European Union

Conservative candidate Armin Laschet, from the ruling CDU/CSU coalition, sought to make up for lost ground in opinion polls by attacking his socialist rival Olaf Scholz during Germany’s second televised election debate.

The Western Balkan railways are doing well in the process of adjusting to the EU railway network and pan-European corridors, while the sectoral priorities are opening markets, management and interoperability, the Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and...

The Croatian government is doing the right thing by stopping illegal migrants at the Croatian border, the spokesman for the ruling Danish Social Democratic Party (Socialdemokraterne), Rasmus Stoklund, told Hina in an interview. However, he avoided commenting on criticism by several civil...

Former EU Commissioner Dacian Ciolos told his liberal USR PLUS party members that he would resign from the presidency of the Renew Europe group in the EU Parliament if he became president of the party. Ciolos, who currently serves as...

Bulgarians will vote in both parliamentary and presidential elections on 14 November as the political crisis in the EU’s poorest country is deepening. Incumbent President Rumen Radev is expected to dissolve parliament this week. Following the last elections earlier this...

In an interview with EURACTIV’s partner Jutarnji list, Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović said Serbia is a political, security and information base for the realisation of Russian geopolitical interests in the Balkans. According to him, Serbia believes it is time for a...

The United Nations is convening an aid conference in Geneva on Monday (13 September) in an effort to raise more than $600 million for Afghanistan, warning of a humanitarian crisis there following the Taliban takeover.

Hundreds of believers, politicians and the representatives of the Church welcomed Pope Francis at the Bratislava airport on Sunday afternoon, at the start of his four-day visit to the country. Francis came to Bratislava from Budapest, where he also met...

With less than a week to go until opposition primaries that will decide who will challenge Viktor Orbán in parliamentary elections next April, prime minister hopefuls went head to head for the first time in a rare instance of televised...

Prague should definitely not recognise the Taliban government of Afghanistan, Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhánek said on Sunday. However, it will be necessary to communicate with the Taliban, he said, adding that the EU should take a united approach in...

Over the weekend, Angela Merkel paid her last trip to Poland as German chancellor, striking a conciliatory tone on Warsaw’s rule of law standoff with the EU. Speaking alongside Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Saturday, Merkel emphasized the importance...

Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese told Corriere della Sera in an interview on Sunday that Afghanistan runs the risk of becoming again the point of reference for international terrorism. “Global action is needed to counter all forms of violent extremism,” she said....

The no-confidence motion, to be presented by opposition party Sinn Féin over his controversial appointment of Katherine Zappone to the position of a UN special envoy, will be debated on Wednesday, once the parliament reconvenes following its summer recess. Coveney...

Spearheaded by Austria, eight EU member states pushed against the loosening of EU fiscal rules ahead of a meeting of EU finance ministers this weekend. “Together with other European colleagues we are pleading for a return to a sustainable budgetary...

Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist mayor of Paris, will be a candidate in the 2022 presidential elections, she said on Sunday during a speech in Rouen (Seine-Maritime). “With humility, aware of the gravity of this moment and to make our hopes...

The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog hailed a deal struck with Iran on Sunday (12 September) over access to surveillance equipment at Iranian nuclear facilities, saying it allowed space for diplomatic talks.

Leftist Die Linke is prepared for coalition talks about a progressive centre-left government in Germany after the elections, MEP Martin Schirdewan (Die Linke), co-chair of The Left in the European Parliament, told EURACTIV in an interview. Asked about criticism over his party’s...

Pope Francis called on Sunday (12 September) for vigilance against a rise in anti-Semitism, saying during a brief trip to Hungary this was a "fuse that must not be allowed to burn."

Germany's Greens party received a donation worth €1.25m from Dutch tech-billionaire Steven Schuurman last week - the largest in its history. "I wanted to ... make the world a little bit of a better place," Schuurman said. The gift comes after a German bitcoin speculator paid the Greens €1m in April. The party has received €3.14m in donations of €50,000 or more this year - more than the ruling CDU.

From 25 September, the Netherlands will impose a corona-pass to enter restaurants, bars, hotels, theatres, and cinemas, sources in the Dutch government say, the Dutch news channel NOS reports. The 1.5-metre distance rule, however, will be abolished. Face masks remain mandatory on public transport. The closing hours for bars and nightclubs remain in place at midnight. Football stadia can be fully filled again, if people show a corona pass.