European Union

The European Parliament has formally nominated Russian dissident Alexei Navalny for this year's 'Sakharov' human-rights prize. "It is vital that we in the European Parliament confirm our relentless support for Navalny and stress that his wellbeing is the responsibility of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," Peter van Dalen, a Dutch centre-right MEP said in plenary Monday. Putin tried to kill Navalny with poison then jailed him in a remote penal colony.

US President Joe Biden will use this week's inaugural technology ministerial with the European Union to push for solutions to the nagging semiconductor supply issue that has hit the American economy, officials said Monday (27 September).

EU relations with Morocco have improved in recent years. Will they be derailed by a European court ruling later this week, asks James Moran.

Nato forces in Kosovo have increased their patrols on the northern border near Serbia, Deutsche Welle writes. It comes after Serbia deployed armoured vehicles by a border crossing and ethnic Serbs in Kosovo protested a decision by Kosovo's government concerning license plates. Nato said it was "closely monitoring the situation across Kosovo" and working "to ensure a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all communities."

European lorry drivers will not flock back to the UK on short-term visas to help fill up shops for Christmas under a British plan, Edwin Atema, from the Dutch-Based FNV road-hauliers' union told the BBC Monday. "The EU workers we speak to will not go to the UK for a short-term visa to help the UK out of the shit they created themselves," he said, referring to post-Brexit arrangements.

Moldova's prime minister, Natalia Gavrilița, gets more excited when she talks about fighting corruption than about EU enlargement.

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was nominated on Monday (27 September) for the European Parliament's annual human rights prize as European Union lawmakers sought to keep the public spotlight on his pro-democracy network, which has been banned in Russia.

Britain on Monday (27 September) put the army on standby to help with the ongoing fuel crisis as fears over tanker driver shortages led to panic buying, leaving many of the country's pumps dry.

The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, who cycles to work in The Hague, has reportedly been given extra personal security in response to raised fears of a kidnapping or attack by organised crime, The Guardian writes. The decision was made after "spotters" were seen scoping out Rutte's movements, raising concerns about a possible move by one of the country's drug gangs.

Berliners voted in favour of expropriating apartments owned by big real-estate companies, with 56 percent of voters in the German capital saying 'yes' in the non-binding referendum at this weekend, the Financial Times reported on Monday. Now Berlin's new municipal government has to decide how to proceed, since the expropriation of housing units could be legally challenged as against the German constitution.

Polish interior minister Mariusz Kaminski called on Monday for a 60-day extension of the state of emergency along the border with Belarus, claiming that material linked to Islamic extremism was found in phones of migrants trying to cross the border, Reuters reported. Polish officials found extreme content in 50 out of 200 migrants questioned. Poland and the EU have accused Belarus of using migrants in retaliation against EU sanctions.

Two more Polish regions have ditched former declarations saying they were "LGBTI ideology-free zones" under threat of losing EU funds. The votes by the Małopolskie and Podkarpacie districts came after the Świętokrzyskie region also made a U-turn last week. Podkarpacie said Monday it was a place of "long-standing toleration". But the Lubelski region voted to keep its anti-gay declaration. "We don't kneel for Brussels, only before God," it said Monday.

Hungary has told Ukraine to stay out of its gas contracts, after Budapest made a 15-year deal to take more volumes via Russia's new Turkey pipeline, called Turkstream, which bypasses Ukraine. "Energy safety is a matter of [national] security," Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said. The Russian deal was a "purely political, economically unreasonable decision", Ukraine's foreign ministry said. Russia recently completed another pipeline, Nord Stream 2, also bypassing Ukraine.

The two main rivals both have said they will try to head the next government. But the splintered election result means either will need both the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats to form a majority.

ECB president Christine Lagarde said that "fiscal authorities" (ie governments) have a responsibility to "harness market power" to arrange better prices and referred to a Spanish plan that might "rebalance other market forces."

MEPs have slammed the European Commission for sidelining the European Parliament in the new Health Emergency preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), giving MEPs a role of mere observers. Its budget will be €6bn over the next six years.

Economist Shahin Vallée says Germany has the resposability to lead the European debate on fiscal reforms in the face of the climate crisis. If they don't take up the mantle, the EU will continue failing during further crises.

Right-wing extremist narratives thrive on the US's swift withdrawal from Afghanistan. They may gain traction particularly among soldiers and veterans of Western armed forces, some of which have in the past been confronted with right-wing radicalisation among their troops.

In this first EU Scream Book Club, co-authors of The Last Bluff recount how the world watched in awe — and often admiration — as a scrappy government in Athens tried to stare down Europe's financial and political establishment.

OH Leuven has worked on a new mobility plan for the King Power @ Den Dreef stadium before the return of the supporters. A mobility study was carried out by a specialist agency and supporters were also surveyed online. In addition, consultations were held with the various stakeholders such as the City, the neighbourhood committee, surrounding organisations, among other interested parties.