Russia says it plans to summon the German ambassador over alleged harassment of its journalists
MOSCOW, June 26 (Reuters) - Russia will summon the German ambassador soon to inform him of retaliatory measures in response to what it sees as the harassment of Russian journalists based in Germany, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
Russia has clashed repeatedly with Germany over the issue, and expelled a German correspondent and cameraman last November in what it said was a symmetrical response to German moves against Russian state TV journalists.
Germany said the Russians' departure was linked to residence rules, and that Russian journalists can report freely in the country.
Zakharova said Germany was applying undue "pressure and harassment" against Russian journalists and their family members. She has previously spoken of passports being revoked and limits on journalists' freedom of movement.
Russia continues to accredit Western correspondents, although many left the country after Moscow in 2022 launched its full-scale war against Ukraine, which was followed by the passage of new censorship laws, and the 2023 arrest of U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich on spying charges. Gershkovich, who denied the accusation, was freed in a prisoner swap last year.
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The Guardian
32 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Transgender campaigners call for European rights body to report on UK
A collection of groups campaigning on transgender issues have urged Europe's main human rights body to investigate the UK over the implementation of the supreme court's ruling on gender. In a joint letter to the Council of Europe, the organisations said the situation in which transgender people were likely to be barred from using toilets of their acquired sex or joining single-sex organisations placed them in an 'intermediate zone' of gender, saying this was a violation of the European convention on human rights (ECHR). The five groups, Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, TransActual, Equality Network and Scottish Trans, Trans Safety Network and Feminist Gender Equality Network, have asked the council to report on trans rights in the UK, adding: 'We note that the situation is urgent and that without intervention, it seems likely to further deteriorate.' The letter follows April's landmark supreme court ruling that 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act referred only to a biological woman and to biological sex. In its 88-page judgment, the court said that while the word 'biological' did not appear in the definition of man or woman in the Equality Act, 'the ordinary meaning of those plain and unambiguous words corresponds with the biological characteristics that make an individual a man or a woman'. If 'sex' did not only mean biological sex in the 2010 legislation, providers of single-sex spaces including changing rooms, homeless hostels and medical services would face 'practical difficulties', it said. The justices added: 'Read fairly and in context, the provisions relating to single-sex services can only be interpreted by reference to biological sex.' According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which is consulting on the formal post-ruling guidance, due out later this summer, transgender people should not be allowed to use toilets or changing spaces of the gender they live as, and that in some cases they also cannot use toilets of their birth sex. The letter argues that this would leave transgender people reliant on gender-neutral facilities, which are often unavailable 'and mandating their usage may require trans people to out themselves'. It argues that this, plus the post-ruling interim advice that transgender people would not be allowed to join single sex associations of their acquired sex, would place them in an 'intermediate zone' on sex, a violation of their right to respect for private life under article 8 of the ECHR. The convention is interpreted by the European court of human rights, part of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, which is separate from the EU and to which Britain remains a member. Jess O'Thomson from Trans+ Solidarity Alliance said trans people had already experienced 'a huge rollback' of rights even before the final guidance on implementing the ruling had been published: 'We are asking for a report to be opened into the state of trans people's human rights in the UK, in the hope that this will encourage our politicians to listen and take action.' Rebecca Don Kennedy, chief executive of Equality Network, said: 'Trans people and their allies all over the UK are horrified with the recent chain of events following the supreme court ruling in April. The threat to trans people's autonomy, freedom and dignity should concern anyone who values equality and human rights. 'Trans people have a right to public life, and dignity in social interaction, they have a right to use the toilet safely, to leave their homes knowing that they can. They have a right to privacy, a right to engage with the world as themselves, to join clubs that fully celebrate and welcome them as who they are.'
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Budapest Pride expected to be a rallying cry against Orbán's rollback of rights
Record numbers of people are expected to take part in Budapest Pride on Saturday, with Hungarians joining forces with campaigners and politicians from across Europe in a march that has become a potent symbol of pushback against the Hungarian government's steady rollback of rights. 'This weekend, all eyes are on Budapest,' Hadja Lahbib, the European commissioner for equality, told reporters in the Hungarian capital on Friday. 'This is bigger than one Pride celebration, one Pride march. It is about the right to be who you are, to love who you want, whether it is in Budapest, in Brussels or anywhere else.' The country's main Pride march was cast into doubt earlier this year after the country's ruling Fidesz party – led by the rightwing populist Viktor Orbán – backed legislation that created a legal basis for Pride to be banned, citing a widely criticised need to protect children. The government also said it would use facial recognition software to identify people attending any banned events, potentially fining them up to €500 (£425). The move caused outrage from within Hungary and beyond, turning Budapest Pride into a rallying cry against a government that has long faced criticism for weakening democratic institutions and gradually undermining the rule of law. Lahbib said the EU was standing alongside LGBTQ+ people. 'It is a core value to gather peacefully, to be who you are, to love who you want,' she said. 'These are the core values that generations before us have built, brick by brick, and we are not going to allow any kind of regression from one of our member states.' Organisers of Budapest Pride, which this year will mark its 30th anniversary, said the government was attempting to restrict peaceful protests by targeting them. 'This event was one of the important milestones of the LGBTQ community,' said its spokesperson Máté Hegedüs. 'Our slogan this year is that we are at home. By this, we want to draw attention to the fact that LGBTQ people are an integral part of Hungarian society, just as any other people. In our history, in our culture, this is where we belong.' Hours before the march was due to begin, however, uncertainty loomed over how officials would react. While Orbán has said that those who attend or organise the march will face 'legal consequences', he said Hungary was a 'civilised country' and police would not 'break it up … It cannot reach the level of physical abuse'. Nicolae Ștefănuță, the vice-president of the European parliament, on Friday called on police to respect those attending. 'I would like to say that the police and institutions of the state have a duty to protect the citizens,' he said. 'It's as clear as possible.' The sentiment was echoed in a petition, signed by more than 120,000 people spanning 73 countries, that called on police to 'reject this unjust law' – believed to be the first of its kind in the EU's recent history – and ensure that the march proceeded 'unhindered and peacefully, free from discrimination, harassment, fear or violence'. Despite uncertainty, tens of thousands of Hungarians are expected to take part. Joining them will be politicians and rights campaigners from more than 30 countries, including Ireland's former taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Spain's minister of culture, Ernest Urtasun, more than 70 members of the European parliament, and the mayors of Brussels and Amsterdam. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, this week joined calls for Hungarian authorities to allow the event to go ahead. Orbán was swift to hit back, likening it to receiving orders from Moscow in communist times. 'She thinks she can dictate to Hungarians from Brussels how they should live,' he said in a radio interview. The widespread pushback, both domestic and international, had seemingly done little to dissuade the Hungarian government. This week, the country's justice minister, Bence Tuzson, appeared to warn embassy staff from attending the event. 'The legal situation is clear: the Pride parade is a legally banned assembly,' he said in a letter seen by the Guardian. 'Those who take part in an event prohibited by the authorities commit an infraction,' he said, adding that those organising or announcing the event faced up to a year in prison. The progressive mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony, has said the gathering will instead go ahead as a municipal event, meaning it will not require official authorisation. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion The result was an 'extraordinary scenario', said Márta Pardavi of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a human rights organisation. 'Currently the legal situation is quite unclear – it is unclear whether this will be a demonstration that the police have banned or whether it will be some other type of event, as Mayor Karácsony has talked about.' The NGO has joined forces with two other organisations to produce a Q&A for the event, addressing concerns such as whether attenders risk being fired from their jobs and whether being fined could later jeopardise university entrance or foreign travel. The organisations have also promised to provide legal aid to any participants who are fined. Complicating matters were three countermarches planned on Saturday by groups with ties to the extreme right, said Pardavi. 'This means you will have a lot of people with very, very different views on the streets,' she said. Analysts have described the government's hardline stance against Pride as another move in its years-long rollback of LGBTQ+ rights. This time, however, it comes as Orbán faces an unprecedented challenge from a former member of the Fidesz party's elite, Péter Magyar, before next year's elections, leading organisers to suggest they are being scapegoated as Orbán scrambles to shore up support among conservative voters. The widespread view has led Hungarians from all walks of life – including many who have never marched before – to take part in Saturday's event. 'These are the actions of a government in the run-up to an election they fear they will lose, so they are trying to distract public attention from their deep corruption and unpopularity,' said Andrew Ryder, who is among a group of academics from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest who will be joining the march in solidarity. 'I am deeply concerned that my home, Hungary, is on a trajectory that will lead to fascism,' he said. 'However, the mood of the country is turning and if Hungary can restore its democracy it could be a model for other countries trying to overcome authoritarianism.' Nearly 50 organisations from across Europe have meanwhile urged EU officials to launch an infringement procedure against Hungary, citing the possibility that real-time facial recognition would be used on attenders. If so, it would be a 'glaring violation' of the EU's recently adopted Artificial Intelligence Act, the letter noted. Hungarian officials have yet to release details on how the technology will be deployed. 'Hungary's use of facial recognition to surveil Pride events marks a worrying change in how new technologies can be used to suppress dissent and target marginalised communities,' the Civil Liberties Union for Europe, one of the signatories of the letter, said in a statement. It said it risked a 'dangerous precedent by normalising invasive monitoring of peaceful gatherings and undermining civil liberties'.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Narcissistic activists aren't Britain's real enemy
Should Irish rappers Kneecap be banned from playing Glastonbury today? Far better to ask: should anyone care? These talentless anti-Israel bigots and the perpetual adolescents attending the outdated Worthy Farm jamboree deserve each other. Perhaps the quinquagenarians paying through the nose to watch 70-year-olds flogging their old hits for the thousandth time, whilst desperately trying to stave off dysentery, think watching Kneecap will make them 'edgy'. Leave them to it. Because narcissistic rappers are just a distraction. Along with Palestine Action – a group which takes to Britain's streets to support homophobes and misogynists – they may have handed the Met and the Culture Secretary an opportunity to pretend they're taking a 'muscular' approach to far-Left extremism in our wondrously multicultural society. But they could also be swatted away for good if the Government showed some genuine bottle, and should not be the primary object of our contempt. The real fifth columnists aren't these provocateurs and cosplayers, but the pathetic politicians and jobsworth civil servants indulging them. What Keir Starmer doesn't grasp, when he issues flabby statements about the 'inappropriateness' of Kneecap at Glasto, is that the root of our frustration isn't just the inability of our authorities to clamp down on this nonsense. It's the knowledge that, at every turn, those who genuinely want to keep us safe will come up against others working against it. Take (please!) the diversity hire in charge at Brize Norton, a woman who has spent her time in the RAF working in personnel and administration ('HR' for short), and who in 2019 wrote that patriotism is 'undesirable'. It's the silly so-and-sos who believe our Armed Forces need woke recruiting practices, even if it exacerbates staff shortages. We've not got enough people to fly our planes, but at least we can try to say RAF staff perfectly reflect our society's demographic makeup. And it's the people who would never openly share their disdain for the majority, but who work unobtrusively every day to undermine their democratic will. The foot-dragging lanyard class – unelected, unaccountable, secretly ideological – thwarts policies they are paid to implement. If you want to understand why the Tories accomplished next to nothing over their 14 years in power, look no further than a King's College London study which found civil servants are significantly less satisfied, and thus less motivated to work hard, if they hold different political views from the government. Nowhere is this issue clearer than on immigration. The Tory Government attempted to introduce policies that would deter illegal crossings, only to be met with legalistic sabotage and a landmark legal challenge from the senior civil servants union. Brits want bogus asylum claims thrown out, but charities and NGOs push for an open doors policy that is impoverishing and angering our country, transforming it beyond recognition with no mandate. Or consider counter-terrorism: the Shawcross review revealed Right-wing extremism was being discussed disproportionately, despite Islamist craziness being by far the most likely problem. We have gradually dismantled our Armed Forces whilst money is endlessly squandered on welfare to appease Leftists who live in La La Land. We allow subtle attacks on allies and make excuses for terrorists. We continually undermine our troops with dubious prosecutions and pointless inquiries. Why can't we be tough and resourceful, as the Israelis are on a much smaller budget? Their country has many internal political differences but its people understand there is one shared nation to be defended at all costs. Can the same be said for Britain? The prescription isn't hard: deport illegals, lock up the most dangerous radicals and stop patronising the airheads, tell the soggy sympathisers the game is up. That the counter-terrorism police have now arrested four people after military planes were sprayed with paint during the break-in at Brize Norton – a stunt that could have cost lives – might indicate we are going to get a bit tougher. Let's hope so. But Britain is a long way from confronting the real enemy within.
