Category: Europe

European Union ministers on Monday will look to sign off on a 2-billion-euro plan to raid their stockpiles and jointly purchase desperately needed artillery shells for Ukraine. Kyiv has complained that its forces are having to ration their firepower as Russia’s year-long invasion has turned into a grinding war of attrition. Ukraine has told the […]

The French government has narrowly survived a vote of no-confidence, which was triggered when it forced through an increase in the pension age to 64. The vote, tabled by centrist MPs, had 278 MPs vote in favour, falling short of the 287 votes needed. If it had been successful, Emmanuel Macron would have had to […]

Thousands of protesters filled downtown Lisbon on March 18 to demand higher wages and pensions, as well as government intervention to cap soaring food prices they say are strangling already tight budgets. Portugal is one of Western Europe’s poorest countries and official data shows that more than 50 percent of Portuguese workers earned less than […]

The UK’s central bank has said banks are “safe” after regulators agreed a rescue deal for Credit Suisse aimed at preventing fears over banks spreading. The bank was bought by rival UBS in a Swiss government-backed deal on Sunday after regulators worked frantically round the clock to secure a deal. It comes amid fears over […]

French President Emmanuel Macron’s government on Friday faced no-confidence motions in parliament and intensified protests after imposing a contentious pension reform without a vote in the lower house. The situation presents Macron, who has only made occasional public comments on the matter, with one of his biggest challenges less than one year into his second […]

Protesters blocked a key highway around the French capital and escalated strikes at refineries on Friday in a new show of anger after President Emmanuel Macron pushed through a contentious pension reform without a parliamentary vote. Macron’s move sparked protests across the country on Thursday night, with more than 300 people arrested nationwide, according to […]

Türkiye has announced its decision to ratify Finland’s bid to join NATO as a result of the latter’s concrete and sincere measures against terror organizations while delaying the bid of Sweden. “We have observed concrete and sincere steps from Finland in recent times. As a result of Finland’s sensitivities towards our legitimate security concerns, we […]

Poland will send four Soviet-era Mig fighter jets to Ukraine – becoming the first Nato country to send planes since Russia invaded last year. Polish President Andrzej Duda said they would be sent in the coming days, with others handed over in the future. Though a welcome boost to Ukraine’s air defence, the extra jets […]

Russia has signaled that it can end the implementation of the grain deal if the problems in front of the export of Russian products through the Black Sea remain until May 18. “We have extended this deal for 60 days. This is not an ultimatum but a signal. Why do we need it, if this […]

Rights advocates in Belarus sounded the alarm about a new heavy crackdown on dissent by the authoritarian government that saw more than 100 people — including several psychologists and psychiatrists — detained in a week. Viasna, Belarus’ oldest and most prominent rights group, said Tuesday that mass arrests took place in the capital Minsk, as […]