The United Nations said on Monday (15 January) it needs $4.2 billion this year to provide humanitarian aid in Ukraine and help millions who have fled, urging people not to forget the war-torn country's plight as the Gaza war dominates attention.

A recent spill of plastic pellets on the Spanish coast has highlighted the need for regulation at EU level, with environmental groups pushing for a zero tolerance approach to plastic pollution.

.Over 2024, the EU will provide €87 million and new equipment to Egypt for a migration management project started in 2022, implemented by the UN migration agency and the French Interior Ministry operator Civipol, three sources close to the matter confirmed to Euractiv. 

The year ahead will be "very tough" for fiscal policy -- especially for countries holding elections -- the IMF chief told AFP before departing for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Austria’s centre-right ÖVP eyeing a two-party government, likely with the far-right, Pristina and the EU at odds over the Banjska ‘terrorist attack’ report, and so much more.

Four months after the EU-dubbed ‘terrorist attack’ by Serb militants in the north of Kosovo and pledges of possible measures against Serbia pending the outcome of Pristina’s investigation, the EU Commission insists on a ‘final report’ with authorities in Kosovo saying they have already provided them with evidence and proof of Belgrade’s involvement, calling on them for a response.

Serbia will have a new parliament in a matter of weeks, and if a majority is formed, there will be no need for new elections, said Serbia’s parliament President Vladimir Orlić.

Slovenian doctors and dentists start a general strike on Monday after talks with the government bore no fruit following a one-day strike last week.

An upcoming bill proposed by the ruling HDZ party that seeks to amend the penal code to introduce jail time of up to three years for leaks from court investigations was criticised by opposition MPs from the Možemo! Party on Sunday, who argued that the new bill allows for wiretapping.

As he US and the EU are struggling to keep writing cheques to Ukraine, a fallback plan is making its way: Kyiv could raise money by selling bonds backed by future claims for war damages against Moscow.

Far-right Identity and Democracy Group (ID) and conservative European Conservatives and Reformists party (ECR) come third and fourth, respectively, in voting intention, and the right-wing bloc holds on to a blocking majority, while Fratelli d’Italia loses three seats and the Italian Greens-Left Alliance gains five, according to Euractiv's mid-January projections ahead of the EU elections in June.

The Culture Ministry will cut back on Pride events and education that covers LGBTI+ topics, Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová said over a year after two people were murdered outside of a gay bar in Bratislava.

The government is set to approve a comprehensive law to protect minors from the current ‘pornographic epidemic’ on the internet in the coming weeks, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told El País in an interview published on Sunday.

A prime ministerial meeting of the Visegrad Group, consisting of Czechia, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, has not yet been convened as it would not produce any results, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.

The Israel-Hamas war reached a grim milestone of 100 days on Sunday (14 January), with more civilian deaths in Gaza, and relatives of dozens of hostages still awaiting their freedom.

Austrian Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner of the centre-right ÖVP expressed her preference for a two-party government in an interview with APA on Sunday, with polls suggesting this would mean a coalition with the far-right FPÖ.

European Union countries built 17 gigawatts of new wind power farms in 2023, the most for any year so far, but still not enough to reach its renewable energy goal, industry data showed on Friday (12 January).

France’s surprise new Foreign Minister, ex-Renew Europe boss Stéphane Séjourné, made his diplomatic debut in Kyiv over the weekend, followed by Weimar Triangle’s Germany and Poland, vowing to support Ukraine “as long as necessary”.

Ahead of a vote in the European Parliament on new debt rules for EU countries, the Greens co-president Philippe Lamberts warned against the “end of the European Union as we know it” in a worst-case scenario where renewed austerity gives rise to populists and too little military spending lets Putin win the war in Ukraine.

Poland will not give its consent for the EU Commission to prolong the special trade policy regarding Ukraine, said Deputy Agriculture Minister Michał Kołodziejczak, signalling that despite different points on many issues, Donald Tusk’s government would stick to the line established by its predecessors.