European Union

Russia and Azerbaijan on Sunday (27 March) traded barbs over the movement of Azeri forces in Nagorno-Karabakh where a simmering dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared into a six-week war in 2020.

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about German states banning the Russian 'Z' symbol, Czech diplomats in Moscow being harassed by Russian authorities, and so much more.

The rollout of autonomous vehicles has the potential to reduce traffic by 90% and bring road deaths to zero, but serious technological hurdles remain, Mark Boris Andrijanic, Slovenia's minister for digital transformation, has said.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for restraint in both words and actions in dealing with the Ukraine conflict, after US President Joe Biden described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "butcher" and said he should not remain in power.

The EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell has dismissed the prospect of Russian President Vladimir Putin cutting oil and gas supplies to Europe in retaliation to the tough economic sanctions imposed on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine. Russia “needs to...

Billions of EU funds could be set for infrastructure projects in the Western Balkans that are not needed, are non-transparent, and could lock the region into fossil fuels, particularly gas, for decades to come. The alarm was raised by Bankwatch,...

Former president, prime minister, and founder of the Albanian Democratic Party Sali Berisha announced he intends to run for leadership following the resignation of Chairman Lulzim Basha. In 2021, Berisha was designated as persona non-grata and banned, along with his...

To stop Russian imperialism and expansionism in Ukraine (which is in our best self-interest), the West must continue to deliver arms to Ukraine before it is too late. Only if Ukraine can blunt the sword of Russia’s second strike, may Vladimir Putin accept the fact that he can’t achieve his aims in Ukraine militarily, writes Gustav Gressel.

EU Ambassador and Special Representative (EUSR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina Johann Sattler expressed his disappointment at the behaviour of local leading politicians who advocate EU integration but behave contrary to those values on Friday. “A disappointing day in Bosnia and...

Croatian Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Ivan Sabolić denied allegations by some local media outlets about Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković having lobbied during the European Council’s meeting for the deferment of BiH’s general elections. The allegations that Plenković advocated...

France and Turkey want to have further trade relations with Russia saying that this helps them communicate with Russia’s leadership, but this leadership are war criminals who don’t have a "face" anymore, writes Roman Rukomeda.

The Serbian Ecological Uprising movement sent an open letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping saying that Chinese companies were “complicit in horrific poisoning” that had “unforeseeable and irreversible consequences” on the health of Serbian citizens, children and nature. “Chinese companies...

With peace talks between Russia and Ukraine set to take place in Turkey this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted on the territorial integrity of his country after earlier suggesting he was ready for a compromise.

Croatia is considering increasing the capacity of its LNG terminal on the island of Krk from the current 2.6 billion cubic metres of gas to 2.9 billion cubic metres annually, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said. He explained that the existing...

The European Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament takes the Conference on the Future of Europe very seriously.  The ECR has been making an effort to present an alternative to the dominant vision at the Conference.

The Bulgarian government will remove all restrictive measures against COVID-19 from 1 April, including the mandatory wearing of protective masks in closed public spaces and restrictions on public events. Bulgarian authorities say the decision to drop all measures was taken...

The Slovak Ministry of Interior is facing strong criticism for its handling of the refugee crisis on the eastern borders with Ukraine as it has delegated the management to a private company that previously organised corporate parties. Prime Minister Eduard...

Czech Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian Ambassador Alexandr Zmejevskij to Prague to protest against the unacceptable behaviour of authorities in Moscow. According to the Ministry, Czech diplomats are facing severe harassment. “The staff of our embassy in Moscow have been...

India said ties with China could not be normal until their troops pulled back from each other on the disputed border, but Beijing struck a conciliatory note during a meeting of their foreign ministers in New Delhi on Friday.

A German military half-track vehicle from World War II – which experts have searched for decades – has re-emerged from the River Po in Northern Italy which has suffered severe drought in recent days. The vehicle has been found and...