The meeting that was initially announced as a 'mini-top' in Brussels today about migration is not so mini anymore. Certainly sixteen EU leaders, including Prime Minister Rutte, have made it known. The eyes are aimed at Chancellor Merkel: her powerful position is at stake if there is no solution.
France and Spain want the refugee centers that are closed in the EU. The migrants in these centers must be informed as quickly as possible whether or not their asylum application is being honored.
Today, exactly two years ago, the United Kingdom voted for a departure from the European Union. A lot has happened since then, but one thing is not yet: the economic boom promised by proponents of a brexit.
Victims and witnesses of discrimination should receive assistance in a lawsuit from government institutions dealing with unequal treatment. The European Commission proposes that member states give such bodies more powers and strengthen their independence.
The three men who were arrested on Monday because they would have delivered weapons to two French terror suspects are stuck for two weeks longer. The Public Prosecution Service reports this on Twitter. Their DNA was found on firearms in a hiding place of Islamic State in Argenteuil, a suburb of Paris.
US National Security Advisor John Bolton is next week in Moscow to prepare a possible meeting between US President Donald Trump and his counterpart Vladimir Putin. That reported the Russian news agency Interfax.
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to hold an informal 'asylum summit' in Brussels on Sunday with EU countries that have a lot to do with migrants. She wants Bulgaria, Germany, France, Greece, Italy, Austria and Spain to join in to discuss this issue before the European summit on 28 and 29 June.
The European Union is working on the idea of transferring migrants rescued at sea to centers outside the EU. On these so-called 'disembarkation platforms', economic migrants and refugees who require protection must be quickly distinguished in cooperation with the UN.
The European Commission is making € 68 million available for humanitarian aid to civilian-affected communities in Sudan and South Sudan. The money is intended for food and health care.
A young migrant from Guinea who was hiding in Brussels under a bus was crushed by the coach on a Monday night. The bus would drive to Great Britain via Bruges. Just outside Brussels, a bus driver who came from the opposite direction saw feet under the bus. He gestured to his colleague, who then braked, crushing the 20-year-old stowaway.
Marine Le Pen, the figurehead of the French National Front, has to repay 298.497 euros to the European Parliament because, between 2010 and 2016, she wrongly paid an employee of her party with EU money. The Court of the European Union determined that.
If the appearance is not deceiving, Merkels `Willkommenskultur 'ends today with the' open borders'. Minister Horst Seehofer (Home Affairs) wants to close the Bavarian border for refugees who have already applied for asylum in another EU country.
You would expect it in Zimbabwe sooner, but also with our southern neighbors it happens. A Belgian minister has several times with roaring sirens in escort transport through the country causing enormous traffic jams.
The British government has escaped a sensitive defeat in the House of Commons, the British House of Representatives. A majority of parliamentarians voted against an important amendment about the parliament's influence on the conditions under which the United Kingdom departs from the European Union.
A train with employees of the European Parliament and some MEPs has been delayed for hours on Monday because there was no power on the overhead line.
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) wants a solution to be found for the stalemate around the rescue ship Aquarius. The vessel with more than six hundred migrants on board has not yet received permission to moor.
Germany pulls out extra billions for defense. The move was warmly welcomed by NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg on Thursday at a meeting of NATO Ministers of Defense.
The 29 NATO countries must be able to quickly mobilize a large army in 2020 in the event of a threat. Thirty mechanized battalions, thirty squadrons of warplanes and thirty warships must then be able to conduct a crisis within a maximum of thirty days.
For safety reasons, the Belgian airline Brussels Airlines will not fly to the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh. Tour operator Thomas Cook has therefore offered about a thousand travelers to reimburse travel expenses or to offer a different holiday trip. According to the holiday giant, a new security situation has arisen.
The Social Democrat Pedro Sánchez will present his minority cabinet on Wednesday with a technocrat from the EU headquarters Brussels, Nadia Calviño, as Minister of Finance. The 49-year-old Galician-based economist worked for years at the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs when she settled in Brussels in 2006 to work for the European Commission.
Calling from the Netherlands to another EU country may not cost more than 19 cents a minute, an SMS no more than 6 cents. The Member States, the European Commission and the European Parliament reached a political agreement in Brussels on Wednesday morning after months of negotiations. The maximum rates must apply to all foreign calls and SMSes within the 28 member states.
Prince Laurent has appeared on Tuesday at the funeral of the two police officers who died last week during the shooting in Liège. The brother of the Belgian King Filip was standing outside the audience watching the big screen.
The spouse of an EU citizen of the same sex from outside the EU has the right to stay with his or her partner throughout the European Union. That has been determined by the European Court of Justice.
Nearly a thousand people, including the Belgian prime minister, said goodbye to the 22-year-old student in Liège who died last week in a suspected terrorist attack. Many mourners were dressed in white. After a ceremony, Cyril Vangriecken was ordered in a private circle in his hometown Vottem near Liège.
The Benelux, the partnership between the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg that celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, still has plenty of plans for the future. The Heads of State, Prime Ministers and Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the three countries meet in Brussels Tuesday to look back and look ahead. Despite the somewhat old-fashioned image, the Netherlands sees the Benelux as 'more relevant than ever'.
A Tunisian companion of the terrorist Salah Abdeslam is officially suspected of participating in the terror cell that committed the attacks in Brussels in March 2016. The federal prosecutor's office in Belgium says that 24-year-old Sofien Ayari has been indicted. Abdeslam may wait for the same fate.
The Palace of Justice in Brussels was evacuated Friday morning because of a bomb threat. The entrances are closed and everyone is directed outside. Prisoners waiting for their trial were also taken away.
For the first time since NATO sent Russian diplomats away because of the attack with nerve gas on the former double spy Sergej Skripal and his daughter Yoelia in Salisbury, both parties have again held political consultations. The so-called NATO-Russia Council met at Ambassador level at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday.
The 2-year-old Iraqi Kurdish girl who died two weeks ago in Belgium because of a supposedly lost police bullet was buried Wednesday in Brussels. The hearse was escorted during the trip to the cemetery by a silent march of hundreds of people dressed in white. Many of them wore a white rose.
At a number of places in Belgium, a minute's silence was observed Wednesday at 1:00 pm out of respect for the two police officers and the student who were shot dead in Liège on Tuesday. Political forces, politicians, administrators and citizens in cities such as Antwerp, Brussels and of course Liege also commemorated the victims.
