European Union

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Thursday (18 November) cautioned against holding direct talks with Belarus on the unprecedented migrant crisis along Poland's border, saying it would "legitimise" the regime.

As the COVID-19 situation sharply deteriorates in the CEE region, both the Slovak and Hungarian governments introduce new measures. Bratislava has chosen a light version of a ‘lockdown for the unvaccinated’, while Budapest has tightened mask rules. The Slovak government...

As the EU’s Strategic Compass aims for quicker, more effective and more flexible EU foreign policy, according to Czech MEP Alexandr Vondra (ECR), it de facto calls for a qualified majority voting system in the Council of Ministers. “This demand is absolutely...

Madeira is now in the high-risk category for COVID-19, moving from orange to red on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) map, which supports travel decisions in the European Union (EU). After being in the green category in...

The current situation on the border with Belarus should not be compared to Europe’s migration crisis from six years ago, since it is closer to military action, Finish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto said in an interview with a group of...

Some vaccination centres in Ireland report up to 50% of those who have booked appointments to receive COVID-19 booster shots fail to turn up, the head of Ireland’s health service has said. Some centres are experiencing between 25-50% of missed...

MPs adopted a bill from the presidential majority to combat animal abuse on Thursday with 332 votes in favour, one against, and ten abstentions. Some primary measures include putting an end to the sale of kittens and puppies, animals in...

As Germany faces the full brunt of the fourth wave of the pandemic and vaccination rates continue to be lower than those of Spain and Italy, outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel and the 16 minister-presidents agreed to a new set of...

France and Germany accused Russia on Thursday (18 November) of breaking diplomatic protocol after Moscow published their confidential correspondence over Ukraine, the latest sign of deteriorating ties between Moscow and the West.

Caretaker Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov accused Turkey of meddling in Bulgarian internal affairs during the presidential and parliamentary elections held on 14 November. On Thursday (18 November), the foreign ministry summoned the Turkish ambassador to Sofia for explanations. “Bulgaria expects...

What Poland is doing “right now, in the moment of this migratory crisis, is right” and that it is acting “on behalf of the European Union”, according to German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer who visited Warsaw at the same time...

The EU should move forward towards the objective of an “ambitious zero pollution” target because improving air quality in all European cities will bring “happiness” to citizens, Frans Timmermans, the European Commission vice president in charge of the Green Deal,...

Amid skyrocketing infection rates, political voices in Austria grow more insistent on introducing a fully-fledged lockdown for all, not just for the unvaccinated. Two states have already announced a lockdown, with the federal government struggling to find the right approach....

A third shot within six months since the last dose of the COVID-19 vaccine should be introduced in the EU COVID certificate to be valid, according to Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a televised speech. Meanwhile, in Italy, the government...

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday (18 November) that the West was taking Russia's warnings not to cross its "red lines" too lightly and that Moscow needed serious security guarantees from the West.

Slovenia's Foreign Minister Anže Logar met his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis in Ljubljana on Thursday (18 November), with the pair calling for trust between the EU and Switzerland to be further enhanced. The breakdown of the talks on the EU-Switzerland cooperation agreement and other possible options for strengthening cooperation topped the agenda.

EU Competition chief, Margrethe Vestager argued on Thursday (18 November) that strong businesses would not emerge by shielding them from competition, but by exposing them to it, as she presented the bloc's competition policy review.

The Conference on the Future of Europe is underway but there is a great risk that it will turn out to be a lost opportunity. This is due mainly to the inaction of “pro-European” governments and parties and the European institutions, writes Roberto Castaldi.

Presented in October 2020, the EU chemicals strategy for sustainability is intended as a first step towards a zero pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment as a key part of the European Green Deal. While its unveiling was widely welcomed...

MEPs have reached a compromise on the most controversial aspects of the EU regulation that will introduce strict obligations for internet giants.