European Union

US President Joe Biden promised central European NATO members "additional military capabilities" on Thursday (9 December) and pledged to involve them in decisions about the region, Lithuania's presidential advisor said.

The EU medicines watchdog said Thursday (9 December) the Omicron variant of COVID-19 may cause milder disease, as the World Health Organisation warned against a re-run of vaccine hoarding by rich nations as the new strain spreads.

When website addresses using writing systems like Chinese and Arabic were introduced back in 2009, it was hailed as a step that would transform the internet.

The EU’s proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism is a “legitimate” instrument to consider, and the United States are “exploring it” as well. “It may be a tool that we have no choice but to employ if other countries are not going to be serious enough about reducing carbon,” John Kerry told EURACTIV in an interview.

A group of 15 EU member states have agreed to take in 40,000 Afghans for resettlement, Commissioner Ylva Johansson said on Thursday (9 December) after meeting interior ministers.

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about Poland possibly getting EU funds despite the unresolved rule of law issue, French President Emmanuel Macron laying out the priorities of the French EU Council presidency, and so much more.

The EU stance toward Poland over the rule of law row aims to bring tangible results as the “nuclear option” in the past did not work, EU Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas said at the annual event of EURACTIV’s Network.  “What...

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has taken charge of a soon-to-be-published list of sustainable investments amid controversy around the possible classification of fossil gas and nuclear energy as "green" or "transitional" activities under certain conditions, according to several sources familiar with the process.

European Union governments agreed on Thursday (9 December) for Croatia to join the bloc's passport-free Schengen travel area after Zagreb convinced Brussels that it was able to effectively manage its section of the bloc's external borders.

French president Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that member states need an emergency mechanism to respond to threats at the bloc's external borders, Reuters reported. "A sovereign Europe is for me above all a Europe capable of controlling its borders," he said, arguing the EU countries are often "too slow to react". Macron said that the emergency mechanism would have to rely on cooperation with the EU border agency Frontex.

Former Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi has started campaigning to run for Italian president in early 2022, MPs in his Forza Italia party told The Guardian on Thursday. "I've met him twice in the last two weeks and he was totally fired up," one MP said. The 85-year old Berlusconi has been convicted of tax fraud and is still on trial for alleging bringing witnesses in a sex-party scandal years ago.

Britain is sending a further 140 military engineers to help Nato ally Poland secure its border with Belarus after Minsk began flying in asylum seekers and forcing them to storm barbed-wire fences. "Our commitment to European security is unwavering and we'll always offer support to our allies. This non-combat support will assist Polish efforts to protect their border and pass on vital engineering expertise," UK defence secretary Ben Wallace said.

EU governments agreed that Croatia was ready to join the passport-free 'Schengen' travel zone, in a move set to extend membership from 26 to 27 European states. "Croatia is ready," home-affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson said after meeting with EU interior ministers Thursday. Croatia joined the EU in 2013 and the EU Commission recommended its Schengen accession in 2019, but it was not yet clear when the formalities would be completed.

While the situation on the Belarusian border is stabilising, the focus should shift to other hot spots such as Cyprus, Slovenian's interior minister Aleš Hojs warned as EU home affairs ministers met in Brussels on Thursday (10 December).

Shareholders of Shell are expected to approve on Friday a plan to move the company's tax residency to London, from the Hague. The oil and gas giant announced the move in November, arguing that it was necessary to simplify the company's structure. Nevertheless, critics say Shell's decision was motivated by a Dutch court ruling that ordered the company to reduce its carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030

The Serbian government and Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom have signed agreements to build a Centre for Nuclear Technologies and found a joint company to realise the project in Serbia, a statement released on Thursday said. The agreement was signed...

All politicians should undergo a comprehensive vetting process, said the leader of Albania’s main opposition party, Lulzim Basha on the International Day against Corruption. Political vetting to determine the source of wealth, links to organised crime, and the prohibition of...

More names can be expected to be added to the US list sanctioning individuals suspected of corruption, US Ambassador to BiH Eric Nelson said, N1 reported. “We published sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act which punishes corruption and the worst...

US President Joe Biden gathered over 100 world leaders at a summit and made a plea to bolster democracies around the world, calling safeguarding rights and freedoms in the face of rising authoritarianism the "defining challenge" of the current era.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated at the Summit for Democracy on Thursday that Serbia was ready to be a reliable partner of the US in efforts to strengthen democracy. During the online Summit for Democracy, organised by US President Joe...