Turkey: Ramps up drilling off Cyprus
09 Aug 2019
The Republic of Cyprus is in the EU, but the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey, and is internationally isolated. Ankara's latest move to increase drilling for oil off the coast…
Italy: another charity rescue boat banned
01 Aug 2019
Deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has banned the Alan Kurdi, carrying forty migrants, from entering Italian waters. The boat, run by a German charity, had hoped to dock at Lampedusa. This rescue mission comes shortly after…
Trying to negotiate no hard UK border with EU
01 Aug 2019
Kevin Meagher, a former special advisor to Northern Ireland’s Labour party, has said that Boris Johnson is trying to ‘look down the barrel of the European Commission to see if there is any wiggle room for…
EU: free ports and money-laundering
25 Jul 2019
The European Commission has said that free ports, the Singapore-style tax-free zones favoured by Boris Johnson, are ‘potentially vulnerable to money-laundering and financing terrorism’ in the European single market. Free ports are ‘the new emerging threat’,…
France: frosty welcome for Greta
25 Jul 2019
Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg delivered an address to lawmakers at France’s national assembly. But some right-wing MPs chose to stay away, saying that to fight climate change ‘we need scientific progress and political courage, not…
European Commission President
19 Jul 2019
Europe’s new president of the European Commission is German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen. She will lead the executive body that shapes policy for the world's largest economic bloc. Many believe Leyen's appointment confirms their…