News and information from Europe 🇪🇺
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German Greens slam Israel's action in Gaza as new offensive unfolds | dpa international
The ongoing blockade of aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip and the renewed expansion of hostilities are "unacceptable," Green Party leader Franziska Brantner said.
Brantner said the German government must "make clear its position on compliance with international humanitarian law."
Populist politician Sahra Wagenknecht meanwhile demanded an immediate halt to Germany's arms deliveries to Israel, describing its actions in the Gaza Strip as "a campaign of destruction and a gigantic war crime."
Wagenknecht, who leads the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, said the German government must immediately end its "policy of solidarity" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Germany: Dozens injured at Berlin pro-Palestinian protest
Multiple injuries were reported at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Berlin commemorating the Nakba and criticizing Israel on Thursday. Police and politicians have condemned the violence.
More than one million Europeans have called on the EU to ban "conversion"' practices targeting LGBTQ people, the results of a petition showed Friday. Story by August Hakansson.
Keep up the momentum and sign for Stop Killing Games. Did you know that you can watch the European commission stream? Put some eyeballs on these initiatives when they're in session. Make the politicians aware that the people are watching!
Apple says it's not preventing Epic from republishing Fortnite, it just doesn't want Epic to do it in the US.
Russia faces 'sharp slowdown in the economy', official data shows
[...]
Russia's economy is experiencing a sharp slowdown in growth, according to a report released by the governmental statistics agency Rosstat on May 16.
Gross domestic product (GDP) only grew by 1.4% in the first quarter of 2025 – a notable decline from 4.5% growth in the previous quarter and 5.4% in the same period last year, the Moscow Times reported, citing Rosstat data.
The latest data from Rosstat came in below expectations: the Russian Economic Development Ministry estimated GDP growth at 1.7% and Bloomberg analysts predicted 1.8% growth.
According to Egor Susin, an executive from Gazprombank (the third largest bank in Russia, currently under sanctions), Rosstat's data show a "sharp slowdown in the economy."
[...]
Some aalysts point to Central Bank policies, sanctions, supply difficulties, and high inflation as reasons for the economy's
If you happen to know any Romanian, please go tell them to vote.
If you happen to know any Romanian, please go tell them to vote.
(I'll also repost this to YUROP if it's not fitting for this place)
To say that the stakes are sky-high is an understatement. We're not only faced with the threat of dictatorship and fascism, we are literally standing at a crossroads where we have to make a historic choice: we either vote for someone who proved to reform the state, bring integrity to the institutions, or we return to the dark times before 1989 when you were afraid to say anything publicly, out of fear that you would be detained, beaten or killed outright.
On the one hand, we have a bully who insults our allies, tours the far right parties in Europe and is showing more and more signs that he'll rule the country as a dictator as the day passes, who only grew in popularity while being in the shadow of Russia (right now he is nastily invoking censorship from the social media platforms HE HIMSELF deleted his accou
'Unspeakable’: Ukraine breaks the silence surrounding wartime sexual violence
Growing numbers of Ukrainian women in areas recaptured from Russian occupation are starting to speak about the sexual violence they experienced at the hands of Russian soldiers. The watershed moment comes from the amplitude and nature of the crimes, says Inna Shevchenko, a Ukrainian feminist activist and author of “A Letter from the East”.
[...]
The cases of sexual violence documented today in Ukraine took place in the areas that were temporarily occupied by Russia and are now liberated. While prosecutors have registered 344 cases of conflict-related sexual violence since the start of the invasion, women’s groups believe the real number runs in the thousands.
Inna Shevchenko, the author of “A Letter from the East”, spoke to numerous women who returned from Russian captivity and testified as to what they witnessed:
Poland’s prime minister warns of Russian interference before election that could change European landscape, says Russian hackers attacked website of his Civic Platform party
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said on Friday that Russian hackers were attacking the website of his Civic Platform party in advance of Sunday’s first-round presidential election.
Nearly 29 million Poles go to the polls in a two-round process that will determine the country’s defence policy and EU path for years to come.
The final days of the campaign have seen warnings by Poland’s national cybersecurity agency (Nask) about operations on social media “aimed at destabilising the electoral process”. Mr Tusk wrote on Twitter/X that a known Russian hacker group was “conducting intensive activities ... the attack is ongoing”.
Though 13 candidates are running for president, Sunday’s poll is the latest proxy clash between liberal conservative Mr Tusk and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, hi
A bus evacuating civilians was attacked by Russian forces on the morning of Saturday 17 May in Sumy Oblast, killing nine people.
Let me know if this was posted already.
European capitals are giving China too much leeway to shape public perceptions of bilateral diplomatic exchanges. European countries can take steps to make their messages clearer and more forceful.
This analysis is part of the MERICS Europe-China Resilience Audit. For detailed country profiles and further analyses, visit the project's landing page. European capitals are giving Beijing too much leeway to shape public perceptions of bilateral diplomatic exchanges, says Grzegorz Stec. There are s...
Op-ed by Grzegorz Stec, Head of Brussels Office/Senior Analyst at Mercator Institute of China Studies with headquarters in Berlin, Germany.
European capitals are giving Beijing too much leeway to shape public perceptions of bilateral diplomatic exchanges. MERICS has analyzed readouts issued by governments after their leaders engaged with Chinese counterparts between 2019 and 2024: less than 40 percent of China’s official summaries in English were matched by an English-language communication from the European side – and even when they were, European readouts were on average 40 percent shorter and much less detailed. This shows that European Union (EU) member states are not taking the competition to shape the narrative of EU-China relations seriously enough.
Beijing is extremely adept at and forthright about controlling i
The EU Commission is talking up its ban on the consumer uses of forever chemicals. This might sound good in theory, but it would fail to effectively tackle PFAS pollution – and hand a major lobby win to the PFAS industry.
Paywall? https://archive.is/M1OtV
Germany plans to suspend family reunification
The new German government has agreed to stop family members of refugees with subsidiary protection status from moving to Germany. The controversial move will particularly affect Syrian families.
The new German government has agreed to stop family members of refugees with subsidiary protection status from moving to Germany. The controversial move will particularly affect Syrian families.
'The memory can haunt them for life’: Ukrainian psychologist Elina Bytyuk explains how war affects children
On April 4, 2025, a Russian missile strike on the city of Krivyi Rih killed nine children, most of whom were playing in a park. The U.N. Human Rights Office said the attack, which killed 20 people in total, was the deadliest single strike to claim children’s lives that it had verified since Russia b...
On April 4, 2025, a Russian missile strike on the city of Krivyi Rih killed nine children, most of whom were playing in a park. The U.N. Human Rights Office said the attack, which killed 20 people in total, was the deadliest single strike to claim children’s lives that it had verified since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The U.N. has recorded more than 2,500 child casualties but notes the actual toll is likely far higher, particularly when considering the scale of damage to children’s mental health and well-being. The psychological toll on Ukrainian children is even more widespread. To understand the war’s impact on children, Meduza spoke with Elina Bytyuk, a psychologist at the Dnipro-based nonprofit Children New Generation.
...
Ukrainian children and teenagers — exposed to death, destruction, displacement, and depriva
Von der Leyen is Guilty - What Happens Next? (3 Scenarios)
Ursula von der Leyen just lost the "Pfizergate" legal case—and it’s a huge deal. EU judges ruled that she must reveal her secret vaccine deal text messages with Pfizer. Was there a cover-up? Political fallout? Or is this just about transparency? We break down what happened, what’s at stake, and what could happen next.
Or, if you prefer to watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5mFl-P8bHc
Microsoft failed to meet its agreement with CISPE
Four former soldiers from the elite 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment in southern France have filed formal complaints accusing their superiors of physical violence, moral harassment and degrading…
Four former soldiers from the elite 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment in southern France have filed formal complaints accusing their superiors of physical violence, moral harassment and degrading treatment.
They also described “entrenched” racism, saying words like “bonobo” and “negro” were used freely.
Tritto said two-thirds of those who joined the regiment in the same year as him have since left the army, and one in four are dealing with depression.
