Belgium

BRUSSELS, June 28 (Reuters) - European Union countries on Monday gave the green light to reforms of the bloc's huge farming subsidy programme, after a three-year battle over rules to make it greener and support smaller farms.

Negotiators representing the EU's 27 countries and European Parliament struck the deal on Friday to reform the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which will spend 387 billion euros ($462 billion) on payments to farmers and rural development, roughly a third of the EU's 2021-2027 budget.

BRUSSELS, June 25. /TASS/: Heads of states and governments of the European Union took a political decision at the two-day summit in Brussels to extend economic sanctions against Russia that expire at the end of July, a source in the delegation of one of European countries in the European Council told TASS on Friday.

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union countries bordering Russia rejected a Franco-German plan to resume official meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with one leader likening the move to an attempt to talk a bear out of stealing honey.

In a statement in the early hours of Friday morning, EU leaders said only that they “will explore formats and conditionalities of dialogue with Russia.” There was no mention of any high-level meetings or plans for a summit with Putin.

BRUSSELS, June 23 (Xinhua) -- United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked the European Union (EU) to fight for values of "enlightenment" against populism, racism and other intolerant ideas during his visit here on Wednesday.

BRUSSELS, June 23 (Reuters) - The European Union is considering 3.5 billion euros ($4.18 billion) for Turkey to continue hosting Syrian refugees until 2024, two diplomats said on Wednesday, part of a bigger regional refugee support plan to stop migrants reaching the bloc.

The total 5.77 billion euro package for Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, which goes to humanitarian projects and not governments, aims to prevent a new refugee influx into the EU and win time until the 10-year Syrian civil war eventually ends.

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union foreign ministers will approve Monday a fresh set of sanctions against scores of officials in Belarus and prepare a series of measures aimed at hurting the country’s economy, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

The EU has ratcheted up sanctions since President Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth term last August in elections slammed as fraudulent by the 27-nation bloc. The measures have targeted people accused of electoral misconduct and responsibility for the police crackdown that followed.

BRUSSELS, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The relationship between the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) is at a crossroads, warned Maros Sefcovic, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of inter-institutional relations and foresight, on Friday.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The former president of the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, checked in at Belgium’s main airport on Thursday, his lawyer said, ready to fly to his home country for the first time in nearly a decade after being acquitted by the International Criminal Court.

Gbagbo was not seen checking in by waiting media, but lawyer Habiba Toure said that he was finalizing his flight formalities and had headed into the departures area of Brussels airport through a protocol entrance.

A small group of Gbagbo supporters had gathered at the airport to see him off.

BRUSSELS, June 15 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) and the United States held their first summit in seven years on Tuesday as U.S. President Joe Biden was on his first overseas trip since taking office to revamp the transatlantic ties.

During the summit in Brussels, Biden met European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the leaders agreed to cooperate more on trade, investment and preparation for future global health challenges.

14 June 2021; MEMO: French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said he had received assurances from Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan that he wanted foreign mercenaries to leave Libyan territory as soon as possible, Reuters reported.