Sunday

27th Jun 2021

EU leaders confront Orbán on anti-LGBTIQ law

Hungary's premier Viktor Orbán argued that the law does not discriminate against LGBTIQ people - and that he himself defended the rights of "homosexual guys" when he fought against communism as a student leader.

News in Brief

  1. Environmentalists slam CAP reform as 'greenwashing'
  2. EU leaders urge Ethiopia to halt 'atrocities' in war zone
  3. EU parliament demands right to safe abortion
  4. EU leaders agree first-ever Belarus economic sanctions
  5. Bulgarian president vows to uphold North Macedonia veto
  6. Macron joins Merkel call for coordination on non-EU tourism
  7. Facebook biggest 'emitter' of Covid disinformation
  8. Gay-rights activist storms pitch at Hungary's Euro game

Exclusive: on board with SOS Méditerranée

Migrant rescue ship preparing for the worst

SOS Mediterranee's rescue coordinator Luisa Albera describes the events surrounding the tragic loss of 130 people in late April.

Opinion

'Discriminated, dehumanised' - Denmark's Syrian refugees

Syrian refugees lives were never easy and now with the Danish government's decision to revoke more than 200 residency permits and shift asylum responsibility to third countries, their prospects of living in peace here are bleaker than ever.

MEPs approve EU climate law - without Greens' support

The European Parliament has given the final green light to the first-ever EU climate law - despite Green and left-wing MEPs voting against it. They argue that the bill is not aligned with the 2015 Paris Agreement.

EU creates new cyber unit, after wave of online attacks

The European Commission unveiled its plans to build a new task force to respond to an increasing number of cyberattacks on the bloc - coordinating existing operations between EU institutions, agencies and national authorities.

Opinion

How NOT to frame debate about Hungary's toxic anti-gay law

Politicians use clever framing of issues to convince voters to support laws that harm their own interests. Viktor Orban's new hate law vilifies people for who they love. But its opponents may have unwittingly helped by repeating its framing.

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Opinion

What a post-Netanyahu Israel means for EU

Under Benjamin Netanyahu, the EU-Israel Association Council meetings, supposed to be held at regular intervals and set the tone for progress on political and economic issues, have not convened since 2013.

EU Commission warns Hungary over anti-LGBTIQ measures

EU Commission vice-president Thierry Breton and justice commissioner Didier Reynders have written to Hungary's justice minister Judit Varga expressing legal concerns before the Hungarian bill - intended to protect children but including anti-LGBTIQ measures - enters into force.

Exclusive: on board with SOS Méditerranée

EU talks migration over dinner, as NGO rescue-ship sets sail

Some 30 crew members boarded the Ocean Viking rescue ship in the port of Marseille on Wednesday, a full day ahead of an EU summit in Brussels where migration will be discussed over the afternoon and dinner.

Europol: Extremists exploited pandemic to spread radicalism

A new report reveals how extremists attempted to exploit the Covid-19 pandemic to spread their radical messages and propaganda across the EU. In 2020, a total of 57 completed, failed or foiled terrorist attacks took place in the EU.

Greece dismisses EU states' objections on refugee travel

Greece reaffirmed its position that refugees should be allowed onward travel, despite objections of abuse by six EU member states. The comments come as Amnesty International releases a new report on illegal pushbacks in Greece.

Opinion

What's missing from agenda for Berlin's Libya conference?

There is an eagerness to move towards what Heiko Maas, the German foreign minister, has called the "sustainable stabilisation" of Libya. And yet the essential elements needed for such stability are not on the agenda of Wednesday's conference in Berlin.

Libyan detention centres must end, EU says

The EU has trained and equipped the Libyan Coast Guard. Those intercepted are then returned. Now Turkey has taken the lead, raising the stakes of possible leverage over the European Union as Ankara takes control of the route.

Poland and Hungary sanctions procedure back after pandemic

The Article 7 sanctions procedure was initially launched against Warsaw in 2017 by the EU Commission and triggered by the European Parliament in 2018 against Budapest. Now it is back on the table, after the pandemic.

Stakeholder

'You'll never walk alone' - our message to women

Hundreds of thousands of brave Polish women took to the streets, repeating the message "you will never walk alone". We will not rest until Polish women enjoy the same rights as French, Spanish or Belgian women.

EU to wage economic war on Belarus dictator

EU foreign relations chief Josep Borrell will announce sweeping economic sanctions on Belarus at Monday's foreign affairs meeting after Austria caved to pressure.

EU commission takes stand against Danish asylum law

EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson has taken a firm stand against outsourcing asylum to other parts of the world. Her comments follow a recent Danish law that aims to stop asylum seekers from filing claims in Denmark.

Air pollution in many EU cities 'stubbornly high'

Many European citizens are still exposed to illegal and dangerous levels of pollution, especially badly in Italy and Poland, new data from the European Environment Agency revealed.

Agenda

EU leaders discuss Turkey, Russia, migration This WEEK

EU foreign affairs ministers will try to sort out a new round of sanctions on Belarus, and EU affairs ministers will hold intergovernmental conferences with two candidate countries, Serbia and Montenegro.

Pandemic exposed corruption in some EU health systems

The report's findings are particularly worrying as member states are preparing to roll-out billions of euros for a post-pandemic recovery. The European Commission is approving national plans for the spending of around €800bn by member states from now until 2026.

Opinion

Next week is time for EU to finally lead on rule of law

The EU Commission still has to prove they are ready to stand up for the rights of every citizen in the EU. Throwing the towel in would send a terrible signal to European leaders tempted to emulate Hungary and Poland.