Showing posts with label EU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EU. Show all posts

Friday, February 02, 2024

How Will Ukraine Use the EU's 50 Billion Euros? | DW News

Feb 1, 2024 | After a long struggle, all 27 EU states have agreed to a multi-billion euro financial package for Ukraine at the special summit in Brussels. EU Council President Charles Michel announced the agreement: 50 billion euros in financial aid is to flow into Ukraine by 2027. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the agreement reached by the EU states. The commitment will strengthen the long-term economic and financial stability of his country.


For Orban, Ukraine Is a Pawn in a Longer Game: His real aim is to lead a populist and nativist rebellion against Europe’s liberal elite, though that campaign is showing signs of faltering. »

Thursday, February 01, 2024

EU Agrees on €50 Billion Ukraine Aid Package | DW News

Feb 1, 2024 | Just one hour into the EU's special summit, EU leaders managed to reach a deal that will allow the bloc to send €50 billion ($54 billion) in funding to Ukraine over the next four years, according to European Council President Charles Michel.

The deal had been blocked by Hungary since the previous leaders' summit in Brussels in mid-December. "We have a deal," Michel wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "This locks in steadfast, long-term, predictable funding for Ukraine."


Wednesday, January 31, 2024

EU Must Defend Ukraine Even If US Reduces Military Support, Macron Says

THE GUADIAN: French president says future security architecture of Europe could no longer be settled by the US and Russia

The European Union has to make bold decisions to defend Ukraine, pre-empting any US decision to withhold or reduce its military support, Emmanuel Macron has said.

In a speech in Sweden, which hopes to be the next country to join Nato, the French president also said the future security architecture of Europe, including arms control agreements covering European territory, could no longer be settled simply by the US and Russia, and Europe had to have a right to determine its own future.

His remarks were designed as a warning to Europe that it needs to ramp up its whole defence effort and prepare for the possibility that either Joe Biden will be unable to push his military assistance budget for Ukraine through Congress, or that later in the year he is defeated in a presidential election by an isolationist Donald Trump. » | Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor | Tuesday, January 30, 2023

Hear! Hear! – © Mark Alexander

Thursday, December 28, 2023

Jacques Delors, Architect of the Modern EU, Dies at 98 | DW News

Dec 28, 2023 | Jacques Delors helped shape the European Union. As the father of the currency common to 20 EU member states, he has left his legacy in the pockets of millions of people across the bloc.


Related article here.

Monday, December 18, 2023

EU Takes Action against Elon Musk's X over Disinformation | BBC News

Dec 18, 2023 | The European Union has formally announced it suspects X, previously known as Twitter, of breaching its rules in areas including countering illegal content and disinformation. Digital commissioner Thierry Breton set out the alleged infringements in a post on the social media platform. He said X, which is owned by Elon Musk, was also suspected of breaching its obligations on transparency. X said it was "co-operating with the regulatory process".

Friday, December 15, 2023

Putin Makes Emboldened Speech - as EU Opens Ukraine Accession Talks | Russia-Ukraine War

Dec 14, 2023 | EU leaders have agreed to open membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova. Hungary's prime minister - Putin ally Viktor Orban - wasn't in the room when the EU voted and said he did not wish to participate in the "bad decision".

Hungary Blocks €50bn of EU Funding for Ukraine | BBC News

Dec 15, 2023 | Hungary has blocked €50bn ($55bn; £43bn) in EU aid for Ukraine - just hours after an agreement was reached on starting membership talks.

"Summary of the nightshift: veto for the extra money to Ukraine," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after Thursday's talks in Brussels. EU leaders said the aid negotiations would resume early next year.

The aid blocking was announced by Mr Orbán shortly after the EU leaders decided to open membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova and to grant candidate status to Georgia.

Hungary - which maintains close ties with Russia - has long opposed membership for Ukraine but did not veto that move.



Hungary blocks €50bn in EU aid for Ukraine hours after membership talks approved: Viktor Orbán says extra money to Kyiv had been vetoed but talks would resume in the new year »

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Ukraine Fears for Financial Support from the EU and the USA | DW News

Dec 12, 2023 | Ukraine's fears are growing that foreign aid and arms supplies will soon be a thing of the past. This week, high-level EU talks in Brussels could decide the fate of the promised €50 billion in aid to Kyiv and additional money for new arms deliveries.On Monday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a stopover in Washington. There, the opposition US Republicans are blocking an aid package for Kiev worth 61 billion dollars.In the face of these difficult negotiations, an end to the war looks increasingly distant. What is the psychological impact of this protracted conflict on Ukraine?

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Michael Lambert: They Really Think It Is Worse in the 'Corrupt' EU

Dec 9, 2023 | Last week Boris Johnson appeared before the Covid19 enquiry still unable to produce his WhatsApp messages for the crucial period when decisions about Covid19 were being made.

On Thursday Rishi Sunak gave a press conference detailing his latest attempts to 'Stop the Boats' by sending a handful of asylum seekers to Rwanda at enormous cost.

I received around 1750 comments in response to my video last week about rejoining the European Union. These are some of the comments from those who still believe that the UK was right to leave the EU. Many of these comments suggest, without any supporting evidence, that things are even worse in the EU and especially in Germany. Others suggest that the EU is corrupt and destined to break up.


Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Government Offices in EU Can Ban Wearing of Religious Symbols, Court Rules

GUARDIAN EUROPE: Decision made in case of Muslim employee in Belgium states that restrictions must be applied equally

The court said bans on religious symbols, such as Islamic headscarves, were permissible in order to enforce an ‘entirely neutral administrative environment’. Photograph: Martin Argles/The Guardian

Government offices across the EU can ban employees from wearing religious symbols, such as Islamic headscarves, in the interest of neutrality, the EU’s top court has ruled, though it stressed that such restrictions must be applied equally to all employees and fit within the legal context of each member state.

The decision, published by the court of justice of the European Union on Tuesday, said such bans were permissible in order to enforce an “entirely neutral administrative environment”.

However, the court said that bans on clothing or symbols linked to philosophical or religious beliefs had to be applied evenly. “Such a rule is not discriminatory if it is applied in a general and indiscriminate manner to all of that administration’s staff and is limited to what is strictly necessary,” it said. » | Ashifa Kassam, European community affairs correspondent | Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Free the West of hijabs! The wearing of hijabs is not the Western way. Period! – © Mark Alexander

Saturday, November 18, 2023

White House Condemns Elon Musk for 'Antisemitic' Post | DW News

Nov 17, 2023 | The war in the Middle East has opened the flood gates of disinformation and false claims on social media. And much of the criticism has been directed at the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, owned by the controversial billionaire Elon Musk.

Since aquiring Twitter a year ago, Musk has allowed conspiracy theories and hate speech to thrive. And that's having consequences.

Today, the EU Commission announced it was stopping all advertising on X. It has already launched an investigation into hate speech on the social media site. Also today, the White House condemned Elon Musk for what it called "the abhorrent promotion" of anti-Semitism. That was in reaction to a tweet posted by Musk endorsing a conspiracy theory that Jewish communities push "hatred against Whites".

The White House invoked the 2018 mass shooting at Pittsburg synagogue posting this: "It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.




THE NEW YORK TIMES:

Advertisers Flee X as Outcry Over Musk’s Endorsement of Antisemitic Post Grows: Disney, Apple, Paramount and Lionsgate halted marketing on X, formerly Twitter, as Elon Musk faced a furor over antisemitic abuse on his social media platform. »

Friday, October 20, 2023

Handelsgespräche zwischen der EU und den USA geplatzt

Die Spitze der EU mit dem amerikanischen Präsidenten in Elmau im vergangenen Jahr während des G-7-Treffens

GIPFEL IN WASHINGTON

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Brüssel und Washington können sich nicht auf ein dauerhaftes Ende der Stahlzölle einigen. Auch ein besserer Zugang zu den Milliardenhilfen des Inflation Reduction Act bleibt der EU verwehrt. Präsident Biden habe zu hohe Forderungen gestellt, klagt Brüssel.

Schlechter hätte der EU-US-Gipfel in Washington aus wirtschaftlicher Sicht kaum laufen können. Die Verhandlungen über die erhoffte dauerhafte Aussetzung der amerikanischen Schutzzölle auf Stahl und Aluminium sind vorerst gescheitert. Ebenso wenig wird die EU nach Informationen der F.A.Z. wahrscheinlich schnell einen breiteren Zugang zu den Milliardensubventionen aus dem US-Förderpaket für grüne Technologien, dem Inflation Reduction Act, bekommen. Die Amerikaner hätten an der angestrebten Einigung offenkundig kein Interesse gehabt, hieß es aus Verhandlungskreisen schon vor dem offiziellen Beginn des Gipfels. Mehr als eine Erklärung, dass beide Seiten eine Einigung anstreben, aber noch mehr Zeit dafür brauchen, sei deshalb „nicht drin“ gewesen. » | Von Hendrick Kafsack | Freitag, 20. Oktober 2023

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

EU Warns Elon Musk over ‘Disinformation’ on X about Hamas Attack

THE GUARDIAN: Failing to moderate content such as fake news could incur fine of 6% of X revenues or EU blackout under new laws

Musk quit a voluntary code of practice set up by the EU earlier this year to enable social media companies to put in place systems to comply with the new laws. Photograph: Michel Euler/AP

The EU has issued a warning to Elon Musk over the alleged disinformation about the Hamas attack on Israel, including fake news and “repurposed old images”, on X, which was formerly known as Twitter.

The letter arrives less than two months after sweeping new laws regulating content on social media seen in the EU came into force under the Digital Services Act.

If Musk, the owner of X, does not comply he can face a fine of 6% of his revenues from X or a total blackout in the EU. » | Lisa O'Carroll in Brussels | Tuesday, October 10, 2023

X criticised for enabling spread of Israel-Hamas disinformation: Elon Musk endorsed users who have posted ‘wrong and unverifiable things’ while paid-for accounts spread fake news »

Guerre Israël-Hamas : Elon Musk rappelé à l’ordre par la Commission européenne pour le traitement du conflit sur la plate-forme X (ex-Twitter) : Le commissaire au numérique, Thierry Breton, a menacé, mardi, le réseau social de sanctions, sommant son patron, Elon Musk, de rendre des comptes sous vingt-quatre heures sur la circulation de fausses informations et d’images violentes liées au conflit en Israël. »

EU droht Musk mit Abschaltung von Plattform X: Der EU-Binnenmarktkommissar legt im Streit um die Verbreitung illegaler und terroristischer Inhalte auf X nach und leitet ein Verfahren ein. Auch Tiktok knöpft sich die Kommission vor. »

Tuesday, October 03, 2023

Slowakei wirft Russland Einflussnahme auf Wahl vor | DW Nachrichten

Oct 2, 2023 | Und plötzlich schaut ganz Europa auf die kleine Slowakei: Präsidentin Zuzana Caputova erteilt dem linksnationalen Oppositionsführer Robert Fico den Auftrag, eine Regierung zu bilden. Der Wahlsieger gilt als Kreml-Freund und hat jetzt gute Aussichten, die nächste Regierung in Bratislava zu bilden. Dies könnte zukünftige Militärhilfe aus dem EU-Staat Slowakei für die Ukraine erschweren.

Ungarn soll ausländische Firmen aus der EU benachteiligen | DW Nachrichten

Oct 3, 2023 | Ausländische Unternehmen in bestimmten Branchen wird das Geschäft in Ungarn sehr schwer gemacht. Ministerpräsident Orbán und seine Regierung machen das systematisch, sagt die Opposition im ungarischen Parlament.

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Keir Starmer: Labour in Power Would Not ‘Want to Diverge’ from EU

THE GUARDIAN: Party leader says he would not bring in lower environmental and food standards than in Europe or reduce workers’ rights

Keir Starmer at the Global Progress Action Summit in Montreal on 16 September, where he blamed most of the UK’s conflict with Europe post-Brexit on attempts to diverge from it.Photograph: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Keir Starmer has gone further than before in outlining his vision of a future UK relationship with the EU, saying Labour didn’t “want to diverge” – in comments that were immediately seized on by the Conservatives.

The Labour leader was speaking at an event in Canada bringing together liberal and centre-left politicians, where he said that “most of the conflict” since Brexit had arisen because the UK “wants to diverge and do different things to the rest of our EU partners”.

“Actually we don’t want to diverge, we don’t want to lower standards, we don’t want to rip up environmental standards, standards for people that work, food standards and all the rest of it,” he said during a question and answer session on Saturday at the event in Montreal. » | Ben Quinn, Political correspondent | Thursday, September 21, 2023

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Turkey’s Erdogan Says He Trusts Russia ‘Just as Much as I Trust the West’

Sep 19, 2023 | The nation of Turkey sits at a crossroads of the world, and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is its preeminent leader. Reelected to office earlier in 2023, he has now been in power for 22 years. In an exclusive interview with Amna Nawaz, Erdogan discusses the state of NATO, Russia’s war on Ukraine and why Turkey might soon end its bid to become a part of the European Union.

Monday, May 22, 2023

Will Worsening US Relations with Beijing Affect EU-China Trade? | Inside Story

May 21, 2023

Presenter: Tom McRae

Guests:

Einar Tangen - Senior Fellow at the Taihe Institute think-tank, Beijing.
Vicky Pryce - Chief Economic Adviser at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, London.
Steven Erlanger - Chief Diplomatic Correspondent for Europe at the New York Times in Brussels.


Saturday, May 20, 2023

The End of the Road for Brexit?

May 15, 2023 | In this Federal Trust video, Brendan Donnelly and John Palmer discuss the recent tentative improvement in relations between the EU and the British government. They attribute this improvement to the growing realisation by the British government that Brexit has failed to produce economic or political advantages for the country. Rishi Sunak and his ministers now need the help of the EU to mitigate the damage done by Brexit. There will however be opposition from within the Conservative Party to this more conciliatory approach from London.

SPEAKERS:
John Palmer was the European Editor of The Guardian and subsequently a Founder/Political Director of the European Policy Centre in Brussels. He is a Board Member of the Federal Trust.
Brendan Donnelly is the Director of the Federal Trust and a former Conservative MEP.

ABOUT THE FEDERAL TRUST:
The Federal Trust is a research institute studying regional, national, European and global levels of government. It has always had a particular interest in the European Union and Britain’s place in it. The Federal Trust has no allegiance to any political party. It is registered as a charity for the purposes of education and research.