European Union

The German and Austrian ambassadors to BiH, Margret Uebber and Ulrike Hartmann, together with EU Delegation head in BiH, Johann Sattler, paid a visit to the Lipa migrant camp, near northwest city Bihać. “First important goal achieved – 750 migrants/refugees...

Serbia made limited progress in 2020 when it comes to protecting human rights, according to Human Rights Watch’s annual report about the state of human rights in the world published on Wednesday. On Serbia, the international NGO declared that, during...

The planned no-confidence motion against the government has a slim chance but still might succeed, and would then result in early elections, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša said on Wednesday. Constitutional Arch Coalition (KUL) is planning to propose voting on...

A Lithuanian MEP accused of homophobia apologised on Wednesday (13 January) after fellow lawmakers threatened to expel him from the liberal Renew grouping in the European Parliament.

Epidemiologists used the Moderna vaccine to start jabbing residents of Petrinja, the town that received the first shipment of 3,600 Modern doses because the devastating earthquake that hit the country on 29 December increased the risk of the virus spreading....

While Romania still has no budget for 2021, the country’s Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday that the Parliament needs to clarify a law requiring a 40% increase of pensions. The government wants a much lower increase, in the current economic...

The ruling coalition in Bulgaria does not intend to allow mail-in voting in the coming parliamentary elections – something they referred to as “an exotic idea”. This became clear when President Rumen Radev met the ruling GERB party as a...

The Slovak government is breaking the law by not letting its draft national recovery plan undergo an environmental impact assessment (EIA), said Renew MEP Martin Hojsík. According to Slovak law –  which is based on an EU directive – every strategic...

Three patients were diagnosed with the more infectious variant of coronavirus first identified in the UK, Hungary’s chief medical officer Cecília Müller told journalists on Wednesday, adding that “it was obvious that Hungary could not avoid the variant either.” According...

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) has followed a recommendation by the finance ministry not to enter the European banking union for now. A study carried out by the foreign ministry recommends monitoring the banking union’s development and re-assessing all aspects...

A national lockdown, similar to the one in force between March and April, will be imposed as of midnight on Thursday, Prime Minister António Costa announced on Wednesday, warning that this is both “the most dangerous moment, but also a...

The popularity of the Social Democratic Party of Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, who have been increasingly under fire at homey for their poor handling of the pandemic, is now in free fall, according to a new poll published on Wednesday...

Hundreds of people rioted in Brussels on Wednesday night over the death a 23-year-old man in police custody at the weekend. Police said about 500 people gathered Wednesday close to Brussels-North police station over the death of a person identified...

French Prime Minister Jean Castex attempted on Wednesday to defend the government’s vaccination strategy before an angry Senate that was highly critical of its slowness. “Don’t try to judge our vaccination strategy, which will take several months, you know that...

After suffering in recent opinion polls, North Rhine-Westphalian leader Armin Laschet gained a boost in the race for the CDU helm on Wednesday, after receiving endorsements from five CDU parliamentary group leaders from the country’s eastern and western states. “We...

People who get vaccinated against COVID-19 in Poland will receive a confirmation document, a “vaccine passport”, after having received a second dose of the vaccine, according to Polish deputy Health Minister Anna Goławska. Poland is the latest country to welcome...

Digital decoupling between China and the United States could severely impact EU businesses in China and they should "prepare for the worst" and may be forced into a costly separation of their international operations, European business groups said.

This week Ursula von der Leyen signalled the EU’s desire to lead the world in the fight against global deforestation. But if the key drivers of deforestation aren’t addressed, progress will remain limited, writes Julia Christian.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has rejected a proposal by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for an EU-wide COVID-19 vaccination certificate for travel, saying “it is not good to divide Europe in two”.

Even after US President Trump is gone, the underlying causes of division, mistrust, and frustration won't go away and Europe must future-proof itself against any risks to democracy – particularly in the online world, writes Věra Jourová.