European Union

Slovakia’s progress in the fight against corruption is being called into doubt as the newly appointed prosecutor general, Maroš Žilinka, has made use of an extraordinary measure to dismiss closely watched corruption cases on the day the police chief accused...

A Greek government reshuffle aiming to mark a fresh start following public anger due to wildfires in August has ended in what most media described as a fiasco. Evangelos Apostolakis, a former admiral and defence minister under leftist Syriza government,...

Slovenia’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 16.3% year-on-year in the second quarter on the back of robust government and consumer spending, with annualised output just short of the pre-crisis peak of 2019. Data by the country’s Statistics Office show...

The Romanian government does not plan to cap energy prices, but is looking for ways to compensate consumers amid complaints over price hikes both for electricity and natural gas – which rose by more than 20% compared with last year....

The interim head of the Embassy of North Macedonia in Bulgaria, Vladimir Krastevski, was summoned to the Bulgarian foreign ministry, where he was handed a protest note following an incident with a Bulgarian flag in Bitola. On  Saturday, the Bulgarian...

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias told his Macedonian counterpart Bujar Osmani that a recent bilateral defence deal between Skopje and Ankara has created questions in Athens. “Short reckonings make long friends,” Dendias said during a visit in Skopje, adding that...

German conservatives have put pressure on Social Democrat (SPD) chancellor hopeful Olaf Scholz to make it clear before this month’s election whether he would cooperate with the leftist Die Linke party in a coalition government. German conservatives’ top candidate, Armin...

The European Commission's proposal to halt advanced biofuels from being double-counted towards road transport energy targets would diminish the use of waste-based fuels in favour of cheaper crop-based biofuels, a leading industry organisation has told EURACTIV.

Hungarian Family Minister Katalin Novák has decried homophobic comments made by the commerce chamber chief about a hypothetical homosexual teacher amid outcry from teacher’s union representatives. “I find it hard when my nine-year-old son, for example, is helped up the ladder or...

Czech state attorney Jaroslav Saroch on Tuesday returned the Capi hnizdo (Stork Nest) case of a suspected €2 million EU subsidy fraud – in which Prime Minister Andrej Babis is one of two persons implicated – to the police for...

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has announced his intention to declare a state of emergency in 183 towns and villages situated within 3 kilometres from the border with Belarus due to security concerns. Responding to the announcement, Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński...

Portugal has the financial capacity to receive “hundreds” of Afghan refugees, with priority for women, children, activists and journalists, when 84 people are already in the country, Portugal’s Internal Administration Minister Eduardo Cabrita said on Tuesday. Speaking to the Portuguese...

Italy is making its COVID-19 digital vaccine pass mandatory to show on long-distance transport and for school staff and university students from Wednesday, with several protests announced including threats from activist groups to block the movement of trains. The pass...

Alar Karis was elected Estonia’s president on Tuesday after receiving the required two-thirds majority in parliament during a second round of voting. The 63-year-old former rector of the Tartu University and the Estonian University of Life Sciences and a former...

French company Colas has acquired Destia, Finland’s largest infrastructure company from family-owned investment company Ahlström Capital Group for an undisclosed amount. The transaction has been hailed by both sides as a win-win arrangement as it remains to be approved by the relevant competition...

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Tuesday described the coalition between her Scottish National Party and the Scottish Greens as a “leap of faith” for both parties, as lawmakers endorsed the appointment of two Green ministers to her government. The...

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz met with German counterpart Angela Merkel on Tuesday for the last time before she leaves office. On the agenda was bilateral relations, the Afghan crisis and the green transition. The two noted the good bilateral relations...

As almost 50 million French people have received at least one vaccine dose against COVID-19, the country is “on the right track,” Prime Minister Jean Castex told reporters on Tuesday. So far, 48.5 million French have received their first injection,...

Maritime transport emissions must be drastically cut further if the European Union hopes to become carbon neutral by 2050, the European Maritime Safety Agency warned Wednesday (1 September).

As of 1 September, Belgium is relaxing a series of COVID-19 measures. However, most of them will apply to Flanders and Wallonia, but not to the Brussels-Capital Region as its local government has decided to maintain previous measures for at...