European Union

The number of migrants arriving in Italy by sea decreased by 50.72 percent in 2019 compared to 2018, according to the Italian ministry of interior. Compared to 2017, the numbers fell even by 90.38 percent. From the 11,439 migrants who arrived in Italy, 2,654 were from Tunisia, 1,180 from Pakistan and 1,135 from the Ivory Coast, while 1,618 of them were unaccompanied minors.

Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the government will submit a bill in parliament to vote on sending troops to Libya. The UN-backed Libyan government requested Turkish military help to defend Tripoli against the army of general Khalifa Haftar, who is supported by France, Russia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. The Libyan government of PM Fayyez Saraj is receiving aid from Italy, Qatar, and Turkey.

An opinion poll conducted in December showed 64 percent of Ukrainians were in favour of joining the EU, Unian reports. Only 13 percent wanted accession to the Russia-led Eurasian customs union. The number of people in favour of the EU has grown steadily since 2014, when support was 57 percent, and was higher in western, central, and southern Ukraine. In the more russophone east Ukraine, EU support was 43 percent.

The Croatian government must ‘urgently’ address reports suggesting it is denying access to asylum procedures in the country, a high-ranking official from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) told EURACTIV Croatia in an interview.

Italian Education Minister Lorenzo Fioramonti told Reuters on Wednesday he had resigned after failing to obtain from the government billions of euros he said were needed to improve the country’s schools and universities.

Russia has condemned Turkey’s intention to send troops to Libya to support Fayez al-Sarraj, prime minister of the UN-backed Government of National Accord of Libya against the head of the Libyan National Army, General Khalifa Haftar.

As Europe struggles with financial and political obstacles besetting its joint defence policy efforts, and NATO faces internal rifts and an increasingly assertive Russia and China, here are six issues to watch in Europe's security and defence in 2020.

With six out of 10 votes, Turkey's Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled that the government's ban on access to online encyclopedia Wikipedia violated freedom of expression, the official Anadolu news agency reported.

2020 will be a decisive year for the EU’s relations with China and its success will largely depend on the fate of the long-running bilateral investment treaty negotiations, writes Fraser Cameron.

European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans has written a "love letter" to Britain expressing his grief at its decision to leave the European Union and stressing it was always welcome back.

President Vladimir Putin upped the ante in a war of words with Europe on Tuesday, accusing Poland of colluding with Hitler and of anti-Semitism.

The growing decline of Greece’s population, due to low birth rates and emigration, has resulted in closures of schools and kindergartens across the country, Greek media reported.

A study conducted in England has listed its football teams according to their environmental performance and four Premier League clubs - Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham - are leading the table. 

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) recently signed between Turkey and Libya to demarcate maritime zones has shaken up politics in the Mediterranean, with Greece preparing a diplomatic counter-offensive.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country has a “pipe-laying vessel” to complete the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, Kommersant daily reported citing unnamed sources on Thursday (26 December), following sanctions imposed by Washington.

A very merry Christmas from all of us at the European Parliament and all the best for 2020.

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

A very merry Christmas from all of us at the European Parliament and all the best for 2020.

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

Turkey may need to draft a bill to allow for troop deployment to Libya and its parliament is working on the issue, Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Tuesday (24 Decembrer), after Ankara signed a military cooperation agreement with Tripoli last month.

Ukraine has approved tariffs for Russian gas transit and granted a licence to its new gas pipeline system operator, the necessary steps on the way to complete a new 5-year deal for Russia's gas supply to Europe, its regulator said on Tuesday (24 December).

US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions last week on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline designed by Moscow to bypass Ukraine and increase gas supplies via the Baltic Sea to Germany, Russia’s biggest energy customer.