Tag: European politics
Can anybody stop Ursula von der Leyen? – POLITICO
BRUSSELS
For a brief moment last year, it looked like Ursula von der Leyen’s bid for a second term as European Commission president just might be in trouble.
In an unscheduled trip to Israel in October, she had stood next to Benjamin Netanyahu and expressed unreserved solidarity in the country’s battle against Hamas.
Her statement would not have been out of place in the mouth of a U.S. president or, indeed, a German politician (which is, after all, what von
Pressure grows on Niger coup leaders as deadline looms – POLITICO
Pressure is mounting on Niger’s putschists hours ahead of a deadline later Sunday set by a group of West African countries for the military to step down or face a possible military intervention.
ECOWAS, a bloc of 15 Western African countries, issued its ultimatum after Niger’s top military officers announced on July 27 that they had overthrown the country’s President Mohamed Bazoum, who was democratically elected in 2021. According to France 24, the deadline expires on Sunday evening; Reuters reported
Niger junta revokes military pacts with France – POLITICO
Niger putschists said Thursday they will end military cooperation deals with France, dealing a major blow to French efforts to combat terrorism in the Sahel region.
Junta representative Amadou Abdramane late on Thursday read on national television a decision to revoke five military deals with France dating between 1977 and 2020, Reuters reported.
France’s foreign affairs ministry on Friday said that the revocation of military pacts by the junta will have no effect on existing military deals as it does
German far right picks EU lead candidate, wants European anti-migrant ‘fortress’ – POLITICO
Germany’s increasingly popular far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party elected the controversial MEP Maximilian Krah as its lead candidate for next year’s European Parliament election, while vowing to challenge the EU from the inside and turn it into a “fortress” against migrants.
More than 65 percent of the about 600 AfD delegates at a party gathering on Saturday in Magdeburg, in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, voted for Krah as their lead candidate for the European Parliament election, which
Italy intends to leave China’s Belt and Road Initiative, defense minister says – POLITICO
Italy intends to leave the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) “without doing damage” to its relationship with Beijing, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said.
“The issue today is: how to walk back [from the BRI] without damaging relations” with Beijing, Crosetto said in an interview with Corriere della Sera. “Because it is true that China is a competitor, but it is also a partner.”
In May, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the country could enjoy good relations with
Rishi Sunak wants review of local traffic-reduction schemes – POLITICO
LONDON — Local schemes to reduce traffic in some U.K. neighborhoods will be reviewed by the central government as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leans into concerns about the impact of pollution-cutting measures on motorists.
The U.K. government on Sunday announced that it would be reviewing so-called Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs), although added that it would only provide details of the review in “due course.”
Sunak told the Sunday Telegraph he would appraise low traffic schemes because the “vast majority” of
Georgia’s EU dreams live or die with Mikheil Saakashvili – POLITICO
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TBILISI, Georgia — Almost every day, Giuli Alasania makes the drive down a dusty highway through the Georgian capital to visit her son, former President Mikheil Saakashvili, in hospital.
“It’s ironic,” she says, fussing over the plastic pots of stewed beans and salads she is bringing for his lunch, “when he was president, he built this clinic. Now he’s dying in it.”
Ailing and imprisoned, Saakashvili holds Georgia’s future
Spain election repeat more likely after expat vote count – POLITICO
Spain’s already complicated electoral landscape just got a lot more complex.
On Saturday, the count of the 233,688 ballots deposited by Spaniards living abroad — which are tallied five days after the in-person vote is held — led to the redistribution of seats in the Spanish parliament. As a result, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party lost one of the spots it was allocated in Madrid, which will now go to the center-right Popular Party.
The Popular Party is now
Third racism scandal hits Finland’s government in space of a month – POLITICO
Finland’s right-wing coalition government has only been in office for a little over a month and has now been rocked by its third racism scandal, after a media report uncovered racist messages sent by the minister of economic affairs.
Wille Rydman — of the far-right Finns Party — used racial slurs in private messages with his then-girlfriend in 2016, according to Helsingin Sanomat. According to the report, Rydman said he would rather ban headscarf-wearers than headscarves, and told his then-partner
European Parliament set to grow by 15 MEPs in 2024 – POLITICO
BRUSSELS — An extra 15 MEPs will take up their seats in the European Parliament following next year’s EU elections, after governments struck a preliminary agreement on the size and shape of its composition.
The biggest winners are France, Spain and the Netherlands, as each of these countries will gain two MEPs, while the countries that will add one more are Austria, Belgium, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Latvia, Ireland and Denmark, according to a document from the Council of the