European Union

Plenary sessions : Action to stop massacres in Syria, implement migration policies and border controls, and ensure a balanced approach to trade deals while defending EU industry are the key challenges that EU heads of state or government should tackle at their 20-21 October meeting in Brussels, said Parliament’s political group leaders in a debate with the Slovak Council Presidency and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Washington has broken off talks with Moscow regarding a ceasefire in Syria due to the continued airstrikes on Aleppo. Prior to the announcement Russia had let it be known that it would suspend the pact with the US over the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium. How dangerous is the confrontation between the two great powers?

The government in Paris wants to buy 15 high-speed TGV trains to prevent the partial closure of the Alstom plant in the eastern French city of Belfort - and the loss of 400 jobs. The French train operator SNCF has indicated it has no need for the trains. Can the Belfort plant be saved? French commentators take opposing views of the crisis.

With strong words about the Treaty of Lausanne Erdoğan not only called into question his country's founding myth but also its borders with Greece: the Turkish president described the 1923 treaty which defines the borders of modern Turkey as humiliating and lamented that it gave away Aegean islands to Greece. Is he just trying to provoke a reaction?

Viktor Orbán has described the referendum on refugee quotas as an "overwhelming victory" despite the low voter turnout. 98 percent of those who voted cast their ballot against the EU quota system but only 44 percent of those entitled to vote took part. 50 percent were required for the referendum to be valid. Journalists in Europe discuss whether Orbán is weakened or strengthened by the result.

Thousands of people in Poland have protested against a total ban on abortion. Dressed all in black they took to the streets on Monday to demonstrate against the national conservative PiS government's planned ban. Commentators believe this could be the start of a major wave of protests.

In a referendum held on Sunday a narrow majority of Colombians rejected a peace deal with the Farc rebels. 50.2 percent voted against the agreement that was to end decades of civil war-like circumstances in the country. Is this the end of Colombia's peace process?