European Union

EU Vote in Closing Stretch as Far Right Eyes Gains

EU elections on Sunday saw striking gains for the far-right as exit polls put Marine Le Pen's National Rally in France and Alternative for Germany ahead of the governing camps, boosting their efforts to sway the bloc at a pivotal moment. Projected results from France put far-right Le Pen's party around 33 percent, with 31 seats in the incoming ...

France: Emmanuel Macron Dissolves Parliament

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced he was dissolving parliament and called snap legislative elections after the far-right trounced his centrist alliance in EU polls. The first round of elections for the lower house National Assembly will take place on June 30, with the second round on July 7, Macron announced in an address to ...

Five Key Takeaways from the 2024 EU Elections

At a glance, here are the five key takeaways from Sunday's European Union elections. Far-right parties made striking gains in European Union elections on Sunday, while the ultimate losers were French President Emmanuel Macron -- and the Greens. Here are five takeaways from the vote which saw Europe's centrist political groups emerge relatively ...

European Union Leaders Haggle For Bloc's Top Jobs

European Union leaders huddled in Brussels on Monday to thrash out how to divide up the bloc's top jobs, with early signals putting Ursula von der Leyen on track for a second term as chief of the powerful European Commission. Far-right gains in EU-wide elections in early June, which triggered snap polls and political upheaval in France, appear to ...

Ukraine Says EU Security Accord to Be Signed Soon

Ukraine said Wednesday it would soon sign a security agreement with the European Union, the latest in a series of accords that it hopes will ensure military aid for years to come as it battles Russia. President Volodymyr Zelensky last week hailed an "unprecedented" 10-year security deal agreed with the United States as a "bridge" to NATO ...

EU Shows Unconditional Support for Cyprus Against Hezb

European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said on Thursday that a threat against Cyprus was tantamount to a threat against the entire European Union, after Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah threatened the island nation the previous day with reprisals if it opened its airports or bases to Israel "to target Lebanon." [readmore ...

EU Unlocks 1.4 bn Euros from Russian Assets for Ukraine

The EU on Monday agreed to start paying out a first chunk of funds worth 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) earned from Russian frozen assets to help arm Ukraine, bypassing blockages from Hungary. The money is part of roughly three billion euros a year in interest from immobilized Russian central bank funds that the EU agreed to use for Kyiv in ...

Ukraine and Moldova Accession to the EU: Negotiations Begin

The European Union formally launches accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday, setting the fragile ex-Soviet states off on a long path towards membership that Russia has tried to block. The landmark move is aimed in particular at sending a vote of confidence in Ukraine's future as Moscow has momentum on the battlefield almost ...

Zelensky Signs Ukraine Security Accord With EU

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday signed a 10-year security pact with the European Union in Brussels, the latest deal aimed at shoring up long-term support for Kyiv in its fight with Russia. Days after the EU said it was opening formal membership negotiations with Kyiv, Zelensky attended a summit of EU leaders to meet with some ...

EU Leaders Return Ursula Von Der Leyen to Top Job

EU leaders struck a deal Thursday to return Ursula von der Leyen as head of the powerful European Commission, while tapping Estonia's prime minister Kaja Kallas as the bloc's top diplomat. The late-night accord carves up the EU's top institutional jobs for the next five years, with former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Costa to head the ...

EU Imposes Sanctions on Hamas Financiers

The European Union imposed on Friday asset freezes and visa bans on several firms and individuals accused of helping to finance Palestinian militant Islamist group Hamas, Brussels said. The sanctions were the second round to be imposed by the EU on the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups after their attack on Israel on October 7. Overall, ...

EU Chief in Egypt for Joint Investment Conference

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen was in Cairo on Saturday to kick off a two-day investment conference, where deals potentially worth over $42 billion are expected to be signed. "At this conference, European companies are signing over 20 new deals... which are worth over 40 billion euros," von der Leyen said at the meeting in the ...