Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group remains active, even after the death of its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in August of 2023. Russian experts say the group has been drawn closer to Kremlin power structures and is still fighting to advance Moscow’s interests around the world. Matthew Kupfer has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
…

The exiled Russian opposition is looking to organize a common strategy while waiting for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to fulfill his campaign promises to end Russian President Vladmir Putin’s war with Ukraine, something they fear could mean a loss of U.S. support. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from Ricardo Marquina.
…

Beijing — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Monday warned her Chinese counterpart that Beijing’s support for Moscow would impact ties and instead urged China to help end the Ukraine conflict.

Speaking in Beijing, she said the over 1,000-day war was impacting the whole world and condemned the battlefield role of North Korean troops and the use of Chinese-made drones in the conflict.

Baerbock urged an international peace process for Ukraine and said “that is why I am here in China today,” adding that every permanent member of the U.N. Security Council had a “responsibility for peace and security in the world.”

“The Russian president is not only destroying our European peace order through his war against Ukraine, but is now dragging Asia into it via North Korea,” she told a press briefing.

“My Chinese counterpart and I have therefore discussed in depth that this cannot be in China’s interest either.”

Germany’s top diplomat met with her counterpart Wang Yi for a “strategic dialogue” as Berlin seeks to build better ties with China while engaging on key differences.

Wang told his German counterpart that, “as the world’s second- and third-largest economies” China and Germany must improve ties “as great powers in a turbulent international situation.”

On the day German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made a surprise visit to war-torn Ukraine, Baerbock stressed that “in order to protect our own German and European security, we must now support Ukraine.”

“And it is just as important to enter into a peace process together in the world, and that is why I am here in China today,” she said.

Chinese drone worries  

China presents itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.

But it remains a close political and economic ally of Russia, and NATO members have branded Beijing a “decisive enabler” of the war, which it has never condemned.

“Drones from Chinese factories and North Korean troops attacking the peace in the middle of Europe are violating our core European security interests,” Baerbock said.

She said she had “advocated a just peace process here in Beijing today, precisely because we come from different perspectives and roles”.

Baerbock had earlier told Wang that “increasing Chinese support for Russia’s war against Ukraine has an impact on our relations,” according to a readout by the German foreign ministry.

“Core German and European security interests are affected,” she said.

Baerbock also discussed crucial trade ties between Europe’s biggest economy and China, which has long been a key market for German automakers and other industrial giants.

She urged Chinese authorities to “engage constructively” with the European Union over tariffs levied on Chinese electric vehicles.

“A level playing field, fair competition and reciprocal market conditions are essential,” she said, according to her spokesperson.

At the press briefing, she added that as “highly subsidized electric cars are now flooding the European market, we have to react to that.”

The EU at the end of October imposed extra tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars, after an anti-subsidy probe concluded Beijing’s state support was unfairly undercutting European automakers.

Germany, whose big auto makers including Volkswagen are facing falling profits and are weighing lay-offs, had in Brussels opposed the EU tariffs and called for continued dialogue with China.

Wang said that “the EU’s imposition of high anti-subsidy tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles violates the principles of fair competition and free trade,” according to a readout of the meeting published by China’s foreign ministry.
…

BUCHAREST, Romania — Romanian centrist and leftist parties looked to have fended off a surge by the nationalist right in Sunday’s parliamentary election, as attention turned to a top court ruling later on Monday on whether to annul the results of a presidential vote. 

Romania, a European Union and NATO member, was thrown into turmoil by a shock result in the first round of the presidential vote on Nov. 24. A little-known far-right candidate surged to victory, raising suspicions of outside meddling in the electoral process of a country that has been a staunch ally of Ukraine. 

Romania’s Constitutional Court ordered a recount of the first round vote and is due to announce at 1500 GMT its decision on whether or not to validate the results of the ballot. 

If the court approves the result, independent far-right candidate, Calin Georgescu will face center-right contender Elena Lasconi in a run-off vote on Dec. 8. 

Romanian authorities say the country is a key target for hostile actors such as Russia, and have accused video streaming platform TikTok of giving preferential treatment to one candidate. Both Russia and TikTok deny any wrongdoing. 

Sunday’s parliamentary election, the second of three ballots scheduled over a period of as many weeks, saw the ruling leftist Social Democrat (PSD) party come first, setting the stage for what is likely to be a period of coalition forming with centrist parties. 

“We want a coalition that will continue Romania’s European course,” Social Democrat Vice President Victor Negrescu was quoted as saying by the website of Stirile Pro TV.  

“We expect the democratic, pro-European parties to understand that the Social Democratic Party can be the balancing factor around which a future majority can be formed.” 

President’s role 

With 99.78% of votes counted in the parliamentary ballot, the PSD won 22.4% of votes, ahead of the hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians with 18.2%.  

Lasconi’s centrist opposition Save Romania Union (USR) had 12.2%, while the junior ruling coalition ally Liberals had 14.3%. Two far-right groupings, SOS and POT, had 7.7% and 6.3%, respectively, and the ethnic Hungarian Party UDMR 6.4%. 

Liberal leader Ilie Bolojan said the party was “willing to participate in… a coalition so that we can be a modernizing factor for our country.” 

However, who gets to form the government will ultimately depend on who wins the presidential race, since the president designates a prime minister, and the timeline for that is unclear. 

This means Georgescu could potentially be in a position to give far-right parties, who together won over 30% of the vote, the chance to form a government. 

The leader of the far-right SOS grouping, Diana Sosoaca, appealed for unity among the nationalist parties. 

“I call on all patriotic, sovereigntist, nationalist forces to come together and form a nationalist government, even a minority one,” she was quoted as saying by the website of Digi 24 TV.  

 
…

BERLIN — Workers at nine Volkswagen car and component plants across Germany will strike for several hours on Monday, IG Metall union said, bringing assembly lines to a halt as labor and management clash over the future of the carmaker’s German operations.

Thousands are expected to gather at the carmaker’s headquarters in Wolfsburg. Demonstrations are also expected at the Hanover plant, which employs around 14,000 people, and other component and auto plants including Emden, Salzgitter, and Brunswick.

The strikes, which could escalate into 24-hour or unlimited strikes if a deal is not struck in the next round of wage negotiations, will put a dent in Volkswagen’s output at a time when the carmaker is already facing declining deliveries and plunging profit.

“How long and how intensive this confrontation needs to be is Volkswagen’s responsibility at the negotiating table,” Groeger said on Sunday.

A company spokesperson on Sunday said the carmaker respected workers’ right to strike and had taken steps to ensure a basic level of supplies to customers and minimize the strike’s impact.

The union last week proposed measures it said would save $1.6 billion, including forgoing bonuses for 2025 and 2026, which Europe’s top carmaker dismissed.

Volkswagen has demanded a 10% wage cut, arguing it needs to slash costs and boost profit to defend market share.

The company is also threatening to close plants in Germany, a first in its 87-year history.

An agreement not to stage walkouts ended on Saturday, enabling workers to carry out strikes from Sunday across VW AG’s German plants.

The labor union called on employees of the plants housed under subsidiary Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH, which include VW’s EV-only plant Zwickau, to strike on both Monday and Tuesday.

Negotiations will continue on Dec. 9 over a new labor agreement, with unions vowing to resist any proposals that do not provide a long-term plan for every VW plant.
…

TBILISI, Georgia — Police in Georgia fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters in Tbilisi, the capital, who opposed the government’s decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union, while some were detained, Russian agencies said on Monday.

Thousands of protesters had taken to the streets for several days in the nation of 3.7 million, accusing the ruling Georgian Dream party of pursuing increasingly authoritarian, anti-Western and pro-Russian policies.

Police ended hours of standoff early on Monday by moving demonstrators away from the parliament building and down the central Rustaveli Avenue towards the Tbilisi opera house and began erecting barricades with any material they could find.

Amid skirmishes with police, the demonstrators were forced off the avenue as they tossed fireworks at law enforcement officers, who responded with volleys of water cannon and tear gas, Russian agencies said.

After months of rising tension, the crisis has worsened since Thursday’s announcement that the government would freeze EU talks for four years, with pro-EU demonstrators facing off against police.

It was not immediately clear how many protesters were detained early on Monday, when Russia’s Interfax news agency said only a small group was left near a metro station.

It said 113 police officers were injured during the Tbilisi protests of the last few days, citing the Georgian interior (home) ministry.

On Sunday, four opposition groups urged protesters to demand paid leave from their jobs in order to attend protests, as provided by labor law, and asked employers to permit time off.

Georgia’s pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili called for pressure to be brought on the Constitutional Court to annul elections last month won by Georgian Dream. Both the opposition and Zourabichvili say the poll was rigged.

The European Union and the United States said they were alarmed by what they see as Georgia’s shift away from a pro-Western path back towards Russia’s orbit.

Georgian Dream says it is acting to defend the country’s sovereignty against outside interference.
…

Madrid — A bus crashed Sunday evening near a ski resort in southern France, killing at least two people and injuring 33 others, local authorities said.

A total of 47 people including the driver were on the bus when it crashed near the Porte-Puymorens ski resort, the regional administration said. Seven people were in critical condition.

Local authorities said a preliminary investigation showed the bus ran into a cliff, but the exact circumstances that may have resulted in such a collision were not immediately clear.

Images released by the local firefighter service showed the bus pressed against the side of a cliff, its right side partially crushed, and the windshield was apparently knocked out.

More than 120 individuals were involved in the high-altitude rescue effort, including from neighboring Catalonia in Spain and Andorra. Four rescue helicopters were also deployed to the accident scene some 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) in the French Pyrenees mountains.

Catalonia’s emergency services said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that the bus originated from L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, outside Barcelona, Spain.

A holiday center in Porte-Puymorens resort was opened to house the surviving passengers. The local ski resort has not opened yet because of a lack of snow.

Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse.
…

The late American businessman Morgan Williams was deeply involved in promoting Ukrainian business as president of the US-Ukraine Business Council.  During his time in Ukraine, Williams began collecting artwork related to the Holodomor, a famine engineered by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in the early 1930’s that killed millions. Now, all that artwork has a home. Hanna Tverdokhlib has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by Kostiantyn Golubchyk.
…

Athens, Greece — Torrential rains flooded homes, businesses and roads in the popular Greek tourist island of Rhodes on Sunday, forcing authorities to temporarily ban the use of vehicles as Storm Bora pounded the country for a second day.

On Saturday, a man died in flash floods which hit another Greek island in the northern Aegean.

The fire service received more than 650 calls to pump water out of flooded buildings on Rhodes island and evacuated 80 people to safer ground, with the city of Ialysos hit the hardest. No injuries were reported.

Cars and debris were piled up high in the flooded streets of Rhodes, with residents trying to remove mud from their water-logged properties.

“The situation is tragic, some have lost their homes, some have fled, our cars are in a terrible condition,” said Sofia Kanelli in Ialysos.

Fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Varthakogiannis told Greece’s SKAI TV that the bad weather would continue Monday.

The Mediterranean country has been ravaged by floods and wildfires in recent years, with scientists saying that Greece has become a “hot spot” for climate change.

“The conditions in recent years are different; we have sudden rainfall and sudden floods,” Varthakogiannis said.

In 2023, more than 20,000 tourists and locals were forced to flee homes and seaside hotels as wildfires burned for days.

Thunderstorms and heavy rain also interrupted train services in mainland Greece, especially in the center and north of the country. 
…

The United States is not considering returning to Ukraine the nuclear weapons it gave up after the Soviet Union collapsed, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday.

Sullivan made his remarks when questioned about a New York Times article last month that said some unidentified Western officials had suggested U.S. President Joe Biden could give Ukraine the arms before he leaves office.

“That is not under consideration, no. What we are doing is surging various conventional capacities to Ukraine so that they can effectively defend themselves and take the fight to the Russians, not [giving them] nuclear capability,” he told ABC.

Last week, Russia said the idea was “absolute insanity” and that preventing such a scenario was one of the reasons why Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.

Kyiv inherited nuclear weapons from the Soviet Union after its 1991 collapse but gave them up under a 1994 agreement, the Budapest Memorandum, in return for security assurances from Russia, the United States and Britain.
…

KYIV, UKRAINE — Russian President Vladimir Putin approved budget plans, raising 2025 military spending to record levels as Moscow seeks to prevail in the war in Ukraine.

Around 32.5% of the budget posted on a government website Sunday has been allocated for national defense, amounting to 13.5 trillion rubles (more than $145 billion), up from a reported 28.3% this year.

Lawmakers in both houses of the Russian parliament, the State Duma and Federation Council had already approved the plans in the past 10 days.

Russia’s war on Ukraine, which started in February 2022, is Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II and has drained the resources of both sides.

Kyiv has been getting billions of dollars in help from its Western allies, but Russia’s forces are bigger and better equipped, and in recent months the Russian army has gradually been pushing Ukrainian troops backward in eastern areas.

On the ground in Ukraine, three people died in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson when a Russian drone struck a minibus on Sunday morning, Kherson regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said. Seven others were wounded in the attack.

Meanwhile, the number of wounded in Saturday’s missile strike in Dnipro in central Ukraine rose to 24, with seven in serious condition, Dnipropetrovsk regional Gov. Serhiy Lysak said. Four people were killed in the attack.

Moscow sent 78 drones into Ukraine overnight into Sunday, Ukrainian officials said. According to Ukraine’s air force, 32 drones were destroyed during the overnight attacks. A further 45 drones were “lost” over various areas, likely having been electronically jammed.

In Russia, a child was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, according to regional Gov. Alexander Bogomaz.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that 29 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight into Sunday in four regions of western Russia: 20 over the Bryansk region, seven over the Kaluga region, and one each over the Smolensk and Kursk regions.
…