Croatia is starting construction of the final section of the motorway from Zagreb to Dubrovnik, and it appears the motorway route will bypass the territory of neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina and use the EU-funded Pelješac Bridge, which will connect the far south of Croatia to the rest of the country and the EU from 2022.

Czech farmers drove 3,000 pieces of machinery to the country’s borders with Slovakia, Poland and Germany, while other farmers staged protests in major towns on Thursday, which the government said remained peaceful.

The European Commission is ready to approve the first payment for Poland from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility, which could happen as soon as this week.

Two years ago, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Millions of people in Ukrainian cities and regions woke up to the sound of air alarms and explosions. Mykhailyna Skoryk-Shkarivska was Deputy Mayor of Bucha in 2022-2023. And here is her testimony.

The cities of Amsterdam, Stockholm and Nantes offer good examples of how meaningful progress towards decarbonising the building sector can be achieved, while advancing the EU's broader climate objectives, writes Irene García.

Foreign ministers at the G20 group of nations meeting in Brazil were nearly unanimous in their support for a two-state solution as the only path to peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Brazilian minister hosting the event said on Thursday (22 February).

Portugal’s Curry Cabral Hospital performed the first robotic liver transplant in Europe on a patient with cirrhosis who is now at home and “recovering well”, the institution said on Thursday.

There is currently no solid evidence to bring former Catalan president and separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to trial for terrorist crimes allegedly committed during the height of the separatist movement in Catalonia, the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Spain’s Supreme Court, María Ángeles Sánchez, said on Thursday, contradicting the opinion of Spain’s main advisory body of judges.

The US will impose sanctions on over 500 targets on Friday (23 February) in action marking the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Deputy US Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia and Forza Italia voted against a proposal tabled by government partner Matteo Salvini’s Lega to have three instead of the current maximum two terms for regional governors and mayors of certain municipalities, with Lega already asking parliament to deliver an opinion on the matter.

French Communist and Green lawmakers have called on EU lawmakers to oppose in next week’s vote the introduction of new permits for driving tractors as part of the revised EU driving licence directive.

The government of Prime Minister Robert Fico has reinstated the statute of limitations for violent crimes and withdrawn a bill that would have weakened whistleblower protection, effectively backtracking on its initial controversial proposals to reform the penal code following criticism from the European Commission and nationwide protests.

In a historic move, Latvia’s parliament approved a ban on agricultural imports from Russia and Belarus on Thursday until at least 2025, making it the first EU country to do so.

Far-right pro-Russian party Vazrazhdane has joined the far-right Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament, deputies from the Eurosceptic Bulgarian party announced on Wednesday after visiting Moscow at the invitation of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.

As Ukraine enters its third year of war, the World Health Organisation (WHO) highlighted the importance of continuing to provide medical and social support to refugees and called for a strong political commitment from the EU.

As Russia’s war on Ukraine enters its third year, Europeans face difficult questions about how to approach the next twelve months and sustain their support to give Kyiv the tools it needs to drive back Russian forces. 

European Parliament is refining its position on two new proposals in ongoing pharmaceutical package deliberations. Czech MEP, Kateřina Konečná, favours Commission’s proposal for a regulatory data protection period while criticizing shift to digital medicine leaflets.

Europe’s 340 million pets are unlikely to swing this year’s European elections, though with cats, one can never be sure. Jennifer Baker looks at Europe’s animal-related policy dynamics and how they could influence June’s electoral mix.

The EIT Summit 2024, which took place on 20 February, revealed the European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s (EIT) ambition to harness the power of the sun, focusing on solar technology innovation and the training of thousands of solar engineers.

Trade between the European Union and Russia kept sliding in the final quarter of 2023, as Brussels continues efforts to decouple itself from Moscow in the lead-up to the second anniversary of the full-scale war in Ukraine.