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Stories in this section cover the EU-27 countries plus the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Andorra and the Balkan Countries (Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia).

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Centrist pro-European D66 party set to win election in The Netherlands

Centrist pro-European D66 party set to win election in The Netherlands

The Netherlands is set to elect its youngest ever prime minister after the far-right party of Geert Wilders was projected to suffer losses in an election he brought about by bringing down the government. Rob Jetten, the 38-year-old leader of the pro-European centrist D66 party, is on course to claim the top job with most votes counted. His party is projected to win 27 of the 150 seats in the country's lower house of parliament, beating Mr Wilder's Freedom Party on 25, according to an exit poll by Ipsos. It comes just two years after he led his party to victory in the last election, winning 37 seats, although his coalition partners refused to endorse him as prime minister. Mr Jetten will also need to rely on a coalition himself, with 76 seats needed for a majority. At least four parties will be required for him to get there.
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Erdogan tours the Gulf and says Turkey will buy Eurofighter jets from Qatar and Oman

Erdogan tours the Gulf and says Turkey will buy Eurofighter jets from Qatar and Oman

Turkey is negotiating with Qatar and Oman to acquire used Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets as part of its effort to bolster its air force capabilities. Following a three-day tour of Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman last week in which he oversaw the signing of several agreements, including in the defense sector, President  Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey aims to purchase dozens of Eurofighters and other advanced jets as a stopgap measure to strengthen its fleet until its domestically developed fifth-generation KAAN fighter jet becomes operational.

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Task Force Takuba, the EU's mission in the Sahel, is not going according to plan

Task Force Takuba, the EU's mission in the Sahel, is not going according to plan

The foreign ministers of Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Chad failed to agree on the terms for a joint ministerial summit with the European Union and have instead chosen to hold bilateral talks with EU High Representative Josep Borrel. The cancellation followed a series of coups in Mali and Burkina Faso, which has put into question the main European military tool in the Sahel region, the Takuba force. Task Force Takuba was created with much fanfare, and after a lot of French insistence, in March 2020 to help Mali and its neighbours in the West African Sahel fight militants linked to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, who have taken over large parts of their territory. 
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NATO tells Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine

NATO tells Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine

NATO has called on Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova where they are deployed without the consent of these countries. The call came as part of a western response to Russian sabre-rattling and attempts to assert the Kremlin's hegemonic control over its neighbouring countries, and amid fears of an imminent Russian military incursion in Ukraine
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'The EU and the process of reform and renewal in the Eastern Neighbourhood: six countries, six nuances and a giant elephant in the room'

'The EU and the process of reform and renewal in the Eastern Neighbourhood: six countries, six nuances and a giant elephant in the room'

The conference, 'The EU and its Eastern Neighbourhood', was held over three sessions at The Hague Humanity Hub (city centre) in The Hague on Tuesday 23 November 2021. The first session addressed the topic, 'The EU and the process of reform and renewal in the Eastern Neighbourhood: six countries, six nuances and a giant elephant in the room'. Read the summary here.
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Brussels provides Ukraine with 1.2 billion euros financial assistance package

Brussels provides Ukraine with 1.2 billion euros financial assistance package

The European Commission proposes to support Ukraine with 1.2 billion euros of new financial assistance package made of both emergency loans and grants. The country is experiencing a financial shortage and borrowing is becoming more complex and expensive now that Russia uses threatening language and has deployed military troops and heavy weapons close to Ukraine's border.
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NATO sends additional military forces to Eastern Europe because of Russian threat

NATO sends additional military forces to Eastern Europe because of Russian threat

NATO is sending extra reinforcements to its member states in Eastern European because of Russia's military troop build-up on the border with Ukraine. The deployment includes frigates, fighter jets and troops for "collective defence". The reinforcements will be stationed in the Baltic Sea and Lithuania, among other places. A Russian invasion of Ukraine now appears increasingly likely, and the US and a number of western countries have evacuated non essential staff from their missions in Kyiv.
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US tells Russia in no uncertain terms: Don't do it!

US tells Russia in no uncertain terms: Don't do it!

The US, NATO, the EU and their members and partners believe Russia is about to intervene militarily in Ukraine. The message from US Secretary of State Blinken to Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, at their talks in Geneva on Friday was clear and simple, "Don't do it, because the consequences will be swift and severe".
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Aliyev in "excellent meeting" with EU diplomats to follow-up on December discussions in Brussels

Aliyev in "excellent meeting" with EU diplomats to follow-up on December discussions in Brussels

A delegation of EU diplomats is currently in the South Caucasus to follow-up on discussions held in Brussels last December in the framework of the VI Eastern Partnership Summit, particularly as related to Armenia-Azerbaijan relations. The delegation is led by Toivo Klaar, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and  Isabel Dumont, the French President's Adviser on Continental Europe and Turkey.  France currently has the rotating presidency of the European Union.