Eastern Neighbourhood

Serbia's lithium mining project in Jadar has been on hold because of mass protests against feared environmental damage. Now the EU wants to secure this lithium access for Europe - despite the political and legal conditions in Serbia. Interview with environmental and legal experts Mirko Popović and Jovan Rajić from the Renewables and Environmental Regulatory Institute (RERI).

Energy policy plays a central role following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ahead of the EU-Western Balkans leaders' meeting on Thursday 23 June 2022, Simon Ilse spoke to Dirk Buschle, Deputy Director of the Vienna-based international organisation Energy Community, about the energy and geopolitical implications of EU enlargement.

Digital technology plays a key role in the armed conflict in Ukraine – as a tool for cyberattacks and digital protest, and as an accelerator for information and disinformation.

We declare our full solidarity with Ukraine. We stand by the side of our Ukrainian partners and colleagues, and at the same time also by the side of our partners in Russian civil society who are under harsh state repression.

Ukraine is facing a challenge that could threaten its very existence. It is relying on negotiations, sanctions and its army and needs solidarity and assistance from all European democracies. 

At the Eastern Partnership (EaP) summit on 15 December 2021, German Chancellor Scholz met with high-ranking representatives of the EU and its Member States and the EaP countries. How can the Traffic Light coalition contribute to a more effective Eastern Partnership?

Eva van de Rakt, Director of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union office in Brussels, was in conversation with MEP Viola von Cramon-Taubadel (Greens/EFA Group) about the Ryanair plane forced by the Lukashenko regime to land in Belarus and the lessons the EU must learn from this.

Georgia has been unable to find peace since the parliamentary elections in October 2020. The resignation of Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, respected for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, in conjunction with the imprisonment of opposition leader Nika Melia on 23 February 2021, is merely another low point in this trend. The egotism of the neoliberal political elite favours informal structures leading to a creeping "Russification" of the country.