The European Union must stay committed to its policy that any discussions about ending the war in Ukraine should be led by the government in Kyiv, according to Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel.
Editor’s note: This is issue 65 of Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak’s weekly “Ukrainian Economy in Brief” newsletter, covering events from July 8-14, 2024. The digest highlights steps taken in the Ukrainian parliament related to business, economics, and international financial programs. The Kyiv Independent is republishing with permission. Benchmarks
"The European Union reiterates its call on the Russian Federation to accept its responsibility in this tragedy and to cooperate fully in serving justice."
"I'm not going to preempt what may happen in the elections later this year, other than to say that industrial strategy is a very important component of the package that we need to put together," Keir Starmer said.
The following is the July 4, 2024 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. This version is condensed as the author was out of the office. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. EU accession talks begin Ukraine and
Editor’s note: This is issue 62 of Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak’s weekly “Ukrainian Economy in Brief” newsletter, covering events from June 24–June 30, 2024. The digest highlights steps taken in the Ukrainian parliament related to business, economics, and international financial programs. The Kyiv Independent is republishing with
Germany and Poland have reaffirmed their security cooperation in a joint action plan, Reuters reported on July 2.
Ursula von der Leyen has secured the nomination for a second term as President of the European Commission following an agreement between EU leaders at a Brussels summit on June 27.
Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania called on the European Union to build a line of defense along the bloc's border with Russia and Belarus to protect the EU from military threats and other harmful actions from Moscow.
The following is the June 25, 2024 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. This version is condensed as the author was out of the office. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. Ukraine received practically no external financing
Key developments on June 25: * International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Russia's Shoigu, Gerasimov * Czech PM confirms Ukraine received first batch of shells under Prague-led initiative * European Court of Human Rights finds Russia guilty of violating human rights in occupied Crimea * Ukraine brings back 90 POWs from Russian captivity
"As of today, we have full confidence — Ukraine will definitely become a full member of the European Union," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his address. "Now, the focus is on the technical work between Ukraine and the EU, adapting our system to the EU, and Europe's political will to make the European project truly complete."
"We have been preparing for the next European Council, which will take place at the end of this week in Brussels. This European Council will give a full picture of our support for Ukraine in all its forms," Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said at a press conference in Luxembourg on June 25.
The EU has developed a legal workaround to prevent Hungary vetoing a move to use profits from frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on June 24.
Germany’s vice-chancellor expressed readiness to discussions with Beijing regarding EU tariffs but adopted a more stringent stance on Chinese exports to Russia during the first visit to mainland China by a senior European politician since the tariffs were introduced.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, neighboring Slovakia, with its own experience of decades of Russian occupation in the 20th century, became one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine. Under the guidance of then-Defense Minister Jaroslav
The EU is expected to further curtail imports of key food commodities from war-torn Ukraine, just two weeks after implementing a controversial new preferential trade scheme.
Russia is "working hard" to counter the expulsion of diplomats from Germany by turning to blackmail and the lure of big payouts to recruit spies, Berlin officials said on June 18.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb noted that this week has favored Ukraine. He highlighted the G7 summit, the start of EU negotiations, NATO support, and Ukraine's summit, which gathered over 100 representatives. "(Ukraine is) much stronger than what it was three weeks ago, let alone three months ago," he said.
Editor’s note: This is issue 59 of Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak’s weekly “Ukrainian Economy in Brief” newsletter, covering events from June 3–June 10, 2024. The digest highlights steps taken in the Ukrainian parliament related to business, economics, and international financial programs. The Kyiv Independent is republishing with
Czech Minister for European Affairs Martín Dvořák has urged the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union to advance accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, according to the Czech Press Agency (CTK).
Using publicly available data, consulting firm Bain & Company claims that Russian factories can produce or refurbish 4.5 million 152 mm shells for $1,000 per round this year. European countries and the U.S. are only expected to produce 1.3 million 155 mm shells combined at an average cost of $4,000 per unit.
Hungary is holding up legislation that would allow the European Union to send billions of dollars in profits from frozen Russian assets for Ukrainian aid, according to a report by the Financial Times.
The man charged with shooting Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico cited his country's policy towards Ukraine as a motivation for the attempted assassination, Slovak media reported on May 23.
Estonia, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Sweden are among several EU countries pushing for sanctions against Georgia in response to its government's passing of the controversial "foreign agents" law, the Financial Times (FT) reported on May 22, citing official sources.
According to Politico, intense diplomacy is being undertaken aimed at convincing the Hungarian government to drop their objections to Kyiv's membership to the bloc.
The European Council agreed to open accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova last December. Chisinau has moved closer to Europe over recent months amid repeated warnings that the Kremlin is attempting to carry out a destabilization campaign inside the country's borders.
Warsaw has also, for several years, accused Belarus of deliberately pushing migrants into Poland in order to pressure the EU over sanctions, a charge Belarus has denied.
Ukraine expects to begin accession negotiation to join the European Union in June, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 9.
In a tweet on X, Ursula von der Leyen also confirmed she would be attending the upcoming peace summit to be held on June 15-16 in Switzerland.
2030 is a very real date for Ukraine to join the European Union, Katarina Mathernova, the EU ambassador to Ukraine, said in an interview on May 9.
According to Bloomberg, the ban on Russian funding could impact far-right parties in Europe such as Germany's AfD and France's National Rally, both of which have previously been accused of links to Russia.
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