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The Czech EU Council presidency will put the focus on hybrid threats, by accelerating discussions about disinformation and interference set out in the EU’s Strategic Compass, Deputy Minister of Defence Jan Havranek told EURACTIV.

The European Commission plans to unveil a €195 billion plan to stop importing Russian fossil fuels by 2027, combining a faster rollout of renewable energy and energy savings with a switch to alternative gas supplies, draft documents show.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday Western countries were worse hit by sanctions imposed on Moscow over Ukraine than Russia, which he insists has been resilient in the face of "external challenges".

It is up to the EU to change the minds of the 10 member states, including Malta that signed a letter opposing EU treaty change, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola told EURACTIV in an interview. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,...

An opposition resolution condemning the Srebrenica Genocide committed by Serbian troops in 1995 was rejected by parliament on Thursday amid the ruling party’s growing friendship with Serbia. The opposition accused the majority led by Prime Minister Edi Rama of having...

Imports to Albania from Ukraine and Russia have soared, both in terms of value and quantity, according to data from INSTAT for March. Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, and the ongoing war has triggered an energy, fuel and food...

The Serbian central bank on Thursday raised the key interest rate by 50 bp to 2%, while the Executive Board decided to increase the deposit and lending facilities rates by 50 bp each, to 1% and 3%, respectively – showing...

Slovenia’s outgoing centre-right government has sealed an agreement to buy 45 eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers from the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR), a move that the new liberal government plans to challenge. The agreement worth nearly €400 million, covers...

Thousands of Croats marched in protest rallies in nine Croatian towns on Thursday, demanding “an end to the destruction of public health and the neglect of women’s health.” The protests, organised by several NGOs, were prompted by a scandal revealed last...

European Commission plans to include mandatory recycled content targets for all plastics in a makeover of packaging laws expected this summer risk derailing attempts by plastic bottle manufacturers to reach closed loop recycling, the industry has warned.

Whether they are looking far into the future for strategic orientations, or closer to the present for new legislation, EU decision-makers need local and regional leaders to show them how the Union is functioning on the ground.

Efforts to lower dependence on Russian energy is speeding up local geothermal projects in Slovakia that had been gaining traction before the invasion of Ukraine. The pilot project of a geothermal power plant in Central Slovak town Žiar nad Hronom...

Prague is offering refugees with Hungarian passports a free train ride to Hungary, and has asked Budapest to be quick in providing information on whether Ukrainian refugees in Czechia have dual citizenship with Hungary, the Czech News Agency reported. The...

EU recovery funds may help Czechia fix its broadband connection costs and its lacking digitally qualified personnel. The Czech Republic will use around €1.6 billion of the €7.2 billion from the National Recovery Plan to develop e-government, e-commerce and digital...

The Swiss government on Thursday (12 May) reported 6.3 billion Swiss francs (€6.05 billion) worth of Russian assets frozen under sanctions to punish Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, a drop from early April as around 3.4 billion francs in provisionally blocked assets were released.

Finland is sovereign to decide freely on its security, and if it joins NATO, this will mark “a strengthening in European terms”, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said Thursday. Responding to questions from journalists about whether Finland’s membership of the North Atlantic...

The land borders between Morocco and Spain’s autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla are set to reopen on Tuesday, two years after closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a diplomatic crisis, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska confirmed Thursday. The...

The Court of Justice in Luxembourg condemned Italy on Thursday for failing to comply with the EU’s air quality directive as some of its cities exceeded the allowed nitrogen dioxide levels. The court found that Italy had done little or nothing...

Encrypted copies of the most important state databases are being stored not only in Lithuania but also in one of the data centres in a NATO country for the first time in history. Data security will also be guaranteed by...

The Swedish government wants to make it easier for refugees from Ukraine to start working in Sweden by streamlining their administrative processes, Integration and Migration Minister Anders Ygeman announced at a press conference on Thursday. The Swedish government will soon...