5 Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

[rpannier]

1. Germany's far-right AfD party apologises over 'racist' colouring books

Far-right populists Alternative for Germany (AfD) has apologised after a regional faction released "racist colouring books" that appeared to show armed people under a Turkish flag.

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In a statement, the AfD has apologised and said the commissioned books had "unfortunately been published prematurely".

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Colouring drawings appeared to show armed characters wearing traditional Turkish headdresses and carrying Turkish flags.

Another showed women of colour, wearing bones in their hair, an apparent reference to historical colonial imagery.

https://www.euronews.com/2020/02/20/germany-s-far-right-afd-party-apologises-over-racist-colouring-books


2. Siberian Mayor Orders Subordinates To Take Public Transport Amid Service Complaints

The mayor of a Siberian city has ordered his subordinates to take public transportation to work amid complaints about the quality of the service.

Vadim Shuvalov, who runs Surgut, one of Russia's wealthiest cities, asked residents on February 12 via his social media page which transportation lines city officials should inspect.

Citizens responded that buses and vans were dirty, smelly, and uncomfortable.

As a result, Shuvalev decided that his deputies and "simple bureaucrats" will take public transport to work in order to keep on eye on problems with its service, TASS reported.

https://www.rferl.org/a/siberian-mayor-orders-subordinates-to-take-public-transport-amid-service-complaints/30446054.html


3.Hitler's Pope or wartime saint? Historians hope to shed light on Pius XII as archives set to open

He was coined as "Hitler's Pope" by some but considered a saint by others.

For decades, World War II-era Pope Pius XII has been the focus of intense controversy for his record during the Holocaust.

On March 2, the Vatican will open Pius XII's archives. The initiative has drawn overwhelming interest from historians and researchers, with more than 150 already registered to access the apostolic library.

Cardinal Jose Tolentino Calaca de Mendonca, the Vatican's chief librarian, said Thursday that all researchers "regardless of nationality, faith and ideology" were welcome to request access.

https://www.euronews.com/2020/02/20/hitler-s-pope-or-wartime-saint-historians-hope-to-shed-light-on-pius-xii-as-archives-set-t


4. Potential EU Budget Cut Threatens Kaliningrad Transit

A program funded by the European Union allowing citizens from Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave to cross Lithuania by rail or road to reach the rest of Russia is in jeopardy as EU leaders meet in Brussels on February 20-21 to negotiate the bloc's next multiannual budget.

The program, called the Kaliningrad Transit Scheme, allows Russian citizens to smoothly transit to and from Kaliningrad from other parts of Russia via Lithuania.

It started in mid-2003, a year before the Baltic state and former Soviet republic became an EU member.

The program, in which Vilnius issues special road and rail transit documents to Russians, has so far run without any major hitches and allowed an average of 400,000 Russians to annually travel to and from the Russian Baltic Sea exclave.

https://www.rferl.org/a/potential-eu-budget-cut-threatens-kaliningrad-transit/30446003.html


5. Break-up Bosnia to solve its political crisis, says one of country's leaders

One of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s leaders has renewed calls for the country’s dissolution, pledging to block decision-making in the country’s government.

Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who is one of the three officials that make up the head of state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said after a meeting with Bosnian Serb leaders the political crisis in the country “will disappear only when Bosnia disappears"

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The Dayton Peace Agreement divided the country into two entities, the Serb republic, and the Muslim-Croat federation. All state-level decisions have to be agreed by all three ethnic groups, with decisions blocked if one votes against.

Tensions have been rising this month after the Constitutional Court ruled unclaimed agricultural land is the property of the Bosnian state rather than the Serb republic’s.

https://www.euronews.com/2020/02/20/break-up-bosnia-to-solve-its-political-crisis-says-one-of-country-s-leaders

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