European Union

Hungary has started negotiations regarding the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines last Friday and Monday over the phone with Russian Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov and Health Minister Mikhail Murashko “with whom we have agreed to maintain ongoing contact to...

Polish nationalists announced that the Independence March will still take place on 11 November as scheduled, despite public gatherings of more than five people currently prohibited according to the country’s COVID-19 restrictions. Organisers argue that the Independence March will be...

The Polish government placed an order for 308 new cars as part of a project called “logistic support in the field of providing assistance II”, which, as official documents show, will be co-financed by the EU’s Asylum, Migration and Integration...

Thessaloniki and the neighbouring region of Serres have been put in lockdown for 14 days as COVID-19 cases rose dangerously in recent weeks. Wholesale, industry, hotels, and schools remain open. Tele-education will be compulsory for all high schools, as well...

Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa ruled out declaring a full lockdown like the one imposed during the first wave on Monday in the region of Asturias (northern Spain) to contain the fast spread of COVID-19 in the region, EFE reported....

30% of the EU's €1.8 trillion budget and recovery plan for 2021-2027 will be made available for the green transition. That amount is no longer up for negotiation and the focus must now shift to spending it well, said Kadri Simson, the EU's energy commissioner.

A top aide to President Donald Trump, two former EU Commissioners and a current EU head of state are among 10 candidates to lead the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the OECD said Monday (2 November).

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte outlined before parliament on Monday the latest planned COVID-19 restrictions to be included in the new decree by Wednesday at the latest, including a nationwide 9pm curfew. “Infections are rising all over the world. Italy...

Finland’s government plans to set up a task force to deal with human trafficking, announced Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo (Greens) on Monday in an interview with daily broadsheet Helsingin Sanomat. The announcement came as a response to the “2020 Trafficking...

England will go back into lockdown on Thursday in a bid to avoid thousands of daily deaths from the second wave of COVID-19, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told UK lawmakers on Tuesday. Pubs, restaurants, gyms, and non-essential shops will be...

Walloon Minister-President Elio Di Rupo urged citizens to respect Belgium’s second lockdown rules or face an even stricter one because of a lack of compliance. “Bear, support, withstand now in the hope of having a more humane month of December,...

France’s government will pronounce on Wednesday the dissolution of the Turkish ultranationalist movement known as the “Grey Wolves”, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told the National Assembly’s law commission Monday. It is “a particularly aggressive grouping, to say the least,” the...

Moldova's pro-European presidential hopeful Maia Sandu won a surprise first-round victory in elections at the weekend, a major setback for Moscow-backed incumbent Igor Dodon that suggests a tight second round later this month.

Increasing digital skills, broadening the availability of the bloc's eGovernment services, and bridging Europe's connectivity divides are areas that should be at the forefront of policymakers' minds in the EU's resilience against the ongoing public health crisis, Hilary Mine told EURACTIV.

Chocolate is a cheap treat in Europe, but beneath the wrapper, it is mired in the bitter issues of deforestation, biodiversity loss and child labour.

Warsaw’s objections regarding the Nord Stream 2 pipeline are not linked with the energy security imperative or energy market distortions. It is actually unclear how the launch of the Nord Stream-2 pipeline could negatively affect Poland’s energy market, writes Danila Bochkarev.

Poles staged further protests in cities across the country ahead of the expected entry into force of a ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal that bans most abortions and that has prompted nearly two weeks of demonstrations and rallies.

Mass-scale pro-democracy protests in Belarus continued over the weekend after rigged elections on 9 August, despite ongoing police violence, with opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya urging the EU to ramp up sanctions. Europe should blacklist "people and companies supporting [president Alexander] Lukashenko," as well as his officials, she told the Financial Times on Sunday. She also called for visa-free EU travel for ordinary Belarusians to help morale.

Around a dozen were wounded and three people have been shot dead, including a suspected gunman, following multiple attacks in the Austrian capital Vienna. Police say a second suspected gunman is on the run. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called it a "repulsive terror attack". His interior minister described the suspects as an "Islamist terrorist".

The EU Parliament suspended MEPs' €323 daily allowance due to the Brussels pandemic. But neo-Nazi MEP Ioannis Lagos finds that unfair and wants parliament to create "a central register in a Covid-19-free place" so he can still pocket the funds.