Euobserver.com

Dozens of European leaders have met in Prague Castle to showcase Russia's pariah status beyond EU capitals.

A group of MEPs whose phones were hacked or had been wiretapped by apparent state services are still seeking answers.

The European Commission will present its roadmap to reduce gas prices to member states during an informal summit in Prague. The plan includes a price cap on gas used to generate electricity, but experts point out a variety of risks.

The grievances are expected flare up on Friday, during the more intimate meeting of the 27 EU leaders, when German chancellor Olaf Scholz is scheduled to lay out his plan in detail.

A crime scene investigation of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 leaks has "strengthened suspicions of gross sabotage," the Swedish security police said on Thursday (6 October). "We can confirm that there have been detonations...which have caused extensive damage to the gas pipelines," they said in a statement. The investigation continues.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán met in Prague on Thursday with eurosceptic former Czech president Václav Klaus, and condemned EU sanctions towards Russia ahead of a meeting of 44 European countries. Orbán said sanctions must be "reconsidered" because they did't meet expectations. "The war is not over, the prices in Europe have gone down, but Russia is making good money from the situation," he said, according to MTI newswire.

The fossil-fuel industry is using the carbon removal agenda to get yet more support for failed carbon capture, which is a key component of the pie-in-the-sky carbon removal technologies being promoted by the EU Commission.

The European Parliament called on Thursday for an impartial investigation into the "tragic killing" of 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini.  Amini died in mid-September following physical abuse in police custody, after being arrested for ignoring Iran's veiling laws. MEPs urged the EU to impose sanctions on Iranian officials involved in her death and those using violence against street protestors. They also called for a UN investigation into recent events.

World leaders will meet in exactly four weeks to discuss some of the most pressing issues of climate change — amid escalating geopolitical tensions, and widespread mistrust in the developing world as green finance promises remain unfulfilled.

An US intelligence review says Russia gave at least $300m [€305m] to political parties, officials and politicians in more than two dozen countries since 2014. The EU wants to see who pocketed the funds in Europe.

Thousands of teachers, students and parents protested across Hungary on Wednesday, in solidarity with teachers dismissed for protesting for higher wages. Teachers called for civil disobedience to demand higher wages, amid a deep shortage of teachers. The protests were deemed necessary after prime minister Viktor Orbán's government restricted strike action. Last week several teachers were dismissed in a Budapest secondary school for joining the protest.

The Kremlin believes — and not without reason — that even if it cannot break Ukraine, it can try and break the West.

A Swedish MEP cut off her hair during a speech in the European Parliament in solidarity with anti-government demonstrations in Iran, triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini by the morality police. "Until Iran is free, our fury will be bigger than the oppressors. Until the women of Iran are free we are going to stand with you," Iraqi-born Renew MEP Abir Al-Sahlani said Tuesday, cutting off her ponytail.

Danes will vote in a general election on 1 November, social democrat prime minister Mette Frederiksen announced on Wednesday after her government lost majority in parliament over its decision to cull millions of mink during the Covid pandemic. Frederiksen has governed since 2019, supported by three left-leaning parties. Recent polls indicate a close race with Frederiksen's alliance set to win 84 seats against 85 for the center-right opposition.

Slovenia's parliament on Tuesday legalised same-sex marriage, becoming the first central European country to give gay couples the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts, AFP reported. The moves follows a Constitutional Court ruling from July that same-sex couples could legally marry and adopt children. The law passed with 48 votes in favour, 29 against and one abstention. The main conservative opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) has criticised the court's ruling.

The EU is giving Russia carte blanche to keep selling diamonds to Antwerp and the rest of Europe, despite grave escalation in Ukraine.

This 'headscarf revolution' is about women's rights and human rights in general, plus police brutality. Moreover, it is a leaderless revolution that is not driven by a leader or a group, but erupted spontaneously.

The Schengen area is undoubtedly one of the EU's greatest achievements. Unrestricted travel benefits millions of European citizens and businesses. But for Bulgaria and Romania, the EU has yet to make this borderless dream come true.

In the wake Germany's giant €200bn energy plan EU Commissioners Paolo Gentiloni and Thierry Breton called for new pandemic-type loans to help less wealthy countries weather the energy crisis.

MEPs criticised the EU Commission for what they see as the executive not being tough enough on the government of Viktor Orbán, as Hungary's parliament passed new legislation as part of a deal with the EU executive.