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Macron to go ahead with pension reforms amid chaos

French President Emmanuel Macron.(photo:Twitter/@EmmanuelMacron)

The move led to outrage among deputies, as well as people living and working in France…reports Asian Lite News

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that his government’s controversial pension reform plan should become law “before the end of the year”.

However, he added on Wednesday that he hoped to renew dialogues with trade unions, in order to ease tensions.

Macron said in a televised interview that the text for the pension reform, which is now due to be examined by the Constitutional Council, “will continue its democratic process”.

He added: “This reform is not a luxury, it is not a pleasure, it is a necessity.”

His only regret, he said, was that he had failed to convince the population of the need for the reform, which he claimed will “balance” the pension system in the future, Xinhua news agency reported.

There are around 17 million retirees in France, and this number is set to reach 30 million by 2030.

Last Thursday, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne triggered an article of the country’s Constitution that allows the government to force passage of the pension reform bill without a vote in the National Assembly.

The move led to outrage among deputies, as well as people living and working in France.

People demonstrate against the government’s pension reform plan in Paris, France, March 15, 2023.(Xinhua/Gao Jing/IANS)

Subsequently, two motions of no confidence in the government were submitted. Although these provoked tense debates in the National Assembly, they did not lead to a majority, and political parties are more divided than ever in France.

Since last Thursday, spontaneous protests have also broken out across the country, with police deploying water cannons and tear gas to disperse demonstrators. Many protestors and NGOs have denounced what they have called an “excessive” use of force and “abusive” arrests by French police.

On Wednesday, French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti asked prosecutors for “a systematic and rapid criminal response” to protestors arrested during the demonstrations, for “serious disturbances to public order”.

To ease the tensions, Macron said in Wednesday’s interview: “We have to move on. We must appease, and we must rebuild a parliamentary agenda and reforms by re-engaging in a dialogue with the unions and all the political forces that are ready to do so.”

France’s largest union, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), has already called for mass participation in strikes and demonstrations on March 23.

Meanwhile, the CGT’s culture section refused to serve a visit by the UK’s King Charles III on Sunday.

The French Prime Minister laid out details of the pension reform plan in January, under which the legal retirement age would be progressively raised by three months a year from 62 to 64 by 2030, and a guaranteed minimum pension would be introduced.

Under the plan, as of 2027 at least 43 years of work would be required to be eligible for a full pension.

ALSO READ: Pension reforms: Macron govt survives no-confidence vote

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EU agrees €2 bn ammunition plan for Ukraine

European Union flags fly outside the European Commission building in Brussels, Belgium, on June 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong/IANS)

Kyiv had urged the EU to send it more ammunition, saying that its forces had resorted to rationing firepower as they try to prevent Russian troops from advancing further…reports Asian Lite News

European Union ministers signed off on a plan to supply €2 billion ($2.1 billion) worth of ammunition to Ukraine on Monday.

The bloc aims to deliver 1 million 155-millimeter artillery shells to Ukraine in the next 12 months as well as replenish EU stocks.

Under the plan, €1 billion will be used to reimburse EU members that immediately supply Ukraine with ammunition from their own existing stockpiles.

Another €1 billion will be used to jointly fast track orders of ammunition specifically for Ukraine. The agreement aims to accelerate deliveries, and comes amid concerns that Ukraine is using more shells than its Western allies are producing.

Kyiv had urged the EU to send it more ammunition, saying that its forces had resorted to rationing firepower as they try to prevent Russian troops from advancing further.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the “starting signal” had been given and that Kyiv could count on receiving a significant amount of ammunition this year.

“We are grateful to the EU for approving a plan to purchase ammunition for Ukraine for €2 billion,” the Ukrainian presidential administration’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said. “This is a very strong step to protect European security.”

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Pension reforms: Macron govt survives no-confidence vote

It means the government’s “unpopular” pension reform bill is considered as adopted without vote in the lower house of Parliament….reports Asian Lite News

Two no-confidence motions against the French government failed to convince a majority in the National Assembly after hot debates followed by narrow votes.

It means the government’s “unpopular” pension reform bill is considered as adopted without vote in the lower house of Parliament. French President Emmanuel Macron now has 15 days to enact the law, Xinhua news agency reported.

The first multiparty motion, filed by the centrist opposition group LIOT, gained 278 votes on Monday afternoon among the deputies, only nine votes short of the 287 required to topple Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne’s government.

The second motion, tabled by the far-right National Rally party, only got 94 votes.

The French National Assembly is composed of 577 seats, but since there are currently four vacancies, the number of votes required to reach a majority is 287.

Borne on Thursday triggered an article of the country’s Constitution that allows the government to force passage of the controversial pension reform bill without a vote in the National Assembly.

French President Emmanuel Macron

Following the results of the two no-confidence motions, France’s largest union, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), has called for “amplifying the mobilisation” and “participating massively in the rolling strikes and the demonstrations” on March 23.

Tensions also rose across France. Demonstrations in Paris and Lille were dispersed by the police with tear gas.

According to Paragraph 3 of Article 49 of the French Constitution, the prime minister may, after consulting with the Council of Ministers, impose the adoption of a bill by the National Assembly without a vote. The only way for the National Assembly to veto this is to pass a no-confidence motion against the government.

The prime minister laid out details of the pension reform plan in January, under which the legal retirement age would be progressively raised by three months a year from 62 to 64 by 2030, and a guaranteed minimum pension would be introduced.

Under the plan, as of 2027, at least 43 years of work would be required to be eligible for a full pension.

ALSO READ: Protests against pension reform plan continues in France

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EU, US, Japan central banks join hands to keep dollars flowing

EU flags are seen outside the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 6, 2023.(Xinhua/Zheng Huansong/IANS)

Market turmoil triggered by the second and third biggest bank failures in US history earlier this month is threatening to make it harder for people to borrow money, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week…reports Asian Lite News

The US Federal Reserve and several other major central banks announced a coordinated effort on Sunday night to boost the flow of US dollars through the global financial system with an aim of keeping credit flowing to households and businesses, CNN Business reported.

CNN Business said from Monday through at least the end of April, the Fed and other central banks will make dollars available on a daily basis, rather than weekly. “The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank are today announcing a coordinated action to enhance the provision of liquidity via the standing US dollar liquidity swap line arrangements,” the central banks said in a joint statement.

Sunday’s statement came just hours after Swiss authorities orchestrated an emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS. Credit Suisse — one of the 30 most important banks in the global financial system — was bleeding money last week after investor and customer confidence collapsed.

Market turmoil triggered by the second and third biggest bank failures in US history earlier this month is threatening to make it harder for people to borrow money, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week.

“If banks are under stress, they might be reluctant to lend,” Yellen said on Thursday in testimony to the Senate Finance Committee. “We could see credit become more expensive and less available.”

According to CNN Business, Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), told reporters on Thursday that “persistently elevated market tensions” could further constrict credit conditions that were already tightening in response to rising interest rates.

Swap lines are agreements between two central banks to exchange currencies. They allow a central bank to obtain foreign currency from the central bank that issues it, and distribute it to commercial banks in their country, CNN Business said.

The swap line between US Federal Reserve and the ECB, for example, enables the ECB to receive US dollars in exchange for an equivalent amount of euros. The ECB can then distribute those dollars to commercial banks in the 20 countries that use the euro.

The agreements can be an important tool for preserving financial stability and preventing market tension from affecting the economy, according to the ECB. During the global financial crisis of 2008 following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, funding markets dried up because of an extreme aversion to risk. CNN Business said under these circumstances it became difficult for euro area banks to obtain US dollars.

“The network of swap lines among these central banks is a set of available standing facilities and serve as an important liquidity backstop to ease strains in global funding markets, thereby helping to mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses,” the central banks added. (ANI)

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Putin pays surprise visit to Russia-occupied Mariupol

Ukraine crisis: Putin visits Russia-occupied Mariupol.(Photo:Kremlin)

Mariupol has been under Russian occupation for more than 10 months after being devastated in one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the conflict….reports Asian Lite News

Russian President Vladimir Putin has paid a surprise visit to Mariupol — the Ukrainian port city captured by Russian forces, the media reported. The visit is believed to be Putin’s first to a newly-occupied Ukrainian territory.

In a video, Putin is seen driving a car through streets at night and speaking to people, the BBC reported on Sunday. It was, however, not known when the footage was taken.

During the visit, the Russian President is also reported to have met top military commanders in Rostov-on-Don city.

Putin travelled to Mariupol by helicopter. In the video, he is in the car with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, who explains how the city is being rebuilt, Tass news agency reported.

Putin also appears to visit the Philharmonic Hall, which was used to stage trials of defenders of the Azovstal iron and steel plant, a huge industrial complex where Ukrainian troops held out before eventually surrendering.

Mariupol has been under Russian occupation for more than 10 months after being devastated in one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the conflict.

Ukraine said more than 20,000 people were killed there.

UN analysis estimates that 90 per cent of the buildings were damaged and around 3,50,000 people were forced to leave, our of a pre-war population of about 5,00,000.

A group of local residents has told the BBC that “Russia is conducting an expensive campaign to rebuild the city and win over the hearts and minds of its people”.

The purpose is to assimilate Mariupol and make it Russia’s own. Russian authorities say 3,00,000 people are now living there.

ALSO READ: US mulls ban on Chinese airlines using Russian airspace

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Poland becomes first NATO member to pledge fighter jets to Ukraine

President Andrzej Duda said that almost a dozen aircraft that Poland had inherited from the former German Democratic Republic would be handed over in the upcoming days after being serviced….reports Asian Lite News

Poland – the first NATO member to do so – on Thursday pledged that it would send four MiF-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. This was a significant development in Kyiv’s struggle to fend off Russian aggression, CNN reported.

President Andrzej Duda said that almost a dozen aircraft that Poland had inherited from the former German Democratic Republic would be handed over in the upcoming days after being serviced. Duda added, “When it comes to the MiG-29 aircraft, which are still operating in defence of Polish airspace, a decision has been taken at the highest levels, we can say confidently that we are sending MiGs to Ukraine.”

In providing Kyiv with heavy weaponry, Warsaw has assumed a leading position among NATO allies. A step beyond the rest of the alliance’s commitments, Poland’s statement that it will send the Soviet-designed aircraft may put pressure on other members to follow suit.

The US said on Thursday that Poland’s proposal would not require Washington to act, given that other NATO countries have been unwilling to go much beyond their earlier this year decided to send tanks to Kyiv.

The Polish president voiced the support of his nation and the Czech Republic for Kyiv while speaking at a news conference in Warsaw alongside his new counterpart, Petr Pavel, reported the CNN.

President Duda also said, “The Czech Republic and Poland are countries that are in the absolute vanguard when it comes to supporting Ukraine, both at humanitarian and military levels.”

Even before Russia invaded Ukraine, Poland was one of the loudest opponents of Russia in Europe. Many people in Poland’s political and diplomatic circles still view Russia from the Cold War perspective. Warsaw has always held the opinion that Putin is an unreliable leader and that any Russian expansion should be resisted at all costs. It is one of the few NATO nations with a legal obligation to fulfil its 2 per cent of GDP commitment to defence spending and is an active member of the European defence community.

Deploying MiGs is not out of the ordinary for Poland, and it fully complies with its NATO membership.

Although, this might alter the dynamic inside the alliance, serving as a stimulus for more nations to do so, or it might enrage nations like Hungary who are against NATO to get more involved in the fight.

The main concern will be whether it exerts pressure on the United States and the United Kingdom, which would then exert pressure on Germany. In the end, Poland presumably intended to put this pressure on other allies.

According to the White House, President Joseph Biden won’t send F-16 planes since Poland’s decision to send the fighter jets is a “sovereign choice,” made on Thursday.

John Kirby, a senior official at the US National Security Council, claimed that it didn’t alter his organisation’s thinking regarding F-16s.

He said, “These are sovereign decisions for any country to make and we respect those sovereign decisions,” adding, “They get to determine not only what they are going to give but how they’re going to characterise it.”

“I wouldn’t think it’s our place to characterise Poland’s decision one way or another,” Kirby said, denying to endorse the decision.

He said that Biden, who earlier this year declared he would not send US combat jets to Ukraine, will not be persuaded by Poland’s choice.

Ukraine has argued that it needs fighter jets from the US in addition to tanks so that it can defend itself from Russian missile and drone assaults.

But, the US and NATO officials have expressed doubt over the initiative, claiming that the jets wouldn’t be realistic since they require substantial training and that Russia has powerful anti-aircraft systems that could easily shoot them down. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Denmark to set up $1 bn aid for Ukraine

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EU unveils act to secure supply chains

EU flags are seen outside the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 6, 2023.(Xinhua/Zheng Huansong/IANS)

It sets clear goals for 2030, with 10 per cent of the EU’s annual consumption for extraction, 40 per cent for processing and 15 per cent for recycling….reports Asian Lite News

The European Commission has proposed an act aiming at securing sustainable supply chains of critical raw materials for the European Union (EU) member states.

The European Critical Raw Materials Act (CRM Act) will ensure the EU’s access to a secure, diversified, affordable and sustainable supply of critical raw materials, as critical raw materials are indispensable for a wide range of strategic sectors, including the net zero industry, the digital industry, the aerospace and the defence sectors, the Commission said in a statement.

The CRM Act lists critical raw materials, as well as strategic raw materials, aiming to achieve the region’s green and digital transition and to reduce the bloc’s dependence on imports from outside, reports Xinhua news agency.

It sets clear goals for 2030, with 10 per cent of the EU’s annual consumption for extraction, 40 per cent for processing and 15 per cent for recycling.

“This act will bring us closer to our climate ambitions. It will significantly improve the refining, processing and recycling of critical raw materials here in Europe. Raw materials are vital for manufacturing key technologies for our twin transition — like wind power generation, hydrogen storage or batteries,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the Commission.

The proposed act also addresses the current dependency of the EU by specifying that no more than 65 per cent of the bloc’s annual consumption of each strategic raw material at any relevant stage of processing should come from a single third country.

Under the CRM Act, red tape will be simplified, especially when it comes to extraction and recycling permits. CRM supply chains and stocks within the EU will be monitored to ensure the resilience of supply chains.

Research and development, as well as relevant skills, will be boosted. Labour rights, human rights and environmental protection are also part of the CRM Act.

As the EU’s own resources in critical raw materials are not sufficient to meet the bloc’s demand, it needs to rely on partner countries. In order to avoid dependencies on third countries, the EU aims at diversifying suppliers.

Among other actions, the EU proposes to establish a Raw Critical Materials Club to bring like-minded suppliers and consumers together, to include dedicated chapters in future free trade agreements, and to work with the World Trade Organization on the topic as well as with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The CRM Act is one of the cornerstones of the EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan, together with the Net-Zero Industry Act, which sets a target for the EU to produce 40 percent of its own clean tech by 2030.

The proposal needs to be approved by all the EU’s 27 member states, a process set to take many months, perhaps over a year.

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Putin says Germany remains “occupied” by US

Moscow, Feb 21 (ANI): Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the Federal Assembly (Russia's two-chamber Parliament), in Moscow on Tuesday. (ANI Photo)

Putin said European leaders had been browbeaten into losing their sense of sovereignty and independence…reports Asian Lite News

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Germany’s response to the explosion on North Sea pipelines showed that the country remained “occupied” and unable to act independently decades after its surrender at the end of World War Two.

Putin, interviewed on Russian television, also said European leaders had been browbeaten into losing their sense of sovereignty and independence.

Western countries, including Germany, have reacted cautiously to investigations into the blasts which hit Russia’s Nord Stream gas pipelines last year, saying they believe they were a deliberate act, but declining to say who they think was responsible.

“The matter is that European politicians have said themselves publicly that after World War Two, Germany was never a fully sovereign state,” Russian news agencies quoted Putin as telling state Rossiya-1 TV channel.

“The Soviet Union at one point withdrew its forces and ended what amounted to an occupation of the country. But that, as is well known, was not the case with the Americans. They continue to occupy Germany.”

Putin told the interviewer that the blasts were carried out on a “state level” and dismissed as “complete nonsense” suggestions that an autonomous pro-Ukraine group was responsible.

The pipelines were intended to bring Russian gas to Germany, though since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago Berlin has taken steps to reduce its reliance on Russian hydrocarbons.

Leaders in Berlin have been careful about apportioning blame for the explosions, with Defence Minister Boris Pistorius saying last week the blasts could have been a “false-flag operation to blame Ukraine”.

Russia seeks to retrieve remains of US drone from Black Sea

Russia will try to retrieve the wreckage of a US surveillance drone that crashed into the Black Sea two days back, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said.

“I don’t know if we will be able to get the remains or not, but it is a must to do it and we will do it. I hope, of course, it will be a success,” Patrushev told a Russian TV programme on Wednesday.

There are technical possibilities for Russia to find and study the wreckage of the drone, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergei Naryshkin said on the programme.

The US is conducting intelligence activities in the Black Sea “very actively, using all means” and Russia knows about the US goals in detail, Naryshkin added.

Russia-US relations are “at their lowest point, in a very deplorable state,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, commenting on the drone incident.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been informed of the situation, and there were no Moscow-Washington contacts at the highest level over the incident, Peskov told a daily briefing.

Russian Ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, on Tuesday called the incident “a provocation,” stressing that “we must be very careful in our actions given the events that are taking place in Eastern Europe”.

According to the Russian Defence Ministry on Tuesday, Russian fighter jets were scrambled to identify a US MQ-9 drone approaching the Russian state border, and the unmanned aerial vehicle crashed into the Black Sea due to its own sharp maneuvering.

Nikolai Patrushev.

‘Will respond to US provocations’

Russia will continue to react proportionately to any future US ‘provocations,’ Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu said a day after the Russian Su-27 fighter jet downed an American military drone over the Black Sea, TASS reported.

Russia will continue to respond proportionately to all provocations similar to the flight of US drones near the Russian border, Shoigu said. According to TASS News Agency, Shoigu made this remark while holding a telephonic conversation with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Wednesday (Local Time) where they exchanged opinions about the causes and consequences of the incident with the US unmanned aerial vehicle.

“The focus was made on an exchange of opinions about the causes and consequences of the incident with the US unmanned aerial vehicle that crashed into the Black Sea on March 14 of this year,” the ministry said.

The ministry said Shoigu stated that the incident had been caused by US moves that disrespected the flight restrictions, which Russia established for a certain area due to the special operation, and by enhanced intelligence gathering directed against Russia.

During their telephonic conversation, Shoigu told Austin that the drone incident was caused by the US failure to respect flight restrictions that Russia set for certain areas, TASS reported citing Defence Ministry.

Shoigu stated flights by US drones near the Crimean coastline are provocative, creating conditions for the situation to escalate, the Russian ministry said.

Earlier, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told Russia that their aircraft will continue to “fly and operate wherever international law allows,” a day after the Russian Su-27 fighter jet downed an American military drone over the Black Sea, reported CNN.

ALSO READ: Canada announces additional military aid to Ukraine

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Denmark to set up $1 bn aid for Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelenskyy President of Ukraine.(photo:Facebook)

The aid will be three-pronged, with the biggest chunk being military aid of around 5.4 billion kroner in 2023…reports Asian Lite News

Denmark will set up a $1 billion fund for aid to Ukraine in 2023, the Danish government announced on Wednesday following agreement by almost all parties in parliament.

Western nations have pledged a steady flow of support to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion a year ago.

“The government has agreed to establish a fund for Ukraine with a total framework of around seven billion kroner ($1 billion) in 2023,” the finance ministry said in a statement, a project supported by 159 of 179 members of parliament.

Some development aid will be redirected to pay for the initiative, as well as an easing of financial policy.

The aid will be three-pronged, with the biggest chunk being military aid of around 5.4 billion kroner in 2023.

Civilian aid for humanitarian and long-term reconstruction efforts will receive around 1.2 billion kroner, while 400 million kroner will go to business initiatives.

“We can’t wait for the last shot to be fired,” Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters.

In addition, the government will allocate funds in 2024-2027 to cover the cost of replacing the military aid given to Ukraine in 2022 and 2023, the government said.

Meanwhile, British and German fighter jets scrambled to intercept two Russian aircraft flying close to Estonia in a joint NATO mission on Tuesday – hours after a Russian plane downed a US drone over the Black Sea – amid fears of an escalation in the region, media reports said.

The RAF and German Typhoon jets were reacting to a Russian air-to-air refuelling aircraft after it failed to communicate with Estonian air traffic control in the Baltic Sea, and as it approached NATO airspace.

The Russian Il-78 Midas plane was intercepted as it was flying between St Petersburg and Kaliningrad. The NATO jets were later redirected to also intercept a Russian Russian Antonov 148 military transport aircraft that was also passing close to Estonian air space, the RAF said in a release on Wednesday.

It was the first joint NATO air policing scramble carried out by the two countries, and comes amid a period of heightened tension in the region due to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and his threats to Kyiv’s western allies.

Russia today warned it will “consider any action with US weaponry as openly hostile” after the incident involving the drone in international airspace on Tuesday, which also came as Danish investigators said they had found a “suspicious object” beneath the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, parts of which were mysteriously destroyed last year.

ALSO READ: Canada announces additional military aid to Ukraine

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Finnish president to meet Erdogan over NATO bid

Niinisto will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Friday…reports Asian Lite News

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto has said that during his upcoming visit to Turkey he would acknowledge reception of the Turkish response to the ratification of Finland’s NATO membership.

Contact with the Turkish presidential administration has been frequent since last spring, Niinisto added on Wednesday, and has accelerated in recent days.

The Finnish President also said he has been in contact with the Swedish Prime Minister, adding that it is very important to Finland that NATO membership both for his country and Sweden should materialise as soon as possible.

Niinisto’s working visit to Turkey this Thursday and Friday was announced by the Finnish presidential office earlier on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Niinisto will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Friday.

In addition to NATO membership and post-earthquake reconstruction, topics on the agenda include the geopolitical situation, and bilateral relations between Finland and Turkey, the presidential office said.

Finland and Sweden submitted applications to join NATO on May 18, 2022. So far, 28 of NATO’s member countries have ratified the applications, but Turkey and Hungary have not yet approved the Scandinavian countries’ memberships.

ALSO READ: Sweden, Finland discuss NATO accession with Turkey