This week in Europe: The EU parliament awarded the Ukrainian people its human rights prize, former Italian president Silvio Berlusconi caused some reactions over his remarks on Putin, and the European Parliament refused to discharge Europe’s border agency Frontex.
The EU’s foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss further support for Ukraine, in particular in the form of training Ukrainian soldiers. EU High Representative Borrell said he would support determining responsibility for Ukrainian war crimes. Due to public interest, the EU’s Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating vaccine purchases in which text messages played a role, and Serbia promised to align its visa policy to the EU’s.
A video claims people vaccinated against Covid-19 are “genetically modified” and have been re-classified as “homoborgenesis,” citing a supposed NASA study as evidence. This is false; the US agency told AFP it has done no research on the subject, and leading health authorities have repeatedly debunked claims that the shots alter human DNA.
The EU Commission wants to grant BiH EU candidate status and the EU top court judges on a headscarf ban in the workplace. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer sharply criticizes the EU Commission over the handling of migration in the EU, while Commissioner Ylva Johansson has announced the extension of protection for Ukrainian refugees until 2024.
On Wednesday, the EU Commission recommended granting Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) the much-awaited EU candidate status. As recently as mid-June, when Ukraine and Moldova were given the prospect of EU membership, however, the EU had still been cautious regarding Bosnia. Geopolitically, the move comes at the right time, as it could not only prevent the Serb-dominated entity of Republika Srpska (RS) from seceding, but also put a stop to Moscow’s ambitions in the region.