Euractiv.com

The Greek Orthodox Church asked lawmakers on Wednesday (14 February) to hold a roll-call vote on the same-sex marriage bill, a sensitive issue that has sparked an intense debate in the country and divided the ruling conservative New Democracy party.

Ireland and Spain are seeking an “urgent review” of whether Israel is complying with human rights obligations under its trade agreement with the EU, according to a joint letter seen by Euractiv.

Kazakhstan, a landlocked country in Central Asia with a population of 20 million, has been ranked for the first time as a “middle power” by a German think tank specialised in international relations and security studies, on a par with G20 powers such as India, Turkey, or Brazil.

Ukraine destroyed a Russian landing warship off the coast of occupied Crimea in an operation with naval drones that breached the vessel's port side on Wednesday (14 February) and caused it to start sinking, Kyiv's military spy agency and armed forces said.

Eighteen out of 31 NATO countries will spend more than the required 2% of GDP on defence in 2024, according to estimates presented by Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday (14 February), days after US presidential candidate Donald Trump criticised the alliance for under-investing.

The EU's workforce problems are massive. This has prompted more discussion on how to improve the situation at EU level.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is looking to expand its tasks by turning to critical minerals, welcoming new members and boosting its focus on Asia with a new office in Singapore.

The EU is getting more dependent on China in its quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and switch to green technologies, the EU’s climate chief Wopke Hoekstra has warned, saying this is becoming “problematic” going forward.

The EU got a foretaste of climate policy debates to come last week when lawmakers in the European Parliament debated the EU’s climate target for 2040.

Vladimir Putin's suggestion of a ceasefire in Ukraine to freeze the war was rejected by the United States after contacts between intermediaries, three Russian sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.

Russia's parliament will vote on 21 February on suspending the country's participation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE), Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on Tuesday (13 February).

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Germany’s Baerbock voicing ‘concern’ about Israel’s looming military operation in Rafah, Eastern European farmers’ plans to jointly protest against the EU agricultural policy, and so much more.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday (13 February) blasted comments about NATO by his likely 2024 election opponent, Donald Trump, calling the remarks "dangerous" and "un-American" and saying they raised the stakes for the US Congress to approve new funding to support Ukraine.

Mircea Geoană, NATO deputy secretary general, has said that social democrats (PSD), including party leader and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, have suggested his candidacy for the upcoming presidential elections as an independent backed by PSD,  something Ciolacu denies.

Politicians and union leaders are no longer hiding their dissatisfaction regarding the current leadership in the country, with calls for protest expected to increase exponentially as the country gears up for a “super election year”.

The Belgian EU presidency is working to lay a foundation for a future EU health workforce strategy and aims to ramp up action, in contrast to the limited Council conclusions on the same topic in 2010.

Representatives of agricultural organisations from Central and Eastern European countries met in Poland on Tuesday to agree on the organisation of joint protests against EU agricultural policy, which is set to take place on 22 February.

After a group of Polish farmers blocked three Ukrainian grain lorries from crossing the border, spilling some of the grain on the road, Kyiv appealed to Warsaw to investigate the “shameful crime”, but Polish Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski said he would not take action.

Reference to the European Union should be removed from the Swedish Constitution, according to the powerful far-right Sweden Democrats’ new EU strategy presented in a joint article by party leader Jimmie Åkesson and European Conservatives and Reformists Vice-President Charlie Weimers.

Bulgaria is insisting on a fixed price for the construction of two new Westinghouse AR-1000 nuclear reactors, which should not exceed $14 billion, according to an intergovernmental agreement on nuclear cooperation between Bulgaria and the US signed in Sofia on Monday night.