Tag: European Union
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Slovenia blocks EU’s condemnation against Israel’s E1 Settlement Plan
The EU Observer has reported that, Slovenia has vetoed an official EU condemnation against Israel’s E1 settlement plan in Jerusalem, compelling the EU to issue the statement only on behalf of the EU’s High Representative Kaja Kallas. The statement was subsequently released by the EU’s External Actions Service and can be found here. Malta has…
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Morocco gets its way as EU to pay another â¬190 million to Morocco over border-control blackmail
EuroNews is reporting that the EU is set to fund up to an additional â¬190 million to the Moroccan government for up the 2027 for border-control following renegotiations. This is an additional to â¬220 million in funds already disbursed to Morocco over previous border-security agreements. The new deal has also been confirmed by Morocco’s state…
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Mario Draghi and Patrick Collission launch pro-Europe think-tank
Mario Draghi has joined forces with Irish businessman Patrick Collison, co-founder and CEO of Stripe, to establish the Rhine Group, a new pro-European policy initiative aimed at reversing Europe’s economic decline and strengthening its competitiveness. Draghi and Collison serve as co-chairs and co-founders of the group, while Spanish economist and former liberal MEP Luis Garicano…
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European countries push for windfall tax on oil and gas companies
Euronews is reporting that six European countries are calling for an EU-wide windfall tax on oil and gas companies to capture a portion of the exceptional profits they have made as a result of the surge in energy prices during the war with Iran. Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Poland and Portugal are calling for a…
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Asylum applications in the EU continue to go down
According to the latest Eurostat figures, the number of first-time asylum applications in the European Union continued to decline in May, falling by 22% compared with the same month last year. A total of 42,525 non-EU citizens applied for international protection for the first time in May 2026, down from 54,765 in May 2025. Applications…
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European GDP and industrial production rise slightly in Q2
According to the latest Eurostat figures, the EU’s GDP for the second quarter of this year grew by 0.5%, while employment increased by 0.1%. GDP increased by 0.4% in the Euro area. The latest figures show an improvement from the first quarter of the year, when GDP remained stable in the Euro area and increased…
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Morocco wants Ceuta: EU still providing Morocco with funds to supposedly control its border
Moroccan Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi has made controversial comments on Moroccan television announcing that Morocco seeks to annex the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. The Justice Minister made this comments as he was discussing the Ceuta migrant crisis on Saudi-television Asharq News last Tuesday. The Minister said that the Moroccan government engages in regularly…
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Spain imposes border controls on arrivals from Italy until the end of August in tit-for-tat border dispute
The Italian government instituted border checks on non-EU nationals arriving from Spain following the Ceuta crisis, but the Spanish government has responded by introducing border checks on all Italian passengers arriving in Spain until the end of August. The tit-for-tat border dispute began after the Italian government raised the alarm over the border incident in…
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European Union’s GDP grows by 1.5% in 2025: Malta at 4%
The European Union’s GDP grew by 1.5% from 2024 to 2025, accelerating slightly from the 1.1% growth registered in 2024, according to the latest Eurostat figures. Malta significantly outpaced the European average, with its economy expanding by 4.0% in real terms during 2025. This made Malta the second-fastest-growing economy in the European Union, behind Ireland,…
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Malta affirms support for Spain after agreeing to an urgent meeting in response to the Ceuta border crisis
European interior and security ministers met online for an extraordinary Council meeting chaired by the Irish Presidency in response to the Ceuta border crisis. The meeting was called by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and many European countries, including Malta, endorsed the call. Following the meeting, Malta issued a statement declaring its support for and…
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Burglaries increase in Malta in 2024 but still down by 18% since Covid Pandemic: -3.1% in the EU
Burglaries in Malta went down by 18.4% in 2024 compared to their 2019 level going down from 5,187 to 4,235 according to the latest Eurostat figures. Comparatively, they went down more significantly than the EU’s average which went down by 3.1%, falling from approximately 5.43 million in 2019 to 5.26 million in 2024. The largest percentage…
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Austria and Italy connected beneath the Alps as Brenner Base Tunnelâs main railway tubes break through
The two main railway tubes of the Brenner Base Tunnel have been connected beneath the Alpine border between Austria and Italy, marking one of the most important milestones in the construction of the major European railway project. Workers broke through the final rock barriers in the eastern and western tunnel tubes almost simultaneously on 28…
