Belgium

02 July 2023; MEMO: The EU on Saturday said burning a copy of the Quran or any other holy book "is offensive, and disrespectful and a clear act of provocation", Anadolu reports.

The remarks came after a person identified as Salwan Momika burned a copy of the Muslim holy book under police protection in front of a Stockholm mosque on Wednesday.

The desecration was timed to coincide with Eid al-Adha, one of the major Islamic religious festivals celebrated by Muslims worldwide.

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took center stage at Thursday’s European Union summit, underscoring the importance the 27 EU leaders attach to protecting their eastern flank from Russian aggression and beefing up Ukraine’s defense capabilities.

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that he has called a meeting of senior officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland on July 6 to try to overcome Turkish objections to Sweden joining the military organization.

The meeting is a last-ditch effort by Stoltenberg to have the Nordic country standing among NATO’s ranks as a member at a major summit next month. It would be a highly symbolic moment and another indication of how Russia’s war in Ukraine is driving countries to join the Western alliance.

BRUSSELS (AP) — As rescue efforts in the Mediterranean Sea flagged last week, and bodies were found more frequently than survivors from among the more than 500 people missing after an overcrowded fishing trawler sank, the European Commission’s president was asked for her thoughts.

“It is horrible, what happened, and the more urgent is that we act,” Ursula von der Leyen told reporters at the headquarters of the European Union’s executive branch in Brussels.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is facing a cliffhanger vote next month that will test its global climate and environmental credentials, after its parliament was again deadlocked on pushing a nature restoration bill onwards on Tuesday.

The legislature’s environment committee emerged deadlocked at 44-44 on the plan to beef up the restoration of nature in the 27-nation bloc that was damaged during decades of industrial expansion. It means the full parliament will be asked to reject it.

BRUSSELS, June 23. /TASS/: After four months of deliberations, the European Union agreed on the 11th package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, which for the first time in the EU's history includes the principle of extraterritorial restrictions. This means that the EU has given itself the right to impose sanctions against third countries and their businesses that ignore sanctions against Russia.

BRUSSELS, June 22. /TASS/: The European Commission (EC) transferred another monthly tranche of 1.5 billion euros to Ukraine on Thursday as part of a program designed for 2023 with a total volume of 18 billion euros, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced on Twitter.

"Today we disburse another €1.5 bn for Ukraine in macro-financial assistance. We help keep Ukraine’s services and infrastructure afloat in its brave fight for freedom," she tweeted.

BRUSSELS, June 21 (Reuters) - European Union governments agreed on Wednesday to an 11th package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, aimed at stopping other countries and companies from circumventing existing measures.

The new package, tweeted by Sweden as EU president, forbids transit via Russia of an expanded list of goods and technology which might aid Russia's military or security sector.

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union countries on Wednesday agreed on a new package of sanctions against Russia for its war against Ukraine.

Sweden, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said that the package includes measures aimed at countering sanctions circumvention and individual listings.

Details of the measures will be unveiled later this week when the sanctions are officially adopted by written procedure.

BRUSSELS, June 20. /TASS/: NATO’s Exercise Air Defender is sending a message that the alliance is ready to defend every inch of its territory, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on a visit to the exercise’s headquarters at Jagel Air Base in Germany on Tuesday.

"This is the biggest air exercise in NATO's history," he said in comments broadcast by the NATO press office. "This exercise sends a very clear message that NATO is ready to defend every inch of allied territory and to defend every inch of allied airspace."