ZAGREB — Croatia's former prime minister Ivo Sanader was jailed Thursday after the Supreme Court increased his sentence to six years for taking more than two million euros (US$2.2 million) in kickbacks while in power, state media reported. Sanader, who led Croatia's government from 2003-2009, was handed a four-and-a-half year jail sentence in 2017 for pocketing the cash from a real estate deal. On Thursday police escorted the former premier to Remetinac prison after his jail term was increased to six years, Hina news agency reported. "This is politically motivated persecution that has lasted for nine years and I will still fight by all means to prove my innocence," Sanader told reporters before being taken away. According to the conviction, Sanader pushed his cabinet to buy a Zagreb building for the rural development ministry at twice its market value. The government agreed to pay some 10 million euros for the property but 2.3 million euros were given directly to … [Read more...] about Croatia ex-PM Sanader jailed for $2.5 million bribe
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EU nations back Venezuela’s Guaido as Maduro faces rising pressure
EU nations back Venezuela's Guaido as Maduro faces rising pressure Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido walks at the National Assembly before a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela February 4, 2019 – PHOTO: REUTERS MADRID/OTTAWA (REUTERS) - Major European nations joined the United States on Monday in recognising opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state, while members of a separate regional bloc kept up the pressure on socialist President Nicolas Maduro. The coordinated recognition by a flood of European Union nations including Britain, Germany, France and Spain followed the expiration of an ultimatum for Maduro to call a new presidential election, aligning them with Washington and against Russia and China. “From today, we will spare no effort in helping all Venezuelans achieve freedom, prosperity and harmony,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said as he announced Madrid had recognised Guaido, the head of … [Read more...] about EU nations back Venezuela’s Guaido as Maduro faces rising pressure
Eurozone unemployment falls to decade-low 7.9 percent
A job center in Milan showing an empty window for job offers Figures for November 2018 published by the European Union's statistical office, Eurostat, on Wednesday showed unemployment in the 19 EU countries that use the euro currency dropped to 7.9 percent. It is the lowest level since October 2008 and below the 8.1 percent forecast by economists. While the number of people in Italy and Spain without a job did drop in November, the two countries still have the highest unemployment rates in the eurozone, after Greece. The countries with the lowest unemployment rates for November were: the Czech Republic, closely linked to Germany's economy, with 1.9 percent Germany, with 3.3 percent the Netherlands, with 3.5 percent. The highest unemployment rates were recorded in: Greece, with 18.6 percent in September 2018 — showing a fall from 20.8 percent the previous year Spain, with 14.7 percent in November. Croatia saw the most substantial fall in unemployment year-on-year — … [Read more...] about Eurozone unemployment falls to decade-low 7.9 percent
Vietnam, Hungary to upgrade their relations to comprehensive partnership
The visit of the Vietnam’s Party leader to Hungary has been expected to lift the bilateral ties between Vietnam and Hungary to a new height. Csaba Balogh (second from right), Minister of State at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Chairman of the Hungary-Vietnam Cooperation Subcommittee, welcoming Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at Ferenc Liszt International Airport Located in Central Europe, Hungary shared the border with Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, and Slovakia. The country has a total area of over 93,000 sq.km with the population of approximately 9.8 million. The Fidesz–KDNP Party Alliance has been the ruling Party of the country since 2010. The Party gained victory at the 2018 Hungarian parliamentary election and it will continue ruling the country in the next four years. The country started to partially liberalize its economy in 1968 and became a market economy in 1990. The global financial crisis in 2008 … [Read more...] about Vietnam, Hungary to upgrade their relations to comprehensive partnership
EU and ASEAN to restart FTA process: PM Lee
The European Union (EU) and ASEAN have agreed to restart the process of establishing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between them, said Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Saturday (Jul 14). French President Emmanuel Macron (C) speaks with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (C/L) during the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris on Jul 14, 2018. (Photo: AFP/Eric Feferberg) And as the ASEAN coordinator for ASEAN-EU relations after this August, he said that Singapore hopes to establish a framework to identify areas with potential to work out deals. Mr Lee was speaking to the media after attending France’s National Day Parade in Paris, where he was the guest of honour - the first Singaporean leader to receive the distinction. On the Jul 14 every year, France holds a military parade in Paris to commemorate the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris in 1789, and the beginning of the French Revolution. And every year, France … [Read more...] about EU and ASEAN to restart FTA process: PM Lee