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Cross-border parental child abductions in the EU are governed by The 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and (except for Denmark) the Brussels II-ter Regulation. Countries outside of the EU may or may not be Contracting States to ‘the Convention’, but will not be bound by Brussels II-ter. Research has found that the often negative, long-lasting impact of abduction may continue throughout the lifecycle of those who have been abducted. It may also affect future ...

In the context of the wars in Ukraine and other parts of the world, the increasingly global effects – material and political – of war make it more important than ever to measure the level of threats to peace, security and democracy around the world. The Normandy Index has presented an annual measurement of these threats since the 2019 Normandy Peace Forum. The results of the 2025 exercise suggest the level of threats to peace is at its highest since the index was launched, confirming declining trends ...

On 3 December 2025, the European Commission unveiled a package of five legislative proposals underpinning two possible options for funding Ukraine in 2026 and 2027: a reparations loan, borrowing cash balances from banks and other financial companies holding immobilised Russian Central Bank assets; or joint EU borrowing, guaranteed by the 'headroom' in the EU budget. These proposals form the basis for discussions at the 18-19 December European Council meeting. Without new additional financial support ...

A series of recent economic and geopolitical shocks have led to rising fragmentation of global trade, whereby countries tend to boost economic ties with those sharing similar political values, economic policies and security interests. While a broad retreat from globalisation is not taking place, there are some signs of reconfiguration of supply chains along geopolitical lines. This is likely to have pronounced effects for EU economy due to its openness and high level of integration into global value ...

The Arctic's strategic significance has increased substantially: the region is key to the future of global navigation, has abundant natural resources, and is important for security and defence activities. On 4 November 2025, Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) adopted its report proposing a Parliament recommendation to the Council, European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President (HRVP), on the EU's diplomatic strategy ...

At no point in more than 30 years have Armenia and Azerbaijan been closer to achieving lasting peace, and yet the so far bumpy road to peace continues to appear vulnerable to domestic and external factors. On 8 August 2025, in Washington DC, the leaders of both countries signed a Joint Declaration committing to achieve peace and initialled a 17-article peace agreement, the product of months of closed-doors and exclusively bilateral negotiations between the two countries. Armenia and Azerbaijan have ...

Greenland is a self-governing Arctic island within the Kingdom of Denmark, which strives for economic self-sufficiency and future independence. In the context of a – literally and figuratively – heating Arctic, this representative democracy of 56 542 inhabitants is a focus of geopolitical competition and growing confrontation between major powers – the United States (US), Russia and China. The island has high strategic importance, due to its proximity to the emerging Arctic shipping routes, its strategic ...

One of the first, and boldest, measures taken by Western countries as a response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was the immobilisation of the Russian central bank assets held under their jurisdictions, the value of which could be around €300 billion worldwide, according to recent estimations. As the war is well into its fourth year, the debate on how to use the immobilised assets to sustain Ukraine's reconstruction efforts – a cost estimated at US$524 billion – has evolved ...

The forthcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference – COP30 – to be held in Belém, Brazil, in November 2025, is a decisive moment in international climate action. By September 2025, countries have to submit the third round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0) that will determine whether the targets of the Paris Agreement remain within reach. NDCs are countries' climate plans, setting national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets and means of implementation. Parties to ...

EU:s östliga partnerskap, som inrättades 2009, omfattar sex före detta sovjetiska delstater: Armenien, Azerbajdzjan, Belarus, Georgien, Moldavien och Ukraina. Det inrättades för att stödja politiska, sociala och ekonomiska reformsträvanden i dessa länder i syfte att stärka demokratiseringen och en god samhällsstyrning, energitryggheten, miljöskyddet och den ekonomiska och sociala utvecklingen. Alla medlemmar utom Belarus ingår i den parlamentariska församlingen Euronest.I juni 2023 beviljades Moldavien ...