Denmark will join European defense
An overwhelming majority of Danes — almost 67% — voted Wednesday to join the European Union’s defense policy, according to a nearly complete tally.
The victory of Yes in this referendum comes in the wake of Finnish and Swedish applications for NATO membership, the war in Ukraine prompting several European countries to change their defense policy. “There was a Europe before February 24, before the Russian invasion, and there is a Europe after,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told supporters.
The heads of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, for their part hailed Denmark’s “historic” vote.
All possible precautions
The Ukrainian journalist-translator who accompanied the French journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, killed Monday in eastern Ukraine, assured Wednesday evening that the team had taken all possible precautions in such circumstances.
In a post on her Facebook account, Oksana Leuta writes: “We followed an officially established route, with support, respecting all the rules. […] We wore bulletproof vests and helmets, we were equipped with first aid kits and tourniquets, in an armored humanitarian vehicle which had to evacuate civilians, ”adds the fixer.
The freelance journalist working for the French channel BFMTV was killed by shrapnel while he was following a humanitarian operation.
Between 60 and 100 Ukrainian soldiers killed every day
Between 60 and 100 Ukrainian soldiers die every day in combat and some 500 others are injured, assured the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to the ultraconservative American media Newsmax in an interview published on Wednesday.
The high number of casualties comes as kyiv troops are fighting fiercely against a powerful concentration of Russian forces trying to take control of the Lugansk region in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow also suffered significant losses, according to information from the front. The Ukrainian government estimated last week that Russia had lost more than 30,000 soldiers since the start of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Appeal by three oligarchs to EU justice
Three Russian oligarchs, including billionaire Roman Abramovich, have appealed to European justice to obtain the cancellation of the sanctions imposed on them following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The other two businessmen, reputed to be close to Vladimir Putin, are Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman, blacklisted by the EU in February and March following the Russian offensive.
Roman Abramovich had owned Chelsea football club since 2003, which was put up for sale days before the oligarch was sanctioned by the British government. Petr Aven is known for his large collection of Russian artwork. A painting belonging to him, presented as part of the Morozov exhibition in Paris, was “frozen” and remained in France.
The European sanctions consist of an asset freeze and a visa ban in the EU.
New gas drilling in Europe
The Netherlands and Germany will jointly drill on a new gas field in the North Sea, the Dutch government announced on Wednesday.
The controversial gas drilling project 19 km from the coast, on the border between Germany and the Netherlands, is not new, but it has taken on particular urgency since the announcement by Gazprom of the suspension of its deliveries to Netherlands. The decision of the Russian gas giant follows the refusal of the Dutch group GasTerra to pay for deliveries in rubles, as demanded by Moscow.
The British government for its part granted Shell a permit on Wednesday to exploit the Jackdaw gas field, off the coast of Scotland. “We are turbocharging renewables and nuclear, but we are also realistic about our current energy needs”, justified on Twitter Energy and Industry Minister Kwasi Kwarteng. “Let’s source more of the gas we need from UK waters to protect our energy security. »
The environmental association Greenpeace “is studying possible legal action”, she announced on Wednesday.