EU minimum wage proposal should make sure workers in the east ‘get their fair share’
Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, has said that the idea of a common, uniform minimum wage for the whole of the European Union is “unrealistic”, and “totally impossible”. “It would be irresponsible,” he told the press this week after presenting a Commission proposal that seeks to ensure workers throughout the Union…
Emerging Europe is failing to protect citizens from air pollution
Governments across emerging Europe are failing to protect their citizens from toxic air pollution, with most Europeans still breathing filthy air in their cities, according to new data.Better air quality has led to a significant reduction of premature deaths over the past decade in Europe, according to a new report from the European Environment Agency…
Covid-19 is accentuating the need to bridge digital divides
We are at a turning point in the digital transformation, according to a new report from the OECD.Improved internet connectivity and skills have helped many countries to cope with the health and economic crisis from Covid-19. Yet the pandemic has raised the bar for the digital transition and underscores the need to close the digital…
What a Biden administration means for Eastern Europe
The world can look forward to four years of measured, hands-on diplomacy.I encountered Senator Joe Biden for the first time at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in the Russell Building in 2007. Ever since, I thought of Biden as the classical foreign policy Democrat – resounding, multi-region, global American presence and engagement, combined with…
Bulgaria’s North Macedonia U-turn
Back in 2018, many saw Bulgaria’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union as a means of providing impetus to the European integration of the Western Balkans. The recent reignition of a decades-old dispute with North Macedonia over language and identity however, and the decision in November to block the start that country’s EU…
Is it fish, or visas for Eastern Europeans that are holding up Brexit talks?
Something smells fishy in Brussels, and it’s not just the cod, mackerel and herring that are ostensibly holding up Brexit trade talks. Could the real blockage be a UK wish to impose visa restrictions on some EU citizens?With just over a week left until the end of the Brexit transition period the European Union and…
For Kosovo, Israeli recognition trumps EU concerns over Jerusalem embassy
Kosovo and Israel sign mutual recognition deal, but the Balkan state’s pledge to open an embassy in Jerusalem risks irking the European Union.At first glance, Kosovo and Israel have little in common, not least as Kosovo, Europe’s youngest country, is populated predominantly by Muslims.However, since declaring independence from Serbia in 2008 the state has sought…
Explainer: The EU’s Kosovo awkward squad
Israel’s decision to establish diplomatic relations with Kosovo has once again put the spotlight on the five EU countries which refuse to recognise the former province of Serbia as an independent state. We explain the reasons behind their refusal.The Austrian MEP Lukas Mandl responded this week to the news that Israel would recognise Kosovo as…
Refugee and migrant children face increased risks in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Save the Children is the latest human rights group to join calls for concerted action to assist refugees and migrants in the Western Balkans.Refugees and migrants trapped along the Western Balkans migration route, including some 500 unaccompanied children and 400 children with family who are currently in Bosnia and Herzegovina, are facing increased risks from…
Kosovo becomes first European country to open Jerusalem embassy
Turkey has led international condemnation of Kosovo’s decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem. For the Balkan state, however, Israeli recognition of its independence is more important than appeasing its erstwhile allies.Kosovo has officially opened an embassy in the city of Jerusalem, the first European and Muslim-majority country to do so.The event was marked with…