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Russia's war on Ukraine and its political and economic implications continue to dominate the EU agenda next week. On Monday (16 May) EU foreign ministers will meet in Brussels and are expected to discuss the EU sanctions policy against Russia. Negotiations ...

The leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), including Russia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Armenia, Tajikistan, and Belarus, are scheduled to meet in Moscow on Tuesday (16 May). This organisation — Russia's version of the North ...

The European Parliament and EU member states reached an agreement in the early hours on Friday (13 May) over new rules intended to protect Europe's public and private critical entities from cyberattacks. The updated legislation, also known as NIS2, aims to ...

The European Commission announced on Thursday it will further support the Covid-19 vaccination rollout in Africa with an additional €400m. A total of €300m will be channelled through the global vaccine distribution facility COVAX while €100m will be used ...

Emergency plans to help shift stranded wheat and grain in Ukraine's besieged ports were unveiled by the European Commission on Thursday (12 May) — amid fears that the war will create a global food crisis. "Bringing more agricultural products on the world ...

As the invasion of Ukraine has put Europe's effort to wean itself off of Russian gas onto wartime alert, new analysis shows EU senior officials were closely consulting with fossil-fuel giants on how to do it. Soaring gas prices and growing evidence that ...

A large number of Ukrainian refugees are hesitating to register for EU protection, says the European Commission. Speaking to European lawmakers on Thursday (12 May), senior commission official Beate Gminder said that many of those hesitations are based on ...

The Spanish government is planning an overhaul of employment and abortion law, which would see female employees allowed up to five days of menstrual leave, and ease abortion restrictions for 16 and 17-year olds, according to The Guardian. The socialist-led ...

The UK has "no choice but to act" if the EU does not show flexibility in rewriting post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland, UK foreign secretary Liz Truss told EU Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič on Thursday (12 May). Truss demanded the ...

In a tense vote in the European Parliament's environmental committee on Wednesday, lawmakers upheld a proposed ban on the sale of polluting vehicles from 2035, but rejected a proposal championed by Renew MEP Jan Huitema to increase the emissions target for ...

It's long overdue that the European Parliament starts its hearing of the Special Covid Committee today (Thursday, 12 May), which has the important task of assessing the EU's response to the Covid-19 pandemic and mapping the lessons learned. Most European ...

A study out on Thursday by London-based Statewatch, a civil liberties organisation, says the EU has since 2007 spent €341m on research into artificial intelligence technologies for asylum, immigration and border control. The 46-page report says an EU ...

Finland must apply to join the Nato military alliance "without delay", Finnish president Sauli Niinisto and prime minister Sanna Marin jointly said on Thursday (12 May). It is a historic policy shift, as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, for ...

There are still over 100 million Europeans who remain unvaccinated or are partially-vaccinated, EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides told MEPs on Thursday. "It is not the time to relax, it is the time to be prepared," she said while inviting EU member ...

The EU's Fundamental Rights Agency on Thursday told MEPs that a large percentage of people who are victims of homophobic, racist, and antisemitic crimes do not report it to the police. "They believe police wouldn't do anything or they even fear to be ...

Finland must apply for Nato membership without delay, president Sauli Niinistö and prime minister Sanna Marin announced on Thursday. Russia should "look in the mirror" if it wants to know what caused pro-Nato sentiment to grow in Finland, Niinistö said. ...

Ukraine foreign affairs minister Dmytro Kuleba will be in Brussels next week to participate as a special guest in the meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers taking place on Monday (16 May). The sixth package of sanctions against Russia, including the oil ...

Speaking alongside Austria's chancellor and foreign minister in Vienna, UN secretary-general António Guterres said he was "deeply concerned" about worldwide food shortages as the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent global prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel ...

Hungary has turned into a "hybrid regime of electoral autocracy", a draft report by a European Parliament committee states. The draft report presented in the civil liberties committee by French Green MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield. Countries are described ...

The EU wants to diversify its energy supplies and increase imports of renewable hydrogen as part of its efforts to wean the continent off Russian gas, according to a draft communication on the EU's new external energy policy — due to be unveiled next week. ...

The UK Home Office refused to rule out the possibility of deporting Ukrainian refugees to Rwanda, reports the Independent newspaper . When pressed on whether Ukrainians entering from Northern Ireland could end up in Rwanda, where the UK has an agreement to ...

In a speech celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Slovenian Central Bank, European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday (11 May) that the bank will increase interest rates in the eurozone "some time after the end of net asset ...

The European Commission has unveiled new rules to tackle online child sex abuse — but faced immediate blowback from privacy advocates. The proposal presented on Wednesday (11 May) would require online service and hosting providers to detect the risk of ...

French authorities launched an investigation into Interpol's president Ahmed Nasser al-Raisif, following accusations he was complicit in the arbitrary detention and torture of two Britons in the United Arab Emirates. The alleged victims say al-Raisif was a ...

The UK rejected the EU's proposals to solve the standoff over post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, putting the two sides on a collision course with Britain threatening to suspend some of those rules next week. Talks between the UK and EU are at a ...

In mid-December 2021, 60 MEPs sent a cross-party joint letter to the EU foreign affairs chief, Joseph Borrell, to express their concern about the Horizon Europe agreement with the state of Israel, that has an overall budget for 2021-27 of €95.5bn. For ...

Russia was not invited to a Brussels donor conference on Syria as fallout of its war in Ukraine continues to isolate the Kremlin. The two-day conference ending on Tuesday (10 May) is normally co-hosted by the European Union and the United Nations. "The ...

The number of civilians killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war is "thousands higher" than numbers currently given, Matilda Bogner, head of the UN's human rights monitoring mission in the country, said in a press conference on Tuesday. The ...

Finnish MPs have got the ball rolling on a week that's expected to culminate in a tectonic shift in Nordic security — Finland and Sweden's decision to apply for Nato membership. All-but-one of the 17 members of the Finnish parliament's defence committee ...

Intense lobbying by top EU officials on Hungary to agree to the Russian oil embargo failed, despite EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen having personally negotiated with Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orbán on Monday evening (9 May). EU member ...