5 Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

[rpannier]

1. Czechs See Signs Of Russian Role In Cyberattacks As Tensions Seethe

A recent wave of coordinated cyberattacks in the Czech Republic is likely tied to malware linked to Russia, Czech Internet security experts say.

Earlier this month, Czech officials said information-technology (IT) systems at Prague's international airport, several hospitals, and the Health Ministry were targeted in the attacks, which sparked outrage in Prague -- and Washington, as well.

On April 22, the Czech Interior Ministry said its IT systems were also targeted in the attacks, all of which were thwarted and were preceded by warnings from the country's cybersecurity watchdog of expected cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.

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"It's impossible to pinpoint where the attacks originated, but the tool MBR Locker, with which it was created, is in the Russian language. So are the instructions for using it, and they can be found on forums used by Russian hackers," Dvorak said in comments sent to RFE/RL.

He added that the digital trail also led to IP addresses in China.


https://www.rferl.org/a/czechs-see-signs-of-russian-role-in-cyberattacks-as-tensions-remain-high/30574658.html


2. Ukraine’s Job Offer To Saakashvili Angers Georgia

TBILISI/KYIV -- The government of Georgia, led by former President Mikheil Saakashvili's longtime foes, has voiced objection to his possible appointment to the post of deputy prime minister of Ukraine, saying such a move would negatively affect relations between the two countries.​
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Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said in Tbilisi on April 24 that it was "absolutely unacceptable" for Ukraine to appoint to a top post a person who has been convicted in his native Georgia and is wanted on charges of abuse of power.​

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In Kyiv, Ukrainian lawmakers representing the ruling Servant of the People party said they were divided over the government's proposal to give Saakashvili the post of deputy prime minister in charge of reforms.​
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Saakashvili, whose appointment needs to be approved by parliament, told reporters that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had asked him to conduct talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).​

https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-job-offer-to-saakashvili-angers-georgia/30575149.html


3. Michel Barnier: 'UK cannot refuse Brexit transition extension and slow down talks at the same time'

The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has accused the UK of dragging its feet over post-Brexit negotiations, at the end of the second round of talks on the future relationship.

He described this week's talks, which resumed this week by videoconference after a six-week standstill amid the coronavirus pandemic, as "disappointing" -- adding that no progress had been made in key areas.

The UK had failed to engage or provide texts on crucial topics such as fishing, Barnier said. Yet "more than ever, the clock is ticking," he added, ahead of crucial deadlines this year.

https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/24/watch-live-eu-negotiator-michel-barnier-gives-update-on-post-brexit-talks-with-uk


4. Lenin At 150: Even Without COVID-19, Russia Was Set To Snub The Soviet Union's Founder

When the 100th anniversary of Vladimir Lenin’s birth rolled around in 1970, the Soviet Union pulled out all the stops to mark the occasion. Commemorative stamps were printed; coins were minted; medals were struck. A vast new wing was opened at the Lenin museum in Ulyanovsk, the Volga River city where he was born and raised. In Kurgan Oblast, a vast grove of trees was planted to spell out “Lenin 100,” a living monument that can be seen from space 50 years later.

The country, and the entire Soviet bloc for that matter, capped off two years of preparations with a Communist Party meeting in the Kremlin addressed by General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet Nikolai Podgorny opened the event by saying: “What Lenin did during his spectacular life is not something for 100 years, but for the ages, for millennia.”

Yet on Lenin’s sesquicentennial, April 22, the country he created no longer exists and its successor state -- Russia -- seems decidedly uninterested in marking 150 years since his birth. Even before the coronavirus pandemic hit, only the most diehard Communists remaining in Russia seemed even to have noticed the anniversary. By contrast with the past, the silence seems deafening.

In Russia today, under President Vladimir Putin, Lenin’s memory is caught between what analysts say are two primary ideological currents of the ruling elite: the lionization of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin -- whom Lenin described as “too coarse” in his final political testament, urging Stalin’s removal as general secretary -- and nostalgia for Russia’s pre-Soviet tsarist past, which Lenin despised and sought to destroy.

https://www.rferl.org/a/lenin-at-150-even-without-covid-19-russia-was-set-to-snub-the-soviet-union-s-founder/30568383.html


5. Sweden queries basis of lockdowns as Germany keeps its guard up

Sweden questioned the scientific basis of other EU countries’ strict coronavirus lockdowns as Germany said its number of cases needed to fall from about 2,000 to a few hundred a day before it could ease restrictions further.

As several European countries continued to cautiously lift lockdowns, sending children back to school and reopening some shops and businesses, Sweden’s chief epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, said their original measures looked difficult to justify.

Sweden has favoured civic responsibility over mandatory rules, closing senior high schools and banning gatherings of more than 50 people, but asking rather than ordering people to avoid non-essential travel, work from home and stay indoors if they are over 70 or feeling ill. Shops, restaurants and junior schools have stayed open.

Polls show many Swedes support the policy, although the interior minister, Mikael Damberg, and the mayor of Stockholm, Anna König Jerlmyr, urged people not to relax as the weather turned warmer, warning that bars and restaurants that did not follow physical distancing recommendations risked being shut down.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/24/sweden-queries-basis-of-lockdowns-as-germany-keeps-its-guard-up

[Rhiannon12866]

1. Thanks!

We used to hear news from all over the world, but since he rode down that damn escalator, it's been nothing but Trump!

[murielm99]

2. I listen to BBC World News,

usually on the weekend, sometimes during the week.

My daughter pays attention to the news out of South America, much like DU member JudiLynn.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. It's very frustrating, Trump's ridiculous and devastating antics have completely taken over the news

It takes a major catastrophe, like the history-making mass shooting in Canada, to actually break through. And we often see stories from the BBC or The Guardian posted here, but they're still most likely about Trump's latest abomination!

[2naSalit]

4. Thank you!