Von der Leyen courts Greenland for raw materials
The EU opened its first Arctic Office in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, as part of a wider charm offensive to position itself ahead of other great powers vying for the nation's mineral wealth.
Tuesday
19th Mar 2024
The EU opened its first Arctic Office in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, as part of a wider charm offensive to position itself ahead of other great powers vying for the nation's mineral wealth.
The chair of the European Parliament's culture committee has attacked mounting calls to ban Israel from Eurovision, as TV chiefs play wait-and-see on the Gaza war.
Nordic countries have a long way to go if they're to reach their climate neutrality goals. According to a brand-new report, strengthened Nordic co-operation can help accelerate the transition. Nordic environment ministers agree that the pace must be stepped up.
Israel is breaking the rules of modern warfare in Gaza, Norway's prime minister said in Oslo on Tuesday.
Only two parliaments in the world have more than 50 percent female representation, Rwanda and Bolivia. This week's Nordic parliamentary meeting in Oslo will join that select group, with 54 percent female participation.
The world has changed, not least in northern Europe, which is rapidly becoming one of the new frontlines between Nato and Russia. It is sometimes said that even the largest avalanche is caused by something small. Watch Northern Europe.
Finland, which shares a border with Russia, has cautioned about the danger of a Russian attack in coming years. Russia is not "invincible" but "self-satisfaction is no longer an option," Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo said.
All of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán's MPs voted in favour of Sweden's entry into Nato on Monday, in an anticlimactic end to his veto drama.
Sweden could join Nato as early as next week after Hungary finally tabled a ratification vote for Monday (26 February) and the Swedish leader said he would travel to Budapest.
Former Finnish PM Alexander Stubb has returned to politics, emerging as the country's most-trusted candidate in the presidential elections, due to his significant foreign policy experience.
Norway's recent decision to greenlight deep-sea mining plans in the Arctic has sent shockwaves through the world. This decision gives Norway the dubious honour of being the first European country to set out a procedure on deep-sea mining.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán is still flashing his Nato veto on Sweden, after dropping his EU veto on Ukraine.
Sweden has urged all its citizens not to travel to Iran, which recently arrested a second Swedish national.
Turkey has waved Sweden into Nato, marking a strategic blow to Russia in the High North and Baltic Sea regions.
In 2023, the Nordic Council aid it was aiming to intensify efforts to combat food waste — but despite wanting to focus on this during the COP28, Norway has not yet passed a food waste law of its own.
"We have honesty in our approach towards climate change and a lot to show", Nordic Council's top-woman told EUobserver before travelling to the climate conference in Dubai.
The EU has offered Turkey almost all it wanted in return for ratifying Sweden's Nato entry, amid signs the saga is drawing to its climax.
Finland's closure of its land border crossing points with Russia likely violates both international and EU asylum laws, warns the executive director of the Finnish Refugee Council.
Denmark witnessed this week its first 'greenwashing' litigation, against pork producer Danish Crown A/S, in what seems to be the first lawsuit against a European food producer over climate claims.
The Russian army is telling Syrians where to cross into Finland on bicycles, according to posts on a Telegram account with around 7,500 subscribers.
Norway has confirmed its border with Russia is so far calm and unchanged, in the wake of Finland accusing Moscow of shuffling irregular migrants across the Finnish/Russian border.
Tesla is facing combined opposition from its Swedish employees, trade unions and even companies in the industry itself. A small industrial dispute over the rejection of a collective agreement has snowballed in little over a month.
What remains baffling, to Ukrainians fighting for their country and environmental NGOs fighting to save the planet, is that terminals in Belgium and France continue to serve as transshipment points for Russian LNG cargoes destined for India and China.
Sweden has called for an EU immigration crackdown to stop terrorism, with a right-wing slant on Muslims that risks sharpening division.
Estonia is pursuing the same Chinese ship as Finland in its enquiries into the latest mystery to strike Nato's underwater pipes and cables.
The EU Gender Equality Index records the biggest-ever jump in its overall score, but there are major nuances behind it — such as the unpaid care burden between men and women, and the gender pay-gap.
Finland said the damage to both the Baltic gas pipeline and the data cable was likely caused by "external activity".
House prices, mortgages and rents are strangling citizens across Europe, depriving 895,000 people of access to housing, as the cost of living crisis, the fallout from the war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic put ever-more pressure on people's pockets.
Sweden is not going to change its deal with Turkey on Nato ratification, which Finland and Nato still expect in October, despite Turkey's new rhetoric.
Hungary is now threatening to halt Nato's war-time expansion over a 10-minute Swedish video-clip it doesn't like.
Turkey has shifted attention to US warplanes from Koran-burning in endless bargaining on Sweden's Nato entry.
Koran-burnings in Sweden are to go on as before, despite its upgrade of the terrorist threat from "violent Islamism".
Another Koran burning is set to take place in Sweden on Thursday, risking Muslim anger and feeding Russian propaganda.