European Union

The United States on Thursday (18 November) urged Georgia to provide humane treatment to jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been on a hunger strike for weeks is now reported to be in critical condition.

Cop26 drops a clanger, shark mascot is an absolute banger, and  Olaf Scholz has surprising doppelganger.

Finland will vote against the EU’s climate delegated act later this year because some aspects of the classification system for sustainable activities, known as taxonomy, concerning forest management are “difficult to understand and open to interpretation”, the government said in...

The Albanian government has again denied claims that it will house asylum seekers and refugees who have crossed the UK’s Channel. For the second time in the last month, British media has claimed Albania is working on an agreement with...

The next round of dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia has failed before it even started as the two countries could not decide on which topics to discuss. Despite EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak meeting with both parties on several occasions in...

Milo Djukanovic, the president of Montenegro, has denied dealing with Rezart Taci, an Albanian businessman wanted on suspicion of involvement in an international money laundering scheme. Wiretaps published in Albanian media suggested Taci had involved Djukanovic in the transfer of...

“Until ten years ago, one could not have imagined that government sessions would take place online, but the pandemic showed the opposite. And how it can work digitally. The public administration is ready, but I am not sure about the...

The elections scheduled for spring 2022 in Serbia are one of the reasons for the acceleration of formal activities in the pre-accession talks between Serbia and the EU. Still, it is unlikely for election conditions to improve by then, according...

France will push for motion on migration when it hosts the European Union presidency from January, president Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, Reuters reports. "We should take a number of actions: stop the institution of lasting camps, act to dismantle the smuggling networks, and strengthen work with the international locations of origin to stop these flows," he said, adding "I'll carry reforms under the French presidency of the EU."

Slovenian interior minister Aleš Hojs, whose country chairs the EU presidency said the EU should seal its borders to prevent people coming to claim asylum in line with their international rights. "I believe external borders must be secured, even with fences if necessary ... There is no more 'Refugees Welcome'," he said at a conference in Sarajevo Thursday. He also said movements of "illegal" migrants were "destabilising the European Union".

In South-East Europe, China’s economic presence is noticeably the biggest in Serbia, either in loans or direct investments, Belgrade University Professor of Economics , Ivan Vujačić, said on Thursday (18 November). Speaking at the conference titled ‘China in South-East Europe:...

The Slovenian government has decided to put forward Tanja Frank Eler and Matej Oštir as the country’s two prosecutors delegated to the European Public Prosecutors’ Office (EPPO). However, their appointment is “temporary”, in force until the national appointment procedure is...

Croatian border police are ready to take appropriate measures to secure the border on the Western Balkans route if necessary. Still, there are no indications this could happen as migrant numbers have decreased, Zoran Ničeno of the interior ministry told...

In an exclusive interview, Ilian Vassilev, a former Bulgarian ambassador to Russia who became an entrepreneur and analyst, discussed the stakes around Nord Stream 2 pipeline and provided useful insights at a time when the European Commission should certify the controversial gas project.

Romania’s Social Democratic Party (PSD) wants to reopen discussions on some chapters of the country’s recovery plan adopted last month. However, a European Commission spokesperson confirmed that exceptional circumstances are needed for member states to request that parts of their...

The Greek government reacted strongly after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez agreed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to enhance their countries’ collaboration in the defence industry.

Spain seeks to maintain carbon in soils destined for agriculture in its strategy against climate change with the support of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). However, producers demand more funds to compensate for their efforts.

China has verbally attacked Lithuania for opening a 'Taiwan Representation Office' in Vilnius, breaking with a convention in which Taiwan's de facto embassies called themselves 'Taipei' offices instead as a euphemism. "We demand that the Lithuanian side immediately correct its wrong decision," the Chinese foreign ministry said calling Lithuania's move an "extremely egregious act" and saying Taiwan's aspirations to be recognised as an independent sate were "doomed to fail".

NGOs on Thursday slammed the new transparency policy of the European Investment Bank (EIB) for not following recommendations from the EU ombudsman on disclosing information of the projects it finances. The EIB is not obliged to publish the projects it selects for funding, the role of financial intermediaries like commercial banks and investment funds, the criteria of selection or the environmental impact of such projects.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said the West is "escalating" the Ukraine conflict by holding drills in the Black Sea, AFP writes. His comments come as the US accuses Moscow of a troop build-up near Ukraine. "(Our) Western partners are escalating the situation by supplying Kyiv with lethal modern weapons and conducting provocative manoeuvres in the Black Sea," Putin said, claiming that Western bombers are flying "20km from our border."