Category: EU Reporter

Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar on Wednesday unveiled a centre in Istanbul to oversee the export of Ukrainian grain, after a UN deal last week between Russia and Ukraine. The first shipment is expected to depart from Black Sea ports within days. The joint coordination centre (JCC) will oversee departures from three Ukrainian ports, with […]

It comes a day after EU governments approved a watered-down plan to curb gas demand by 15 percent, aimed at lowering consumption, building storage, and sharing supplies if Russia in future cuts all exports.

The European Commission put forward a new proposal to reduce pesticides in mid-June. But experts warn that it is based on weak rules, and that European agriculture is stuck in a “permanent pesticide-dependence.”

Hotel Giardino, in the tiny skiing resort of Breno, Italy, is run by a staff of refugees as part of a good-news programme aimed at integrating migrants.

Bulgaria is preparing for snap elections, likely in October, after the Socialist party abandoned plans to form a new coalition. “It became clear that there is no majority willing to fight corruption … In that case we will return the mandate to form a government to the president unfulfilled tomorrow,” Georgi Svilenski, a senior party […]

An internal investigation by the EU Commission found “indicators of compromise” — signs that some staff smartphones were hacked using Israeli-made ‘Pegasus’ malware — according to a letter from EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders to Dutch MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld on 25 July, seen by Reuters. The probe was triggered when Apple warned Reynders […]

Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan’s minister of ecology and natural resources, talks about the country’s environmental challenges.

The EU court in Luxembourg has thrown out Russia’s challenge against a ban on propaganda outlet Russia Today imposed after the invasion of Ukraine.

Greece has proposed a new EU mechanism to compensate industries affected by EU plans to restrict gas use. “By offering financial incentives, rather than relying on the penalty of interruptions during an emergency, the proposal is more likely to unlock a firm and sizeable response from industry,” Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a […]

Zsuzsa Hegedüs, a veteran aide of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, has quit her post after Orbán spoke out against interracial mixing in a speech last weekend. The speech was “pure Nazi” and “worthy of Goebbels [Hitler’s propagandist]” she said in her resignation letter, according to Hungarian media. Orbán replied he had “zero-tolerance” of racism […]