Category: Foreign Affairs

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday expressed hope that Donald Trump will lose his bid to win back the US presidency, according to media reports.

The fact that Trump wants to run again is not particularly impressive, the chancellor told the TV channel n-tv on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

Scholz called on American voters to again reject demagoguery in the 2024 presidential election.

The German leader also praised incumbent President Joe Biden, saying he is “very fit” and a “very smart, very experienced politician who deals with issues of world development” and “an important” promoter of transatlantic ties.

Asked whether Trump’s Tuesday announcement that he was running again played a role at the G-20 summit, Scholz replied, “Perhaps the best news is: not at all.”

It is normally unusual for world leaders to weigh in on foreign presidential races, even in early stages, but Berlin and most Germans breathed a sigh of relief when Biden defeated Trump in November 2022.

German-US relations hit an all-time low under Trump, who often targeted Germany and then-Chancellor Angela Merkel for particular ire.

Trump held Germany in particularly low regard, criticizing its trade surpluses – telling his first NATO summit that “the Germans are very, very bad” – and decrying its defense spending levels, even suggesting that Berlin owes “vast sums of money” to the Western military alliance and America.

Trump, known for his brusque, truculent attitude, aggressively spurned finding personal chemistry with Merkel (and most Western leaders), reportedly calling her “stupid.”

Source: Anadolu Agency

Top diplomats from Ukraine and the US on Wednesday discussed in a phone call the suspected missile strike in Poland which killed two people.

“Detailed call with (Secretary of State) Antony Blinken on Russian missile terror — its scale, aims, consequences. I stressed the response to what happened in Poland must be stiff and principled. Grateful for affirming the US will double down on recovering our energy system, together with G7 and the EU,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also confirmed the phone conversation with Kuleba, saying the US will support Ukraine for “as long as it takes.”

Earlier, Blinken said he spoke with Kuleba and Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau regarding the explosion in eastern Poland.

“We pledged to remain closely coordinated in the days ahead as the investigation proceeds and we determine appropriate next steps,” Blinken said in a tweet.

The suspected missiles struck a village in Poland, near its border with Ukraine, late on Tuesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of deliberately attacking Poland, a NATO member, with the latest strikes, hinting that Russian attacks could spread to the rest of Europe.

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said Wednesday it is unclear as to who launched the missile strike but “it was a rocket of Russian production.”

US President Joe Biden said that it was “unlikely” that the missiles were fired from Russia, but an investigation was ongoing. Biden also spoke with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda and offered Washington’s support in an investigation into the reported explosion.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry denied that the country launched missile strikes on Poland.

Source: Anadolu Agency

American space agency NASA on Wednesday launched the Artemis I moon mission from the modernized Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“#Artemis I begins a new chapter in human lunar exploration,” NASA announced on Twitter.

It is the first time, that NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) and NASA Orion, the safest spacecraft designed by NASA, fly together, it added.

The primary goals for Artemis I are to demonstrate Orion’s systems in a spaceflight environment and ensure a safe re-entry, descent, splashdown, and recovery prior to the first flight with crew on Artemis II.

NASA said it is the first integrated test flight of the rocket and spacecraft that will bring humanity to the Moon.

The mission will last 25 days in space and the Orion capsule will splashdown on Dec. 11.

The Artemis II mission, scheduled for 2024, will take four astronauts on an identical journey around the Moon and back.

Artemis III is scheduled to take two astronauts to the lunar surface in 2025 or later.

Planned launches for Artemis I were scrubbed in late August and early September due to technical problems.

Hurricane Ian also prevented launch attempts in late September and early October.

Artemis I will embark on a 1.3 million miles (2.1 million kilometers) journey around the Moon and back.

Orion will enter an elliptical orbit of the Moon that will see the spacecraft get to within 62 miles (99 kilometers) above its surface and about 40,000 miles (64,373 kilometers) beyond it.

The SLS is the largest rocket ever constructed, standing 322 feet (98 meters) tall with 8.8 million pounds (3.9 million kg) of thrust.

Source: Anadolu Agency

In a joint declaration, G-20 member states on Wednesday called for Russia’s “complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine.”

The declaration, adopted at G-20 Bali Summit in Indonesia, said that “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine,” and the war is “causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy – constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity, and elevating financial stability risks.”

“It is essential to uphold international law and the multilateral system that safeguards peace and stability,” G-20 members said.

“The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible. The peaceful resolution of conflicts, efforts to address crises, as well as diplomacy and dialogue, are vital. Today’s era must not be of war,” it added.

The group also welcomed the agreements signed in Istanbul that were brokered by Türkiye and the UN, “to ease tension and prevent global food insecurity and hunger in developing countries.”

“We emphasize the importance of their full, timely and continued implementation by all relevant stakeholders,” it added.

The 17th G-20 Leaders’ summit was held on Nov. 15-16 under the team of Recover Together – Recover Stronger in Indonesia’s Bali.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Airports in Russia’s capital Moscow have been on the high security threat alert since Nov. 10, a local media report said on Wednesday.

The maximum threat level of terrorist attacks has been introduced at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, and Vnukovo airports for the first time, according to a document sent by Rostransnadzor, a government agency supervising Russia’s transport network, to airline companies and carriers, Russian daily Izvestia reported.

Rostransnadzor notified airlines that they must take additional security measures corresponding to the new threat level, the daily added.

It also said that a third-level alert has also been introduced at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg.

“The representative of the airport did not comment on this information, pointing out that Pulkovo fulfills all measures for transport and aviation security in full,” the daily said.

The security alert at the airports in Moscow and St. Petersburg will be extended after Nov. 24, it added.

The measures were introduced after an incident on Oct. 28 in Pulkovo Airport where a car drove onto the sidewalk, broke through the perimeter fence of the airport, and drove to the airport apron, the daily noted.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Poland’s president said on Wednesday that there is no indication Tuesday’s blast near the border was an intentional attack on the country, referring to the explosion on Tuesday in the village of Przewodow, eastern Poland.

“Most likely, it was an unfortunate accident,” Andrzej Duda said, adding that “there is absolutely no circumstantial evidence to conclude that this was an attack on Poland.” He also said, in line with other leaders’ remarks: “There is a high probability that it was a missile of Ukrainian air defense.”

Those remarks echoed the words of US President Joe Biden, who told the G-7 countries and NATO partners that the explosion was likely the result of Ukrainian air defense activities.

Russia has denied its missiles got anywhere near the Polish border, and also said Ukrainian air defense was among the debris.

Initial findings suggest that the missile that hit Poland was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian missile, news outlets reported on Wednesday, citing US officials.

An international investigation is ongoing. “All details are being examined. When we are sure what happened, it will be made public,” said Agnieszka Scigaj, the minister for social integration.

The victims of the explosion were two men: a farmer and an employee of the local grain plant. Both died on the spot.

“I know the victims, one of them was my classmate, about 60 years old. I also knew the other well, we always greeted each other,” a local told Polish online news Onet.

The younger of the men was about 50.

Some witnesses report that just before the explosion, two falling objects were visible in the sky.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The closed-door meeting came on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. No further information was released about the meeting.

This was the first face-to-face meeting between Erdogan and Meloni after she became Italy’s first woman prime minister as her right-wing coalition emerged victorious in general elections on Sept. 25.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday arrived in Samarkand, Uzbekistan to attend the Ninth Summit of Turkish State Organizations.

Erdogan was welcomed at Samarkand International Airport by Uzbekistan’s Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov, Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev, and Deputy Foreign Minister Gayrat Fazilov as well as Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Türkiye’s Ambassador to Tashkent Olgan Bekar, and Uzbekistan’s Ambassador to Ankara Alisher Agzamhodjayev.

The president was accompanied by first lady Emine Erdogan, Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoglu, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, National Education Minister Mahmut Ozer, National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Trade Minister Mehmet Mus, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoglu, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, and presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin.

The theme of the summit will be “New Era for Turkish Civilization: Towards Common Development and Prosperity.”

At the summit, important decisions that will form the first five-year implementation guide of the vision document, which constitutes the 20-year roadmap of the organization, will be taken, and the term presidency will be transferred from Türkiye to Uzbekistan.

During the summit, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Miromonovich will present the “Order of Outstanding Merit” to Erdogan, as well as the “Supreme Order of the Turkic World” for his laudable services.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party resumed its anti-government march toward the capital Islamabad on Thursday, after it was halted following an assassination attempt on him on the same day last week.

The march resumed from the point where Khan was attacked and wounded in the Wazirabad district of northeastern Punjab province governed by his center-right Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

Khan, who was shot in both legs and received four bullets and shrapnel, is not leading the march. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the party’s vice chairman and a former foreign minister, is leading the march in his absence.

Addressing a sizeable number of protesters via video link from his home in the Zaman Park neighborhood of Lahore, Punjab’s capital, Khan said his “long march” will continue “whatever comes.”

“I am not fighting for myself. I am fighting for the rule of law and justice in this country. That’s why all the forces have got united against me,” Khan contended.

“The attack on me was planned and aimed at getting rid of me. But let me tell them that until I am alive, I will continue this struggle. I won’t step back,” he added.

Fate of march hangs in balance

Hundreds of PTI supporters protested the assassination attempt on their leader by blocking several roads in Rawalpindi and Lahore, including a major highway connecting Lahore and Islamabad.

The blockade suspended traffic from and to Islamabad, as the stick-wielding protesters burned tires and placed chairs and wooden barriers to block the roads at several points.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, for his part, warned that the public may “react” to a “handful” PTI workers’ continuous road blockade.

In a statement, he accused the provincial governments of Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, both of which are governed by the PTI, of “facilitating” the protesters’ roadblocks.

Khan, who kicked off the “long march” on Oct. 28 in an attempt to press the government for snap elections, was attacked last Thursday by what appeared to be a lone gunman, who fired a volley of bullets at him.

At least one person was killed and another 13 injured in the brazen attack. The suspected attacker is in police custody and being interrogated.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government, rejecting Khan’s demand, says there will be no early voting and that the next elections will be held as scheduled in late 2023.

The march is likely to reach the garrison city of Rawalpindi, which borders Islamabad, in the third week of this month, as the PTI has not given a specific date for protesters’ arrival near the capital.

Khan says he will join and lead the march once it reaches Rawalpindi.

Many see the appointment of the new chief of the country’s powerful army, which is due before Nov. 29, as the source of this indecision. Khan accuses current Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa of “playing neutral” during a successful no-trust move against him in April.

Khan was deposed as prime minister after parliament passed a no-confidence vote.

He blames his unceremonious ouster on a US-backed conspiracy, an allegation that Islamabad and Washington have repeatedly refuted.

Khan, the country’s 19th prime minister, took office in August 2018 and ruled for just over three and a half years.

Source: Anadolu Agency