European Union

The EU plans to establish its own resources to battle forest fires, floods, earthquakes and the like, humanitarian aid commissioner Christos Stylianides said in Sweden on Monday. Negotiations are set to start in 'trilogue' in September, with a view to introduction next year. European emergency assistance currently depends on member states volunteering resources to each other. Sweden has been hard hit by wildfires in its hottest summer in 260 years.

For decades, the Friendship pipeline has delivered oil from Russia to Europe, heating German homes even in the darkest days of the Cold War. But the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline is becoming a problem for German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

During a roundtrip of Asia this week, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will seek support to preserve the Iran nuclear deal, as well as exploring security cooperation in order to expand engagement and up the EU's role in global security, writes Fraser Cameron.

After its unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal, the US will once again impose sanctions on American companies doing business with Iran starting today, Monday. In addition, secondary sanctions will be imposed on companies outside the US. Can Trump bring the regime in Tehran to its knees with these measures?

The dismissed judges of Poland's Supreme Court have taken their case to the European Court of Justice. They refuse to go into retirement, as the controversial judicial reform of the national conservative PiS government stipulates. Commentators highlight the risks of this conflict.

In Hungary the pro-government business tycoon Zsolt Nyerges has taken over the opposition news broadcaster Hír TV. No sooner was the change of owners completed than several journalists were fired. Since the parliamentary elections in April the two newspapers Magyar Nemzet and Heti Válasz as well as the radio broadcaster Lánchíd have been shut down. Is the free market at play here or could it all be part of a government crackdown against media it doesn't like?

The death of a 20-year-old with Down syndrome has shocked Sweden. He died after a police officer who felt threatened by the young man, who was carrying a toy pistol, shot him. This was the seventh case of a fatal police shooting this year. Sweden's press sees a number of problems with the police system that urgently need to be addressed.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has compared Croatia with Nazi Germany, saying that "Hitler wanted a world without Jews, Croatia wants a Croatia without Serbs". The statement was made at a ceremony commemorating Operation Storm, in which Croatian troops reconquered Serb-occupied territories in 1995. Commentators in Croatia note that the past is still very present in the country.