European Union

A political stalemate is emerging in Bulgaria after Sunday's parliamentary elections. Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's liberal-conservative Gerb party secured the largest share of the vote with 26 percent, but it is clear that with its current coalition partners it won't secure a majority. At the same time other alliances seem barely feasible due to major differences. The press looks to Italy for solutions.

France has gone into lockdown for a third time despite assurances that it wouldn't, and Germany is also discussing tightening the measures again to contain the virus. Portugal, on the other hand, is hoping for a little more freedom after a tough two months. Europe's commentators describe how the pandemic continues to test people's patience and nerves.

Ten years after the last European census in 2011, parallel censuses were to be conducted again this year in all EU member states. Due to the pandemic, however, some states have postponed their census to 2022, while in others it will take place as planned. One of them is the Czech Republic, where voluntary declaration of nationality is being discussed.

A Chinese carrier group is exercising near Taiwan and such drills will become regular, China’s navy said late on Monday (5 April) in a further escalation of tensions near the island that Beijing claims as its sovereign territory.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has clashed with opposition leader Alex Tsipras over whether the country should order Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine outside of the European Union's vaccine framework.

Former pro-Kurdish party leader Selahattin Demirtaş, jailed since 2016 despite Western calls for his release, said the Turkish opposition should unite against rising oppression and moves to divide them, including a court case to ban his party.

Hungary will begin gradual easing of coronavirus restrictions within days, the government said on Monday (5 April), as it expects to have 25% of its population of 10 million inoculated by Tuesday or early Wednesday at the latest.

The lack of visionaries in Georgian politics increases the European Union’s responsibility to make sure that the country gets out of its current crisis, write Vakshuti Menabde and Teona Lavrelashvili. By Vakhushti Menabde is director of Program of Support for...

Russia said on Monday (5 April) it was in high-level contact with the United States about tensions over Ukraine and dismissed fears of a Russian military buildup even as it vowed to respond to new Ukrainian sanctions.

Data from hundreds of millions of Facebook users was leaked online, including personal information such as phone numbers, full names, and email addresses, Deutsche Welle writes. The leaked data from 533 million users in 106 countries was posted on an obscure hacking forum. The data is believed to be more than a year old, but security experts say the information could still be used by criminals to commit identity fraud.