International
Borrell calls for a meeting of ministers in Brussels and not in Budapest in protest of Orbán’s tour
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, decided on Monday to convene the EU foreign and defense ministers in Brussels in Brussels at the end of August, instead of the one planned in Budapest, to show the EU’s rejection of the tour of the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán through Russia, China and the United States.
“We must send a signal, even if it is symbolic,” Borrell said at a press conference, about the boycott that some EU countries are willing to carry out against the rotating presidency of the European Union that Hungary holds this semester.
However, “I reject the word ‘boycott,” said the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, given that “the meeting will be held and Hungary will participate in it” will be held wherever it is held.
But he did consider that Orbán’s interviews with Russian President Vladimir Putin; Chinese President XI Jinping and former US President and re-election candidate Donald Trump should have “consequences,” so he considered it “appropriate” that the August meeting be held in Brussels and not in Budapest.
The EU foreign ministers, who today held their last meeting in the EU capital before the August break, discussed the possibility of meeting again in Ukraine at the end of August, instead of in Budapest, but Hungary opposed it, so the proposal did not go ahead, due to the lack of unity required.
The spokesman for the Hungarian Government, Zoltan Kovac, said that Hungary faces an “aggressive and warring hysteria for its ‘peace mission’” and called the discussion about whether to oppose the informal meeting in Budapest as “childish.”
Kovac pointed out that Hungary is “prepared” to hold the meeting in its country, “but it is also willing to attend if it is held in Brussels,” as he wrote in a message on his official account on social network X.
“There is no hysteria, we are just telling the truth,” said Borrell, who assured that “the only one who is in favor of the war is Putin, who wants the participation and surrender of Ukraine as preconditions for any conversation (of peace) and any ceasefire.”
The possibility of torpedoing the Hungarian presidency, however, does not convince the Twenty-seven equally, since the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, said that “Spain does not support boycotts within the EU,” although he will see “meeting by meeting, according to the content of the agenda,” who sends to the meetings.
Also the Luxembourg Foreign Minister, Xavier Bettel, assured that it “does not make sense” to act in this way, that they have defended Poland, the Baltic countries, Sweden and Denmark.
Beyond this issue, Borrell defended the need for EU countries to support the reconstruction of Ukraine’s electricity grid, damaged by Russian bombings, given that “Putin wants to bring darkness and cold to Ukraine.”
In this sense, the European Investment Bank, whose president, the Spanish Nadia Calviño, attended the meeting with the ministers, today announced new loans worth 450 million euros for the reconstruction of hydroelectric plants and the electricity grid damaged by the Russian bombings.
Kovac also announced that Hungary and Slovakia conveyed their disagreement over Ukraine’s decision to partially ban the passage of Russian gas through their territory, which is affecting those EU countries.
International
Wittenberg University in Springfield takes extreme precautions after threats of shooting
After several schools and buildings in Springfield, Ohio, had to close last week due to bomb threats, and following Donald Trump’s amplification of false claims against Haitians during his debate with Kamala Harris, Wittenberg University has announced “extreme precautions” this weekend due to new threats.
In a message posted on its website, Wittenberg University reported that on Saturday, an email was received threatening a potential shooting on campus on Sunday, September 15. The message was “targeted at Haitian members” of the community.
The email claimed that another local campus received the same threat. These incidents are being investigated by the Wittenberg Police, Springfield Police, and the FBI.
In response to the threats, all students, faculty, and staff have been advised to “take extreme precautions and remain alert to their surroundings,” while all weekend activities and sporting events have been canceled.
“The university administrators acknowledge that the city of Springfield has experienced an increase in threats against local government, businesses, and schools over the past week,” the statement concluded.
These threats come after several prominent Republicans, including former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, promoted racist and false claims that Haitian immigrants are killing and eating pets.
Despite a lack of evidence and local officials denying these claims and calling for the rumors to stop as they endanger the community, the rumors persist.
In a CNN interview on Sunday, Vance did not retract his statements, asserting that the claims are based on what his constituents are telling him “firsthand.” He also claimed to have evidence that “immigrants are capturing geese from the local park pond and eating them.”
Regarding the threats the city is facing as a result of being mentioned in the debate, Vance stated that what is putting Springfield residents at risk is not being able to afford housing and that hospitals are overwhelmed because “Kamala Harris allowed 20,000 Haitian immigrants to be brought to a small town in Ohio.”
Located in southwestern Ohio with around 60,000 residents, Springfield has seen the arrival of approximately 10,000 Haitians in recent years seeking work.
In a media briefing this week, Trump stated that if elected president, his plan to carry out the “largest deportation (of immigrants) in the country’s history” would start in Springfield, Ohio, and head to Venezuela.
“This is what you can say: We will carry out mass deportations from Springfield. We will remove those people. We will send them back to Venezuela,” he declared in a press conference at his golf club in Palos Verdes, California.
He believes that “illegal Haitians” are destroying the way of life for the local residents.
International
Kamala Harris seeks to shorten distances with Trump in conservative areas of Pennsylvania
US Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned this Friday in Republican counties of Pennsylvania, in a strategic effort to reduce Donald Trump’s advantage in that region and increase the Democratic chances of conquering this key state for the November elections.
Harris ended the day with a rally on a university campus in Wilkes-Barre, where he proposed an “economy of opportunities” for the middle class, reaffirmed his defense of the right to abortion and described Trump as a divisive leader, focused on his own interests.
“We need a president who works for all Americans and who stops trying to divide us. People are already tired of that,” Harris said, receiving continuous applause from the public.
At one point in the event, the vice president was interrupted by demonstrators protesting against the war in Gaza. One of them raised his voice, causing discomfort among the attendees. Harris intervened, and although he expressed that he “respected their voices,” he reminded them that “at that moment, she was talking.”
Harris’ campaign considers that this Friday’s visits to conservative areas of the interior of Pennsylvania are an opportunity to reduce Trump’s advantage.
His strategy is to attract undecided voters in Republican counties, in order to decrease Trump’s margin of victory in those areas and ensure that Harris gets enough votes at the state level to win Pennsylvania.
Harris’s campaign
Wilkes-Barre, where he gave his speech, is in Luzerne County, an area that Barack Obama won in 2008 and 2012, but that passed into the hands of Trump in 2016, when he beat Hillary Clinton by almost 20 points. In 2020, Biden lost Luzerne by 14 points.
Harris’ other stop was in Johnstown, located in Cambria County, about 100 kilometers east of Pittsburgh. This county also shows a trend similar to that of Luzerne: Obama won it in 2008 and 2012, but Trump conquered it in 2016 and 2020.
In Johnstown, Harris talked to voters in a place that functioned as a cafe and bookstore. He told them that he is aware of his responsibility to win “each” of his votes, and therefore wants to spend time in the communities where they reside.
“That’s why I’m here, and we’re going to spend much more time in Pennsylvania,” said Harris, who has dedicated six of the last seven days to campaigning in this state.
His campaign team has highlighted the importance of Pennsylvania, since with 19 votes in the Electoral College, it is one of the states that could decide who reaches the White House.
On Friday, Harris’ campaign indicated in a statement that 16 of its 50 offices in Pennsylvania are located in rural counties where Trump won by a wide margin in 2020. The goal is to limit Trump’s advantage in those areas of the state, and thus increase the Democratic possibilities in the contest.
International
The reform of the Judiciary in Mexico is declared constitutional and awaits officialization
The Congress of Mexico declared constitutional the reform of the Judiciary proposed by the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which promotes the election of judges by popular vote, and only remains its publication in the Official Journal of the Federation (DOF) for its entry into force.
The declaration of constitutionality was first announced in the Mexican Senate and then in the Chamber of Deputies, in both cases in a few minutes, with the approval of the official ‘supermajorities’ in both chambers and the support of 23 local legislatures from 32 states.
Promulgation of the reform
“In order to comply with Article 135 of the Constitution (…) and once the 23 approval votes of the legislatures of the states have been counted, the Chamber of Senators declares approved the decree by which various provisions of the Mexican Constitution are reformed, added and repeals regarding the Judiciary,” he declared before the president of the Board of Directors of the Senate, Gerardo Fernández Noroña.
In the same sense, the president of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Deputies, Sergio Gutiérrez Luna, expressed himself.
Both acts were not attended by the opposition, after the refusal to reform, which they have qualified as a setback for democracy and judicial independence, as well as for the balance of power and the possible intrusion of “interest groups.”
This was announced by the parliamentary coordinators in both Houses of Congress of the opponents National Action (PAN), Institutional Revolutionary (PRI) and Citizen Movement (MC) who expressed that the action of constitutionality “is an exclusive party” of the ruling party, as well as the “consummated robbery of the nation.”
The action is parallel to the attempts by workers of the Judiciary of the Federation (PJF) and at least 1,200 judges in the country to stop this reform by resorting to national and international bodies.
Multilateral organizations such as the United Nations and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR); business organizations such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC); rating agencies such as Fitch and Moody’s, as well as the US government have warned repercussions for Mexico for this reform, including panels and arbitrations within the framework of trade treaties such as the T-MEC.
Judicial remedies
On the date, a Mexican judge from the state of Colima ordered a suspension to stop the promulgation of the aforementioned reform in the DOF, despite the fact that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the main promoter of the reform, announced that it would be made official next Sunday, September 15, when Independence Day is commemorated in the country.
Later, Senator Ernestina Godoy, future legal advisor in the Government of Claudia Sheinbaum, pointed out that such protection is inappropriate to prevent the reform from being published in the DOF.
“They forget that there are no challenges against constitutional reform,” Godoy said.
So far, the judicial reform has more than 17 votes for local legislatures required by the Mexican Constitution to declare itself constitutional and be referred to the head of the Executive, López Obrador, for its officialization and entry into force.
The states that have already said yes
The legislatures that have already given their endorsement are those of the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Colima, Durango, Guerrero, Hidalgo, State of Mexico, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Yucatan, Zacatecas and the capital Mexico City.
Meanwhile, it was rejected in the local congresses of Jalisco and Querétaro.
Once the declaration of constitutionality has been made by the Chamber of Deputies, President López Obrador will be processed for its official publication and subsequent entry into force.
Wittenberg University in Springfield takes extreme precautions after threats of shooting
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