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Päivi Räsänen is accused of inciting hatred after making the comments on Twitter in 2019.

The Beijing Winter Olympics gets underway on 4 February.

The retired Pope had denied attending the meeting to the investigators but says his statement had mistakes in it due to editing "oversight".

According to recent polls, the party could win ten seats in regional elections next month and get into power by joining a governing coalition.

Italy's next president will have an important role in acting as a neutral referee among the various parties — as Italy struggles to emerge from the pandemic — and will work to enact reforms to help the recovery and boost economic growth.

The 29-year-old woman was fined after telling prosecutors that her gesture was a "stupid joke".

Europe could be moving towards a kind of pandemic endgame, said WHO's Europe director Hans Kluge. But, he added, it is too early to call COVID endemic.

"I normally put something in the foodbank trolley but now it's my turn to need some help," said 45-year-old Heidi, who said she was struggling with price rises on "just everything".

From health passes to vaccine mandates, protesters were out in force this weekend.

“Most of the time when we find somebody who is in a plane then he does not survive... but this is unique."

Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.

Britain’s High Court ruled on Monday he could take his case to the UK Supreme Court.

France will restrict the unvaccinated from leisure activities, restaurants and interregional transportation from Monday.

Anyone over the age of 50 with "full civil rights" is eligible to be Italy's president.

The alliance will deploy more ships and fighter jets to reinforce "deterrence and defence," while the EU will provide Ukraine with a new financial assistance package worth €1.2 billion.

Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian resigned on Sunday, citing his inability to "influence" the political life of his country.

The US Secretary of State said he had "no doubts" over Germany's determination to stand up to Russia, after Kyiv accused Berlin of "encouraging" Vladimir Putin.

Thousands of demonstrators gather in Brussels to protest against health measures which aim to curb the spread of Covid-19

Residents and tourists take the opportunity to go for a winter walk out and take pictures of the delicate white blanket covering the historical city of Istanbul

Minnesotans make the most of the cold winter weather at a huge ice maze in Stillwater. More than 2,900 blocks of ice were used to build the labyrinth, which also features a frozen slide.

Thousands of mourners pay tribute to the late Vietnamese monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh who was credited with bringing mindfulness to the West

Cleaning crews in Ventanilla, Peru, work to remove oil from a beach after a spill caused by an eruption on the other side of the Pacific near Tonga

Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.

Sunday's march followed demonstrations in other European capitals this weekend against vaccine mandates and other COVID restrictions.

The official election date in Portugal is 30 January, but the early voting option was introduced to avoid over-crowding on the day itself.

Although his boat was found off the Azores, the search goes on for the body of the 75-year-old who had spoken of wanting to become the "doyen of the Atlantic".

Gunfire was reported at military barracks across the country on Sunday, prompting the government to deny the army was taking over.

US-backed Kurdish security forces brought reinforcements to regain control of areas taken by Islamist militants after Thursday's attack on the jail in Hassakeh.

"Such is life," Jacinda Ardern said when asked about setting new rules because of an Omicron variant outbreak, forcing her to postpone her own wedding.

Norway's foreign minister has stressed the visit is does not legitimise or recognise the Taliban, "but we must talk to those who in practice govern the country today".

The UK MP has been urged to make a formal complaint after claiming she was told her Muslim faith played a part in her sacking from Boris Johnson's government.

Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.

Vice-admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach said Ukraine would never regain Crimea from Russia, and described as 'absurd' Western views that Putin may invade Ukraine.

The UK government says it has intelligence information that Moscow is looking to install a pro-Russian leader in Kyiv, a claim Russia has dismissed as nonsense.

This book is one of the most important ever written on Britain’s tortuous relationship with Europe in the last 50 years. It has been dismissed as a book written by a haut fonctionnaire, what in English would be called a Whitehall Mandarin. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reason Barnier comprehensively out-negotiated his [...]

The post Barnier’s Secret Brexit Diary – A British perspective appeared first on The Federal Trust.

What is it about England’s right-wing journalism and France? The obsessive hate against France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, in papers like the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, and Spectator is without precedent. As news arrived of the death of 27 refugees drowned in the Straits of Dover, the Daily Mail summed up the style and language of the Francophobe press. It blasted the “Tantrum [...]

The post The Macron Obsession – a Very English Virus appeared first on The Federal Trust.

The extraordinarily tight outcome of the German elections has created the danger for the European Union of prolonged negotiations before the next federal government can be formed, lasting even as long as until Christmas. However, it also contains a most significant opportunity. This is not merely due to the defection of voters from the anti-European [...]

The post The German elections and the future of the euro appeared first on The Federal Trust.

This essay was commissioned by Léo Keller on behalf of the Blogazoi blog, as part of a collection to be published following the German election.   It is over 21 years since Angela Merkel took over from Wolfgang Schäuble as leader of the CDU, Germany’s most consistently successful political party. Schäuble, the heir apparent to the long-serving [...]

The post Angela Merkel, Britain and Europe: a view from offshore appeared first on The Federal Trust.

From Unidentified Political Object to European Democracy Thirty years after the foundation of the European Union by virtue of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty the nature of the Union has been established at last. At the time of its creation as successor of the European Communities the EU used to be described by the then President [...]

The post The Identity of the EU appeared first on The Federal Trust.

6 years ago I published a book “Brexit. How Britain Will Leave Europe.” It came out before the May 2015 election. It set out all the reasons, based on 20 years of door knocking in what we now call a red wall seat, why I thought that if a populist plebiscite on Europe were to [...]

The post A Brexit Cassandra appeared first on The Federal Trust.

Within ten days after the finalisation of the UK withdrawal from the EU, the European Union is to start an ambitious Conference on the Future of Europe. The aim of the Conference is to discuss the place of the citizens in the construction of the Union and to underpin European democracy with a solid political [...]

The post Building Bridges in times of Divergence appeared first on The Federal Trust.

In May 2021 Northern Ireland will mark the hundredth year of its existence. These years have been marked by long periods of turmoil rather than any sense of contentment or stability. There has been and remains an atmosphere of unease. Governments in Northern Ireland have been marked  by periods of social and religious discrimination, been [...]

The post A United Ireland – An Empty Slogan? appeared first on The Federal Trust.

The author wishes to dedicate the present essay to the memory of the ever inspiring Michael Burgess, in live Founder and Director of the Centre for Federal Studies at the University of Kent.   For decades, it has been common practice in academic circles to refer to the EU as a rare bird, an ‘ava [...]

The post The European Union: From organisation ‘sui generis’ to democratic regional organisation appeared first on The Federal Trust.

The future of the financial services industry - centred in the City of London - matters enormously to the health of the United Kingdom’s economy. The Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) has few provisions on financial services and the UK now appears set to drive a wedge between EU and British rules so it can [...]

The post Brexit: Ending the City’s Dominance of European Finance? appeared first on The Federal Trust.

The EU will not evacuate its staff from Kyiv, the bloc's foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on Monday before the meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers, who will have a video conference with US secretary of state Anthony Blinken. "Blinken will explain the reasons for this announcement, we are not going to do the same thing, [...], we don't have to dramatise, the negotiations are going on," Borrell said.

Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney has raised the alarm on Russian live-fire naval missile tests due to take place in Ireland's maritime economic zone. Russia had a right to the naval drills and had notified authorities of its plans, he said, "but In light of the current political and security environment in Europe ... [Ireland] had raised a number of concerns with the Russian authorities," he added on Sunday.

Poland wants the EU's blessing to restrict people's right to asylum if they sneak in from Belarus.

Campaign group British in Europe has written to the UK government seeking help for Britons who have lived in the EU and who wanted to resettle to the UK with their European family members, but faced hurdles due to Brexit. Britain ought to issue a "clear statement that those family members who are entitled to enter the UK on a visitor permit will be able to do so", it said.

Some 70 people were arrested, 15 needed hospital attention, and police used tear gas and water cannon after rioting broke out at an anti-corona pass protest involving 50,000 people in Brussels on Sunday. Attackers also smashed the glass-fronted side entrance to the EU foreign service building. Meanwhile, thousands of people marched against restrictions in Athens, Helsinki, London, Paris, and Stockholm and Gothenburg Saturday, but the rallies there were peaceful.

The Italian coastguard rescued 305 people, including 17 women and six minors, from a small, overcrowded boat which got into trouble near the Italian island of Lampedusa Friday. Hundreds of people rescued by three charity boats in recent times are also waiting for a safe port in the region to take them in, with Geo Barents, operated by charity Doctors without Borders, saying it had over 430 people on board.

Italian MPs, on Monday, begin to vote for the country's next president, with the incumbent, 80-year old Sergio Matarella, to step down on 3 February. Candidates in the secret ballot need an absolute majority in the first three rounds of voting and a simple one from the fourth round onward. The country's prime minister, Mario Draghi, is a favourite to win. Scandal-tainted former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has pulled out.

Gas continued flowing from Germany to Poland via the Yamal-Europe pipeline this weekend, instead of from Russia, via Poland, to Germany, as in normal times, according to German network operator Gascade, Reuters reports. Russia recently restricted supplies to Europe amid security tensions over Ukraine. But EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson said Saturday she would soon be travelling to Azerbaijan and the US to seek extra supplies to "improve our risk-preparedness".

Hans Kluge, the World Health Organisation's Europe director, told AFP on Sunday that the continent is nearing the end of the pandemic due to vaccinations and growing natural immunity. "It's plausible the region is moving towards a kind of pandemic endgame," he said. "There'll be a period of quiet before Covid-19 may come back towards the end of the year, but not necessarily the pandemic coming back," he added.

Germany has voiced opposition to EU plans to label nuclear energy as "green" in its "taxonomy" for investors. "We have once again clearly expressed our rejection of the inclusion of nuclear energy. It is risky and expensive," Germany's economy and environment ministers said in an open letter to the EU Commission Saturday. "Serious accidents with large, cross-border and long-term hazards to humans and the environment cannot be excluded," they added.

EU foreign ministers are to condemn "Russia's continued aggressive actions and threats against Ukraine", while promising "massive" sanctions at Monday's meeting in Brussels.

Throughout the week, MEPs will vote on the chairs and vice-chairs of the 20 standing committees and three sub-committees for the next two-and-a-half years, the remainder of the current legislative term.

The NGO Global Witness found that Shell Quest, a blue hydrogen and carbon capture pilot facility in Alberta, emitted more CO2 than it captured.

The Digital Services Act was adopted with a solid majority in the European Parliament plenary - and today, some marketing professionals weep. The result will be a fundamentally different digital eco-system, and this will change digital marketing too.

French far-right presidential candidates Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour have set their sights on the next French parliament elections and European elections, as much as on winning the Élysée Palace.

Romania's underfunded public health system was on the verge of collapse during the last surge of cases. Hospital morgues were full, and some patients were transferred abroad for treatment because Covid-19 intensive care units were at full capacity.

Environmental lawyers are threatening to take legal action against the European Commission if gas is included in the EU guidelines for sustainable finances. But the draft taxonomy has also triggered discontent among some EU national capitals and MEPs.

EU leaders are free to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin despite his threats to start a new war with Ukraine, the EU foreign service has said. "There is no embargo on contacts and visits between member states and Russia. Each member state decides ... on their own judgment," the EU foreign service told EUobserver. The comment follows reports Croatia invited Putin to visit and that Hungary's leader will meet him.

Austrians who refuse to be vaccinated can be fined €3,600 from 1 February until January 2024 under a new law passed by Austrian MPs Thursday. The bill must still pass the senate and be signed by the president. The move was a "big, and, for the first time, also lasting step", health minister Wolfgang Mückstein said. Some 72 percent of Austrians have had the jab, amid months of anti-vaccination protests.

Airlines flying from one European destination to another should start paying for all their carbon emission from 2026, a year earlier than planned, according to a draft report by Croatian centre-right MEP Sunčana Glavak seen by Reuters. The Commission earlier proposed to phase out free CO2 permits by 2027. "We must support innovation in the sector and the use of sustainable aviation fuels," she said.

An appeals court in Paris, on Thursday, ordered US social media giant Twitter to fully disclose details ofn its approach to tackle hate speech online, Reuters reported. The ruling comes after six anti-discrimination groups argued that only a fraction of hateful content online was being taken down 48 hours after being flagged. The court also imposed a symbolic, €1,500 fine in damages to each of the six plaintiffs.

The European Data Protection Supervisor, Wojciech Wiewiórowski, on Thursday called on EU legislators to consider stricter rules for online targeted advertising for political purposes. He suggested a full ban on microtargeting, which tends to use behavioural data to target users with specific political messages. "We need to do more if we want to tackle the many risks surrounding the use of targeting and amplification techniques for political purposes," Wiewiórowski said.

MEPs, on Thursday, approved the Digital Service Act, a new EU law on tech rules to tackle illegal content and hold online platforms accountable. The text was adopted in a 530-78 vote, with 80 abstentions. Obligations depend on the size and influence of companies, but micro and small enterprises are exempt from certain requirements. The text bans tracking advertising for minors and prohibits using sensitive data for targeted ads.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken warned Thursday that there would be a "swift, severe, united" response from the US and its allies if Russia sends any military forces into Ukraine, AP reported. Blinken's comments in Berlin appeared to be another effort to clear up any confusion about the US position after US president Joe Biden was criticised for saying a "minor incursion" by Russia would elicit a lesser response.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán plans to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin on 1 February to discuss the Russian-backed project to expand a Hungarian nuclear power plant, Hungary's foreign minister said Thursday. The meeting comes as Nato, the US, and the EU try to manage the Russian military build-up at the Ukrainian border. The Paks nuclear plant's €12bn expansion is covered by a €10bn loan from a Russian state bank.

MEPs have recalled their demands to include the right to legal and safe abortion into the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, a day after French president Emmanuel Macron pledged to open such a debate in the EU Council.

The case is one of many disputes between the EU and Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which have started to cost money for Warsaw.

Thirty Dutch mayors have asked the national government to rethink its corona pandemic measures amid protests from museums and cultural centres against continued lockdown.

Obligatory detentions, more security-screening, and faster deportations - these are the French EU presidency's migration priorities.

A cross-party group of 62 MEPs from five parties has called for a full-scale election observation mission in Hungary for the 3 April general election, in a letter released on Wednesday. Critics of prime minister Viktor Orbán have raised concerns as his government has been weakening independent institutions for years. In 2018, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe elections monitors said the ballot was free but not fair.

It is "very unlikely" that Finland would apply for Nato membership during her term of office, but her country was ready to stand with its European allies and United States by imposing tough sanctions on Russia if it attacked Ukraine, Finland's prime minister Sanna Marin said on Wednesday. "It would have a very substantial impact and the sanctions would be extremely tough," she told Reuters.

German prosecutors have opened a probe over alledged special pandemic payments into Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock, the two co-leaders of the Greens, one of the governing parties in the country, the party said on Wednesday. Spiegel Online reported the start of the investigation for a possible breach of trust to the detriment of the party over illegal payments of €1,500 to Greens board members in 2020.

Brussels remains committed to follow US-led on negotiations with Russia, EU officials said according to the Financial Times. French president Emmanuel Macron fell out of line when he called for a separate EU dialogue with Moscow on Wednesday. "We were given zero notice of this crazy idea," one source said. Macron blindsided EU diplomats, pushing EU states to "start their own dialogue" in his speech at the European Parliament.

The EU Commission is starting the process to deduct millions of euros from payments to Poland in order to cover fines imposed on Warsaw for ignoring a court injunction to close down a coal mine, a commission spokesperson said Wednesday. The European Court of Justice ruled last year that Poland should close the open-pit brown coal mine in Turow, near the Czech Republic, and pay fines, but Warsaw refused.

The "Patriotic Millionaires"- a group of more than 100 billionaires and millionaires - on Wednesday issued an appeal to political leaders to make them pay more taxes. "As millionaires, we know that the current tax system is not fair. We have actually seen our wealth rise during the pandemic," the signatories said in an open letter published at the start of the World Economic Forum.