"Vučić touts Russian-Serbian brotherhood as regional tensions rise

In a sign of resistance to Western calls to choose between Moscow and the West, Serbian President Aleksander Vucic said his country’s brotherly relations with Russia cannot be destroyed, and Belgrade would never succumb to pressure d"

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"uring a meeting with Turko Daudov, an advisor to controversial Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

Vucic met with Daudov in Belgrade, even posing for photos wearing traditional Chechen clothing that had been given as a gift.

“For us, the Russian people are our brother people, and centuries-old history has proven it many times. Therefore, Russian-Serbian relations cannot be destroyed under any pressure,” said Vucic.

The comments come a day after the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said Brussels was “very worried about the situation in the Western Balkans,” adding “unnecessary and counterproductive tensions” between Kosovo and Serbia “are reaching a very, very dangerous level”, warning “we are unhappily on the edge of another crisis.”

Brussels warns Serbia not to reinforce ties with Russia

As a state negotiating EU membership, Serbia cannot strengthen ties with Russia, European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said on Monday in Brussels, noting that the recent signing of an agreement on foreign policy between Russia and Serbia was a cause …

Daudov said that the current situation in the world is “difficult” but that Russia stands firm in defending spiritual, traditional and family values and has rejected the “foreign ideology” posed by the West.

“But despite all the difficulties and extraordinary pressure exerted by Europe, the leadership and the people of Serbia not only did not oppose but also supported the Russian Federation,” said Daudov.

Serbia has faced strong criticism for refusing to align with EU sanctions and foreign policy and for maintaining strong, friendly ties with Moscow.

In September, Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selaković was forced to defend the agreement on consultations for 2023-2024 he signed with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York.

Protests in Serbia often feature banners with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s face on and Russian flags.

Belgrade’s ties with Moscow continue to irk Western capitals. Earlier this month, Germany has cautioned Serbia against cultivating deeper relations with Russia, warning that it could thwart its bid to join the European Union.

Germany warns Serbia: Choose between EU and Russia

Germany has cautioned Serbia against cultivating deeper ties with Russia, warning that it could thwart its bid to join the European Union, a German government source said on Tuesday (1 November).

Serbia has been a candidate to join the European Union since 2012, but its prospects are seen as bleak without a normalisation of relations with Kosovo, which it refuses to recognise as an independent country.

The situation in the north of Kosovo

"Trump launches 2024 US presidential run, getting jump on rivals

Donald Trump, who has mounted relentless attacks on the integrity of US voting since his 2020 election defeat, on Tuesday (15 November) launched a bid to regain the presidency in 2024, aiming to pre-empt potential Republican rivals.

S"

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"eeking a potential rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden, Trump made his announcement at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida a week after midterm elections in which Republicans failed to win as many seats in Congress as they had hoped.

In a speech lasting little more than an hour, Trump spoke to hundreds of supporters in a ballroom decorated with chandeliers and lined with American flags.

“In order to make America great again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump said to the phone-waving crowd, which included family members, donors and former staffers.

Trump steered clear of the name-calling that has marked other public appearances, opting instead for a critique of Biden’s presidency and a review of what Trump said were the policy achievements of his own time in office.

“Two years ago we were a great nation and soon we will be a great nation again,” he said.

Trump laid out familiar dark themes from his playbook, denouncing migrants – “We’re being poisoned” – and portraying American cities as crime-ridden “cesspools of blood.”

He said he would push for the death penalty for drug dealers and rehire members of the military who had been dismissed for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Although he assailed the US election process, Trump did not use his speech to revive his false claims of massive voter fraud in 2020 and did not mention the violent attempt by his supporters on 6 January 2021 to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.

On a trip to Indonesia, Biden said “not really” when asked if he had a reaction to Trump’s announcement. On Twitter, he posted a video criticizing Trump’s record in office.

Long road

There is a long road ahead before the Republican nominee is formally selected in the summer of 2024, with the first state-level contests more than a year away.

Trump’s announcement comes earlier than usual even in a country known for protracted presidential campaigns, and signals his interest in discouraging other possible contenders such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis or his own former vice president, Mike Pence, from making a bid for the Republican Party’s nomination.

DeSantis handily won re-election as governor last week. Pence has sought to distance himself from Trump while promoting a new book. Other potential Republican presidential hopefuls include Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Trump played an active role in the midterms, recruiting and promoting candidates who echoed his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread

"Vučić touts Russian-Serbian brotherhood as regional tensions rise

The Capitals brings you the latest news from across Europe, through on-the-ground reporting by EURACTIV’s media network. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.

The European news you deserve to read. Welcome to The Capitals by EUR"

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"ACTIV.

Today’s edition is powered by AWS

AWS and comprehensive data protection in the cloud

How do organisations successfully navigate compliance within Europe? What are the cross-border data transfer requirements?

AWS experts Esther Stringham (AWS Legal) and Hans Bos (AWS) Security Assurance) dive deeper into both topics.

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In today’s news from the Capitals:

In a sign of resistance to Western calls to choose between Moscow and the West, Serbian President Aleksander Vucic said his country’s brotherly relations with Russia cannot be destroyed, and Belgrade would never succumb to pressure during a meeting with Turko Daudov, an advisor to controversial Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Read more.

///

EU INSTITUTIONS

European Parliament and EU countries reach agreement on EU budget. Negotiators of the European Parliament and representatives of the member states reached an agreement on the 2023 EU budget on Monday night with the Parliament demanding additional means to address the fallout of the war in Ukraine. Read more.

ePrivacy: EU legislators chase compromise on processing electronic communications data. After months of stagnating debates on the ePrivacy Regulation, EU lawmakers and diplomats have moved on to discussing the sensitive issue of processing electronic communications data, metadata, and content. Read more.

Commission to temporarily re-approve glyphosate without member states’ go-ahead. Member states once again blocked the Commission’s proposal to extend the marketing authorisation of the herbicide glyphosate for another year, but the EU executive is set to still approve an interim renewal before mid-December. Read more.

///

VIENNA

Austrian conservatives bicker over migrant rights. Leading conservative Austrian politicians have called to make it harder for economic migrants to seek asylum, causing outrage across the political spectrum. Read more.

///

BERLIN

German army pulls Putin supporter from EU mission in Georgia. The German army removed a soldier from the EU’s EUMM mission in Georgia following reports he supports Russian President Vladimir Putin and sees Moscow as blameless for the war in Ukraine. Read more.

Germany inaugurates first new LNG terminal. The German government inaugurated its first floating terminal on Tuesday, built in record time and intended to receive liquefied natural gas as part of Berlin’s plan to replace Russian gas, with the first regasification ship set to dock in mid-December. Read more.

///

PARIS

France to offer asylum to seven Afghan athletes. Residence permits will be issued to seven female Afghan handball players seeking refuge in Pakistan after fleeing the Taliban r

"Kamala Harris to visit Philippine islands at edge of South China Sea dispute

US Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the Philippine islands of Palawan on the edge of the disputed South China Sea, a senior administration official said on Tuesday (15 November), in a move that may be interpreted by"

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" Beijing as a rebuke.

The visit, scheduled for next Tuesday, will make Harris the highest-ranking American official to visit the island chain adjacent to the Spratly Islands. China has dredged the sea floor to build harbors and airstrips on the Spratlys, parts of which are also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Beijing claims some territories in the waters off Palawan and much of the South China Sea, citing domestic historical maps. A 2016 international arbitration ruling, however, said the Chinese claims had no legal basis, in a victory for Manila that has yet to be enforced.

Coming days after a three-hour, face-to-face meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping intended to ease tensions, the trip may frustrate Beijing.

The South China Sea, which contains massive oil and gas deposits, is the stage for $5 trillion in ship-borne trade each year but also a flashpoint for Chinese and US tensions around naval operations.

In Palawan, Harris is expected to meet with “residents, civil society leaders and representatives of the Philippines Coast Guard,” the senior administration official said.

The trip will show the administration’s “commitment to stand with our Philippine ally in upholding the rules-based international maritime order in the South China Sea, supporting maritime livelihoods and countering illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing,” that official said.

The Philippines is a defense ally of the United States, but under former President Rodrigo Duterte it avoided criticizing Beijing, eyeing Chinese investment.

Manila announced earlier on Tuesday that Washington would spend $66.5 million to start building training and warehouse facilities at three of its military bases there under a 2014 joint security deal.

Harris’ trip marks her second to Asia in three months and follows Biden’s week-long trip to the region. Both trips were aimed at shoring up both defenses and alliances to discourage aggressive steps by China, including in self-ruled Taiwan. The Harris trip also includes a stop in Thailand for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting.

During her last trip to the region, Harris accused China of actions to “coerce and intimidate” neighbors.

South China Sea expert Gregory Poling said the visit could send a strong message to the Philippines without angering Beijing because it is not a visit to a disputed territory.

“It will be reassuring to the Philippines by sending a clear signal that, even with Ukraine and Taiwan center stage, the United States still recognizes the South China Sea as central to the future of the US-Philippine alliance,” said Poling, who

"COP27 climate talks inch toward ‘loss and damage’ showdown

Negotiators at COP27 climate talks in Egypt prepared Tuesday (15 November) for a looming showdown over how – and how quickly – to funnel funds to developing countries battered by deadly and costly climate impacts.

The issue of “loss and da"

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"mage” has been inching its way toward the heart of the multilateral climate agenda for decades, but only this year made it formally onto the negotiating table as the battle lines between rich polluting nations and vulnerable developing countries harden.

The G77+China block of more than 130 developing nations called in a position paper for a special fund “for assisting developing countries in meeting their costs of addressing non-economic and economic loss and damage” caused by extreme weather disasters and rising sea levels.

The need for such “loss and damage” financing, which has emerged as a make-or-break issue at UN talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, is “urgent and immediate,” the largest negotiating bloc at the talks said.

Countries least responsible for planet-heating emissions – but hardest hit by an onslaught of storms, heatwaves and droughts – have been pressing wealthy nations for financing for decades.

The issue has grown ever more urgent in recent months as nations have been slammed by a crescendo of disasters, such as the massive flooding that put a third of Pakistan under water in August and caused up to $40 billion in damage.

How much money would be put into the fund, and where it would come from, were left unsaid, but the G77+China called for the facility to be ready for approval at next year’s COP28 in Dubai.

The United States and the European Union have dragged their feet, fearful that setting up a financial facility could leave them and other rich nations legally exposed to open-ended demands for compensation.

In its own “talking points” published on Tuesday, the EU recognised “the need and urgency” for loss and damage funding, and that “current financing mechanisms are not able to cover all necessary actions.”

But rather than creating a new facility in Sharm el-Sheikh, they favour the launch of a time-bound process to explore a “mosaic of solutions”.

Up to now, the US and the EU have suggested that expanding current channels for climate finance might be a more efficient approach than creating a new one.

Against the backdrop of an unmet promise by rich nations to provide $100 billion a year starting in 2020 to help the developing world green their economies and adapt to future impacts, poor nations are wary of a new timetable.

“They’re afraid they are being taken for a ride,” said a senior negotiator working on the issue.

A third document released Tuesday, prepared by two ministers from Germany and Chile tasked with shepherding talks on loss and damage financing, puts all the options on the table.

It also points to strategic wording that could become the basis of a compromise – a call for a two-year process to determine

"World leaders in Bali deplore war in Ukraine ‘in strongest terms’

Leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) nations deplored Russia’s aggression in Ukraine “in the strongest terms” on Wednesday (16 November) and demanded its unconditional withdrawal in a declaration adopted at the end of a two-day summit.

"

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"“Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine,” the declaration said, signalling that Russia, which is a member of G20, opposed the wording. The positions taken by China and India, which abstained from a similar UN resolution in March, were not immediately clear.

However, at least three diplomats said the statement, which recognised that “there were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions”, was unanimously adopted.

“The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible,” the declaration also said.

“It is essential to uphold international law and the multilateral system that safeguards peace and stability. This includes defending all the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and adhering to international humanitarian law.”

Earlier, the day’s schedule at the summit on the Indonesian island of Bali was disrupted by an emergency meeting to discuss reports of a missile landing in Polish territory near Ukraine on Tuesday, killing two people.

Poland missile strike: What we know so far

Two people were killed after a missile hit Polish territory in the village of Przewodów near the border with Ukraine on Tuesday (15 November), marking the first explosion on NATO members’ soil since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

US President Joe Biden said after the meeting that the United States and its NATO allies were investigating the blast but early information suggested it may not have been caused by a missile fired from Russia.

NATO member Poland had said a rocket killed two people in eastern Poland near Ukraine, and it summoned Russia’s ambassador for an explanation after Russia denied it was responsible.

Leaders from the Group of Seven nations, Spain, the Netherlands and the EU, who were all in Bali for the G20 summit, attended the meeting.

The G7 nations include the United States, Germany, France, Canada, Italy, Britain and Japan.

After the meeting, the G20 leaders, dressed in white shirts and some with baseball caps with the G20 logo, took part in a ceremony to plant mangrove saplings to signal the battle against climate change.

On the sidelines of the summit, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen held a two-hour meeting with Chinese central bank Governor Yi Gang, her first in-person talks with a senior Chinese economic official.

She had said before the meeting she hoped to get new insight into China’s policy plans and work toward more economic engagement between the two countries.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters on the summit sidelines that several major economies faced a real risk of sliding into recession as the war in Ukraine, rising food and

"EU backs COP27 call to phase down all fossil fuels

The European Union supports a call by India to phase down fossil fuel use as part of a COP27 deal, the bloc’s climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said on Tuesday (15 November), provided it does not weaken previous agreements on reducing the use o"

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"f coal.

India, the world’s second-biggest buyer of coal, wants countries to agree to phase down all fossil fuels at the U.N. climate summit in Egypt, rather than a narrower deal to phase down coal that was agreed at COP26 last year.

“We are in support of any call to phase down all fossil fuels,” Timmermans told a news conference.

“But we also have to make sure that this call does not diminish the earlier agreements we had on phasing down coal, so if it comes on top of what we already agreed in Glasgow, then the EU will support in this proposal.”

Timmermans’ comments come even as the EU ramps up its quest for coal and natural gas in the near term to counter an energy supply crunch triggered by high demand and supply disruptions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Opposition from developing countries, Saudi Arabia

The proposal could benefit India by easing the global focus on its coal use, but is also likely to face stiff opposition from developing countries with rich oil and gas deposits that want to avoid language limiting their use.

“We have come out strongly to indicate that we should be facilitated to sustainably explore our oil and gas resources,” Irene Batebe, permanent secretary at Uganda’s energy ministry, told Reuters.

“For us, and that’s the African Union’s position, we wouldn’t be pushing for a phase down, unless the phase down is clearly defined, because many of us are discovering new resources,” Batebe said.

Saudi energy ministry official and COP27 negotiator, Khalid Abuleif, said his country, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ biggest producer, was worried the final talks would “demonise” the fossil fuel industry.

India was among the countries resistant to efforts to eliminate coal at last year’s climate talks in Glasgow when the final deal at the last minute dropped wording calling for a phase out of coal-fired power, replacing it with phase down.

African states to use threat of fossil fuels to get EU climate finance

Ahead of the COP27 summit scheduled for November, there are fears African governments will use the threat of exploiting fossil fuel reserves to push European nations to keep their promises on climate change, investments and infrastructure.

Gas ‘is a different situation’: Timmermans

Timmermans said the EU was not seeking to dictate a country’s investment plan but wanted to send a warning on investing in fossil fuels.

“I’m not telling African countries not to invest in fossils, let me be very clear about that. I’m just telling them ‘be careful what you do’ because if you invest in coal now, you’re sure to create stranded assets. If you invest in oil, you’re probably going to create st

"EU must spend, cooperate more on joint arms projects, bloc’s defence agency says

EU member states are set to boost their military budgets by up to €70 billion by 2025, but purchases outside the bloc and a lack of project cooperation risk undermining efforts to create coherent forces, a new annual d"

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"efence review report warns.

“Defence planning continues to be done mostly in isolation, and (…) member states remain unconvinced by European cooperation projects,” the European Defence Agency’s (EDA) so-called Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) report warned on Tuesday (15 November).

“Collaboration remains the exception rather than the rule, making the agreed targets elusive goals to be achieved at some point in the future,” stated bluntly, as EU defence ministers met in Brussels for their regular meeting to assess the bloc’s capabilities.

The EU’s agency said that only 18% of all investment in defence programmes involved cooperation between EU countries.

“Member states tend to buy ready-made solutions off the shelf when there is no national solution or when time is of the essence,” the report warned.

Many EU member states prefer individual purchases of arms and equipment from suppliers outside the EU rather than investing their money in European defence industry projects, which are often seen as too time-consuming and complex.

“There is a trend to rely on suppliers outside the EU, which has been intensified by the Russian war against Ukraine,” it said, adding this would fuel the risk that European defence will continue to disintegrate and dependencies will increase.

As an example, Germany looks to buy an Israeli missile defence system, Poland recently has ordered its main battle tanks from South Korea, and several other member states are competing for US-made multiple rocket launchers and other military hardware.

The EU agency’s dooming report comes as the European Commission proposed a new instrument meant to encourage European governments to work towards joint procurements of weapons, the European Defence Industry Reinforcement through the common Procurement Act (EDIPRA).

However, there too, member states have looked into a workaround that could permit this future EU fund to assist joint purchases from third countries, which would likely be mostly the US.

Global Europe Brief: Could pragmatism reign into joint EU defence procurement?

Welcome to EURACTIV’s Global Europe Brief, your weekly update on the EU from a global perspective.

You can subscribe to receive our newsletter here.

In this week’s edition: FAC preview, European defence moves and Belgrade-Pristina dialogue mediation attempts.

Russia’s invasion of …

Defence spending catch-up

After the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, defence budgets rose year after year after falling continuously as a result of the 2008 financial crisis.

However, member states can only hope to reach the spending level at which they could compensate for years of underfunding of th

"‘Brazil is back’ at COP27 as Lula meets US, Chinese climate envoys

Bringing a message that “Brazil is back” in the fight against global warming, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with climate envoys from China and the United States on Tuesday (15 November) in Egypt for the COP27 talks, on his first for"

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"eign trip since being elected Brazilian president.

The leftist, who won his third term last month, is planning a series of meetings with national representatives in which he will outline plans to restore Brazil’s credibility as a partner in global efforts to stem warming, an aide said.

In the 30 October vote Lula defeated President Jair Bolsonaro, who oversaw mounting destruction of the Amazon rainforest and refused to host the 2019 climate summit originally planned for Brazil.

Lula narrowly defeats Bolsonaro to win Brazil presidency again

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated President Jair Bolsonaro in a runoff election on Sunday (30 October) that marked a stunning comeback for the leftist former president and the end of Brazil’s most right-wing government in decades.

An EU official said Lula would also meet on Wednesday with EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans.

Lula arrived in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh early on Tuesday, ahead of his planned appearance at the climate talks on Wednesday when two of his advisers told Reuters he will deliver the message “Brazil is back”.

He has promised a sweeping plan to increase environmental law enforcement and create green jobs. His team also worked to secure a jungle conservation alliance announced on Monday between the three largest rainforest nations – Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia.

Lula said on Twitter he met with US Climate Envoy John Kerry and China’s chief climate negotiator Xie Zhenhua. A spokesperson also said he would hold a phone call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

He has received more than 10 invitations for bilateral meetings with representatives of other nations, his environmental adviser Izabella Teixeira said, adding they were not being named for security reasons.

Climate clout and hope

Three Brazilian diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, told Reuters the country was in a stronger position to negotiate at this year’s UN talks because of Lula’s election.

They said other countries know Brazil will soon have a Lula government that has promised to take the issue more seriously than Bolsonaro, a climate change sceptic.

The negotiating position itself has been largely unchanged regardless of who has been in power.

For example, Brazil under Lula is expected to continue pushing for rich nations with high greenhouse gas emissions to pay poor nations for historic damage to the climate, the diplomats said.

Colombia’s Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said Lula’s election would allow renewed regional cooperation among Amazon rainforest nations to tackle deforestation, a m

"The Green Brief: Europe’s risky complacency on energy savings

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"The war in Ukraine is forcing Europeans to consider life without Russian oil and gas. Yet, most efforts are focused on supply-side measures and not on energy demand-cutting solutions that are crucial to avoid the risk of blackouts, advocates say.

The need to quickly replace Russian fossil fuels has pushed Europeans to look for new supplies of liquified gas from Qatar or the United States and to consider emergency measures to speed up the construction of new wind and solar farms.

Last week, the European Commission tabled new emergency rules to accelerate permitting procedures for new renewable energy installations, a pragmatic move dictated by the urgency of the situation.

But while new energy supplies are welcome, some in the industry are raising concerns about a lack of urgency when it comes to the other side of the equation – energy demand.

“We would like to see the same thing happening with energy efficiency, the development of heat pumps and the renovation of buildings,” said an industry source.

True, the EU agreed new measures in September, including a mandatory target for EU countries to reduce electricity consumption by 5% at peak hours. And EU governments quickly enacted measures in August to cut gas demand ahead of the winter.

Yet, EU plans to cut electricity demand leave member states full latitude on how to reach their target. And a broader objective of reducing consumption by 10% was retained as an aspirational objective, reflecting the EU’s coyness when it comes to setting ambitious goals on electricity demand reduction.

These concerns were raised last week during a seminar bringing together the European Commission’s top brass – including President Ursula von der Leyen – and a group of CEOs from a range of industries impacted by the energy crisis.

One of the business executives who took part in the meeting is Philippe Delorme, the CEO for Europe at Schneider Electric, the French multinational that specialises in digital automation and energy management equipment for buildings and factories.

According to him, the risk of a blackout in Europe in the coming 18 months “has become extremely important” due to the gap between peak demand and available capacity.

And “there is no emergency reaction plan” at EU level in case a blackout happens, he warned.

“So we are in a serious situation.”

To avoid blackouts, the first thing to do is to organise the market for demand reduction so that big industrial consumers of energy are incentivised to disconnect from the grid when demand is highest, usually around 19.00 pm.

Under such arrangements, a cement company, for instance, can place a bid to put its factory offline for a two-hour p