European Union

The leadership of the European Commission is currently discussing with scientists how long a third dose is effective in protecting against COVID-19, EURACTIV.com has learnt. Italy mulls shortening COVID pass validity while Greece considers a similar step even without a...

With Germany set to shut down its last six reactors in 2022, a group of pro-nuclear activists made a rare appearance in Berlin over the weekend in the hope of reversing the decision. Operators, for their part, are wary of another abrupt policy change.

There is a greater risk of an accidental war breaking out between the West and Russia than at any time since the Cold War, Britain's most senior military officer has said, Reuters reports. General Nick Carter, chief of the defence staff, told Times Radio there was a greater risk of tensions in the new era of a "multipolar world", where governments competed for different objectives and different agendas.

Pacific Rim leaders and activists have voiced opposition with the 'COP26' climate-change summit, which wrapped up in Glasgow last weekend. "The fundamental fact remains: we are still headed for a two-degree-plus world," Pacific-region senior advisor Auimatagi Joe Moeono-Kolio told The Guardian. The final summit declaration cut mention of phasing out coal use or paying for the economic damage caused by climate events in the world's least developed states.

Unambitious EU vehicle-emissions targets could see Europe's biggest carmakers to produce millions more combustion-engine vehicles than need be by 2030, NGO Transport and Environment has warned. The situation meant a "lost decade" in the fight against climate change, it told The Guardian. Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz, who all signed the 'COP26' climate pledge, now emitted more carbon than five years ago due to high sales of SUV-type models.

Three German state health ministers urged parties negotiating to form a new government to prolong states' power to implement stricter pandemic measures, such as lockdowns or school closures, as the country's seven-day Covid-19 incidence rate hit record highs, Reuters writes. The number of people per 100,000 infected last week rose to 277.4, data showed on Saturday, and has risen to over 500 in some regions of the country.

"We call upon you to engage with Belarusian authorities and other relevant stakeholders in order to organise humanitarian and medical assistance" for people stuck on the Belarus border, the interior ministers of Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland wrote to the EU Commission on Friday. "It is essential that international organisations and NGOs help migrants to return to their countries of origin, provide the necessary assistance," they added.

"We don't want to leave the EU ... [but] we want to keep our sovereignty," Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán told a party rally on Sunday. "We will not give up the right to defend our borders, to stop migrants ... [and] we insist that marriage in Hungary is between a man and a woman," he also said, setting out his political stall ahead of elections expected in April 2022.

“EU priorities in the Western Balkans are fully reflected in the reports which are designed to encourage the region to implement different reform processes,” European Commission spokesperson Ana Pisonero told EURACTIV Serbia and BETA when asked to comment on remarks...

Albania’s economy could grow by 6.9% by the end of the year, 2.9% more than expected, according to the European Commission on Thursday. In the Commission’s Autumn 2021 Economic Forecast report, it said “a faster than expected economic recovery is driven...

Preliminary results from the second round of mayoral elections in Kosovo show a defeat for Vetevendosje, the ruling party, especially in key areas like Prishtina. On Sunday (14 November), citizens in Kosovo went to the polls to vote for mayors...

Montenegro will ban concerts and celebrations for New Year’s Eve as part of new COVID measures that will come into force Monday, which will also ban wedding parties and force nightclubs to shut down. Restaurants and bars, however, will be...

There is no dilemma about the country’s strategic priorities: economic consolidation, EU membership and regional integration, Hristijan Mickoski, leader of VMRO-DPMNE, the biggest opposition party, told Croatian daily Večernji list in an interview. “If the new government formed in this...

BiH’s two entities and all government structures must respect Brčko’s status and autonomy, US diplomat Clint Williamson, head of an International Arbitral Tribunal for the status of Brčko District, has said, adding that the threats of war must stop. Brčko,...

EU foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss “suggestions as to how the Union should engage in activities with the Western Balkans,” a senior EU official told journalists in Brussels. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the EU...

A new centrist, anti-corruption party called We Continue The Change came top in Bulgarian elections on Sunday with 26 percent of the vote, according to exit polls by Alpha Research, Gallup International, Market Links and Trend, Reuters reports. Prime minister Boyko Borisov's GERB party came a narrow second. "Bulgaria is headed onto a new path," centrist party leader Kiril Petkov said, following a protracted political deadlock in the country.

Intensive care units in Slovenian hospitals are overflowing with COVID-19 patients as the country grapples with the worst wave of the pandemic so far. ICU wards treated 221 COVID patients on Sunday, the highest number since the start of the...

The Fitch Ratings agency has upgraded Croatia’s credit rating by one notch, from ‘BBB-‘ to ‘BBB’, citing a positive outlook. This is the best rating in Croatia’s history. “Fitch expects Croatia to be in a position to join the euro...

European Parliament President David Sassoli has demanded a "clear explanation" from the US caretaker ambassador in Brussels for why a leftist Greek MEP has been denied a visa to travel to the US, EURACTIV has learnt.

Austria has instructed the 2 million or so unvaccinated people in the country to stay home, except for essential work or food-shopping trips, in the EU's first-ever selective lockdown of its type. "We are not taking this step lightly, but unfortunately it is necessary," Austrian chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said. Austria has one of the lowest inoculation rates, just 65 percent, in Europe and one of its highest daily infection rates.