
EU and US urge Azerbijan to allow aid access to Armenians
The EU and US have urged Azerbaijan to give aid groups more access to ethnic Armenians, as tens of thousands flee the conflict zone.
Tuesday
26th Sep 2023
The EU and US have urged Azerbaijan to give aid groups more access to ethnic Armenians, as tens of thousands flee the conflict zone.
With an Icelandic rat-catcher in Kherson, Russia is scraping the barrel for fake election monitors, as the US threatens sanctions against those involved.
The 'Spotlight Initiative' was launched in 2017 with a budget of €500 million to end all forms of violence or harmful practices against women and girls in partner countries, but so far it has had "little impact", say EU auditors.
The EU's trade chief travelled to China to send a clear message: the EU does not want to cut off ties, but fair competition is needed and more action is necessary to rebalance the current Brussels-Beijing €400bn trade deficit.
Russia is to blame for Azerbaijan's blitzkrieg against Armenians, a senior EU official has said. And Moscow is hoping to topple Armenia's Western-leaning leader.
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.
The commission is reviewing the 2011 single permit directive for third-country nationals to live and work in the EU. A new study shows that its design facilitates the exploitation and increases the dependency of migrant workers on their employers.
EU corridors are abuzz with intrigue on whether EU Commission president von der Leyen will seek a second term or try to become the first-ever woman to lead Nato.
Turkey has shifted attention to US warplanes from Koran-burning in endless bargaining on Sweden's Nato entry.
Georgia's ruling party still has far to go in living up to its pro-EU claims, Europe has said, with Russian flights and political impeachments among new irritants.
Chinese president Xi Jinping's decision to snub the G20 summit in New Delhi this weekend (9-10 September), has made the potential for progress on critical issues related to financial reform and climate change uncertain.
When European Endowment for Democracy was established in 2013, there was scepticism about its raison d'être, and concerns were voiced about the potential for duplicating existing EU efforts. Nearly a decade later, EED has defied these doubts.
The European Commission says it is advocating for prominent jailed Bahraini-Danish human rights defender, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja. But Human Rights Watch says the EU's diplomatic pressure has failed to secure his release.
Britain's Labour Party does not want to discuss Europe before next year's election — but it will still need to make some difficult choices.
The European Commission suggested it won't support a possible independent UN-backed inquiry into the alleged mass killings of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers by Saudi border guards.
Bulgaria and Romania's accession to Schengen will again be put to a vote later this year. Another veto would not only represent a missed opportunity to strengthen the border-free zone, but one that could inflame inter-EU tensions.
The apparent state murder of Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prighozin shows Russia is a mafia regime, Germany and other EU countries have said.
Some EU and member states diplomats argue that they should give the Ethiopian government a chance to demonstrate its willingness to ensure justice. But they've also resigned themselves to a very low bar of domestic accountability.
Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa are meeting in Johannesburg to assess the group's expansion — and boost their currencies against the West. Russian president Vladimir Putin is the only leader not expected to attend in person.
Ahead of the EU Commission's report on enlargement negotiations, the EU's top figures meet Balkan leaders in Athens — but without the Albanian PM and with Volodymyr Zelensky's presence still unconfirmed.
Koran-burnings in Sweden are to go on as before, despite its upgrade of the terrorist threat from "violent Islamism".
Lithuania and Latvia have joined Poland in bolstering security on the Belarus border, amid concern on migrants and Russian mercenaries.
Bullets flew on Tuesday as EU monitors patrolled the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, in a sign the simmering conflict could escalate at any time.
Poland is to show off its Western defence equipment in a massive military parade, as its ruling party gears up for re-election.
Europe is now looking whether cell-based meat should be on the menu.
Taiwan's decision to build a microchip factory in Germany will deepen EU political ties, despite Chinese opposition, Taipei has said.
Europe-Africa flight paths are being redrawn, as the Niger putsch threatens to escalate into a regional-scale war.
The UK is threatening to deport irregular migrants to Ascension Island if its plan to send people to Rwanda fails, amid another lethal shipwreck in the Mediterranean.
Another Koran burning is set to take place in Sweden on Thursday, risking Muslim anger and feeding Russian propaganda.
It is a mystery why the ruling Georgian party has pursued a warmer relationship with Russia. For months, the citizens of Georgia and Georgian opposition groups have called on their country to strengthen ties with the West.
Mercenary boss Prigozhin tried to use Niger putsch to steal limelight at Africa summit, even though Wagner played no role in the coup, sources say.
At its heart, the two sides have different ideas about how this transformation should take place: by increasing production through further industrialisation — or by making the system more equitable and sustainable.
The sudden toppling of the EU's main ally in the Sahel has punctured Western schadenfreude on Russia's Africa-summit flop.