MEPs call to halt Russia pipeline over Navalny arrest
MEPs urged the EU to stop a Russian gas pipeline and invoke 'Magnitsky Act' sanctions on oligarchs over the arrest of Alexei Navalny, but was anyone listening in Paris or Berlin?
News in Brief
- Brexit prompted finance exodus from UK to France
- Italian PM Conte wins confidence vote in Senate
- Borrell washes hands of EU's Venezuela policy
- Russia backs Greece in eastern Mediterranean dispute
- 'Ski-holiday' Switzerland reaches new infection high
- Germany extends lockdown, others expected to follow
- Barnier to be Brexit special adviser to von der Leyen
- EU commisioner to visit Bosnia's Lipa migrant camp
Opinion
The under-reported power struggle at the top of the OSCE
An internal power struggle has undermined the world's leading international security body since the summer. The OSCE is due to finally get new leaders in December but the unprecedented power vacuum has hit at a crunch time for hotspots worldwide.
Erdoğan holds rainy picnic in Cypriot ghost-town
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has angered Cyprus and left-wing Turkish Cypriots by holding a picnic in the hot-button location of Varosha.
Opinion
Time for EU to help free Saharawi people
Time the for EU to help free the Saharawi people after 45 years of Moroccan occupation in the scorching desert because Spain once swapped them for a school of fish.
Lithuania seeks EU reaction to Belarus killing
Lithuania is expecting an EU reaction to the "shocking" death of a Belarusian man on Thursday.
Armenia's democracy needs EU lifeline after war ends
The end of the Nagorno-Karabakh war is a new test for Armenia's young democracy and for EU ambition.
Opinion
Biden's 'Age of Aquarius'? Mars and Venus will clash over China
Washington's dazzling security-dominated Asian engagement may get all the attention - but the EU has done a pretty good job of hammering out its own Asia policy over the last few years.
Analysis
What do new CDU chief's pro-Russia views mean for Europe?
It remains to be seen if Laschet will be the CDU's candidate for German chancellor, but some of his foreign policy views have raised eyebrows in the past.
Business as usual for EU and Russia, despite Navalny
EU countries hinted new sanctions might come if Russia further harms opposition hero Alexei Navalny, but France and Germany want business as usual for now.
Opinion
Tackling frozen conflicts in the EU's own neighbourhood
Romania has drawn the signal that the time has come to resume the EU-level dialogue on protracted conflicts and their crippling effects on the region's security and development perspectives, writes the country's foreign minister, Bogdan Aurescu.
Opinion
EU name change masks new restrictions in development sector
This week the European Commission's Directorate for Cooperation and Development changes its name to the Directorate-General for International Partnerships - in a symbol of how early-industrialised countries seem to be losing influence to the benefit of some emerging countries.
Can EU keep Navalny safe as he 'defies' Putin?
EU diplomacy might help keep Russian opposition hero Alexei Navalny safe when he "defies" Russian president Vladimir Putin by going home this weekend.
EU condemns US execution of Lisa Montgomery
The US executed 52-year old Lisa Montgomery, a death row inmate, on Wednesday. Montgomery had committed a gruesome murder but she was also mentally ill. The EU is now demanding the US reverse all pending federal-level executions
Erdoğan sets out EU dream in Ankara palace
Turkey held out a grand olive branch to the EU when president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met ambassadors in his Ankara palace on Tuesday.
Opinion
The EU's urgent imperative in the Sahel
It's alarming that the EU is moving towards making development assistance conditional on the cooperation of third countries with its own migration objectives. This risks skewing priorities and undermining progress.
New law gives Russian 'privileged status' in Moldova
Following a draft law approved by Moldovan parliament, the Russian language will now get a special status as the "language of interethnic communication", and becomes mandatory for all civil servants.
Investigation
Ukraine's journalist murder case goes international
Ukrainian police in EU to seek new evidence on Belarusian link to killing of one of eastern Europe's star journalists four years ago.
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Latest News
- MEPs call to halt Russia pipeline over Navalny arrest
- EU targets vaccinating 70% of adults by summer
- Portugal pushes to start delayed 'future EU' conference
- EU Parliament pressing for inquiry into Frontex
- Untapped potential of the single market could boost European recovery
- Biden's 'Age of Aquarius'? Mars and Venus will clash over China
- The new dimension of 'ever-closer union'
- What do new CDU chief's pro-Russia views mean for Europe?
Opinion
India's human rights defenders deserve EU support
On Tuesday (12th January), the EU-India Human Rights dialogue will take place. Will EU leaders take a leap and stop keeping quiet about the deteriorating human rights situation in India?
Interview
Belarus threatens to kill two UK dissidents
British citizenship and international awards are not enough to make Belarusian dissident Natalia Kaliada feel safe after a high-profile death threat.
Italy's 2021 G20 presidency - a transatlantic reset?
The three pillars of Italy's G20 presidency - "people", "planet" and "prosperity" aimed at building a more sustainable future, as well as digital innovation - are shared by Joe Biden, which raises hopes of a positive EU-US dialogue.
Opinion
Europe must plot its own course on China
Given China's size and interconnectedness with Europe, a strategic policy of non-engagement hardly deserves the label "strategic".
Interview
Former US envoy to EU: 'Our democracy is fragile'
"I never dreamt I would see these things ... and chilling, chilling," Anthony Gardner, the former US ambassador to the EU, said of the pro-Trump mob which stormed the Capitol earlier this week.
Interview
Lithuania: US is still EU partner on world stage
China, Iran, and Russia have gloated about the attack on the US Capitol, but for Lithuania's foreign minister, the American republic will bounce back.
'Trump is history', EU presidency chief says
European leaders hope Joe Biden will travel to Brussels in the first half of the year - although the timing of any such visit is not yet clear.
EUobserved
European democrats, time to wake up
After the mob attack on Washington's Capitol Hill, we have to ask ourselves if it would be possible to see such a march on Brussels? The answer is: Yes. Europe is dealing with the same dark forces.
EU in 'shock' as Trump mob storms 'temple of democracy'
Leaders from all over Europe expressed disbelief and serious concern over events unfolding in the continent's main political, economic, and military ally.
EU vaccine-sharing could have 'strategic' value
Europe should share corona-vaccines with former Soviet countries on its eastern flank, for health and "strategic" reasons, according to 13 EU foreign ministers.
Vietnam jails journalist critical of EU trade deal
A journalist who had demanded the EU postpone its trade deal with Vietnam until human rights improved has been sentenced to 15 years in jail. The EU Commission says it first needs to conduct a detailed analysis before responding.
Opinion
What does Trump's 'coup' mean for Europe?
If Trump is still alive, healthy, free and tweeting politics by 2023, I think we all can officially start to worry. Not only for the American democracy, but for democracies in Europe and the rest of the world.
Civilian and French military casualties mount in Mali fighting
More than 20 civilians were killed by an unidentified helicopter gunship in Mali this weekend, on top of mounting French army casualties, according to reports.
US forces Norwegian firm to abandon Nord Stream 2
A Norwegian firm that was meant to have provided technical and safety certificates for Russia's gas pipeline to Germany has abandoned the project due to US sanctions.
EU: Bosnia 'sacrificing' homeless migrants
The European Commission is providing an additional €3.5m of humanitarian aid to help migrants made homeless in Bosnia and Herzegovina due to political infighting.
Opinion
EU cannot ignore history in Balkans enlargement
It is high time Europe makes cultural and historical dialogue part of its enlargement process in the Balkans, following the debacle on Bulgaria and North Macedonia.
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