Europeโ€™s leaders find no quick response to Trumpโ€™s bombshell on Ukraine

Top European leaders could not find common ground on issues including sending peacekeepers in Ukraine.

Putin likely to strike NATO nations next, Ukraine leader warns

The Ukrainian president says he wonโ€™t accept a peace agreement if his country is iced out of talks.

Zelenskyy: โ€˜The time has comeโ€™ for a European army

Despite talk of a peace agreement, Russia is continuing to wage war against Ukraine.

Latvia moves to ban tourist trips to Russia, Belarus

Riga wants to reduce the risks of human rights violations of Latvian citizens in those countries, and prevent their recruitment as spies.

Putin is capable of attacking NATO country โ€˜next year,โ€™ Zelenskyy warns

Ukrainian leader implores the West to “stop this crazy guy.”

Belarus frees three detainees including US citizen and journalist

Journalist with US-funded broadcaster among those in release hailed by ambassador as โ€˜big day for team Americaโ€™Belarus has released three detainees including a veteran journalist for a US government-funded broadcaster and a US citizen, the White House …

Trumpโ€™s aid cuts will lead to a surge of propaganda, say press freedom groups

Loss of USAid funds will sow โ€˜chaos and confusionโ€™ and force independent media outlets to shut down, says RSF Donald Trumpโ€™s foreign aid freeze will lead to a decline in the number of independent media outlets across the world, causing a surge in misin…

Baltic countries sever final power ties with Russia

Disconnecting from the Soviet-era grid faced an intimidation campaign โ€” but it’s Moscow that could be left in a precarious position.

Authoritarian regimes around the world cheer on dismantling of USAid

Elon Musk-led razing of US foreign aid agency led strong-arm rulers in Hungary, Belarus and elsewhere to celebrateMoscow has welcomed the impending dissolution of USAid, joining a chorus of strongman leaders declaring victory over an organisation they …

โ€˜They are peopleโ€™: asylum seekers caught up in โ€˜hybrid warโ€™ at Poland-Belarus border

Poland says it is under attack from its eastern neighbour, and its razor-wire fence reflects EUโ€™s harsher migration stanceThe fence is five and a half metres high and bristles with jagged rolls of razor wire. Armed soldiers stand guard, surveying the s…

Europeans on democracyโ€™s frontlines offer advice to Americans: never give up

With the new Trump era likely to pose unprecedented challenges the message from Europeโ€™s fragile democracies is: stay united and safeguard your institutionsEuropeans who witnessed democracy crumble before their eyes have some words of advice for Americ…

UK, Canada impose new sanctions on Belarus after โ€˜sham electionโ€™ hands Lukashenko seventh term

Britain and Canada on Monday imposed coordinated sanctions on six Belarusian officials and three defence companies, one day after an election extended the rule of President Alexander Lukashenko to a seventh term after his major opponents were imprison…

Belarus’s re-elected president Lukashenko says political opponents ‘chose’ to go to prison โ€“ video

Belarus’s longtime president, Alexander Lukashenko, has explained that his political opponents had ‘chosen’ prison or exile when asked whether the presidential election at the weekend was free and fair. Kaja Kallas, the EUโ€™s top diplomat, has called th…

Putin congratulates Lukashenko on totally โ€˜convincingโ€™ Belarus election win

Victory “demonstrates your high political authority,” the Kremlin chief gushes about his counterpart in Minsk.

Lukashenko wins โ€˜shamโ€™ election in Belarus with 87.6 percent of vote

“This is a blatant affront to democracy. Lukashenko doesnโ€™t have any legitimacy,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

Belarus exit poll puts Lukashenko on 87.6% of vote in presidential election

Putin ally projected to easily secure seventh term in election that US and EU have said could not be free or fairAlexander Lukashenko is firmly on track to win a seventh five-year term as Belarusian president with 87.6% of the vote in Sundayโ€™s election…

Belarusโ€˜s Lukashenko set to win election slammed as โ€˜shamโ€™

Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for the past three decades, was on Sunday on course to win his seventh consecutive mandate in an election slammed by both the opposition and the European Union as a sham vote. According to exit polls, the Ru…

Lukashenko says he has โ€˜no regretsโ€™ about Belarus helping Russia to invade Ukraine

Autocrat conducts rambling press conference as his 31 years of rule are extended by an election dismissed outside the country as a shamBelarusian autocrat Alexander Lukashenko said he had โ€œno regretsโ€ about allowing Russia to use his country to invade…

Polls open in Belarus with Lukashenkoโ€™s 30-year rule set to be extended

The 70-year-old former collective farm boss has been in power in reclusive, Moscow-allied Belarus since 1994Belarusians began voting on Sunday, with president Alexander Lukashenko expected to cruise to victory unchallenged for a seventh term, prolongin…

Belarus election poised to extend decades-long rule of Alexander Lukashenko

When Alexander Lukashenko emerged victorious from Belarus’s presidential election in 2020, protesters came out on the streets to accuse him of election fraud and call for his resignation. Now Lukashenko is back on the ballot and is all but certain to …

Trump administration takes first anti-abortion move on world stage

Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a directive Friday to rejoin a global anti-abortion pact.

โ€˜A ritual for a dictatorโ€™: Lukashenko critics decry Belarus election

Longtime president and Putin ally has silenced media and criminalised dissent as he eyes seventh termEurope live โ€“ latest updatesOn Sunday, five names will feature on the ballot in Belarusโ€™s presidential election, but the outcome is a foregone conclusi…

The Guardian view on Belarusโ€™s election: broken democratic dreams | Editorial

Five years after an inspiring democracy movement almost toppled Alexander Lukashenko, his brutal rule remains intact. The west must do more to helpIn the summer of 2020, Belarus appeared to be on the cusp of an extraordinary democratic revolution. On t…

Putinโ€™s grip on Belarus sickens opponents of Lukashenko regime

Dissidents despair at the Russian presidentโ€™s influence ahead of this monthโ€™s rigged election.ย 

Ukraine war briefing: Moscow reports gains in Donetsk in westward advance

Russiaโ€™s defence ministry says its forces now control two more settlements in eastern Ukraine; Kyiv says โ€˜heinousโ€™ attack kills three in capital. What we know on day 1,061See all our Ukraine war coverageRussian forces took control of two more settlemen…

Russia releases 25 captive Ukrainians, including Mariupol defenders

Kyiv and Moscow have reportedly agreed to a systematic exchange of prisoners in 2025.

EU official sentenced to prison in Belarus

The EU’s diplomatic service called for the release of Mikalai Khilo, who received a four-year sentence.

Zelenskyy reaches out to Trumpโ€™s MAGA base in a podcastย 

We listened to three hours of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Lex Fridman so you don’t have to.

Polandโ€™s changing population mix turns political

Poland used to be one of the world’s most ethnically homogenous countries. That’s no longer the case.

Moscow, Kyiv complete mass prisoner swap

The release marks the 10th time the two combatant nations have exchanged captives this year.ย 

Orbรกn infuriates Warsaw by granting political asylum to former Polish minister

Poland’s foreign ministry calls the Hungarian government’s decision a “hostile” step and an “insult” to Polish authorities.

Georgians protest as pro-Russian party locks in ex-footballer as president

Georgia has seen political upheaval and protests for months.

A Jan. 6 rioter tried to join the Russian military to fight against Ukraine, feds say

Kevin Loftus should be sent to jail for violating the terms of his probation, prosecutors told a judge.

Brussels allows member states to limit access to asylumย 

Regarding pushbacks, member states’ measures must align with EU law, the Commission said.
The post Brussels allows member states to limit access to asylumย  appeared first on Euractiv.

Take to streets to overthrow Lukashenko during election, Belarusโ€™ opposition leader urges

โ€œI really want people to … be on the streets and dismantle this regime,โ€ Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said.

Putin sending Russiaโ€™s new hypersonic missiles to Belarus

The Russian leader says the missiles reduce the need for nuclear weapons amid an escalating war with Ukraine.

Ukraine war briefing: Scholz confident of developing โ€˜joint strategyโ€™ on Ukraine with Trump

German chancellor wants Ukraineโ€™s sovereignty guarantees but rules out providing Kyiv with long-range Taurus missiles. What we know on day 1,018The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is confident he and the US president-elect, Donald Trump, will be able t…

Romaniaโ€™s pro-Europeans fear Putin is pushing them back to dictatorshipย 

Far-right NATO-skeptic Calin Georgescu is on track to win the Romanian presidency, thanks to a Russia-influenced campaign.ย 

VDLโ€™s outgoing migration czar casts doubt on presidentโ€™s migrant returns plan

Ylva Johansson reflects on five years leading one of the EU’s thorniest portfolios.

Being president is a manโ€™s job, roars Belarusian dictator

โ€œGod forbid” that a woman should lead, despot declares.

Want food security? Eat less meat, major report says.

Europe’s top farming university is calling for smaller livestock herds and a shift toward plant-based diets.

Moldovaโ€™s pro-EU president on course for re-election

Security services warned of efforts to disrupt and distort voting at overseas polling stations.

Hungary taunts Western allies: Weโ€™ll talk to whoever we want

The top diplomat of Viktor Orbรกn attended a security conference in Belarus along with Russian FM Lavrov.

Backlash builds over Hungary joining Russia, Syria and Belarus at security summit

โ€œThe Hungarian government never wastes an opportunity to shame us,โ€ said MEP Nathalie Loiseau.

Hungarian FM to join Russia, Syria and Belarus at security summit

NATO allyship be damned, Viktor Orbรกn’s top diplomat will join senior Russian official at eastern rival to Munich Security Conference.

Does Germany still believe in Europe?

Scholz now seems to view the bloc as a problem to be managed, while European institutions and member countries seem to regard him as a problem to be managed in return.

The man who bought a country

Georgiaโ€™s richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili is tilting his country toward Moscow ahead of an election on Oct. 26.

Lukashenko says North Korean troops fighting for Putin would be โ€˜escalationโ€™ of Ukraine war

Belarusian leader also says he’s โ€œcompletely readyโ€ to deploy Russian nukes housed in his country if provoked.

Ukraine war briefing: Brics summit backfired on Putin with calls for peace, says Kyiv

Xi Jinping among world leaders in Russia advising against escalation; any North Korean troops โ€˜fair gameโ€™ on Ukraine battlefield, says US. What we know on day 974See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverageThe foreign ministry in Kyiv said on Wednesday that…

Belarus announces date for Lukashenkoโ€™s next election win

Opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on “Belarusians and the international community to reject this farce.”

Julian Assangeโ€™s dad thanks Putin for supporting his son

John Shipton, father of anti-secrecy activist Julian Assange, is in Moscow for a summit of the BRICS group of countries.

Playing with โ€˜electoral rocket fuelโ€™: How Polandโ€™s Donald Tusk hopes to weaponize migration

Toughening rules for asylum seekers is an effort to defang far-right parties ahead of next year’s presidential election.

โ€˜I fight Russia to topple the tyrant of Belarusโ€™: the Lukashenko guard who defected to the front line in Ukraine

Viachaslau Hranouski, a former policeman responsible for protecting the Belarus leader, reveals why he fled to join Ukraineโ€™s armyFour years ago, Viachaslau Hranouski watched on as Alexander Lukashenko, Belarusโ€™s dictator for three decades, emerged fro…

Von der Leyen promises more deportations as EU veers right on migration

European leaders are backing deportation centers, sending migrants back to Afghanistan and Syria, and banning asylum in Poland.

Will Italy’s new Albanian detention centres soon be empty?

PRESS REVIEW โ€“ October 18: The death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar dominates front pages, as journalists ask whatโ€™s next. Also, in Brussels, Poland receives support for its plan to suspend asylum rights for Russia and Belarus, and the EU is told to tak…

If you think Trumpโ€™s migration policies are extreme, look at the EUโ€™s

As the anti-immigrant feeling surges in popularity in Europe, its leaders are embracing formerly taboo approaches to their borders.

Poland wins after EU backs its proposed asylum ban for Russia, Belarus

“I have just come from a meeting with all the most important leaders and what I wanted to achieve, I achieved,” Polish PM Donald Tusk said.

Live blog: European Council Summit

EU leaders are in town to talk migration โ€” and deportation.

The EU wants to deport migrants. It needs the help of Syriaโ€™s Assad.

Syria is the elephant in the room as EU leaders talk migration.

EU faces migration rebellion as Poland vows to block asylum-seekers

More and more member countries are clashing with Brussels over how to treat incoming migrants.

EU warns Poland over bombshell plan to suspend asylum claims

We can defend against Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko weaponizing migrants without “compromising on our values,” Brussels tells Warsaw.

Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy says North Korea providing personnel to Russiaโ€™s army

Increasing alliance between Russia and North Korea goes beyond transferring weapons, Ukraine leader says; Belarusian president says Putinโ€™s nuclear threat will โ€˜cool the ardourโ€™ of its western adversaries. What we know on day 964See all our Russia-Ukra…

Poland to temporarily suspend right to asylum after Belarus border tensions

Migration has been high on the agenda in Poland since 2021, when large numbers of people, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, started trying to illegally cross the border with Belarus.

Poland to suspend right to asylum as โ€˜hybrid warโ€™ escalates on Belarus border

Warsaw is calling on the EU to accept its temporary suspension of migrants’ rights.

Unilever sells Russian business after pressure from campaigners

Dove makerโ€™s deal with local manufacturer Arnest Group includes four factoriesUnilever has sold off its Russian operations to a local manufacturing group after pressure from campaigners who claimed that the presence of the Dove and Ben & Jerryโ€™s ow…

The EUโ€™s most pointless job

Josep Borrell loves to condemn things โ€” sometimes in the “strongest possible terms.” Does it ever have any impact?

German far-right politician accused of using political prisoners as cheap labour in Belarus

Reports of dissenters working for ยฃ4 a day on onion plantation owned by Saxony state parliament AfD member Jรถrg DornauMidway through Nikolaiโ€™s shift sorting onions alongside other political prisoners in a warehouse in western Belarus, a tall and bald f…

Meat is murder (if you accidentally mention it in a speech)

Keir Starmer’s sausages/hostages mix-up was a gaffe for the ages.

Lukashenkoโ€™s political prisoners releases reflects strategy for regime survival

Belarusโ€™ recent release of political prisoners appears to be part of a disinformation campaign aimed at repairing relations with the EU ahead of the 2025 presidential elections. In July 2024, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree re…