Borrell: advancement of Ukraine Peace Formula

Luxembourg 14.10.2024 “We started our Foreign Affairs Council with the Ukranians Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, who debriefed us on the situation in the battlefield. The Minister commented some elements of the Victory Plan that President Zelensky will present to the next European Council. We discussed and commented on how to advance the Peace Formula” said…

MEPs debate with PM Orban: conflicting opinions

Strasbourg 09.10.2024 The MEPs discussed Hungary’s priorities for its six-month Council Presidency, which started on 1 July, with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola noted in her opening statement that the Hungarian Presidency comes at a time when the EU is taking “significant steps forward” including “supporting Ukraine, strengthening European competitiveness, and…

Minister Boka regrets anti-Hungarian “hysteria”

Brussels 04.09.2024 Today MEP Kinga Gál and MEP András László hosted a press-conference of János Bóka, Minister for European Union Affairs, on the margins of the meeting of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), European Parliament, Brussels. The event was organised following the new wave of criticism of Hungarian government, regarding…

Pavel Durov arrest stirs whirlwind

Brussels 27.08.2024 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that relations with France are at their lowest level following the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov at Le Bourget airport near Paris. The arrest has provoked a stream of condemnations from Russia, although the Kremlin tried to take control over Telegram in 2018. On Monday August…

Pax Russica: Kursk dogs left on chains to die

Brussels 14.08.2024 Hundreds of companion-animals have been abandoned in the Kursk region. Their owners left them to die in locked apartments and houses when they were evacuated. Elena Goryuchkina, director of the Kursk shelter “Good City,” said that volunteers are currently unable to help their furry friends due to the difficult operational situation in the…

RF: Kursk nuclear power plant risks

Brussels 13.08.2024 The European Union considers it is important not to “speculate and hypothesize” on nuclear accident scenario, concerning Kursk nuclear power plant, and the Commission is hopeful that it doesn’t happen, but in such a case “there are systems in place in coordination between the EU and the international agencies”, the spokesperson for Climate…

Kremlin downplays Kursk failure

Brussels 12.08.2024 The Kremlin decided to declare a counterterrorism operation avoiding a state of war or martial law to downplay the scale of the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast to prevent domestic consequences of the failure. The move demonstrating that the Kremlin is reluctant to take relevant measures to respond to the Ukraine successful operation…

EU renews anti-Russian sanctions

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…

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…