Coronavirus Outbreak in Belgium: "Brussels, a Very Quiet City"

Coronavirus in Belgium: FRANCE24's correspondent in Brussels Dave Keating tells us more about the situation of the pandemic in the country.

Brussels: Brexit Agreement Is 'Best and Only Agreement Possible' – EU Commission

Brussels Greets Boris Johnson Victory by Rejecting Brexit Plans

THE GUARDIAN: EU restates opposition as Ursula von der Leyen warns of ‘challenging times ahead’

Boris Johnson’s election as Conservative leader has been greeted in Brussels with a rejection of the incoming British prime minister’s Brexit demands and an ominous warning by the newly appointed European commission president about the “challenging times ahead”.

Ursula von der Leyen, who will replace Jean-Claude Juncker on 1 November, said both sides had a “duty” to deliver a deal as she offered her congratulations to Johnson on his victory.

“There are many difficult issues we will tackle together,” she said. “It is important to build up a strong working relationship because we have a duty to deliver something which is good for the people in Europe and the United Kingdom.”

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, tweeted that he wanted to work “constructively” with Johnson on the basis that both sides were committed to facilitating “the ratification of the withdrawal agreement”, the deal struck by Theresa May that the new Conservative leader has repeatedly described as dead. » | Daniel Boffey in Brussels | Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Brussels Confirms Return of Border Checks under No-deal Brexit

THE GUARDIAN: British travellers will need to get passport stamped and may be asked about purpose of visit

British travellers will get a stamp in their passport every time they enter and leave the European Union in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the European commission has confirmed.

The announcement on border checks was revealed days after the British government secured a short extension that shifts the Brexit deadline to 12 April.

“The risk of a no-deal scenario is becoming increasingly likely,” an EU official said. The EU’s Brexit no-deal plans “cannot replicate the benefits of being an EU member” and were not “mini-deals or a negotiated no deal”, but unilateral measures to avoid disruption for the EU side, the official said.

In an information notice, the commission confirmed that in the event of a no-deal UK nationals would have the right to visa-free travel for short stays in the EU (90 days in any 180-day period), if the UK grants the same arrangement to citizens of all EU member states. “Your passport will be stamped both when you enter the EU and when you leave it, so that this period of 90 days, which is visa-free, can be calculated.”

British travellers would also lose access to the EU lane at border crossings, meaning longer queues.

In another return to the past, British travellers may be asked by border guards to provide information on the purpose of their visit and means of subsistence during their stay. Luggage would be subject to customs checks. » | Jennifer Rankin in Brussels | Monday, March 25, 2019

May Dashes to Salvage Brexit Deal in Brussels

The scene is set for a crisis: MPs indicating they still won't back the PM's deal, Theresa May insisting she won't ask for a long extension, and the EU currently saying nothing except that they might convene an emergency summit next week. In Britain, over a million people have signed a petition in the last 24 hours calling for Article 50 to be revoked - a possibility that Jeremy Corbyn refused to rule out earlier.

Trump Administration Downgrades EU's Status in US, without Informing Brussels

THE GUARDIAN: Downgrade of diplomatic role seen as a snub reflecting a general antipathy to the EU in the Trump administration

The Trump administration has downgraded the diplomatic status of the EU mission in Washington, without informing the mission or Brussels, officials confirmed on Tuesday.

The downgrade from nation state to international organisation status reverses an Obama administration decision in 2016 to grant the EU an enhanced diplomatic role in Washington, and is being seen in Brussels as a snub reflecting a general antipathy to the EU in the Trump administration. The president has supported Brexit and has described the EU as a “foe”.

The change, first reported by the German news agency, Deutsche Welle, potentially means that the EU mission would have less clout and access to US officials. » | Julian Borger in Washington | Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Theresa May Tries to Salvage Brexit Deal in Brussels

Theresa May is ending the worst week of her political life in the place where she now looks more comfortable than Westminster.

This is her second visit to Brussels in three days and now that she has clung on to her job she came hoping to get her deal across the line in Parliament.

Her fellow EU leaders were long on admiration for her tenacity but came short on the kind of concessions that could save her deal and perhaps her government.

Brussels Protesters Demonstrate against Trump Visit

At least 2,000 people gathered in Brussels to protest against a visit President Trump

Angry, Uninformed Brexit Loonies Rage about Nick Clegg's Brussels Trip

Yanis Varoufakis On Brexit: 'How Can These Smart People Be So Deluded' - BBC Newsnight

Yanis Varoufakis, former Greek finance minister, resigned back in 2015 at the height of the crisis there. He has now written a book about the whole experience, Adults in the Room - and he spoke to Evan Davis about Brexit and the UK's general election.

UK's May Hears Hard Truths as EU Preps for Brexit

Mar.10 -- Prime Minister Theresa May faces a united front of European Union leaders planning for the U.K.'s promised triggering of Article 50 later this month. Bloomberg's Ian Wishart reports from the EU summit meeting in Brussels on "Bloomberg Markets."

Europe: US VP Mike Pence Takes Charm Offensive to EU and NATO in Brussels

Geert Wilders Speaks in Brussels on Resisting Islam and Much More

Farage Warns Trump: Don't Let America Become Like Brussels

Hungary Taunts Merkel over Terror and Says 'Our Problem Is Not in Mecca, But in Brussels'

EXPRESS: THE BITTER divisions ripping the European Union apart intensified today as Hungary launched an eviscerating attack on Brussels over migration and taunted Angela Merkel for failing to protect German people from Islamist terror.

In an astonishingly savage tirade the country’s leader Viktor Orban described the EU elite as serial “failures” and openly goaded struggling western European nations, describing them as “stagnated and incapable of change”.

The hardline Prime Minister called for a radical overhaul of the European project, decrying the growing loss of sovereignty to Brussels as a disaster and “one of the greatest threats in Europe today”.

And he issued a stunning rebuke to Mrs Merkel on migration, blaming recent terror attacks on the mas influx of refugees and saying Hungary no longer looked up to its near neighbour as a paragon of stability and common sense. » | Nick Gutteridge | Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Leaked Document: Germany and France to Replace Brussels In Charge of EU?

Geert Wilders Speaks in Brussels on Resisting Islam

Malzberg: Robert Spencer on the Belgium Terror Attacks & the Global Threat of Islamic Terrorism

Trump Responds to Brussels Terror Attacks

Mayhem in Brussels Airport: Immediate Aftermath of Zaventem Bombings