano Institute, a Madrid research group, said both domestic political and foreign policy reasons had led Spain to say it would recognize Palestinian sovereignty.

The catalyst was the attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy Tuesday by Israeli forces in which seven aid workers were killed, sparking outrage in Spain.

Prime Minister Sanchez Wednesday branded as “insufficient” and “unacceptable” the response from Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, who said Israeli forces had “unintentionally” killed the aid workers. The NGO that employed them is run by Spanish-American celebrity chef José Andrés.

“In terms of domestic politics, Spain’s government is composed of a left-wing coalition government which has been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause,” Molina told VOA.

“The far-left Podemos and now Sumar parties in the coalition had not been involved in foreign policy until now but the Spanish government has been more vocal on the issue of Gaza.”

In terms of foreign policy, Spain wants to demonstrate leadership on the international stage by encouraging other EU states to recognize an independent Palestinian state, Molina said.

“Palestine is one of the few issues in which Spain can make progressive foreign policy. It gives Spain a leadership role in the EU. Spain has a peculiar position internationally with links between the Arab and Latin America which gives it a certain moral authority on this issue,” he said.

Madrid did not recognize Israel diplomatically until 1986, after Spain joined the EU.

The role of history

Spain’s position on Israel has been linked to the events of the 20th century.

During the long dictatorship of Generalissimo Francisco Franco from 1939 until 1975, Spain maintained close links to Arab nations.

“Spain did not take part in the Second World War, so it did not have the same moral obligations over the Holocaust as other Western countries to recognize Israel and for domestic reasons, Madrid wanted good relations with Arab countries to supply petroleum,” Molina said.

But Spanish policy has also been influenced by centuries of history.

In 1492, under the Alhambra Decree, Catholic monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella ordered Jews to leave Spain or convert to Christianity.

More than 500 years later, in 2015, Madrid sought to make amends with an apology and offered Sephardic Jews Spanish citizenship.

Today Spain has a small Jewish community of about 50,000 people, compared with the 500,000 who live in France. Meanwhile, about 2.3 million Muslims, many of Moroccan origin, live in Spain according to figures from the Spanish statistics institute.

In 2014, under the then-ruling conservative People’s Party, the Spanish parliament approved a symbolic motion in favor of the Palestinian state.

Since the October attack by Hamas on Israel and the subsequent war, marches in support of the Palestinian people have been held in Spanish cities on a regular basis.

Compared to other nations in Western Europe, there have been far fewer pro-Israel demonstrations.

A survey by Simple Logica published in January by eldiario.es, a left-leaning news site, found 60.7% of Spaniards condemned the Israeli offensive in Gaza and 57.9% agreed with the Spanish government’s call for a cease-fire.

Separatist sympathies

Within Spanish society, there is sympathy for the Palestinian cause because Basques and Catalans see their own struggle for nationhood against Spain as similar to the Palestinian fight against Israeli occupation.

“I think of myself as a Basque person rather than Spanish. We have always identified with the Palestinians as they have been oppressed by the Israelis as we were oppressed by the Spanish,” Igor Otxoa, of the Guernica Palestine organization, told VOA.

“If Spain recognizes Palestine, it is a start, but it does not mean that it will break off relations with Israel. Spanish companies are still selling arms to Israel and other goods.”

Spain’s Jewish community criticized the government’s decision to recognize Palestinian statehood.

“We consider that the recognition of the Palestinian state should be reached from a consensus between all members of the EU. … Talking of two states, when one wants to push you into the sea, is difficult,” the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain told VOA in a statement.

Last month, Spain, along with Ireland, Malta and Slovenia, issued a joint statement saying they were “ready to recognize Palestine.”

Vanessa Frazier, the current president of the U.N. Security Council and Malta’s ambassador to the U.N., said this week that she has received a letter from the Palestinian Authority asking to be recognized as a full member of the United Nations and that the letter has been circulated to Security Council members.

Nine out of the 27 EU member states recognize a sovereign Palestine.

In 2014, Sweden became the first member of the bloc to recognize a Palestinian state. Malta and Cyprus did so before they joined the EU. Some Eastern European states did so when they were members of the Soviet Union, but Hungary and the Czech Republic have since emerged as close allies of Israel.

Apart from Spain, domestic political reasons may prevent Ireland and Belgium from formally recognizing the Palestinian state in the short term, observers said.

Ireland faces a general election next year and Belgium has a coalition government that is not united on the issue.

Malta and Slovenia are more likely to follow Madrid’s example.
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PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron believes France and its Western and African allies “could have stopped” Rwanda’s 1994 genocide but did not have the will to halt the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, the presidency said Thursday.

In a video message to be published Sunday to mark the 30th anniversary of the genocide, Macron will emphasize that “when the phase of total extermination against the Tutsis began, the international community had the means to know and act,” said a French presidential official, asking not to be named.

The president believes that at the time the international community already had historical experience of witnessing genocide with the Holocaust in World War II and the mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey during World War I.

Macron will say that “France, which could have stopped the genocide with its Western and African allies, did not have the will” to do so, the official added.

The president will not attend commemorations of the genocide this Sunday in Kigali alongside Rwandan President Paul Kagame. France will instead be represented by Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne.

Macron, during a visit to Rwanda in 2021, recognized France’s “responsibilities” in the genocide and said only the survivors could grant “the gift of forgiveness.”

But he stopped short of an apology, and Kagame, who led the Tutsi rebellion that ended the genocide, has long insisted on the need for a stronger statement.

A historical commission set up by Macron also concluded in 2021 there had been a “failure” on the part of France under former leader Francois Mitterrand, while adding there was no evidence Paris was complicit in the killings.
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London — Britain has called for an immediate investigation into an Israeli airstrike Monday on an aid convoy that killed seven aid workers, including three British citizens, in Gaza.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rejected calls to suspend arms shipments to Israel amid mounting global anger over the attack.

The bodies of six of the seven victims were taken out of Gaza on Wednesday in a convoy of ambulances through the Rafah crossing into Egypt. The body of the seventh worker, a Palestinian driver, was turned over to his family for burial in Gaza.

Monday’s attack struck several vehicles being used by the World Central Kitchen charity. Video of the aftermath clearly showed the charity’s logo on the roof of a vehicle, next to a gaping hole apparently caused by a missile.

The three British victims were identified as 57-year-old John Chapman, 47-year-old James Kirby and 33-year-old James Henderson.

Sunak said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Tuesday.

“I … was very clear with him that the situation is increasingly intolerable, and what we urgently need to see is a thorough, transparent investigation into what has happened, but also a dramatic increase in the amount of aid getting into Gaza,” Sunak told The Sun newspaper.

“I think we’ve always had a very careful export licensing regime that we adhere to. There are a set of rules, regulations and procedures that we’ll always follow, and I’ve been consistently clear with Prime Minister Netanyahu since the start of this conflict that whilst, of course, we defend Israel’s right to defend itself and its people against attacks from Hamas, they have to do that in accordance with international humanitarian law,” Sunak said.

The opposition Labour Party’s shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the government’s legal advice on Israel’s conduct in its war on Hamas must be published.

“If it is the case that international law has been contravened, then it is absolutely right that offensive arms are suspended to Israel,” Lammy told reporters Wednesday.

The three British victims were providing security for World Central Kitchen through the firm Solace Global. The firm’s non-executive director, Matthew Harding, said it was difficult to know exactly what had happened.

“We have looked very closely already at everything that preceded and went on after the incident. We are completely satisfied that all measures were correctly taken and executed” by his company, Harding told BBC News.

The other victims of the airstrike included the group’s Palestinian driver, 25-year-old Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha; 43-year-old Australian national Lalzawmi Frankcom, who was World Central Kitchen’s relief lead in Gaza; 35-year-old Polish citizen Damian Sobol; and 33-year-old Jacob Flickinger, a U.S.-Canadian citizen.

Their governments have echoed calls for a swift investigation.

Israel said it did not intend to target the aid workers.

“It was a mistake that followed a misidentification at night, during a war, in very complex conditions. It shouldn’t have happened,” Herzi Halevi, Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, said in a televised statement on Tuesday.

Israeli government spokesperson Ilana Stein said Wednesday that the government regretted the “awful” incident.

“This is a very complex war situation. Every war is very difficult. It’s very messy, it’s very dangerous, and it has casualties that we would all rather not have on the Israeli side and on the Palestinian side,” Stein told reporters in Tel Aviv.

“Having said that, Israel has been checking itself every day. We have been reviewing our actions in different manners, also in the field, but also regarding what we can do to distribute aid.”

The organization Human Rights Watch rejected her explanation.

“Israel’s deadly attack on World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza displays the characteristics of a precision airstrike, indicating that the Israeli military intended to hit the vehicles. World Central Kitchen coordinated its coordinates and its movements with the Israeli government. Their vehicles were clearly marked,” said Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch.

“This is not an isolated incident. The Israeli government has killed at least 196 aid workers in Gaza, according to the United Nations,” Shakir told VOA.

Israel maintains it makes every effort to avoid civilian casualties.

World Central Kitchen has suspended its operations in Gaza. The organization said it has provided more than 42 million meals since its operations began there 6 months ago.

In an article Wednesday in The New York Times, Jose Andres, the charity’s founder, said the attack was “the direct result of [Israel’s] policy that squeezed humanitarian aid to desperate levels.”

Despite widespread accusations from aid agencies that Israel is obstructing relief supplies into Gaza, Israel denies it is blocking aid and blames Hamas for the delays, which it accuses of using hospitals and aid facilities as military bases.

Hamas denies that claim and says Israel is using hunger as a weapon of war.
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Turkey’s nationwide local elections this week dealt Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party its worst electoral defeat, signaling what analysts say is a momentous change in Turkey’s political direction. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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Helsinki — A 12-year-old suspected of shooting and killing a classmate and wounding two girls at a school in Finland said he had been motivated by bullying, police said Wednesday.

Flags flew at half-staff as the northern European country observed a day of mourning a day after the boy opened fire in a classroom in Vantaa.

“The suspect has told the police during interrogations that he has been the victim of bullying, and this information has also been confirmed in the police’s preliminary investigation,” police said in a statement.

Police also said that the young suspect had been a student at the school only since the beginning of the year.

They said their investigation showed that he had threatened other students on their way to the school.

According to Finnish broadcaster MTV Uutiset, the boy wore a mask and noise-canceling headphones when he carried out the shooting.

The child who was killed, a Finnish boy also age 12, died at the scene, and the suspect had already fled the school by the time police arrived.

The police opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder but said the suspect has been handed over to social services as he could not be held in police custody because of his age.

The revolver-like gun used in the shooting belonged to a close relative of the boy, they said.
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STATE DEPARTMENT — NATO foreign ministers meeting Wednesday in Brussels are expected to discuss a proposal to create a $100 billion fund for supporting Ukraine’s military.

The plan, put forward by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, also includes making NATO more directly involved in coordinating military assistance being provided by member countries, a role that has been filled by a U.S.-led coalition of more than 50 countries.

A final decision on the proposal would not come until NATO heads of state meet at a summit in July.

Ahead of the Brussels talks, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed calls for the U.S. Congress to release military aid for Ukraine.

“We are at a critical moment where it is absolutely essential to get Ukrainians what they continue to need to defend themselves, particularly when it comes to munitions and air defenses,” Blinken said Tuesday during a visit to a defense facility in Paris with French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu.

Congress is yet to approve the Biden administration’s supplementary budget request that would provide aid to resupply Ukraine’s armed forces and help the country fend off Russian offensives.

Biden has called on the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives to approve the military and financial aid package. House Republicans have delayed action on it for months, prioritizing domestic issues.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Ukrainian forces will have to retreat “step by step, in small steps,” if Kyiv doesn’t receive the U.S. military aid.

French Foreign Minister Séjourné was in Beijing earlier this week. He said after a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that France expects China to convey “clear messages” to its close partner Russia regarding Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

France and China have sought to strengthen ties in recent years. Chinese President Xi Jinping is planning a visit to France in May.

During meetings in Paris in February, Wang told French President Macron that Beijing appreciated his country’s “independent” stance. But Paris has also sought to press Beijing on its close ties with Moscow, which have only grown closer since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. and French officials said they are working closely to effectively prevent the transfer of weapons and materials to Russia from North Korea and China, which could fuel Moscow’s defense industrial base.

Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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