European Union

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on 5 February in Beijing to discuss bilateral cooperation. Xi hailed the “iron-clad friendship” and the high-level mutual political trust between China and Serbia, saying bilateral ties have endured...

Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and members of the Nordic country's indigenous Sami community on Saturday (5 February) protested against a possible iron ore mine in northern Sweden.

The opposition has defeated a government bill on electronic communications that would bar high-risk vendors from the market, a provision the opposition said was directed against China’s Huawei. While not mentioning the vendor specifically, the bill would ban providers from...

Two-thirds of Slovaks are not in favour of the unvaccinated having to pay for their COVID-19 treatment, a new survey published by the Focus agency shows. The idea is strongly supported by the chair of the parliamentary health committee, Jana...

A government decree that came into force on 5 February effectively overruled the decision of a Budapest district court on press access to hospitals during COVID, despite earlier promises to respect the judgement, Telex reported. The government’s coronavirus task force may...

Until days ago, Bulgaria’s two most powerful men, the President Rumen Radev and the Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, were like-minded politicians, which was good news for the country. Their first clash, over North Macedonia, is less good news, writes Emilia Milcheva.

Czech President Miloš Zeman is eroding the positive support the Czech government has given Ukraine as tensions with Russia continue, with his most recent comments provoking condemnation from the country’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba. Czech President Miloš Zeman is unsuccessfully trying...

The European Commission made a “big mistake” labelling nuclear and gas as “green investments” in Europe, Spain’s Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera has said. The European Commission on 2 February proposed including nuclear and gas power in the bloc’s sustainable...

Polish president Andrzej Duda discussed the threat Russia poses to Ukraine with Chinese president Xi Jinping on the margins of the Beijing Olympics on Sunday, Duda's spokesman told Polish broadcaster TVN24. Duda told Xi "the point of view of European countries" and said "China is a great power and it's good that they should be informed." Almost all other top EU VIPs stayed away from Beijing.

Dublin has pledged upcoming measures to help those hit hardest by Ireland’s rising cost of living. Lower-income families will be the focus of the upcoming provisions, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said, ruling out the introduction of a “mini-budget” as a...

Residents of Wimpassing have voted against the construction of a 52 hectare solar park as Austria attempts to shed its reliance on Russian gas amid an energy crisis and tensions at the Ukrainian border. Asked whether an area belonging to...

French President Emmanuel Macron is in Russia on Monday to meet President Vladimir Putin to continue the work of leaders like US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. From the outset, the objective of the Europeans and Americans...

The President of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe will travel to Madrid, Spain on Monday 7 February 2022 for a series of bilateral meetings.

Russia has agreed a 30-year contract to supply gas to China via a new pipeline and will settle the new gas sales in euros, bolstering an energy alliance with Beijing amid Moscow's strained ties with the West over Ukraine.

The race is on to find a successor for Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg who said he would become Norway's central bank chief in December. The end of Stoltenberg's eight-year Nato mandate comes amid heightened tension with Russia. Former British PM Theresa May, Dutch PM Mark Rutte, Estonian PM Kaja Kallas, and former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini are among those previously cited in European media as possible candidates.

Much has been said about the devious divide-and-rule tactics of adversaries like Russia and China, but one should never underestimate the debilitating capacity of the EU to divide itself, writes Steven Blockmans.  

Swiss President Ignazio Cassis wants to thaw frosty ties with the European Union by seeking a new package of bilateral agreements and believes his country must move closer to the bloc, he told the SonntagsZeitung newspaper.

A high-ranking government expert has said the green pass could be abolished by March as its political price is becoming too high for the new government. The Prime Minister’s Pandemic Adviser, Professor Radka Argirova, predicts that Omicron’s peak in the...

The leader of Italia Viva and ex-PM Matteo Renzi received €1.1 million from different Arab companies, a report from the Bankitalia anti-money laundering unit, which was sent to the police on 6 February, has revealed. The report of the Financial...

Polish President Andrzej Duda met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Sunday, on the sidelines of the ongoing Olympic Games. Duda was the only EU leader who decided to visit the Chinese capital for the Olympics. The two...