Thursday
1st Oct 2020
Safeguarding Europe's position starts with recognising the unpleasant reality that Europe's power is waning. Behind the facade of European cooperation, national self-interest still predominates and that has never been any different.
The Turkish president's decision to restart Islamic worship services in Istanbul's Hagia Sophia last Friday is not innocent. So how should we react? By doing the opposite - and make Cordoba's famous Mosque/Cathedral in Cordoba a museum.
Never a free or media-friendly country, Belarus is intensifying crackdowns on reporters in the run-up to its presidential election in August. Belsat TV journalist Dzmitry Mitskevich experienced it first-hand.
Belarus sanctions have turned into a "high-voltage" crisis for EU foreign policy, its top diplomat has admitted.
The Belarus oppositon leader asked the EU not to support the Belarus authorities financially, and not to recognise Lukashenko as the country's president when his term ends in November.
Azimjon Askarov's death in jail should prompt serious questions about judicial and rule of law reforms in Kyrgyzstan funded by taxpayers through USAID and EU grants.
Turkey has reportedly sent Syrian mercenaries to Azerbaijan, amid ongoing fighting with Armenia that threatens to draw in regional powers.
The EU's future relations with both the eastern and southern neighbourhood are at stake. A wrong signal to Belarus would be a wrong signal to all of the Eastern Partnership
Heavy fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan has claimed dozens of lives and caused alarm in Europe.
Following reports that accused EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell of sending diplomats to Venezuela in a "clandestine mission," the European People's Party was "alarmed" such move would weaken the EU position.
The loudest applause from MEPs during Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union speech came for her call to move to Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) in foreign policy - at least on human rights and sanctions implementation.
The EU is expected to soon, perhaps this week, to release its renewed Sahel strategy, which was in dire need of a revamp and which will no doubt reflect some of the words of foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell.
German EU presidency "ready" to go ahead with EU human rights sanctions, but internal bickering could delay them into next year.
China's pledge to become carbon neutral before 2060 is "good news" for Europe, but it sends a clear message to Washington ahead of the US election - in which climate change has become a significant aspect for voters.
The special committee, only created in June, will start its hearings on Thursday with experts from the EU's foreign service on hybrid threats and disinformation.
The EPP, S&D, and Renew Europe have all dropped their support for a Belarus dissident with homophobic views, hours after EUobserver published an expose.
It has been clear for many years now that the European Union's approach to migration and asylum is not fit for purpose.
The EU demands Hong Kong reverse decision to postpone Legislative Council elections by one year, as western powers suspend extradition treaties with the global financial hub given China's controversial national security laws.
A revamping of Indian and EU strategic priorities - coupled with wariness of Chinese expansionism in the absence of American leadership - is pushing them both to seek like-minded partners elsewhere.
The EU has imposed new-model sanctions on Russian and Chinese cybercriminals, but fresh revelations of Russia-linked media-hacking indicate it might need to go further.
The centre-right EPP, centre-left S&D, and liberal Renew Europe have all nominated a homophobe for the Sakharov prize - the prestigious annual prize handed out by the European Parliament to people who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms.
EU foreign ministers will have nothing to show Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya when they meet her in Brussels on Monday, after Cyprus blocked sanctions.
A German court just heard crucial witness testimony about Syria's state torture programme - in the first such trial of its kind in the world.
Buying an EU passport does not give you impunity from visa-bans or asset-freezes, officials have said, as citizenship sales multiply.
Spain would be prepared to recognise Kosovo if it clinched a deal with Serbia, Madrid has said, in the first positive signal of its kind since EU-brokered talks resumed.
Leuven's Catholic University, one of Belgium's best, has decided to close one of its respected but controversial chairs. And many say that is not because of an academic failure or scandal, but a result of the Turkish government's relentless pressure.
Britain's US trade deal is in jeopardy if the UK endangers Northern Ireland peace over Brexit, US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has said.
This is a critical moment. The UAE-Israel agreement, welcomed by the European Union, represents a severe blow to the Arab Peace Initiative, writes the diplomatic affairs' adviser for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
New EU human rights sanctions should be named after poisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Europe's foreign affairs chief has suggested.
Germany has urged right-wing EU politicians to keep religion out of talks on Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean territorial dispute.
Russia has loaned embattled Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko $1.5 billion, as he warned protesters not to cross his "red lines".
After a little over a year in Brussels as an MEP, and closely following the EU's foreign affairs, it astonishes me how ineffective the European Union leverages its power on the world stage.
For too long we have defined our relationship with China solely on trade, in which Europe mainly regarded China as an interesting export market and low-cost producer.
