European Union

At a recent ceremony in the European Parliament in Brussels, the Association of European Capitals and Cities of Sport awarded the title of 'European City of Sport for 2020' to Pazardzhik. Valia Ahchieva takes a closer look at the Bulgarian city, whose sports base has fallen into disrepair and is earmarked for private developers.

Most Swiss oppose a referendum campaign launched by the far-right to end the free movement of citizens from the European Union, according to a poll published on Sunday (5 January).

Leftist former prime minister Zoran Milanovic, who has pledged to make Croatia a tolerant country turning the page on its wartime past, won Sunday’s presidential run-off vote, defeating the incumbent conservative leader. Milanovic took 52.7% of the vote while President...

Fearing the fallout from the killing of Iran's General Soleimani, Europeans on Sunday (5 January) called to de-escalate the crisis which threatens to collapse the landmark 2015 nuclear deal and puts NATO's training mission in Iraq in jeopardy.

On Sunday (5 January) Spain's prime minister Pedro Sanchez did not obtain the required majority of 176 of 350 votes in parliament for his coalition of social democrats and the far-left Podemos. Of the 350 MP's 166 voted in favour, 165 against and 18 abstained. In a second vote, expected on Tuesday (7 January), only a simple majority of the votes is needed.

Social democrat and former prime minister Zoran Milanovic has won 52.7% of the votes in the second round of Croatia's presidential elections. He defeated the center-right incumbent Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic with a larger margin than expected. On Facebook Milanovic wrote: "Thank you! Thanks to all volunteers, all of you who were my support over these six months. Thank you, people."

Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey has started with the deployment of troops to Libya, after the parliament gave its approval, Deutsche Welle reports. "Our soldiers' duty there is coordination. They will develop the operation center there. Our soldiers are gradually going right now," he told CNN Turk broadcaster. The troops are sent to support the international backed government of Fayez al-Sarraj.

Iranian State TV announced that Iran will no longer commit itself to the limits of the nuclear deal (JCPOA), despite calls from France, Germany and the UK to stick to the 2015 deal. According to the deal Iran would be able to build nuclear energy but no nuclear weapons. Iran declared it would still cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations.

With the assassination of Iranian general and war hero Qassem Suleimani, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei gets the opportunity to reunite the people in his country, after weeks of mass protests.

While Poland's government is escalating its rule of law crisis by introducing even more drastic measures against the country's judges, another problem is looming over the EU's commitment to upholding the rule of law: Malta.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Saturday (4 January) stressed the "need for de-escalation" after the US assassination of a top Iranian in Baghdad, while US President Donald Trump threatened to hit 52 Iranian sites “very hard” if Iran attacks Americans or US assets.

Weekly schedule of President Charles Michel 6-12 January 2020

President Charles Michel reacts to the deterioration of the situation in Iraq

The president of the European Council warned on Friday (3 January) against further escalation in Iraq after US forces killed an Iranian general, triggering fears of a wider conflict.

North Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev resigned Friday (3 January) ahead of a vote in April called after the EU blocked the start of membership talks with Skopje, the key policy goal of his cabinet.

Among the many foreign policy challenges facing the EU in 2020, the main theme will be how to assert itself on the world stage against China, the US and Russia, while upholding multilateralism and at least a semblance of global order.

The conservative ÖVP and The Greens reached an agreement on their government programme in Vienna on Thursday. If The Greens' Federal Congress follows President Van der Bellen in approving the coalition, Austria will have its first conservative-green government. Europe's press debates whether this is a viable model for other countries too.