European Union

The EU and United States, together with 18 other countries, issued a joint statement on Wednesday (18 August) saying they were "deeply worried about Afghan women and girls", and urging the Taliban to ensure their safety.

Following events unfolding in Afghanistan, MEPs will meet on Thursday morning to debate the latest developments with High Representative Josep Borrell.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on Development

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Following events unfolding in Afghanistan, MEPs will meet on Thursday morning to debate the latest developments with High Representative Josep Borrell.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on Development

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Following events unfolding in Afghanistan, MEPs will meet on Thursday morning to debate the latest developments with High Representative Josep Borrell.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on Development

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Thousands of Afghans struggling to ensure the physical safety of their families after the Taliban took control of the country have an additional worry: that biometric databases and their own digital history can be used to track and target them....

Some 12 Belarusian officers armed with riot-control gear crossed the border into Lithuania on Tuesday near the Gintaras Žagunis crossing point in order to force 35 irregular migrants into the country, Lithuania said. "We cannot tolerate this bold provocation of ... crossing the border of the Republic of Lithuania today," interior minister Agnė Bilotaitė noted. Belarus has recently pushed thousands of migrants into Lithuania in reaction to EU sanctions.

France registered 111 deaths from Covid-19 in hospitals on Tuesday, the first time since June 1 that the daily toll was more than 100, health ministry data showed, Reuters reports. The new figures took the cumulative death toll from COVID-19 since the start of the epidemic to 112,844. The seven-day moving average of deaths increased to 72, from fewer than 20 per day at the end of July.

Solar power supply in the European Union during June and July rose to a record high in 2021, accounting for 10 percent of total electricity produced in the region, a report by independent climate think-tank Ember said, Reuters writes. "There are exciting green shoots in core solar markets where solar is taking off, but overall it is not growing fast enough," Ember analyst Charles Moore said.

Spain received its first tranche of money amounting to €9bn from the €800bn EU recovery fund meant to help the bloc recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and make its economy greener and more digitalised, Reuters reports. Spain will get a total of €69.5bn in grants from the fund in the coming years. Lithuania received its first tranche of money of €289m from its allocated total of €2.22bn.

Russia's 2021 wildfires are already its largest in the history of satellite observations, burning across 17.08m hectares of land, the Greenpeace Russia environmental group has said, The Moscow Times reports. The new record beats the previous one set in 2012, when fires burned 17 million hectares of land across Russia, and comes with weeks left to go in a devastating wildfire season.

German chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday condemned the way Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko treats refugees, adding that Germany would consult closely with its European partners on a coordinated response, Reuters writes. "President Lukashenko is using refugees, for example from Iraq, in a hybrid way to undermine security, and of course we condemn this in the strongest possible terms," Merkel said at a news conference with the Estonian prime minister.

"We have to get in touch with authorities in Kabul, whatever they are. The Taliban have won the war so we will have to talk to them," EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said.

For 20 years, Westerners and Afghans have been trying to build a free and democratic Afghanistan. This project has failed. Let us avoid that those who believed in it pay the price.

The global attraction of democracy depends on the real-life performance of democracies. The US has not been an attractive case in the last years and nor has the EU.

Poland has said it will disband a judicial disciplinary chamber to comply with an EU court order, while vowing to continue its controversial judicial reforms.

A dozen Belarusian officers in riot gear illegally crossed into Lithuanian territory on Tuesday (17 August) while pushing a group of Iraqi migrants over the border, Lithuania's border guard service said.

Images of throngs trying to flee Kabul are shameful for Western nations, Germany's president said on Tuesday (17 August), as desperate people clamoured at the airport after the Taliban takeover.

French firefighters hampered by strong winds were battling to contain a wildfire in the hills behind the coastal town of Saint-Tropez on Tuesday (17 August) as campsites packed with holidaymakers were evacuated.

Britain on Tuesday (17 August) announced a resettlement scheme for Afghans fleeing the Taliban after their return to power, offering an initial 5,000 places in the first year, rising to up to 20,000 in the long term.

The EU will have to engage in talks with the Taliban to provide support to the Afghan people even if it does not recognise them as legitimate rulers of the country, EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said on Tuesday (17...