One week after French oil workers went on strike which has paralysed 6 of France’s 8 refineries, half of all rail transportation in France has come to a screeching halt due to a transportation strike. But French oil workers and transport activists are protesting different issues.
Norbert Höfer could be the next president of Austria. He won 36.4% in the first round of presidential elections on 24 April, the largest among the candidates. Höfer is the candidate of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), which is considered to be nationalist, far-right and anti-immigration. Green candidate Alexander Van der Belle won 20.4% of the vote and is the only remaining opponent.
Outgoing Socialist Prime Minister Robert Fico (SMER-SD) won the challenge to form a new government in Slovakia. On Wednesday, 23 March, President Kiska appointed Fico as Prime Ministern again. His coalition comprises the socialists of SMER-SD, the nationalists of SNS, the center-right Siet and the party representing the Hungarian minority, Most-HID. The majority controls 81 out of 150 seats in parliament. A confidence vote is supposed to be held within 30 days to confirm the new government.
According to polls, Slovakian socialist party SMER-SD should have obtained between 32 and 40% of the votes during the general elections on 5th of March. The outcome is almost the opposite. SMER-SD, the party of the previous prime minister Robert Fico, obtained only 28.3% of the votes which changes…
Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo visited European Parliament in Strasbourg earlier this week (19 January) to defend her government’s position on controversial laws it recently approved. She is from the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party which won the majority during the elections in October last year. Poland is under increased scrutiny by the European Union since the European Commission commenced dialogue surrounding the fundamental aspects of rule of law a week ago. The new government in Poland, led by Conservative Law and Justice Party passed restrictive laws at the end of 2015 that put Polish social rights in danger.
At the entrance to European Union (EU) territory, asylum seekers are bound for different countries. Most of them want to continue their journey to Germany and Sweden, although they are technically allowed to ask for asylum in the first EU country they enter. So far, less than 50 persons have asked for asylum in Slovenia.
Ce lundi (7/09) les producteurs de lait étaient en colère et l’ont clairement démontré dans le quartier européen, à Bruxelles. Au même moment les ministres de l’Agriculture se réunissaient en conseil extraordinaire pour décider du futur de la production laitière européenne. Selon Véronique Lefolch, présidente de l’Organisation des Producteurs Laitiers, section laitière de la Coordination Rurale, vu les profits des industriels, le lait pourrait arriver quasiment gratuitement dans les supermarchés.
