Europe's East
Special Edition: What to expect from this week’s Washington NATO Summit
Est. 10minIn this week's edition: Your ultimate cheat-sheet for the Washington NATO Summit.
Why Ukraine’s NATO membership hopes keep running into trouble
Est. 9minWhile NATO leaders this week are expected to reassure Ukraine of their continued support, they are likely to fall short of clearly addressing the possibility of Ukraine’s future membership in the Western military alliance.
Putin tells Orbán Ukraine must capitulate if it wants peace
Est. 5minRussian President Vladimir Putin told Viktor Orbán on Friday that Ukraine must effectively capitulate if it wants peace, in a visit to Moscow by the Hungarian leader that angered the EU, US and Kyiv.
Hungary’s Orbán travels to Moscow, days after Kyiv trip
Est. 4minHungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán travelled to Moscow on Thursday (4 July) to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, only a few days after his visit to Kyiv, on a trip that earned him stern rebukes from EU officials and diplomats.
Raiffeisen’s bet on Russia takes it to the brink
Est. 9minFor more than four months, US envoys delivered increasingly shrill warnings to Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International to scrap a deal they said had links to one of Russia's most powerful oligarchs. In May, Washington's patience snapped.
In Astana, Erdoğan offers help to end Russia-Ukraine war
Est. 3minTurkish President Tayyip Erdoğan told Russia's Vladimir Putin on Wednesday (3 July) that Ankara could help end the Ukraine-Russia war, but Putin's spokesman said Erdoğan could not play the role of an intermediary in the 28-month-old conflict.
Ukraine not ready to compromise with Russia, says Zelenskyy aide
Est. 3minUkraine is not ready to compromise with Russia and give up any territory to end the war, a senior Ukrainian official said on Tuesday (2 July) when asked about US presidential candidate Donald Trump's declaration that he could quickly end the conflict.
Hungary’s Orbán, in Kyiv, proposes ceasefire to speed up peace talks
Est. 4minHungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán urged Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday (2 July) to consider a ceasefire to accelerate an end to the war with Russia and also said he wanted a big cooperation agreement with Kyiv.
Ukrainian air base under fire as Russia aims at F-16 arrivals
Est. 5minExplosions reverberated across the pre-dawn sky as Ukrainian air defences fended off a Russian attack on the small city of Starokostiantyniv in western Ukraine, home to an important air base and a frequent target of Moscow's strikes.
Russia attacks Ukraine’s two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv
Est. 3minRussian forces attacked Ukraine's two largest cities on Sunday (30 June), with missile fragments falling on a suburban Kyiv apartment building and a guided bomb killing one person in Kharkiv.
Georgia’s accession process to the bloc ‘de facto’ halted, EU leaders warn
Est. 3minGeorgia's accession to the bloc has 'de fact' been halted after the country's authorities passed a controversial Russia-style 'foreign agent' law, EU leaders warned on Thursday (27 June).
Language rights of Hungarian minority in Ukraine at the heart of Kyiv-Budapest spat
Est. 5minAs the European Union launches accession negotiations with Ukraine, Hungary's presidency of the EU Council from 1 July to 31 December risks stalling the process, with minority rights being the key point of contention.
EU, Ukraine to sign bilateral security agreement
Est. 2minThe European Union and Ukraine are expected to sign a long-term security agreement when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits Brussels on Thursday (27 June), pledging to maintain military support and other aid to Kyiv as it fights off Russia's invasion. The …
Russian pranksters release hoax video call with UK’s David Cameron about Ukraine
Est. 4minRussian pranksters who often target people the Russian state is interested in released footage on Wednesday (26 June) of a video call with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron after tricking him into thinking he was speaking to a former Ukrainian president.
EU must think how to counter Russia’s hybrid attacks on its soil, Lithuania warns
Est. 5minThe EU should draw up possible responses against Russia's growing hybrid and physical attacks inside its territory, Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrelius Landsbergis told Euractiv, advocating a more pro-active approach to security.
EU toughens Belarus sanctions to curb Russia evasion
Est. 3minBrussels, Belgium, June 26, 2024 (AFP) - EU countries on Wednesday agreed new sanctions on Belarus over the Ukraine war to align them more closely with measures targeting Russia, in a bid to curb evasion of the penalties, officials said.
"EU Ambassadors agreed in principle on a new package of sanctions targeting Belarus," announced Belgium, which holds the EU's rotating presidency.
"This package will strengthen our measures in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including combating circumvention of sanctions," it said.
The European Union has gone after the government of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, the Kremlin's closest ally, for allowing his country to be used as a staging post for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Bringing the sanctions on Belarus more into line with those on Moscow is seen as vital for stemming the flow to Russia of banned goods, such as microchips, that can be used on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Officials say Belarus has acted as a backdoor to get sanctioned products from the EU into Russia, as they could be officially exported to Belarus before heading on to its giant neighbour.
"Belarus must no longer serve as a route to circumvent our sanctions against Russia. With this package we increase the pressure on both countries and make our sanctions against Russia even more effective," EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on X.
The push to strengthen the sanctions on Belarus, which is in a customs union with Russia, was stalled for over a year as efforts to relax restrictions on its lucrative fertiliser exports were blocked by Lithuania.
Some EU states argued that fertiliser exports should be allowed to help alleviate problems with food supplies in developing nations.
But the Baltic state argued that third countries had already moved to obtain supplies from elsewhere, and that removing restrictions on Belarus would see revenues worth billions of dollars flow to Belarusian authorities.
EU diplomats said no exemptions had been granted for fertiliser exports.
Before Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the EU had already targeted Lukashenko's government with repeated rounds of sanctions over its crackdown on protests.
The 27-nation bloc has hit Russia with an unprecedented 14 packages of sanctions over its war on Ukraine.
Ukraine, Moldova set sight on next milestones in EU accession process
Est. 6minAfter Ukraine and Moldova formally opened their accession talks on Tuesday (25 June), they are expected to kick off a process of further aligning their own legislation to the bloc, Euractiv spoke to both countries chief negotiators about their expectations for the next stages of the process.
EU aid to Ukraine could be under threat by Rassemblement National’s rise to power
Est. 5minBefore the legislative elections on 30 June and 7 July, the president of the Rassemblement National (RN), Jordan Bardella, is explaining that Ukraine has "the right to defend itself", but the far-right party's long-standing friendship with the Kremlin is causing concern in Brussels.
Ukraine, Moldova begin long road to membership as EU formally opens talks
Est. 4minThe European Union formally launched accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday (25 June), starting a long process that could once again redraw the geopolitical map of Europe.
Trump reviews plan to halt US military aid to Ukraine unless it negotiates peace with Moscow
Est. 6minTwo key advisers to Donald Trump have presented him with a plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine -- if he wins the presidential election -- that involves telling Ukraine it will only get more US weapons if it enters into peace talks.
Ukraine makes its own targeting decisions, Pentagon says after Crimea attack
Est. 3minThe Pentagon said on Monday (24 June) that Ukraine makes its own targeting decisions after the Kremlin directly blamed the US for an attack on Crimea that it said was carried out with US-supplied ATACMS missiles.
EU to downgrade Georgia ties over ‘foreign agent’ law
Est. 2minThe European Union will downgrade high-level contacts with Georgia and consider freezing financial aid to the Georgian Dream-led government after it pushed through a controversial "foreign agent" law earlier this month.
EU finds legal way to circumvent Hungarian veto on Ukraine support from frozen Russian assets
Est. 3minEU member states approved on Monday (24 June) a decision to use €1.4 billion in revenue from frozen Russian assets to send military support to Ukraine, after finding a legal way to circumvent a Hungarian veto.
Giving Slovak jets, air defence to Kyiv was betrayal, new government says
Est. 2minThe Slovak government has asked police to investigate the former cabinet and defence minister Jaroslav Nad for donating fighter jets and an air defence system to Ukraine to help it defend against Russia's invasion, a government official said on Friday (21 June).