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Brexit may finally be done, after the EU and UK reached a compromise agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol and joint European gas purchases will go ahead. #StateOfTheUnion

Sweden is using its presidency of the EU Council to keep European countries mobilised in their support for Ukraine, and to try to enforce the current sanctions on Russia more effectively. Sweden’s EU Affairs Minister Jessika Roswall speaks to Talking Europe about those issues, as well as Sweden’s application to join NATO, and Stockholm’s other priorities in its EU presidency, which is now two months into its six-month stint.

The news of another migrant drama off the coast of Italy on February 26 has prompted familiar expressions of shock by EU leaders, as well as familiar calls for the EU to rethink its approach to migration and asylum. Dozens of people are thought to have died in the Mediterranean this year, not just near Italy, but off the coasts of Libya and Tunisia too.

TikTok is battling privacy concerns and espionage fears over its potential connection with the Chinese Communist Party.

The train tragedy that unfolded in Greece this week, claiming dozens of lives in the country’s worst rail disaster, has exposed chronic failures by successive administrations, insiders say.

An agreement is still needed between the EU institutions, but the change would be significant for the industry in Europe.

The first joint purchases are expected to take place in the summer in order to fill underground gas storages.

French senators will start debating President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension plan on Thursday, as the centrist government hopes to find a compromise with the conservatives at the upper house of parliament to be able to push the bill through.

The Northern Irish question has caused endless headaches in Belfast, London and Brussels throughout the Brexit saga. Now analysts say the deal Prime Minister Rishi Sunak struck with the EU Commission this week offers genuine resolution of the problem. However, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)’s backing will be needed to get the Northern Irish parliament functioning again – and, true to form, their support is elusive.

Finland edged closer to joining NATO Wednesday after its parliament approved its accession and Hungary’s ruling party said it would support the bid being ratified.