European Union

The Council has adopted an implementing decision authorising the first regular payment of grants and loans under the Ukraine Plan of the Ukraine Facility.

Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2024/2012 of 22 July 2024 implementing Decision (CFSP) 2015/1333 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Libya.

Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/2009 of 22 July 2024 amending Decision (CFSP) 2020/1999 concerning restrictive measures against serious human rights violations and abuses.

The Council imposed restrictive measures on an additional 28 individuals for their role in the ongoing internal repression and human rights abuses in Belarus.

The EU issued a statement on post-election developments in Venezuela.

The European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States join forces to implement outcomes of the 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4).

Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/1970 of 15 July 2024 amending Decision (CFSP) 2023/1532 concerning restrictive measures in view of Iran’s military support to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and to armed groups and entities in the Middle East and the Red Sea region.

The Council adopted decisions establishing the existence of excessive deficits for Belgium, France, Italy, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia. In addition the Council established that Romania, which is under the excessive deficit procedure since 2020, has not taken effective action to correct its deficit and therefore the procedure should remain open.

The Council added one entity to the list of those subject to restrictive measures by virtue of Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism.

The Council appointed four new EU Special Representatives for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Great Lakes Region, Kosovo*, and South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, and extended the mandates of three EUSRs for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and other Western Balkans regional issues, the Sahel, and the Horn of Africa.

The Council listed nine persons and one entity responsible for human rights violations and abuses and for sustaining armed conflict, instability and insecurity in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Mexican president on Thursday (8 August) rejected a request from Ukraine's government to arrest Vladimir Putin if the Russian leader defies an international arrest warrant and attends the inauguration of Mexico's next president in October.

Countries across eastern Europe struggle to sign up new soldiers and keep experienced ones in a region where Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia all share a border with Ukraine.

Israel kept up its bombardment of Gaza Thursday (8 August), killing more than 18 people in strikes on two schools, the emergency services said, as Iran accused it of wanting to spread war in the Middle East.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Thursday (8 August) took tensions with social media platform X and its owner Elon Musk to new heights, banning the platform in the South American country for 10 days amid furore over a disputed presidential election.

Russian forces were battling Ukrainian troops for a third day on Thursday (8 August) after they smashed through the Russian border in the Kursk region, an audacious attack on the world's biggest nuclear power that has forced Moscow to call in reserves.

Apple on Thursday (8 August) changed its policy in the European Union to allow developers to communicate with their customers outside its App Store after the commission charged the iPhone maker in June for breaching the bloc's tech rules.

An ongoing European Commission investigation into social media platform X could be influenced by the platform's handling of  content related to riots in the UK, a spokesperson said on Friday (9 August).

Nagasaki's mayor said he would stick to a decision to exclude Israel's ambassador from this year's event to mark the city's atomic bombing, though senior diplomats of the US and other G7 nations said the snub would keep them away.

Social media giant X has suspended the processing of some personal data from EU users' public posts to train AI models, two days after the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) launched court proceedings over the practice.