Europe

Unreasonable priorities: US wants Europe to help turn back the clock

From the perspective of their administration, it is not modern liberal political values that Europe and America share

Jaishankar meets leaders of Germany, Canada, France, Czech at Munich

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday held bilateral meetings with leaders of Germany, Canada, France and Czech Republic on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. Jaishankar, who is attending the Munich Security Conference from February 13 to 15, said in a social media post he held a "productive" bilateral meeting with his German counterpart Johann Wadephul and the two leaders assessed the progress of cooperation in various domains. "Also spoke about regional hotspots," he added. The external affairs minister also met Czech Republic's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Petr Macinka and discussed strengthening economic and defence cooperation. "Hope to welcome him soon to India," he added. Jaishankar also met with his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand. "India-Canada ties continue their steady progress," he said. The external affairs minister also met his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot and Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman. Earlier, ..

Europe rethinks nuclear weapons after Trump delivers reality check

Europe has been fighting to keep hostile US in Nato while countries race to rearm and now for first time since Cold War, European capitals are discussing how to develop their own nuclear deterrent

EU unveils plan to restructure economy amid US, Russia, China pressure

European Union leaders have broadly agreed on a plan to restructure the 27-nation bloc's economy to make it more competitive as they face antagonism from US President Donald Trump, strong-arm tactics from China and hybrid threats blamed on Russia. Meeting in a Belgian castle on Thursday, the EU leaders agreed an "action plan" with a strict timeline for the economic restructuring, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. "The pressure and the sense of urgency is enormous, and that can move mountains," she said. The plan, to be presented formally in March, would include measures to coordinate upgrading energy grids, deepen financial integration and loosen merger regulations to allow European firms to grow to better compete globally, she said. "We need European champions," von der Leyen said. European Council President Antonio Costa described the meeting as a "real game changer" as leaders threw their weight behind plans to further integrate and simplify the bloc's ...

EU leaders meet to counter pressure from Russia, China, and Trump

Leaders from across the European Union are meeting Thursday in a Belgian castle as the 27-nation bloc faces antagonism from US President Donald Trump, strong-arm economic tactics from China and hybrid threats from Russia - challenges that have prompted a rethink of Europe's approach to diplomacy and trade. "We all know we must change course, and we all know the direction," Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever told a meeting with some European leaders on Wednesday. "Yet it sometimes feels like we're standing on the bridge of the ship staring at the horizon without being able to touch the helm." But there are competing visions of how the EU must change. Thursday's meeting is to shape proposals for another summit in late March. As leaders are set to walk across a drawbridge to the 16th-century Alden Biesen castle, the fault lines in the battle for Europe's future are becoming clear. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni lead a wing of the bloc call

Macron calls on EU to seize 'Greenland moment' to strengthen bloc's power

Macron said the Trump administration was being 'openly anti-European' and seeking the EU's 'dismemberment'

Europe's most powerful rocket Ariane 64 scheduled to make maiden launch

In a tightly controlled manufacturing hangar west of Paris, workers put the finishing touches on an enormous silver-colored engine. In just a few days, a similar machine will help propel the most powerful version of Europe's Ariane 6 rocket yet, flying for the first time with four boosters. On Thursday, the Ariane 64 rocket - named after its four boosters - is scheduled to make its maiden launch from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, aiming to deploy 32 satellites for Amazon Leo's broadband constellation. The flagship of Europe's rocket industry is racing in a highly competitive environment against heavy weight players across the world, including the global market leader, Elon Musk's SpaceX. At ArianeGroup's plant in Vernon, engineers design, integrate and test engines for the European heavy-lift launcher. At another site west of Paris, in Les Mureaux, the rocket's main stage components are being carefully built and assembled. Associated Press journalists were provid

EU, India begin talks on Horizon Europe association to boost research ties

Move could allow Indian researchers direct access to EU grants and leadership roles in global science projects under the €95.5 billion Horizon Europe programme

Reliance sends 1st fuel to Europe since ban on Russian oil-derived products

The EU's ban on importing products produced from Russian crude is aimed at curbing oil revenues Moscow uses to fund the Ukraine war

Spain considers social media ban for under-16s, joining others in Europe

Spain plans to ban social media access for children under 16, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Tuesday, in a move designed to shield young people from the harms of online content. The progressive Spanish leader spoke at a summit in the United Arab Emirates, where he chided the world's biggest tech companies for allowing illegal content such as child sex abuse and nonconsensual sexualised deepfake images and videos on their platforms, saying that governments also needed to "stop turning a blind eye." "Today, our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone," Sanchez said. "We will no longer accept that." In doing so, Spain joins a growing number of countries, including Australia and France, which have taken or are considering measures to restrict minors' access to social media. In January, French lawmakers approved a bill banning social media for children under 15, paving the way for the measure to take effect at the start of the next school year

ToR for banking panel likely by next month, says DFS secy M Nagaraju

On hiking FDI in PSBs, DFS Secy M Nagaraju says govt is considering raising the FDI cap to 49% from 20% to boost capital; inter-ministerial consultations are underway

Iran says it considers all European Union militaries to be terrorist groups

Iran speaker of parliament said Sunday that the Islamic Republic now considers all European Union militaries to be terrorist groups. The comment by Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf follows an EU agreement last week to list Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group over its part in the bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in the country. Qalibaf cited a 2019 law as authorization for the announcement. That law was passed after the US listed the Guard as a terrorist group and allows for reciprocal action by Iran against any nations that follow that decision. Qalibaf made the announcement as he and others wore Guard uniforms in parliament. Qalibaf was a commander in the Guard.

India-EU FTA to help diversify trade, give more mkt to exporters: Moody's

The trade agreement with the European Union (EU) will help India diversify its trade relationships and provide greater market access to its exporters amid growing uncertainty due to high US tariffs, Moody's Ratings has said. The free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the EU was announced on January 27. It is likely to be signed and implemented this year only. "For India, the deal reflects its continued efforts to selectively diversify trade relationships while hedging against trade volatility arising from recent US tariff actions," Moody's said. It said that for the EU, the deal strengthens economic security by widening access to a fast-growing India while reducing vulnerability to disruptions in more concentrated trade relationships. "Although we expect limited near-term credit effects for India, the EU and individual member states, once ratified and implemented the FTA will be credit positive for both sides in raising trade volumes, enhancing the diversification of trade ..

Europe cannot defend itself without US support: Nato chief Mark Rutte

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte insisted on Monday that Europe is incapable of defending itself without US military support and would have to more than double current military spending targets to be able to do so. "If anyone thinks here... that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming. You can't," Rutte told EU lawmakers in Brussels. Europe and the United States "need each other," he said. Tensions are festering within NATO over US President Donald Trump's renewed threats in recent weeks to annex Greenland, which is a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. Trump also said that he was slapping new tariffs on Greenland's European backers, but later dropped his threats after a "framework" for a deal over the mineral-rich island was reached, with Rutte's help. Few details of the agreement have emerged. The 32-nation military organisation is bound together by a mutual defence clause, Article 5 of NATO's founding Washington trea

Trump's Greenland ambitions strain Maga ties with Europe's far-right

Tensions over US President Donald Trump's plans to take control of Greenland have driven a wedge in the once iron-clad link between MAGA and Europe's far-right. The rift seems to signal that ideological alignment alone may not be enough to temper worries among European nationalists over Trump's interventionism abroad. Far-right leaders in Germany, Italy and France have strongly criticised Trump's Greenland plans. Even Nigel Farage, a longtime ally of Trump and head of the Reform UK nationalist party, called Trump's Greenland moves "a very hostile act." During a debate Tuesday in the European Parliament, far-right lawmakers typically aligned with Trump overwhelmingly supported halting a EU-US trade pact over their uneasiness with his threats, calling them "coercion" and "threats to sovereignty." MAGA's trans-Atlantic partners -------------------------------------- Such a divergence between Trump and his European acolytes came as some surprise. Far-right parties surged to power in

European airlines suspend West Asia flights amid rising US-Iran tensions

Several flights to Dubai operated by Luxembourg flag carrier Luxair, British Airways and Dutch low-cost carrier Transavia were also cancelled over the weekend

Zelensky criticises Europe's inaction against Putin during Davos address

Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, Zelensky accused European rivals of failing to halt Russia's shadow fleet tankers

Sovereignty non-negotiable, says Denmark after Trump claims Greenland deal

Denmark's prime minister insisted that her country can't negotiate on its sovereignty on Thursday after US President Donald Trump said he agreed on a "framework of a future deal" on Arctic security with the head of NATO, and she has been "informed that this has not been the case." Trump on Wednesday abruptly scrapped the tariffs he had threatened to impose on eight European nations to press for US control over Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. It was a dramatic reversal shortly after he insisted he wanted to get the island "including right, title and ownership." He said "additional discussions" on Greenland were being held concerning the Golden Dome missile defence programme, a multilayered, USD 175 billion system that for the first time will put US weapons in space. Trump offered few details, saying they were still being worked out. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement that security in the Arctic is a matter for all of NATO, and it i

Trump's European threats could complicate future US efforts to rebuild ties

Barely a month into his presidency, Joe Biden had a message for Europe. "America is back," Biden told the Munich Security Conference in 2021. "The transatlantic alliance is back." It was a promise Biden delivered often as he sought to cast the disruptions of his predecessor, Donald Trump, as an anomaly. But nearly five years later, Biden's assurances have proven short-lived. In his second term, Trump has cast aside alliances forged over seven decades with Europe that helped lead to the reunification of Germany and the collapse of the Soviet Union. He has hectored leaders, making demands and levelling accusations more commonly associated with enemies. In the process, he has rocked the stability that has sustained the relationships and left countries to chart a course without US leadership. The most stark example of this shift has been Trump's threat to take over Greenland, dismissing the nation as a large "piece of ice" as he demanded that Denmark cede control to the US, a move that

US Treasury secretary decries Europe's 'anger' over tariff threat

US President Donald Trump will appear on Wednesday with other high-profile government and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a day after the elite event produced contentious statements and economic threats arising from tensions between the US and Europe. Nearly 3,000 high-level participants from 130 countries, plus an untold number of activists and observers, are expected to converge on the annual event scheduled to last through Friday for dialogue, debate and deal-making in the Alpine resort. Trump's third visit as president comes as US allies worry about his ambition to take over Greenland, while Latin America grapples with his efforts to seize Venezuela's oil. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday called Trump's planned new tariffs on eight of its countries over Greenland a mistake and questioned Trump's trustworthiness. French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU could retaliate by deploying one of its most powerful ...