
EU belittles Russia's Lavrov on way to Skopje talks
Europe's top diplomat won't meet Russia's foreign minister in Skopje, even though the Russian is getting special permits to bypass EU sanctions to reach there.
Wednesday
29th Nov 2023
Europe's top diplomat won't meet Russia's foreign minister in Skopje, even though the Russian is getting special permits to bypass EU sanctions to reach there.
There is still work to be done — especially when it comes to guaranteeing the Global North's participation in financing Loss and Damage, and ensuring the Global South has representation and oversight on the World Bank's board.
Luxembourg's spy chief has resigned amid bad publicity on Nato security fails, as well as prickly relations with the duchy's new leader.
On Wednesday, EU special representative for human rights, will arrive in a country in turmoil. Eamon Gilmore's visit risks legitimising the Cuban regime if he does not take a firm public stance on the human rights situation.
The former Palestinian delegate to the EU Leila Shahid told EUobserver that she left diplomacy behind in order not to betray her people — and she is now furious with the EU's response to the Israel/Gaza conflict.
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.
The EU has called for an increase in fuel supplies to Gaza and a faster screening process for trucks crossing the Rafah border.
In Flanders, Russia's access to the Belgian far-right is facilitated by Kris Roman. What is far less known are his more than decade-long connections with Russian intelligence.
EU and Arab states have redoubled calls for the creation of a Palestinian state after the war, while voicing outrage at new Israeli settlements.
Peace in Israel can only be secured if built on the hope, liberty, and dignity of the Palestinian people, says Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief.
Bordering Libya, Chad, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Eritrea and Egypt, Sudan is in the immediate vicinity of the European neighbourhood and the ongoing war in Africa's third-largest country, could have worse repercussions than the Libyan collapse for the EU.
The EU's top institution didn't "bat an eyelid" over Orbán's latest antisemitic slur, in a sign of the Hungarian leader's shrinking relevance in Europe.
Two ruling-clan individuals, seven mercenary firms, and a ban on Russian diamonds are to be added to EU blacklists in time for the Christmas holidays
The EU Commission has proposed a platform that would bring together EU employers and non-EU workers. The aim? To address the pressing labour shortages facing the EU-27, but also to boost competitiveness — and discourage illegal migration.
As Nato's 75 spy chiefs meet in Brussels, the alliance's smallest member, Luxembourg, stands accused of years-long security failures.
The lack of EU common ground on ending Gaza's intolerable tragedy makes it essential that member states which want a ceasefire break free of the EU institutional straitjacket and take urgent action on a national level.
The EU has backed Israel in saying its unprecedented killing of civilians in Gaza is partly due to terrorists' use of "human shields", amid intense debate on the morality of the war.
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.
Even amid the horror in Gaza, some EU member states have been busy doing business with Israel approving lucrative arms deliveries, in the full knowledge that they will be used against a civilian population under siege.
Over the last month, moves by several European governments to curb expression and protest in response to the unprecedented violence in Israel and Gaza/West Bank appear designed stifle dissent, deny collective grief, and create a 'chilling effect', writes Amnesty International.
The EU is preparing to open accession talks with Ukraine in December in a morale-booster after 623 days of full-scale Russian aggression.
I am uncomfortable with historical analogies to describe periodic spikes in antisemitism — but images of mobs storming an airport in Dagestan in search of Jews, crowds yelling "Gas the Jews!" in Sydney come 85 years after the Nazi 'Kristallnacht'.
Sweden has called for an EU immigration crackdown to stop terrorism, with a right-wing slant on Muslims that risks sharpening division.
The Other Ukraine party presents itself as the peace party, but its actual role is not to represent any sort of 'Ukrainian government-in-exile', but to function as a front for Russian disinformation offensives targeting Western countries providing support for Ukraine.
Gaza might become an international protectorate after the war, the EU has said, adding that neither Palestinian group Hamas nor Israel should ever rule there again.
The pending trade deal between the EU and Mercosur countries was the 'nail in the coffin' of European plans to improve farm animal welfare legislation — a move deemed as "ridiculous" given that proposals take years to be implemented.
The European Commission is expected to present its annual progress report for all countries aspiring to achieve EU membership. Later this week, new European spending rules will also be discussed by EU economy ministers.
Some 140 EU ambassadors meet their boss in Brussels this week. Unfair though it may seem, Europe's global credibility depends on how strongly it pressures Israel on agreeing to a humanitarian ceasefire, protecting civilians and allowing more aid into Gaza.
Belgium is used to seeing spikes in hatred of Jews and Muslims during Middle East conflicts — but the Gaza war is tearing apart society in deeper ways than before.
If the current trends remain unchanged, the campaign in Gaza will be on track to becoming one of the deadliest urban conflicts in recent history.
Israel is breaking the rules of modern warfare in Gaza, Norway's prime minister said in Oslo on Tuesday.
The EU commission has condemned antisemitism as Jews in Europe grapple with a spike in attacks after Hamas gunmen slaughtered over 1,400 people on 7 October in Israel.
The same Europe that condemns Russian attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine condemns Hamas when it does the same — but not Israel. This is a gift to Moscow and a disgrace to Europe.