Taliban officials met EU representatives and member states in Brussels for the first time to discuss consular services and returns of Afghans from Europe. Rights groups warned the talks could legitimize the Taliban and endanger deported Afghans.
Posts tagged as “European Commission”
G7 leaders meeting in France are focusing on a preliminary U.S.-Iran agreement and renewed efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Zelenskyy joined the summit as European leaders sought to keep pressure on Moscow and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Ukraine said it hit five vessels it accused of carrying stolen grain and military cargo, while confirming one of its maritime drones exploded near Romania’s Constanta port. The Romanian incident prompted warnings about the war’s spillover along NATO’s eastern flank.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán concedes defeat after 16 years as opposition leader Peter Magyar’s center-right party wins a parliamentary supermajority. European leaders welcome the shift toward European Union values.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reached a new deal on post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, which requires the region to follow some EU rules while still remaining part of the UK. The agreement has been welcomed by the EU and the UK government, and is seen as a major breakthrough in the UK's post-Brexit relationship with the EU. Sunak now faces the challenge of selling the deal to his own party, while also ensuring it is accepted by the EU.
Greta Thunberg, a prominent climate activist, was detained by police during an anti-coal protest in Germany on Tuesday. The protest was held near the abandoned village of Lützerath, which is set to be destroyed to make way for a coal mine. Thunberg was reportedly unbothered by the incident, which is the latest example of her commitment to the fight against climate change.
Matteo Messina Denaro, the leader of the Cosa Nostra Mafia in Sicily, has been arrested by Italian police after being a fugitive since 1993. Denaro was sentenced to life in prison in absentia in 1992 for his role in the murders of anti-Mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the arrest was “a great victory for the state”, and Denaro is considered one of the most wanted men in Europe.
A new assessment by Ukrainian intelligence has revealed that components made by more than a dozen US and Western companies were found inside a single Iranian drone downed in Ukraine last fall. This discovery highlights the challenge facing the Biden administration, which has vowed to shut down Iran’s production of drones that Russia is launching into Ukraine. The assessment, which was shared with US government officials late last year, shows that of the 52 components Ukrainians found inside the drone, at least 15 were made by US and Western companies. These components ranged from smaller equipment like semiconductors and GPS modules to larger parts like engines.