Photo by Christian Lue on Unsplash Mathias De Clercq, Mayor of Ghent, has been elected President of Eurocities. In his new role, he will represent major European cities for the next two years. He succeeds Burkhard Jung, Mayor of Leipzig, and will be joined by Jaume Collboni, Mayor of Barcelona, who is the new Vice…
Photo by James Lee on Unsplash The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has held its first meetings with local and regional politicians from Albania, Kosovo, and Moldova. The aim was to accelerate the three countries’ preparations for accession to the European Union. It is hoped contacts between mayors and councillors from the EU and…
Photo by Antoine Schibler on Unsplash Decentralisation and the transition towards a greener, more sustainable economy were centre-stage at the Enlargement Day conference held by the European Committee of the Regions. The event, on 27-28 May, was the European Union’s largest event of the year dedicated to EU enlargement from a local and regional perspective. …
Photo by Marc Obiols on Unsplash The EU says it has put together teams of firefighters and aircraft to help European countries affected by wildfires. This, it says, is to prepare for the increased wildfire risk during the upcoming summer months, To quickly support local fire brigades, throughout July and August, almost 650 firefighters from 14 European countries will…
Russia’s Largest Aerial Onslaught on Ukraine Marks Escalation, Not Peace In a devastating escalation of its war against Ukraine, Russia launched its largest aerial assault since the unprovoked invasion began in 2022. Between May 24 and 25, Russian forces fired 367 drones and missiles at targets across Ukraine. This massive attack clearly indicates that Moscow…
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash The fifth edition of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism has been launched. It is run the European Parliament and seeks to reward top quality journalism. The idea is to recognise journalists who promote or defend the core principles and values of the European Union. These are said…
Photo by Konrad Koller on Unsplash Under increasing pressure to maintain political control, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán seems ever more willing to deploy a wide arsenal of tools to retain power, ranging from legislative restrictions and information control to aggressive rhetorical campaigns. His recent political strategy strikingly resembles the approach of Russian President Vladimir…
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash A new study calls for regulation in the short term housing rental sector across the EU but in a balanced manner. The legislative proposal aims to fill the regulatory gap in an industry that is having real-world impacts, including housing shortages, rising rents, resident displacement, online discrimination, and a…
Photo by Bank Phrom on Unsplash The question of whether truly independent journalism can still exist in Hungary is no longer solely a domestic concern; it has now become a prominent issue for the European Commission. On April 28, Magyar Hang and another anonymous outlet filed a formal complaint with the Commission, alleging that the…
Photo by Bedirhan Akyüz on Unsplash MEPs will next week vote on the report for the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP). The aim is that the EDIP lays the foundation for deeper integration of the European defence industry and serves as a cornerstone of a common European defence. With an ongoing war in Ukraine and uncertainty about the scale of future U.S…
