Новости за 22.06.2017

EU leaders have agreed to launch joint defence missions, described by French president Emmanuel Macron as a historic moment for the European Union.

EU leaders said on Thursday that there should be a way to tackle encrypted chat services like Whatsapp when terror suspects use them.

EU heads of state and government have adopted a text Thursday evening that said they promise to "swiftly and fully implement the Paris Agreement", and that the climate deal "cannot be renegotiated", as US president Donald Trump has said he wanted. They also said they would "contribute to the fulfilment of [their] climate finance goals", a reference to promises made to help poorer countries prepare for climate change.

The United States has issued an international search warrant for five former managers and developers from Volkswagen Group, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, NDR, and WDR reported on Thursday. The five are wanted for their connection to the diesel emissions fraud, uncovered in 2015. The German media noted that they all live in Germany, which does not extradite suspects to the US.

EU leaders have decided on Thursday (22 June) to roll over sanctions on Russia for another six months for intervening in east Ukraine. "Agreed. EU will extend economic sanctions against Russia for their lack of implementing the Minsk Agreement," European Council chief Donald Tusk tweeted during the summit of EU leaders in Brussels.

German chancellor Merkel told press in Brussels on Thursday that there was "no German-French deal" on where to locate the London-based European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) after Brexit. She and the 26 other leaders of the remaining EU states are due to discuss relocation criteria Thursday night at the EU summit. German weekly Wirtschaftswoche reported EMA would go to Lille and EBA to Frankfurt.

Member states could fail to meet their refugee quotas even if they wanted to, as strict eligibility rules mean there are few candidates left in Greece and Italy. Sweden is already wondering if it will meet its pledge.

EU leaders at a summit in Brussels are set to endorse new border control measures, while the head of a Tallinn-based EU agency predicts a future where border management goes virtual.

Donald Tusk quoted John Lennon to say he "dreams" that the UK could change its mind on Brexit. But not every prime minister agreed with that assessment.

EU migration policy has had a series of symbolic failures in recent years, but now could be the opportunity to set a new course.

Dutch caretaker prime minister Mark Rutte said Thursday that Turkey is upholding its part of the migration deal it struck with the EU last year. "I have to say, Turkey is executing it well," he said, whilst arriving at the EU summit in Brussels. He added: "The problems are rather on the Greek side than on the Turkish side." The deal involves Turkey curbing migration in exchange for financial aid.

UK prime minister Theresa May is presenting her plans to EU leaders on Thursday about how to protect the rights of EU citizens residing in Britain. "Today, I'm going to be setting out some of the UK plans, particularly on how we propose to protect the rights of EU citizens and UK citizens as we leave the European Union," she said. Around 3 million EU nationals live in the UK.

European Council president Donald Tusk said on Thursday that some of his British friends have asked him whether he could "imagine an outcome where the UK stays part of the EU". Tusk told them: "The European Union was built on dreams that seemed impossible to achieve. So, who knows? You may say I'm a dreamer, but I am not the only one," quoting the song, Imagine, by John Lennon.

Norway announced on Wednesday that it will be offering a record number of 102 blocks for oil and gas exploration on the Norwegian continental shelf, despite environmentalists’ concerns over drilling in the Arctic. Out of the 102 blocks, 9 are in the Norwegian Sea, and 93 in the Barents Sea. Norway aims to award the new exploration licenses in the first half of 2018.

EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday will be discussing shoring up defence cooperation among EU states, as France and Germany give the political green light to roll over sanctions on Russia.

The British PM will try to calm EU nerves over her fragile cabinet, as EU leaders discuss Brexit, migration, security, defence, sanctions and trade at the two-day summit.

Libya's naval coastguard is likely to get a big boost following a meeting on Friday in Brussels among EU heads of state and government.

The EU court ruled on Wednesday that courts could consider vaccines to be the reason for an illness, despite the absence of any concrete evidence to support the link. If the development of a disease corresponds in time with the person receiving a vaccine and if a significant number of disease cases are reported by people receiving a certain vaccine, this may serve as enough proof.

Three key centrist ministers have resigned over suspicions of fake assistant jobs in the European Parliament.