Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece expressed his belief Sunday that Turkey will not dare turn Hagia Sophia, the iconic Byzantine cathedral in Istanbul, currently a museum, back into a mosque. "They (the Turks) play whatever games are in hand. ...

The EU should use the corona crisis to create full monetary union, German parliament speaker Wolfgang Schäuble has told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a German newspaper. "We would be significantly further ahead in Europe today if the idea of ​​ ...

Greece and other southern EU countries do not want coronavirus rescue funds to come with the same kind of strict conditions, monitored by EU officials, as previous bailout funds, Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told the Financial Times on Monday. ...

The centre-right challenger, Rafał Trzaskowski, could beat nationalist-populist incumbent Andrzej Duda in the second round of presidential elections on 12 July, according to a 4 July poll by IBRiS. Trzaskowski got 47 percent in the survey, while Duda got ...

The UK is preparing to blacklist individuals from Russia, Saudi Arabia, and North Korea on human rights grounds on Monday in its first independent sanctions since leaving the EU in January. The UK visa bans and asset-freezes will target those "who commit ...

Austrian police have arrested two Russian nationals on suspicion of shooting dead a government-critical Chechen blogger in exile, called Martin B., in Vienna on Saturday. Germany recently expelled two Russian diplomats over the shooting of another Chechen ...

Croatia's ruling, centre-right party cruised to victory in Sunday's (5 July) election despite concerns about coronavirus and the economy. "Croatia is facing serious challenges which require from us responsibility, knowledge, and experience. That is exactly ...

Negotiations on the EU's long-term budget and the recovery package will shift into higher gear as European Council president Charles Michel is expected to present his compromise proposal to capitals in the second half of the week. Michel has been ...

In the recent years, scandals involving multinational companies have proliferated, putting into question the morality of our economic system. Private interests have been systematically prioritised to the detriment of our global human family and our common ...

The European Commission on Friday granted a conditional marketing authorisation for the drug Remdesivir, making it the first medicine authorised at EU-level for treatment against Covid-19. "Today's authorisation of a first medicine to treat Covid-19 is an ...

French president Emmanuel Macron has accepted the resignation of prime minister Edouard Philippe and his government on Friday, the Elysée said in a statement. After the victory of the Greens in Lyon, Bordeaux and Marseilles in elections last weekend, ...

France has lied to Nato about a naval incident, in which it said Turkish warships locked weapons onto a French one last month, Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in Berlin Thursday. "France has not told the truth to the EU or to Nato" and ...

The EU foreign service has urged Russian authorities to investigate "allegations of irregularities, including voter coercion, multiple voting, violation of secrecy of the vote and allegations of police violence against a journalist who was present to ...

Belgium is among one of several states seeking to host EU-bought reserves of masks and protective equipment due to be piled up in case of a second wave of coronavirus, according to Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, quoting a Belgian minister, Philippe ...

German chancellor Angela Merkel, on Thursday (2 July), urged EU leaders to reach agreement on the bloc's long-term budget and the recovery fund, saying Europe was facing the most difficult situation in its history. "We are aware of some of the difficulties ...

France has been ordered to pay symbolic fines of €10,000 to €12,400 to three refugees who lived on the streets for several months by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The Afghan, Iranian, and Russian people were "victims of a degrading ...

French and Dutch police said Thursday they shut down an encrypted phone network, EncroChat, used by organised crime groups across Europe for murder attempts and major drug deals. After hacking the network, police read read millions of messages "over the ...

The European Commission on Thursday launched infringement proceedings against the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Greece, France, Italy, Croatia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Slovakia for breaching EU law on reimbursement for cancelled travel due to Covid-19. ...

European Council president Charles Michel aims to propose keeping the size of the planned €750bn recovery fund but reduce the EU's long-term budget's size in order to secure the support of the 'Frugal Four' countries advocating for a smaller package, ...

After four days of negotiations between the UK and the EU in which both sides pledged new momentum, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said in a statement Thursday that "serious divergences" remained, and asked for more engagement from the UK. The EU ...

The European Parliament's committee on civil liberties backed on Thursday (2 July) a moratorium on facial recognition for law-enforcement purposes - following the EU data watchdog earlier this week, which backed a ban on this technology in public spaces. " ...

Last year, the European Parliament adopted rules requiring MEPs who chair committees to publish their meetings with registered lobbyists. But earlier this week, the NGO Transparency International revealed six out of the 22 chairs have so far failed to do ...

The proportion of women in leadership positions is only a small aspect of the question of how to increase the influence and significance of women in the field of peace and security - but it is a very visible one and therefore an important symbol. As of ...

Tobacco lobbyists aiming to influence specific EU policies have had dozens of lobby meetings with Commission officials, according to a report by pro-transparency group Corporate Europe Observatory. "The Commission's tax policy department held at least 24 ...

China has said it will not allow Hong Kong residents with British National (Overseas) status to move to Britain, following a UK offer to take in exiles fleeing China's security crackdown on the former British colony. "We firmly oppose this ... all Chinese ...

More than 77 percent of Russians voted to allow Russian president Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036, according to initial results published by Russia's electoral commission Wednesday. Putin, 67-years old, has already ruled Russia for 20 years. ...

Israel's West Bank annexation "was conceived almost entirely by men" and would crush the "dignity and rights" of Palestinian women still further, a group of 40 prominent women have said. The move "would unravel half a century of efforts for peace in the ...

Malaysia has joined Indonesia in trying to get the EU to overturn restrictions on palm oil, said to aggravate deforestation, in a case at the World Trade Organisation in Geneva. EU plans to ban its use as a biofuel by 2030 were "discriminatory" and " ...

The European Commission on Wednesday (1 July) refused to speak out against the US decision to buy up most of the world's stock of remdesivir. The drug, manufactured by the US-based biopharmaceutical company Gilead, has been proven to work against Covid-19. ...

Austria has dampened hopes of a return by tourists to non-EU parts of the Western Balkans, saying Wednesday people returning from the region would have to self-quarantine for 14 days. "An increase [of infections] in clusters of people returning from travel ...