Displaying items by tag: Europe

The EU is expected to ask for more time to ratify the Brexit trade deal. UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, claimed that a resolution to EU/UK strained relations required a ‘different spirit’ from the EU. Frost blamed tensions on the bloc struggling to get used to a ‘genuinely independent actor in its neighbourhood’. He also pointed to ‘niggling border issues’ of the EU placing barriers on live UK shellfish exports. Brussels has told British fishermen they are barred indefinitely from selling live mussels, oysters, clams and cockles to EU member states. The ban is affecting restaurants on the continent as well as British fishermen. Boris Johnson has refused to rule out a trade war with Brussels if it didn’t back down in the escalating row. There is no legal barrier to this trade continuing, on animal health grounds and on public health grounds. There is legal provision within existing EU regulations to allow UK trade to continue.

Protesters throughout Russia gathered on two consecutive weekends to support jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who accused President Putin of poisoning him with Novichok. Over 5,000 were detained, including Navalny's wife who was later released. The organised protests started at noon in 120 cities. Riot police in heavy-duty uniforms attacked the streets full of protesters. They closed subway stops and cut short bus routes to prevent demonstrators gathering. Protesters shouted, ‘Let him go!’ and ‘Russia without Putin!’ Putin’s ratings have hit historic lows over declining incomes, diminishing freedoms, and poor handling of the pandemic. The following week Navalny was sentenced to nearly three years in a prison colony for violating the terms of his probation while he was recuperating in Germany from nerve-agent poisoning. The UK foreign secretary said the perverse ruling targeted the victim of a poisoning rather than those responsible. Russia is failing to meet the most basic commitments expected of any international community member. See

A French low-intensity war is bubbling around radicalising education. At a school in Saumur, a student told his teacher, ‘My father will behead you’. It is impossible to make a precise list of similar incidents that occur daily. ‘Faced with Islamist intimidation, what should we do?’ said Robert Redeker in 2006. A few days later, he began receiving death threats. Since then, things have worsened. A recent survey of self-censorship among teachers to avoid an incident revealed half of them admitted self-censoring in class. By fear, terror and intimidation, the extremism of ‘Islamism’ is reaping what it has sown. Many are now saying, ‘We should have paid more attention to that first case, the first in a long series of attacks on French teachers.’ In January 2021 a 17-year-old had to quit school and go into hiding after receiving thirty hate messages a minute for disparaging Islam last year. See

The dispute between the EU and AstraZeneca continues. The EU ‘wants clarity on the vaccine delivery schedule’, and requested a clear plan for fast delivery of their reserved vaccines. AstraZeneca explained the complexities of scaling up production of the vaccine. It is striving to bring this vaccine to millions of Europeans at no profit during the pandemic, but there were production issues at factories on the continent and problems with Europe’s supply chain. It is providing as many doses as possible. The EU said this is a breach of contract, and that the company should send vials from other production facilities - like those in the UK - to match previously made commitments. The UK said vaccine supplies would not be interrupted: see

On 23 January, riots began in many Dutch towns and cities against a night-time curfew to slow the spread of Covid. Protesters burned down a Covid testing station, burned vehicles, threw knives at police, looted businesses, threw fireworks, dynamite, gasoline, and bricks. The police detained hundreds. By 27 January conspiracy theorists and far-right sympathisers were sending invitations to join the protests, using every type of social media. The invitations were alarming and very aggressive. The country had begun tough lockdown measures in October, and by December schools and non-essential shops were shut down. The decision to restrict people further came in the middle of a political crisis after prime minister Mark Rutte resigned over a corruption scandal involving child tax benefits. His cabinet will continue to govern until the 17 March elections, which have now taken on a greater significance.

Greece and Turkey were on the verge of military confrontation last August, after Turkey launched its seismic survey ship and a small naval fleet to explore for undersea oil and gas in Eastern Mediterranean waters which Greece claims as part of its exclusion zone, but Turkey disputes this. Although these zones do not entail the absolute sovereignty that territorial waters do, they give countries rights of exploration and exploitation of mineral and living resources. Last week, Greece doubled the extent of its western territorial waters in the Ionian Sea to twelve nautical miles - the maximum allowed by the UN. The possibility of conflict has alarmed both NATO, of which Greece and Turkey are members, and the EU. However, on 25 January Greece and Turkey announced they will begin exploratory talks in Istanbul, with the aim of setting maritime boundaries.

Large numbers of Irish trucks have begun transporting goods via ferries to France, to avoid delays on the more traditional route to continental Europe via Britain, which withdrew from EU trading rules on 1 January. Ireland's transport minister said that France may now require rapid Covid tests from Irish truck drivers operating on this route. The new measures would target the more infectious variant of the coronavirus first discovered in England but now widespread in Ireland. The PCR Covid test can take several days. However, a much quicker antigen test can give results in minutes. Whichever test the French decide on, the truckers will have to manage it and ensure they do it without disrupting supply chains. (France’s demand for Covid tests from British drivers in December caused significant delays and disruption.)

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a centre-right party, has elected Armin Laschet, the pragmatic governor of Germany's most populous state, as its new leader - sending a signal of continuity before the 26 September election. The vote is not the final word on who will be the centre-right candidate for Chancellor, but Laschet will either run himself or will have a big say in who does. He is viewed as more in line with Merkel's pragmatic centrism, and spoke of the value of continuity and moderation. ‘We must speak clearly but not polarise. We must be able to integrate, hold society together.’ The decision ends an 11-month leadership limbo in the CDU. Angela Merkel, who has been Chancellor since 2005, is not seeking a fifth term.

Caskets are stacked three high in the crematorium, piled up in empty offices, and stored in hallways. Many are sealed with plastic, others labelled ‘infection risk,’ ‘urgent’, or ‘Covid’. A surge of coronavirus deaths has boosted crematorium businesses but nobody is celebrating. There are 300 bodies waiting to be cremated, and dozens more arrive every day. Schaldach, the crematorium owner, said comments on social media are saying reports of bodies piling up at his crematorium are fake news. Franziska Schlieter. who runs a food store,feels easing the lockdown over Christmas was a mistake. She said, ‘In the Bible, God sent people plagues when they didn’t behave. Sometimes I have to think of that.’ Officials hope that stricter rules, and people obeying them, will bring infection rates and the death toll down. See

Deep snow left by Storm Filomena turned to ice, disrupting transport and lowering temperatures to -25C (-13F). The elderly are warned to stay at home. At least seven people have died due to the weather. ‘We are going to have this cold for a few more days, but we all pull together’, Yoli Asensio said, ‘Day-to-day life is difficult, access to homes and roads are blocked.’ There were 1,200 fracture cases in one day, caused by accidents on the ice - an average of fifty an hour. 1,300 snow-clearing vehicles managed to push snow off 12,100km of roads, to keep them ice-free. In contrast, Greece is basking in unusually warm weather, with Athens recording temperatures of 23C (73.4F) - the average January temperature is 10C.