Europe

    The initial proposals from these big countries encourage the break-up of the Union But today Mr Kaczynski blasted: "The initial proposals from these big countries encourage the break-up of the Union. "We cannot stand idly by and let the most powerful ones carry on like this. We cannot allow the Union to fall apart. "Britain is being treated arrogantly today, which is a hysterical reaction." Addressing delegates, the 67-year-old was also keen to leave the door open for a possible return to the European fold for Britain. Far from punishing Britain for voting to leave, instead he urged Brussels to "reach out" to the next Government and try to smooth over future relations. Urging Brussels bureaucrats not to burn bridges, he pleaded: "We have to give it a chance, a chance of re...

    The country's former Prime Minister said that, far from deterring other countries from leaving, any attempts to punish the UK will only accelerate the break up of the beleaguered bloc. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the influential chairman of the ruling Law and Justice Party, also aimed a torpedo at close neighbours Germany, saying the rest of Europe cannot allow Angela Merkel to sink the EU by refusing to negotiate. His comments yet again expose the growing division on the continent over how to deal with the fallout of last week's historic Brexit vote. Poland is a deeply eurosceptic country and has been dismayed by Britain's vote to leave the bloc as it feels it has lost its biggest ally in the fight against Brussels federalism. He also said Brussels should leave the door open for ...

    Following the Leave vote, being a British citizen may no longer guarantee the right to live and work in the EU - and people are getting worried. While they will not change overnight, Britons can ultimately expect the "European Union'' line at the top of their passports to be gone when they apply to renew their documents. As a result, many are seeking alternative ways of gaining an EU passport. So what does make you eligible? Descent When it comes to digging for familial roots in the EU, Ireland is the natural choice for most, with its closeness both geographically and culturally. If either of your parents was an Irish citizen born in Ireland, or if you were born in Ireland to Irish parents, you are automatically entitled to citizenship, and if any of your grandparents were...

    Italy is on the cusp of tearing Europe apart but the economic and political crisis brewing in the nation is largely going unnoticed. All eyes have turned to Britain's vote to leave the European Union as having the most drastic political and economic impact onto the 28-nation state but if you look at the country's economic data, bank issues, and the impending constitutional referendum coming up, Italy is like a bomb waiting to explode. The Italian financial system, which to put it gently, is in a major state of flux right now. While Britain's EU referendum in June was seismic in terms of having economic and political repercussions across the bloc, there is another referendum of equal importance, coming up in Italy in October, and the result could fundamentally alter the sta...

    The plans conflict with far more important economic and strategic objectives of the EU, and some of the stated intentions violate existing EU law. France is rolling out the red carpet for putative refugees from Canary Wharf, hoping to capture the lion’s share of the estimated €600bn to €1 trillion market for clearing in euro-denominated transactions. Some German officials are also eyeing the City, but more discreetly. "There is a power play going on. It is very clear France and Germany will do everything they can to damage the City and get the business for themselves," said Professor Athanasios Orphanides, a former member of the European Central Bank's governing council. "But I don't think anybody can kill the City that easily. The EU itself is so messed up right now and t...

    Brexit will have some good consequences and some bad consequences, Russian president Vladimir Putin said in the immediate aftermath of the British vote. The president sounded restrained and impartial, leaving to lesser players the chance to cheer in public. “The European Union was like a beacon of light: If you were not in the EU it meant something was wrong with you,” Konstantin Kosachev, head of the International Relations Committee of the Federation Council said during a Channel One talk-show on Tuesday. “But what can possibly be wrong with Great Britain?” Kosachev posed the rhetorical question to imply that the U.K., integrated in every institution of the West, was an unlikely candidate to undermine the European Union. “Nothing is wrong with us, something is wrong with...

    Italy is down but not out, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said in response to the Gulshan cafe attack that left nine Italian nationals among 20 dead. “Confronted with the madness of those who want to undo the Italian way of life, Italians have been struck but not broken,” Renzi said late Saturday, reports Politico, an Italian newspaper. Earlier that day, six gunmen stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery in the diplomatic quarter of Dhaka and took hostages, mostly foreign nationals. Thirteen people were freed, but 20 were killed, including nine Italians, seven Japanese, one American and one Indian. Islamic State allegedly claimed responsibility for the attack. It’s the latest in a series of terrorist attacks around the world, Renzi said, mentioning the two Italians who we...

    The leaders of political parties in the Turkish Opposition were quick to criticize President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after he signed the reconciliation agreement with Israel. “Are you with your country, with justice or with those Israeli soldiers who killed [Turkish citizens]?” asked the senior level Opposition members. The Turkish newspaper Sabah reported today (Wednesday) that the Turkish Opposition attacked President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for signing the reconciliation agreement with Israel. The heads of the political parties in the Opposition asked Erdoğan: “Are you with your country, with justice or with those Israeli soldiers who killed [Turkish citizens]?” Head of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu slammed the President and accused him of favoring t...

    Prophetess Baba Vanga - who died in 1996 aged 85 - was known as the 'Nostradamus from the Balkans'. The Bulgarian is revered in Russia for her 85% success rate when it comes to telling the future - with millions convinced that she possessed paranormal abilities. Now it transpires the clairvoyant made a staggering prophecy on Europe which theorists are linking to Brexit . In fact Baba predicted that Europe as we know it will “cease to exist” by the end of 2016. Moreover she claimed the continent will be left “almost empty” - and be turned into a “wasteland almost entirely devoid of any form of life”. Baba's believers also fear her prediction of a “great Muslim war” and an invasion of Europe by Muslim extremists - stemming from the Arab Spring in 2010 - and conflict in Syria...

    A gun and bomb attack on Istanbul's Ataturk international airport has killed 36 people and injured about 90. Three attackers opened fire near an entry point to the terminal and blew themselves up after police fired at them, officials say. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said early signs suggested the so-called Islamic State was behind the attack. Recent bombings in Turkey have been linked to either IS or Kurdish separatists. Tuesday's attack looks like a major co-ordinated assault, says the BBC's Mark Lowen. Ataturk airport was long seen as a vulnerable target, our Turkey correspondent adds, reporting from a plane stuck on the tarmac in Istanbul. There are X-ray scanners at the entrance to the terminal but security checks for cars are limited.Turkish President Recep Tayyip ...