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The latest on Venezuela's political crisis and the vote for a constitutional assembly (all times local):

7 a.m.

The European Union says it is concerned about the future of democracy in Venezuela after the widely-criticized vote to elect a powerful constitutional assembly.

European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said Monday that such an assembly "elected under doubtful and often violent circumstances cannot be part of the solution."

Andreeva said the weekend poll, held amid protests in which 10 people were killed, "has increased division and will further de-legitimize Venezuela's democratically elected institutions."

She said EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is working on a "joint response" to developments from the 28-nation bloc but would not be drawn on whether that might involve sanctions.

12:05 a.m.

Venezuela's National Electoral Council says more than 8 million people voted to grant President Nicolas Maduro's ruling socialist party virtually unlimited powers with a constitutional assembly a turnout more than double the estimates of both the government's political opponents and independent experts.

Council president Tibisay Lucena announced just before midnight that turnout in Sunday's vote was 41.53 percent, or 8,089,320 people.

The count was met with mockery and anger from members of the opposition, who said they believed between 2 million and 3 million people voted. One well-respected independent analysis said 3.6 million appeared to have voted.

The electoral council's vote counts in the past have traditionally been seen as reliable and generally accurate, but Sunday's announcement appeared certain to escalate the polarization and political conflict paralyzing the country.

10:30 p.m.

The U.S. State Department is officially condemning Venezuela government for holding a vote to elect a powerful National Constituent Assembly, calling it a step toward authoritarian rule.

The new assembly would concentrate near-total power in the hands of socialist President Nicolas Maduro and his supporters. In a statement released Sunday night, the State Department says the new body seems designed to "undermine the Venezuelan people's right to self-determination."

The U.S. had already joined Argentina, Peru, Colombia and Panama in saying it would not recognize the vote results. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley tweeted that earlier that the vote was a "sham election" which takes Venezuela "another step toward dictatorship."

The State Department says Washington will "continue to take strong and swift actions against the architects of authoritarianism in Venezuela."

9:45 p.m.

Venezuelan opposition leaders are urging their countrymen to protest Monday in the capital against the constituent assembly expected to take power and in homage to those killed in demonstrations against the government.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles says the political foes of socialist President Nicolas Maduro also plan to mount a protest on the day that the new assembly takes office. That is supposed to take place within 72 hours of the final results being announced from Sunday's election.

Organizers with Venezuela's opposition say 15 people were killed across the nation Sunday while the vote was underway. The office of Venezuela's chief prosecutor has confirmed on Twitter that it is investigating at least seven deaths.

Opposition leaders are blaming state authorities for the violence.

In a briefing on state-run television, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said the military was not responsible for any deaths.

More than 120 people have died during four months of protests.

9:20 p.m.

A key ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says there was "record" participation in Sunday's election for a constitutional assembly that he says will surprise the opposition, whose leaders contend turnout was exceptionally low.

Ruling socialist party leader Diosdado Cabello says that while the official National Electoral Council results are still being counted, "I can assure you there was record participation."

Across Venezuela's capital, dozens of polling centers were virtually empty Sunday, including at many that saw hours-long lines of thousands voting in previous elections over the last two decades.

Organizers with Venezuela's opposition say they stationed observers at every polling site and the preliminary results show Sunday had a small fraction of the turnout seen in previous elections voted.

They say that any official numbers showing high participation are invalid.

8:55 p.m.

The leader of Venezuela's ruling socialist party is brushing off criticisms from foreign governments that say they won't recognize Sunday's vote for a special assembly that will rule with nearly unlimited powers.

Party leader Diosdado Cabello says Venezuela has decided to be free from foreign meddling. In his words: "What do we care what the world thinks?"

He called Sunday's election "an ethical and moral victory over Venezuela's right."

A rising number of foreign nations are vowing not to recognize the constituent assembly that President Nicolas Maduro and his allies have promised will remove opponents from power.

On Sunday, Peru, Argentina, Canada, Spain, Costa Rica, the U.S. and Mexico all announced they would not recognize the results. Colombia and Peru earlier said they did not consider the assembly legitimate.

6:50 p.m.

A growing number of countries are vowing not to recognize the results of Venezuela's divisive election of a constituent assembly that could dramatically reshape the South American nation's government.

Officials from Argentina, Peru and the United States said Sunday that their governments would not recognize the vote, following similar statements from Colombia and Panama.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has tweeted that the vote a "sham election" that takes Venezuela "another step toward dictatorship."

Peru's government says the vote violates the Venezuelan constitution and deepens already significant divides within society.

3:40 p.m.

Venezuela's chief prosecutor's office is reporting three deaths on the day of a controversial vote for a constituent assembly that opposition leaders fear will trigger the end of democracy in Venezuela.

The office tweeted that 28-year-old Angelo Mendez and 39-year-old Eduardo Olave were killed at a protest Sunday in Merida. Thirty-year-old Ricardo Campos was killed in a separate incident in Sucre.

Few details were provided on the deaths.

Leaders with the opposition Democratic Action party on Twitter identified Campos as the group's youth secretary in Sucre, a state in northern Venezuela east of the nation's capital.

The deaths bring to at least 116 those killed in nearly four months of political upheaval.

1:10 p.m.

Venezuelans appear to be abstaining in massive numbers in a show of silent protest against a vote to select a constitutional assembly giving the government virtually unlimited powers. Across the capital on Sunday, dozens of polling places were empty or had a few dozens or hundreds of people outside, orders of magnitude less than the turnout in recent elections.

An Associated Press reporter toured more than two dozen polling places in neighborhoods across the capital, including many traditional strongholds of the ruling socialist party in southern and western Caracas. Virtually all the polling places had seen hours-long lines of thousands of people in the elections of the last two decades of the socialist administration.

One site, a sports and cultural complex known as the Poliedro, had several thousand people waiting about two hours to vote, many having traveled from opposition-dominated neighborhoods where polling places were closed. Of the dozens of others sites seen by the AP, two in the loyalist-heavy neighborhood of El Valle had lines of approximately 200 to 400 people. All the others had at most a couple of dozen voters, and many had less than a half-dozen or were completely empty.

9 a.m.

Dozens of Venezuelans are gathering early at voting centers in Caracas' Petare neighborhood, saying they plan to cast ballots because they hope for improvements in their lives.

Hairdresser Luisa Marquez said she hoped to get a house as she waited with her daughter in a line outside a center to vote Sunday for an all-powerful constitutional assembly that Maduro's opponents fear he'll use to replace Venezuela's democracy with a single-party authoritarian system.

"I hope things get better," said Marquez after acknowledging that Venezuelans are experiencing tough economic times.

The run-up to the vote has been marked by months of clashes between protesters and the government, and the Trump administration has imposed successive rounds of sanctions on high-ranking members of Maduro's administration, with the support of countries including Mexico, Colombia and Panama.

7:50 a.m.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is asking for global acceptance as he casts an unusual pre-dawn vote for an all-powerful constitutional assembly that his opponents fear he'll use to replace the country's democracy with a single-party authoritarian system.

Accompanied by close advisers and state media, Maduro voted at 6:05 a.m. local time, far earlier and less publicly than in previous elections. The run-up to Sunday's vote has been marked by months of clashes between protesters and the government, including the fatal shooting of a 61-year-old nurse by men accused of being pro-government paramilitaries during a protest this month at a church a few hundred feet from the school where Maduro voted.

"We've stoically withstood the terrorist, criminal violence," Maduro said. "Hopefully the world will respectfully extend its arms toward our country."

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The Latest: EU concerned for future of Venezuelan democracy - ABC News

Summary: The EU sent a letter to Poland that it would start an infringement procedure against the country for its proposed changes to the judicial system.

On Saturday, the European Unions Commission started an infringement procedure against Poland for the countrys alleged attempts to undermine judges independence. According toReuters,the EU has given Poland one month to respond.

EU commissioners started the legal action after Poland published a law on Friday that affected the organization of its court system. The EU said that the laws were discriminatory to women and gave too much discretionary power to one leader.

The EU voiced concern that Polands minister of justice was allowed to prolong judge mandates and that he could dismiss and appoint court presidents at his discretion. The EU was also concerned that Poland had different retirement ages for men and women60 for female judges and 65 for male judges.

The new rules allow the minister of justice to exert influence on individual ordinary judges through, in particular, the vague criteria for the prolongation of their mandates thereby undermining the principle of irremovability of judges, the EU Commission said in a statement to

In response to the infringement procedure, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymanski said to state news that Polish court presidents mostly perform administrative duties only. He added that the new laws on the retirement of judges was created to match another law about retirement age that will be implemented in October.

The head of the Polish presidents office,Krzysztof Szczerski, said that the laws the countrys internal organization works there and is misunderstood by the EU.

The way the justice system is organized is an internal matter of every state and that is why it differs so much across the EU, Szczerski said.

Poland said that the EUs objections to their new bill wasblackmail but that Warsaw was open to resolving the dispute with open dialogue. European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said on Friday that the organization wanted to invite Poland representatives to Brussels in order to relaunch dialogue.

The European Commissions decision followed a week of street protests in the country against the ruling conservatives decision to change the judicial system. The new government has overall been polarizing to the peoplesome want the country to retain their democratic processes and others want the government to have more control over matters

There was something different about the governments latest moves that stirred Poles to protest, The New York Timessaid. Many here perceived the attempt to undercut the independence of the judiciary as a far broader and more fundamental threat to their freedoms than anything the government had tried before.

In addition to the European Unions objection to the new Polish law,Czech jurists, human rights groups, and the American Bar Association have also been outspoken in their criticism.

Source:Reuters

See more here:
European Union Launches Legal Action Against Poland - JDJournal.com

The European Union is considering measures that allow freezing of bank accounts to prevent the institutions from failing. Read more...

Bitcoin emerged as a powerful tool following the economic crisis in 2009, which was driven by poor planning and investment decisions by the US banking sector. There have been numerous instances across the world where economic mismanagement and political apathy towards development have caused hardships to the citizens of various nations.

The excessive reliance on conventional monetary systems has got people to a point where their own money is at the mercy of banking institutions and governments. The European Union is presently deliberating on a policy that could spell further hardships to the people and business entities in the region.

According to reports, the EU is considering certain measures to freeze the accounts held by people, preventing them from withdrawing their own money from ailing banks. The measure, which could potentially recreate a scenario similar to the one faced by the Greeks in the recent years is a cause of concern for the general public.

Given the current health status of many banks in the European Union, there is a high probability of such a measure, if passed will witness implementations much sooner than later.

These measures, proposed by the Estonian presidency of the European Union creates a sense of urgency among the people to find alternative solutions which could save them from the eventual hardships. In the present scenario, people looking for alternative solutions are faced with two options. They have to choose between holding cash reserves or investing money into cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

Bitcoin has proven itself to be a disruptive force that is capable of helping people maintain financial independence. The decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies ensures that there is no authority or middlemen who could interfere with an individuals financial decisions or deprive them of hard-earned money.

While there is still no confirmation on whether all the EU nations will agree to such a reform, which could further erode trust in conventional banking, it is definitely a wakeup call for people to start exploring other options.

If the European Union nations decide to go ahead with the adoption of such a policy, the cryptocurrency market could potentially witness an increase in demand for digital currencies.

On the bright side, the value of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other popular cryptocurrencies could soar, making the investors a happy lot.

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European Union's Account Freeze Measure Helps Realize the Importance of Bitcoin - newsBTC

The European Commission on Saturday launched an "infringement procedure" against Poland over parts ofcontroversial judiciary reforms.

The EU executive decided on Wednesday to start legal action against Poland for violating the bloc's law, but had to wait until Poland officially published the new law to send a letter to Warsaw.

The Commission is concerned that the reforms will undermine the independence of the judiciary by giving the justice minister discretionary power to extend the mandate of common judges, as well as dismiss and appoint lower court presidents.

"The new rules allow the Minister of Justice to exert influence onindividualordinary judges through, in particular, the vague criteria for the prolongation of their mandates, thereby undermining the principle of irremovability of judges," the Commission said in a statement.

It also took issue with the introduction of different retirement ages for female and male judges, set at 60 and 65 years, respectively.That aspect of the reform violates EU anti-discrimination policy.

EU piles on pressure

Poland's governing Law and Justice Party (PiS) now has one month to respond. If the Polish response is unsatisfactory, the Commission can issue requests that Warsaw must implement its recommendationswithin two months.

If Poland fails to implement the recommendations, it could end up at the European Court of Justice. Decisions from Europe's top court are binding and can result infines on members.

Polish President Andrzej Duda signed the reform on Tuesday. But after the EU warnings and mass protests, the president surprisingly vetoed two other controversial lawspassed by lawmakers.

Those reforms would have increased political control over the Supreme Court, removed its judges and allowed lawmakers to choose members of a body that decides on court appointments.

PiS has vowed to push through the reforms despite the veto.

The Commission has warned Poland that itcould trigger Article 7 if the Supreme Court reforms are implemented.

Article 7 is an action, never before used,that would see Poland lose its voting rights in the European Council, or meeting of European ministers, for violating fundamental EU laws.

The EU and Poland have been in disagreement since the conservative PiS came to power in 2015 seeking aseries of legal and media reforms that critics say undermine democracy and the rule of law.

Last year, the EU took the unprecedented step of launchinga process of reviewing the rule of law in Poland.

cw/tj(AFP, dpa, Reuters)

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European Union launches legal challenge against Poland - Deutsche Welle

Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico delivered a damning verdict of Brussels decision making processes, saying they need a radical overhaul if the bloc is to survive.

In a forthright address he said recent meetings of the EU Council of 27 leaders showed how little we know about each other and bemoaned the superficial nature of European debate.

GETTY

He said that fewer decisions should be taken in Brussels and more power should be delegated to regional bodies in comments which will fuel fears amongst some that the bloc could disintegrate.

Mr Fico made the remarks after the EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker proposed a meeting between the Visegrad bloc of nations and Italy to try and break the stand-off on migration.

Slovakia, alongside Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland, have all refused to take part in Brussels refugee quota scheme saying that it presents threats to their sovereignty and security.

Yesterday the advocate general of the ECJ released an opinion stating that an appeal against having to accept migrants, launched by Hungary and Slovakia, should be thrown out.

That suggestion drew a furious response from officials in Bratislava which said it would never accept refugee quotas, although Mr Fico was more circumspect in his remarks today saying only that he had a serious problem with the programme.

However, the Slovakian leader was much more forthright on where he thinks the EU is going wrong, saying it needs to make decisions less centrally and more regionally if it wants to make progress in the future.

It has been confirmed how important it is to meet in smaller formats

Robert Fico

He said: If we have a general discussion, we know that it will also be a particular discussion. Im mentioning this because the format of 27 or 28 is not a sufficient space for in depth discussion.

We could see it at the meeting of V4 [Visegrad] and the French president or the Austrian chancellor, prime minister and myself, where it was shown how little we know about each other, how little information is there.

Thats why I believe that this meetingwill be a meeting which will clarify lots of things, that will move things forward. The smaller formats have been lacking and we need to have more meetings in these small formats.

He added: It has been confirmed how important it is to meet in smaller formats and not to address such delicate topics as 27 or 28 prime ministers.

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Countries that are in the European Union

Mr Ficos remarks offer a damning insight into how EU decision making, which is currently focussed around agreements between 28 leaders or ministers, operate in practice.

He suggests that there is little discussion of substantive issues at EU Council meetings, with leaders nodding through measures with little understanding of how their colleagues feel.

His remarks will strike a strong chord with Brexiteers, who argued that a democratic deficit at the heart of the European project, with little outside scrutiny, was a key reason for giving back control over lawmaking to the UK parliament.

However suggestions that regional groupings, such as the Visegrad Four and the Benelux countries, should wield more power will alarm eurocrats who feel keeping power centralised in Brussels is the best way of stopping the project falling apart.

Read the rest here:
European leader in SHOCK admission: The EU doesn't work and we all barely know each other - Express.co.uk