Category Archives: European Union

French security experts identify Moscow-based disinformation network

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Network operating in western Europe is ‘paving way for new wave of online manipulation’ in crucial election year, French agency says

French military and cybersecurity experts say they have identified a Moscow-based network spreading propaganda and disinformation in western Europe.

France’s Viginum agency, which was set up in 2021 to detect digital interference from foreign entities aimed at influencing public opinion, says Russia is paving the way for a new wave of online manipulation in the run-up to the European elections and other crucial votes this year.

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European leaders call for stronger defence ties after Trump’s Nato remarks

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Polish PM Donald Tusk says ‘all for one, and one for all’ in thinly veiled riposte to Republican frontrunner

European leaders have called for greater unity and military cooperation across the continent in response to comments from Donald Trump that threatened to undermine the basis of Nato.

Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, said on a visit to Paris on Monday that there was “no alternative” to the EU and the transatlantic alliance before a summit in which he discussed deepening defence relationships with the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

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‘The only option is to be patient’: Sudanese refugee waits on Spanish asylum claim filed from Morocco

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Lawyers see Basir’s case as test of European policies that fail to provide safe routes to sub-Saharan asylum seekers

For 25-year-old Basir, it was a ray of hope after fleeing Sudan more than a decade ago. For his lawyers, the asylum request he made from Morocco was the ultimate test of whether Spain – and more broadly the EU – was willing to provide safe migration routes to some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

Thirteen months later, the answer is a resounding no. Little has changed for Basir, a Christian, who was left for dead at 15 in an attack that killed his father and brother. He continues to live rough on the streets of Morocco, scrambling to land odd jobs so he can buy food. He asked that his real name not be used for safety reasons.

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Nato chief promises ‘forceful response’ to any attack, as Trump remarks dismissed

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Jens Stoltenberg says Nato ‘ready and able to defend all allies’, after Trump invited Russia to attack member countries

The Nato chief, Jens Stoltenberg, has said that any attack on the western military alliance would be met with a “united and forceful response”, after the former US president Donald Trump invited Russia to attack member countries he perceived as not meeting their financial obligations.

Stoltenberg said in a statement: “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk. I expect that regardless of who wins the presidential election, the US will remain a strong and committed Nato ally.”

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UK farmers vow to mount more blockades over cheap post-Brexit imports

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Inspired by French action, British campaigners say they will continue slow tractor protests after Dover roads were blocked

Farmers say there will be further French-style blockades following a slow tractor protest at Dover against low supermarket prices and cheap food imports from post-Brexit trade deals.

Around 40 tractors and other farm vehicles blocked roads around the Kent port for several hours on Friday evening by driving slowly and carrying signs with slogans such as “No More Cheap Imports”.

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Dover Port health body fears gangs of meat smugglers looking to bypass new post-Brexit checks

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Authority weighs up legal action against government over new checks on imported meat taking place 22 miles inland

The Port of Dover could become a target for criminals smuggling illegal and diseased meat into the country under new post-Brexit plans that will involve lorries from the continent being checked 22 miles inland, the port’s health authority has warned.

The Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA) is now considering legal action against the government over its decision to end physical checks of imported meat at a post within the port. Instead, lorries will be directed to a new checking facility half an hour’s drive up the M20 at Sevington, Ashford.

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Family of Swede imprisoned in Iran fear death penalty verdict is imminent

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EU diplomat Johan Floderus’s sister calls on Sweden to start speaking up loudly to demand his release

The family of a Swedish EU diplomat imprisoned in Iran for more than 663 days fear he will be given a death sentence or life imprisonment within the coming days after prosecutors sought the maximum sentence in his case.

“I ask how can this be happening? He is my brother and I’m like: they want to kill my younger brother? That is very hard to take in. I also feel so sad for him being there alone, you know, when I see the pictures of him I just want to be there for him,” said Johan Floderus’s sister, Ingrid.

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Ulez fines scandal: Italian police ‘illegally accessed’ thousands of EU drivers’ data

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Italy’s data protection body investigates claims police shared names and addresses with firm collecting penalties for TfL

The names and addresses of thousands of EU drivers were unlawfully accessed by Italian police and shared with the company that collects Ulez penalties on behalf of Transport for London (TfL), investigators believe.

The Italian data protection authority is investigating claims by Belgium’s government that an unnamed police department misused official powers to pass the personal details of Belgian drivers to Euro Parking Collections, which is employed by TfL to issue fines to enforce London’s low emission zone (Lez) and ultra-low emission zone.

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Italian man removed from UK despite post-Brexit Home Office certificate

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Massimiliano Melargo, who was stopped at airport, has permission to enter and leave UK while awaiting settlement decision

An Italian man has been removed from the UK despite holding a Home Office certificate explicitly stating he has a right to travel in and out of the country while officials process his application to live and work in the country post-Brexit.

Massimiliano Melargo, 27, told how he was detained overnight, separated from his Ukrainian partner, and put on the first plane to Venice by Border Force officials in a step lawyers say contravenes the withdrawal agreement between the EU and the UK.

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EU leaders unveil €210m Mauritania deal in bid to curb people-smuggling

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Plan includes energy and infrastructure projects with aim of strengthening stability in Sahel

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, have unveiled plans for a €210m partnership with Mauritania in an attempt to curb people-smuggling to the Canary islands and launch new energy and infrastructure projects benefiting both sides.

Figures soon to be published by Frontex, the EU’s border agency, are expected to show that the number of people risking their lives by making the perilous journey from west African shores to the Spanish islands has risen dramatically in the past year.

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‘It’s all a bit marginal’: claims of Brexit trade perks don’t add up, say firms

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A business department report trumpeting the four-year benefits of leaving the EU does not match the reality faced by companies

On the four-year anniversary of Brexit last Wednesday, business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch trumpeted its successes. “The British people’s conviction that the UK would excel as masters of our own fate has paid dividends,” she said, launching a report detailing the benefits.

Among the top achievements listed were booming sales of honey to Saudi Arabia, surging pet food exports to India, a rush of UK pork, worth £18m over five years, heading into Mexico’s restaurants and homes, and UK beauty products sales leaping in China, thanks to barriers being smashed.

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Farmers face ‘lasagne of different measures’, Belgian leader says after protests block border crossings – as it happened

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Prime minister says blockades by protesting farmers at Dutch-Belgian border ‘have been stopped’

Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo arrived in Place du Luxembourg just as a bronze statue that was felled in the protests yesterday was being taken away.

The statue, which weighed 200kg, was taken into a van by half a dozen men, as the clean-up in the square continues.

I think, by now, all governments have basically seen them, the Flemish government, the federal government – yesterday also the president of the [European] Commission.

We’ve shown that we’re able to come up with steps in the right direction. For some measures, we need more time to elaborate. And there’s a real willingness to go forward.

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Macron calls for farming reform as food producers hurl eggs at European parliament

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Demonstrations calling for help with taxes, costs and environmental rules overshadow EU leaders’ summit

Europe’s farming sector is facing a big crisis and must “profoundly” change its rules, Emmanuel Macron has said after a European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels was overshadowed by protesting farmers hurling eggs, dumping manure and lighting fires.

Speaking as hundreds of farmers from Belgium, the Netherlands and elsewhere blocked streets around the European parliament with tractors, the French president said there should be a joint EU mechanism to guarantee fair prices paid to farmers by food giants and supermarkets. He said regulations should be simplified, after weeks of farmer protests across Europe have blockaded motorways.

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EU agrees €50bn package for Ukraine as Viktor Orbán bows to pressure

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Hungarian prime minister, who had vowed to block the funding, relented after series of 11th-hour meetings

A robust and united position among EU member states convinced Viktor Orbán to end his “blackmail” and support a €50bn (£43bn) funding package for Ukraine, European prime ministers have said.

The Hungarian prime minister, who had been vowing to block the funds since December, performed one of the fastest U-turns seen at a leaders’ summit after six weeks of brinkmanship.

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‘Orbán fatigue’ as EU leaders gather to push for €50bn Ukraine package – Europe live

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Meeting in Brussels as 26 heads of state try to persuade Hungarian leader to back aid

As leaders prepare for the summit, last-minute talks are ongoing to convince Hungary’s Viktor Orbán to sign off on a funding package for Ukraine.

Charles Michel, the European Council president, posted a photo of talks with Orbán.

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EU leaders enter showdown with Viktor Orbán over €50bn Ukraine package

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Member states hope to persuade Hungary to remove its block on funding at Brussels emergency summit

EU leaders have returned to Brussels for a second showdown in two months with Hungary’s Viktor Orbán over his refusal to sanction a new €50bn assistance package for Ukraine.

A mixture of frustration and anger prevailed in the city as leaders arrived for dinner on Wednesday night on the eve of the emergency summit, with aides lamenting the failure of the Hungarian PM to shift position since December, when he first blocked the funds.

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‘Hypocritical’ European politicians weaken climate policies amid farmer protests

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Under pressure from the far right in upcoming elections, environmental concessions being made across continent

Exhausted by an energy crisis, burdened by bureaucracy and angry at efforts to curb their pollution, Europe’s farmers say people are not listening to their plight.

“Over the last few years we’ve spoken out vigorously, but we haven’t been heard,” Europe’s biggest farming lobby, Copa Cogeca, said on Wednesday in an open letter to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. “The survival of European family farming as it is known today is in danger.”

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Northern Ireland to get new Brexit trade rules in deal to restore power sharing

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‘UK internal market’ to be created to ease unionist fears over de facto border in the Irish Sea

• UK politics live – latest updates

New rules to smooth post-Brexit trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland have been unveiled by the government as part of a deal with the Democratic Unionist party that will restore the Stormont executive and install a Sinn Féin first minister.

A command paper titled Safeguarding the Union was published on Wednesday to allay DUP fears about Northern Ireland’s place in the UK and to end a two-year boycott of power sharing that has destabilised the country.

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EU to delay new green rule in bid to appease protesting farmers

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Delay to rules on setting aside land to encourage biodiversity offered as concession amid continuing protests

Farmers protesting across Europe have won their first concession from Brussels, with the EU announcing a delay in rules that would have forced them to set aside land to encourage biodiversity and soil health.

About 10,000 French farmers stepped up their protests on Wednesday, with at least 100 blockades on major roads across France, as 18 farmers were arrested for blocking traffic as they tried to reach the wholesale food market at Rungis, south-east of Paris and 79 others were detained after they managed to get inside.

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EU must defend Ukraine even if US reduces military support, Macron says

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French president says future security architecture of Europe could no longer be settled by the US and Russia

The European Union has to make bold decisions to defend Ukraine, pre-empting any US decision to withhold or reduce its military support, Emmanuel Macron has said.

In a speech in Sweden, which hopes to be the next country to join Nato, the French president also said the future security architecture of Europe, including arms control agreements covering European territory, could no longer be settled simply by the US and Russia, and Europe had to have a right to determine its own future.

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