Tag Archives: Europe

One of Ukraine’s top politicians has alleged that signals coming from Russia indicate that Moscow could be plotting a full-blown nuclear attack against its Eastern European neighbor in a new sensational intervention. Speaking at a conference on Wednesday, the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, remarked that “as of …

Migrants who cross into Lithuania from Belarus can be detained for up to a year, the Lithuanian parliament decided on Thursday, increasing an initial six-month detention limit. Eighty-one lawmakers backed the lengthening of the six-month detention period, which was introduced in July as part of plans to hold large numbers …

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia had no room to retreat in a standoff with the United States over Ukraine and would be forced into a tough response unless the West dropped its “aggressive line”. Putin addressed the remarks to military officials as Russia pressed for an urgent …

Russia on Monday expelled two German diplomats in response to a spat with Berlin over a German court’s ruling that Moscow had ordered the 2019 assassination of an ex-Chechen commander in a Berlin park. “The German ambassador was informed that two diplomatic employees of the German embassy in Russia were …

British Brexit minister David Frost resigned on Saturday over disillusionment with the direction of Boris Johnson’s government, dealing a major blow to the embattled prime minister as the Omicron variant sweeps the country. The resignation of Frost, a core architect of Johnson’s tumultuous Brexit strategy, raised questions about the future …

The Netherlands went into lockdown on Sunday and the possibility of more COVID-19 restrictions being imposed ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays loomed over several European countries as the Omicron variant spreads rapidly. In the United States, White House medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci urged people traveling to …

Russia said on Friday it wanted a legally binding guarantee that the NATO military alliance would give up any military activity in Eastern Europe and Ukraine, part of a wish list of ambitious security guarantees it wants to negotiate with the West. The demands form a package that Moscow says …

European countries prepared to impose further restrictions on travel and more on Friday in an effort to stem surging cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 that are threatening to stall a global economic recovery. Germany, Ireland, and Denmark were all considering further restrictions in the days before Christmas festivities …

Three people were killed and six are still missing after a gas explosion late on Saturday caused several residential buildings in the Sicilian town of Ravanusa to collapse, Italian authorities said on Sunday. Two apartment blocks in the town of 11,000 people were completely destroyed and several other buildings had …

Several areas in southwest France have been flooded after receiving two to three weeks’ worth of rain overnight. The heavy precipitation caused rivers to swell and triggered landslides in some areas, forcing residents to flee. The French meteorological agency, Meteo France, has issued red alert warnings in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques and …

Lithuania said Thursday it would offer migrants a greater cash incentive to return home, as the Baltic state struggles to repatriate thousands who crossed into the EU member from Belarus. Each migrant who voluntarily opts to go back to their country of origin will now receive 1,000 euros ($1,130) instead …

Finland has chosen US defense giant Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighters to replace ageing F/A-18 combat jets and plans to order 64 planes with weapons systems in a $9.4 billion deal, the government said on Friday. Lockheed Martin competed in a tender for the deal with Sweden’s Saab, US rival Boeing, …

After 16 years, Angela Merkel handed over the German chancellery to Olaf Scholz, leaving behind a changed country and a polarizing legacy. It was vintage Angela Merkel: The woman who has dominated European politics for the better part of two decades handed over her office to the next German chancellor …

EU health authorities have recommended a “mix-and-match” approach to Covid-19 vaccination, saying that using different jabs during the initial and booster inoculation phases produces “good levels of antibodies.” In a joint statement, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said that “the …

Police fired teargas and used water cannons on Sunday to disperse protesters pelting officers with cobblestones and fireworks as a demonstration in Brussels over government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions turned violent. A few thousand protesters marched peacefully through the centre of the Belgian capital to the neighbourhood which hosts the headquarters of …

Tens of thousands of protesters marched through several northwest European cities on Saturday to demonstrate against coronavirus restrictions imposed amid a surge in infections. Austria last month became the first country in Western Europe to reimpose a lockdown, which is set to last 20 days and said it would make …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday urged Germans to get vaccinated against COVID-19, speaking days ahead of leaving office in the final episode of more than 600 weekly video podcasts. “I once again emphatically ask you to take this tricky virus seriously,” Merkel said, calling the fourth coronavirus wave to …

Alexander Schallenberg has announced he is resigning as Chancellor of Austria, just two months after taking office. He said he would remain in the post until his party agrees on a new leader in the wake of Sebastian Kurz’s departure. Just hours earlier, Schallenberg’s predecessor and People’s Party leader Kurz …

The European Union’s public health agency said on Thursday that the Omicron variant could be responsible for more than half of all COVID-19 infections in Europe within a few months, but no cases of the severe disease had yet been identified in the region. The estimate could lend weight to …

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Sunday that the NATO military alliance needed to adjust its stance towards Belarus, whose military, he said, was becoming more integrated with Russian armed forces. Nauseda told a news conference with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in …