Czechia’s Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky says one of his country’s goals when it heads the EU Council is to clarify the EU’s relationship with China. In an interview with Politico, Lipavsky spoke of Prague’s objectives in its 6-month stint in the rotating presidency, which begins in
Romania is rolling out a EUR 3.4 billion part-EU-funded assistance package to help struggling companies and families amid the economic downturn caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Under the “Support for Romania” measures that Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca unveiled on Monday, firms impacted by the war in Ukraine
Over two hundred Russian diplomats have been sent home from countries in Europe this week, in response to scenes of atrocities in the Kiev suburb of Bucha, in eastern Ukraine. The number of expelled Russian envoys from European states now totals 325, representing “one of the biggest diplomatic breakdowns of
The Polish Finance Ministry confirmed on Thursday that the European Commission (EC) has paid Poland EUR 30 million less in EU funding over the country’s failure to pay European Court of Justice (ECJ) fines, in an unprecedented move.
The ECJ has so far levied EUR 200 million in penalties
NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that intelligence showed Russian forces in Ukraine were not withdrawing, but appeared to be regrouping, according to Al Jazeera. His assertion contradicted the Kremlin’s announcement on Tuesday that it planned to reduce military operations in Kyiv and Chernihiv, following bilateral negotiations
Poland adopted draft legislation on Wednesday to prohibit coal imports from Russia. In its efforts to move away from all Russian energy sources, Warsaw says coal will be cut off within two months, while oil imports should cease by the end of 2022, according to Notes From Poland.
Poland’s
Wednesday saw a flurry of statements from Moscow and Kyiv on the prospects for peace in Ukraine, following talks between the two sides’ delegations on Tuesday in Istanbul, Turkey, but actual progress towards a peace deal remained unclear.
Al Jazeera reported that on Wednesday the Kremlin’s lead negotiator Vladimir
Hungary cancelled a scheduled summit of defence ministers from the Visegrad 4 (“V4”) group of EU member states – Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – on Tuesday. The defence ministers of both Czechia and Poland signalled they would not attend the gathering, scheduled for 30-31 March, due to Hungary’s stance on
Russia said on Tuesday it would reduce its military operations around Kyiv, and in Chernihiv in the north of Ukraine to build trust towards the prospect of Moscow and Kyiv eventually reaching a peace settlement. The BBC reports that Russia’s Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin made the announcement to
In a speech closing his visit to Poland, US President Joe Biden reassured NATO allies in Central and Eastern Europe that America does have their back in case of an attack by Russia, honouring its “sacred obligation” under Article 5, writes Notes from Poland. Biden warned Moscow: “Don’t even
The United States agreed a deal on Friday with the European Union to provide the bloc with an additional 15 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas this year to reduce the proceeds received by the Kremlin from energy exports to Europe. The liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipped from America
At an emergency NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday, US President Joe Biden said that the defence alliance had “never been more united” even though Russia’s Vladimir Putin was counting on dissension among its members over his invasion of Ukraine, according to Euronews. Biden commented, “Putin is getting exactly
NATO representatives meeting on Thursday will consider boosting the strength of the defence alliance’s eastern flank even further given Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. While NATO has already bumped up troop numbers, which now number 40,000 on its eastern border, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia could see
Russian forces using chemical weapons in Ukraine would not only be a violation of international law, but have “far-reaching consequences”, warned NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the defence alliance’s headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, writes Al Jazeera. He also said Moscow could not “win a nuclear war”, according to
Ukrainians are going through a “living hell”, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday, in what he termed an unwinnable war in Ukraine, the Guardian reported. “Sooner or later it will have to move from the battlefields to the peace table”, Guterres said of the war. “That is inevitable. The