Brussels 16.07.2024 Today the Council renewed the EU restrictive measures in view of the Russian Federation’s continuing actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine for a further six months, until 31 January 2025. (Image above: Council meeting, Brussels) These sanctions, first introduced in 2014, were significantly expanded since February 2022 in response to Russia’s unprovoked, unjustified…
Category: EU
EP: Ursula von der Leyen endorsed for II term
Strasbourg 18.07.2024 The European parliament endorsed Ursula von der Leyen as a head of the European Commission for the second term. After morning debate 401 MEP supported her candidacy by secret ballot. With 401 votes in favour, the European Parliament approved Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission in a secret ballot…
MEPs shape new Europarl for 2024-2029
Strasbourg 17.07.2024 The first Plenary session the MEPs have chosen Parliament’s new Bureau, with all 14 Vice-Presidents and five Quaestors elected on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, in a secret vote by paper ballot, 11 Vice-Presidents were elected in the first round of voting, and three in the second and final ballot. The vote on…
Europarl: President Roberta Metsola II mandate
Strasbourg 16.07.2024 On Tuesday, MEPs re-elected Roberta Metsola (EPP, MT) as President of the European Parliament until 2027, with 562 votes in the first round. Roberta Metsola won the election in the first round of voting, where she received an absolute majority of 562 votes cast out of 699 by secret paper ballot, among two…
EU: Erasmus+ Programme Ukraine inclusion
Brussels 16.07.2024 Fourteen projects involving 65 organisations from Ukraine have been recommended for funding under the European Union Erasmus+ Programme for Capacity Building in the Field of Higher Education Action (CBHE). This year, the 151 projects proposed for funding include the participation as partners or coordinators of over 1,500 higher education stakeholders from almost 120…
EP: Orban unites Europe’s Patriots
Brussels 08.07.2024 Marine Le Pen’s conservative National Rally (RN) joins a growing new alliance in the European Parliament led by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Hungary’s government spokesperson said on Monday, July 8. The new group enlists 84 MEPs from 12 EU states, and the door remains open. (Image below: announcement of a new group…
EU strongly condemns North Korea missile launch
Brussels 02.07.2024 “The European Union strongly condemns the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) launch of ballistic missiles on 1 July, which constitutes another violation of UN Security Council resolutions” reads the statement by the spokesperson on the recent launch of ballistic missiles. (Picture above: illustration, DPRK soldiers) “The EU reiterates its call on the…
EU top job nominations without surprises
Brussels 28.06.2024 The EU leaders have nominated incumbent European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen for a second five-year term. The Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was promoted as the EU top diplomat, and former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa was endorsed as the next president of EU Council. They represent centre right, socialists, and…
Zelensky admits heavy human losses
Brussels 27.06.2024 At the margins of the EU Summit Zelensky signed three security agreements days after the EU announced it was opening formal membership negotiations with Kyiv. Among them two bilateral with Estonia, and Lithuania, and one general with the EU “as whole”. “For the first time, this agreement will enshrine the commitment of all…
Charles Michel hosts crucial EU Summit
Brussels 27.06.2024 Invitation letter by President Charles Michel (pictured above): “I would like to invite you to the European Council meeting of 27 and 28 June. This will be a particularly significant meeting, as we face both a substantive agenda and critical decisions that will shape our path forward. “Among these decisions, three stand out…
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