European Union

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau left the door open to sanctions on the Taliban Monday (23 August), noting that the Islamist group that now controls Afghanistan remains a “terrorist entity.” “Canada already recognizes, and has for long, that the Taliban...

The Taliban warned there would be "consequences" if the United States and its allies try to remain in Afghanistan beyond next week, as Washington ramped up its efforts to evacuate tens of thousands of people desperate to flee.

Poland will build a fence along its border with Belarus and double the number of troops there, the defence minister said on Monday (23 August), to halt a flow of migrants the European Union says is being driven by Minsk in retaliation for EU sanctions.

The European Union will kick off discussions this week on what consequences recent developments in Afghanistan may have for security and migration in the 27-nation bloc, a spokesman for the Slovenian EU presidency said on Monday (23 August).

The government of Cyprus said on Monday (23 August) it would revoke the passports from Turkish Cypriot officials in the breakaway state in the northern part of the island.

An international summit initiated by Ukraine reaffirmed on Monday (23 August) international commitments to de-occupy Crimea, seven and a half years after Russian troops occupied the strategic Black Sea peninsula.

Lithuania said on Monday (23 August) it would complete a 508-km (315-mile) fence along its border with Belarus by September 2022 to stop migrants it says are crossing in record numbers orchestrated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

The foreign ministers of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, Greece, Nikos Dendias, and Israel, Yair Lapid, affirmed Friday in Jerusalem their countries' close ties, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported. Dendias noted that the recently triumphant Taliban considered Turkey a friendly country and that Hamas, the Gaza-based Islamic movement that denies Israel's right to exist, congratulated the Taliban with their victory. The cooperation was born amid Turkey's oil-exploration exploits in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven caught the nation off guard on Sunday, saying he would resign in November ahead of a general election in September 2022 to give his successor a chance to improve the Social Democrats' standing in the polls, Reuters reported. Löfven has been prime minister since 2014, but his two coalition governments have lurched from crisis to crisis, unable to command a majority in parliament.

Parades for LGBTQ rights took place under heavy police presence Saturday at the foot of Catholic Poland's most revered monastery in Czestochowa, in the south, and in Gdansk, on the Baltic coast, AP news agency reported. The massive police presence, which included officers on horseback, was seen as the factor that prevented any clashes with far-right groups, which shouted anti-LGBTQ slogans like "No Homosexual Love" at the marchers.

Russia's new "weapon" in its war on Ukraine, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, has cast a shadow over EU solidarity with Kyiv.

The Kremlin failed to mention French president Emmanuel Macron's calls for Russian president Vladimir Putin to release his critic Alexei Navalny from jail in its readout of the two leaders' phone conversation Thursday, The Moscow Times writes. "The president of the republic called for the release of Alexei Navalny, one year after the assassination attempt of which he was the victim," Macron's office said in a statement.

The Belgian federal and regional governments have decided to ease Covid-19 rules from 1 September on. Restrictions for bars and restaurants will disappear, as well as all restrictions for private meetings and parties, where dancing will be allowed again. Teleworking is no longer recommended. However, Brussels minister-president Rudi Vervoort (PS) said that the rules will not be eased in the capital as the vaccination level remains too low.

With just five weeks to go until Germany's parliamentary elections, the two parties in the current ruling coalition are set to win similar numbers of votes, according to a recent poll published by research institute INSA on Sunday, Deutsche Welle reports. The centre-right conservative bloc (CDU/CSU) and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) polled equally at 22 percent for the first time in an INSA poll since April 2017.

EU proposal to let Big Tech organise algorithms for the public sector is creating a dangerous but invisible injustice. Regardless, the EU proposal conceded to key industry demands on self-regulation and the promotion of AI in the public sector.

EU Commission chief said the EU executive was ready to provide funding for EU countries that helped resettle refugees and planned to raise the resettlement issue at a G7 meeting on Tuesday

Parliament is working on a proposal that aims to ensure minimum wages provide for decent living in the EU. Find out more.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Parliament is working on a proposal that aims to ensure minimum wages provide for decent living in the EU. Find out more.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Increasing their share of renewable energy is crucial to the Western Balkans, but this must be done using the right technology for the region and with support from the European Union, argue Viola von Cramon-Taubadel and Thomas Waitz.

Personalising the ‘silent killer’ hot spells could raise awareness in time to avert loss of life and property, say scientists. EURACTIV's media partner, The Guardian, reports.