European Union

Regulators are urging banks and insurance companies to exercise caution in handing out dividend payments to shareholders and bonuses to employees, as Europe continues to struggle to cement its recovery from the Covid pandemic.

2021 could prove to be a special year for Euro-African relations. Since last year’s agenda was essentially postponed, a lot is now on the table: a proposed new partnership, a EU-AU leaders’ summit, and the finalization of the post-Cotonou agreement....

The use of gene-editing technologies has come under increasing scrutiny in the EU over the past few years, following the 2018 European Court of Justice ruling that gene-edited organisms should fall, in principle, under the EU’s GMO directive. The European...

There is a need for a wide societal debate, including ethical reflection, over new gene-editing techniques, according to a new report from an advisory body for the European Commission, which was welcomed by industry players but accused of missing the mark by environmental campaign groups.

Even though the efficiency of plasma therapies against COVID-19 are not yet demonstrated, increasing Europe's blood collection capacity will contribute to address chronic shortages, the European Commission has said.

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about 28 independent Hungarian media outlets demanding access to COVID-19 wards in hospitals and vaccination points, Spain's Central Bank urging the government to maintain temporary lay-off schemes, and so much more.

US State Secretary Antony Blinken wrote in a letter to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić that Washington is “committed to our longstanding partnership”. “We share the vision of a stable, prosperous, and democratic Serbia on the path to EU membership. The...

“Due to a low base and assuming that tourism recovers to 55% of 2019 levels, Montenegro’s economy is expected to rebound in 2021 with an estimated GDP growth of 7.1%”, the World Bank (WB) has forecast. It is one percentage...

The Chinese national defence ministry has donated 15 engineering machines and vehicles, including six brand new military unloading trucks, two tank hauliers with semi-trailers, two trucks with a loading crane, three backhoe loaders and one bulldozer, and a compact loader...

Coronavirus infections are ravaging Hungary's 700,000-strong Roma community, according to personal accounts that suggest multiple deaths in single families are common in an unchecked outbreak fuelled by deep distrust of authorities.

People who have received their COVID-19 vaccine should eat tomatoes and drink more tomato juice as it is a natural remedy against blood clotting, the director of the Bulgarian National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Professor Todor Kantardzhiev, said...

A 63-year-old Greek woman has died after she getting vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, making headlines in Greek media.

Serbian commerce has suffered $6 billion worth in losses due to extreme weather since 2000, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative in Serbia, Francine Pickup. Unless steps and activities are implemented towards preventing weather extremes, it could...

The supervisory board of the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) has called on the government to immediately settle all of its outstanding liabilities to the news agency and comply with its legal obligations to finance STA as a public service. There...

Croatia is preparing clear criteria for entering the country during the pandemic, in accordance with European Commission recommendations for cross-border travel, Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac has said. Brjnac explained on Wednesday (31 March) that entry requirements will probably...

More than 2 million people had received at least a first shot of coronavirus vaccine in Romania by the end of March, Prime Minister Florin Citu has said.  More than half of them have already received both doses, meaning that...

The government must let journalists access COVID-19 wards in hospitals and vaccination points, as well as allow healthcare workers to freely express their views on conditions in hospitals to the public, a group of 28 independent media outlets have demanded....

The Czech Republic will take on the rotating EU Council Presidency In the second half of 2022, yet Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has made it clear that the EU Presidency will not be a priority and the budget will...

President Joe Biden on Wednesday (31 March) called for a sweeping use of government power to reshape the world’s largest economy and counter China’s rise, in a $2 trillion-plus proposal that was met with swift Republican resistance.

As parliamentary elections are set to take place in Sweden in September 2022, the popularity of small parties, including the Liberals which are now polling at 3.3%, could mean the current minority government of Social Democrats and Greens could be...