
Von der Leyen pledges to help return Ukrainian children
The European Commission and Poland are to hold an international conference to help find the 16,000 Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.
Tuesday
28th Mar 2023
The European Commission and Poland are to hold an international conference to help find the 16,000 Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.
From the perspective of international relations, the EU is a rare bird indeed. Theoretically speaking it cannot even exist. The charter of the United Nations, which underlies the current system of global governance, distinguishes between states and organisations of states.
Solar panels, wind-turbines, electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies require minerals including aluminium, cobalt and lithium — which are mined in some of the most conflict-riven nations on earth, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, and Kazakhstan.
The lack of Russian opposition to the Russo-Ukrainian War is puzzling. The war is going nowhere, Russian casualties are staggering, the economy is in trouble, and living standards are declining, and yet polls indicate that most Russians support the war.
Turkey goes to the polls in May for both a new parliament and new president, after incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan decided against a post-earthquake postponement. The parliamentary outcome is easy to predict — the presidential one less so.
As leaders meet for their Brussels summit on migration, the 2016 "deal" with Turkey is a prime example of why the EU should not transfer its own responsibilities regarding migration to third states.
Three far-right French MEPs are to stay on a European Parliament blacklist after losing a legal challenge.
The EU must back the UN's Human Rights 75 initiative at the end of the year to rekindle the spirit of the original declaration made in 1948 — and also demand a similar recommitment from all its 27 members.
Ukraine will need even more ammunition in future and the EU should already start drawing up its 11th round of Russia sanctions, hawkish EU countries have said.
Several EU foreign ministers welcomed the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Russian president Vladimir Putin, but it is unlikely to influence negotiations about a special tribunal on the crime of agression.
EU ammunition-buying plans show Russia and Ukraine are waging an artillery battle of the intensity of World War II's El Alamein.
Jailed Greek neo-Nazi MEP Ioannis Lagos, who continues to draw a European Parliament salary, had his immunity lifted for a second time.
The EU is to spend another €40m on Moldova's army, amid fresh revelations on Russian efforts to topple its pro-Western government.
The European Commission is promising more support for Libya, after some 30 people drowned in Mediterranean Sea — in a response that mirrors Brussels' reaction after 76 died off the Italian coast two weeks ago.
Dindic fought for pro-democratic reforms and Serbia's integration in the EU. He was a symbol of hope for a better future for Serbia as a key factor of stability in the Western Balkans.
EU leaders are preparing to bless joint purchases of Ukraine ammunition, amid deeper strategising on how to protect Europe from Russia.
The European Commission is imposing new rules to restrict free trips paid for by countries like Qatar, following revelations that its director-general of transport not only accepted such flights — but had also cleared himself of any conflict of interest.
This 'Windsor Framework' renegotiation took place without any new (European) Council guidelines, mandate or significant involvement. Members states and the European Parliament, which once used to scrutinise every twist and turn with their magnifying glasses, now face a fait accompli.
Belarus' jailing of a Nobel-prize winning activist was a "fake" judgment in a "sham trial", the EU's top diplomat has said, amid threats of further sanctions against the regime in Minsk.
Failure to urgently reconsider its support for Russia's war will further damage China's relations with the West and the global community, which would ultimately be disastrous for its economy and international standing. However, China could still choose another path.
Who defends Putin's interests in Brussels, how, and why: An investigation into four years' of data by Novaya-Europe names MEPs who loyally vote along pro-Russian lines.
Belgium is weighing up concern for lost jobs at home with lost lives in Ukraine as it ponders relations with Russia's royal-friendly richest man.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán's MPs are going to Finland and Sweden on a mission to claw back EU money in return for Nato "favours".
The Strasbourg-based human rights watchdog Council of Europe wants Russia to pay for its crimes in Ukraine. Its secretary general Marija Pejčinović Burić says this includes setting up a new claims register to gather evidence for eventual prosecution and reparations.
The "Windsor Framework" still needs to be formally approved by both sides, but it has the potential to revitalise relationship between the the EU and the UK that went sour over during the divorce.
The latest EU sanctions on Russia added more propagandists than earlier intended, in a sign of how dangerous Europe sees Russian media as being.
"We have removed any sense of a border in the Irish Sea," UK prime minister Rishi Sunak told reporters after sealing the "Windsor Framework" with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
Future EU sanctions should deliberately target "ordinary Russians" instead of sparing them, Ukraine says after one year of horror.
As EU diplomats talked of unprecedented momentum to seal the deal, the old hurdle remained: having a UK premier invest and risk sufficient political capital at home to convince his parties' Brexit hardliners and DUP to move on.
Sweden has urged faith in its "unique" Nord Stream blast enquiry, as Russia repeats allegations of a Western conspiracy.
Hungarian prime prime minister Viktor Orbán has set the ball rolling for ratification of Finland and Sweden's Nato accession.
5,000 Iranians came from all over Europe to demand more sanctions against the Iranian regime, following the repression experienced in recent months.
Crimes committed by Russians you've never heard of feature on a new EU blacklist designed to mark one year of war.