After more than ten years of waiting: Bulgaria and Romania have been given the green light to join Europe’s free-travel Schengen area by air and sea from March 2024. However, some restrictions will remain in place.
Nearly five years after Bulgaria reported the European Union’s first-ever outbreak of sheep and goat plague — also known as peste des petits ruminants (PPR) — hundreds of social media users shared the false claim that EU official François Gabriel, who is married to Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel, was the executive director of CIRAD when the French organisation was testing samples from the outbreak. However, public records and statements from Gabriel and CIRAD show that this is not true.
European Council President Charles Michel wants to intensify the bloc’s relationship with Central Asia. The new Bulgarian government is about to start work. Albania and Hungary strengthen their cooperation. Germany escapes a fine as the European Commission ends water pollution proceedings.
European rules oblige member states to keep their budget deficit below 3 percent of GDP. However, there was an exemption in place during the pandemic, which expires at the end of 2023. The EU states want to provide Ukraine with urgently needed artillery ammunition for the fight against Russia as quickly as possible. Austria will participate in an EU mission in Niger.
The European Commission sues Poland over EU primacy challenge. Bulgaria stops sending weapons to Ukraine until the formation of a new government in April. MEPs demand the EU to ratify the Istanbul Convention to mitigate violence against women.