Geopolitical Mood Change In Europe

Ukraine Crisis

Russia’s military build-up on Ukraine’s border has triggered a mood change in Europe. Against a backdrop of rapidly escalating tensions, majorities in Europe now believe that Russia will invade Ukraine in 2022, and hold the view that the EU and NATO should stand behind Kyiv in such a scenario, according to a new polling-backed study…

ECHR Issues Annual Report

ECHR

The European Court of Human Rights has issued a review of 2021. In 2021 the Court ruled on more than 36,000 applications. The number of Grand Chamber or Chamber judgments rose to 428 (relating to 1,037 applications), an increase of 9% compared to 2020. At the end of 2020 there were 62,000 pending applications. At…

Threats to the EU from Autocratic Regimes

Dictatorships

MEPs finalised 18 months of inquiry by the INGE committee and adopted its final recommendations. The European public and government officials are “overwhelmingly” unaware of the severity of the threat posed by foreign autocratic regimes, in particular Russia and China, MEPs say in the text. Insufficient defence made it easier for malicious actors to take over…

EU-Russia Trade Dispute on Wood Products

Lumber products

The EU is requesting consultations with Russia at the World Trade Organization (WTO) concerning export restrictions placed by Russia on wood products. The export restrictions consist of significantly increased export duties on certain wood products and a drastic reduction in the number of border crossing points through which exports of wood products can take place….

Court Rules Closure of Respected Russian NGO “Memorial”

Closure of Russian NGO Memorial

“By liquidating Memorial, the Kremlin wants to liquidate the history of thousands of millions of victims of the political terror of the Soviet Union. It also wants to liquidate the records about hundreds of political prisoners in present day Russia.”  “We demand that the Russian authorities reverse this decision and stop the ongoing crackdown on…

Vaccination Strongest Weapon Against Health Crisis

von der Leyen

The most effective response to the resurgence of COVID-19 is vaccination, say MEPs, addressing the main topic on the agenda of the European Council. In a debate with Commission President von der Leyen and the Slovenian Presidency, they insisted that vaccination remains the strongest and most promising weapon available against the pandemic. Additional efforts are…

Renewing the Transatlantic Partnership

Renewing transatlantic partnership

With China and Russia on the offensive, a renewed and reliable transatlantic partnership is the key to maintaining international and legal order and peace. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) supports the idea of an Alliance of Democracies, ensuring that civil society has significant say in the joint defence of universal values and rights….

Human Rights Protection Demanded for Russian NGO Memorial

Memorial

Parliament said it “condemns the repeated persecution and the recent politically motivated” attempts by Russian authorities to shut down the two legal entities of the human rights organisation Memorial – International Memorial and the Memorial Human Rights Centre.  MEPs also called for all charges against Memorial to be dropped immediately and for guarantees that the…

NATO Stresses Support for Ukraine

NATO Support for Ukraine

The North Atlantic Council has issued a toughly worded statement on the current tense situation in Ukraine.It reads,”We are gravely concerned by the substantial, unprovoked, and unjustified Russian military build-up on the borders of Ukraine in recent months, and reject the false Russian claims of Ukrainian and NATO provocations.  We call on Russia to immediately…

Parliament Condemns Russia’s Military Build-up

Against the backdrop of increasing Russian military threats against Ukraine, MEPs say any aggression by Moscow must come at a high economic and political price. In a resolution adopted on Thursday by 548 votes in favour, 69 against and 54 abstentions, Parliament condemns the current large Russian military build-up on the Ukrainian border. MEPs demand…