5 Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

1. Carles Puigdemont: European Parliament looks at lifting his MEP immunity after Spain request

The European Parliament is begun looking into — at the request of the Spanish authorities — the possibility of lifting the parliamentary immunity of self-exiled MEP Carles Puigdemont.

Puigdemont fled in 2017 after Spain issued a warrant to arrest him for his part in what Madrid deemed an illegal Catalan independence referendum.

He is now based in Belgium and became an MEP last May. He wants to return to Spain next month to visit jailed ex-leaders of Catalonia.

"The Spanish authorities have asked the president [of the European Parliament] to lift the immunity of Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comin to continue the judicial proceedings against the two MEPs," said Ewa Bozena Kopacz, vice president of the European Parliament. "In compliance with parliamentary rules, this demand was put to the judicial affairs commission."

https://www.euronews.com/2020/01/16/eu-parliament-launches-process-to-lift-puigdemont-s-mep-immunity


2. Prince Andrew: Home Office 'recommends downgrade of security'

The Home Office is said to be recommending a major downgrade of security for the Duke of York after he withdrew from public duties, it has been claimed.

A final decision is said to rest with the home secretary, Priti Patel, and the prime minister, Boris Johnson, after review by the Metropolitan police.

It could result in Prince Andrew being stripped of his round-the-clock armed police protection, at a time when Buckingham Palace is involved in high-level discussions over security measures for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in their future roles in the UK and Canada.

The Evening Standard said the Met had completed a thorough review and quoted a source saying: “Conclusions have been reached and recommendations made.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/16/prince-andrew-home-office-recommends-downgrade-of-security


3. Picking Up The Pieces Of Abkhazia's Latest Political Crisis

The de facto president of the self-declared republic of Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia whose independence is recognized only by Russia and a few others, has stepped down amid sometimes violent protests that erupted over what his opponents say was an illegitimate electoral victory.

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Khajimba's January 13 resignation put an end to four days of protests that saw the storming of the de facto presidential administration in Sukhumi, efforts by Moscow to mediate, and the calling of a fresh vote to determine the region's next de facto president.

The crisis erupted on January 9, when hundreds of protesters descended on the building that housed Khajimba's administration as the territory's highest court resumed hearings on an appeal of the results of the second round of the "presidential" election held in September.

Alkhas Kvitsinia of the Amtsakhara party -- who became the main challenger after leading opposition candidate Aslan Bzhania fell ill due to suspected poisoning -- filed the appeal after garnering 46 percent of the vote to Khajimba's 47 percent, according to official results.

https://www.rferl.org/a/abkhazia-political-crisis-explainer/30376986.html


4. 'Moria is a hell': new arrivals describe life in a Greek refugee camp

Above a hill on the north shore of Lesbos, volunteers watch the sea and the twinkling lights of Turkey day and night with binoculars. The coastguard hurry to respond when they see a boat approaching, trying to arrive in time to stop children falling in the icy cold water as they clamber onto rocks and beaches.

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While the numbers of migrants on the island are nowhere near those of the height of the crisis in 2015, the closing of European borders since 2016 means that there is no way for people to move off the island – which is causing a growing humanitarian catastrophe here.

The Moria refugee camp was originally intended to hold 3,000 people. As recently as last June there were 5,000 people there, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the only major international NGO that has a presence there.

In the last six months it has grown to be a shanty town of 19,000, 40% of whom are under 18. Around 13,000 of those are living in a filthy unofficial camp of tarpaulin tents and makeshift huts made of pallets, in an olive grove surrounding the main site. There is no electricity, not enough water and rivers of mud and rubbish run through the tents.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jan/17/moria-is-a-hell-new-arrivals-describe-life-in-a-greek-refugee-camp


5. Belarus Scrambles For Oil Amid Supply Standoff With Russia

Belarus says it has asked several European countries to sell it oil in the face of a tariff dispute with Russia, its regular supplier.

"All commercial departments of our plants, of the Belarusian Oil Company, have been holding talks practically on a daily basis. I think we will get alternative sources for oil supplies soon. It is about all possibilities -- Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic states, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, wherever. We are working on it now," Deputy Prime Minister Dzmitry Krutoy said on January 14.

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Belarus has been at odds with Russia over oil-transit prices for some time against a backdrop of increasing pressure by Moscow on Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to deepen integration between the two neighbors.

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Moscow and Minsk signed an agreement in 1999 to form a unified state, but little progress has been made in the ensuing two decades.

https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-scrambles-for-oil-amid-supply-standoff-with-russia/30376740.html