European Union

High energy prices and continued purchase of Russian gas and oil in the first quarter of 2022 allowed Russia to post the highest current account surplus in recent history, indicating that EU sanctions against the country have only limited effect.

Les Républicains have no money left to finance the legislative election campaign in June and are now appealing for donations, the treasurer of the French right-wing party revealed on Tuesday. The danger of bankruptcy had been avoided, Daniel Fasquelle, treasurer...

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said he does not see any reason to worry over Serbia arming itself with Chinese weapons amid its Russian ally’s invasion of Ukraine. Rama was questioned by journalists during a visit to Berlin this week....

An agreement to offer more funds to Albanian agribusiness and tourism companies has been signed between Albania and the European Bank of Research and Development in a ceremony in Tirana. The agreement was signed during EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso’s first...

Any armament, including that of Serbia, can raise concern as it heightens the feeling of threat to security in Europe, Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović said in Cetinje on Tuesday. Responding to questions from the press after meeting with North Macedonian...

Finland and Sweden are edging closer to joining NATO. Helsinki is expected to produce a report on the country's security policy this Thursday (13 April), which could present a key step toward its application.

Former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski responded to the decision of the US government to blacklist him for alleged corruption, saying his fight to protect Macedonian interests “irritated some countries” and made him enemies like Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros. Gruevski, and...

The High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt, has decided to suspend the Law on Immovable Property in Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity on Tuesday. The move was made under the Bonn Powers which are granted to the Office...

France's far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon failed to reach the second round of presidential elections on Sunday (10 April), but Europe's leftists are still encouraged by his close third place. EURACTIV France reports.

The number of illegal migrants trying to enter Croatia from Una-Sava Canton in the west of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been steadily decreasing as migrants look for alternative routes to enter EU countries, according to estimates by government bodies and...

The EU Investment Bank will finance and support projects to construct storage facilities for renewable energy, the Global Relationship Manager in Croatia, Olga Pascenco, said on Tuesday. Addressing a news conference to present its work in Croatia in 2021, Pascenco...

Companies in Serbia should, within their means, join a humanitarian drive collecting aid for the people in Ukraine, Marko Cadez, president of Serbia’s Chamber of Commerce said on Tuesday. “We have been trying to reach as many companies as possible...

At least 600 American soldiers will arrive in Slovakia as a part of NATO’s strengthening of the eastern flank and will be supplemented with high-end defence systems, defence minister Jaroslav Naď (OĽaNO) has confirmed. According to previous information, only 40...

NGOs who were fined last week by the National Election Committee (NVB) over their campaign to vote invalidly in the referendum they claim was homophobic, will go to court, Telex reported. The government failed to achieve the necessary number of valid votes in...

The Czech Republic wants to channel the EU’s COVID-19 recovery funding to Ukrainian refugees for which it needs to update its national recovery plan – which, while possible, will require the European Commission’s approval. “The Czech Republic can ask for...

Two hundred and ninety people filed testimonies of their sexual abuse at the hands of the Portuguese Catholic Church before an independent commission, of which 16 have already been referred to the prosecutor. In an assessment of the first three...

The Spanish government has reiterated its commitment to finding a viable solution to the Western Sahara conflict that will be accepted both by Morocco and the Polisario Front, the Sahrawi nationalist liberation movement, diplomatic sources told EURACTIV’s partner EFE. Last...

The international community should unanimously condemn the aggression and war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine and classify them as genocide against the Ukrainian nation, a resolution adopted unanimously by Lithuanian MPs on Tuesday states. Russia’s aggression is “a menacing,...

The Norwegian government appointed two new ministers on Tuesday after former defence minister Odd Roger Enoksen announced his resignation Saturday after being caught in a scandal. Enoksen announced Saturday (9 April) that he would resign after tabloid newspaper VG revealed...

Spain and Portugal want to push ahead with a benchmark price for energy, but this could lead to increased consumption of fossil gas, inflated gas prices and fewer incentives to invest in renewable energy, warns Lion Hirth and Christoph Maurer.