Browsing: EU

A Serbian opposition party formally lodged a complaint on Friday against alleged fraud by President Aleksandar Vucic’s ruling party during parliamentary and local elections last month.

Talking Europe interviews the EU commissioner in charge of jobs and social rights, Nicolas Schmit. He speaks to the importance of protecting workers, particularly the “gig” or “platform” workers, whose status is at the core of a dispute between the European Commission and several EU member states. He also addresses the issue of “social dumping” – people being paid below their level of skills – an issue of relevance not only to EU workers, but also to Ukrainian refugees that have been granted permission to live and work in the EU. Plus, he explains the implementation of the EU Directive on adequate minimum wages, as economic conditions in Europe threaten people’s purchasing power; especially that of poorer members of society.

Two renowned anthropologists have spent the past five years documenting the lives of migrants in one specific place. Didier Fassin and Anne-Claire Defossez chose to assist aid workers at a reception centre in the French Alpine town of Briançon, close to the Italian border. They looked at how the migrants were living, what support they received, as well as how they were treated by police. The pair were even arrested while carrying out their research, simply for helping the migrants. They spoke to FRANCE 24’s Gavin Lee in Perspective.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday replaced his foreign minister but maintained other key figures in their posts, in a reshuffle that tilted his cabinet to the right and leaves all the top ministries in the hands of men.

South Africa asked the International Court of Justice to order Israel to immediately suspend its military operation in Gaza, where it says Israel is committing genocide against Palestinian civilians. FRANCE 24’s Fernande van Tets is in The Hague with the details.

A former interior minister and his aide have launched hunger strikes from prison after being detained on abuse of power charges Tuesday for masterminding a fake graft case to discredit another politician in 2007. 

Azerbaijan told France Wednesday not to “intervene” in its internal affairs after Baku arrested a Frenchman on espionage charges with tensions running high between the two countries.

After a swift rise up the ranks, 34-year-old Gabriel Attal took the reins as France’s new prime minister on Tuesday. With a background steeped in privilege, the first openly gay head of government is expected to bring new energy to President Emmanuel Macron’s government, which has been weakened by months of protests over pension reform, the lack of a parliamentary majority and low approval ratings.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has accused Ukraine of being a neo-Nazi state – with President Volodymyr Zelensky and his government often targeted as sympathisers. A video by a German “whistleblower” now accuses the Ukrainian president of buying a former Nazi holiday home that belonged to Hitler’s propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. In this episode of Truth or Fake, Vedika Bahl explains how this claim has been fabricated.

New year, new face.France’s youngest-ever president naming the country’s youngest-ever prime minister. We willl ask why Emmanuel Macron chose to replace Elisabeth Borne with Gabriel Attal and chart the meteoric rise of a 34-year old Parisian who has already enjoyed stints as city councilor, party spokesperson, budget minister, government spokesperson and most recently education minister.

When some French schools reopen in September this year, they will pilot a mandatory school uniform under a two-year trial period initiated by Education Minister Gabriel Attal. The initiative aims to tackle inequality among French students and reduce bullying and peer pressure. But some public school teachers, psychologists and experts remain sceptical, saying the uniforms are just putting a “plaster” on such issues. 

European Council president Charles Michel announced Sunday that he will step down early, setting off a race against time for EU leaders to find a successor for the key position.

In Portugal, the home ownership rate among young people has plummeted by 50% over two generations, leaving Portugal’s youngest with little choice but to struggle to find financial independence or leave the country.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday praised former finance minister and European Commission president Jacques Delors at a state funeral, saying he had “reconciled Europe with its future”. FRANCE 24’s Catherine Norris-Trent reports.

Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, is facing increasingly strong opposition inside the Vatican. The conservative clan of the Roman Curia – the powerful governing body of the Holy See – accuses him of a laxist vision of Catholic doctrine, particularly regarding the status of homosexual couples and divorced people in the Church. Our Rome correspondent Natalia Mendoza reports from the Vatican’s corridors of power on this growing conflict between tradition and modernity.

As the second anniversary of the Ukraine conflict looms, the female relatives of Russia’s mobilised men are becoming more and more outspoken in calling for their loved ones to come home, with their pickets and impassioned appeals gaining traction on social media. Their activism, despite being largely ignored by state media, remains a sensitive issue for the Kremlin, which is keen to project an image of national unity around President Vladimir Putin ahead of his inevitable re-election in a vote this March.

Turkish authorities have detained 34 people suspected of being linked to Israel’s Mossad intelligence service and of targeting Palestinians living in Turkey, the country said Tuesday. Police raided locations in eight provinces as part of an investigation carried out by the MIT intelligence agency and the Istanbul prosecutor’s counter-terrorism bureau.

Hospital doctors in England on Wednesday began their longest consecutive strike in the seven-decade history of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS).

Turkey on Tuesday detained 33 people suspected of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, Turkish media reported, without specifying the nationalities of those detained.

Russia fired scores of missiles and drones at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the northeastern city of Kharkiv on Tuesday, killing at least five civilians, wounding dozens and causing widespread damage, officials said. 

The Danish royals gathered for their New Year’s banquet and dinner – and the new Queen-to-be looked radiant.

The year 2024 may have only just begun but it looks set to be an action-packed one. With a number of pivotal political, environmental, cultural and athletic events on the horizon, it can be difficult to keep track of what’s to come. FRANCE 24 sets out a a timeline of a few major events that are certain to define 2024.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky honoured his people’s resilience in times of bloodshed in a long and lyrical New Year speech, while Russian leader Vladimir Putin stressed his country’s unity in a short and stern message that made only passing reference to the war.

Fireworks illuminated skies over Paris, Rio and Sydney to celebrate the entry to 2024, while in Israel, Gaza and Ukraine, rockets and strikes marked the year’s earliest hours.

Denmark’s popular Queen Margrethe II, Europe’s longest-serving monarch, said Sunday that she would abdicate on January 14 and pass the baton to her son Crown Prince Frederik.