Zero Point By Javed Chaudhry

Ukrainians Celebrate Visa-Free Travel To EU

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BRUSSELS -- Ukrainians are celebrating the first day of visa-free travel to most EU countries, which President Petro Poroshenko welcomed as a "a final exit of our country from the Russian Empire."</h2>
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The liberalized regime entered into force on June 11, allowing Ukrainian citizens who have biometric passports to enter all EU member states other than Ireland and the United Kingdom without a visa for up to 90 days during any 180-day period. It also applies to four Schengen Area countries that are not in the EU: Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland.</h3>
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Poroshenko met with Slovak his counterpart, Andrej Kiska, on the Slovak-Ukrainian border, opening a symbolic "door to the EU."</div>
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<a aria-label="The Bankova (zobrazované jméno: TheBankova)" class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/TheBankova" style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.2; outline: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><span class="TweetAuthor-avatar Identity-avatar" style="background-color: transparent; border-radius: 4px; display: inline-block; height: 36px; left: 0px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 36px;"><img alt="" class="Avatar" data-scribe="element:avatar" data-src-1x="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/781864071696117760/EpFvjLn__normal.jpg" data-src-2x="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/781864071696117760/EpFvjLn__bigger.jpg" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/781864071696117760/EpFvjLn__normal.jpg" style="border: 0px; max-height: 100%; max-width: 100%;" /></span><span class="TweetAuthor-name Identity-name customisable-highlight" data-scribe="element:name" style="font-weight: 700;" title="The Bankova">The Bankova</span> <span class="TweetAuthor-verifiedBadge" data-scribe="element:verified_badge" style="position: absolute; top: 0px;"></span></a><br />
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<a aria-label="The Bankova (zobrazované jméno: TheBankova)" class="TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend" data-scribe="element:user_link" href="https://twitter.com/TheBankova" style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.2; outline: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><span class="TweetAuthor-verifiedBadge" data-scribe="element:verified_badge" style="position: absolute; top: 0px;"><span class="u-hiddenVisually" style="border: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px) !important; height: 1px !important; overflow: hidden !important; padding: 0px !important; position: absolute !important; width: 1px !important;">✔</span></span><span class="TweetAuthor-screenName Identity-screenName" data-scribe="element:screen_name" dir="ltr" style="color: #697882; font-size: 14px;" title="@TheBankova">@TheBankova</span></a></div>
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<a class="PrettyLink hashtag customisable" data-query-source="hashtag_click" data-scribe="element:hashtag" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Visafree?src=hash" rel="tag" style="background-color: transparent; color: #2b7bb9; outline: 0px;"><span class="PrettyLink-prefix">#</span><span class="PrettyLink-value">Visafree</span></a> with <img alt="🇪🇺" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of European Union" class="Emoji Emoji--forText" draggable="false" src="https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/72x72/1f1ea-1f1fa.png" style="border: 0px; height: 1.25em; padding: 0px 0.05em 0px 0.1em; vertical-align: -0.2em; width: 1.25em;" title="Flag of European Union" /> illustrates progress of reforms. We changed the country together & our European partners kept their word – <a class="PrettyLink profile customisable h-card" data-mentioned-user-id="2423747006" data-scribe="element:mention" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/poroshenko" style="background-color: transparent; color: #2b7bb9; outline: 0px;"><span class="PrettyLink-prefix">@</span><span class="PrettyLink-value">Poroshenko</span></a></div>
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<a class="u-linkBlend u-url customisable-highlight long-permalink" data-datetime="2017-06-11T10:21:26+0000" data-scribe="element:full_timestamp" href="https://twitter.com/TheBankova/status/873847636092223489" style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: inherit; outline: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">14:21, 11. Jun. 2017</a></div>
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  <span aria-hidden="true" class="TweetAction-stat" data-scribe="element:retweet_count" style="display: inline-block; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: text-bottom;">50</span><span class="u-hiddenVisually" style="border: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px) !important; height: 1px !important; overflow: hidden !important; padding: 0px !important; position: absolute !important; width: 1px !important;">50 retweetů</span></a></li>
   
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  <span aria-hidden="true" class="TweetAction-stat" data-scribe="element:heart_count" style="display: inline-block; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: text-bottom;">45</span><span class="u-hiddenVisually" style="border: 0px !important; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px) !important; height: 1px !important; overflow: hidden !important; padding: 0px !important; position: absolute !important; width: 1px !important;">45lajků</span></a></li>
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"We have waited so long for this," the Ukrainian president said at the Uzhhorod border crossing in the Zakarpattia region. "I am sure that this day, June 11, will go down in the history of Ukraine as a final exit of our country from the Russian empire and its return to the family of European nations. "Welcome to Europe," Kiska told the crowd attending the event. "I want to call on you to continue carrying out reforms."</div>
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"The visa-free regime for Ukraine has started! Glory to Europe! Glory to Ukraine!" Poroshenko earlier wrote on Twitter after hundreds of Ukrainians crossed the EU border.</div>
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"Flights to Warsaw, Budapest, Frankfurt, and Munich have successfully landed and passed passport control;) #Bezviz -- just the beginning!" Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin cheered on Twitter.</div>
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Thousands of people had crossed the border into EU countries by midday, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's consular department wrote on Twitter.</div>
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Ukrainian travelers arriving in Brussels on June 11 said they were pleased about the ease with which they could now travel to Europe and the greater integration with the EU that it represented.<br />
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"It feels very good when you can travel without any restrictions, when you just need to have a passport and that's all. That feels very good," Ukrainian student Inna Teryokhina told RFE/RL at Brussels Airport.</div>
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Ukrainian border officials said they are expecting a 30 percent rise in passenger traffic at control sites along the frontier with the new regulations.</div>
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Mykola Tochytskyi, the head of Ukraine's mission to the EU, told RFE/RL outside the European Parliament in Brussels on June 11 that "for Ukraine, today is a big day."<br />
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"It is not only about celebration; it is also a confirmation of our stand[ing]. To be with Europe. Not only outside of the region, but to be with Europe, to be a partner [who had] implemented all the benchmarks when it was decided to go for the visa-free regime," Tochytskyi said.</div>
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In a message on Twitter posted on June 11, European Council President Donald Tusk wrote, "A day to remember. Visa free travel for Ukrainians now a reality. Bringing us closer together."</div>
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In a video address, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Johannes Hahn said that visa-free travel was achieved after "a long process but finally the reform efforts paid off."<br />
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"This is a real milestone proving that the European Union delivers on its promises," he said. "Ukraine's commitment to the reform process will always result in tangible benefits for the citizens. This should be a motivation to stay on the reform course."</div>
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"Today, we bring down a barrier between the people of Ukraine and the people of the European Union," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a video address released late on June 10.</div>
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"Today we bring down barrier between people of Ukraine and people of EU. No more visa for short trips between our countries" <a class="PrettyLink profile customisable h-card" data-mentioned-user-id="460163041" data-scribe="element:mention" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/FedericaMog" style="background-color: transparent; color: #2b7bb9; outline: 0px;"><span class="PrettyLink-prefix">@</span><span class="PrettyLink-value">FedericaMog</span></a></div>
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"It will create new opportunities for all of us, strengthening our economies, or security, and our friendship," she also said. "And this is what our partnership is all about: making a difference to our citizens’ everyday life."</div>
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Hugues Mingarelli, head of the EU delegation to Ukraine, said at the ceremony that Ukrainians will be able "to travel to 33 countries of West Europe without any visa requirements."</div>
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Mingarelli said the visa-free regime was "just the first step" toward "intensifying relations" between the EU and Ukraine.</div>
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Poroshenko said on June 10 as he counted down the final 12 hours before the start of the travel regime that he believes Ukraine will become a member of both NATO and the EU, and that "nothing, nobody will ever stop us."</div>
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"The words 'back in the U.S.S.R.' will be heard only listening to The Beatles," Poroshenko said. "We will never return to the Soviet Union because we, a proud and free democratic nation, return to the family of European nations."</div>
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He said the "last sound of the countdown" will mark "the fall of not the concrete Berlin Wall but the paper curtain that has been separating Ukrainians from the European family for years."<br />
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"We must return Ukrainians their history. That is why today’s decision of the EU is so important. A long process has been completed. First of all, it goes about the return of Ukraine to its historic place among the European countries, not only about the visa-free border crossing," Poroshenko told the 1+1 television channel.</div>
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Poroshenko's predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych, was pushed from power in 2014 by massive pro-European protests after he scrapped plans for a deal to tighten ties with the EU. Russia then seized control of Ukraine's Crimea region and fomented separatism in eastern Ukraine, where a war between Russia-backed forces and the government has killed more than 9,900 people.</div>
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Much of present-day Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire beginning in the 17th century, and Ukraine was under Moscow's thumb as a Soviet republic for most of the 20th century. It gained independence in the Soviet collapse of 1991.</div>

Ukrainians Celebrate Visa-Free Travel To EU

BRUSSELS -- Ukrainians are celebrating the first day of visa-free travel to most EU countries, which President Petro Poroshenko welcomed a...

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Britain's May still in talks with DUP on power deal

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<span style="font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May's office said Sunday (Jun 11) talks were still ongoing with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) on seeking its support for a Conservative government after earlier saying an </span><span style="font-size: large;">outline agreement<span style="font-family: Lato, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">had been reached.</span></h2>
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May's Conservatives lost their parliamentary majority in a humiliating election Thursday and now need the support of the 10 MPs from Northern Ireland's ultra-conservative DUP to pass votes, sparking widespread calls for her to resign.</div>
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"The prime minister has tonight spoken with the DUP to discuss finalising a confidence and supply deal when Parliament returns next week," a Downing Street spokeswoman said, referring to a deal whereby the DUP would support the government but not enter a formal coalition.</div>
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"We will welcome any such deal being agreed, as it will provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond."</div>
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The new statement came after Downing Street earlier said the DUP had agreed to the principles of an outline agreement to support a Conservative government.</div>
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The DUP said the "talks so far have been positive", adding: "Discussions will continue next week to work on the details and to reach agreement on arrangements for the new Parliament."</div>
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There was no mention of what concessions the DUP may have asked for, amid growing concern about the influence of a party opposed to abortion and gay marriage.</div>
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The DUP has proved hugely controversial in the past over the homophobic and sectarian views of some of its representatives.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">'DISCREDITED, HUMILIATED'</span></div>
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May is struggling to reassert her leadership, has called an election three years early hoping to strengthen her hand going into Brexit negotiations - only to see the gamble backfire spectacularly.</div>
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Sunday's newspapers were unsparing, with The Observer writing: "Discredited, humiliated, diminished. Theresa May has lost credibility and leverage in her party, her country and across Europe."</div>
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The Mail on Sunday reported that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was set to launch a bid to oust May, while the Sunday Times said five cabinet ministers were urging him to do so.</div>
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Johnson denied the reports as "tripe" and said: "I am backing Theresa May."</div>
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In the Sunday Mirror, opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who scored hefty gains in the election, said there was still a chance for him to be prime minister if May failed to form a government.</div>
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"This is still on," he said, adding he would vote down the government's programme when it comes before parliament this month.</div>
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Earlier on Saturday May lost her two closest aides.</div>
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Senior party figures have cautioned against any immediate leadership challenge, saying it would cause only further disruption as Britain prepares to start talks with Brussels as early as June 19.</div>
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But media reports suggest they had demanded the departure of May's joint chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, as the price for allowing the 60-year-old vicar's daughter to stay in office.</div>
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They were replaced by Gavin Barwell, a former housing minister who lost his seat in the election.</div>
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The resignations of Timothy and Hill, on whom May had been heavily reliant since her previous job at the interior ministry, will be a personal blow.</div>
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Timothy - a combative character who one former colleague said had helped create a "toxic" atmosphere at the heart of the government - said he took responsibility for the Conservative manifesto, including a plan for elderly social care that caused a backlash.</div>
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May is preparing to name the rest of her cabinet after revealing Friday that her five most senior ministers would stay in their posts.</div>
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The Conservatives won 318 out of 650 seats - throwing away a 17-seat majority.</div>
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Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who is gay, was among the first to express disquiet over a deal with the ultra-conservative DUP.</div>
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"I sought, and to be fair to the prime minister, received a categoric assurance that in talking to the DUP that there would be no suggestion of any rollback on LGBTI rights in the rest of the UK," she said.</div>
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Several hundred people - many of them Labour voters - protested in central London against the alliance, with chants of "racist, sexist, anti-gay, the DUP has got to go".</div>
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Joining forces with the hardline Protestant party also threatens London's neutrality in Northern Ireland, which is key to the delicate balance of power in a province once plagued by violence.</div>
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On Brexit, the DUP supports leaving the EU but opposes a return to a "hard" border with Ireland -- which could happen if May carries through her threat to walk away from the talks rather than accept a "bad deal".</div>
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Her real test is likely to come when MPs vote on her programme after it is outlined in Parliament by Queen Elizabeth II on Jun 19.</div>
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May confirmed to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a phone call that Britain was ready to begin Brexit negotiations "as planned in the next couple of weeks", reassuring EU leaders who had expressed doubts after her heavy electoral losses</div>
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European Council President Donald Tusk had warned there was "no time to lose" in starting Brexit talks, after May on Mar 29 started the two-year countdown to ending Britain's four-decade membership.</div>
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Britain's May still in talks with DUP on power deal

LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May's office said Sunday (Jun 11) talks were still ongoing with the Democratic Unionist Party ...

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