Politics

  Bloomberg Croatia won the EU’s endorsement to join the region’s visa-free travel area while Bulgaria and Romania’s bid was delayed. EU home affairs ministers agreed in Brussels that Croatia should be allowed to join the so-called Schengen area on January 1. This means the country will no longer be bound by the bloc’s internal border controls and paves the ...

Bloomberg A third Russian airfield came under drone attack on Tuesday after Moscow accused Ukraine of carrying out strikes against two bases used by its long-range bombers, the deepest retaliation on its territory since President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion. An oil storage tank caught fire after the drone strike at a Kursk region airfield, state-run Tass news service reported, ...

  Bloomberg European Union (EU) leaders may grant Bosnia-Herzegovina official candidacy status as early as December 15’s summit in Brussels, according to people familiar with the plan. The move, the next step on the long path towards membership which would require approval of all 27 EU member states, would be a major boost for Bosnia. It’s still grappling with the ...

Bloomberg The European Union’s standoff with Hungary deepened as a dispute over the fate of $14 billion of funding for Budapest scuppered attempts to push through crucial aid for Ukraine and a global minimum corporate tax. Hungarian Finance Minister Mihaly Varga said at a meeting with EU counterparts in Brussels that his country would veto the €18 billion ($18.9 billion) ...

Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron’s government was expected to outline changes to immigration laws, testing whether it can navigate divisions among political factions that have been accentuated by a spat with Italy over a migrant boat. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne will present plans to the National Assembly that would overhaul the asylum system, giving more undocumented workers legal status while ...

  Bloomberg Donations to the UK Conservatives sank to their lowest in more than two years in the third quarter, when the ruling party was riven by infighting which led to the ouster of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Rishi Sunak’s party received almost £3 million ($3.7 million) in donations in the three months through September, a 45% drop on ...

Bloomberg A key motivation for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was to sow turmoil more broadly in Europe, and he’s now seeking to make the entire continent suffer, according to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. Speaking in an interview at his office in the capital, Tirana, Rama described Ukraine as “the tool to fulfill the ambition of Vladimir ...

  Bloomberg Malaysia’s lawmakers are expected to discuss the budget of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in one or two months, his economy minister said. Under Anwar, the Southeast Asia nation will seek to strengthen industries that will enable it to become a high-income nation over the medium term, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said in Kuala Lumpur. Anwar named himself finance ...

  Bloomberg Finland took a step towards the national ratification of its entry into Nato even as Turkey and Hungary are yet to approve the step. The government in Helsinki submitted the accession proposal to the parliament in a bid to ensure it can complete the process swiftly once the remaining ratifications are received. “We have to be ready with ...

Bloomberg Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the US is building a more lethal force posture in the Indo-Pacific as part of efforts to make sure China doesn’t dominate the region the way it intends to. China is “the only country with both the will and, increasingly, the power to reshape its region and the international order to suit its ...