Russia called on Kiev on Monday to stop using armed force against its own people and to start negotiations to resolve the crisis in Ukraine. Moscow warned against the risk of a humanitarian crisis in the east of the country, which is encircled by Ukrainian troops.The UN Secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, Monday offered to mediate a solution to the Ukraine crisis, as separatist tensions in the east of the country and the recent violence in Odessa, in the south, brought Ukraine on the verge of civil war.<\/p>\n
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Clashes and casualties were reported on Monday near Slavyansk, in east Ukraine, the Interior Minister of Ukraine Arsen Avakov announced. The interim Ukrainian president Oleksandr Turchinov admitted that many inhabitants of the region support the pro-Russian separatist militias. He said that this complicates significantly the special security operations against the rebels. Turchinov added however that the operations, which he described as anti-terrorist, would continue and yield results. On Monday the Ukrainian authorities ordered a temporary closure of the country\u2019s borders with Krimea and Sevastopol, annexed by Russia in mid-March.<\/p>\n
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Meanwhile, the Romanian foreign minister, Titus Corlatean, once again pleaded for a political solution to the tensions in neighbouring Ukraine. Corlatean is taking part in Vienna in a special meeting of foreign ministers focusing on this situation, which he described as \u201cdramatic\u201d. <\/p>\n
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Romanian and American troops are taking part, as of Monday, in a joint exercise in Vatra Dornei, Suceava County, in northern Romania, the Romanian Defence Ministry announced. The exercise is part of the \u201cPlatinum Lynx\u201d training module of the multinational programme \u201cBlack Sea Rotational Force 14\u201d (BSRF 14). The exercise takes place until May the 16th, and is headed by the United States European Command and is designed to improve inter-operability, by means of joint participation in peacekeeping and counterinsurgency missions.<\/p>\n
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In Romania, economic, political and public authority pressure on mass media has deepened and a growing number of journalists are forced to refrain from expressing their opinions, reads the FreeEx report on the freedom of the press made public on Monday by Active Watch. According to the document, some institutions abuse the concept of freedom of expression to intimidate other people \/ social groups \/ judicial actors \/ political parties. The mass media often abandon their mission to inform, and in exchange promote messages that are favourable to private entities. Some media institutions or journalists threaten their colleagues with lawsuits, and several politicians have requested that certain media institutions be closed down. Moreover, the economic crisis affecting the mass media has grown acute, with several press institutions ceasing to exist, newspapers giving up their print issues and only keeping their online issues. Other problems mentioned in the report are abusive journalist dismissals, delays in salary payments and the fact that, \u201cin 2013 as well, major laws were passed without previous public consultation.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The British Foreign Secretary William Hague, in Chisinau on Monday expressed London\u2019s support for the Republic of Moldova\u2019s European accession efforts. During a meeting with his Moldovan counterpart, Natalia Gherman, he said Chisinau must focus on implementing the EU association and free trade agreements, which are to be signed by June. As for the situation in the region, Hague said the UK believes countries must be free to decide their own future and opposes any kind of external pressure and any breaching of the sovereignty and integrity of the Republic of Moldova and other countries in the region. William Hague is next to travel to Ukraine and Georgia.<\/p>\n
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