AFP

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the European Union Monday to stop its “quarrels” and adopt fresh sanctions on Russia as the bloc’s leaders sought a compromise deal with Hungary to target Moscow’s key oil exports.

The 27-nation EU has spent weeks haggling over a proposed embargo on Russian oil but come up against stubborn resistance from Hungarian premier Viktor Orban.

Leaders meeting in Brussels were hoping to persuade Orban to accept a watered-down version of the ban that would keep the oil flowing by pipeline to a handful of countries, including Hungary. 

Zelensky, in a video address, called on them to adopt “effective” sanctions against Russian oil to make the Kremlin pay the price for its war on Ukraine.

“All quarrels in Europe must end, internal disputes that only encourage Russia to put more and more pressure on you,” Zelensky told the EU summit. 

“It is time for you to be not separate, not fragments, but one whole.”

Orban, often the odd man out in EU decision making, said a proposal only to stop oil deliveries to the EU by ship was a “good solution” as he arrived for the talks.

“It means that an atomic bomb won’t be thrown on the Hungarian economy,” he said. 

But he warned that Budapest still needed a “guarantee” it could keep on receiving Russian oil by sea if anything happened to the pipeline crossing Ukraine.

Orban said “there is no agreement at all” yet. 

He did not, however, threaten to veto the leaders’ planned summit statement, arguing that it was the European Commission’s job to fine-tune the sanctions package.

– ‘Getting closer’ –

A sixth wave of EU measures against Moscow was put on the table four weeks ago, but EU unity shown in implementing five earlier waves of unprecedented sanctions on Moscow appeared to have hit its limit.

The latest proposed compromise would exclude the Druzhba pipeline from the oil embargo and only impose sanctions on crude shipped to the EU by tanker vessel, which counts for two-thirds of Russian oil imports.

While French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that a long-sought-after deal was “getting closer”, others doubted that.

“I don’t think we’ll reach an agreement today,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said ahead of the summit.

“Of course, we’re going to have discussions, but everybody needs to be on board,” she said, adding that she did not expect a solution before another summit to be held in late June. 

An EU official said the leaders would attempt to find a “political agreement” on the Russian oil ban, with exceptions for specific countries worked out “as soon as possible”.

EU sanctions require the backing of all member states and ambassadors fell short of finalising a deal just hours before the start of the summit. 

– ‘Orban’s antics’ –

Landlocked Hungary imports 65 percent of its oil from Russia through the Druzhba pipeline and, along with Slovakia and the Czech Republic, has asked for an exception from the import ban.

Diplomats said a two-year delay to the embargo had been granted to the countries concerned, but that Budapest wanted at least four years and nearly 800 million euros ($860 million) in EU funding to adapt its refineries.

“There is quite a lot of sympathy for Hungary’s oil supply issues, which are great, despite the antics by Orban,” an EU diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

Hungary’s intransigence comes on the back of Orban’s recent resounding re-election to a fourth term and some experts are sceptical about the official claims of alarm over a Russian oil ban.

Further complicating the stand-off is Hungary’s share of the EU’s 800-billion-euro recovery fund, which Brussels has yet to approve due to disagreements over Budapest’s respect for the rule of law.

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Low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle said Monday it would buy 50 Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes, ending a dispute between the companies and helping revive the US-made aircraft after two deadly crashes.

The jets will be delivered between 2025 and 2028, or around the same time that Norwegian’s aircraft leasing deals come to an end, and the contract includes an option for 30 more, the company said in a statement.

The order is welcome news for the US manufacturer’s flagship Boeing 737 MAX 8, which was grounded for 20 months following two fatal accidents and has been gradually returning to service since late 2020. 

Norwegian’s order is part of “the resolution of a dispute we have” with Boeing, the company’s chief executive Geir Karlsen told broadcaster TV2.

The Nordic low-cost carrier and Boeing have been locked in a legal battle for several years, with the Norwegian carrier launching legal proceedings against the US giant for compensation following setbacks related to its 737 MAX and 787 Dreamliner long-range jets.

Without giving further details, Karlsen mentioned “a compensation of two billion kroner ($212 million, 197 million euros) that we used to buy planes under advantageous conditions.”

According to Karlsen, the price paid is “much lower” than the one Norwegian had to pay a few years ago for its first 737 MAX — which it has since sold — but also than the one offered by European competitor Airbus.

Norwegian said the deal remains subject to “various closing conditions” that it hopes will be concluded by the end of June.

The company, which currently operates 61 aircraft, plans to ramp up operations to have 70 in service this summer and 85 in the summer of 2023. 

– ‘Becoming more normal’ –

Plagued by over-ambitious expansion, technical problems and the Covid pandemic, the company narrowly avoided bankruptcy last year via an extensive restructuring that led it, among other things, to give up its long-haul flight, reduce its fleet and cancel numerous orders.

Securing the 50 aircraft means Norwegian is also returning to fully owning its own fleet after it was forced to rely on leased aircraft due to its financial woes.

Unless the option to buy more aircraft is implemented, Norwegian’s flight capacity is not expected to increase beyond what has already been announced. 

“This is rather a sign of an airline that is becoming more normal, that no longer lives exclusively on leased aircraft but owns part of its fleet itself,” Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen commented to business website e24.no. 

For Boeing, this order solidifies the revival of the 737 MAX aircraft.

The 737 MAX was temporarily grounded worldwide following two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, in 2018 and 2019, that killed a combined 346 people.

After Caribbean Arajet and American Allegiant Air put in orders for the aircraft, British carrier IAG — parent company of British Airways — also just ordered 50 planes with an option for 100 more.

Norwegian on Monday also noted that the Boeing 737 MAX 8 is “approximately 14 percent more fuel-efficient compared to the previous-generation aircraft,” thus limiting emissions and cutting energy costs in view of rising fuel prices.

French officials on Monday continued their centuries-long battle to preserve the purity of the language, overhauling the rules on using English video game jargon.

While some expressions find obvious translations — “pro-gamer” becomes “joueur professionnel” — others seem a more strained, as “streamer” is transformed into “joueur-animateur en direct”.

The culture ministry, which is involved in the process, told AFP the video game sector was rife with anglicisms that could act as “a barrier to understanding” for non-gamers.

France regularly issues dire warnings of the debasement of its language from across the Channel, or more recently the Atlantic.

Centuries-old language watchdog the Academie Francaise warned in February of a “degradation that must not be seen as inevitable”.

It highlighted terms including train operator SNCF’s brand “Ouigo” (pronounced “we go”) along with straightforward imports like “big data” and “drive-in”.

However, Monday’s changes were issued in the official journal, making them binding on government workers.

Among several terms to be given official French alternatives were “cloud gaming”, which becomes “jeu video en nuage”, and “eSports”, which will now be translated as “jeu video de competition”.

The ministry said experts had searched video game websites and magazines to see if French terms already existed.

The overall idea, said the ministry, was to allow the population to communicate more easily.

Stock markets in Asia and Europe were higher Monday as investors were cautiously optimistic, despite concerns over inflation, as China eases some of its strict Covid curbs in Shanghai and Beijing.

After Tokyo and Hong Kong closed more than two percent higher, London equities added 0.2 percent while Frankfurt and Paris closed up by more than 0.7 percent.

Fears over the soaring cost of living cast a shadow, however, as oil rose back above $120 a barrel for the first time in two months, deepening fears that central banks could raise interest rates aggressively and drag down economic recovery.

Oil prices are rising on the back of European efforts to ban Russian supplies over the Ukraine war, but also from signs that China’s economic activity could pick up as Covid-related restrictions are eased.

New data on Monday showed inflation in both Germany and Spain soaring on higher energy and food prices, turning up the pressure on the European Central Bank to speed up monetary tightening, with a first rate hike expected in July.

“Worries about global growth have eased — and hopes (are) that China’s worst Covid woes may be over,” boosting the world’s number-two economy, said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst, Susannah Streeter.

“There was a ripple of relief across European markets after authorities in Shanghai announced a lifting of restrictions from Wednesday, with more production now expected to begin across the manufacturing and tech hub.”

– Eyes turn to US –

The gains on Monday added to growing hope that a months-long sell-off may have run its course.

Markets have been pummelled this year as soaring prices forced central banks to hike interest rates and warn of more to come.

As investors look for signs on whether the inflation surge may have passed in the US, May jobs data — due for release on Friday — should provide a fresh snapshot of the economy and possibly an idea about the US Federal Reserve’s next policy moves.

European leaders began a summit Monday to discuss a Russian oil embargo, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned that the bloc has yet to come up with a compromise that he could agree to.

The 27 are “not managing to reach agreement on a ban on Russian energy as Hungary continues to refuse to wean itself off Russian oil,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, analyst with Swissquote.

– Key figures at around 1600 GMT –

London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 7,600.06 points (close)

Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.8 percent at 14,575.98 (close)

Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 6,548.71 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.8 percent at 3,841.62

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 2.2 percent at 27,369.43 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.1 percent at 21,123.93 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 3,149.06 (close)

New York – Dow: UP 1.8 percent at 33,212.96

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0779 from $1.0735 on Friday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2650 from $1.2631

Euro/pound: UP at 85.21 pence from 84.99 pence

Dollar/yen: UP at 127.59 yen from 127.11 yen

Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.2 percent at $119.82 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.0 percent at $116.19

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