European Union

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet for a first bilateral summit on July 16 in Helsinki. On the agenda are arms control and the situation in Syria and Ukraine, among other topics. In the run-up to the Nato summit Trump commented that the meeting with Putin might be easier than that with his Nato allies. Journalists ask what to expect from the encounter.

Eight months after the elections, Czech members of parliament have given their approval to a minority government headed by billionaire Andrej Babiš. The cabinet comprising members of the populist Ano party and the Social Democrats will be supported by the Communists, giving them a hand in government for the first time since 1989. What does their comeback in the Czech Republic portend?

Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, is discussing restricting access for media representatives following inappropriate behaviour on the part of two journalists, with one of them making an obscene gesture to a photographer. The Rada has long been looking for an excuse to hamper the activities of the press in the parliament, commentators criticise.

The suggestion that Russians themselves play a role in the condition of their state today is often dismissed as "xenophobic" or "Russophobic". But if not addressed, the evils of nationalism, chauvinism, and imperialism will continue even after Putin is gone.

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EU Foreign Affairs ministers meet on 16 July 2018 in Brussels to discuss the JCPOA, the DPRK, Libya and the Eastern Partnership.

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Ministers of Foreign Affairs from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and from the EU meet in Brussels on 16 and 17 July 2018. "Building bridges and strengthening our partnership to face global challenges" is the theme of the meeting. At the end of the meeting, EU and CELAC ministers are expected to adopt a declaration.

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EU Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries meet on 16 July 2018 in Brussels to discuss the Austrian EU Presidency work programme and to have an exchange of views on the post-2020 CAP reform.

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MEPs voted on Tuesday (10 July) to amend European Commission plans to cut plastic pollution and suggested a ban on microplastics in cosmetics and other products by 2020.

NATO held its first summit in its grandiose new buildings this week. This should have suggested a new beginning for the transatlantic alliance. But the impression from the discussions was quite the reverse.

The European Commission has cancelled a call for funding free wireless internet hotspots in EU cities due to an IT error. According to an email revealed by Belgium's Le Soir, the IT system did not take into account the different EU time zones, thus preventing some cities applying "on an equal basis" in the first-come, first-served application procedure. A new call will be opened later.