European Union

Iran agreed Wednesday (3 November) to resume talks on 29 November with world powers on reviving a nuclear deal after a five-month gap, with the United States urging a quick resolution.

VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski has called for early general elections to be held quickly, so that North Macedonia will have a fully legitimate government. Forming new parliamentary majority would not help resolve existing problems but lead to futile negotiations which...

The UN Security Council adopted a Resolution extending EUFOR’s mandate, but without mentioning the High Representative and his Office. The EUFOR mission Althea was extended for the next 12 months with all 15 votes in favour. The compromise is visible:...

Serbia and Montenegro, should maintain the closest relations, Serbian PM Ana Brnabić said on Wednesday. “I hope that this first visit opens a new chapter in the relationship with the government of Montenegro, and that aside from the restoration of...

Slovenia is in the midst of the worst surge in coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic. The country reported 3,456 new cases for Wednesday, a new record, while 18 patients with COVID-19 died, the highest daily death rate...

Politicians in Romania started a new round of negotiations with the aim of forming a coalition, more than two months after the centre-right coalition collapsed. For the first time since USR voted for the censure motion that led to the...

The Croatian National Bank (HB) said it would develop and implement its own climate strategy, include climate and environmental risks in its supervisory expectations, and encourage credit institutions to include those risks in their risk management and decision making. In...

Tests of Russia's Zircon hypersonic cruise missile are nearing completion and deliveries to the navy will begin in 2022, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday (3 November).

The Metaverse is going mainstream, and European brands would do well to spot the potential value of shared virtual spaces that transcend borders.

Poland was expected to use the COP26 summit to announce its climate neutrality goals as the last country in the EU to do so. But Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s speech, which focussed on problems rather than solutions, was a letdown, experts told EURACTIV.

Newly appointed Polish Climate and Environment Minister Anna Moskwa will visit Prague on Friday to resume bilateral talks between Czechia and Poland in a bid to unblock the Turów lignite mine dispute. “We were glad that she took this as...

The opposition is still in the lead in Budapest, where the six-party joint list would get 44% of the vote, while Fidesz-KDNP would get 31%, if the parliamentary elections were held in the near future, a survey commissioned by HVG revealed. The survey of...

The government has approved a plan to join 76 undisturbed forests spread over 6,500 hectares in a new protected area dubbed Primary Forests Slovakia. The reservation will be under the highest level of protection, which should protect local biodiversity. Activists...

Spain welcomed 4.69 million foreign tourists in September this year, a 311.9% increase compared to the same month in 2020 when most of the EU was facing severe travel restrictions to contain the pandemic, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported. Read more....

Prime Minister António Costa on Wednesday told the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, that he would do whatever it takes to ensure that Portugal continues the process of fiscal consolidation and healthy public finances. Read more....

In an interview with Greek TV channel MEGA on Wednesday, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis made it clear that no new lockdown will be imposed in the country due to the increase in COVID-19 cases. The country is breaking records in COVID-19 cases, and the...

Renewable energy sources covered more than 52% of Finland’s electricity production in 2020, a new report released by Statistics Finland shows. This is the first time that renewables made up over half of the country’s energy mix. According to the...

Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its report on wastewater treatment in 2020, with findings that treatment fell below EU-set standards, 15 years from their 2005 compliance deadline. While there was a reduction in 2020 in the number of...

Austria’s Fiscal Council projects a budget deficit of only 1.6% in 2022. At the same time, the debt ratio will fall from 83.2% to 77.7%, the same as 2017’s debt ratio. The estimates of the Fiscal Council – one of...

Bulgarian presidential candidate – the nationalist Boyan Stankov was indicted for allegedly attacking an LGBTQ centre in Sofia. He was detained for 72 hours by the prosecutor as for him to be held longer would require a court decision. Stankov, who...