Council of Europe turns 70 amid Russia crisis

Yahoo – AFP, Marie JULIEN, May 5, 2019

Open day to mark the Council of Europe's 70th anniversary (AFP Photo/
FREDERICK FLORIN)

Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - The Council of Europe, a pan-continental rights watchdog, on Sunday marked its 70th anniversary at a time of mounting populism and a standoff with Russia as well as doubts over its own role in the modern world.

"I didn't know about it at all, this is really completely new to me," admitted Zeinila, an 18-year-old student who was visiting the building hosting the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, in northeastern France, during an open day to mark its anniversary.

The 70-year-old body suffers from being often confused with the European Union Council. But its 47-nation membership stretches far beyond the EU's reaches to include the likes of Russia, Turkey, Switzerland, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Britain's World War II leader Winston Churchill was the first to suggest the creation the creation of such a body back in 1942, at the height of the war, when he expressed the hope that "the European family may act unitedly as one under a Council of Europe".

The rights body was created through the treaty of London in May 1949. There were 10 initial signatories; Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom,

Their stated mission was to defend human rights, democracy and the rule of law, through international conventions and treaties.

"The main success is that Europe today (the 47 member states) is a totally death penalty-free zone," Council of Europe Secretary General, Norwegian Thorbjorn Jagland told AFP.

"If a member state wants to introduce the death penalty, it would have to leave immediately CoE within the session. These three articles -- no death penalty, no torture, no forced labour -- have in a way constituted the new civilised Europe," he added.

Man of Peace: Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland meeting

Pope Francis at the Vatican in January (AFP Photo/Handout)

Human rights court

Perhaps better known than the council itself is its judical arm, the European Human Rights Court, which is itself celebrating its 60th birthday.

It is a tribunal of final resort for those who feel their fundamental rights are being denied by a member state.

Strasbourg -- a French city close to the German border -- was originally chosen to house the Council of Europe as a symbol of post-war Franco-German reconciliation.

Germany joined the council in 1950, a year after it was created.

From the Thirty Years War that began the 17th century to the mass destruction of the Second World War, the Alsatian city had been the focus of conflict and division.

Now it is home to an organisation striving to bring harmony, safeguard the rule of law and to protect human rights.

The rights court was also set up in Strasbourg.

"We have in a way constituted the new civilised Europe after World War II" with the European Convention on Human RIghts (ECHR) going "much further than the universal declaration of human rights," said Jagland.

On Monday he will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, before France assumes the council's rotating presidency in Mid-May.

French National Assembly head Edouard Herriot and British Foreign minister Ernest 

Bevin surrounded by Italian, Luxembourg and other delegates at the first meeting of 

Council of Europe's Consultative Assembly in Strasbourg, August 1949 (AFP Photo)

June, a crucial month

The host nation picks up the baton at a difficult time for the European Council.

For years it has been in dispute with member Russia, which could reach the point of no return in June, notably with the election of Jagland's successor.

After Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, the council's Parliamentary Assembly deprived the Russian delegation of its voting and other rights.

In retaliation, Russia suspended its annual 33-million-euro ($37-million) payment to the Strasbourg-based council -- about seven percent of the body's total budget -- and has not participated in sessions of the council's Parliamentary Assembly.

The assembly brings together 324 men and women from the parliaments of the Council of Europe's 47 member states.

Moscow is threatening to quit altogether if its rights within the Council of Europe are not restored in time for it to participate in the election of the new secretary general.

"The immediate consequence will be that we will get a new dividing line in Europe with most of European population living on one side and they have the right to go to the European court," Jagland told AFP.

The "Ruxit" scenario -- a Russian exit of the Council -- remains a possibility. But the secretary general expressed optimism, speaking of "very good discussions" which give him hope of emerging from the crisis and into the next 70 years.

It’s 70 years old, bigger than the European Union and strives to bring harmony, safeguard the rule of law and to protect human rights. So why is the Council of Europe having doubts about its role in the modern world? https://t.co/y6DzKHtHcu pic.twitter.com/V2H7ZK9JtH

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 5 mei 2019

Secretive 'hero' blogger rips into Kremlin, one click at a time

Yahoo – AFP, Anna SMOLCHENKO, May 4, 2019

Alexander Gorbunov, the man behind the StalinGulag blog, has emerged as one
 of President Vladimir Putin's sharpest critics (AFP Photo/Alexander NEMENOV)

Moscow (AFP) - He is wheelchair-bound and has limited use of his hands but Alexander Gorbunov, the author of hugely popular social media accounts in Russia, has emerged as one of President Vladimir Putin's most vocal critics.

Diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy and using his right index finger to type, the 27-year-old author of StalinGulag skewers the "hypocrisy" of Putin's system and the everyday injustices ordinary Russians face.

Known for his dry wit and generous use of profanities, StalinGulag has built a near 1.5 million strong army of followers on Twitter and Telegram, with a total media outreach believed to include several million more.

For years the StalinGulag author's identity remained one of Russia's best-kept secrets but Gorbunov blew his cover after authorities began harrassing his 65-year-old mother and 80-year-old father last week.

Gorbunov, an intelligent, soft-spoken man with a goatee, said he and his wife have been on tenterhooks.

"They can easily arrest and put in prison anyone," Gorbunov told AFP in an interview, saying that even a short stint in jail could kill him.

"They don't care."

In an increasing crackdown on dissent, Putin in March signed laws that allow courts to fine and briefly jail people for showing disrespect towards the authorities and to block media for publishing "fake news".

Alexander Gorbunov, now known as a top Russian opposition blogger StalinGulag, 

has a sharp wit and no illusions about his illness and his own future (AFP Photo/

Alexander NEMENOV)

'Damn hero'

Gorbunov, who is a successful self-taught financial trader by day, dreads publicity but this week revealed his identity to BBC and later spoke to AFP after gun-toting police inspected his parents' home in the North Caucasus city of Makhachkala.

His relatives in Moscow have also been intimidated, he says.

"If the authorities are afraid of what I write they are worthless," he said.

Gorbunov's story has stunned Russia.

"This person is a damn hero," said screenwriter Andrew Ryvkin, while author Denis Bilunov called Gorbunov "the person of the year."

In a show of solidarity, Pavel Durov, the self-exiled founder of the Telegram messenger app, verified the StalinGulag account and offered his author help in moving abroad.

Gorbunov said he was heartened by the outpouring of support from Russians who have flooded him with offers of help and money. He has chalked up some 40,000 new followers over the past week.

The blogger insisted he was neither a hero nor an opposition activist. He said he merely puts in writing his thoughts on everything from Russia's foreign policy blunders to the excessive lifestyle of Putin's inner circle.

"What's happening in the country is terrible," Gorbunov said. "Injstice is what angers me the most."

In a 2018 post, he issued a dark warning to his readers.

"Really scary times are coming," he said, urging Russians to look out for each other. "This is the reality and not everyone will get out alive."

Gorbunov lives with his partner of seven years in a comfortable Moscow apartment, employs two drivers and a live-in aide and enjoys an active social life.

He does not want to reveal his income but says he forks out around 400,000 rubles ($6,145) every month just to cover his rent and pay his helpers.

Alexander Gorbunov, the man behind the StalinGulag blog, does not believe he 

will see a change of leadership in his lifetime (AFP Photo/Alexey NIKOLSKY)

He refuses to take any medication, saying his condition is incurable and he had no illusions about his future.

"I don't want to turn my life into a silly battle," he said. "It's a battle I am going to lose."

'Not an optimist'

A lawyer by training, he works more than 10 hours a day, sometimes waking up at night if the market moves. He writes posts for his StalinGulag accounts when the mood strikes him and he needs a short break from work.

He appears to take some of his inspiration from his favourite book, "Journey to the End of the Night" by French novelist Louis-Ferdinand Celine.

The 1932 World War I classic filled with profanities expresses disgust with the hypocrisy of society and laments the misery of human existence.

Gorbunov is fiercely protective of his wife who sometimes holds his hand as he speaks to AFP and helps him drink from a cup. They met seven years ago but refuse to reveal details about their relationship.

His story has generated huge media interest in Russia but Gorbunov hopes the buzz will soon subside. He wants to get on with his life, watch the last season of Game of Thrones and keep trading and writing his blogs.

He travels sometimes but has never been to Europe.

Not that he plans to leave Russia, even though life for people with disabilies here is a relentless daily struggle, saying he wants to be together with his loved ones.

For all his dark humour and keen intelligence, Gorbunov refuses to make any predictions about the future of the country -- or his own.

He has a feeling however that he will not see a change of leadership in his lifetime.

"I am not an optimist in this sense."

Main UK parties suffer Brexit battering in local elections

Yahoo – AFP, Robin MILLARD, May 3, 2019

The results of the local elections in England do not bode well for the two main
parties (AFP Photo/Paul ELLIS)

London (AFP) - Britain's two main parties suffered a drubbing Friday in English local elections, with Prime Minister Theresa May's governing Conservatives bearing the brunt of voter frustration over the prolonged Brexit deadlock.

May's Conservatives lost control of several local authorities and well over a thousand seats, performing far worse than even the gloomiest predictions.

But the main opposition Labour Party also lost ground, with voters instead turning to smaller parties and independents in Thursday's polls.

"There was a simple message from yesterday's elections to both us and the Labour Party: just get on and deliver Brexit," May said.

Britain's bitterly-divided MPs have been unable to agree on a divorce deal with the EU, with the two main parties in talks on breaking the impasse that have produced little fruit so far.

"This is a difficult time for our party and these election results are a symptom of that," May told the Welsh Conservative Conference, having faced down a heckler calling for her to quit.

Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives lost control of several local 

authorities (AFP Photo/Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS)

The results raise the pressure on May and Labour counterpart Jeremy Corbyn to strike a deal and avoid having to hold European Parliament elections on May 23, where they face being wiped out by Nigel Farage's Brexit Party, which did not compete in Thursday's vote.

Corbyn said that he was "very sorry" for the party's losses, adding there was now "a huge impetus" for the talks to succeed.

May later said that her government and Labour were locked in "constructive talks".

After voting in June 2016 to leave the European Union, Britain was meant to depart on March 29 this year. However, its exit date has been postponed until October 31 due to the wrangling.

'Plague on both houses'

With a handful of results still to be declared, the Tories had lost over 1,200 seats, while Labour had lost 81.

Labour was expected to pick up seats as voters typically give the sitting government a kicking in such elections.

The main winners in local British elections were both pro-EU parties, the centrist 

Liberal Democrats and the left-wing Greens (AFP Photo/Paul ELLIS)

It will also be concerned about losing seats in its traditional heartlands, which voted heavily to leave the EU and which it would need to win in order to beat the Tories in a general election.

The party's Brexit position is described by some commentators as constructive ambiguity.

It is also losing support over the issue of anti-Semitism, which flared again this week when it emerged leader Corbyn had written the foreword to a book containing what the party called "offensive references".

If results were replicated nationwide, pollster John Curtice calculated that both the Conservatives and Labour would each get only 28 percent of the total vote, saying the days of two-party domination "may be over".

The centrist Liberal Democrats and left-wing Greens -- both anti-Brexit -- were the big winners, along with independent candidates.

Voters went to the polls in mainly rural and suburban areas of England, with more than 8,000 seats up for grabs.

Britain's MPs have been unable to agree on a divorce deal struck with 

the EU (AFP Photo/ISABEL INFANTES)

All 11 local authorities in Northern Ireland were also contested among the province's own parties.

"The key message from the voters to the Conservatives and Labour is 'a plague on both of your houses'," Curtice told the BBC.

They lost votes most heavily in the wards where they were strongest, he noted.

'No confidence'

The council elections decide who sets local tax rates and runs community services but are often swayed by the national picture.

The Greens appear to have been boosted by the recent climate protests in London, which brought environmental issues to the front-pages.

Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable said voters "no longer have confidence in the Conservatives, but they are also refusing to reward Labour while the party prevaricates on the big issue of the day."

The problems for the two main parties could worsen at the European elections when they will also face two newly-formed forces: the Brexit Party -- which leads in the opinion polls -- and pro-EU centrists Change UK.

Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin told BBC radio that if the centre-right party "doesn't mend its ways pretty quickly, the Conservative Party is going to be toast".

Guestbook signature gives insight into Nazi's Jerusalem visit

Yahoo – AFP, Jonah Mandel, May 2, 2019

Archivist Stefan Litt displays a guestbook bearing the signature of Nazi Leopold
von Mildenstein at the Jerusalem National Library (AFP Photo/THOMAS COEX)

Jerusalem (AFP) - A recently uncovered signature in a guestbook has shed new light on a Nazi's visit to Jerusalem in 1933, and Israel's National Library is highlighting the find for Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The visit, illustrated through Leopold von Mildenstein's signature in the guestbook, is further testimony to the Nazis' evolving ideas about how to deal with what they called the "Jewish problem", historians say.

The eventual result was the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust, and Israel held its annual commemoration of the victims on Thursday.

Mildenstein in 1933 was touring what was then British Mandatory Palestine along with a German Jewish friend, Kurt Tuchler, and their wives.

It was part of his efforts to facilitate the solution to Germany's "Jewish problem" by relocating them to their historic homeland.

Mildenstein would eventually become head of the SS department dealing with Jews.

While Mildenstein's visit and relationship with Tuchler has been well-documented, including in the 2011 film "The Flat", his signature -- and participation in a Jewish cultural open house -- were yet unknown.

"It was -- wow," Stefan Litt, the archivist responsible for German collections at the Israel National Library, said of the moment he came across Mildenstein's name in the guestbook several months ago.

Speaking with AFP on Wednesday, Litt said he then sought more information in the diary of host Moshe Yaakov Ben-Gavriel, a prolific writer and fervent Zionist whose home the Nazi visited.

'Unsure what to think'

The Zionist movement advocated the founding of a Jewish state in Jews' biblical-era homeland, which occurred with the creation of Israel in 1948.

Ben-Gavriel was "unsure what to think" about the presence of a senior member of the German ruling party that upon rising to power in 1933 began expelling Jews from public life, Litt said.

While some guests left, others remained and conversed with Mildenstein, who "was very excited about the building going on in the land, even attempting to say a few words in Hebrew and generally trying to act in a cultured manner," Ben-Gavriel wrote.

Mildenstein continued to advocate the relocation of Jews to Mandatory Palestine up to 1936, when he was replaced as the SS pointman for Jewish issues by the infamous Adolf Eichmann, who eventually helped orchestrate the mass-murder of Jews as the "final solution".

The efforts of Mildenstein -- who left the SS but remained a Nazi -- and the Zionist movement oddly shared an interest though obviously for different reasons, according to an expert.

The Nazis "were interested in what they called distancing the Jews -- by emigration", said Moshe Zimmerman, professor emeritus of history at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

"And the emigration with which they could collaborate with the greatest ease was Zionist emigration."

The fundamental change came with the 1939 outbreak of the war and the Nazi's occupation of eastern European countries and their Jewish populations.

"They then needed to find a larger-scale 'solution'," he said.

"Up to the war, the 'solution to the Jewish problem' applied to Germany's Jews. After the war (began) they needed to think of 'solutions' for Jews from other places too," Zimmerman said.

Mildenstein's signature and his relationship with Tuchler remains a "terrific story which shows that never, actually, history is black and white", said Litt, the archivist.

"There's a lot of grey in-between."

Cambridge University investigates its links to slavery

Yahoo – AFP, April 30, 2019

The Cambridge University probe will be conducted by two full-time doctoral
researchers, overseen by an advisory panel (AFP Photo/Tolga)

London (AFP) - The University of Cambridge on Tuesday announced an investigation into its historic links to slavery, looking at bequests from traders and how its academics might have influenced "race-based thinking".

The two-year project will seek "appropriate ways to publicly acknowledge past links to slavery and to address its impact", the British institution said.

It is the brainchild of Canadian vice-chancellor Professor Stephen J Toope, and will be conducted by two full-time doctoral researchers, overseen by an advisory panel.

"There is growing public and academic interest in the links between the older British universities and the slave trade," Toope said in a statement.

"It is only right that Cambridge should look into its own exposure to the profits of coerced labour during the colonial period.

"We cannot change the past, but nor should we seek to hide from it."

The chairman of the advisory panel, Professor Martin Millett, said the probe would look at bequests to departments, libraries and museums.

"But the panel is just as interested in the way scholars at the university helped shape public and political opinion, supporting, reinforcing and sometimes contesting racial attitudes which are repugnant in the 21st century," he said.

Universities in Britain and the United States have in recent years faced protests by students over their past associations.

In 2016, Cambridge's Jesus College removed from its main hall a bronze cockerel statue stolen with other artefacts from the West African kingdom of Benin in the 19th century.

Around the same time, rival Oxford University faced an angry but ultimately unsuccessful campaign to remove a statue of 19th-century British imperialist Cecil Rhodes.

US interests make major donations to European political parties

DutchNews, April 25, 2019

Almost half the money flowing into European parliamentary alliances comes from the US, according to research by Dutch investigative news website  Follow the Money. 

Most of this cash comes from multinational companies and predominantly conservative think tanks and is donated to Christian conservative and Liberal party groups, the website said. 

ALDE – which counts the two Dutch Liberal groups VVD and D66 among its members – has had substantial donations from large technology firms, FTM said. The European Christian Political Movement ECPM, which includes ChristenUnie and the SGP, benefits largely from contributions from American evangelical organisations. 

The money is not usually made over as donations but as ‘special contributions’, FTM points out. 

Russia, often accused of trying to interfere in the European political process, makes barely any identifiable donations, the platform said. 

DTM analysed almost 1,000 donations made by individuals, companies and other organisations. 

Dutch parties 

Earlier this year, the cabinet agreed that Dutch political parties are to be banned from accepting funding from sources outside the EU. 

A government commission had recommended banning foreign funding altogether but home affairs minister Kajsa Ollongren said earlier this went too far, because many Dutch parties have sister organisations in Europe. 

Research has shown the anti-immigration PVV is the main recipient of foreign money within the Dutch political system. In the two years up to February 2017, it received a total of €130,280.38 in four payments from the David Horowitz Freedom Center in California.

Ukraine's Zelensky urges Russia sanctions after citizenship rule change

Yahoo – AFP, April 24, 2019

Ukraine president-elect Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured April 21, 2019) said the move
was "clear confirmation for the world of Russia's real role as an aggressor state"
(AFP Photo/Genya SAVILOV)

Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine president-elect Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday urged more international sanctions against Russia after Moscow made it easier for people living in eastern Ukraine's separatist territories to obtain Russian passports.

Kiev is "counting on increased diplomatic and sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation," Zelensky's press service said in a statement.

"The Russian Federation has recognized its responsibility as an occupying state," it added referring to the Russian President Vladimir Putin's decree which was signed earlier today.

The decree was aimed at residents of the unrecognised Donetsk and Lugansk republics that broke away from Kiev in 2014 and are governed by Moscow-backed rebels.

People living in the separatist regions will now be entitled to receive a Russian passport within three months of applying for one.

Ukraine's outgoing President Petro Poroshenko also slammed the decision, calling it "Russia's unprecedented interference in the internal affairs of an independent state."

"This is an attempt to justify and legitimize Russia's military presence in the occupied part of the Ukrainian Donbass," Poroshenko said in a video statement, referring to the Kremlin-backed separatist areas.

The conflict between the Ukrainian government and breakaway rebels began after Moscow annexed Kiev's Crimea peninsula in 2014. The war has claimed some 13,000 lives.

Kiev and its Western backers accuse Russia of funnelling troops and arms across the border to fan the flames of the conflict.

Moscow denies the claims.

#UPDATE President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia was ready to restore full relations with Kiev after a political novice won the Ukraine presidential election, but added that Moscow "cannot do this unilaterally" https://t.co/5XlDXABvO9

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 25 april 2019

Scottish leader calls for second independence vote by 2021

Yahoo – AFP, James PHEBY, April 24, 2019

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants a new independence referendum
by 2021 (AFP Photo/ANDY BUCHANAN)

London (AFP) - The Scottish government will introduce legislation "shortly" as a first step towards another independence referendum to be held by 2021, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced Wednesday.

"We will shortly introduce legislation to set the rules for any referendum," the Scottish National Party (SNP) leader told lawmakers in Edinburgh.

She said she hoped the legislation would be agreed by the end of 2019.

Her government aims to "give people a choice on independence" from the United Kingdom before the end of the current term of parliament expires in May 2021.

Scotland voted to remain in the United Kingdom during a 2014 referendum by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent, but the country's vote to leave the European Union in 2016 spurred independence campaigners to demand another vote.

Shortly after this, the Scottish government would then request a "section 30 order" from the British government, which would involve a temporary transfer of power from Westminster to the Edinburgh to allow the referendum to go ahead.

"We do not need a transfer of power, such as a section 30 order, to pass such a framework bill, although we would need it to put beyond doubt or challenge our ability to apply the bill to an independence referendum," she said.

'Status quo broken'

Some pro-independence supporters have urged Sturgeon to call for an immediate vote, but British Prime Minister Theresa May has already said she would not agree to such a request.

"I believe that position will prove to be unsustainable," said Sturgeon.

"By making progress with primary legislation first, we won't squander valuable time now in a stand-off with the UK government that may soon be out of office," she explained of her timing.

The Scottish government would instead seek a section 30 order "at an appropriate point during or shortly after the bill's passage", she added.

Around six in ten Scots voted to stay in the European Union, and Sturgeon hopes that some of those who voted to stay in the United Kingdom might change their vote in another referendum in order to maintain membership of the EU.

But the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, which has been put back to October 31 as MPs try and reach agreement over the divorce deal, has also hampered plans for another independence referendum.

"To rush into an immediate decision before a Brexit path is determined would not allow for an informed choice to be made," said the SNP leader.

While polls show some pro-EU voters have swung behind the independence cause, a similar amount of pro-Brexit supporters have moved in the other direction, and overall support remains close to 2014 levels.

Sturgeon hopes that dissatisfaction with London's handling of Brexit could tip the balance.

"The Westminster system of government simply does not serve Scotland's interests," she said.

"The status quo is broken. Serious change is needed," added the first minister.

Ukraine leaps into unknown after comic elected president

Yahoo – AFP, Anna SMOLCHENKO and Olga SHYLENKO, April 22, 2019

Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky is set for a landslide win in Ukraine's presidential
election (AFP Photo/Genya SAVILOV)

Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine leapt into the unknown Monday after comedian Volodymyr Zelensky was elected president on promises of change but with just a vague blueprint of what he might do as leader.

Zelensky, whose previous political experience was playing the president on a TV show, crushed incumbent Petro Poroshenko in a stinging rebuke to the establishment fuelled by voters' anger over war with separatists and social injustice.

Ukrainians looked to the future with hope and anxiety after the performer took 73 percent of the vote on Sunday, according to nearly complete official results.

Zelensky at 41 will become Ukraine's youngest ever president when he is sworn into office by early June. It remained unclear Monday who would fill top positions in his governement, including prime minister.

The star of "Servant of the People", a sitcom now in its third season, has vowed to press ahead with the pro-European course set out by Poroshenko.

But he has also said he wants to improve ties with arch-enemy Russia.

On election night, however, he appeared to taunt the Kremlin when he told people in fellow post-Soviet countries that "everything is possible."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday it was "too early to talk about President Putin congratulating Mr Zelensky, or about the possibility of working together."

Ties between Ukraine and Russia were shredded after a bloody uprising ousted a Kremlin-backed regime in 2014, prompting Moscow to annex Crimea and support insurgents in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has claimed around 13,000 lives.

Outgoing Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (C) conceded defeat shortly 

after polls closed (AFP Photo/Sergei SUPINSKY)

Poroshenko pledges to return

Poroshenko, 53, quickly conceded defeat and said he was ready to coach the successor.

But on Monday evening he told a rally he planned to take back the country's top job during the next presidential polls set for 2024.

Several thousand supporters, who gathered outside the presidential offices, chanted they wanted him back "in a year".

"With God's help," Poroshenko replied.

"We will unite to secure our common victory in the near future.".

Poroshenko's faction has the most seats in the legislature and new parliamentary polls are due to be held in October.

The Ukrainian president has strong powers over defence, security and foreign policy but will need parliament backing to push through reforms.

On the streets of Kiev earlier Monday, many praised the elections as a fair and peaceful transfer of power after popular uprisings of 2004 and 2014.

"People showed that they want change," 28-year-old Karina told AFP.

"We had the most honest polls in the history of Ukraine," she added.

Zelensky shunned traditional campaign rallies, instead performing comedy gigs, and implied he would use the same unorthodox style to run the country of 45 million that depends on international aid.

Zelensky's campaign started as a joke but struck a chord with voters frustrated by

social injustice, corruption and a war with Russian-backed separatists in eastern 

Ukraine (AFP Photo/Sergei SUPINSKY)

US President Donald Trump and French leader Emmanuel Macron called the political novice to congratulate him, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged support.

G7 ambassadors said they looked forward to working closely with the new leader but also recognized the progress the country had made under Poroshenko since 2014.

OSCE observers praised Ukraine's election as "competitive and held with respect for fundamental freedoms", while regretting that the campaigns were thin on substance.

'Political honeymoon'

The Kremlin said it respected the choice of the people but questioned the legitimacy of the polls, noting that "three million" Ukrainian citizens living in Russia could not vote there.

Kiev refused to open polling stations at its diplomatic missions in Russia.

Zelensky has said that among his top priorities are securing the release of Ukrainians being held prisoner by Russia and rebooting moribund Western-brokered peace talks.

But many doubt the political neophyte will be able to stand up to Putin and revive the struggling economy.

Questions have also been raised over his close ties to Israel-based tycoon Igor Kolomoysky.

Victoriya, a 74-year-old pensioner, said she liked the new president-elect but expressed concern that he may not last long.

"He has not met this pack of wolves yet," she said.

Analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said that Zelensky's political "honeymoon" would last two or three months before reality kicks in.

Ukrainians want to see a quick end to the war in the east and pay less for utility bills, Fesenko told AFP.

"It will be extremely difficult to meet these expectations," he said.

Opposition candidate the official winner in tight Istanbul vote

Yahoo – AFP, Gokan GUNES, April 17, 2019

Cheering supporters packed the streets to greet opposition candidate Ekrem
Imamoglu (C) at the Istanbul court where he received his mandate certificate
(AFP Photo/Yasin AKGUL)

Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish election authorities on Wednesday confirmed opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu's win over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AKP candidate after a recount of last month's disputed Istanbul election.

Thousands of cheering supporters greeted Imamoglu outside the Istanbul town hall after he received his mandate certificate, though electoral authorities must still rule on an AKP appeal for a rerun over alleged irregularities in its narrow Istanbul defeat.

"This is a new dawn for Istanbul," Imamoglu told the chanting crowds from the roof of a campaign bus. "Istanbul is proud of you."

He urged Istanbul residents to set grudges aside, promising to be "everybody's mayor".

"The people granted me the honour of leading the most beautiful city in the world... I pledge that I will repay my debt."

Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) won the most votes nationwide in the March 31 election, but the loss of Ankara and Istanbul to the Republican People's Party (CHP) was a stinging setback after a decade and a half in control.

The AKP has won every election since it came to power 17 years ago, in part by tying its success to strong economic growth and improvements in living standards during Erdogan's years in power, first as premier then as president.

But voters punished the party this time after a currency crisis last year hurt Turkish households, sent inflation soaring and tipped the economy into recession for the first time in a decade.

Defeat in Istanbul would be especially sensitive for Erdogan, who grew up in one of its poorer neighbourhoods and whose climb up the political career included being mayor himself in the 1990s.

The AKP had sought several recounts of the Istanbul vote, and the Supreme Electoral Council, known by its Turkish initials YSK, has yet to rule on the party's formal demand for a full rerun of Istanbul election. It was not clear how long that decision would take.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (C) Erdogan had campaigned hard in Istanbul, 

presenting the vote as a matter of national survival (AFP Photo/BULENT KILIC)

Electoral authorities finished a recount of some Istanbul ballots late on Tuesday, but the CHP had already dismissed any challenges as without merit and urged the AKP to concede.

"I am so happy", said architecture student and CHP supporter Ilayda Pembe, 25. "I was beginning to think he would never get the mandate. A new day for Istanbul is starting."

Door to door

For supporters, Erdogan remains the strong leader Turkey needs and one who speaks for more religiously conservative Turks. He survived a failed coup in 2016, and a referendum in 2017 granted him wider powers as president.

Critics say he has eroded Turkish rule of law and democracy however, especially after a crackdown that followed the coup resulted in the detention of tens of thousands of people.

Erdogan had campaigned hard in Istanbul, presenting the vote as a matter of national survival. He backed Binali Yildirim, a former premier and AKP heavyweight, as the party candidate.

Imamoglu, a former mayor of a local Istanbul district, ran a low-key campaign, reaching out to voters door to door to talk over local issues. He is already being credited with having revived the opposition's profile nationwide.

Erdogan himself described the Istanbul vote as marred by "organised crimes" and last week called for the ballot to be annulled.

Soon after voting had ended, electoral authorities said Imamoglu led by nearly 30,000 ballots. Both he and Yildirim claimed victory as early results showed them in a dead heat.

Imamoglu's margin narrowed to around 14,000 after a recount of void ballots over the last fortnight.

The CHP said Tuesday that the final result was around 13,800 ballots in favour of Imamoglu. Each candidate won around four million votes.

Lingering uncertainty over the Istanbul result more than two weeks after the vote has worried foreign investors and weighed on the lira currency.

With no new elections until a 2023 presidential election, Erdogan's government has promised to focus on economic reform to achieve stronger growth over the next four years.