Dani says his £26,000 salary is not high enough to sponsor his wife so she can join him in Britain
A police officer working in Manchester says he has been forced to quit his job after Rishi Sunak raised the salary threshold to sponsor his Italian wife to live in the UK in the post-Brexit immigration scheme.
Campaigners have warned that his tale of Brexit anguish is being repeated up and down the country in low-paid public sectors where many EU citizens work.
Continue reading...Greek Cypriots in south wake to air raid sirens reminiscent of invasion while Turkish-occupied north celebrates
Cyprus has marked the landmark anniversary of 50 years of ethnic division amid markedly contrasting scenes: mourning in the south and celebration in the north.
At 5.20am Greek Cypriots in the internationally recognised south awoke to air raid sirens reminding them of the arrival of thousands of invading Turkish troops on the eastern Mediterranean island five decades ago. In the Turkish-occupied north, the milestone event was cause for joy, with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, flying in to attend a military parade and fly-past commemorating the “peace operation”.
Continue reading...PM’s promise to draw line under years of fractious relations greeted with plaudits and relief by European media
Keir Starmer’s promised “reset” of the UK’s ties with the rest of Europe has drawn a positive response in European media, with one longtime journalist rejoicing that she will never again have to cover “Britain as a basket case”.
The prime minister told leaders at a meeting of the European Political Community at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire on Thursday that he wanted to draw a line under years of fractious relations with the rest of Europe. The relaunch was greeted with a sense of relief that after years of chaotic leadership in London a new age of cooperation was beginning.
Continue reading...PM wants to rethink UK’s immigration policies but did not make progress on returns deal at summit with EU leaders
Keir Starmer is looking into plans to process asylum seekers outside the UK as part of a rethink of the government’s immigration policies, even as a returns agreement with the EU appears more distant than ever.
The prime minister said on Thursday he was open to the idea of Britain processing claims offshore, after a day spent discussing illegal migration with fellow European leaders at Blenheim Palace. Those talks, as part of the European Political Community summit, included a meeting with Edi Rama, the Albanian prime minister, whose country processes asylum claims on behalf of Italy.
Continue reading...Secret ballot for MEPs to decide whether the European Commission president will serve another five-year term
Renew Europe’s leader, Valérie Hayer, has posted a photo with Ursula von der Leyen, ahead of the vote.
The Greens group said it will back Ursula von der Leyen, a centre-right politician, for a second term as European Commission president.
Continue reading...Prime minister says summit has been ‘successful and productive’ as world leaders discuss Ukraine and European security
Some more of the arrivals pictured at Blenheim Palace for a summit for the European Political Community (EPC) today, courtesy of the newswires:
Here are some of the discussions that have taken place at previous EPC summits, according to the gov.uk website:
At the last meeting in Granada, the UK led discussions on AI and illegal migration. In Moldova, the focus was on supporting the host country in the face of Russian hybrid threats, as well building energy resilience. While at the first EPC meeting in Prague, talks centred around Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the need for Europe to stand united against his aggression.
Continue reading...Digital border system that will require fingerprint and facial scans postponed until November
The date for the introduction of the EU’s new entry-exit system has been pushed back again until November, allaying fears of long queues at the border during the October half-term holidays.
The launch of the new biometric checks for foreign travellers, including Britons, entering the EU, has been delayed from 6 October until at least 10 November, with many smaller airports yet to have facilities in place.
Continue reading...Knife-edge vote set to result in another five-year mandate for commission’s first female leader or a crisis for EU
Ursula von der Leyen has spoken out against “the extreme polarisation of our societies” as she appealed to the European parliament to give her a second term as European Commission president.
MEPs will hold a knife-edge vote later on Thursday that will either result in another five-year mandate for the EU executive’s first female leader or tip the bloc into a summer crisis.
Continue reading...PM meets Simon Harris at Chequers on eve of European Political Community gathering
Keir Starmer is hoping to reverse almost a decade of strained relations with Ireland over dinner with the taoiseach, Simon Harris, at Chequers on Wednesday on the eve of the biggest summit of European leaders in the UK.
Greeting Harris, Starmer said he was “very pleased to have this very early opportunity to, what I see as resetting, strengthening and deepening our relationship”.
Continue reading...‘Likely outcome’ of Trump victory means EU should reopen diplomatic talks with Moscow, says Hungarian PM
Viktor Orbán has claimed that Donald Trump has “detailed and well-founded” plans for peace between Russia and Ukraine in a letter to a top EU body that is likely to inflame tensions about the Hungarian prime minister’s diplomatic freelancing.
Orbán, who met Trump at his Palm Beach compound last week, said in his letter to the president of the European Council, who organises meetings of the bloc’s 27 national leaders, that the Republican presidential nominee was ready to act as peace broker “immediately” after his election.
Continue reading...New business secretary set to tell international counterparts at G7 meeting ‘Britain is back on world stage’
Britain is taking its first steps towards forging closer trading links with the EU in meetings between the new business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, and international counterparts in Italy.
In his first overseas visit since Labour’s election landslide, Reynolds will tell a G7 meeting of trade ministers in the Italian city of Reggio Calabria that the new UK government wants to foster a “closer, more mature relationship with our friends in the EU”.
Continue reading...Six million Roma people living across the EU will have no direct voice as new parliament sits, activists say
From influencers to activists, hailing from Spain to Slovakia, the more than 700 newly elected members of the European parliament will gather on Tuesday for their inaugural session. Their ranks, however, will not include any MEPs who identify as Roma, according to Roma rights organisations, who describe it as a tremendous blow to Europe’s largest ethnic minority.
“We’re facing an unprecedented situation,” said Ismael Cortés, an associate professor at the Unesco Institute of Philosophy for Peace. “Out of 720 seats in the European parliament, zero are going to be dedicated to Roma people.”
Continue reading...Bloc sources say ball firmly in UK’s court regarding reset of ties as leaders prepare to meet at Blenheim for EPC forum
European leaders are “open-minded” about how to reset relations with Britain and are not ruling rule out a UK-EU summit in the future, a senior EU official has said before a meeting of European leaders in Oxfordshire on Thursday.
But they have indicated the ball is firmly in the UK’s court and they expect an offer from London on issues such as youth mobility and citizens rights to get things rolling.
Continue reading...Home secretary to host meeting of government’s Defending Democracy taskforce after reported rise in harassment during election campaign
More in Common, the group that campaigns to reduce polarisation in politics, published a good slideshow presentation last week, based on polling it carried out, giving an analysis of the general election results. It has followed that up today with the publication of a 129-page report on the election, based on the same polling and on what it learned from focus groups.
One of the main interesting points it makes is that the government will be judged, above all, on whether it can bring down NHS waiting lists and the cost of living, polling suggests. The report says:
How does the public plan to judge the government on its delivery of change and what benchmarks will they use to evaluate progress?
First and foremost, the public will look to NHS waiting lists and the cost of living to judge Labour’s success or failure. These are top performance indicators for every segment, with the elderly tending to be more concerned than average about waiting lists and younger generations more so about the cost of living. As inflation falls and interest rates seem set for a summer cut, waiting lists are arguably the new government’s key challenge in maintaining public support.
Continue reading...Kallas has been nominated to serve as the EU’s next high representative for foreign affairs, succeeding Josep Borrell
Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen was sentenced in absentia to eight years jail by a Moscow court today, AFP reported.
The court sentenced Gessen for “knowingly spreading false information about the use of the Russian army.”
Continue reading...Britain’s new PM and his team are genuinely excited to have seized the reins of power in Westminster – but are under no illusion about the size of the task ahead
When the new British prime minister, Keir Starmer, invited Wes Streeting into Downing Street to appoint him health secretary on Friday 5 July, the exchanges behind closed doors were entirely cordial.
But things rarely run 100% smoothly in the first days of a new administration as a complete government jigsaw is put together, piece by piece.
Continue reading...Prime minister wants to foster a new spirit of cooperation and partnership to confront the crises facing the continent
Keir Starmer has promised a new era of closer relations with Europe to ensure future generations can look back “on what our continent achieved together” before a key meeting of European leaders this week.
Starmer said Europe as a whole faced security crises and linked problems over migration, and that Britain should be at the heart of the continent’s efforts to confront them.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Talks at Blenheim Palace will centre on Ukraine, security and democracy
Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to travel to the UK next week to address European leaders at Blenheim Palace who are meeting to discuss Ukraine, European security and democracy.
He will also make his first visit to Ireland on Saturday morning when he touches down in Shannon airport, Co Clare, for a meeting with the Irish taoiseach, Simon Harris.
Continue reading...Analysis by Dutch researchers shows coordinated activity in France, Germany and Italy in run-up to ballot
Coordinated networks of accounts spreading disinformation “flooded” social media in France, Germany and Italy before the elections to the European parliament, Dutch researchers have found.
After an in-depth analysis of disinformation on the platform X in four EU countries, the researchers concluded that many of the accounts had been set up after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but were cranked up in the weeks and days before the vote, with growth in their numbers of followers rocketing.
Continue reading...PM to hold bilateral talks at Chequers next week when European leaders will also gather for summit at Blenheim Palace
Keir Starmer is to kickstart the resetting of the UK’s relationship with the EU in bilateral meetings next week with the prime minister of Ireland and president of France.
He will meet the taoiseach, Simon Harris, at Chequers on Wednesday on the eve of the fourth meeting of the European Political Community (EPC), a conference of more then 45 EU and non-EU leaders, which takes this place this year at Blenheim Palace near Oxford.
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