Court of appeal ruling means government has only until 2030 to reach target
A Belgian court has declared the country’s climate targets “clearly insufficient” and ordered the government to cut emissions faster.
In a powerful victory for climate campaigners, the Brussels court of appeal ordered Belgium to cut its planet-heating pollution by at least 55% from 1990 levels by 2030. By 2021, Belgium had cut its emissions by just 24%.
Continue reading...Decision made in case of Muslim employee in Belgium states that restrictions must be applied equally
Government offices across the EU can ban employees from wearing religious symbols, such as Islamic headscarves, in the interest of neutrality, the EU’s top court has ruled, though it stressed that such restrictions must be applied equally to all employees and fit within the legal context of each member state.
The decision, published by the court of justice of the European Union on Tuesday, said such bans were permissible in order to enforce an “entirely neutral administrative environment”.
Continue reading...Eli Cohen criticised Leo Varadkar’s description of nine-year-old Emily Hand as being ‘lost’, not ‘kidnapped’
The Israeli government has accused Ireland’s taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, of legitimising terror and losing his moral compass by saying a freed Irish-Israeli hostage had been “lost” as opposed to kidnapped.
Eli Cohen, Israel’s foreign minister, on Sunday summoned the Irish ambassador to the foreign ministry in Jerusalem for a formal reprimand over Varadkar’s response to the release of nine-year-old Emily Hand, who was reunited with her family after 50 days as a hostage in Gaza.
Continue reading...Dutch general election results show how populist and far-right parties are advancing into political mainstream
Geert Wilders’ shock victory in the Dutch general election confirms the upward trajectory of Europe’s populist and far-right parties, which – with the occasional setback – are continuing their steady march into the mainstream.
There is no guarantee that Wilders, whose anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV) won 37 seats in Wednesday’s ballot – more than twice its 2021 total – will be able to form a government with a majority in the Netherlands’ 150-seat parliament.
Continue reading...Remarks by rights chief come as civil society groups warn of a rise in antisemitism amid Israel-Hamas war
Antisemitism is a “deeply ingrained racism in European society” that poses an existential threat to the continent’s Jewish community and the fundamental aims of the European Union, an EU official has warned.
Michael O’Flaherty, the director of the bloc’s agency for fundamental rights, said it was worrying that only a third of the general population considered antisemitism a big problem, when there was no doubt “dramatic moments in our societies trigger antisemitic responses”.
Continue reading...Poll of 6,752 people of African descent in 13 countries finds almost half have experienced discrimination
Racism is “pervasive and relentless” and on the rise in Europe, with nearly half of black people in member states surveyed by the EU reporting discrimination, from the verbal abuse of their children to being blocked by landlords from renting homes.
In every walk of life, from schools to the job market, housing and health, a survey by the EU’s rights agency of people of African descent found high levels of discrimination, with some of the worst results recorded in Austria and Germany, where far-right parties have been on the rise.
Continue reading...Tunisia had applied for extradition of Islamist gunman who shot dead two football fans but file got forgotten
The Islamist gunman who shot dead two Swedish football fans in Brussels last weekend had escaped from a Tunisian prison where he was serving a long sentence, which prompted Tunisian officials to seek his extradition from Belgium, prosecutors have said.
Belgian authorities received the extradition request in August 2022 but it was not dealt with.
Continue reading...Vincent Van Quickenborne stands down after it emerged Islamic extremist had been denied asylum and was sought for extradition
Belgium’s justice minister has resigned after it emerged that the Islamic extremist who shot dead two Swedes in Brussels this week had been denied asylum and was sought for extradition by Tunisia.
Justice minister Vincent Van Quickenborne said late on Friday that he and other officials had been searching for details to understand how Abdesalem Lassoued had disappeared off the map two years ago after being denied asylum.
Continue reading...Questions raised about how attacker slipped through net to kill two football fans heading to Euro 2024 qualifier
The Swedish and Belgian prime ministers have paid tribute to two Swedish men shot dead by a gunman in Brussels on Monday night, as authorities scrambled to work out how the attacker had slipped through the net.
In Brussels on Wednesday, the Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, and his Belgian counterpart, Alexander De Croo, took part in a brief ceremony for the victims, laying wreaths and a Swedish football scarf and jersey among bouquets of flowers.
Continue reading...Sweden and Italy called for tighter security at Europe’s borders after shooting by man identified in reports as Abdesalem Lassoued
A Tunisian man who killed two Swedish citizens in a terrorist attack in Brussels was “probably a lone wolf”, the Belgian prime minister has said, as Sweden and Italy called for security at Europe’s borders to be tightened.
Sweden’s prime minister said the country was suffering “unfathomable sadness” after the fatal shooting of two Swedish football fans, one in his 60s and one in his 70s, and the wounding of a taxi driver.
Continue reading...Even before the war in Gaza, authorities have been warning of rise in Islamist terrorism on the continent
For months now, authorities charged with keeping Europe safe from Islamist extremist violence have been sounding the alarm. In May, Dutch security services warned that the terrorist threat from Islamic State to Europe had increased. The same month, the French interior minister said the risk of Islamist terrorism was rising again and that his own country was being targeted, as well as its neighbours.
In recent days, these pessimistic forecasts appear to have been vindicated. France is deploying 7,000 extra troops on to its streets after a teacher was fatally stabbed on Friday in an attack that Emmanuel Macron condemned as “barbaric Islamic terrorism”. The suspected attacker swore an oath of allegiance to IS in an audio recording on his phone shortly before the killing, prosecutors have said.
Continue reading...Residents told to stay at home after attack that prosecutors said was inspired by Islamic State
Brussels is on its highest level of security alert after two Swedes were shot dead in the centre of the city by a gunman who federal prosecutors said claimed to be inspired by Islamic State.
The Swedish national football team were in the middle of a match against Belgium at King Baudouin Stadium, about 5km away, but the match was abandoned at half-time and the crowd was instructed to stay inside the stadium.
Continue reading...Earlier announcement by Olivér Várhelyi had prompted surprise from member states including Ireland and Spain
The EU has been plunged into a diplomatic row after an announcement that it was to suspend “all payments” to Palestinians as a result of Hamas’s attacks on Israel led to clashes with several member states including Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands.
After six hours scrambling for an explanation, the European Commission appeared to backpedal on an announcement made by the commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, saying: “There will be no suspension of payments.” But it muddied the waters by saying there were “no payments foreseen”.
Continue reading...Countries including France, Germany and Poland all had their hottest Septembers on record
Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Poland and Switzerland have all experienced their hottest Septembers on record, with unseasonably high temperatures set to continue into October, in a year likely to be the warmest in human history.
As 31C (88F) was forecast in south-west France on Sunday and 28C in Paris, the French weather authority, Météo-France, said September’s average temperature was 21.5C, between 3.5C and 3.6C above the norm for the 1991-2020 reference period.
Continue reading...Terms ranged up to life in prison and included high-profile culprits Salah Abdeslam and Mohamed Abrini
A Belgian court has handed out sentences of up to life in jail to eight men for the 2016 jihadist bombing attacks in Brussels, bringing to an end the country’s largest-ever criminal trial.
The suicide bombings on 22 March 2016 at Brussels’ main airport and on the metro system killed 32 people and were claimed by the Islamic State group.
Continue reading...The disappearance of a statue of the comic book artist in his Belgian birthplace was thought to be an act of decolonisation
It would have been a suitable assignment for Tintin, the intrepid Belgian boy reporter and his multi-talented, intuitive dog, Snowy.
Across Brussels, where Hergé, the creator of the eponymous comic books, was born, there are constant reminders of one of its most famous exports. A giant image of the character clinging to the back of a steam train from the book Tintin in America adorns one of the exits from the city’s Eurostar station, while a mural of Tintin, his seafaring friend Captain Haddock and Snowy covers the gable end of a house just over a mile away, surviving graffiti and vandalism.
Continue reading...Arms firm Rheinmetall to refurbish vehicles following military aid package announced at Nato summit
Thirty secondhand Leopard I battle tanks are to be refurbished by the arms manufacturer Rheinmetall at the orders of the German government and exported to Ukraine, a spokesperson for the company has confirmed.
The tanks are part of a fleet of 49 vehicles that the Düsseldorf-based company purchased from the Belgian private defence company OIP Land Systems. Some of the vehicles are reportedly in such poor condition they will serve only for the supply of spare parts.
Continue reading...Freddy Versluys says he has sold the former Belgium main battle tanks, which could be in combat in six months
Dozens of secondhand Leopard 1 tanks that once belonged to Belgium have been bought by a major European country for the Ukrainian army fighting Russia, according to the arms trader who sold them.
Freddy Versluys, CEO of the private defence company OIP Land Systems, told the Guardian that he sold 49 tanks to another European government, which he could not name due to a confidentiality clause. He said he also could not disclose the price. Versluys added it could be up to six months before they were on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Secret portrait of woman likely to be wife of Belgian surrealist found during examination of artist’s work
A painting by René Magritte has been discovered beneath another painting by the Belgian surrealist master – to the excitement of experts.
A portrait of a woman had been hidden under La Cinquième Saison (The Fifth Season), from 1943, now held in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (RMFAB) in Brussels. She was discovered using infrared reflectography.
Continue reading...Islamic State bombers killed 32 and injured more than 300 in attacks at subway station and airport
Six men have been found guilty of murder and attempted murder for their part in the 2016 Brussels terrorist attacks that killed 32 people and injured more than 300.
They include Salah Abdeslam, who is already serving a life sentence in France for his role in the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks which targeted the Bataclan theatre and France’s national stadium, killing 130 people and injuring 350. He was arrested four days before the Brussels attack.
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