By Martin Banks Pressure appears to be growing on lawmakers to finally pull the plug on Russia’s lucrative titanium trade, in what critics have slammed as one of the most glaring gaps in the sanctions regime aimed at strangling Moscow’s war machine.9 Despite more than three years of punishing measures designed to hurt Russia’s economy, […]
By Martin Banks The EU is unlikely to meet its goal of directing 25 % of Aid for Trade funding to the least developed countries by 2030, according to a new report by the European Court of Auditors.
In an unusually tough-worded speech, von der Leyen denounced a “man-made famine” in Gaza and “a clear attempt” by Israel to “undermine the two-state solution”. But she also called Europe’s inability to find a response to Israel’s actions “painful”.
By Martin Banks The European Commission says it is allocating an extra €40 million in humanitarian funding to help Ukrainians endure a fourth winter of Russia’s war of aggression.
By Martin Banks EC president Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union has acknowledged Europe’s social crisis and the need for fair competitiveness.
In an unusually tough-worded speech, von der Leyen denounced a “man-made famine” in Gaza and “a clear attempt” by Israel to “undermine the two-state solution”. But she also called Europe’s inability to find a response to Israel’s actions “painful”.
By Martin Banks The KIKK Festival has become a fixture both in Belgium and in the international digital arts scene.
France and Spain received more asylum applications in the first half of 2025 than Germany, with more Venezuelan and fewer Syrian applications partly responsible.
The next time you travel from the UK to Europe, you might notice some changes. The EU’s much-delayed new digital border system, the Entry/Exit System or EES, will be gradually introduced this autumn. The system is meant to strengthen security and ultimately make travel smoother, but there are concerns it could lead to long queues […]
By Martin Banks Today I was in Paris, where we just had the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing.
