European Union

Taiwan’s government called on the European Union to quickly begin trade talks after the bloc pledged to seek a trade deal with the tech-heavyweight island, something Taipei has long angled for. The EU included Taiwan on its list of trade...

The geopolitical vacuum in the Balkans is being exploited by countries like Russia, Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović said during a visit to Zagreb. His Croatian counterpart, Zoran Milanović, said Montenegro is the victim of a lack of interest on the...

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša called on fellow EU leaders to back Lithuania in its dispute with China when they meet in Slovenia in early October, saying the country faced “unprecedented and regrettable challenges vis-à-vis China.” China has condemned the...

Croatian citizens will be able to travel to the US without a visa as early as the end of this year. Serena Hoy, assistant secretary for international affairs at the US Department of Homeland Security, told Hina news agency that Secretary...

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has backed the partnership between OMV Petrom and Romania’s state-owned natural gas producer Romgaz in the offshore project Neptun Deep. The Black Sea deepwater perimeter, which is currently equally owned by OMV Petrom and US giant...

“If we continue to behave like the idiots of Europe, we will deal a terrible blow to our economy and tourism,” said Chief Health Inspector Angel Kunchev, who proposes restrictive measures against COVID-19 in the country. The decision to impose...

Czechia is an EU leader when it comes to the density of railway network. With 9,277 kilometres of rail in the country, it would be difficult to find a more connected state within the EU. Quality-wise, though, there are severe...

“You will hang,” far-right lawmaker Grzegorz Braun (Confederacy) told health minister Adam Niedzielski at a debate over the situation in the health sector on Thursday in the Sejm. Braun was thrown out of the chamber and the issue was referred...

The energy industry is at a moment of reckoning. As the global energy demand continues to double and triple, climate change will not wait for us to solve the green energy conundrum on our own schedule. John Redfern is the...

Another twenty cities from around the world have joined the Pact of Free Cities initiative launched in 2019 by Bratislava, Budapest, Prague and Warsaw mayors. Faced with conservative illiberal governments, these cities launched the initiative to promote democracy and transparency...

The seemingly unstoppable surge of wholesale energy prices in Spain continued on Thursday with a new record of €188.18 per megawatt-hour, a rise of 22% this week, despite government efforts to bring down costs amid public outcry, EURACTIV’s partner EFE...

A lawmaker from the ruling conservative New Democracy party (EPP) has caused turmoil in Greek politics after he re-tweeted an article that made public a list with names of “foreign” underage children in a kindergarten. The article’s aim was to...

According to the government’s new Defence Report, Finland’s defence environment is “tense” and “difficult to predict”. Cyber and information environments and space are lifted as areas next to traditional land, sea and air. The superpower activity in the Arctic is...

Foreign minister Simon Coveney has survived a no-confidence vote brought against him in the Irish parliament on Wednesday. The motion was initiated by opposition party Sinn Féin over an ongoing scandal surrounding the appointment of Katherine Zappone to the post...

Young adults (18-29) are still the most affected by anxiety (27%) and depressive symptoms (24.5%), while the elderly (65 years and over) are the least affected (7% and 6% respectively), a new survey by Sciensano, the national public health institute...

“Yesterday, 3,000 staff of health or medico-social establishments who had not yet been vaccinated out of a total of 2.7 million employees were suspended,” Health Minister Oliver Véran told RTL radio on Thursday (16 September). Since Wednesday (15 September), staff...

As German Chancellor Angela Merkel winds up her farewell tour across Europe, she visited Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Thursday. The two pledged to keep working together closely, even as Merkel is set to become a sitting duck on 26...

A referendum aiming to decriminalise growing and consuming cannabis in Italy has been signed by more than 420,000 people in just four days. At the current pace, it is set to reach the 500,000 signatures it needs to be considered valid much...

Ryanair is planning aggressive expansion in Ukraine if the country joins the European Union's Open Skies deregulated aviation market in the coming months, Group Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said on Thursday (16 September).

The EU pressed the US Administration to agree on the reform of the World Trade Organisation’s dispute settlement system amid deep divisions running through the institution.