European Union

One of the biggest crowds ever seen in Portugal mobbed Pope Francis as he rode in an open vehicle to a rally where he told young Catholics from all over the world to beware the false happiness lurking in social media.

Humanitarian operations to rescue migrants attempting the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea do not encourage further crossings, a modelling study said on Thursday (3 August).

The EU on Thursday (3 August) banned drone sales to Belarus and added prominent state TV presenters to its sanctions list over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Minsk's crackdown on opposition.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on Thursday (3 August) called for a "credible" probe into a migrant shipwreck off Greece in June in which hundreds died, saying that contrasting accounts by the Greek coastguard and survivors "were extremely concerning".

The European Court of Human Rights has refused to help a persecuted religious minority awaiting deportation from the EU-funded Edirne centre in Turkey where rights abuses have been documented.

German economy and climate minister Robert Habeck has expressed reservations regarding an EU-wide ban of “forever chemicals” (PFAS), despite the fact that it was first proposed by his own government, alongside other EU countries.

Both left- and ring-wing political forces have been “ambiguous” on their stances towards the EU, making them unfit to sit in the European Parliament after the 2024 EU elections, France’s Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday (2 August).

Former US President Donald Trump must appear in court in Washington on Thursday, charged with attempting to falsify the 2020 election results and for his role in the storming of the Capitol on 6 January 2021. A look at Europe's comment columns shows how much rides on the trial's outcome.

According to Polish reports, two military helicopters from neighbouring Belarus violated Polish airspace on Tuesday. Warsaw sees this as a deliberate provocation. The Belarusian defence ministry has rejected the accusations, saying that Poland is using them as a pretext to militarise the border. Commentators see a dangerous spiral of escalation.

The planned expansion of the lignite mine on the Aegean coast is sparking protest in Turkey. Environmental activists have set up a resistance camp in the Akbelen forest in the town of Milasi in Muğla province. The situation escalated last week when the police used water canons and pepper spray to curb the protests, but the activists are staying put. The Turkish press is divided.