After a Trans Girl Won an Irish Dance Contest, Thousands Signed a Petition of Support

James Factora
Fri, December 15, 2023

Sonja Filitz/Getty Images

Over 3,600 people and counting have signed a petition in support of trans practitioners of Irish dance, in response to right-wing anti-trans backlash directed at a trans teen dancer.

In November, a trans girl placed first at a regional competition in the division for girls 14 and younger, qualifying her for the Irish Dancing World Championships. (A press release provided to Them states that the dancer, her family, and her school have requested that her name not appear in media, since she is a minor.) Right-wing outlets such as The Daily Signal, Breitbart, and The Daily Wire pounced on the story, claiming that the dancer’s win was proof that she possessed “physical advantages,” and that it was unfair for her to compete against cis girls.

Last week, a group calling themselves Concerned Irish Dance Teachers Adjudicators Parents and Dancers circulated a petition urging separate categories for trans and cis participants in the name of “fairness.” The following day, Irish dancer Gabrielle Siegel started a counter petition in support of trans Irish dancers, which has garnered 3,597 signatures at the time of publication.

“As soon as I saw the backlash to this dancer's win, I knew we had to find a way to organize our support,” Siegel told Them via email. “That response represents a minority of people within the world of Irish dance, and I was afraid that the organizing bodies of Irish dance would believe that this backlash represented the will of the community.” She noted that as an LGBTQ+ dancer herself, Irish dance has provided a safe space for her “and for so many people,” and that it is “crucial that we keep it that way.”

Siegel started the petition after a friend, a fellow Irish dancer who fought to compete in the men’s category years ago, recommended writing an open letter to show her support for trans Irish dancers. With her friend’s help, Siegel drafted and posted the petition, to which she said the response has been “incredible.” “We have gotten signatures from many world champions, teachers, adjudicators, and prominent figures in Irish dance, along with countless dancers and supporters across the community who have come together and said, unequivocally, Irish dance is for everyone,” she said.

Addressed to An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG), the governing body for competitive Irish dance, the petition voices “unequivocal support for transgender dancers and for these dancers to continue competing as their true selves in the category that best aligns with their gender identity.”

“We recognize the right of transgender dancers to succeed in our sport, and celebrate their wins without exception,” the petition reads. It also rejects the idea that trans girls might have an inherent upper hand, writing that “success in Irish dance is, and has always been, a multi-factorial result upon which no assigned birth sex can confer a biological advantage.”

Siegel says that trans dancers have competed in several regions for some years now, a point that was echoed by a statement from the Southern Regional director of IDTANA. In the statement, posted to Facebook, Regional Director P.J. McCafferty wrote that trans dancers competing in the categories that correspond to their gender identities “is an established CLRG precedent” that “has been done before.” McCafferty added that trans dancers have previously competed in the IDTANA regional qualifier competitions, including in the Southern Region.

CLRG has yet to respond to either petition publicly. On November 21, the IDTANA Southern Region Facebook page posted a statement acknowledging the “great deal of upset” regarding trans participation. P.J. McCafferty, the regional director of IDTANA, maintained that trans dancers participating in the category that corresponds to their gender identity “is an established CLRG precedent.”

“I am writing this post to remind everyone that we teach all the dancers,” McCafferty wrote. “We advocate for every one of our dancers. We do our very best to be fair to everyone.”

In a Baffling Move, Trans Women Are Now Banned From Women’s Chess Competitions

The International Chess Federation didn’t offer any reasoning for the new rules.

The controversy comes at a time when a number of global sports governing bodies have enacted policies limiting trans participation. Earlier this year, the governing bodies for pro cycling and track and field effectively barred trans women from elite competition. Even the international board for competitive chess enacted such a rule in August, despite the fact that chess is not a physically competitive activity.

Originally Appeared on them.

This image shows dancers in the girls' 12-13 competition at the World Irish Dancing Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.

The day after the first petition was launched, Gabrielle Siegel, an adult Irish dancer who says she has been competing in Irish dancing for 10 years, launched a counterpetition titled "Support Transgender Irish Dancers."

The petition consists of an open letter to CLRG, praising the organization for its position of admitting trans dancers. The petition has around 3,600 signatures.

"We recognize that the decision to enact this policy was an informed one, made with the endorsement of the teaching community, in alignment with up-to-date scientific research," the petition reads, in part.

"We thank the Southern Region and CLRG for standing strong in the face of ill-informed transphobic backlash against this well-established precedent."

"We look forward to a future where dancers not only continue to compete in the category that aligns with their gender identity but are celebrated universally by all members of their community. Trans dancers have the right to compete. Trans dancers have the right to succeed."

One signee, Dylan Wenz, wrote in support of the petition.

"I am a trans dancer and I deserve to have a place in my sport that does not misrepresent my identity," Wenz wrote. "Trans dancers have been in this sport for years, but it only becomes controversial when one of us wins? Not fair."

Leonard Bernstein And I Loved The Same Man. Here's What Bradley Cooper's 'Maestro' Doesn't Show.

Peter Napolitano
Sat, December 16, 2023 

Leonard Bernstein makes notations to a musical score in 1955.

Leonard Bernstein makes notations to a musical score in 1955.

On a Sunday in November 1986, I was getting ready to visit Tommy, my dear friend and sometimes lover. He was in the final stages of AIDS-related lymphoma and about to leave New York City for good, and he wanted to see me one last time.

The phone rang. It was him.

“Hey, Peter,” he said. “Listen, I just found out that someone else is coming over today around the same time. I hope that’s OK.”

“Well, I could come later if you ...”

“No! I want you to be here, especially after he leaves. Peter ... it’s Lenny!”

Lenny was Leonard Bernstein, the legendary conductor and composer of “West Side Story.” Tommy was Thomas Cothran, his former lover, close friend and collaborator, who was entrusted to supervise and edit the composition and initial performances of “Mass,” Bernstein’s oratorio.

Since I became aware of “Maestro,” the Bernstein biopic directed by and starring Bradley Cooper, which is currently in theaters before it premieres Wednesday on Netflix, I’ve thought about Lenny and Tommy — and the day Bernstein and I both said goodbye to him — more than I have in almost 40 years. Now that I’ve seen the movie, I think of little else.

From its promotion and reviews (mostly raves), I knew “Maestro”primarily focused on the decadeslong relationship between Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre, his wife and the mother of his three children, and that Tommy would be portrayed by Gideon Glick. Since the story is primarily told chronologically, beginning in the 1940s, and Tommy didn’t meet Lenny until the ’70s, the movie is more than half over when he’s introduced to Lenny at a party in the Bernstein home.

From left: Gideon Glick, who plays Tommy Cothran in

From left: Gideon Glick, who plays Tommy Cothran in "Maestro"; Carey Mulligan, who plays Felicia Montealegre; and Bradley Cooper, who plays Bernstein, pose in New York on Nov. 27.

Within a minute or two after this first meeting, Felicia, portrayed by Carey Mulligan, is shown discovering the two men kissing in a hallway. I know this didn’t happen. According to Tommy (and verified by Humphrey Burton in his 1994 biography of Bernstein), they first met at a party in a mutual friend’s home in San Francisco, where Tommy was the musical director of a local classical radio station. Lenny was in California without Felicia, working on a revival of “Candide.” Tommy and Lenny became lovers during that visit and remained so for the next seven years. However, in the film, the role Tommy played in the Bernstein marriage is seen entirely from Felicia’s point of view, and much of what transpired is left out. Here’s what else is missing, as I remember Tommy telling me.

During the creation of ”Mass,” which premiered in 1971, and for five years afterward, Tommy was a most welcome, constant presence in the daily lives of the entire Bernstein family, and he got along well with everyone, including Felicia. He and Lenny worked on many projects together, keeping their sexual relations secret. Eventually, Felicia did discover them being “intimate.” Tommy never told me exactly what happened, but he did say that after Felicia learned about their relationship, she gave Lenny an ultimatum: He had to choose between her and Tommy. Lenny chose Tommy. In 1976, the Bernsteins separated.

Although the details were kept secret from the press and general public, Lenny and Tommy lived and traveled together openly, creating a scandal in the classical music and theater communities of the time. None of this is in the film. When Felicia was diagnosed with cancer in 1977, Lenny left Tommy, reconciled with his wife, and cared for her until her death. Lenny and Tommy did not become lovers again, but remained close friends and confidants. By 1986, Tommy was diagnosed with AIDS. Lenny was now losing Tommy, too. And so was I.

As I made my way down to Greenwich Village that cold November afternoon to say goodbye, I thought about the warm day in May a year and a half earlier when I first met Tommy.

I had recently been diagnosed with HIV, which at the time was a death sentence. Tommy was sitting on a bench on the pier off Christopher Street, gazing at the Hudson River. He was very thin, as was his sandy brown hair, and his Irish good looks were marred by the beginnings of facial wasting — even then a telltale sign of HIV. The sight of him saddened and frightened me.

Suddenly, with a big smile on his face, he started to wave. Did I know him? No, he was waving past me at a small boat going by with a bunch of nearly naked young men crowded aboard. I laughed. He looked at me and called me over.

Bernstein and Montealegre, his wife, are pictured in 1959.

Bernstein and Montealegre, his wife, are pictured in 1959.

We talked while sharing the joint he was smoking. Despite his apparent illness, there was a vitality — a smart sparkle to everything he said and did — that captivated me. He seemed to like me too, and as the afternoon waned into evening, he invited me to his home, a studio walk-up apartment at 94 Christopher St., between David’s Pot Belly, a popular hamburger joint, and the even more popular Häagen-Dazs ice cream shop. His place was all bricks and books, and had a big brass bed. There was a kitchen with a bathtub and a small bathroom next to it.

We smoked another joint. We had sex, but aside from that, what I remember the most from that day and those first months together was the joy of finding someone who knew what I was going through — who was living it too — but refused to dwell on it or even talk about it. Instead, we discussed books and plays and music and tennis. (He was obsessed with Martina Navratilova.)

So positive was Tommy’s attitude that one day he proudly told me that he had joined the gym around the corner. Although it was primarily patronized by massive bodybuilders, Tommy wasn’t fazed. His gaunt face glowed as he told me how fascinating it was to work out with them. (“Everything about them is so round.”)

When I arrived at Tommy’s that Sunday, my amusing memories yielded to the task at hand. I found myself becoming jealous and annoyed with Bernstein. I did not want to share this last visit with anyone, least of all a living legend who had played a far more important role in Tommy’s life than I did!

Tommy was propped up in bed, a fur cap on his bare head and a fur blanket enveloping his emaciated body. Greeting me with a big grin, he reminded me of a Russian soldier in a marionette version of “The Nutcracker” I once saw as a child. He introduced me to his home care attendant, who made me a cup of tea and then spent most of the time I was there reading in the bathroom.

Tommy looked tired, but that old sparkle was there. He told me how generous Bernstein had been during his long illness, paying the rent for his apartment and his medical expenses. A few weeks before, Tommy had asked him for a final favor: He wanted to be taken to Tibet to die. I was stunned, but I understood why. Tommy had traveled the world with Lenny, and Tibet was the place that made the greatest impression on him. He wanted to go back there with the love of his life to transition in peace. Lenny had promised him that he would try his best to grant his wish, and today Tommy would find out if it was going to happen.

Bernstein is shown in a recording studio in New York in 1974.

Bernstein is shown in a recording studio in New York in 1974.

When Lenny arrived, he wasn’t alone. His musical assistant at the time was with him. At first, I thought this was insensitive — bringing a young man along who was doing the same job your dying lover once had. Then I realized that, like Tommy, perhaps Lenny, too, needed a close friend to give him support on this sad occasion.

Lenny, who was wearing his trademark black cape and carrying his walking stick, seemed much older than when I had briefly met him the first time, after a concert that Tommy and I attended the year before. He shook my hand and then went to the bed and gently kissed Tommy on the forehead. He sat on the opposite side of the bed from me so that Tommy was close to both of us. Lenny’s assistant remained discreetly in the background.

The three of us chatted a bit, but I don’t remember much of the conversation. All I recall is the way Tommy and Lenny looked at each other and touched each other with love and sadness, but also with humor and rueful acceptance. Watching them, I was ashamed of my resentment toward sharing this moment with Lenny. I realized that I was the intruder and was relieved when they asked me and Lenny’s assistant to go downstairs for a while. On our way out, I heard a deep sob. I’m not sure whose it was.

When we returned, Lenny was in the bathroom. I didn’t need Tommy to tell me what the answer was about Tibet. He shrugged and held up his hands in a “what can you do?” gesture. I took his hand. The toilet flushed. I released Tommy’s hand, but he put it back.

As Lenny entered the room, I could see that he had been crying. He wiped his face with a handkerchief. He saw me and looked surprised, as if he had forgotten I was there. Then he held out his hand and took mine.

“Goodbye. Thanks for looking after him.”

He put on his cape, picked up his stick, then went to the other side of the bed, took Tommy’s free hand, held it, kissed him again on the lips, whispered something to him, and, with his assistant by his side, departed.

Bernstein appears at a press conference in Paris in June of 1986, the same year that the author spoke with him in Tommy's apartment.

Bernstein appears at a press conference in Paris in June of 1986, the same year that the author spoke with him in Tommy's apartment.

I stayed with Tommy for a while longer, but he was totally exhausted, both emotionally and physically. I kissed him, told him I loved him, said goodbye and left.

Tommy died four months later. To my knowledge, Lenny never saw him again. Neither did I.

I learned more about the real Leonard Bernstein in one afternoon in that grubby Christopher Street walk-up than from all the books I’ve read and all of the stories I’ve heard — even the ones Tommy told me — and certainly more than I learned from seeing “Maestro.” There was none of the flamboyance, artistic temperament and self-absorbed ego so associated with him. All I saw that afternoon was kindness, tenderness, heartbreaking sadness and the undeniable evidence of a deep, complex and lasting love.

Anyone could see that Tommy and Lenny’s relationship was not a casual one defined solely by sexual attraction and activity — or inherently inferior to the commitment and permanence of a straight relationship. Yet, that’s exactly how LGBTQ couples were commonly perceived before Stonewall, AIDS and marriage equality. They still are, as evidenced by today’s growing anti-LGBTQ movement, which reduces all gay relationships to strictly sexual ones. Unfortunately, I fear that “Maestro” may unintentionally contribute to that stereotype.

Although the film is beautifully crafted with outstanding performances and appears to be a front-runner in the upcoming awards season, I find it a bit baffling that the screenplay gives such short shrift to all of Bernstein’s relationships with the men in his life, including Tommy and others he was romantically linked to, like David Oppenheim and Aaron Copland. None of these men has a scene alone with Bernstein in the film. They seem almost interchangeable, and the superficiality of their depictions robs the movie of the complexity and contemporary relevance that a more evenly focused treatment could have provided.

I’m sure the love story of Lenny and Felicia was a true and beautiful one — and obviously well worth telling — but so was the one between Lenny and Tommy. To show and tell only one while reducing the other to brief hints and flashes is exactly what the closeted world of the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s was like for so many gay and bisexual men. In today’s world, these can and should be told together. Each one enriches the other. I think Lenny, Tommy and, yes, even Felicia would have wanted it that way.

Writer/lyricist/director Peter Napolitano’s work has been published/produced by The New York Times (“Modern Love”), Dell Publishing, The York Theatre, The Glines, Theater for the New City, and Urban Stages. He is currently a recipient of a Guaranteed Income for Artists grant from Creatives Rebuild New York.

New York's Metropolitan Museum will return stolen ancient sculptures to Cambodia and Thailand

MAYSOON KHAN
Fri, December 15, 2023 





This March 2007 photo shows a bronze sculpture titled "Standing Shiva" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The sculpture is one of 16 pieces of artwork that the museum said it will return to Cambodia and Thailand that federal prosecutors say were tied to an art dealer and collector accused of running a huge antiquities trafficking network out of Southeast Asia.

 (Metropolitan Museum of Art via AP)

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art said Friday that it will return more than a dozen pieces of ancient artwork to Cambodia and Thailand after they were tied to an art dealer and collector accused of running a huge antiquities trafficking network out of Southeast Asia.

This most recent repatriation of artwork comes as many museums in the U.S. and Europe reckon with collections that contain objects looted from Asia, Africa and other places during centuries of colonialism or in times of upheaval.

Fourteen Khmer sculptures will be returned to Cambodia and two will be returned to Thailand, according to the Manhattan museum.


The repatriation of the ancient pieces was linked to well-known art dealer Douglas Latchford, who was indicted in 2019 for allegedly orchestrating a multiyear scheme to sell looted Cambodian antiquities on the international art market. Latchford, who died the following year, had denied any involvement in smuggling.

The museum initially cooperated with the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan and the New York office of Homeland Security Investigations on the return of 13 sculptures tied to Latchford before determining there were three more that should be repatriated.

“As demonstrated with today’s announcement, pieces linked to the investigation of Douglas Latchford continue to reveal themselves," HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge Erin Keegan said in a statement Friday. “The Metropolitan Museum of Art has not only recognized the significance of these 13 Khmer artifacts, which were shamelessly stolen, but has also volunteered to return them, as part of their ongoing cooperation, to their rightful owners: the People of Cambodia.”

This isn’t the first time the museum has repatriated art linked to Latchford. In 2013, it returned two objects to Cambodia.

The Latchford family also had a load of centuries-old Cambodian jewelry in their possession that they later returned to Cambodia. In February, 77 pieces of jewelry made of gold and other precious metal pieces, including items such as crowns, necklaces and earrings were returned to their homeland. Other stone and bronze artifacts were returned in September 2021.

The latest works being returned from the Metropolitan Museum of Art were made between the ninth and 14th centuries in the Angkorian period and reflect the Hindu and Buddhist religious systems prominent during that time, according to the museum.

Angkor in the ninth to the 15th centuries was a powerful kingdom in the area of present-day Cambodia. Tourists can see relics of that past at the Angkor Wat temple complex in the country's northwest.

Among the pieces being returned include a bronze sculpture called “The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Seated in Royal Ease” made some time between the late 10th century and early 11th century. Another piece of art, made of stone in the seventh century and named “Head of Buddha" will also be returned. Those pieces are part of 10 that can still be viewed in the museum's galleries while arrangements are being made for their return.

There is no specific timeline for when the pieces will be returned, the museum said.

Research efforts have already been underway by the museum to examine the ownership history of its objects, focusing on the provenance of Nazi-looted artwork that changed hands in Germany-occupied Europe.

Another focus of the museum's research includes ancient art and cultural property — specifically how the objects were discovered and subsequently changed hands.

___

Khan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Metropolitan Museum of Art to return stolen sculptures to Cambodia, Thailand

Ehren Wynder
Fri, December 15, 2023 

People wait in line for the Metropolitan Museum of Art to open to guests in New York City in May. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI


Dec. 15 (UPI) -- The Metropolitan Museum of Art said Friday it plans to return 14 sculptures to Cambodia and two to Thailand after it discovered the artifacts were stolen.

The Met said it will effectively remove all Khmer works associated with dealer Douglas Latchford, who was indicted in 2019 for illegally smuggling antiques.

Max Hollein, the museum's director and CEO, said the Met has worked with Cambodia and the U.S. Attorney's Office for years to resolve questions regarding the stolen works of art.

"New information that arose from this process made it clear that we should initiate the return of this group of sculptures," he said.

The works being repatriated were made between the ninth and 14th centuries and reflect the prevailing Buddhist and Hindu culture of the period, according to the Met. Among them include a bronze sculpture "The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Seated in Royal Ease" made around the 10th and 11th centuries and a stone "Head of Buddha" from the 7th century.

The museum said a selection of the works will remain on display while it makes arrangements to return them to their countries of origin.

Latchford allegedly had a long history of artifact smuggling, first gaining the attention of U.S. Law enforcement in 2011 with the appearance of a 500-pound sculpture from Kho Ker in a Sotheby's auction catalogue. The Met also returned two other Cambodian objects linked to the dealer in 2013. Latchford died in 2020 without being convicted.

The theft of Cambodian cultural artifacts began century ago under French colonialism, and looting became a global business in the 1970s, '80s and '90s.

'Soul of our ancestors': US to return stolen Cambodian treasures

AFP
Fri, December 15, 2023 

'They are dated back to Angkorian era,' said Cambodian culture ministry spokesperson Hab Touch (TANG CHHIN Sothy)


A prestigious US museum will hand back more than a dozen valuable antiquities to Cambodia, a prosecutor said on Friday, after they were plundered and illegally trafficked into the institution's collection.

They were originally stolen by prolific antiquities trafficker Douglas Latchford who in 2019 was charged with operating a major network that stole treasures from Southeast Asia.

A priceless 10th century goddess sandstone statute and a larger-than-life Buddha head from the 7th century are among the items being returned.

Prosecutors said 13 Khmer antiquities were being returned, but the Met Museum, where they were displayed, said separately 14 sculptures would be returned to Cambodia, and two to Thailand.

"The Met has voluntarily agreed to return the antiquities, and they are in the process of being turned over," said the office of Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Latchford was charged with "orchestrating a multi-year scheme to sell looted Cambodian antiquities on the international art market," the office said.

The indictment was later dismissed due to Latchford's death.

"Following (Latchford's) indictment, the Met proactively reached out to (prosecutors) and to Cambodian officials, and through this cooperative partnership, the Museum received new information about the sculptures that made it clear that the works should be transferred," the Met said.

"A number of the sculptures -- including the bronze masterpiece the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Seated in Royal Ease (late 10th-early 11th century), and the monumental stone Head of Buddha (7th century) -- will remain on view in the museum's galleries for South Asian art while arrangements are made for their return to their countries of origin."

- New York trafficking hub -

The Met recently announced it would take steps to better respect cultural property including a review of its inventory.

"They are very important items, that's why we are demanding them back. They are all our ancient artifacts. They are dated back to Angkorian era," Cambodian culture ministry spokesperson Hab Touch told AFP ahead of Friday's announcement.

"They are very good items, ancient items that are the soul of our ancestors."

The works to be returned were stolen at the end of the 20th century, during the wars in Cambodia in the 1970s and during its 1990s reopening to the outside world.

Thousands of statues and sculptures were trafficked internationally over decades from Cambodia to antique dealers in Bangkok, Thailand, before being illegally exported to collectors, businessmen and museums in Asia, Europe and the United States.

Over the past two years, more than 1,000 pieces worth $225 million have been returned to more than 20 countries, including Cambodia, China, India, Egypt, Greece and Italy, officials say.

New York is a trafficking hub, and several antiquities have been seized since 2021 from museums including the respected Met, and from wealthy private collectors in Manhattan.

New York's Met museum returns Southeast Asian artifacts tied to looting
Reuters
Fri, December 15, 2023 at 1:15 PM MST·2 min read




FILE PHOTO: People stand outside The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City

(Reuters) - The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City said on Friday that it would return 14 sculptures to Cambodia and two to Thailand that were associated with an art dealer who was charged with trafficking looted antiquities in 2019.

The return of the sculptures to their countries of origin would empty the Met's collection of art associated with Douglas Latchford, a dealer charged with smuggling looted artifacts from Southeast Asia, the museum said.

The U.S. Attorney's office in the Southern District of New York indicted Latchford for supplying major auction houses, art dealers and museums with looted antiquities and falsifying documentation about where he obtained the art. Latchford died at his home in Bangkok in 2020, the New York Times reported.

"The Met has been diligently working with Cambodia and the U.S. Attorney's Office for years to resolve questions regarding these works of art, and new information that arose from this process made it clear that we should initiate the return of this group of sculptures," Max Hollein, the Met's director and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

The art being repatriated was produced between the 9th and 14th centuries in the Angkorian period, and reflects Hindu and Buddhist religious influences, the museum said.

Important Cambodian archeological sites from the ancient Khmer empire were targeted by looters during the country's extended period of civil unrest, from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s. Artifacts entered the international art market through an organized looting network and smuggling process that Latchford used to obtain his art, the U.S. Attorney's office said in its indictment.

The repatriation of the artwork follows the Met's pledge to review the works in its collection with an eye towards cultural property and the museum's past collecting practices, the museum statement said.

U.S. authorities have spent more than a decade working on locating artefacts looted from Cambodia and have made previous returns from various sources.

(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Sandra Maler)
\

Moldova and Georgia celebrate as their aspirations for EU membership take crucial steps forward

EMMA BURROWS
Updated Fri, December 15, 2023 a











Georgia EU
Georgian gather to celebrate Georgia's EU candidacy at European Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. Several thousand people attend a march in support of Georgia's EU candidacy. European Union flags waved across Georgia Friday after the European Council took a step forward along the long road towards granting Georgia and Moldova as EU membership. 

(AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)


LONDON (AP) — Moldova and Georgia celebrated after European Union leaders buoyed their aspirations to join the 27 member nation bloc by removing key hurdles on their long path toward membership.

Lawmakers in both the Moldovan and Georgian parliaments waved EU flags and played the bloc's anthem at Friday's opening of their parliamentary sessions, following Thursday's surprise announcement to open membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova and to grant candidacy status to Georgia. The announcement came despite strong opposition from Hungary and the fact that Ukraine and Georgia are partially occupied by Russia which also has troops deployed in Moldova's Transnistria region.

Thousands of Georgians gathered in the country’s capital Tbilisi to celebrate.

“The EU and integration with Europe is important for us. Not only will it be a security guarantee for us and enable the country to get stronger economically, but it is important for other values too including sports and culture, among others," said Erekle Sarishvili, a student who took part in the rally. "We, the young generation, have fought for this result but we also need to remember the older generations that have brought Georgia here.”

Moldova’s President Maia Sandu invited citizens to a pro-European gathering scheduled for Sunday in the capital Chisinau to herald what she described as a “historic step for the destiny of our country.”

Moldova's pro-Western Prime Minister Dorin Recean echoed Sandu, saying “Moldova is European" and "our future is in the EU.”

Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili congratulated the nation, saying that “this historic victory belongs to you, to our undefeated, unbroken, freedom loving Georgian people.”

By opening membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova and by offering Georgia candidate status, the EU has sent “a very important message to Russia,” Natia Seskuria, director of the Regional Institute of Security Studies in the Georgian capital Tbilisi said.

Although the path to full membership could take decades, the move “has a lot of symbolism," she said, because if the countries had been rejected “it would be another sign for Russia that they can basically do whatever they want.”

Both Moldova and Georgia were part of the Soviet Union for decades and both have struggled to emerge from Moscow's shadow. On Friday, the Kremlin responded with irritation to the news.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the move was “absolutely politicized” and that it was driven by the bloc’s “desire to annoy Russia further and antagonize these countries towards Russia."

Peskov said membership talks could take “years and decades," adding “such new members could destabilize the EU.”

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moldova has faced a long string of crises, including a severe energy shortage after Moscow dramatically reduced gas supplies last winter, skyrocketing inflation, and anti-government protests by a Russia-friendly political party.

In February, Moldovan President Maia Sandu also accused Moscow of plotting to overthrow the government to put the nation “at the disposal of Russia,” and to derail it from its course toward EU membership. Russia denied the accusations.

Debris from rocket fire has also landed several times in Moldova as a result of fighting in neighboring Ukraine. Tensions also soared in the country in April last year after a string of explosions in Transnistria — a Russia-backed separatist region of Moldova where Russia bases about 1,500 troops.

Russia also has forces in Georgia after the two countries fought a short war in 2008 that ended with Georgia losing control of two Russia-friendly separatist regions. In November, Russian troops shot and killed a Georgian civilian in South Ossetia, one of the breakaway regions, prompting condemnation from Georgian authorities.

Seskuria, from the Regional Institute of Security Studies, said EU membership has been a “generational dream for Georgians.” Although it's Georgia's “biggest success” so far toward EU membership, Seskuria cautioned that there's still a “long way ahead” and warned Georgia needs to deliver on the kind of progress the EU is seeking for the country to fulfill strict membership criteria.

That applies for all three countries which need to tackle corruption and organized crime while strengthening the rule of law.

Membership talks could also heighten tensions in Georgia where Salome Zourabichvili, Georgia’s pro-EU president, has long been a vocal supporter of joining the bloc, putting her at odds with the ruling Georgian Dream party which is widely seen as being pro-Russian by the Georgian opposition.

Speaking shortly after the EU leaders’ meeting, Zourabichvili said “Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova are the examples of what it means to fight for freedom, to fight for Europe, for those common values that we share with Europe and stay true to them.”

Zourabichvili has criticized a foreign agent registration bill which protesters in Tbilisi earlier this year said was inspired by a similar law in Russia used to silence critics of the Kremlin.

Opponents of Georgian Dream say the party’s founder, former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire who amassed a fortune in Russia, has continued calling the shots in the former Soviet republic of 3.7 million people even though he currently doesn’t hold a government job.

Georgian Dream has repeatedly denied any links to Russia or that it leans toward Moscow.

—-

Sophiko Megrelidze in Tbilisi, Georgia and Stephen McGrath in Kidderminster, United Kingdom, contributed to this report.


EU to open membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova

Jessica Parker in Kyiv & Paul Kirby in London - BBC News
Thu, December 14, 2023 

Ukraine's President Zelensky called the vote a "victory" for his country and for Europe

European leaders have decided to open EU membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova and to grant candidate status to Georgia.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the decision, made at a summit in Brussels, as "a victory" for his country and Europe.

A spokesperson for Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, said that agreement was unanimous.

Hungary has long opposed talks starting with Kyiv, but did not veto the move.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban left the room momentarily in what officials described as a pre-agreed and constructive manner, while the other 26 leaders went ahead with the vote.

He then distanced himself from his colleagues with a video message on Facebook: "EU membership of Ukraine is a bad decision. Hungary does not want to participate in this bad decision, and therefore stayed away from the decision today."

Mr Zelensky was delighted by the EU's announcement: "This is a victory for Ukraine. A victory for all of Europe. A victory that motivates, inspires and strengthens," he said on X.

Ukraine and Moldova applied to join the EU after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. They were both given candidate status last June, while Georgia was passed over at the time.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu said it was an honour to share the path to EU accession with Ukraine. "We wouldn't be here today without Ukraine's brave resistance against Russia's brutal invasion," she wrote.

Earlier this year, Moldova warned that Russia was seeking to seize power in Chisinau. Ms Sandu said Moldovans were now feeling Europe's "warm embrace" and congratulated her compatriots on what she called "an award for all of society, all those who choose democracy and prosperity".

Moldova's President Maia Sandu said the decision to start talks opened a "new page"

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan welcomed the EU's "historic" move to open accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova, calling it a "crucial step toward fulfilling their Euro-Atlantic aspirations".

Talks on joining the European Union can take years, so Thursday's decision will not guarantee Ukraine membership.

People in Ukraine know that the path to full membership is a long one, but this decision in Brussels will be a boost for morale.

EU candidate countries have to pass a series of reforms to adhere to standards ranging from the rule of law to the economy, although the EU's executive has already praised Kyiv for completing more than 90% of the steps taken so far on justice and tackling corruption.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz praised his fellow leaders for showing a "strong sign of support", adding that it was clear that both Ukraine and Moldova belonged to "the European family". A diplomat at the summit said it was Mr Scholz's idea for Mr Orban to leave the room to enable the vote to go through.

This was some much-needed good news for Ukraine, after almost 22 months of Russia's war and a continuing struggle to secure Western military and financial aid.

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said it was a historic moment and an "important message of hope" for the citizens of Ukraine and Moldova.

Mr Zelensky travelled to the US earlier this week in a vain attempt to persuade the US Congress to push through $61bn in military funding, blocked by Republican lawmakers.

Ukraine's counter-offensive against Russia's occupying force has ground to a halt at the start of winter.

Earlier on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin mocked Ukraine and claimed Western support was running out: "Excuse my vulgarity, but everything is being brought in as a freebie. But those freebies could run out at some point."

But President Zelensky will at least now be able to point to this political win as proof that Ukraine is not steadily being abandoned by its partners.

The European Council president said it was a "very powerful signal... to the people of Ukraine we are on their side".

Many in Kyiv see their fight against Russia's invasion as a defence of European values and they firmly view their future as an active and effective member of the European Union.

Ukraine's 2014 "Revolution of Dignity", toppling its pro-Kremlin president, was rooted in a desire to move away from Russia's political orbit and towards Europe.

President Putin reacted by sending troops into eastern Ukraine and Crimea and then staging a far wider invasion in 2022.

For Georgia too, invaded by Russia in 2008, the EU vote was a "monumental milestone", said pro-EU President Salome Zurabishvili.

Georgia has a broadly pro-EU population, its government has a complex relationship with Moscow and has refrained from imposing sanctions on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine began.

Asked if President Putin had ambitions to do to Georgia what he was doing to Ukraine, pro-Putin Russian lawmaker and TV host Yevgeny Popov told BBC Newsnight, "We are not going to."

"We have enough territory," he said. "We are the biggest country in the world and we don't need any other territories. But all we need is security guarantees."

On Thursday, Mr Michel said the EU also intended to open negotiations with Bosnia-Herzegovina once it met criteria for membership. Bosnia was given candidate status a year ago but a progress report last month has listed further steps Sarajevo needs to take on electoral and judicial reforms.

Bosnia has the added issue of the leader of its majority-Serb area, Republika Srpska, threatening to secede.

European Union leaders agree to open membership talks with Ukraine, Moldova

Ehren Wynder
Thu, December 14, 2023 

U.S. President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky participate in a news conference in Washington on Tuesday. Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI

Dec. 14 (UPI) -- European leaders agreed Thursday to open European Union membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova, over dissent from Hungary.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on X he was glad to receive news of the EU's decision at the Brussels summit and congratulated Moldovan President Maia Sandu on the joint victory.

"I thank everyone who worked for this to happen and everyone who helped," Zelensky said. "I congratulate every Ukrainian on this day ... History is made by those who don't get tired of fighting for freedom."

Sandu also expressed her gratitude for the decision and congratulated the Ukrainian president.

"We wouldn't be here today without Ukraine's brave resistance against Russia's brutal invasion," she said.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speak to the media in Washington on Tuesday. Photo by Julia Nikhinson/UPI

The unanimous decision marks a major milestone for Ukraine, which seeks to join the EU once the war with Russia is over. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban opposed the decision but did not veto the move. He instead left the room while the other 26 leaders went ahead with the vote.

He later said in a video the decision was "senseless," "irrational" and "incorrect" and added, "Hungary does not want to share in this bad decision."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks t the media in Washington on Tuesday. Photo by Julia Nikhinson/UPI

The EU's decision to open talks does not guarantee the countries membership, but it's a small victory for Ukraine as the U.S. Congress continues to battle over $60 billion in aid to the country.

Zelensky met with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington as Biden urged Congress to pass a comprehensive Ukraine-Israel aid package or give Russian President Vladimir Putin "the greatest Christmas gift they could possibly give him."

European Council President Charles Michel (L) and President of Moldova Maia Sandu (R) shake hands after a joint press conference in Chisinau, Moldova in 2022. File Photo by Dumitru Doru/EPA-EFE

Widespread support for Ukraine is popular in Europe, according to data from the European Commission. Sixty-one percent of EU citizens surveyed in October and November approved of the EU granting candidate status to Ukraine, and 60% approved of the EU financing the purchase of military equipment for Ukraine.


US State Department: Opening EU accession negotiations with Ukraine, Moldova 'historic moment'

Nate Ostiller, The Kyiv Independent news desk
Fri, December 15, 2023 


The European Union's decision to begin negotiations on the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the bloc is a "powerful affirmation" of their respective "European future" and a "historic moment" for Europe, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Dec. 14.

The European Council agreed on Dec. 14 to open accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova and grant candidate status to Georgia. Ukraine and Moldova were granted candidate status last June, after which Kyiv was presented with seven criteria that need to be fulfilled to start accession talks with the EU.

The U.S. "continues to strongly support the EU’s enlargement process, and we look forward to supporting EU candidate and prospective candidate countries as they continue critical reforms on the path to EU membership," said Miller.

The council's decision will "offer hope and incentive to these countries and their people to continue reforms needed to advance their EU ambitions."

According to the European Commission's report from Nov. 8, Ukraine has fulfilled four of the seven criteria pertaining to two judicial reforms, the alignment of anti-money laundering legislation, and media reform.

In the intervening weeks, Ukraine passed further legislation in line with the three unfulfilled reform obligations.

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law on Dec. 8 three bills related to Ukraine's fight against corruption and the updated law on national minorities.

Read also: BREAKING: European Council agrees to open accession talks with Ukraine, Moldova


Georgia will fail as independent state outside EU: jailed ex-leader
Irakli METREVELI
Fri, December 15, 2023 at 2:18 AM MST·3 min read
9



Mikheil Saakashvili appeared at a court hearing in October 2023 via videolink from a clinic (IRAKLI GEDENIDZE)

Georgia's imprisoned opposition leader and former president Mikheil Saakashvili has warned that Tbilisi's failure to secure European Union membership would put at risk its very existence as an independent nation.

EU leaders announced Thursday that they decided to grant Georgia formal candidate status and while approving the opening of accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova.

The three ex-Soviet countries applied to join the bloc after the Kremlin unleashed its all-out war on Ukraine last year.

For Georgia, EU membership "is a matter of survival as an independent state", Saakashvili said in written remarks submitted to AFP on Thursday via his representative.

"Georgia could vanish as an independent state if it stays or is left behind in a grey zone," he wrote in English.

In 2022, the EU granted candidate status to Kyiv and Chisinau but told Tbilisi it had to first implement judicial and electoral reforms, improve press freedom and curtail the power of oligarchs.

Georgia, which was annexed by Russia in the 19th century and again -- after a short-lived period of independence -- in 1921, last saw Russian troops invade in 2008, during Saakashvili's time as president.

The five-day war 15 years ago marked the culmination of tensions with Moscow over Tbilisi's bid to forge closer ties with the West.

After France's president Nicolas Sarkozy mediated a ceasefire on behalf of the EU, Russia recognised as independent two breakaway regions in Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and stationed permanent miliary bases there.

Many in Georgia believe that EU membership would shield the Caucasian country from a new Russian aggression, fears of which grew after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

- 'Enhance democracy' -

In November, the European Commission recommended that EU leaders grant Georgia official candidate status -- with the caveat that the Tbilisi government introduces reforms.

According to Saakashvili, the main obstacle on Georgia's path to joining the 27-nation EU is its backsliding on democracy under the government run by the Georgian Dream party.

The party was founded by Georgia's richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia and is widely seen as the man in charge in the country, despite having no official political role.

"Georgia exists in the situation of state seizure by a Russian oligarch," Saakashvili said. "Every single state institution is controlled by him and influenced by Russia through him."

Critics have accused the Georgian Dream government of covertly cooperating with the Kremlin and of derailing Georgia from its EU membership path, a claim rejected by Georgia's authorities.

They say membership in the European Union and NATO -- which is supported by around 80 percent of the population -- has been enshrined in the country's constitution under the Georgian Dream government.

- 'Putin must lose' -

Saakashvili said the EU realised that turning a blind eye to the nature of the oligarch-controlled regime in Tbilisi would backfire, so offering Georgia candidate status "may be used as an instrument to enhance democracy" there.

Georgia's integration into the EU would mean Russian President Vladimir Putin "loses", he said.

"Europe is getting on the other side of the Black Sea into what was traditionally regarded as Russia's backyard."

"If we want Europe to have a future, Putin must lose," he said.

Saakashvili, a flamboyant pro-Western reformer, was president of Georgia from 2004 to 2013 and subsequently went into exile in Ukraine, where he had served as a top advisor on reforms to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

He was sentenced in absentia by a Georgian court to six years in prison on abuse of power charges that rights groups say were politically motivated, and was arrested on his return to his home country in 2021.

The 55-year-old has accused Georgian prison guards of mistreatment, and doctors have raised serious concerns over his health after he staged a 50-day hunger strike.

Zelensky has accused the Tbilisi government of "slowly killing" Saakashvili on Putin's orders and -- along with Poland and several European capitals -- demanded his release.

im/jbr/gil/js

EU approves Ukraine membership talks after Hungary's Orbán steps outside for coffee

Peter Weber, The Week US
Fri, December 15, 2023 

Hungary's Viktor Orban.

The European Union agreed Thursday to open accession talks with Ukraine, in a boost to Kyiv and a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but failed to approve 50 billion euros ($54 billion) in aid to Ukraine after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán vetoed the money. The EU also approved membership talks for Ukraine's neighbor Moldova and accepted Georgia as a candidate for joining the bloc.

Orbán, Putin's closest ally inside the EU, had threatened to block Ukraine's membership bid from advancing as well. But in a surprise move, he stepped outside the room to allow the other 26 EU leaders to approve Kyiv's upgrade to accession talks unanimously, as required under EU rules. That was German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's idea, Politico reported. "About three hours into deadlocked discussions," Scholz suggested that Orbán "grab a coffee outside the room, perhaps," and the Hungarian leader, already wavering in his opposition, agreed.

Orbán said on social media Thursday night that he had vetoed the funds to Ukraine and still disagreed with "this bad decision" on membership negotiations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — fresh off a disappointing trip to Washington, where Republicans refused to relent on blocking military aid without domestic concessions — celebrated the vote. "This is a victory for Ukraine. A victory for all of Europe. A victory that motivates, inspires and strengthens," he said on X, formerly Twitter. "History is made by those who don't get tired of fighting for freedom."

Ukraine and Moldova applied for EU membership after Russia invaded Ukraine. Putin has reacted poorly to previous efforts by Ukraine to move closer to Europe.

Ukraine is years away from gaining EU membership, and Orbán's advisers suggested he will throw up roadblocks later in the process. European Council President Charles Michel hailed the "historic moment" at an early Friday news conference and said the leaders would reconvene in "early January" to try again on the EU budget and Ukraine aid. If Hungary continues to stand in the way, "we have various tools in our toolbox to ensure that we deliver on our political promises," he added.

Ukraine, which is running low on ammunition and other military tools to continue fighting Russian invaders, "can withstand a small delay in the approval of the funds," The New York Times reports. The Senate still plans to work toward an agreement for aid to Ukraine and Israel, but the House has adjourned for the rest of the year.


EU approves start of Ukraine accession negotiations
The New Voice of Ukraine
Thu, December 14, 2023 


EU]

The European Council has voted to begin negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU, while also granting Georgia EU candidate status, European Council President Charles Michel announced via Twitter on Dec. 14.

“The European Council has decided to open accession negotiations with Ukraine & Moldova,” said Michel.

Read also: Slovak PM Fico says Ukraine is not ready for EU negotiations

“A clear signal of hope for their people and for our continent.”

Read also: Austrian Chancellor opposes ‘preferential treatment’ for Kyiv in EU accession negotiations

Additionally, the president announced that the EU will start discussing membership with Bosnia and Herzegovina once the country the necessary criteria, with the European Commission expected to produce a report on the matter in March 2024.

Read also: Republicans will not support aid to Ukraine without national security package

Several media sources also said that Hungarian PM Viktor Orban abstained during the decision-making process, reportedly leaving the room when opening membership talks with Ukraine was discussed. Ahead of the summit, several leaders met with Orban. The European Commission also unlocked EUR 10 billion for Hungary, funds previously withheld due to concerns over the rule of law in the country.

During a briefing, Michel mentioned that negotiations over a financial aid package of EUR 50 billion ($55 billion) for Ukraine are still ongoing, NV's correspondent reported

The New Voice of Ukraine

Ukraine's Zelenskiy hails 'victory' after EU decision to open accession talks

Tom Balmforth and Yuliia Dysa
Updated Thu, December 14, 2023

Ukraine's Zelenskiy hails 'victory' after EU decision to open accession talks

By Tom Balmforth and Yuliia Dysa

(Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed a "victory" for Ukraine and the European continent on Thursday after European Union leaders agreed to open membership talks for Ukraine and Moldova despite months of opposition from Hungary about Kyiv joining.

The decision announced by European Council President Charles Michel on the first day of a summit in Brussels is a much-needed morale boost for Kyiv, which fears vital Western support has been waning as its war with Russia rages on with no end in sight.

"I thank everyone who worked for this to happen and everyone who helped. I congratulate every Ukrainian on this day... History is made by those who don't get tired of fighting for freedom," Zelenskiy wrote in a post on social media platform X.

In a separate post on X, the president added: "This is a victory for Ukraine. A victory for all of Europe. A victory that motivates, inspires, and strengthens."

Zelenskiy later issued a series of messages on Telegram, thanking Council President Michel for communicating the result personally and expressing gratitude to European leaders.

These included French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban before the result was announced.

He congratulated Moldovan President Maia Sandu on her country winning the right to launch talks and President Salome Zourabichvili on Georgia becoming a candidate for EU membership.

Kyiv residents were delighted at the EU summit outcome.

"Ukraine showed that it has qualities that make it different from our enemy," said Volodymyr, 63.

"When people don't like something, they express their will and change presidents. This movement is ceaseless since 2004, Ukraine was and is heading towards Europe."

It was not immediately clear what the fate was of a four-year 50 billion euro aid package that Kyiv hopes will also be agreed by EU leaders at the summit this week.

WARTIME MEMBERSHIP BID

Ukraine announced its wartime bid to join the EU days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

"This is an extremely important milestone on our common path to the unification of Europe... When we started it, no one believed we'd succeed. But we didn't care," Zelenskiy's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said.

Kyiv has been racing to adopt legislative reforms in recent weeks to meet the criteria for launching talks, but had faced staunch opposition from Hungary's Orban.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said: "What a historic day! One emotion dominates: everything was not in vain."

Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said: "(This) became possible only thanks to the strong will of all Ukrainians, our soldiers standing on the frontline."

Russia, which has occupied more than a sixth of Ukraine's territory, is a fierce opponent of Ukraine's push to join Western institutions like the NATO military alliance.

Moscow's troops seized and annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014 following mass protests in Kyiv that toppled a Russian-backed leader who had abandoned a push to sign an association agreement with the European Union.

Moldova, which lies between Ukraine and Romania, hailed the EU decision to open formal accession talks with it. Pro-Western President Sandu said Moldova would rise to the challenge and was committed to the "hard work" that lay ahead.

"Moldova turns a new page today with the EU's go-ahead for accession talks. We're feeling Europe's warm embrace today. Thank you for your support and faith in our journey," Sandu wrote on X.

(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa and Anna Voitenko; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Mark Heinrich and Rosalba O'Brien)

Conservationists, tribes say deal with Biden administration is a road map to breach Snake River dams

GENE JOHNSON
Thu, December 14, 2023 

Water moves through a spillway of the Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River near Almota, Wash., April 11, 2018. The U.S. government said Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, that it plans to spend more than $1 billion over the next decade to help recover depleted populations of salmon in the Pacific Northwest. It also committed to helping figure out how to offset the hydropower, transportation and other benefits provided by four controversial dams on the Snake River, should Congress ever agree to breach them.

 (AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios, File)More

SEATTLE (AP) — The U.S. government said Thursday it plans to spend more than $1 billion over the next decade to help recover depleted populations of salmon in the Pacific Northwest, and that it will help figure out how to offset the hydropower, transportation and other benefits provided by four controversial dams on the Snake River, should Congress ever agree to breach them.

President Joe Biden's administration stopped short of calling for the removal of the dams to save the fish, but Northwest tribes and conservationists who have long sought that called the agreement a road map for dismantling them. Filed in U.S. District Court in Oregon, it pauses long-running litigation over federal operation of the dams and represents the most significant step yet toward breaching them.

“Today’s historic agreement marks a new direction for the Pacific Northwest," senior White House adviser John Podesta said in a written statement. "Today, the Biden-Harris Administration and state and Tribal governments are agreeing to work together to protect salmon and other native fish, honor our obligations to Tribal nations, and recognize the important services the Columbia River System provides to the economy of the Pacific Northwest.”

The Columbia River Basin, an area roughly the size of Texas, was once the world's greatest salmon-producing river system, with at least 16 stocks of salmon and steelhead. Today, four are extinct and seven are listed under the Endangered Species Act. Another iconic but endangered Northwest species, a population of killer whales, also depend on the salmon.

Dams are a main culprit behind the salmon's decline, and federal fisheries scientists have concluded that breaching the dams in eastern Washington on the Snake River, the largest tributary of the Columbia, would be the best hope for recovering them, providing the fish with access to hundreds of miles of pristine habitat and spawning grounds in Idaho.

Conservation groups sued the federal government more than two decades ago in an effort to save the fish. They have argued that the continued operation of the dams violates the Endangered Species Act as well as treaties dating to the mid-19th century ensuring the tribes' right to harvest fish.

Republicans in Congress who oppose the breaching of the dams released a leaked copy of the draft agreement late last month.

“I have serious concerns about what this agreement means for the future of our region," Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington, said in an emailed statement Thursday. “It jeopardizes the energy, irrigation, and navigation benefits that support our entire way of life, and it makes commitments on behalf of Congress without engaging us."

Under the agreement, the U.S. government will build enough new clean energy projects in the Pacific Northwest to replace the hydropower generated by the dams — the Ice Harbor, Little Goose, Lower Monumental and Lower Granite.

The agreement includes a compromise regarding dam operations — providing for additional water to be spilled in the spring, fall and winter to help some salmon runs such as spring and summer Chinook, while reducing the spill required in late summer, when energy demand is high and production is especially profitable. That could harm fall Chinook, said the environmental law firm Earthjustice, which is representing environmental, fishing and renewable energy groups in the litigation.

The federal Bonneville Power Administration, which operates the dams, will spend $300 million over 10 years to restore native fish and their habitats throughout the Columbia River Basin, though it said the agreement would result in rate increases of only 0.7%. Two-thirds of that money will go toward hatchery improvements and operations, and the rest will go to what the agreement refers to as the “six sovereigns” — Oregon, Washington and the four tribes involved: the Yakama Nation, the Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs.

Combined with other fish-restoration funding, the federal government will be spending more than $1 billion over the next decade, the White House said.

The U.S. will also conduct or pay for studies of how the transportation, irrigation and recreation provided by the dams could be replaced. The dams made the town of Lewiston, Idaho, the most inland seaport on the West Coast, and many farmers in the region rely on barges to ship their crops, though rail is also available.

The agreement "lays out a pathway to breaching,” said Shannon Wheeler, chairman of the Nez Perce Tribe. “When these things are replaced, and the Pacific Northwest is transforming into a stronger, more resilient, better place, then there’s a responsibility ... to make the decisions that are necessary to make sure these treaty promises are kept.”

Utility and business groups Northwest RiverPartners, the Public Power Council and the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association have opposed the agreement.

“This settlement undermines the future of achieving clean energy goals and will raise the rates of electricity customers across the region while exacerbating the greatest threat to salmon that NOAA scientists have identified – the warming, acidifying ocean,” Northwest RiverPartners said in a news release Thursday.

There has been growing recognition that the harms some dams cause to fish outweigh their usefulness, but only a few lawmakers in the region have embraced the idea. Dams on the Elwha River in Washington state and the Klamath River along the Oregon-California border have been or are being removed.

In 2021 Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho proposed removing the earthen berms on either side of the four Lower Snake River dams to let the river flow freely, and to spend $33 billion to replace the benefits of the dams.

Last year, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Washington U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, both Democrats, released a report saying carbon-free electricity produced by the dams must be replaced before they are breached. Inslee declined to endorse breaching the dams during a conference call with reporters on Thursday, but he said figuring out how to replace their benefits would enable Congress to make a better decision.

“I don’t think this agreement makes anything inevitable, but it does make it much more likely that we’ll have the information we need to make the decision,” he said.

In October, Biden directed federal agencies to use all available resources to restore abundant salmon runs in the Columbia River Basin, but that memo too stopped short of calling for the removal of the dams.

“The energy needs of the Pacific Northwest should not rest on the backs of salmon,” said Donella Miller, fisheries science manager with the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. “What's good for the salmon is good for the environment, and what's good for the environment is good for the people.”

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Daly in Washington, D.C., contributed.

White House orders studies of Snake River dam removal to restore salmon populations

Zack Budryk

THE HILL
Thu, December 14, 2023


The White House on Thursday announced a 10-year plan to restore salmon populations in the Columbia River basin, including studies into the possibility of removing the Snake River basin’s four dams.

The Biden administration announced it has reached an agreement with state and tribal leaders in the Pacific Northwest, which will contribute more than $1 billion to restoration along with previously allocated funding.

The White House earlier in September directed agencies to take steps to restore salmon populations in the basin. This includes $300 million over 10 years, with a third of the money going to the Washington and Oregon officials and the four Lower River Treaty Tribes to restore salmon habitats. The remaining $200 million will be used to upgrade and modernize hatcheries.

The Biden administration will also support the development of 1 to 3 gigawatts of tribal clean energy infrastructure through the Energy Department to replace the power generated by dams in the lower Snake River basin, should the government remove them. The White House has not announced the removal of the dams yet, but activists said in September that they hope restoration efforts will eventually lead to removal.

In the Thursday announcement, the administration said it will “undertake or help fund studies of how the transportation, irrigation, and recreation services provided by the four Lower Snake River dams could be replaced.”

“The science is clear, for salmon populations to thrive, the Snake River dams must come down. We thank President Biden for presenting a plan that moves dam breaching forward by replacing their services with clean energy Pacific Northwest communities can rely on, and restores this vital way of life for local Tribes,” Sierra Club President Ben Jealous said in a statement Thursday.

“We urge the administration to continue to work with elected officials, community stakeholders, and Tribes to finish the job and put this plan into action with the urgency that is needed.”

What would happen if you drilled all the way through Earth?

Hannah Loss
Sat, December 16, 2023 

Mine, tunnel front, silhouette of a standing worker.

Earth's many layers are hidden from view. But what if we could drill through the center of the planet to the other side? What extreme forces and temperatures would we encounter deep within the planet?

Even though drilling through Earth remains science fiction, scientists have some ideas about what might occur based on experience from other drilling projects.

Earth's diameter is 7,926 miles (12,756 kilometers), so drilling all the way through the planet would require a gargantuan drill and decades of work.


The first layer to drill through is the crust, which is about 60 miles (100 km) thick, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The atmospheric pressure would increase as the drill traveled farther underground. Every 10 feet (3 meters) of rock is equal to about 1 atmospheric pressure, the pressure at sea level, Doug Wilson, a research geophysicist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told Live Science. "That adds up really quick when you're talking about a large number of kilometers," he said.

The deepest human-made hole today is the Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia, which is 7.6 miles (12.2 km) deep. At its bottom, the pressure is 4,000 times that at sea level. It took scientists nearly 20 years to reach this depth, according to World Atlas. And that's still over 50 miles (80 km) away from the next layer, the mantle, according to Earth layer data from the USGS. The mantle is a 1,740-mile-thick (2,800 km) layer of dark, dense rock that drives plate tectonics.

Related: How many tectonic plates does Earth have?

Layers of the earth, showing the earth's core and other structures. The core, mantle, crust, and asthenosphere, lithosphere, troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere.

The boundary between the mantle and the core is called the "Moho" (short for "Mohorovičić discontinuity"). Scientists first attempted to dig here through the deep seafloor in the 1950s and 1960s with Project Mohole, but they were unsuccessful.

The hole made in the quest to drill through the planet would cave in unless we continuously pumped drilling fluid into the hole. In deep-sea and oil-well drilling, that fluid is a mix of mud that includes heavy minerals, like barium. The weight of the fluid balances the pressure inside the hole with the pressure of the surrounding rock and prevents the hole from collapsing, Wilson explained.

The drilling fluid serves two additional roles: It cleans the drill bit to prevent sand and gravel from gunking up the machinery, and it helps lower the temperature, although it would become nearly impossible to keep the drill cool in Earth's innermost layers.

For instance, the temperature in the mantle is a searing 2,570 degrees Fahrenheit (1,410 degrees Celsius). Stainless steel would melt, so this drill would need to be made of an expensive specialized alloy, like titanium, Wilson said.

Once through the mantle, the drill would finally reach Earth's core at about 1,800 miles (2,896 km) down. The outer core is made mostly of liquid iron and nickel and is extremely hot, with temperatures ranging from 7,200 to 9,000 F (4,000 to 5,000 C), according to the California Academy of Sciences. Drilling through this hot, molten iron-nickel alloy would be especially difficult.

"That would cause a whole range of issues," Damon Teagle, a professor of geochemistry at the University of Southampton in the U.K., told Live Science. The fiery outer core would be like drilling through a liquid, and it would likely melt the drill unless cold water was pumped down.

Then, after 3,000 miles (5,000 km), the drill would reach the inner core, where the pressure is so intense that, despite the scorching temperatures, the nickel and iron core remains solid. "You'd really be at indescribable pressures," Teagle said — about 350 gigapascals, or 350 million times atmospheric pressure.

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This whole time the drill would be pulled down to the core by Earth's gravity. In the center of the core the gravity would be similar to being in orbit — effectively weightless. That's because the pull of Earth's mass would be equal in all directions, Wilson said.

Then as the drill continues toward the other side of the planet, the pull of gravity will switch relative to the position of the drill, effectively pulling it "down" toward the core again. The drill will have to work against gravity as it pushes "up" toward the surface, back through the outer core, mantle and crust to reverse the downward journey.

If all these obstacles are overcome, the biggest problem once you reach the midpoint is that you'd still have "a long way to go" to reach the other side, Teagle said.