European Union

In the run-up to the Swedish parliamentary elections on 9 September polls are pointing to a deadlock with neither the left nor the conservative Alliance winning a majority, because the Sweden Democrats are likely to garner almost 20 percent of the vote. Commentators believe it will now be virtually impossible to ignore the right-wing populist party and its arguments.

Danish shipping company Maersk will this week send for the first time one of its ships along the Northern Sea Route, an Arctic shipping lane along Russia’s northern coastline that is set to become more important as climate change makes it more viable.

Spain's socialist government announced on Tuesday (21 August) it will amend the law to prevent relatives from legally disputing the exhumation of fascist dictator Francisco Franco from the vast mausoleum in Madrid where he is buried. EURACTIV's partner EFE-EPA reports.

More than 100 African migrants managed to force their way into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco on Wednesday, when hundreds tried to storm the highly fortified border fence. Less than a month ago, another 602 people made the crossing, El Pais reported. Several migrants and police officers were injured. Over 3,800 migrants have crossed the Moroccan border into Spain so far this year, according to the UN.

Austria is firmly rooted in the EU and fully shares its stance on Russia, chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Wednesday in a bid to reassure critics after Russian president Vladimir Putin attended the Austrian foreign minister's wedding. The EU imposed sanctions on Russia after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Kurz told reporters that he hopes to improve EU ties with Russia through more intensive dialogue, Reuters said.

The presence of the Russian president at the wedding of the Austrian foreign minister risks to undermine Austria's efforts to act as bridge builder between East and West.

"I think it is an enormous achievement by Europe and by ESA that we built this," said meteorologist Ad Stoffelen at the launch in French Guiana of a European climate research and weather forecasting satellite.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday (22 August) defended his appearance at the Austrian foreign minister's wedding after his dance with the bride caused a furore.

Lithuania on Wednesday (22 August) said it would not appeal a European court ruling that the Baltic state had been complicit in a clandestine CIA programme by holding terror suspects at a secret detention site on its territory.

A Macedonian court on Wednesday (22 August) launched a trial of 33 men, including five opposition MPs and a former interior minister, accused of involvement in a violent attack on parliament last year.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Wednesday (22 August) appealed to Italy's European Union partners to take in some of the migrants held on a coastguard ship in a Sicilian port and not allowed to disembark.

Britain will step up its planning for a no-deal Brexit on Thursday as it publishes a series of notes advising people and businesses how to protect themselves from the potential disruption of a clean break with the European Union.

Faced with criticism of police violence against a massive anti-corruption protest, Romania's ruling party strongman Liviu Dragnea has raised eyebrows with a string of bizarre, unsubstantiated claims including a "failed coup" and an assassination plot.

Law suits, death threats, and a smear campaign will not stop David Casa, an opposition MEP, from going after corrupt politicians in Malta, he writes.

A 97-year-old Auschwitz survivor hopes to take German public broadcaster ZDF to Europe's top court for calling Nazi camps "Polish", his lawyer said Wednesday (22 August).

Apple is set to win unconditional EU antitrust approval for its planned acquisition of British music discovery app Shazam, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday (22 August).

Chancellor Angela Merkel is focusing on securing the European Commission presidency for a German candidate, rather than backing Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann to succeed Mario Draghi at the helm of the European Central Bank (ECB), Handelsblatt reported.

The first six months of 2018 have seen a sudden increase in the number of measles cases in Europe with at least 37 deaths, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned.