Category: EU Reporter

Russians fleeing a military draft won’t get into Estonia or Latvia, posing questions what Finland, Lithuania, and Poland would do if there is a large exodus.

The EU has lifted some restrictions on the trade and financing of Russian coal and chemical to avoid an energy and food security crisis in poorer countries, but the upcoming ban on oil may have an even deeper impact.

Dutch leader Mark Rutte, the Belgian prime minister Alexander de Croo, and the EU Council chairman Charles Michel have urged calm after Russian president Vladimir Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia. “His rhetoric on nuclear weapons is something we have heard many times before, and it leaves us cold,” Rutte said. “It […]

The Strasbourg-based Council of Europe human rights watchdog on Wednesday rejected referendums “held at gunpoint by occupying forces” in several Ukrainian regions, urging the end of the war on the continent. “We reject this mockery of democracy and reaffirm our commitment to the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of our member state Ukraine within its internationally-recognised borders,” said the […]

Lithuania on Wednesday increased alert levels of its army “to prevent any provocations from Russia,” the country’s defence minister Arvydas Anusauskas wrote on Facebook, after Moscow announced on the same day a partial military mobilisation for the war in Ukraine. “As Russia’s military mobilisation will also be carried out in the Kaliningrad region, our neighbourhood, […]

Finland said on Wednesday that it is monitoring the situation in neighbouring Russia, after president Vladimir Putin ordered the country’s first military mobilisation since World War Two, Reuters reported. “Regarding Finland’s surroundings, I can say that the military situation is stable and calm,” said Finnish defence minister Antti Kaikkonen, pointing out that “defence forces are […]

One-way flights out of Russia were selling out fast on Wednesday after president Vladimir Putin ordered the immediate mobilisation of 300,000 reservists, Reuters reported. Putin’s announcement raised fears that some men of fighting age would not be allowed to leave Russia. Direct flights from Moscow to Turkey’s Istanbul and Armenia’s Yerevan, which both allow Russians […]

From 2050 onwards, the EU should remove more greenhouse gases than it emits — a great challenge. Are the member states ready for this challenge? The answer is no.

Morocco refused to grant a group of Left MEPs access to the Nador crossing point from the Spanish-enclave of Melilla on Tuesday (20 September). The MEPs had wanted to gain access as part of an investigation into the death of over 23 asylum seekers after some 2,000 attempted to scale the wall into the Melilla […]

Germany has confirmed the nationalisation of Uniper, the country’s largest gas-importer — in a bid to secure operations and prevent supply shortages following Russian supply cuts.