A historic heat wave hits the European continent with record temperatures. Meanwhile, North Macedonia starts accession talks that could ultimately lead to EU membership and Brussels reacts to the government crisis in Italy.
A video of a railway track being removed has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times after it circulated in posts that claim it shows Lithuania cutting off transit with a Russian exclave after the EU sanctioned certain goods in response to Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in 2022. Although Lithuania did follow the EU sanctions in blocking certain goods to Kaliningrad, the video has been shared in a false context. It was uploaded in a 2017 post about railway repairs in Estonia, years before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Keyword searches found no official reports about Lithuania removing the railway track.
This week, Europe remembers the Srebrenica genocide, while the inflation rate climbs to new heights. ECB President Lagarde welcomed the newest euro member Croatia, the EU Commission calls on Germany to pay its judges better and the EU Commission’s President travels to North Macedonia. Here are the top stories of the week:
Owing to mounting fears regarding a possible complete stop to Russian gas supplies, EU member states are stepping up their preparations.
Energy supply remains on top of the EU’s agenda: The maintenance of Nord Stream 1 worries Europe, while Greece and Bulgaria have inaugurated a newly interconnected pipeline. Meanwhile, hopes for smoother relations with the UK have been rekindled and Europe remembers Srebrenica.