European Union

Namejs 2021, Latvia's largest military exercise of the year involving around 10,000 soldiers, is taking place between the end of August and 3 October. Urban drills with soldiers shooting blanks drills were staged in the centre of Riga on the weekend, causing fear and confusion among passers-by who had apparently not been informed and triggering outrage on social media. Latvia's press shows understanding for the anger but stresses the need for such simulation exercises to prepare for the future.

A week before the elections to the German Bundestag the outcome is still open but one thing is for sure: once the voting is done, for the first time in 16 years Angela Merkel will no longer lead the Federal Republic. Commentators see stability as the chancellor's main achievement - but note that she also leaves behind a country shaped by her less desirable qualities.

An alliance of Hungarian opposition parties has come together with the goal of nominating a joint candidate to unseat Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party in the 2022 parliamentary elections. But on Saturday, the very first day of the week-long first round of voting, the process had to be interrupted due to problems with the IT system. The ruling party denies accusations that it hacked the computers. Commentators are divided.

The European Union and the United States on Saturday (18 September) called on more nations to join a pledge to slash methane gas emissions and cut warming by at least 0.2 degrees Celsius by 2050.

Today, approximately 95% of the aluminium contained in an End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) is recycled into new aluminium products.

Lawmakers in the European Parliament have adopted a non-binding resolution asking the EU executive to come up with an action plan to phase out the use of animals for scientific experiments and tests.

Leading lawmakers from the Socialist and the Greens group in the European Parliament held contrasting views on forest policy during a EURACTIV event earlier this month.

Popular former interim economy and finance ministers have set up a centrist political faction to compete in Bulgaria's third parliamentary election this year on pledges to tackle widespread corruption and foster a fairer distribution of wealth.

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out more about Slovenia becoming a member of EU Med, France calling on Europeans to unite after Australia scrapped a submarine order with Paris in favour of a deal with Washington and London, and so much more.

Ireland has now vaccinated 90% of over 16-year-olds, making it the EU country with the highest proportion of vaccinations, followed closely by Malta, Denmark, and Portugal, the latest data from the European Centre for Disease Control shows. Taoiseach Micheál Martin...

Russia's ruling United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, retained its parliamentary majority after an election and a sweeping crackdown on its critics, despite losing over a tenth of its support, partial results on Monday (20 September) showed.