Russians Find Parmesan Ban Hard To Swallow
Parmesan cheese is an essential ingredient in many classic Italian dishes. But foreign imports of Parmesan have been banned by Russia as part of its retaliation against Western sanctions over Ukraine. As RFE/RL's Current Time TV discovered, the escalating food fight is leaving a bad taste in the mouth of many Russians.
EU Commission Chief Warns Moscow Over EU Security, Borders
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has warned Russia that the security and borders of EU member states are “untouchable.”
“I want this to be understood very clearly in Moscow," Juncker told the European Parliament in his first State of the Union address on September 9.
"The Baltics and Poland are very important members of the European Union and they should not think that we would not be there if in any way if their security and their borders were in danger," he added.
The war in Ukraine has plunged Moscow’s ties with the West to lows unseen since the Cold War.
Russian support for separatists in Ukraine, and its annexation of Crimea, have badly spooked Eastern European EU members such as Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, which fear Moscow wants to reassert its Cold War-era control over them.
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
Saakashvili Collects Enough Signatures To Be Considered Next Ukrainian PM
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's supporters in Ukraine have collected more than 26,000 signatures on a petition recommending him to become Ukraine's prime minister.
Saakashvili, who has been governing Ukraine's Odesa region since May, has said that he did not see himself as Ukraine's prime minister.
President Petro Poroshenko introduced an online petition system in August according to which any petition drive that collects at least 25,000 signatures in three months or less has to be considered by the president, government, and lawmakers.
The petition supporting Saakashvili's candidacy for the prime minister's post was officially submitted on September 3.
The same day, Ukraine's Channel 5 television network, which is owned by Poroshenko, aired an interview with Saakashvili, who lambasted current Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's reform agenda.
Yatsenyuk responded sharply at a September 4 cabinet meeting, describing Saakashvili's criticism as "deceitful accusations."
Based on reporting by UNIAN and president.gov.ua
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
