European Union

The European Parliament is in recess from 27 July to 23 August 2020.

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

The protesters in Belarus are pawns in a geopolitical tectonic battle between East and West, although they don’t realise it, write Noé Morin and Bryan Bille.

Belarus opened a criminal investigation into attempts by the opposition to "seize power" on Thursday (20 August) as strongman Alexander Lukashenko moved to assert his authority after days of protests over a disputed election.

French president Emmanuel Macron and Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel offered EU mediation to Belarus, while also offered health care and asylum to Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny who is suspected of being poisioned.

French president Emmanuel Macron and Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel offered EU mediation to Belarus, while also offered health care and asylum to Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny who is suspected of being poisioned.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday (20 August) they would not accept attacks on EU member states’ sovereignty, amid an escalating row with Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean.

A group of members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have called on the European Commission to react to a mass arrest of LGBT activists in Poland.

Belarusian protesters are - unconsciously - subjects of a geopolitical battle between the east and the West. That is why their revolution is both precious and fragile.

Industrial production decreased 12.3 percent in the euro area and 11.6 percent in the European Union in June, compared to the same month in 2019, according to Eurostat. With 14.8 percent, Portugal registered the biggest decline among member states, followed by Germany and Spain (-14.1 percent each), then Italy (-13.7 percent). As the only country of the EU, Ireland saw an increase of it industrial production with 4.5 percent.

Despite the façade of democracy, the impunity of political and economic power makes corruption the point of politics in Bosnia, as in Lebanon.

French president Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday France and Germany would act in a coordinated way and that both countries wanted a de-escalation of tensions and respect for sovereignty, Ekathimerini writes. During a joint press conference with German chancellor Angela Merkel in Fort de Bregançon in southern France, he also said that Europe must protect its members' sovereignty in the eastern Mediterranean when it was cast into doubt.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has put Belgium in its entirety in dark orange, after it surpassed 60 infections per 100,000 inhabitants. So far, only Flanders and Brussels were coloured orange. Now the region of Wallonia is joining. Belgium has the fifth highest number of infections in the EU after Spain, Malta, Luxembourg, and Romania.

The European Commission and German biotech firm CureVac said on Thursday they had concluded a first round of talks for the supply of at least 225m doses of a potential Covid-19 vaccine to EU states, Reuters reports. The commission agreed last week on a purchase deal with AstraZeneca for at least 300m doses of the vaccine it is developing with Oxford University.

A German NGO is sending an air-ambulance with a coma-specialist team to pick up Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, Deutsche Welle reports. Navalny fell ill after drinking tea on a domestic flight, raising suspicion of poisoning. However, the doctors of the Siberian hospital say he is too ill to fly. French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday they were ready to offer asylum and medical assistance.

Allies of stricken Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny accused the Kremlin of thwarting his medical evacuation to Germany on Friday (21 August), saying the decision placed his life in mortal danger because the Siberian hospital treating him was under-equipped.

The United States formally began the process Thursday (20 August) of activating a controversial mechanism aimed at reimposing sanctions on Iran, a move that was immediately rejected by European allies fighting to save the Iranian nuclear deal.

A prestigious non-partisan US institute gave a generally positive assessment of the recent electoral reforms in Georgia, a country in the EU's neighbourhoud nourishing hopes to join the Union and NATO.  

Steve Bannon, an architect of Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory, was arrested on a yacht on Thursday (20 August) and was charged with defrauding donors in a scheme to help build the president’s signature wall along the US-Mexico border.

Key members of the "Fridays for Future" (FFF) movement in Berlin called on German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) on Thursday (20 August) to become more involved in the fight against global warming after what was described as a "friendly" meeting. EURACTIV France reports.

An Irish Cabinet minister apologised "unreservedly" on Thursday (20 August) for attending a social event with more than 80 people – reported to have included European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan – which may have breached COVID-19 regulations.