European Union

In today's edition of the Captials, find out more about Russia seeking closer security cooperation with Norway, the Commission, which has agreed to investigate the strict sentencing laws in Slovakia for Marijuana use, and so much more.

The UK has voiced anger over France's seizure of a fishing vessel with the wrong paperwork in a row on post-Brexit licences. France's ambassador to Britain was also ordered to explain "disproportionate threats made against the UK and Channel Islands" by British foreign minister Liz Truss after France threatened new customs checks and island-electricity cuts. "It's not war, but it is a fight," French seas minister Annick Girardin said.

“BiH’s path from Dayton to Brussels leads to reforms including step-by-step, electoral legislation and economic reforms that will benefit all citizens,” said US Western Balkan Special Envoy Gabriel Escoba at the Subcommittee: Europe, Energy, the Environment and Cyber in the...

Moldovan prime minister Natalia Gavrilița has declined to confirm reports of Gazprom blackmail, but thanked her EU "friends" for their support in dealing with Russia.

MEPs are going to Taiwan next week despite Chinese threats of new sanctions over EU contacts with Taipei.

As world leaders flock to Rome for the G20 summit, President Joe Biden kicks off a trip aimed at reasserting US international credentials, starting at a meeting Friday (29 October) with Catholic ally Pope Francis.

A group of 12 EU countries on Thursday called on Israel to reverse its plants to build 3,000 new settler homes in the West Bank, Reuters reported. "We call on both parties to build on steps taken in recent months to improve cooperation and reduce tensions," says the joint statement signed by the foreign ministries of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden.

French president Emmanuel Macron told Australian PM Scott Morrison that the scrapping of a multibillion-dollar submarine contract "broke the relationship of trust" and said Canberra should propose "tangible actions" to heal the diplomatic rift, The Guardian writes. In mid-September, Australia announced that, instead of French submarines, it would work with the US and the UK to acquire at least eight nuclear-propelled submarines in a partnership to be known as Aukus.

The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday that the reform of the Polish disciplinary system for judges is a "conditio sine qua non" to receive the recovery funds. "We want to put into that recovery and resilience plan a clear commitment to dismantle the disciplinary chamber, to end or reform the disciplinary regime and to start a process to reinstall the judges," she said.

A six-party opposition alliance that aims to topple Hungary's Viktor Orbán in elections next year is four points ahead of Orbán's Fidesz party, according to an opinion poll, The Guardian writes. The poll, published 10 days after the alliance chose a small-town mayor, Péter Márki-Zay, as its prime ministerial candidate, showed support for the united opposition at 39 percent, compared with 35 percent for Fidesz, but 23 percent undecided.

The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday that the bloc is expected to produce more than 3.5 billion doses of vaccines next year. She said that the majority of these doses will be exported to other countries. On top of exports, the EU and its member states have committed to donating 500 million doses of vaccines by mid-2022.

A group of MEPs resorted to scare tactics and false information on Thursday (28 October) to rail against European Parliament plans to impose a digital green pass in order to gain access to its buildings.

The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen called for climate leadership, warning that next week's UN climate summit in Glasgow (COP26) is "a moment of truth" for climate action.

Angela Merkel is paying her last visit to Greece as Germany’s Chancellor after years of tense relations mainly due to a bailout that almost led to a Grexit. Speaking to EURACTIV.com on condition of anonymity, a Greek former minister explained...

Ever since the resignation of Sebastian Kurz as Chancellor of Austria, and his replacement with Alexander Schellenberg, the opposition has claimed that Kurz will continue to act as a ‘shadow chancellor’ and will pull the strings behind the scenes. However,...

Post-communist democracies like Hungary and Poland are more politically vulnerable and exploitable,Czech law expert and Cardiff University professor Jiří Přibáň has said. “In Western democracies, the state and democratic institutions have been so far able to absorb the wave of...

The United States has made it clear that its partnership with Montenegro is with the state, not with any political party, US Western Balkans Envoy Gabriel Escobar said. Escobar said that Montenegro saw a significant change in August last year,...

The Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act, and the French-British fishing boat spat were some of the topics on the agenda when EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton began a two-day visit to Paris on Thursday (28 October).

Poland must undo its new disciplinary system for judges to unlock access to billions of euros of European Union aid aimed at helping revive economic growth after the coronavirus pandemic, the bloc's chief executive said on Thursday (28 October).

The government’s draft budget revision for 2021 raises the general government budget deficit from the previously estimated 3.8% to 4.5%. It also foresees a 3 billion kuna (€400 million) rise in revenue and a 6 billion kuna (€800 million) rise...