Photo by Marjan Blan on Unsplash The European Commission has announced an initial €83 million in humanitarian aid to support the people affected by Russia’s war against Ukraine for 2024. On Tuesday, it said that, of the funding, €75 million is allocated for humanitarian projects in Ukraine to provide emergency aid including access to basic needs such as shelter, protection services,…
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash A respected think tank says that how the EU deals with China will have a “profound effect” on the sort of economic and geopolitical entity that the Union becomes in the mid-21st century. This is the view of the Centre for European Reform, an independent think-tank. In its annual report for 2023,…
Cybersport is not out of politics: “Games of the Future” as a way of spreading propaganda messages to young people. Russia has repeatedly used sports and art for political purposes. Cybersport is no exception. By organising cybersport events, the Russian authorities not only want to show the world that they are not internationally isolated but…
The EPP Group says it is “shocked” to learn of the death of Alexei Navalny, the 2021 Sakharov Prize laureate. The death of the Russian dissident in prison was announced on Friday and led to condemnation across the world. Reacting, Manfred Weber, a German MEP and Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament,…
Photo by Robert Anasch on Unsplash The total cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine in the next ten years is $486 billion (€452.8 billion), a new report says. This is up from $411 bn (€383 billion) estimated one year ago. This comes after almost two years of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine. This damage is the assessment…
Photo by Max Bender on Unsplash The European commission has spelled out how it intends to distribute humanitarian aid this year. With almost 300 million people estimated to need humanitarian assistance in 2024, the EU says it is “once again” reinforcing its commitment to support the most vulnerable globally. The Commission has therefore adopted its initial annual humanitarian…
Photo by Robert Anasch on Unsplash A leading think tank has welcomed news that leaders of the EU-27 have agreed an extra 50 billion euros support package for Ukraine within the EU budget. The decision was made at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels on 1 February. The move was greeted by Zsuzsanna Vegh, associate researcher at the…
Photo by Joel Fulgencio on Unsplash A senior expert on Chinese-Taiwan relations has told MEPs how he believes Beijing “sought to interfere” in Taiwan’s recent president elections. Speaking in the European Parliament on Wednesday, J. Michael Cole claimed that China used a whole range of measures to try to influence the outcome of the poll at the start of…
The geography of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian targets is steadily expanding. Russian air defences are completely ineffective: enemy drones fly unimpeded to their targets anywhere in the European part of Russia, travelling over 1,500 kilometres and destroying Russian infrastructure. Drone attacks became more frequent in recent months, and in mid-January 2024 began to occur…
Photo by FlyD on Unsplash EU member states have renewed for a further 6 months its restrictive measures against Russia “in view of the Russian Federation’s continuing actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine.” They will last until 31 July. The sanctions, first introduced in 2014 in response to Russia’s actions “destabilising” the situation in Ukraine, were significantly expanded…
