Author: staff

In April 2023, former Luxembourgish lawmaker Monica Semedo was fined by an internal legislative committee for her treatment of a staff member in a bullying incident, leading the Parliament to rule in favor of the victim. After the committee’s decision, Semedo said in 2023 she would bring the ruling to the CJEU in an effort to overturn it. In March 2025, nearly two years after the second alleged incident was put forth to the court, it annulled the decision by Parliament President Roberta Metsola to fine Semedo due to “irregularities affecting Ms. Semedo’s rights of defence.” The ruling points to…

Oxam official: ‘What’s happening at the border is a humanitarian and human rights crisis, and we need to find humanitarian and human rights solutions to it.’ Human rights organisations have criticised Poland’s decision to temporarily suspend the right for migrants arriving via the border with Belarus to apply for asylum, fearing it may worsen the current humanitarian crisis.”What has already been a de facto reality at the Poland-Belarus border for the past three years may be further institutionalised with the implementation of the new law,” Oxfam wrote in a report published last week. Polish President Andrzej Duda, cemented the legislation…

Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul’s mayor and the main political rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has been arrested. So what is Europe doing about it? Staying pretty quiet, it seems. Mass protests are breaking out across Turkey but Brussels is keeping its counsel. In this episode Sarah Wheaton speaks with Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former journalist in Turkey, about what’s really driving Erdoğan’s shift toward authoritarianism and how Europe is responding — especially with a view to Turkey’s growing importance for European security. But Europe’s focus isn’t all on defense. We also examine…

Britain’s King Charles III’s health has been closely monitored ever since announcing his diagnosis with an undisclosed form of cancer early last year. King Charles III was briefly hospitalise for observation on Thursday after experiencing “temporary side effects” related to a scheduled cancer treatment, Buckingham Palace said in a statement.His engagements for Thursday afternoon and Friday were cancelled.“His majesty has now returned to Clarence House and as a precautionary measure, acting on medical advice, tomorrow’s diary program will also be rescheduled,’’ the statement said. “His majesty would like to send his apologies to all those who may be inconvenienced or…

The Global Fund says it has contributed to cutting the combined death rate from AIDS, TB and malaria by 61 percent over the past two decades, saving 65 million lives. “We’re talking about disease programs that affect millions of people,” Sands said. There are roughly 25 million people on antiretroviral treatment in the countries where PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) and the Global Fund are investing, he said — “people whose health is potentially at risk from disruptions to programming.” These HIV funding cuts also come as the world has a “game changing opportunity” to bring forward…

Numerous committee members told POLITICO the atmosphere in the room had been largely collegiate and respectful. But tensions have risen to the surface, both in the sessions and in the hothouse of social media.  “It’s really very unpleasant and, as far as I’m concerned, completely unnecessary,” said Olney of online interventions by members of the public and campaign groups. She claimed both sides of the debate had been “misrepresenting some of what’s happening” — and “making life harder for MPs.”That was echoed by supporters, who felt the nuances of the assisted dying debate were rarely being reflected online. Bill-backer and…

BRUSSELS — As the scion of a 700-year-old winemaking dynasty, Florentine Marquis Lamberto Frescobaldi knows better than anyone that patience is a virtue. And when it comes to tariffs, the Italian government is taking his side. When POLITICO met Frescobaldi last Friday in the marbled interior of the Italian ambassador’s residence in Brussels, he said he had just been reassured by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani that he would do all he can to spare the wine sector from the escalating trade war with Donald Trump. Scenes like this have become the new normal as European liquor industry bosses apply their marketing…

The French Foreign Minister’s two-day visit to China is an opportunity to gauge Beijing’s attitude toward Ukraine ahead of major talks on a possible European peacekeeping force. France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has started a two-day visit to China, holding talks with his Chinese counterpart on the war in Ukraine and longstanding trade disputes between China and Europe.Barrot met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who said in a news conference that both countries should “choose multilateralism over unilateralism…and pursue mutual benefit and win-win outcomes instead of decoupling and isolation”.His words echoed language frequently used by China to criticise US foreign…

“President Trump took the membership of Ukraine in NATO off the table, without any pressure,” said Pistorius. “And therefore I’m afraid that the membership of Ukraine in NATO is off the table and I hope it will not remain there, but we’ll see about that.” Both men argued a lasting peace for Ukraine is only possible if Kyiv and its European allies were to take part in peace negotiations. Pistorius, however, appeared unconvinced Europeans would secure a seat at the table when it comes to the Trump administration’s talks, even as his French and British counterparts try to win such…

Leaders from nearly 30 countries and NATO and EU chiefs met in the French capital to discuss bolstering aid to Kyiv and deploying European troops to secure long-term peace. Emmanuel Macron announced a plan to send “reassurance forces” from “several European countries” based in “certain strategic locations” in Ukraine in the event of a peace treaty with Russia. These forces would “act as a deterrent against potential Russian aggression,” he told reporters during a press conference following a high-stakes “Coalition of the Willing” summit for Ukraine in Paris on Thursday.However, these reassurance forces “are not intended to be peacekeeping forces”…