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 Nong on Unsplash MEPs have backed new rules that aim to decrease the number of unsafe toys sold in the EU single market and protect children better from toy-related risks. On Tuesday, the parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee approved its position on an update of EU rules on toy safety unanimously, with 37 votes…
Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash EU auditors say that traineeships have grown in importance as more and more young people in the EU complete a traineeship before they get a regular job. In a review issued on 6 February the European Court of Auditors points to several challenges though. They say these include: varying definitions of traineeships,…
Photo by Pramod Kumar Sharma on Unsplash Senior MEP Ondřej Kovařík has urged the EU to push for a railway sector “that is attractive for skilled talents.” He was speaking at an awards ceremony in Brussels that recognises contributions to the European rail industry. The Renew Europe deputy announced the winner, stating: “I would advocate for a railway…
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…
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…
The year 2024 is a huge year for elections and seen as a global test for democracy. More than two billion people across 50 countries are expected to go the polls this year and it is not only November’s USA presidential election that counts. International observers, including the European Union, will be in Senegal for…
Russia will hold another presidential election in March 2024. Given the totalitarian reality of Russia, there is no doubt that Putin will be re-elected for another 6 years, and that this will herald a period of geopolitical turbulence for Europe. Holding such elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine is a challenge for the…
Photo by Håkon Grimstad on Unsplash Irene Shashar, a survivor of the Warsaw ghetto, has addressed MEPs in a plenary session in Brussels to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On a highly-charged occasion on Thursday she described how she survived the horrors of Nazism in Warsaw as a “Holocaust Hidden Child”. This involved fleeing through a sewer to…
Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash The protests against alleged fascism in Germany are “continuing the trend of mobilisation against the far right seen earlier in Spain and Poland,” according to the co-chairs of the European Green Party. The comments comes with tens of thousands of people protesting after “Correctiv” is said to have revealed a “secret conspiracy…
