Europe News Digest (16-31 December, 2024)

EU Proposes Sanctions on Georgian Officials: Hungary and Slovakia Veto

Kaja Kallas, the EU's new foreign policy chief, is set to ask Member States for a mandate to move forward with sanctions on Georgian officials. Brussels has grown increasingly exasperated with the actions of the Georgian government ever since Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze unilaterally announced the suspension of membership talks until 2028, triggering nightly protests that have now entered their third week. The crackdown on pro-EU demonstrations has led to chaotic clashes on the streets, arrests of opposition figures, multiple reports of injured people and hundreds of arrests, all of which prompted an outcry of condemnation from European countries. Hungary and Slovakia have vetoed a proposal to impose EU sanctions on Georgian officials. Hungary, a close ally to the ruling party, Georgian Dream, has telegraphed its intention to block any restrictive measure. Click here to read... [2]

Brussels Moves to Suspend Visa-Free Travel for Georgian Diplomats as Protests Continue

The European Commission has proposed to suspend the visa-free travel regime for Georgian diplomats and officials in response to the violent crackdown on protesters, who have been taking to the streets for weeks to denounce the ruling party's gradual pivot away from Europe and towards Russia. The demonstrations, now in their 22nd day, began in late November after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze unexpectedly announced he would not pursue EU membership talks until 2028, despite an obligation in the Constitution that compels state bodies to "take all measures within the scope of their competences" to ensure Georgia's integration. The UK and US have also introduced sanctions on a handful of Georgian officials. Click here to read... [3]

German Government Collapses as Chancellor Olaf Scholz Loses a Confidence Vote

Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany called for the confidence vote after his three-party coalition broke up. The German government collapsed on December 16 as Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in Parliament, deepening a crisis of leadership across Europe at a time of mounting economic and security challenges. Coming just nine months before parliamentary elections had been scheduled to happen, the vote was an extraordinary moment for Germany. The elections, now expected on Feb. 23, will be only the fourth snap election in the 75 years since the modern state was founded. The moment reflects a new era of more fractious and unstable politics in a country long known for durable coalitions built on plodding consensus. The German economy has stagnated, narrowly avoiding recession this fall, and its parties will spend the campaign arguing over how best to revitalize it. Disagreements over how to balance the budget — and over whether to increase government borrowing or implement further austerity measures — helped to deepen the fissures in Mr. Scholz’s government before it split apart. Click here to read... [4]

Indian Oil Exports to Europe Surge as Russian Diesel Ban Reshapes Trade

Indian oil product exports to Europe have surged following the EU and UK ban on Russian diesel in 2023, with exports reaching an average of 215,000 barrels per day. Indian refiners have increased shipments to Europe and the Mediterranean after logistical challenges earlier this year, including those in the Red Sea. India’s growing exports to Europe also coincide with Russia becoming the largest supplier of crude oil to India. Russian crude imports averaged 1.7 million b/d during the January-September 2023. The EU’s embargo on Russian crude excluded refined petroleum products made from the Russian oil. This has enabled countries like India to refine Russian crude and legally export the finished products to European markets. Click here to read... [5]

Europe Tightens the Screws on Russia’s Oil Trade

European countries are ramping up sanctions pressure on Russia as they look to reduce Vladimir Putin’s oil revenues that fund the war in Ukraine. The UK and the European Union announced this week a raft of new sanctions that target Russia’s shadow fleet of tankers enabling oil trade. The UK went further, sanctioning two trading firms, which it described as “key lynchpins in enabling the trading of Putin’s precious oil.” Moreover, the UK and other countries around the North Sea and the Baltic Sea are stepping up efforts to check insurance certificates to challenge suspected shadow vessels along the Russian oil export route from its Baltic Sea ports to the North Sea and the Atlantic. All these new sanctions and measures are aimed at clamping down on the shadow fleet that Russia has amassed to move its oil and refined products in the face of the price cap that Western allies have imposed on Russian crude and petroleum products. Click here to read... [6]

Australia to Reopen Embassy in Ukraine as its Total Support for Country Surpasses $1.5bn

Australia’s support for Ukraine will surpass $1.5bn as it offers more aid and reveals an embassy will reopen in the war-torn country for the first time since 2022. The ambassador to Ukraine, Paul Lehmann, and the deputy head of mission will return to Kyiv in January, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said from the nation’s capital on December 18. Wong visited Australia’s embassy in Kyiv, which was closed by the former Morrison government in 2022 at the outbreak of war against Russia. A cross-party parliamentary inquiry in November said there was a “strong case” for a return of a physical diplomatic presence, pointing to 70 other nations that have reopened their embassies. Australia will provide $66m to the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development to help Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction efforts. Another $10m will go to the Ukraine energy support fund to provide heat and electricity for civilians. This takes Australia’s support of Ukraine to more than $1.5bn in aid since Russia’s invasion almost three years ago in February. Click here to read... [7]

Putin, Zelenskyy Rule Out Renewal of Key Gas Transit Deal for Europe

The leaders of Russia and Ukraine both ruled out the renewal of a key gas transit deal for Europe, sending futures surging. Kyiv has refused to extend the five-year deal to ship Russian gas across Ukraine beyond its expiry at the end of this month, President Vladimir Putin said in Moscow. Comments from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Brussels also indicated that his nation will not transit Russian gas. Energy firms from the region this week pushed for a deal that would allow the continued transit of gas through Ukraine next year, as alternative sources of supply would be costly for nations in central Europe. The result will be either a last-minute alternative arrangement, or a halt in supplies, closing a decades-long route for Russian gas to Europe. Click here to read... [8]

Trump to Europe: Buy More of our Oil and Gas or Face Tariffs

President-elect Donald Trump doubled down on his tariff threats on December 19, pledging to raise tariffs on European Union nations unless they increase their purchases of American oil and gas to narrow the trade gap with the United States. “I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large-scale purchase of our oil and gas. Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social, which is owned by his media company. Trump has continued to use the threat of tariffs as a negotiating tactic with countries he believes are treating the United States unfairly. In his previous term too, Donald Trump had said that "For far too long Europe has been riding on the back of the US - and we have allowed for that to happen." European stocks fell sharply Friday, and US stocks were slightly lower in premarket trading. Trump’s tariff threat adds more uncertainty into a market that is already weary of stalled-out progress on inflation. Higher tariffs could reignite a global inflation crisis, economists have predicted. Click here to read... [9]

Qatar Warns it Will Halt Gas Supplies to Europe if Fined Under EU Due Diligence Law

Qatar warned that it will cease gas exports to the European Union if the bloc's countries impose penalties under recently adopted legislation on sustainability due diligence, according to Qatari Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi. The EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which entered into force in July, allows for fines of up to 5 percent of a company’s annual global revenue if the management fails to address adverse human rights or environmental impacts. “If I lose 5 percent of my revenue by supplying Europe, I won’t supply Europe,” al-Kaabi told the media on December 22. “I’m not bluffing,” he added. Qatar has become a critical supplier of liquefied natural gas to Europe as countries are reducing their reliance on Russian energy following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. QatarEnergy, the state-owned energy giant, has long-term LNG supply agreements with Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. Click here to read... [10]

Trump Wants 5% NATO Defence Spending Target, Europe Told

Donald Trump’s team has told European officials that the incoming US president will demand NATO Member States increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, but plans to continue supplying military aid to Ukraine. The US president-elect’s closest foreign policy aides shared his intentions in discussions with senior European officials this month, according to people familiar with the talks, as he firms up his policies towards Europe and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While Trump still believes Ukraine should never be given membership of NATO, and wants an immediate end to the conflict, the president-elect believed that supplying weapons to Kyiv after a ceasefire would ensure a “peace through strength” outcome, they added. Click here to read... [11]

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Tells Ukraine’s Diplomats to Fight for NATO Membership

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told Ukraine’s diplomats the country will have to fight to persuade allies to allow it to take up NATO membership, but has described the goal as “achievable” as it searches for security guarantees to protect it from Russia. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has vowed to bring more “destruction” to Ukraine after a devastating drone attack on the central Russian city of Kazan and met the Slovakian prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit of an EU and NATO leader to Moscow. Putin has threatened to target the centre of Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks, and Moscow has called Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities, which have threatened to plunge thousands of homes into darkness as winter tightens its grip, retaliatory strikes for Kyiv using western-supplied missiles. Kyiv says membership in the transatlantic military alliance, or an equivalent form of security guarantee, would be crucial to any peace plan to ensure Russia does not attack again. NATO has said Ukraine will join it one day, but has not suggested when or issued an invitation. Click here to read... [12]

Magdeburg Christmas Market Attack: Authorities Received Warnings About Suspect

The German government has vowed to investigate whether a Christmas market car attack that killed five people and injured 200 could have been prevented, after it emerged that authorities had received multiple warnings about the suspect. Amid mounting criticism of Germany’s security apparatus, the interior minister, Nancy Faeser, said on Sunday that the heads of the domestic and foreign intelligence services would be questioned by two parliamentary committees next week. The man arrested at the scene of the attack in Magdeburg on December 20, a Saudi-born psychiatrist named by German media as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, 50, had made online threats to kill German citizens and has a history of disputes with state authorities. A self-described “Saudi atheist” who helped women flee Gulf countries, he had been strongly critical of Berlin for allowing in too many Muslim refugees and had repeatedly backed far-right conspiracy theories about the “Islamisation” of Europe. Click here to read... [13]

Leaders Arrive in Finnish Region of Lapland for North-South Summit on European Security

Leaders from northern and southern Europe have arrived in Saariselkä in the Finnish region of Lapland for the North-South Summit on European security and defence. In attendance are Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Greek Prime Minister Kyriákos Mitsotákis and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. The main focus of the summit is defence and preparedness, including Baltic Sea security in the wake of the damage caused to various undersea cables in November. On December 19, Chinese vessel Yi Peng 3, which was spotted in the area at the time of the incidents, was inspected by authorities from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. Click here to read... [14]

EU, Switzerland Agree Deal to Strengthen Trade Ties in 'Turbulent' Times

Switzerland and the European Union on Friday unveiled a deal to carry out the biggest overhaul of their trade ties in years, overcoming Swiss concerns about immigration and setting the scene for a fraught and lengthy approval process. Covering everything from electricity to state aid, transport, and freedom of movement, plus Bern's financial contribution to the bloc, the accord drew the EU and its fourth-biggest export market closer and gave added certainty to Swiss companies that rely heavily on the 27-nation alliance for business. Though it faces big tests before ratification, the deal is a step forward from the last bid, which failed in 2021 when Bern abruptly pulled out. It also delivers a boost to the EU as it tries to move past Britain's 2016 vote to exit the bloc. Swiss President Viola Amherd and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the agreement at a hastily-convened joint news conference in Bern. Click here to read... [15]

Putin Welcomes Slovak PM Fico to Moscow in Rare Visit by EU Leader

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sunday, discussing gas transit and the war in Ukraine, as Kyiv signals it will not renew a key gas deal with Slovakia. The visit, condemned by Slovak opposition parties, highlights Fico's pro-Russia stance. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday hosted Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to the Kremlin by an EU leader since Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met with Putin one-on-one on Sunday evening, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s RIA news agency. According to Peskov, the talks were expected to focus on “the international situation” and Russian natural gas deliveries. Russian natural gas still flows to some European countries, including Slovakia, through Ukraine under a five-year agreement signed before the war that is due to expire at the end of this year. Click here to read... [16]

The EU is Set to Create 7 New AI Factories Around Europe

The European Commission approved a €1.5 billion fund this month for seven new or modernised artificial intelligence (AI) Factories spread out throughout Europe. Each factory will deploy or upgrade AI-enhanced supercomputers, large general-purpose artificial intelligence (GPAI) models and programming facilities, the Commission said. The new AI Factories will "widen AI usage" among small businesses in the EU while "boosting" AI research among the bloc’s academics. On-site, organisations will be able to develop, test, and evaluate new algorithms that will advance how AI is being used throughout the bloc, the Commission added. The first factories should be launched by 2025, and, by the end of the decade, will turn Europe into an "AI continent," according to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The Commission picked Barcelona, Spain; Bissen, Luxembourg; Bologna, Italy; Stuttgart, Germany; Mimer, Sweden; Kajaani, Finland; and Athens, Greece as new sites for the AI factories. Click here to read... [17]

ISRO Finds New Partner in Europe to Help with Space Exploration

ISRO and European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a collaboration agreement to enhance human space exploration, focusing on astronaut training, mission implementation, and research. The two agencies signed a comprehensive agreement on December 21 to cooperate on astronaut training, mission implementation, and a variety of research experiments in space. It lays the foundation for a range of joint activities focused on human spaceflight. Specifically, the agreement will cover areas such as astronaut training, development and integration of space experiments, utilization of ESA facilities on the International Space Station (ISS), human and biomedical research, as well as joint educational and outreach programs. The partnership between the two agencies is expected to open new doors for scientific research, space technology advancements, and global collaboration in the coming years. Click here to read... [18]

US President Biden Announces $2.5bn Military Aid Package for Ukraine

United States President Joe Biden has announced that his administration will send nearly $2.5bn in military assistance to Ukraine, as the president rushes aid to the war-torn country before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. The new round of assistance, announced on December 30, includes $1.25bn derived from presidential drawdown authority, which allows Biden to withdraw materials from US military supplies without the need for congressional approval. Administration of US President Joe Biden has committed more than $65bn in support since Russia’s full-scale invasion. “I’ve directed my administration to continue surging as much assistance to Ukraine as quickly as possible,” Biden said in a statement. “At my direction, the United States will continue to work relentlessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in this war over the remainder of my time in office.” Click here to read... [19]