New EU Commission readies for pivotal term

3 min read EU, Hungary, Politics, V4 & Romania, Daniel Freund, European Commission, European Union, Hermann Tertsch, Oliver Varhelyi, Raffaele Fitto, Teresa Ribera, von der Leyen

European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen looks set to push through her new team of commissioners and executive vice-presidents this week, following a contentious process that has exposed political divides in the European Parliament (EP). EC executive vice-presidents and commissioner-designates were selected after weeks of disputes between the

Albania opens first EU-accession chapters

3 min read Albania, Balkan countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina, EU, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Politics, Serbia, Ukraine, Edi Rama, European Commission, Oliver Varhelyi

Albania’s bid to join the EU gained momentum at the latest intergovernmental conference that marked the opening of formal EU accession talks in Luxembourg on Tuesday, October 15. The talks focused on the first cluster of chapters known as the “fundamentals,” which include human rights, rule of law, and