EU lost €5 billion-plus in misused funds, bloc’s chief prosecutor reports
The European Public Prosecutors Office (EPPO) said that the European Union budget lost more than €5 Billion in misused funds.
Politics
Latest reporting and analysis on politics.
Montenegro’s new government aims to join EU but depends on pro-Russia bloc for support
Montenegro's new Prime Minister Milojko Spajić is introducing anti-corruption courts to speed up hoped-for European Union accession.
All 27 EU Member States back UN call to end US-Cuba embargo
The UN General Assembly, with the support of all European Union Member States, has issued a resolution calling on the US to end its trade embargo on Cuba.
Pro-Russian Moldovan governor ‘signs fake gas contract’ for her region
A pro-Russian governor in Moldova has allegedly signed a “fake” contract to supply cheap gas to her region.
In diamond centre Antwerp, Russian gems are already shunned
Only a few weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Antwerp-based diamond dealer Thierry Tugendhaft started receiving calls from big jewellers in Paris…
Cancel culture has now reached Poland — the EU machine can relax and celebrate
The astounding appeal appeared in the pages of Poland's largest daily newspaper.
Bulgaria’s seventh election in two years brings more instability to a rickety power share
In Bulgaria's seventh major election in a rocky two years, its two government power-sharing partners are now squaring up in run-off municipal elections on November…
Advantage UK if Germany bails on fighter-jet project with France, says British ex-minister
Any decision by Germany to jettison its €100 billion fighter-jet project with France and remove its veto on a UK-Saudi aircraft deal would be "advantageous" to…
Putin’s embrace of Hamas is the ultimate warning for Europe’s remaining Russophiles – there is no conservative case for cosying up to the Kremlin
The unspeakable atrocities perpetrated on October 7 by the inhuman ISIS/Hamas brutes were evidently welcomed in Moscow as a boost to Russia’s fortunes.
Germany’s CDU demands halt to immigrant naturalisation reform
Germany's centre-right opposition party is demanding that the government halt its reform of the naturalisation process for immigrants.
Germany bans Hamas and affiliate Samidoun
German interior minister Nancy Faeser has imposed a ban on Hamas and affiliate organisation Samidoun.
Leaked papers show Kosovo ‘willing to compromise with Serbia’
Leaked documents from the Kosovo Government show the country assenting to a key compromise with Serbia.
EC chief pushes for Western Balkans reforms over EU enlargement
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen made a four-day visit starting October 30 to North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia…
Facebook owner Meta faces EU ban on targeted advertising
The European data regulator has agreed to extend a ban imposed by non-EU member Norway on "behavioural advertising" on Facebook and Instagram to cover all 30 countries…
The EU machine is forgetting its citizens are not merely ‘economic abstractions’ — if they don’t notice soon they will be engulfed by the populism they so fear
How much is a carton of milk? used to be question thrown at politicians to gauge whether they were in touch with the reality faced by the common man.
Russia tightens security in Caucasus after anti-Israeli airport riot
By Andrew Osborn Oct 31 (Reuters)
Von der Leyen tours troubled Balkans in EU enlargement push
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was in Montenegro on October 31 to push for the expansion of the European Union.
In Brussels and Madrid: the fight against Puigdemont’s amnesty
More than 100,000 flag-waving Spaniards gathered in Madrid’s historic Plaza Colón (Columbus Square) on October 29.
Israeli President backs Macron’s anti-Hamas coalition proposal
Israeli President Isaac Herzog voiced his support for French President Emmanuel Macron's anti-Hamas coalition proposal.
Outgoing Dutch PM opens up about top job at NATO
Mark Rutte, the outgoing Prime Minister of the Netherlands, said he might be willing to become the next Secretary General of NATO.
France’s Senate approves ban on ‘inclusive writing’
France's Senate yesterday voted to ban excessive "inclusive writing". Senators argue it changes the French language, while making legal texts hard to understand.
Czech Republic should leave UN as it ‘supports terrorists’, minister says
The Czech Republic needs to consider leaving the United Nations after its members voted to "support terrorists", says the country's defence minister.
German minister denounces Greta Thunberg’s ‘unspeakable’ pro-Palestinian statements
Greta Thunberg's pro-Palestinian statements after the terror attacks in Israel are "unspeakable", says a German Green party minister.
Working group plotting how to make MEPs turn up to parliament
A working group of 13 MEPs have been plotting ways to fix the European Parliament's low attendance by members and paltry public profile.
Germany needs to ‘be ready for war’, defence minister argues
Germany needed "to become ready for war", defence minister Boris Pistorius said.
Poland’s incoming coalition preparing a controversial ‘purge list’ of PiS-linked public sector and media
With Poland’s new parliamentary majority preparing to take power, its leaders have made plans for a public sector purge — with Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza publishing…
From curbs on free speech to centralising asylum policy, the EU is leveraging Hamas’s assault on Israel to give itself more powers
Like the sun rising in the morning and Eurostat getting everything utterly wrong, one of the truisms of the EU is that it never wastes a crisis.
EU nations lost out on €61 billion in VAT in 2021, EC report finds
European Union Member States lost out on a total of €61 billion in VAT payments in 2021, according to the European Commission VAT Gap Report 2023 released on…
Council summit: EU budget risks derailment over Ukraine aid
Hungary and Slovakia are opposing the bloc’s proposed €50 billion in financial aid, which is being tied in with the EU's entire budget, known as the Multi-Annual…
Shootout at Serbian-Hungarian border leaves three migrants dead
Three migrants were killed and one injured on October 27 in an exchange of gunfire near the Serbian settlement of Horgoš, in the border zone between Serbia and…