A rescue mission for an oil tanker still ablaze after being attacked by Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen last month, is about to begin, the European Union's Red Sea naval mission said late Monday (2 September).

Delays in the disbursement of the European Union’s multibillion-euro Covid-19 recovery fund are severely hampering member states’ ability to rebound from the pandemic, according to a study released on Monday (2 September) by the European Court of Auditors (ECA).

Olive oil prices in the EU reached record highs last January, surging by up to 50% compared to the previous year and leading to significant changes in consumers’ choices. 

Following the nomination of Romanian Roxana Mînzatu, Belgium has also put forward a female candidate, 45-year-old Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib as European Commissioner.

The recent electoral success of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the German states of Thuringia and Saxony has sparked a range of reactions from politicians across the European Union.

When Ukraine launched its incursion into Russian territory in the Kursk Oblast on 6 August, many Western analysts said this was some sort of fireworks – it makes a hell of an impression, but it doesn’t last long. One expert we quoted called it “a footnote”.

The Spanish State is leaving the Canary Islands “abandoned” in the face of the current serious migratory crisis it is facing, the president of the Spanish autonomous region, Fernando Clavijo, said on Monday, while assuring that his government is mulling taking legal action against the government.

MEP Roxana Mînzatu (PSD/S&D) was on Monday officially nominated by the Romanian government for the position of European Commissioner of an apparently "relevant" portfolio, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced at a press conference.

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr is meeting with Portugal's centre-right government on Monday to formally signal his company's interest in the privatisation of state-owned carrier TAP, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter.

A law proposing that Russian citizens and entities be banned from buying property in Finland to minimise the security risk in times of crisis has been put forward by the Finnish Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen on Monday (2 September).

The EU is a far cry from the targets set out in the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, with marine protected areas (MPAs) providing limited protection against human activities such as bottom fishing, according to a recent scientific study, while the Commission blames the Member States.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about the US-Bulgarian citizen arrested in Sofia for burning the Russian flag, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying central Europe is key for EU defence, and so much more.

At least 47 people, including five children, were injured on Sunday (1 September) after Russian missiles struck a shopping mall and events complex in Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv, officials said.

Romania's Ministry of Agriculture is working on an emergency decree to limit the markup on Romanian food products to 20%.

A woman with dual US-Bulgarian citizenship was arrested and then released for protesting outside the Russian Cultural and Information Centre in Sofia, writing "murderers" in chalk on the building and burning the Russian flag.

Most Poles want the army to shoot down potentially dangerous objects that enter their country's airspace, even if they are civilians, a recent poll has found.

President warns of 'deep crisis in European political systems'. The president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said on Sunday that there is an "end of a cycle" and warned of the "deep crisis" that European political systems are experiencing, arguing that it is necessary to "make ruptures." 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised Central Europe for its growing strategic importance in the EU and highlighted its role in building new European defence capabilities at a conference in Prague this weekend.

Russia will make changes to its doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons in response to what it regards as Western escalation in the war in Ukraine, state media quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Sunday (1 September).

Uncertainty has arisen in the Italian government over their position on Ukraine following the long-awaited summit of Italy’s three governing party leaders, intended to signal the trio’s alignment on the eve of the start of parliamentary work after the summer recess.