AP - February 28th, 2005

BEIJING (AP) -- China is implementing new regulations that the government says will protect freedom of faith. Critics contend that the broad guidelines could instead be used to persecute religious groups deemed troublesome by authorities.

The guidelines, to take effect Tuesday, are meant to give a legal framework for China's constitutional promise of freedom of religion, state media have reported.

Under existing laws, communist authorities allow worship only in state-monitored churches, temples or mosques. Millions of believers attend unauthorized services, often in private homes, but are subject to arrest and harassment.

China, which will convene its annual legislative session Saturday in Beijing, has banned many religious or spiritual groups, including the Falun Gong movement and churches loyal Pope John Paul II. It also tightly controls Tibetan Buddhism.

A lengthy 48 articles and seven chapters, the new Regulations on Religious Affairs cover everything from how licensed organizations can accept religious donations and claim tax exemptions to how religious institutions may accept foreign students, among other topics.

The new rules say that ``anyone who compels citizens to believe in or not believe in any religions ... shall be ordered to make corrections by the religious affairs department'' and could face criminal charges, the state-run newspaper China Daily said.

Such language could be used to persecute the faithful, said Nicolas Becquelin, research director of the New York-based Human Rights in China.

``The law purports to protect 'normal' religious activities which in effect means religious activities expressly authorized by the state through a system of compulsory licensing and mandatory inspections,'' he said.

Becquelin said overly broad regulations have been used as a pretext to ``suspend, ban, suppress, religious congregations as well as fine, detain or arrest religious practitioners.''

Other foreign observers say the outcome of the new rules remains uncertain.

Egil Lothe of the Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief, a nonprofit Norwegian group, said the regulations offer ``an improvement on present practices,'' because they give clearer procedures for registering religious groups and institutions.

But, ``to what extent the regulations will change other aspects of Chinese policies on religion remains to be seen,'' Lothe added.

The U.S. State Department said in a 2003 report that China ``tries to control and regulate religious groups to prevent the rise of groups that could constitute sources of authority outside of the control of the government and the Chinese Communist Party.''

The report called the government's respect of religious freedom ``poor.''

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- Ukraine's Cabinet on Saturday stripped former President Leonid Kuchma of a plush retirement package that featured a monthly pension, two cars, a government home and much more.

New Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko had ordered the government to come up with a new, slimmed-down package for former officials.

Kuchma's privileges were canceled based on a decision by the Ministry of Justice that the previous government ``exceeded its responsibilities,'' the Cabinet said in a statement.

On Jan. 19, five days before President Viktor Yushchenko was sworn in, acting Prime Minister Mykola Azarov signed an order giving Kuchma a monthly salary of $1,560 and allowing him and his wife, Lyudmyla, to keep their government-owned home in Ukraine's most exclusive enclave. The package also gave Kuchma two aides, an adviser, two cars, four drivers and a countryside residence.

A spokeswoman for Kuchma did not answer her phone on Saturday. Officials who answered the phone at Yushchenko's office refused to comment.

Anger against Kuchma runs deep in this former Soviet republic of 48 million. Many Ukrainians accuse him of having run the state like a personal fiefdom, enriching those close to him while the rest of the nation was choked by poverty and corruption.

Yushchenko, sacked by Kuchma in acrimony as prime minister in 2000, has cranked up the pressure on the previous government, ordering all sales of state property to be re-examined along with alleged ``insider'' deals under the previous regime.

Prosecutors are sifting through other major privatization deals and financial transactions, an investigation that is likely to focus on the wealthy clique of businessmen close to Kuchma, who had supported Yuschenko's rival in a bitter presidential campaign.

The average salary in Ukraine is about $120, and many villages are mired in poverty -- surviving without hot water and sporadic electricity.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The Syrian intelligence officer who appeared on the U.S.-funded Iraqi state television station had a stark message about the insurgency -- he'd helped train people to build car bombs and behead people.

``My name is Anas Ahmed al-Essa. I live in Halab. I am from Syria,'' he said by way of introduction -- naming what he said was his home in Syria. Halab is another name for Aleppo, a city north of Damascus.

``What's your job?'' he was asked by someone off-camera. ``I am a lieutenant in intelligence.''

Then a second question. ``Which intelligence?'' The reply: ``Syrian intelligence.''

And so began a detailed 15-minute confession broadcast by al-Iraqiya TV on Wednesday, in which the man, identified as 30-year-old Lt. Anas Ahmed al-Essa, said his group was recruited to ``cause chaos in Iraq ... to bar America from reaching Syria.''

``We received all the instructions from Syrian intelligence,'' said the man, who appeared in the propaganda video along with 10 Iraqis who said they had also been recruited by Syrian intelligence officers.

Syria denied the claims that the detained insurgents had received training in the country or that it was sending armed men to Iraq.

``These are unfounded and baseless claims. Syria is keen on Iraq's security and stability. It does not interfere in Iraq's internal affairs,'' Syria's official news agency, SANA, quoted high ranking security sources as saying.

Al-Iraqiya later aired another round of interviews with men it said were Sudanese and Egyptians who also trained in Syria to carry out attacks in Iraq.

The claims could not be independently authenticated.

An Iraqi special forces commander, Brig. Gen. Abu Al-Walid, said his forces arrested the men in Mosul on Jan. 29, one day before the national elections. He said they included eight Syrians, one Lebanese, 12 Egyptians and 10 Sudanese.

He said the men were found with explosives, weapons and maps for balloting centers in Mosul.

On Thursday, Iraqi police said they arrested four other suspected terrorists during raids in Baghdad -- two Syrians and two Iraqis believed to have carried out other attacks.

The videos were broadcast as the Bush administration steps up pressure on Syria to stop meddling in Iraqi affairs by allowing insurgents to cross into the country to fight coalition troops and by harboring former Iraqi regime members. Syria has denied the charges.

Top officials in Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government have called on Syria to hand over former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party who fled there after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, which Syria vehemently opposed.

Al-Iraqiya TV can be seen nationwide and is believed to be widely watched by Iraqis -- mainly those who cannot afford satellite dishes offering the Persian Gulf-based Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya stations. But the station, which went on the air in May 2003 with help from the Pentagon, is viewed by many Iraqis as an American propaganda tool.

Wednesday was the first time the channel showed someone it claimed was a Syrian intelligence officer.

All those interviewed in the first video apparently were detained in the northern city of Mosul. It was not known where the interviews were made, and no date was provided.

A man identified as one of al-Essa's aides, Shehab al-Sabaawi, said the group used animals for training in beheadings. Al-Essa said it required ``at least 10 beheadings'' for a member to be promoted to a group leader.

``I had to send a report to Syria about how the operations are going,'' he said.

Weapons, explosives and equipment were all provided by Syrian intelligence, the man claimed, adding that group members received $1,500 a month.

Al-Essa said money was his motive for accepting an offer by a Syrian intelligence colonel he identified as Fady Abdullah to carry out attacks inside Iraq.

``I was trained on explosives, killing, spying, kidnapping ... and after one year I went to Iraq with Fady Abdullah,'' al-Essa said.

He claimed he infiltrated Iraq in 2001, about two years before the U.S. invasion, because Syrian intelligence was convinced that American military action loomed.

An unidentified Iraqi officer introduced the video, saying all insurgent groups in Iraq were covers for Syrian intelligence. He named a number of well-known groups, including one which has killed and beheaded foreigners.

Al-Essa claimed to be leader of the al-Fateh Army, a group that had not been heard of previously.

Al-Sabaawi described himself as a former lieutenant colonel in Saddam's army. He said he was recruited at an Iraqi mosque in 2001 by an Iraqi man named Abu Bakr, whom he described as the al-Fateh Army's leader.

``He offered to take us on a training trip to Islamabad,'' the Pakistani capital, al-Sabaawi said. ``He told us that we could develop our skills, give us information about how to make car bombs and carry out kidnappings.''

Before returning to Iraq, al-Sabaawi said he spent 11 months in Pakistan. He did not say who trained him there.

After Saddam's fall in 2003, al-Sabaawi said he spent a month in Syria, where he claimed to have received training from Syrian intelligence on how to behead hostages.

``Syrian intelligence officers were supervising our training. We were ready to fight the Americans because any Iraqi and any Muslim can't live under occupation,'' he said.

Afterward, he crossed the border and carried out attacks against U.S. military targets.

He said the group started by making car bombs targeting American troops and Iraqi National Guardsmen before beginning a campaign of kidnapping and beheading Iraqis.

The Sudanese and Egyptian nationals in the video broadcast later in the day did not belong to al-Fateh, the station said.

STRASBOURG, France (AP) -- Europe's top human rights court ruled Thursday that Russian forces killed several Chechens during raids in the breakaway republic and the government's investigation into two of the deaths was ``seriously flawed and delayed.''

The seven-judge panel at the European Court of Human Rights awarded damages up to $33,000 to six Chechens whose relatives were killed, finding that Russian authorities violated the rights of the victims' relatives under the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. As a member of the 45-nation Council of Europe, Russia is bound to uphold the convention.

Pavel Laptev, Russia's representative at the European Court, told the Interfax news agency Russia would ``carefully study'' the rulings before deciding whether to appeal.

Russian forces have been fighting Chechen rebels for most of the past decade. The first war ended in 1996, following a brutal 20-month campaign that left the region essentially independent. Troops returned in 1999 after rebels raided the neighboring province of Dagestan and after a series of apartment house bombings that Russian officials blamed on the Chechens.

The court found that relatives of two of the plaintiffs, Magomed Khashiyev and Roza Akayeva, were tortured and killed by Russian troops in 2000 during sweeps for suspected rebels. The court ruled that Russia's investigation into the killings of the two civilians was ``seriously flawed and delayed.''

In another case, the court ruled that relatives of Medka Isayeva, Zina Yusupova and Libkan Bazayeva, were killed and their property was destroyed in a Russian air raid.

That bombing took place in October 1999 as thousands of civilians poured out of war-shattered Chechnya to the neighboring republic of Ingushetia, having been promised a safe corridor by authorities.

However, after they found the border closed and were turned back, they were shelled by military planes in an attack that left dozens dead and wounded. Russian officials later claimed they were targeting a rebel truck.

The court said the missiles created thousands of pieces of shrapnel over a 1,000-foot radius.

``Anyone who had been at that time on that stretch of road would have been in mortal danger,'' the court said.

In a third case, the court awarded damages to Zara Isayeva, whose son and three nieces were killed when the Russian military bombed the village of Katyr-Yurt in February 2000.

Financial damages awarded by the court ranged from $16,000 to $33,000.

HAVANA (AP) -- Cuba urged its citizens Monday to cut back on water use, announcing that new measures will be necessary to fight a long-lasting dry spell.

Last year, the island received only 69 percent of average rainfall, making 2004 the worst year for rain since 1901, according to Granma, the Communist Party daily newspaper.

In January, the island received half its average rainfall for that month, prompting authorities to prepare for the possibility that 2005 will be another dry year, the newspaper said.

Jorge Aspiolea, president of Cuba's National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, told Granma that the government has invested more than $20 million in recent months to improve water infrastructure. But he also said it was crucial for the public to start conserving water immediately.

Of 235 reservoirs across the island, 114 contain less than 25 percent of their capacity, Aspiolea said. Forty-one of those 114 have dried up and are out of use.

Eastern provinces are the most severely affected, as reservoirs in Camaguey are only 14 percent full, and those in Las Tunas, Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus and Granma contain less than 30 percent, he said.

Only Pinar del Rio, Cienfuegos and Isla de la Juventud are at 50 percent capacity, he said.

Havana, the island's biggest city, is among the places that will be most affected by the water shortage, the newspaper said. More than 100,000 residents receive their supply via water trucks known locally as ``pipas.''

Editor's commentary: Conserving everything is a way of life in communism. Those who preach conservation and moderation are nothing but communists. Instead of marathon speeches and gross mismanagement of country, Fidel should have built better water infrastructure instead of leaving his people to be thirsty.

MOSCOW (AP) -- The Kremlin signaled a fundamental foreign policy shift Sunday, acknowledging that two former Soviet republics, Ukraine and Georgia, are no longer part of the Russian orbit.

Days before a potentially tense summit meeting between Kremlin chief Vladimr Putin and President Bush, the Russian foreign minister said in an interview broadcast Sunday that Moscow views the two former republics ``as absolutely sovereign, absolutely equal states in the new geopolitical architecture.''

The policy change was sure to be welcomed by the Bush White House given that Russia had angrily accused the United States of involvement in recent political turmoil in both countries that produced new, Western-leaning governments.

In a clear step away from confrontation, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov now said that the Kremlin only required openness from the former republics and other countries as they formulate policy and develop relations.

``The main thing is that this process should be transparent, should strengthen existing good relations and should not be aimed against any other country,'' Lavrov said on state-run RTR television.

Since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow has struggled to maintain influence with the former republics -- now independent countries -- that ringed the one-time communist superpower.

In the intervening years, the Kremlin has relied on a tortured foreign policy concept under which the former republics were known as the ``near abroad,'' which signaled that Russia did not view them as absolutely sovereign.

The policy began unraveling as the three Baltic nations -- Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia -- quickly aligned themselves with the West, but the other former republics largely were treated by Moscow as if the Kremlin still had a say.

There was a further crack in 2003 when the so-called ``Rose Revolution'' in Georgia propelled the reformist President Mikhail Saakashvili to power and brought down his predecessor, Eduard Shevardnadze, who was Soviet foreign minister before the collapse.

Tensions continued in the Caucasus mountain country, however, because of Moscow's perceived backing of ethnic separatist movements that threatened to split the already tiny country into smaller pieces. And a recent visit to Tblisi by Lavrov did little to smooth over differences, including the status of two Russian bases in Georgia and the two countries' shared border.

After the visit, Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili said the two countries' relations were ``at a very low point.'' Lavrov agreed: ``The visit was not an easy one,'' he said.

Sunday's policy declaration could improve Georgian ties, and the remarks were certain to be welcomed in Ukraine, where Lavrov was to arrive for fence-mending meetings Monday. Moscow was closely aligned with and publicly favored the candidacy of Viktor Yanukovych in tumultuous elections last year that put reformist and Western-leaning Viktor Yuschenko in power.

In a statement released Friday, Alexander Yakovenko, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Moscow saw ``great significance'' in Lavrov's visit to Kiev, which is intended to ``continue the active political dialogue aimed at strengthening strategic partnership between us.''

Among the issues to be discussed during Lavrov's meetings with his Ukrainian counterpart, Borys Tarasiuk, will be a free-trade zone between the two countries, final resolution of a dispute involving the Kerch Strait connecting the Azov and Black seas and the status of Russia's Black Sea naval fleet, which is based in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol.

Yakovenko also said Russia and Ukraine ``together make a significant contribution to reinforcing the energy security of Europe.'' Russia is Europe's largest single supplier of natural gas, most of which is transported via Ukrainian pipelines.

In a clear reference to the United States, Lavrov also said countries looking to involve themselves more deeply in policies of former Soviet countries should make their interests clear to the Kremlin.

``Russia wants to respect the interests of different countries -- those neighboring us as well as those that would like to be more active in this region,'' he said. ``But ... their interests here and their purposes should be understood and should not contradict the norms of relations between civilized countries.''

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- President Viktor Yushchenko appointed a liberal Russian politician and former lawmaker as his adviser, his office said Monday.

Boris Nemtsov, a leader of Russia's Union of Right Forces party, has been named as an ``external adviser,'' a statement from Yushchenko's office said.

Nemtsov staunchly backed Yushchenko during the so-called ``Orange Revolution,'' named after the opposition's campaign color, which followed November's fraudulent presidential runoff. Yushchenko was elected in a rerun Dec. 26.

Nemtsov is an opposition politician and critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who backed Yushchenko's opponent in Ukraine's election.

In a statement, Yushchenko's spokeswoman Irina Herashchenko said ``Ukraine's new leaders are interested in every politician or representative of the business elite who can add something to developing bilateral ties to work as a goodwill ambassador.''

Yushchenko has pledged to push his country toward membership in the European Union, but stressed his new government must create a constructive relationship with its main trading partner, Russia.

In comments during a radio interview broadcast on Russia's NTV television, Nemtsov said his main tasks are to ``attract Russian investment in Ukraine and foster the improvement of the investment climate.''

Nemstov, who was briefly considered a contender for the Russian presidency in the late 1990s before his political star dimmed, said he would continue to live in Moscow and remain ``a citizen of Russia and a patriot of my country.''

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Here is a list of the political alliances receiving the most votes in Iraq's Jan. 30 national elections and the number of seats they will receive in the 275-member National Assembly, provided the results released Sunday are certified.

The United Iraqi Alliance (Shiite alliance backed by Shiite Muslim clergy): 4,075,295 -- about 48 percent -- for 140 seats.

The Kurdistan Alliance (coalition of two main Kurdish factions): 2,175,551 -- about 26 percent -- for 75 seats.

The Iraqi List (headed by interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi): 1,168,943 -- about 14 percent -- for 40 seats.

Iraqis (headed by interim Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawer): 150,680 for five seats.

The Turkomen Iraqi Front (represents the countries ethnic Turks): 93,480 for three seats.

National Independent Elites and Cadres Party: 69,938 for three seats.

The Communist Party: 69,920 for two seats.

The Islamic Kurdish Society: 60,592 for two seats.

The Islamic Labor Movement in Iraq: 43,205 for two seats.

The National Democratic Alliance: 36,795 for one seat.

National Rafidain List (Assyrian Christians): 36,255 for one seat.

The Reconciliation and Liberation Entity: 30,796 for one seat.

Iraqi Islamic Party (main Sunni group headed by Mohsen Abdel-Hamid): 21,342

Assembly of Independent Democrats (headed by Sunni elder statesman Adnan Pachachi): 12,728

National Democratic Party (headed by Naseer Kamel al-Chaderchi, Sunni lawyer and member of the former Iraqi Governing Council): 1,603

Total votes: 8,550,571

Invalid votes: 94,305

International oil and mining companies have reacted cautiously to Russia's decision to bar foreign firms from natural resource tenders in 2005.

The Federal Natural Resources Agency said "the government is interested in letting Russian companies develop strategic resources".

The foreign ownership issue will be dealt with according to Russia's competition law, natural resources minister Yuri Trutnev was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

Observers said that the move may represent a shift in policy, as the administration of Vladimir Putin puts the protection of national interests above free market dynamics.

Full story here.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko was deliberately poisoned -- probably with government involvement -- around the time of a dinner in September before he came to power, the top prosecutor was quoted as saying.

Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun, in Vienna to investigate the dioxin poisoning that was first diagnosed at an Austrian clinic, told the newspaper Der Standard that medical records from that clinic backed this scenario.

``There is no doubt that this was a planned act, in which several people from the government were probably involved,'' Piskun said in the interview with the Austrian paper released ahead of publication on Thursday.

Austrian doctors confirmed in December that Yushchenko was poisoned with dioxin but said only it might have been deliberately given in food.

Ukrainian prosecutors and parliament are conducting two separate investigations into the poisoning.

Piskun said he had met the doctors who treated Yushchenko at a Vienna clinic and their records backed suspicions the poison was administered around Sept. 5, the day Yushchenko had dinner with several Ukraine secret service officials.

``The general timing is around this dinner. But we cannot say with certainty that it was on this day,'' Piskun said.

As part of his probe, Piskun came to Vienna this week and met doctors who treated Yushchenko as well as justice ministry officials.

Yushchenko, whose face was left pockmarked and bloated by the toxin, has said he was poisoned at the September dinner.

Ukraine's SBU security service has denied it had any role in the poisoning of Yushchenko when he was campaigning as opposition leader.

Yushchenko, a liberal 50-year-old former prime minister, defeated Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich in a December presidential vote after November's election was canceled by the Supreme Court due to massive fraud.

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- Parliament confirmed Yulia Tymoshenko as Ukraine's new prime minister Friday and gave the firebrand of the country's ``Orange Revolution'' protests the go-ahead to set the ex-Soviet republic on a new, westward course.

In unanimous votes, Tymoshenko won confirmation as premier and won support for her government's program aimed at fighting poverty, tackling corruption and preparing Ukraine for European Union membership.

``We have passed through a long election path,'' said Tymoshenko, whose penchant for provocative statements has won her countless supporters and enemies. ``We have awakened the hopes of people that the government can work and provide results ... I want to thank the president, the parliament and the people for honoring me with the task.''

She was confirmed as premier in a 373-0 vote, far more than the 226 votes needed in the 450-seat parliament. Tymoshenko smiled broadly, then immediately walked over and hugged her ally, President Viktor Yushchenko.

``People are waiting for a new government that will be honest and will resolve all the problems they have lived with for 14 years,'' said Yushchenko, who came to the parliament chambers to give his support to Tymoshenko, calling her his ``political partner, political friend.''

Tymoshenko, 44, was one of the most visible figures in the mass protests led by tens of thousands of people for weeks during Ukraine's elections crisis in November and December. The protests, dubbed the ``Orange Revolution'' after Yushchenko's campaign color, helped secure his victory over former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in a repeat presidential election Dec. 26.

Following confirmation, Tymoshenko announced positions in her Cabinet, which was formed 24 hours later than expected because of haggling among the diverse allies who helped Yushchenko.

The new opposition criticized the last-minute back-room dealmaking, but Yushchenko's supporters were in high spirits after holding together their loose coalition of nationalists, Socialists and reformers.

``This is the demonstration of a new style of work ... a new efficiency,'' said Petro Poroshenko, a key Yushchenko ally and lawmaker, who earlier was tipped as a candidate for prime minister. ``This day marks the first success of Yushchenko's team.''

Before the vote, Tymoshenko laid out the broad goals of her program, called ``Toward the People.'' She said the program would raise living standards and end the corruption, bribery and bureaucracy that choked business development and caused millions to lose faith in the government.

Yushchenko also told lawmakers that neither he nor his government would steal, acknowledging that he knows that ``sounds like a fantasy'' right now.

Tymoshenko also said Kiev must create a constructive relationship with its main trading partner, Russia.

``Russia for us is a first and top priority partner,'' she said, adding later, ``but our path lies in Europe.'' One of the goals of her government will be to create a ``pro-European majority'' among Ukrainian citizens.

In the new Cabinet, the Socialists won a handful of key posts, including the powerful interior ministry, which controls the police.

Other key appointments included: Borys Tarasyuk, a former foreign minister who has pushed for Ukraine's entry to the European Union, was named foreign minister. Anatoliy Gritsenko, who briefly studied at a U.S. military academy, became defense minister.

Tymoshenko's ally, Oleksandr Turchinov, was tapped to head Ukraine's secret service. He immediately quieted speculation that the agency might be set loose on members of the former government, including former President Leonid Kuchma.

``The enforcement bodies must protect the interests of citizens and not struggle with political opponents,'' he said. The main task, he said, would be the ``fight against corruption.''

Several European Parliament members have urged the EU to match a proposed ban on Nazi signs with one on communist symbols like the hammer and sickle.

The MEPs, from Lithuania, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, said communist symbols were a reminder of suffering under Soviet-era regimes.

EU debate over Nazi symbols was fuelled by outcry after the UK's Prince Harry wore a swastika to a costume party.

A spokesman said the EU had no plans to include communist signs in any new ban.

"We would like to have an equal treatment of the other evil totalitarian regime of the communist system," said Jozsef Szajer, a Hungarian MEP, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Czech MEP Jan Zahradil agreed: "If we decide to ban one, we should decide to ban all of them."

But Mr Frattini's spokesman, Frisco Roscam Abbing, said the commissioner felt it "might not be appropriate" to include communist symbols in the context of discussions on xenophobia and anti-Semitism.

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: EU rationale is that because communists don't discriminate against one group of people they are the good guys. It is true that communists do not discriminate, they treat all people equally which means everyone ends up in gulag or shot in the back of the head. Many Jews ended up dead in Stalin gulags but that is of no importance to EU leaders. EU message to fascists around the world is therefore very simple: "You should stop to discriminate against Jews or other groups and start to hate all people equally."