Global Europe 19-05-2024
Elections 18-05-2024
Politics 20-05-2024
As the competition to secure the economic and strategic benefits of space intensifies, Europe cannot afford to be sidelined. With the reshuffle of the European Union’s top jobs later this year, appointing a Space Commissioner would be a powerful signal, writes Arthur de Liedekerke.
The British government estimates it will spend at least 4.7 billion pounds (€5.5 billion) on implementing post Brexit border arrangements, after repeated delays in setting new rules, parliament's spending watchdog said on Monday (20 May).
Finland will propose a law next week allowing border agents to block asylum seekers trying to enter from Russia, the prime minister said on Sunday (19 May), a decision that could cause Helsinki to temporarily breach its international commitments.
The Islamic State group on Sunday (19 May) claimed responsibility for an attack targeting tourists in Afghanistan that killed three Spaniards and three Afghans.
The 2018 Prespa Agreement between Greece and North Macedonia must be implemented by “all parties” and in “good faith”, a European Commission spokesperson told Euractiv amid a new spat between Athens and Skopje threatening to revive a 25-year dispute.
Two Albanian women have become the first couple in the country’s history to challenge the laws on marriage under a provision of the constitution while also taking part in a religious marriage ceremony, as the EU Ambassador to Albania, Silvio Gonzato says Albania needs to consider the equality of citizens before the law.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister were killed in a helicopter crash in mountainous terrain and icy weather, an Iranian official said on Monday (20 May), after search teams located the wreckage in East Azerbaijan province of Iran.
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has described Ukraine's victory over Russia as "impossible" and linked the two-year war with Russia to the assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
On Friday, hearing before a Belgian court on the Pfizergate was postponed to 6 December to give all parties additional time to further examine certain aspects of the case, such as the competence conflict between the Belgian investigating judge and the EPPO.
While the violence continues in New Caledonia, the archipelago is in a precarious economic situation, plagued for months by falling nickel prices, of which it holds 20% to 30% of the world's reserves.
Socialism is “cursed and cancerous” and “invites death”, and the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D) is “corrupt”, Argentina’s President Javier Milei said on Sunday, speaking at the Europa VIVA 24 rally organised by the far-right VOX party (ECR) in Madrid this weekend, which has led Madrid to recall its ambassador in Buenos Aires for consultations.
The Prime Ministers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni (Fratelli d’Italia/ECR) and Hungary, Viktor Orbán (Fidesz/ID), and the leader of France’s Rassemblement National (RN/ID), Marine Le Pen, joined forces in Madrid on Sunday to boost the chances of the far-right VOX party, the third largest force in the Spanish parliament, ahead of the European elections in June.
Former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš ANO party is expected to win the EU elections in the Czech Republic according to polls, amid a public debate dominated by his anti-EU agenda targeting the migration pact and the Green Deal.
A helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister crashed on Sunday (19 May), with rescuers struggling to reach the site of the incident.
Israeli troops and tanks pushed on Saturday (18 May) into parts of a congested northern Gaza Strip district that they had previously skirted in the more than seven-month-old war, killing and wounding dozens of Palestinians, medics and residents said.
Even if Ukrainian forces can hold out until all the American ammunition and weapons get through to the front, the challenge ahead remains daunting, according to many of those fighting.
Georgian President Salome Zourabishvili on Saturday (18 May) put a mostly symbolic veto on the "foreign influence" law that sparked unprecedented protests and warnings from Brussels that the measure would undermine Tbilisi's European aspirations.
Greece warned on Friday (17 May) that North Macedonia's reopening of a long-running name dispute could hurt its EU bid, hours after the incoming prime minister in Skopje rejected criticism from Athens.
Croatia's parliament on Friday (17 May) approved a new coalition government allying the ruling conservatives with a right-wing nationalist party.
The EU’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) welcomes publication of the updated World Health Organisation Bacterial Priority Pathogens List (WHO BPPL).
The European Commission has moved to "compel" Microsoft to provide information about generative artificial intelligence (AI) risks on its Bing search engine, threatening it with a fine, according to a statement on Friday (17 May).
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) suspended the use of the hydroxyprogesterone caproate medicines, which mimic progestin hormone, amid doubts about their medical benefits and concerns that they might be related to increased cancer risk.
Less migration, more manure: For EU purposes, that could have been the motto chosen by the four Dutch right-wing parties that agreed this week on a programme for a new government in the Netherlands. Instead, they went for ‘hope, courage and pride’, preferring to address the Dutch voters.
Domestically, the attempt on Fico's life is painted as a consequence of intense political struggle, whereas English-language media are connecting to Russia and Ukraine, as well as the WHO.
