Russia penetrated Merkel's 'inner circle', Khodorkovsky says
Russia has recruited allies in German chancellor Angela Merkel's "inner circle" and in Austrian intelligence services, exiled Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky has warned.
News in Brief
- Israeli rockets kill 20 people in Gaza retaliation
- No more EU expulsions likely over Russia bomb attacks
- EU ready to ignore Hungary veto on Hong Kong
- Borrell admits EU neglect of Western Balkans
- Macron accused of 'cowardice and deceit' in military letter
- EU citizens in UK applying for settled status face legal limbo
- Netherlands gives €2bn to offshore carbon storage project
- Germany will allow Johnson & Johnson vaccine for all ages
Investigation
Moscow using far right to infiltrate EU parliament
There is a is a clear security threat for the European Parliament that needs to be urgently addressed.
How 'firm' and 'strong' was EU rebuke to Russian envoy?
The EU and Russia gave two differing accounts of what happened on Monday, when Russia's ambassador was ordered in for a reprimand over anti-EU sanctions.
Commission drafts new rules targeting foreign state aid
As the EU wants to assert its "strategic autonomy" from China and the US, the EU Commission has put forward proposals on how to tackle foreign subsidies that harm fair competition within the bloc.
EU turns from China to India on free trade
The EU is suspending plans for a trade deal with China, while reviving those for a pact with India, in a dispute on Chinese human-rights abuses.
Opinion
Is Turkey's crackdown on journalists starting to crack?
With the Biden administration and EU leaders both pressing the reset button on relations with Turkey, could press freedom begin to be restored? Ankara is currently one of the world's biggest jailers of journalists.
Opinion
Can new Iran talks avoid mistakes of the original JCPOA?
The question remains whether the EU can take advantage of the latest talks, and other shifts in the Middle East, to reverse its own diplomatic marginalisation.
EU and US urge Israel to defuse Jerusalem violence
The EU and US have voiced alarm over growing violence in Jerusalem, while urging Israel to curb settlement expansion.
Opinion
Has Albania really met the 15 tests to join the EU? No
While I welcome Albania's EU integration, it is questionable whether they have fulfilled all the conditions. It surprises me that the commission claims that Albania already has; to whitewash inconvenient facts will not help neither Albania, nor the EU.
EU ambassadors flock to Red Square for Putin's parade
Most EU states are sending ambassadors to Russia's WW2 victory parade on Sunday despite tense relations.
Exclusive
Hungary gags EU ministers on China
EU countries have shelved plans to issue a statement of moral support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong - due to a veto by Hungary, a major beneficiary of Chinese investment.
EU preparing to send soldiers to Mozambique
The EU is preparing to help train Mozambique's armed forces, amid wider ambitions for a stronger European military capacity.
Opinion
The Porto EU-India summit - let's not forget south Asia
Will this weekend's EU-India summit help translate the recently approved Council conclusions on the Indo-Pacific strategy into more pragmatic set of actions able to elevate Europe in the Asia-Pacific region?
EU and US join up against China on Taiwan
The EU and its leading powers voiced strident criticism of China at a G7 meeting in London on Wednesday, even as Hungary, once again, tried to gag Europe in Brussels.
Opinion
The 'non-paper' carving up Balkans and undermining Europe
In spite of all the denials, it seems clear the non-paper "Western Balkans – a way forward" – which explicitly proposes the redrawing of borders in the region according to ethno-national/territorial groupings – exists, though its origins remain in doubt.
No pushback, as Russia blacklists EU's top official
Statements, literary quotes, and jokes, but no action - that is how the EU handled Russia's decision to blacklist its highest official.
Opinion
Time to dump the G7 - it's a relic of the past
The truth is brutally simple: the G7 is a relic of the past. It deserves an emotional and respectful adieu but should be taken off life support.
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Latest News
- Russia penetrated Merkel's 'inner circle', Khodorkovsky says
- First recovery euros could be paid out in July
- Commission wants help for Italy after weekend's migrant arrivals
- Mercosur trade deal will fuel 'poison pesticides' back into EU
- Can new Iran talks avoid mistakes of the original JCPOA?
- EU and US urge Israel to defuse Jerusalem violence
- Frontex 'mislabelling minors as adults' on Greek islands
- Has Albania really met the 15 tests to join the EU? No
Cyprus-Turkey talks go nowhere in Geneva
Preliminary UN talks on Cypriot reunification have broken up with sides further apart than before they began.
Departure of Foster leaves Northern Ireland on edge
Arlene Foster has been under internal pressure for months because of the party's annoyance at her failure to stop the creation of an economic border between Northern Ireland and the rest of Great Britain as part of the Brexit deal.
Opinion
An SNP win won't mean a 2023 independence referendum
A second referendum would only be called by the SNP when there is a visible and consistent majority in favour among the Scottish electorate. And such a majority does not exist at the present.
Bulgaria accuses Russia of other bomb attacks on Nato
Four explosions and an assassination attempt in Bulgaria were likely perpetrated by Russia, Bulgaria has said, after the Czech Republic, a fellow Nato ally, said Russia killed two people there in 2014.
EU warns UK of using 'real teeth' in post-Brexit deal
EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen promised "not to hesitate" to use the "real teeth" of the future relations agreement between the UK and EU, if Britain does not comply with the deal.
Column
The EU needs a global vaccination strategy - right now
The further the vaccination campaign progresses, the more people will ask: what about the rest of the world? The EU should answer the question loud and clear now before it is drowned out by a rising chorus of criticism.
Even Orbán rebukes Russia for Czech attack
Even the EU's most Russia-friendly leader, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, has voiced solidarity with the Czechs, as fallout continues over a Russian bomb attack.
Opinion
EU's new ambassador to Philippines has work cut out
The new EU ambassador, Luc Véron, is going to have his work cut out for him, as his team has the daunting task of projecting a more assertive values-based foreign policy in a country that openly championed disregarding human rights.
EU in talks on further Russia expulsions
Talks are ongoing among EU capitals on further expulsions of Russian diplomats in solidarity with the Czech Republic.
Opinion
West should stop pushing Kosovo on new Serbian entity
The US, German, and French governments should stop pushing Kosovo's new leaders into a dangerous, Bosnia-type deal with Serbia.
Palestinian PM demands EU pressure Israel on elections
Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh told MEPs that Israel is actively sabotaging the first Palestinian election to be held in 15 years. He also asked the EU to pile pressure on Israel so that people can vote in East Jerusalem.
Exclusive
Chemical-weapons vote reveals 'friends of Syria' axis
Voting on Syria at the world's chemical-weapons watchdog has shed light on its friends - and the geopolitics of its 10-year old conflict.
Russia should pay 'costs' for Czech attack, US says
Russia should pay "costs" for its 2014 bomb attack in the Czech Republic, the US has said, as Nato and the EU face a "crucial test" of diplomacy.
Interview
'Dire' suffering continues in Ethiopia war, EU envoy says
Fighting in Ethiopia is "dire", with ongoing ethnic cleansing and sexual violence, Finnish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto has said after visiting the conflict zone in Tigray.
Opinion
Biden's withdrawal and Afghan migration to EU
Afghans in 2020 constituted the second-largest group of asylum seekers arriving in Europe - outlining the necessity to accelerate the reform of the EU migration regime to avoid another crisis.
Column
Europeans are Russian pipeline addicts
In the eyes of the Russian elite, most of Europe is just a bunch of spoiled, decadent, pipeline addicts that takes its illusions for reality, and can be easily played with.
