EU belittles Russia's Lavrov on way to Skopje talks

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.