BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s executive criticised judiciary overhauls by the nationalist governments in Poland and Hungary as a “major source of controversy” and “serious concern” in its first report on Wednesday about failings in the rule of law in the bloc.
FILE PHOTO: European Commissioner for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova gives a news conference on EU rules on data protection (GDPR) and the new EU Strategy on victims’ rights, in Brussels, Belgium, June 24, 2020. Olivier Hoslet/Pool via REUTERS
Seen by Reuters ahead of official release on Wednesday, the report also focused on challenges to media independence and fighting corruption, saying the coronavirus pandemic served as a “stress test” of democratic resilience of the 27 EU states.
The report comes as the bloc is looking to link access to EU money, including a new 750 billion euro coronavirus recovery fund, to respecting the rule of law.
“Poland’s justice reforms since 2015 have been a major source of controversy,” the report said, adding that Hungary was also among member states where “the direction of change has given rise to serious concern about the impact of reforms on judicial independence.”
Warsaw and Budapest are locked in long-running battles with the EU over undercutting democratic checks and balances through putting courts, media, NGOs and academics under more state control.
“The European Union was created also as an antidote to … authoritarian tendencies,” said the EU’s top democracy official, Commissioner for Values and Transparency, Vera Jourova, who co-wrote the report.
“The rule of law is not about being right-wing or left-wing; it is about being right or wrong.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban this week called for Jourova to be dismissed after she said his vision of “illiberal democracy” was in fact spearheading the creation of an “ailing democracy” in Hungary.
The Commission rejected Orban’s request.
Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Slovakia were also criticised in the report for shortcomings in ensuring judiciary independence. The Commission noted corruption scandals in Bulgaria, Slovakia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Malta.
The report also said some governments’ emergency measures to tackle coronavirus went too far in restraining the media and civil society’s scrutiny of public decisions.
Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Giles Elgood
According to Turkish newspaper SABAH, the Turkish president stressed that lately Euro-Turkish relations are being tested due to the tension in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“With this letter, Turkey wants to convey its proposals for resolving the problem,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly wrote in the letter, as the paper reports.
It is the second letter the Turkish President sent to the EU leaders following his first one before the scheduled EU Summit on Turkey, which was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In that letter, which, according to the Cypriot newspaper “Phileleftheros”, was not sent to the leaders of Greece and Cyprus, Erdogan presents his well-known Turkish narrative about the Eastern Mediterranean and claims that the tension is caused by Greece and Cyprus, citing in the actions of Nicosia since 2003 (demarcation, licensing, drilling).
Britain has offered a three-year transition period for European fishing fleets to allow them to prepare for the post-Brexit changes as part of an 11th-hour deal sweetener.
The catches of EU fishermen would be “phased down” between 2021 and 2024 to offer time for European coastal communities to adapt to the changes.
The lengthy transition period is contained in a new negotiating paper tabled ahead of the current round of negotiations in Brussels between the teams respectively led by the UK’s chief negotiator, David Frost, and his EU counterpart, Michel Barnier.
The idea of a phase-down period had been floated previously but details had not been provided until recent days.
“We have a long way to go but if the other problematic issues can be sorted, it doesn’t look like fisheries will stand in the way of an agreement”, said one senior EU diplomat.
Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, said during a visit to Washington on Tuesday night that he believed there was a good chance of a trade deal. “The obstacles are not insurmountable,” he said. “We should be able to get this deal done.”
However, UK fisheries leaders warned the government not to sell them out. Barrie Deas, the head of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said: “What we wouldn’t agree to is surrendering fishing rights in order to have a trade deal.
“There is no expectation within the UK fishing industry that the UK will back down on fisheries. If anything, the commitments that have been made to the industry are stronger now than when the negotiations started. We’ve been given clear and unequivocal commitments.”
The UK remains fixed on replacing the common fisheries policy with a system of “zonal attachment” that would offer a significant increase in catches for British fishing fleets.
Currently, Britain’s economic zone is part of common EU waters. The UK receives a fixed share based on how much stock its fishermen caught during a reference period between 1973 and 1978.
Under the new system proposed by the UK, the two sides would agree on what percentage of shared stocks are attached to each of their European economic zones each year. Catch quotas would be organised in line with that percentage.
Timeline
From Brefusal to Brexit: a history of Britain in the EU
Show
Brefusal
The French president, Charles de Gaulle, vetoes Britain’s entry to EEC, accusing the UK of a “deep-seated hostility” towards the European project.
Brentry
With Sir Edward Heath having signed the accession treaty the previous year, the UK enters the EEC in an official ceremony complete with a torch-lit rally, dickie-bowed officials and a procession of political leaders, including former prime ministers Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas-Home.
Referendum
The UK decides to stay in the common market after 67% voted “yes”. Margaret Thatcher, later to be leader of the Conservative party, campaigned to remain.
‘Give us our money back’
Margaret Thatcher negotiated what became known as the UK rebate with other EU members after the “iron lady” marched into the former French royal palace at Fontainebleau to demand “our own money back” claiming for every £2 contributed we get only £1 back” despite being one of the “three poorer” members of the community.
It was a move that sowed the seeds of Tory Euroscepticism that was to later cause the Brexit schism in the party.
The Bruges speech
Thatcher served notice on the EU community in a defining moment in EU politics in which she questioned the expansionist plans of Jacques Delors, who had remarked that 80% of all decisions on economic and social policy would be made by the European Community within 10 years with a European government in “embryo”. That was a bridge too far for Thatcher.
The cold war ends
Collapse of Berlin wall and fall of communism in eastern Europe, which would later lead to expansion of EU.
‘No, no, no’
Divisions between the UK and the EU deepened with Thatcher telling the Commons in an infamous speech it was ‘no, no, no’ to what she saw as Delors’ continued power grab. Rupert Murdoch’s Sun newspaper ratchets up its opposition to Europe with a two-fingered “Up yours Delors” front page.
Black Wednesday
A collapse in the pound forced prime minister John Major and the then chancellor Norman Lamont to pull the UK out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism.
The single market
On 1 January, customs checks and duties were removed across the bloc. Thatcher hailed the vision of “a single market without barriers – visible or invisible – giving you direct and unhindered access to the purchasing power of over 300 million of the world’s wealthiest and most prosperous people”.
Maastricht treaty
Tory rebels vote against the treaty that paved the way for the creation of the European Union. John Major won the vote the following day in a pyrrhic victory.
Repairing the relationship
Tony Blair patches up the relationship. Signs up to social charter and workers’ rights.
Ukip
Nigel Farage elected an MEP and immediately goes on the offensive in Brussels. “Our interests are best served by not being a member of this club,” he said in his maiden speech. “The level playing field is about as level as the decks of the Titanic after it hit an iceberg.”
The euro
Chancellor Gordon Brown decides the UK will not join the euro.
EU enlarges to to include eight countries of the former eastern bloc including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
EU expands again, allowing Romania and Bulgaria into the club.
Migrant crisis
Anti-immigration hysteria seems to take hold with references to “cockroches” by Katie Hopkins in the Sun and tabloid headlines such as “How many more can we take?” and “Calais crisis: send in the dogs”.
David Cameron returns from Brussels with an EU reform package – but it isn’t enough to appease the Eurosceptic wing of his own party
Brexit referendum
The UK votes to leave the European Union, triggering David Cameron’s resignation and paving the way for Theresa May to become prime minister
Britain leaves the EU
After years of parliamentary impasse during Theresa May’s attempt to get a deal agreed, the UK leaves the EU.
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p class=”css-38z03z”>A failure to agree annually on catches could lead to EU fleets being locked out of British waters. France is particularly concerned by the impact on its fishing communities and has taken a “maximalist” position that the status quo should be protected.
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p class=”css-38z03z”>While the policy would deliver the extra catches promised as a Brexit bonus, it is understood the government is also making new commitments on maintaining EU sustainability standards and cooperation on the collection of data.
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p class=”css-38z03z”>The offer was part of five new draft negotiating documents submitted by the government, including legal texts on fisheries, the “level playing field”, law enforcement and judicial cooperation, civil nuclear cooperation and social security coordination.
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p class=”css-38z03z”>An EU official said: “We can confirm that we received additional documents from the UK. We are studying them.”
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p class=”css-38z03z”>According to Brussels sources, the UK’s paper on state aid, still the most contentious of the outstanding issues, offered to lay out a series of “principles” on controlling domestic subsidies.
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p class=”css-38z03z”>The EU said the paper offered hope that the UK would build on provisions in the recently signed UK-Japan deal. The trade deal with Tokyo prevents either side from indefinitely guaranteeing the debts of struggling companies or providing open-ended bailouts without approved restructuring plans.
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p class=”css-38z03z”>But the paper failed to offer appropriate “governance” proposals that would allow Brussels to keep the UK to its pledges, EU sources said.
The EU wanted to ensure that any commitments were seen through and that in the event of a breach, parts of the trade deal could be immediately suspended.
EU diplomats also said any agreement on such a method of regulating state aid would need to be taken “at the highest level”, as it would represent a significant divergence from Brussels’ proposal.
The EU has pushed for the UK to accept the bloc’s state aid rules, which do not allow unfair subsidies to be granted. The UK’s position would instead offer recourse in the event of trade being distorted.
<
p class=”css-38z03z”>“The UK-Japan deal is obviously now the basis but it isn’t yet enough and we need to have bite,” said one diplomatic source. A second source added that the proposal was as yet “more of the same” but that it was hoped that the week’s negotiation would flesh it out. “That is what matters,” the source said.
Deputy Speaker of the European Parliament Fabio Massimo Castaldo has expressed concern over the armed clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“This conflict may destabilize the South Caucasus. I strictly condemn Azerbaijan’s hostilities against civilians, in full violation of humanitarian law.
I also strictly condemn the rhetoric through which [President of Turkey Recep] Erdogan is actively supporting Azerbaijan’s actions. I hope for the compact interference of the European Union before the situation explodes,” he tweeted.
Nick Clegg, the UK’s former deputy prime minister and current vice-president of global affairs for Facebook, has spent the past week trying to dispel the rumour that Facebook would soon be forced to stop offering its services in the EU.
<p class="no_name">Facebook had attempted to persuade a Dublin judge that a ruling by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner would make it difficult for the company to keep operating anywhere in Europe. This was reported more widely as a threat to leave Europe.</p>
<p class="no_name">Although a lot of it can be overlooked as posturing in court documents, it is still a dramatic situation to find ourselves in, with a service used daily by the majority of adults in the country at risk from a court decision.</p>
<blockquote class="inline__content inline__content--pullquote">
If the US is not a safe place for European data, and internet companies cannot move data seamlessly between the US and EU, it will reshape the global internet
Understanding how we got here gives a great insight into the shifting sands of global data regulation, the future of the internet and how Ireland has found itself at the centre of it all.
<p class="no_name">This affair escalated dramatically in July when, after a string of court cases, international frameworks and EU directives, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the United States was not a safe place for companies to send the private data of EU citizens.</p>
<p class="no_name">There are some really big implications from that ruling. If the US is not a safe place for European data, and internet companies cannot move data seamlessly between the US and EU, it will reshape the global internet as we know it. It poses big questions for US tech companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook that offer their services in Europe: how do they operate if they cannot transfer user data back to headquarters for processing?</p>
<p class="no_name">As most of their European operations are in Ireland, the responsibility fell to the Irish Data Protection Commissioner to enforce this ruling, which she did against Facebook in early September. Facebook has since challenged the action and the Irish High Court has paused it until November.</p>
<blockquote class="inline__content inline__content--pullquote">
To think about the GDPR with terms such as “individual privacy” and “data rights” is quite an American way to look at it
Ireland is playing host to this dramatic battle over the future of the internet, which could see the emergence of a global set of rules for the treatment of data at best, or at worst, a breakdown in how the modern internet works.
<p class="no_name">The first three decades of the internet have been shaped by US norms and values. Every government is now trying to mould the global internet in its own image. The trick here is to push hard to apply your own world view, to shape the internet to your own cultural norms and legal frameworks, but not so hard that you effectively splinter the internet in your part of the world, as China has done with its “Great Firewall”.</p>
<aside class="related-articles--instream has-3"/><h4 class="crosshead">Landmark legislation</h4><p class="no_name">The European Union has two landmark pieces of legislation aimed at making the internet distinctly more European – the General Data Protection Regulation, which came into effect in 2018, and the ePrivacy Regulation, which is still in the works.</p>
<p class="no_name">To fully understand the EU’s vision for a more European internet, we first have to make sure we are viewing it through a European lens, not an American one.</p>
<p class="no_name">To think about the GDPR with terms such as “individual privacy” and “data rights” is quite an American way to look at it. The European framing of this issue is instead to think in terms of “corporate responsibility” and the “environment within which my data is handled”.</p>
<blockquote class="inline__content inline__content--pullquote">
We want people informed and empowered, but when was the last time you read 20 pages of ‘terms and conditions’ before downloading an app?
To illustrate this with an analogy, let’s look at how you could apply those two frames to a different area: food production.
<p class="no_name">The American approach would ask questions such as “How do we empower individuals to make smart choices about the foods they eat?” When we ask questions such as this about foods, we end up with solutions such as nutrition labels on food packaging – standardised, clear, concise ways that citizens can engage with food providers from an informed and empowered position.</p>
<p class="no_name">I’m a big fan of nutrition labels, but there are limitations to this approach. I’m not a food expert.</p>
<p class="no_name">So smart regulation also sets standards. The European Union cares about the processes by which our food is produced. We make rules about the hormone levels in our beef and the chemicals on our crops. This is a good thing and does much more of the heavy lifting to improve the quality of our foods than information alone could accomplish.</p>
<p class="no_name">The same analogy applies to data. We want people informed and empowered, but when was the last time you read 20 pages of “terms and conditions” before downloading an app?</p>
<p class="no_name">That’s where legislation such as GDPR comes in. The “nutritional information” is a part of it, but the much bigger and more substantial changes are on the corporate responsibility side.</p>
<p class="no_name">The EU cares that farms and food-processing plants operate responsibly, and likewise they care about how companies behave with our data. Huge amounts of GDPR is focused on processes and procedures to make companies less sloppy when they handle our private data.</p>
<h4 class="crosshead">Problem with US</h4><p class="no_name">As the Brexit negotiations remind us, the EU also cares about the high-level agricultural policies and practices in the countries we import food from, and likewise it cares about the data protection and security policies of the countries our data is sent to.</p>
<p class="no_name">The EU has always had problems with the way that the US does beef, and now it has beef with the way the US manages data.</p>
<p class="no_name">Edward Snowden, a CIA contractor turned whistleblower, brought to light the fact that the US government regularly monitors the private data passing through the servers of US companies. Since GDPR came into effect, many companies have put agreements in place saying, in effect, “we will transfer your data to the US, but we will ensure the same level of safeguards required under GDPR”.</p>
<p class="no_name">Max Schrems, an Austrian citizen and privacy advocate, challenged one of these companies, Facebook Ireland, saying it can’t make such a promise because once it sends his private data to Facebook US, it can’t stop the US government from snooping on it. Keeping that promise is outside of Facebook’s control.</p>
<p class="no_name">The European courts agreed, and so here we are, with the Irish Data Protection Commissioner trying to enforce this with Facebook Ireland, with wider implications for every other tech company to follow.</p>
<p class="no_name">GDPR has been a success in making the internet more European, with most large global tech companies changing the way they handle private data inside and outside the EU. The next big test, which we will see play out here, is if GDPR can change the way the US government treats the private data of non-US citizens, or maybe just EU citizens.</p>
<p class="no_name"><em>Peter Tanham is a digital strategist who writes a weekly newsletter about tech policy in Ireland</em></p>
Sister of Charity of Nazareth Elaine McCarron, formerly Sister Michael Maria, died Sept. 21. She was 88 and in her 67th year of religious life.
Sister McCarron, a native of Washington, D.C., served as an educator in Kentucky and Virginia. She also served as a minister of religious education in various parishes in Virginia and Maryland.
Sister McCarron was appointed by the U.S. bishops to help prepare teachers in Riga, Latvia, to teach religion as a way of developing the Church in Eastern Europe.
She served as an adjunct professor of catechetics at the Toronto School of Theology over several summers. She also served the church in Belize in Central America by helping establish and strengthen catechetical programs there.
Sister McCarron also served her religious community as a volunteer in the archives at Nazareth from 2009 to 2019.
She is survived by her sisters Joan Robinson and Maureen Mahoney, members of her extended family and religious community.
Sister McCarron will be buried Oct. 1. The prayer ritual will be filmed and shared.
Expressions of sympathy may be sent to the SCN, Office of Mission Advancement, P.O. Box 9, Nazareth, Ky., 40048.
(David Shepardson | Reuters)Donald Trump shall grant naturalization for illegal immigrants if they join military forces
A Vatican critique of U.S, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is the latest international flare up involving the administration of President Donald Trump which has in recent years lashed out at insitution and allies in the world of security, health, trade, and now religion.
The Holy See said on Sept. 30 it had denied a request from Pompeo for an audience with Pope Francis.
It accused the Secretary of State of trying to drag the Catholic Church into the U.S. presidential election by denouncing its relations with China, Reuters news agency reported.
Remarks came from the two top diplomatic officials at the Vatican after Pompeo made an accusation against the Catholic Church.
These were made in an article and in a series of tweets this month of the church putting its “moral authority” at risk by renewing an agreement with China over the appointment of bishops.
The Vatican’s two top diplomats, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Foreign Minister Archbishop Paul Gallagher, said Francis had declined a request from Pompeo for an audience, as the Pope avoids meeting politicians ahead of elections.
“Yes, he asked. But the Pope had already said clearly that political figures are not received in election periods. That is the reason,” Parolin said.
The Vatican’s two-year-old agreement with Beijing gives the Pope some say over the appointment of Chinese bishops and it was due to expire next month, but is expected to be renewed, Reuters said.
Pompeo was in Rome on Sept. 30 and due to meet Vatican officials the following day and had repeated denunciations of China’s record on religious freedom at an event hosted by the U.S. embassy to the Holy See.
The Guardian newspaper reported on the incident that the Italian news agency Ansa asked Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states, if the U.S/ unilaterally organizing an event of religious freedom amounted to exploitation of the Pope in the run-up to the U.S. elections.
He replied: “Yes, that is precisely why the Pope will not meet American secretary of state Mike Pompeo.”.
The Reuters report said that Parolin and Gallagher both described Pompeo’s public criticism as a “surprise”, coming just before his planned visit.
“Normally when you’re preparing these visits between high-level officials, you negotiate the agenda for what you are going to talk about privately, confidentially. It’s one of the rules of diplomacy,” Gallagher said.
Pompeo launched a strong attack on religious persecution in China and called on the Vatican to stand up for religious freedom there, in an implicit criticism of Pope Francis’s rapprochement with Beijing, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“Nowhere is religious freedom under assault more than in China,” Pompeo said in his speech in Rome.
He cited China’s treatment of Uighur Muslims and other religious minorities, including Catholics, as well as the crackdown on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.
“We must support those demanding freedom in our time.”
Pompeo addressed was at a conference on religious freedom organized by the U.S. Embassy to the Vatican, and invoked the courage of Pope John Paul II in opposing Soviet Communism.
“May the church, and all those who know that we are ultimately accountable to God, be so bold in our time,” said Pompeo.
The Journal reported a “senior Vatican official” expressed irritation with Pompeo’s suggestion that the Holy See hadn’t been standing up for religious freedom in China.
“We speak about religious freedom to China all the time, but we do so in our own way,” the official said. He suggested that Pompeo’s speech was motivated by U.S. domestic politics: “He is clearly exploiting the issue of religious freedom in view of the election in November.”
Diaspora Affairs Minister, MK Omer Yankelevich, spoke on Tuesday at a special gathering of Jewish community leaders in Europe and addressed the rising antisemitism in Europe and across the world.
The conference, led by the European Jewish Association (EJA,) was chaired by Rabbi Menachem Margolin and attended by dozens of Jewish community leaders and organizations from across the continent, as well as by senior members of the European Parliament and the Director of European Commission Directorate for Security & Law enforcement.
Addressing the forum itself, Yankelevich pointed at unity as the most efficient way of combating antisemitism.
“This forum brings together community leaders, government representatives, and Jewish organizations. The only way to successfully combat the rise in antisemitism is to combine forces and work together,” Yankelevich said as her opening remarks.
She then continued to point at the antisemitic instances that have been increasing in recent years, and especially in Europe. “It is coming from all directions, spanning political spectrum – the extreme right, extreme left, as well as radical Islam – contradictory and opposing ideologies have merged and found a common denominator, their hatred of Jews,” Yankelevich said.
While noting that these groups are still considered marginal in European society, Yankelevic did point at “an alarming phenomenon appearing in the heart of several EU countries. Those whose role it is to protect and ensure the physical and spiritual well-being of their Jewish communities.
During her speech, Yankelevic addressed debates taking place within several European parliaments regarding the religious freedom of Jewish communities in those countries.
“Let me be clear,” Yankelevic said. “Denying the Jewish freedom of religion implies denying the ability for Jews to live in Europe.”
She explained that “the solution to the rise of antisemitism is not hiding Judaism or removing kipot in public. On the contrary, the solution is to allow and strengthen Jewish identity.”
Yankelevich thanked the forum, which she described as “the vital gatekeepers who stand courageously against the popular tides” and promised to continue to fight against antisemitism everywhere.
“When the Jewish spirit is endangered, it is our responsibility to add light. We in the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs will continue increase our activity to bolster Jewish identity throughout Europe. We will do this by investing in Jewish schools, developing programs and informal activities for different age groups, supporting communities, and strengthening their resilience,” Yankelevic concluded.
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. Vice-President of the European Parliament, Fabio Massimo Castaldo urged the European Union to condemn the Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh.
The Armenian parliamentary standing committee on European Affairs published the statement of the EP Vice-President on its Facebook account.
“I strongly condemn the ongoing violence, and in particular the military operations carried out by the Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno Karabakh. The unacceptable use of military aggression, which led to numerous casualties and injuries even among civilians, totally distorts the possibility of resuming the peace process. This is a gross violation of international law and the dialogue carried out so far within the OSCE. We call on all engaged sites to immediately move back, this military escalation can destabilize the entire region. I am deeply convinced that the EU should raise its voice strongly, by also assessing the possibility of applying sanctions, in case of refusal from the demand to stop the fighting”, the EP Vice-President said.
He stated that together with his colleagues of different EU states he has signed a letter addressed to the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, requesting to make all efforts to immediately cease the fire and launch mandatory mechanisms for possible ceasefire violations as the only mean to restore the necessary trust for the effective dialogue process.
“The European values of pluralism and peace should prevail. Erdogan’s aggressive rhetoric and support to Baku should also be condemned: media sources report about participation of thousands of jihadists from Syria’s north mobilized by Turkey. If this report is confirmed, this intervention is both concerning and unacceptable. We urge all players of the region not to use this conflict as an occasion for expanding their spheres of influence”, the EP Vice-President stated.
On September 27 early morning the Azerbaijani military has launched a massive cross-border artillery attack on Artsakh, including on civilian settlements. Peaceful settlements are also under bombardment, including the capital city of Stepanakert.
84 servicemen were killed and nearly 120 were wounded in Artsakh from the Azerbaijani attack.
Armenia and Artsakh declared a martial law and mobilization.
According to the latest data, the Azerbaijani side has suffered nearly 400 human losses as a result of its aggression. The Artsakh side has destroyed a total of 6 Azerbaijani attacking helicopters, 50 UAVs, 85 armored equipment including tanks, 82 vehicles and 1 aircraft.
