EU

URGENT: EU lifts mask mandate for flights, airports from Monday: agency

    The EU will lift its mask requirement for flights and airports from next week, its aviation safety agency said on Wednesday, as the pandemic eases in Europe. “The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) issued an update to the health safety measures for air travel, dropping the recommendation for mandatory wearing of medical masks in airports and on board a flight, while noting that […]

EU approves Russia coal embargo, proposes more arms to Ukraine

  BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The European Union on Thursday said it had approved an embargo on Russian coal and the closing of the bloc’s ports to Russian vessels over the Ukraine war. An official from the French presidency of the European Council said the moves spearhead a “very substantial” fifth round of sanctions against Moscow. That package also includes a 10 billion euro ($10.9 billion) ban on exports to Russia, including high-tech goods, and […]

Seven EU countries urge their citizens not to join fight in Ukraine

  BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Seven European Union countries on Monday urged their citizens to refrain from joining the Ukrainian military resistance against Russia’s invading troops. The appeal was issued by the justice ministers of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg and Belgium. The ministers of the seven countries “have unanimously discouraged Europeans from joining” the ranks of voluntary combatants heading to the war in Ukraine, according to a statement published after their meeting […]

EU opens arms to fleeing Ukrainian researchers

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) – The EU is extending an online welcome to Ukrainian scientists and researchers fleeing the war in their country, on Tuesday opening a website pointing them towards jobs and accommodation. The ERA4Ukraine portal aims to be a “one-stop shop for information and support services” for them, a statement said. It builds on an existing online research network used by EU countries and others linked to the bloc’s Horizon Europe funding research. It […]

EU split over Russia oil sanctions in face of ‘war crime’

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) – EU nations remained split Monday over banning Russian energy imports, as a top official from the bloc decried “a massive war crime” being carried out by Moscow in Ukrainian city Mariupol. But foreign and defence ministers meeting in Brussels did give the green light to doubling a financial package for arms to Ukraine to 1 billion euros. The EU and Western allies have unleashed a barrage of sanctions that have battered […]

EU leaders dash Ukraine’s swift accession hopes

by Alex Pigman Agence France-Presse VERSAILLES, France (AFP) – EU leaders doused Ukraine’s hopes Thursday of quickly gaining European Union membership, as they met to urgently address the fallout of Russia’s invasion of its pro-Brussels neighbour. The meeting at the palace of Versailles was set to be the high point of France’s six-month EU presidency. But President Emmanuel Macron is instead leading a crisis summit following Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s invasion which has upended decades […]

Grave mood at EU summit in gilded Versailles palace

by Jerome RIVET Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – Emmanuel Macron’s presidency began with an invitation for Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the sumptuous former royal palace at Versailles. As his term draws to a close, European leaders are meeting in the same place to discuss Putin’s war on Ukraine. Although the 27 European Union government chiefs put on smiling faces on the red carpet, it was clear from their words that the outbreak of […]

1,207 civilians dead in Mariupol siege: official

A total of 1,207 civilians have died during a nine-day siege by Russian forces of Ukraine’s port city of Mariupol, its local authorities said Wednesday. The first nine days of the Russian siege saw “1,207 peaceful Mariupol residents dying”, the authorities of the southeastern city on the Azov Sea posted on Telegram. Asked to confirm the toll, the press service of the presidency said: “We don’t have the exact figure. But preliminarily, that’s true.” Earlier […]

EU dampens Ukraine plea for ‘immediate’ membership

by Marc BURLEIGH The EU on Monday poured cold water on a plea from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for “immediate” membership to the bloc for his country as Kyiv battled a Russian invasion. EU officials stressed that the adherence procedure takes years, dampening Ukraine’s hopes that suddenly becoming part of the European club could help it better weather the Russian onslaught and speed up military, financial and political support. Several officials walked back a comment […]

Ukraine invasion getting ‘more and more ruthless’: EU

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is becoming increasingly merciless, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday, as strikes were reported on residential areas. “The Russian military campaign is becoming more and more ruthless and Ukrainian armed forces are fighting back with courage,” Borrell told journalists. “There are a lot of civilian casualties… and the flow of people looking for shelter, escaping the war is increasing.” The EU on Sunday unveiled a 450-million-euro ($500-million) package to […]

Ukraine says to meet Russia for talks at Belarus border

Ukraine on Sunday said it would hold talks with Russia at its border with Belarus — near the Chernobyl exclusion zone — after a phone call between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. “The politicians agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet the Russian one without preconditions at the Ukraine-Belarus border, near the Pripyat River,” Zelensky’s office said in a statement. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that a Russian delegation was currently […]