On Monday, Germany will reintroduce border checks at its nine land borders. While Schengen promotes free movement, checks can be reintroduced temporarily. The aim is to curb irregular migration and terrorism, though it seems like a quick fix after recent Islamist attacks.

We must not buy Putin's bluff. We must enable deep strikes into Russia: "Putin threatens war as Western allies near deal on missile strikes in Russia. White House summit on Friday could grant Ukraine new powers to strike Russia’s military bases." politico.eu/article/russia…

On this week in 1683, the Ottoman army faced a decisive defeat before the gates of Vienna. This battle not only halted Ottoman expansion but also solidified the Habsburgs' dominance in Central Europe and led to the long-term decline of the Ottoman Empire.

Around €200 billion of Russian state assets have been frozen across the EU since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, of which 90% rests in Belgium, where international clearinghouse Euroclear is headquartered euractiv.com/section/europe…

In Europe and around the world, opposition to China’s unilateral changes to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait has become a general consensus. It is a critical element in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, writes Roy Lee euractiv.com/section/asia-p…

Expansion of global trade, more open borders, free flow of digital knowledge/services and globalisation in general, work to humanity's benefit:

Never mind the war, the French Riviera still loves Russian 🇷🇺 oligarchs. In years past, if you wanted to spot a Russian oligarch, you headed to the southeast of France. Even now, with war still raging in Ukraine, nothing has really changed. politico.eu/article/never-…

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday handed out the top jobs in her team. There are now only two layers of command: executive vice presidents and commissioners. The previous third layer of vice presidents has been dropped. politico.eu/article/ursula…

The new European Commission 🇪🇺 *subject to the approval of the European Parliament

"European integration is our only hope." - Mario Draghi just now in the European Parliament 💯 % agree

The EU has long been known as a good place for competitive companies, legal certainty, a strong single market and access to global markets. However, current figures clearly show that the competitiveness of European industry is at risk of faltering. euractiv.com/section/econom…

Misery for consumers in Romania 🇷🇴, Belgium 🇧🇪 and Poland 🇵🇱

BBC: We have identified the names of 70,112 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine, but the actual number is believed to be considerably higher bbc.com/news/articles/…

From Prague you can reach 30+ different countries within the range of only 1,000 km. This is how small, densely populated and diverse Europe is. We should see it as a blessing and take advantage of it, by travelling and communicating more frequently with our fellow Europeans.

The Empire of Charlemagne, 8th century. It spanned much of Western and Central Europe, including modern-day France, Germany, Italy, and parts of Eastern Europe. As the Holy Roman Emperor, he sought to revive Roman traditions and Christianity.

This week, we proposed an exceptional Macro-Financial Assistance loan of up to €35 billion for 🇺🇦. This package, backed by the extraordinary profits from immobilised Russian assets, supports the EU-G7 contribution of up to €45 billion for Ukraine's recovery and resilience.

Germany, Brandenburg regional parliament election today: 6 PM CEST Forschungsgruppe Wahlen exit poll SPD-S&D: 32% (+5.8) AfD-ESN: 29% (+5.5) BSW-NI: 12% (new) CDU-EPP: 11.5% (-4.1) GRÜNE-G/EFA: 4.5% (-6.3) LINKE-LEFT: 4% (-6.7) BVB/FW~RE: 2.5% (-2.5) +/- vs. 2019 election

After 11 months of Israeli bombardment, Gaza has become a breeding ground for superbugs immune to standard antibiotics. The spillover from Gaza and other war zones to neighboring regions will only add to a growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis. politico.eu/article/war-uk…

A much higher number of burglaries is recorded in western/northern Europe. Possible reasons: - denser population and more urban centres - higher number of illegal immigrants - better reporting system of crimes - more attractive targets, as the living standards are higher there