Author: staff

“The single fund would be the end of the Common Agricultural Policy,” Portuguese Agriculture Minister José Manuel Fernandes said, rejecting Commission ideas to merge farm and regional development funds into a single national envelope. “What has success must not be undone.” The “single fund” idea, floated in internal Commission talks, would reframe how EU money is allocated, potentially tying farm spending more directly to broad political goals such as defense or digital transition. Farm ministers see it as a direct threat to the bloc’s shared pot of money they help control, warning it would make it easier to siphon money…

A 2021 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights found that Russia was responsible for human rights violations in Crimea — including torture, unlawful detention and enforced disappearances. That established a key precedent by recognizing that Moscow had effectively seized control of the peninsula from Ukraine by force on Feb. 27, 2014 and not via a legally flawed referendum in March of that year, as Russia claims. That same legal reasoning — that Russia has illegally occupied Ukrainian territory — underpins other key prosecutions, including of the forced deportation of Ukrainian citizens. Recognizing that Russia legally owns Crimea would…

Jette Nietzard, Co-Chefin der Grünen Jugend, provoziert mit Strategie: Ob ACAB-Pullover im Bundestag, Entgleisungen zu Christian Lindner oder radikale Äußerungen auf Parteitagen und in Interviews – ihre Methode ist kalkuliert. Erst provozieren, dann relativieren, dann in ihrer Bubble den Diskurs dominieren. Gordon Repinski analysiert, wie Nietzard mit maximaler Polarisierung maximale Aufmerksamkeit erzeugt – und warum das die Grünen vor eine Zerreißprobe stellt. Im 200-Sekunden-Interview spricht Forschungsministerin Dorothee Bär (CSU) erst über Nietzard und dann über Trumps Feldzug gegen Harvard, die Bedrohung der Wissenschaftsfreiheit und ihre Pläne, internationale Top-Talente nach Deutschland zu holen. Dorothee Bär wurde für die POWERLIST 2025 nominiert…

Prior to this embarrassing set of mismatched actions, Trump and his team had already done cataclysmic damage to America’s standing as a supporter of democracy and human rights in the world: They disparaged multiple democratic allies, threatened some of them with territorial grabs, blamed Ukraine for being invaded by Russia, spoke in support of illiberal right-wing leaders or parties in various democracies, dismantled approximately 90 percent of U.S. assistance directed at supporting democracy abroad, announced a planned evisceration of the State Department’s annual human rights reports, and disbanded the National Security Council’s staff directorate devoted to democracy and human rights.…

A man was arrested after a car hit several people who were in Liverpool city center to celebrate their football club’s Premier League win. The incident happened just after 6 p.m. on Monday, shortly after the conclusion of the parade to celebrate Liverpool Football Club’s Premier League title win. Images from the scene show a large police presence and emergency response. “We can confirm the man arrested is a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area,” local police said. “The scenes in Liverpool are appalling — my thoughts are with all those injured or affected,” British Prime Minister Keir…

At the time, many allies dismissed the idea as political bluster — but rising tensions with Russia and renewed attention on Europe’s military readiness have changed the conversation. More and more leaders are endorsing the new target, which is a significant increase from the alliance’s current spending target of at least 2 percent of GDP. Dutch PM Dick Schoof said earlier this month that Rutte had written to NATO leaders calling for them to reach 3.5 percent of GDP on “hard military spending” and 1.5 percent of GDP on “related spending such as infrastructure, cybersecurity and other things” over the next…

The verdict is an important victory for Kurz, whose possible return to Austrian politics is the subject of much speculation in the country. After the ruling, Kurz suggested in a statement that he’d been unfairly targeted by his opponents. “I have been confronted with accusations for years,” said Kurz. “There have been numerous court hearings. There was also a great deal of confrontation with these accusations. I think you’ve all seen how much this has been celebrated and that it has now all collapsed.” Kurz was once deemed a political wunderkind and the future of the conservative movement in Europe.…

But Merz’s comments suggest his government’s position may have shifted amid Israel’s new military offensive in the Gaza Strip, with many Gazans at risk of starvation in the aftermath of an 11-week aid blockade, according to humanitarian groups. “Germany must exercise greater restraint than any other country in the world in giving public advice to Israel,” Merz said. “But when borders are crossed, when international humanitarian law is really being violated, the German chancellor must also say something about it.” Merz suggested he will discuss Israel’s renewed offensive in a scheduled call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later this…

“We are highly alarmed by these developments,” reads the letter, signed by Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden. A series of Hungarian laws which threaten fines against organizers of and participants in LGBTQ+ events, under the guise of child protection, “run contrary to the fundamental values to human dignity, freedom, equality and respect for human rights as laid down in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union,” the statement reads. The text doesn’t spell out which measures Brussels should take. The obvious option, though, would be to impose so-called…

Published on 26/05/2025 – 17:42 GMT+2FN Herstal, located in eastern Belgium, is a leading manufacturer of light weapons, including machine guns, assault rifles, and pistols. The company, known locally as “la FN,” supplies nearly all NATO armies and has gained attention in the EU since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.In June 2024, FN Herstal secured a 20-year contract with the Belgian defence ministry to produce small-calibre ammunition — a crucial deal for the company which employs 3,000 people across Belgium, Finland, the UK, and the US.”For 20 years, we will be producing all the Belgian defence’s small-calibre…