Good day, everybody, Secretary General Berset, dear Alain, it is a great pleasure to be here in The Hague today. We are making very important decisions for holding Russia financially accountable for the war damages it has caused in Ukraine. The work the Council of Europe has done to set up the Claims Commission for Ukraine is vital and can make a difference. Everybody here today is on the sa...
Read More

The press briefing ahead of the European Council meeting of 18-19 December 2025 will take place on Tuesday, 16 December 2025 at 14.30 in the Justus Lipsius building press room. It will also touch upon the upcoming EU-Western Balkans Summit taking place on 17 December 2025. This briefing will be "off the record". The press briefing will take place in a hybrid format: EU accredited journalists...
Read More

Today, the 24th meeting of the Accession Conference with Montenegro provisionally closed accession negotiations on chapters 3 (right of establishment and freedom to provide services), 4 (free movement of capital), 6 (company law), 11 (agriculture and rural development) and 13 (fisheries). “The EU welcomes Montenegro’s progress in closing five additional chapters today. This means that in to...
Read More

The press briefing ahead of the European Council meeting of 18-19 December 2025 will take place on Tuesday, 16 December 2025 at 14.00 in the Justus Lipsius building press room. It will also touch upon the upcoming EU-Western Balkans Summit taking place on 17 December 2025. This briefing will be "off the record". The press briefing will take place in a hybrid format: EU accredited journalists...
Read More

The EU condemns the recent dangerous actions by the Chinese Coast Guard - deployment of water cannons and cutting anchor lines - in the South China Sea against Philippine fishing vessels. These actions threatened the safety of life at sea, causing injury to civilians and undermined the lawful exercise of maritime rights. The European Union recalls that the United Nations Convention on the Law o...
Read More

Good morning! This week is really an intense diplomatic week. We have many discussions today. First on Ukraine, in terms of financing, it is a make-or-break week. These topics that we have, the decisions that we have to make to support Ukraine, I think are very important. We have made also decisions, or will make decisions today regarding the shadow fleet vessels. We have 40 additional vessels p...
Read More

The press briefing ahead of the General Affairs Council will take place on Monday, 15 December 2025 at 17.00 in the Europa building press room. This briefing will be "off the record". The press briefing will take place in a hybrid format: EU accredited journalists will be able to participate and ask questions either remotely or in person. To attend the event remotely, please use the link ...
Read More

Nairobi, 12 December 2025 – The seventh session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) concluded today with Member States delivering 11 resolutions, three decisions and a Ministerial Declaration aiming to advance solutions for a more resilient planet.   More than 6,000 people – representing186 countries – registered for the week-long Assembly held at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)...
Read More

The press briefing ahead of the General Affairs Council will take place on Monday, 15 December 2025 at 14.30 in the Europa building press room. This briefing will be "off the record". The press briefing will take place in a hybrid format: EU accredited journalists will be able to participate and ask questions either remotely or in person. To attend the event remotely, please use the link ...
Read More

Twenty-five years ago today, Ethiopia and Eritrea, with the support of the international community, concluded the Algiers Agreement to establish peace and demarcate a common border. It was followed by the historic 2018 peace agreement, which reaffirmed both countries’ commitment to respect the border as established by the Algiers Agreement and its subsequent Boundary Commission. On this anniver...
Read More