Belgium

BRUSSELS, June 20 (Reuters) - Around 70,000 Belgian workers marched through Brussels on Monday demanding government action to tackle sharply rising living costs, as one-day strikes at Brussels Airport and on local transport networks nationwide brought public travel to a near-halt.

Protesters carried flags and banners reading "More respect, higher wages" and "End excise duty", while some set off flares. Some demanded the government do more, others said employers needed to improve pay and working conditions.

WATERLOO, Belgium, June 19 (Xinhua) -- About 2,000 re-enactors, more than 100 horses as well as over 20 canons participated in the re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo in Waterloo, Belgium, on Saturday, to mark the 207th anniversary of the war.

Around 180,000 men from across Europe took part in the battle, and thousands of Britons and allied troops died in the defeat of the forces led by Napoleon Bonaparte.

BRUSSELS, June 17. /TASS/: The European Commission recommended that an EU candidate status be given to Ukraine and Moldova and be put off for Georgia, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement on Friday.

"The Commission recommends to the Council: First, that Ukraine is given a European perspective. Second, that Ukraine is given candidate status," she said.

BRUSSELS, June 17 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission on Friday recommended Ukraine and Moldova be granted candidate status for accession to the European Union (EU).

Both countries should also be granted the "European Perspective," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The College of the European Commission met on Friday morning to issue an opinion on whether Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia should be granted the European Perspective and candidate status for EU accession.

BRUSSELS, June 16 (Reuters) - Latvia on Thursday made a last pitch for the deployment of more NATO troops in the Baltics, two weeks before NATO leaders are set to decide the future military line-up on the alliance's eastern flank in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Latvian Defence Minister Artis Pabriks called for larger forces in the Baltic states and said that any sign of weakness - be it in Ukraine or on NATO territory - would encourage Russia.

16 June 2022; MEMO: President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced on Wednesday that Europe would immediately give Egypt $100 million. She added that it would also provide €3 billion to the region in the coming years to counter the damage to food supplies due to the Russian military operation in Ukraine, Anadolu Agency reported.

This came in a joint press conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on the sidelines of her visit to Cairo.

BRUSSELS, June 15 (Reuters) - Russia's invasion of Ukraine was at a "pivotal" moment and the United States and its allies could not lose focus on the three-month long conflict, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday during a meeting of dozens of defense ministers in Brussels.

BRUSSELS, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Mission to EU on Thursday refuted a resolution passed by the European Parliament that criticized the human rights situation in Xinjiang.

The relevant resolution of the parliament is "in total disregard of facts with fabrication and confounding black and white," said a spokesperson of the mission.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s top court ruled Thursday that British citizens living long-term in the 27 EU member countries have no right to vote or stand for office in the bloc unless they have obtained a European nationality.

The ruling came in what was seen as a test case for the rights of U.K citizens who continue to live in the EU despite Britain’s exit from the bloc two years ago. More than 1 million Britons were living in Europe. Many opposed Brexit in January 2020 and had their lives upended.

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called off a series of in-person meetings in Germany and Romania because he has contracted shingles after having a coronavirus infection last month, his office said Thursday.

“The Secretary General will conduct his planned visit to Germany (and Romania) remotely rather than in person. He has been diagnosed with shingles, which can occur after COVID-19, and is working from home,” a NATO official said.