Discussions on the possible introduction of a bank levy and an EU tax on financial transactions are expected to dominate the first meeting of EU economy ministers since the summer break, according to the meeting's draft agenda.

"We are one of the countries that contributes the most to Afghanistan," Foreign Minister Lene Espersen told the media after a meeting of parliament's foreign affairs committee.

'Voter Index', which produces an average aggregate poll from all the main existing polls – puts the country's two main parties, the centre-left Social Democrats and centre-right Moderates, neck-and-neck as they enter the electoral end-game.

An Antonov 124 transport aircraft will depart the Leipzig/Halle airport in Germany this Friday, 27 August carrying around 100 tons of relief goods to Islamabad.

France intends to make specific proposals on Russia's relations with the European Union, NATO and OSCE in September to secure stability in the Euro-Atlantic zone.

President Bronisław Komorowski stated that Georgia could not count on him as much as it did on his predecessor, Lech Kaczyński.

Russian spy Robert Rachardzo did not only discredit the Czech military in NATO but he also developed a contact to Czech top politics, the weekly Respekt writes in its latest issue, citing sources from Czech intelligence services.

Silvio Berlusconi is on Wednesday (25 August) set to hold talks with right-wing leader Umberto Bossi, the main partner in his frail center-right coalition, after admitting that there is a serious prospect of early elections by the end of the year.

Conway's unusually blunt assessment is likely to fan criticism by opposition Republicans of Obama's war strategy as public opinion of the nine-year-old war sours further.

Ukraine's pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych on Tuesday (24 August) gave assurances of his commitment to EU integration, while claiming that his rapprochement with Moscow is not hindering, but contributing to the process.

Belgium, which currently holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency, may reject France's invitation to a ministerial meeting for fear that Paris wants to use the event to legitimise its policy of rounding up and expelling Roma.

Washington's tolerant attitude may end if Turkey continues to take the bite out of US sanctions or boost ties with the Islamic republic beyond a symbolic partnership.

Some of the more optimistic EU advocates believe that once Iceland joins the EU there will be no need for Iceland to stay in Nato.

The meeting is to be hosted by US President Barack Obama in Washington on 2 September and to aim for an outcome within one year, EUobserver has learned.

Konstantin Kosachev, president of the foreign affairs committee in the Duma warned Romania that a spiralling spy scandal could have political and economic repercussions, the press in Bucharest wrote yesterday (19 August).

Russia is throwing open its planned purchase of a helicopter carrier to a tender involving foreign and Russian firms, ending France's status as the exclusive bidder, a shipbuilding official said Aug. 19.

Brussels has acknowledged for the first time that austerity measures imposed on Greece are provoking civil unrest, but said that despite the growing social turbulence, the structural adjustment is a necessary "investment in the future".

Mr. Lavrov said Russia is awaiting a response to its proposed arrangement under which the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would pay for the helicopters.

The EU and the US are set to discuss their recent foreign and economic policy differences when they meet in Lisbon on 20 November, on the margins of a NATO summit, the European Commission announced yesterday (17 August).

Amid strong criticism from the EU for refusing to participate in the Greek bailout, Slovakia's foreign ministry has republished on its website a Financial Times commentary seen as defending the country's decision.

Bulgaria is ready to host direct talks between Israel and Palestine,following a visit by the President of the Jewish state to the EU newcomer and after the Palestinian President signalled his desire for such a breakthrough.

The fresh display showed hearts and Belgian heraldic symbols but gave pride of place, in the centre spot, to the Belgian EU presidency logo.

Belarus's outspoken leader Alexander Lukashenko, long at odds with the West but lately quarreling with Moscow, said on Friday he wanted better ties with the United States and berated his estranged ally Russia.

"We're still not getting NATO able to force-generate and deploy forces in the numbers that we need," says Army Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, who leads the training effort in Afghanistan.

The union was surprised to learn shortly after in a statement by Russian colonel general Alexander Zelin that Moscow has stationed S-300 ground-to-air missiles in Georgia's disputed Abkhazia region.

The head of the EU monitoring mission in Georgia has on the two-year-anniversary of the war criticised the Russian side's lack of co-operation and warned that threat of renewed conflict remains.

Iran's president told the leaders of Afghanistan and Tajikistan on Thursday that the three neighbors could provide a counterweight to NATO in Asia once foreign troops quit the region.

The new Emerging Security Challenges Division (ESCD) started its work beginning of August and will be focusing notably on terrorism, the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, cyber defence, and energy security.

European journalist groups and press freedom watchdogs have sharply criticised the Hungarian government for its new media laws.In unusually strong language, the critics have described the new rules as returning the country to "Communist" times.

Following the at times ill-tempered debate, the government gained 299 votes, the opposition 229 while 75 deputies, including those from a government splinter group led by Gianfranco Fini, abstained.

In a sign of continuing cooperation between NATO and the Russian Federation, naval commanders met earlier this week, at sea in the Gulf of Aden, to share experiences regarding counter piracy operations.

Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi faces a crucial test of his power on Wednesday when the lower house of parliament votes on a no-confidence motion against a junior minister accused of corruption.

Polish prime miniser Donald Tusk wants an explanation from Moscow as to why it has not yet provided evidence from a plane crash that killed President Lech Kaczynski and 95 other people in April.

The United States and the Czech Republic are once again negotiating the possibility of building part of the US missile defence system in Prague, Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas said on Friday.

Italy was thrown in political turmoil on Friday (30 July) after a former ally of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi formed a new group in the lower house, a move that could set the country on course for early elections.

The European Union is dying -- not a dramatic or sudden death, but one so slow and steady that we may look across the Atlantic one day soon and realize that the project of European integration that we've taken for granted over the past half-century is no

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called Tuesday for the mass firing of the Obama administration's economic team, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House adviser Larry Summers.

The fact remains, however, that President Obama did issue a second “mission accomplished statement on Iraq on August 18th, and one just as wrong and irresponsible as the one given by President Bush.

The current regime in Russia has a terrible record as a reliable partner, yet President Obama wants the nuclear treaty he negotiated with the Kremlin fast-tracked for Senate approval. That makes no sense. Here are 10 reasons why.

People's confidence in the the European Union has dropped to record lows in most countries amid a placid response to the rising unemployment and the troubles of the eurozone, a Eurobarometer published on Thursday (26 August) shows.

The White House has confirmed that US President Barack Obama will meet EU leaders Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso in Lisbon on 20 November in the margins of a larger Nato event.

But after burrowing into operations here and traveling to the far reaches of this country, Petraeus has concluded that the U.S. strategy to win the nearly nine-year-old war is "fundamentally sound. ..."

America’s foreign policy leaders, both within the U.S. government and elsewhere, are losing patience with Europe.

The departure of the small force of nearly 1,900 Dutch troops is not expected to affect conditions on the ground. But it is politically significant.