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☆ For Campus Protesters in Brussels, Familiar Methods, but Different Outcomes
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-16 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On the leafy campus of a Dutch-speaking university, students have for months been demanding that their institution break ties with Israeli academia over the war in Gaza. Their campaign borrows extensively from the U.S. campus protest playbook. The students have set up an encampment. They have staged daily demonstrations. But in Belgium’s capital, the protest at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, or V.U.B., has been far more peaceful because of a unique combination of factors: a supportive political environment (Belgium is a vocal critic of Israel); a proactive rector; strict protest rules; and, crucially, a tiny campus Jewish community that has chosen not to confront protesters despite discomfort over some of the protests.

Organizations: Vrije Universiteit Brussel Locations: Gaza, U.S, Israel, Palestine, United States, Belgium’s, Vrije, Belgium

☆ The Greens Are Dead. Long Live the Greens!
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-16 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There is no sugarcoating it: losing one-third of their seats in the European Parliament elections last week, the Greens tanked. The European Union has in recent years emerged as the world’s most ambitious frontier in fighting climate change. European voters are anxious about the war in Ukraine and its effect on defense and the economy. A cost-of-living crisis fueled by the coronavirus pandemic is still gripping core European Union members. In this new set of priorities, the Greens’ appeal seems to have faded — or worse, made them appear out of touch.

Organizations: Greens, European, Union Locations: Ukraine

☆ Sweden and Iran Exchange Prisoners in a Breakthrough Swap
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-15 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | More About Matina Stevis-Gridneff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Iran and Sweden exchanged prisoners on Saturday in a major breakthrough, according to the Swedish prime minister. Iran released the European Union diplomat and Swedish national Johan Floderus, who had been arrested in April 2022 in Tehran, as well as the dual national Saeed Azizi, the Swedish prime minister said. “It is with pleasure that I can announce that Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi are now on a plane home to Sweden, and will soon be reunited with their families,” the prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said on social media. In exchange, Sweden released Hamid Noury, a high-ranking Iranian official who had been sentenced to life in a Swedish court for war crimes committed in 1988 in Iran.

Persons: Johan Floderus, Saeed Azizi, Ulf Kristersson, Hamid Noury Organizations: European Union Locations: Iran, Sweden, European, Swedish, Tehran

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Organizations: New York Times

☆ European Parliament Elections: Key Takeaways
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Voters in the 27 European Union member states sent a stern warning to mainstream political powers, wreaking havoc on French and, to a lesser degree, German politics and rewarding hard-line nationalist parties in a number of countries. Even so, the radical right-wing wave dreaded by the European political establishment did not fully materialize; the center of European Union politics held. Here are the most important trends emerging from the elections. Conservatives dominateThe mainstream center-right group, the European People’s Party, performed strongly and finished first, not only maintaining its dominance in the European Parliament but adding a few seats to boot. It was a sign that its strategy over the past two years, to integrate more right-leaning policies in order to stop voters from abandoning for further-right rivals, delivered.

Organizations: Union, European People’s Party

European Union Parliament Election 2024: Live ResultsThe first countries are now reporting national estimates. The first overall estimate of parliament seat counts are expected after 2:15 p.m. Eastern. No results EPP S&D Renew ECR Greens ID Left Other No results Greens EPP ID S&D Renew Left Other ECR EPP S&D Renew ECR Greens ID Left Other No results Note: Country-level seat counts are estimates based on available exit polls and other non-official data from member states. Projection of overall seats by group The first overall seat count projection will be available after 2:15 p.m. Eastern. Group Seats Seats 0 0 0 0 + Show more * Newly elected members not allied to any of the political groups in the outgoing parliamentElection results are announced country by country, and voting is organized according to national rules.

Organizations: Union, EPP, Greens, Left, The New York Times

☆ The E.U. Votes: What We’re Watching For
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-09 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | Sarah Hurtes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More than 300 million voters in the 27 countries that make up the European Union are heading to the polls to elect the new European Parliament’s 720 members. The Parliament approves or rejects E.U. It also says yea or nay, by simple majority in a secret ballot, to the appointment of the president of the E.U. In the 2019 election, Ursula von der Leyen, a conservative, came dangerously close to being rejected as the European Commission president, securing the Parliament’s approval by just nine votes. This time, Ms. von Leyen, likely to be designated as president for a second five-year term, could face worse odds.

Persons: Ursula von der Leyen, von Leyen Organizations: Union, European Commission Locations: Ukraine

☆ Far Right Surges in European Parliament Elections, Early Data Shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-09 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Elections in 27 countries for the European Parliament ended on Sunday, with early projections giving far-right parties a strong showing, a result that, if confirmed, would amount to a powerful gauge of voter dissatisfaction and a stinging rebuke for the political mainstream. The balloting indicated that the prevailing winds had grown decidedly chill for Europe’s political establishment. The results are likely to make it harder for the European Parliament to form majorities to pass laws, and would render negotiations over divisive issues even tougher. More broadly, they underscored that the momentum of the far-right forces that have been expanding their challenge to centrists over the past decade had yet to crest. The results were especially crushing for President Emmanuel Macron of France, who on Saturday night hosted President Biden at a state dinner in Paris.

Persons: bode, Emmanuel Macron, Biden Organizations: of Locations: France, Germany, Paris

☆ ‘The Bachelor,’ but Make It Belgian Politics
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-08 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | Koba Ryckewaert | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the United States, Donald J. Trump and Joe Biden can barely agree to share a stage for a debate. The show, a political version of “The Bachelor” called “The Conclave,” transfixed Belgians in the run-up to the vote for the country’s national and regional parliaments. The elections are coinciding with those for a European Parliament this weekend, in which 27 European Union countries will vote. As in many other European countries, the mainstream political establishment in Belgium has shrunk electorally. But for Belgium, that dynamic is further complicated by the divide between the country’s French-speaking south, Wallonia, and its Dutch-speaking north, Flanders.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Joe Biden, ” Organizations: Union Locations: United States, Belgium, Wallonia, Flanders

☆ The E.U. Is Voting. It’s Never Mattered More.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-07 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It’s tempting to dismiss the European Parliament elections as the most important elections that don’t actually matter. Hundreds of millions of voters across 27 nations will turn out this weekend to cast their ballots, but the European Parliament is the least powerful of the European Union institutions. Its 720 members have limited powers, and, while a few are ascendant stars, a few are retired politicians, or even criminals. The Parliament that emerges from these elections, weak though it may be, will serve as a brake or accelerator for the crucial policies that will help shape Europe’s immediate future. In the five years since the last election, the bloc jointly bought Covid-19 vaccines and started a massive economic stimulus program to recover from the pandemic.

Organizations: European Union Locations: Russia, Ukraine

Donald J. Trump and a number of his allies were indicted in Georgia in August in a sweeping racketeering indictment that accused them of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. Credit... Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Haiyun Jiang Organizations: The New York Locations: Georgia

☆ The War Is Shifting Europe’s Politics Away From Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In Europe, long a vital source of support for Israel, the political center of gravity is moving away from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. And most European governments offered unequivocal support to the International Criminal Court this week, after it requested arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and defense minister, along with leaders of Hamas. Israel still has staunch allies within the European Union, especially Hungary and the Czech Republic, and key players like Germany, despite growing discomfort with Israel’s conduct, have not shown any inclination to alter their stance. The growing fissures within Europe mean that the consensus-driven European Union will not change its positions any time soon. But European countries face rising international and domestic pressure to take a firmer stand against Israel’s handling of the Palestinian territories, and particularly the devastating war in Gaza.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu’s Organizations: Israel, Palestinian, International, European Union Locations: Europe, Spain, Ireland, Norway, Israel, Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany, Gaza

☆ Calls to Pause Slovakia’s E.U. Election Campaigning Raise Questions
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | More About Matina Stevis-Gridneff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Calls are growing in Slovakia for political parties to suspend campaigning for the European Union elections, just three weeks away, in the wake of the assassination attempt on the prime minister in the sharply polarized country. The president-elect of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini, and others say the step is necessary to avoid further inflammatory political discourse, which has escalated further since the shooting that left Prime Minister Robert Fico badly wounded. At least one party, the opposition Progress Slovakia party, said it would immediately suspend its campaign, to help “end the spiral of attacks and blame.”The local news media reported that another party, the Christian Democratic Movement, had also paused campaigning. It is not clear how long such suspensions would last or what that would mean for Slovakia’s participation in the E.U. Voters across the European Union will elect 720 European Parliament representatives, with polling scheduled to take place in all 27 of the bloc’s members from June 6 to 9.

Persons: Peter Pellegrini, Robert Fico Organizations: European Union, Slovakia, Christian Democratic Movement Locations: Slovakia

covers Chinese foreign policy and China’s economic and cultural engagement with the world. He has been a journalist for more than two decades.

☆ European Union 2024 Election: What to Know
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | Monika Pronczuk | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Why does this election matter? Hundreds of millions of voters in all the 27 countries that make up the European Union are heading to polls between June 6 and 9 to choose their representatives in the European Parliament, the only directly elected institution of the alliance. The European Union is one of the world’s most ambitious political experiments, but because of its complex governing structure, it has often been criticized for a lack of transparency and democratic accountability. The European Parliament election, which takes place every five years, is the only way in which E.U. citizens can have a direct say in shaping the bloc’s policies.

Organizations: Union, European Locations: E.U

☆ Migration Overhaul in E.U. Clears Final Hurdle
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | More About Matina Stevis-Gridneff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A landmark bill set to overhaul migration policy across the European Union cleared its final hurdle on Wednesday after it was approved by the European Parliament. The bill, which had taken the best part of the last decade to negotiate, aims to make it easier for member states to deport failed asylum seekers and to limit entry of migrants into the bloc. It would also give governments greater control over their borders, while bolstering the E.U.’s role in migration management — treating it as a European issue, not one member states have to face alone. European officials and politicians had been intent on passing the legislation before E.U. This is a developing story.

Organizations: European Union, Parliament

☆ Middle East Crisis Israeli Military Takes Responsibility for Strike That Killed 7 Aid Workers
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Ben Shpigel | Cassandra Vinograd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

A car used by World Central Kitchen that was hit by a strike in Deir al Balah in the central Gaza Strip. The Israeli military had been informed of the aid workers’ movements, the charity said. The World Central Kitchen logo could be seen on items inside the charred interiors of the northernmost and southernmost cars. Mr. Abutaha and other World Central Kitchen workers were thrilled to have the opportunity to unload the desperately needed food aid. The World Central Kitchen aid ship is headed back to Cyprus.

Persons: Deir al Balah, José Andrés, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, ”, Erin Gore, Anthony Albanese, Zomi, Penny Wong, Damian Sobol, Wojciech Bakun, Zomi Frankcom, Associated Press David Cameron, John Chapman, James Henderson, James Kirby, Chapman, Henderson, Jacob Flickinger, Saif Abutaha, Abutaha, Shadi, “, Cameron, Israel “, Jamie McGoldrick, Haitham Imad, Mr, Netanyahu, ” Mr, Herzi Halevi, Daniel Hagari, Jennifer, Theodoros Gotsis, Gotsis, Patrick Kingsley, Rawan Sheikh Ahmad, Gabby Sobelman, Matina, Lauren Leatherby, Nader Ibrahim, Kim Severson Organizations: Central Kitchen, The New York Times, ”, ., Free Place Foundation, Associated Press, BBC, James Kirby . Local, Royal Marines, Palestine Red Crescent Society, Central, West Bank, Najjar, United Nations, Agence France, Cypriot Locations: Deir al, Gaza, Spanish, Deir al Balah, Al, Rashid, Palestinian, United States, Canada, Australia, Britain, Poland, Australian, Polish, Przemysl, British, James Kirby . Local British, Palestine, Egypt, Israel, Rafah, Cyprus, Cypriot, Larnaca

☆ Hungary and E.U. Lock Horns, This Time Over Foreign-Interference Law
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | Monika Pronczuk | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just days after a major showdown between the European Union and Hungary over aid to Ukraine, the European Commission on Wednesday announced it was opening a new disciplinary procedure against the Hungarian government over a recently passed piece of legislation that focuses on activities by foreigners deemed subversive. The move comes on top of several other open disciplinary procedures against Hungary that the European Commission, the E.U. executive branch, has been pursuing against the government of the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban. Mr. Orban has long denounced the battles with Brussels, which he says pits a “woke globalist Goliath” against Hungary’s “David.” He has maintained that the European Union is out to punish him for pursuing a Christian conservative agenda, which he says is in line with the wishes of the Hungarian people. The action by the commission centers on recently passed legislation in Hungary that seeks to punish interactions between Hungarian individuals or organizations, and foreigners or foreign groups that a newly created Office for the Defense of Sovereignty deems subversive.

Persons: Viktor Orban, Mr, Orban, globalist Goliath, Hungary’s “ David, ” Organizations: European Union, European Commission, Wednesday, European, Defense, Sovereignty Locations: Hungary, Ukraine, Hungarian, Brussels

☆ Over 800 Officials in U.S. and Europe Sign Letter Protesting Israel Policies
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Edward Wong | Matina Stevis-Gridneff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More than 800 officials in the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union released a public letter of dissent on Friday against their governments’ support of Israel in its war in Gaza. The letter is the first instance of officials in allied nations across the Atlantic coming together to openly criticize their governments over the war, say current and former officials who are organizing or supporting the effort. The signers say they have raised concerns through internal channels but have been ignored. “Our governments’ current policies weaken their moral standing and undermine their ability to stand up for freedom, justice and human rights globally,” the letter says, according to a copy obtained Thursday by The New York Times. It adds that “there is a plausible risk that our governments’ policies are contributing to grave violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes and even ethnic cleansing or genocide.”

Persons: ” Organizations: European Union, The New York Times Locations: United States, United Kingdom, Israel, Gaza

☆ Hungary Is Blocking E.U. Money for Ukraine. Here’s What You Need to Know.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | Monika Pronczuk | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The European Union’s leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday to try and strike a deal with Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, who is blocking a multibillion euro fund aimed at securing Ukraine’s financing for the next few years. Talks are gridlocked and the mood toward Mr. Orban is negative, with European leaders, unusually united against one of their peers, fed up with his stance on Ukraine and his anti-E.U. A 50-billion euro ($54 billion) fund to support Ukraine through to the end of 2027. Ukraine is facing one of is most difficult moments since Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly two years ago, with U.S. aid held up and virtually no progress on the battlefield. aid, to be dispensed in the form of loans and grants over the next four years, would both cover immediate needs and allow Ukraine to plan its long-term budget.

Persons: Viktor Orban of Hungary, Orban, What’s Organizations: European Locations: Brussels, Ukraine, Kyiv

☆ E.U.’s Hungary Problem Looms Large Ahead of Crucial Ukraine Summit
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Matina Stevis-Gridneff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The only thing standing in their way is Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary. A compromise with Mr. Orban, who has demanded an annual veto on the spending, has remained elusive, meaning that the unanimity required for such a deal among the 27 E.U. If Mr. Orban continues to stand in the way, E.U. Yet even if the remaining 26 leaders are not forced to go ahead without Mr. Orban, a larger problem is now firmly front and center: What will the E.U. For a small country that accounts for just 1 percent of the bloc’s economic output, Hungary has been a big headache.

Persons: Viktor Orban of Hungary, Orban Organizations: Union, U.S Locations: Brussels, Ukraine, Hungary

European foreign ministers pressed their Israeli counterpart on Monday to agree to the creation of a Palestinian state, in a meeting that left European diplomats bewildered about postwar Israeli plans for the Gaza Strip and reinforced the deep disconnect between Israel and much of the world. The two sides appeared to be having two different conversations. Josep Borrell Fontelles, the European Union’s top diplomat, said after the meeting in Brussels that European nations were resolute that “sustainable, lasting peace” must include Palestinian statehood, an option that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has doubled down on opposing in recent days. Israel’s foreign minister, Yisrael Katz, presented to the Europeans a plan involving an artificial island off Gaza’s coast — a plan that did not address the future governance of the territory, according to officials in the meeting. While the diplomats talked past each other, heavy fighting intensified in southern Gaza on Monday, with medical personnel reporting major exchanges of gunfire and a surge of Israeli tanks and troops into areas around hospitals.

Persons: Josep Borrell Fontelles, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Yisrael Katz Organizations: Gaza Locations: Palestinian, Israel, Brussels, Gaza

American, British and European officials are pressuring Israel to let aid for Gaza transit through the Israeli port of Ashdod to help alleviate a metastasizing humanitarian crisis, according to six U.S. and European officials. Israel’s military responded to the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by invading and declaring a siege on Gaza, which was already under a yearslong blockade. Humanitarian workers say vastly more aid is needed to meaningfully help Gaza’s 2.2 million residents amid dire shortages of food, water and supplies. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken pressed Israeli officials about allowing Gaza aid through the port of Ashdod when he was in Tel Aviv earlier this month, according to one U.S. official. That official and the others interviewed about the new aid proposal spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations.

Persons: Antony J, Blinken Locations: Israel, Gaza, Ashdod, Egypt, Tel Aviv

Namzi Mwafi, 23, has one job, day in and day out: find water for his family. To keep them alive, Mr. Mwafi says he wakes up at 4 a.m., spending hours waiting for water at a crowded filling station. Sometimes, he has to fight to keep his place in line and sometimes there is nothing left when his turn comes. Firewood and coal have also largely run out, so families are burning stripped-down doors, shutters and window frames, cardboard and grasses. “We went back to the Stone Age,” Mr. Mwafi said.

Persons: Namzi Mwafi, Mwafi, “, Mr Organizations: United Nations Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Egypt

Yet over the last three weeks of Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, Rafah has become the focus of heated negotiations, a place where many people, both powerful and powerless, have pinned their waning hopes. So far, nothing and no one has been able to come out of Gaza. Aid trucks and army tanks lined the dusty road leading to the crossing. On Tuesday, 83 trucks arrived in Gaza, said Wael Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing. There is still a chance that an agreement could come together for people with foreign passports to leave.

Persons: we’ve, Mostafa Madbouly, Wael Abu Omar, David M, ”, Israel, ’, Madbouly, Mustafa Mouftah, Mr, Satterfield, Biden, Hiba, Iyad Abuheweila Organizations: Gaza’s General Authority, ”, European Union, U.S, United Locations: Cairo, Rafah, Egypt, Gaza, Israel, North, United States, Egyptian, El Arish

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