European Union

New tensions have flared between Russia and Georgia in the region of South Ossetia. Both sides are building up military forces along the border. Russia occupied South Ossetia and Abkhazia after the Russian-Georgian war in 2008. The EU ambassador to Georgia, Carl Hartzell, called the situation and the confrontational language "unacceptable". "We expect all sides to show maximum restraint and use their influence to ensure situation doesn't escalate," he added.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s two-day visit to Brussels (2 and 3 September) is an excellent opportunity to address several important issues for the cross-Atlantic relations and have a unified strategy in addressing them as Europe is going to have a new leadership, Giulio Terzi writes.

Russia's parliament, the State Duma, has placed a contract on the government's procurement website seeking expert analysis for "nuances" of assisted reproduction, the Moscow Times reports. The contract is to "study the possibilities of a ... new generation of technologies for the use of assisted reproductive technologies (genome editing, metabolism management during pregnancy, etc.) to create a new ... type of society," says a section of the order.

A contingency of trade unions came out in solidarity with Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners on Monday (2 September), with a group in Brussels calling for Europe to lead the way in ensuring that human rights are eroded no further in the region, amid greater political pressure from Beijing in the region.

Greek authorities and UN helpers have moved 635 Afghan asylum seekers from an overcrowded camp on the island of Lesbos to the mainland. Another group of more than 500 people is to be moved on Tuesday. The island's camps, designed to hold 3,000 people, now host 11,000, amid a recent surge in crossings from Turkey to some 100 a day despite a Turkey-EU accord in 2015 to stop people coming.

Iceland has approved EU energy laws designed to open the single market to competition and break up giants who control both supply and distribution. MPs passed the bill by 46 to 13, Reuters reported, 10 years after the legislation was first passed in Europe. The decision allows Norway and Liechtenstein, which form part of the European Economic Area with Iceland, to adopt the EU energy rules as well.

Kazakhstan’s new President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev delivered on Monday (2 September) his first major speech following his election last June, defining his policies in all fields of the economy and society.

The amount of space junk around Earth has hit a critical point where it now poses risks to other spacecraft and satellites and has started to trigger human efforts to combat the security threat in outer space.

Iran and Russia are opposing the implementation of the Trans-Caspian project, which is supported by Azerbaijan and is in the EU’s interest, writes Shahnar Hajiev.

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The United States would withdraw almost 5,000 troops from Afghanistan and close five bases within 135 days under a draft peace accord agreed with the Taliban, the chief US negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, said on Monday (2 September).

Italian authorities on Monday (2 September) seized the rescue vessel Eleonore, disembarking the around 100 migrants aboard after it entered Italian territorial waters despite a ban.

The US and Poland have signed a joint declaration to collaborate on 5G security in what US Vice President Mike Pence said would "set a vital example for the rest of Europe."

Emily O'Reilly, the Irish former journalist who was the EU Ombudsman for the past five years, said on Monday she wants a second term in office. Her goal was to make the EU watchdog "more visible to citizens and to make a positive impact on the EU administration," she said, adding: "I wish to continue that work". The European Parliament elects the EU Ombudsman after hearings with candidates in December.

More than 50 French MPs have voiced their concerns about the situation in Catalonia. The acting Spanish minister for foreign affairs - and incoming EU foreign affairs chief - Josep Borrell has lamented "the ignorance about the reality of Spain".

Von der Leyen andr Borissov gagged media in Sofia last week, but that won't make the hard questions go away either for the EU or Bulgaria.

Including the competence for animal welfare explicitly in the job title of the relevant commissioner would respond the demands of the vast majority of EU citizens.

Boris Johnson is moving closer to calling a snap election this week, if UK lawmakers adopt legislation aimed at preventing a No Deal Brexit.

Iceland, a nation with a long heritage of sustainable fishing, places great value on working with our European neighbours and friends to ensure the careful management of the shared North East Atlantic fisheries stocks.

It may be a long shot at this stage, but EURACTIV foresees that Ursula von der Leyen will be able to achieve her goal of achieving gender balance in the new EU executive. We will argue that this is a big success.