Latest news with #EEAS
Euronews
04-06-2025
- Health
- Euronews
Israel attends EU meeting despite bloc's hardening stance over Gaza
The EU's 27 foreign ministers are scheduled to meet their Israeli counterparts on 23 June for an EU-Southern Neighbourhood ministerial meeting which is aimed at deepening the bloc's cooperation with Israel as well as nine other southern partners including Algeria, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia. 'The objective is for Israeli representatives to be present at the meeting,' a senior Israeli official told Euronews, adding that the participation of Gideon Saar, Israel's foreign affairs minister 'is still to be confirmed'. But the meeting comes at a time of unprecedented cooling of relations between the EU and Israel following the country's blockage of food from entering into Gaza and after Palestinian health officials and witnesses alleged recent shootings by Israeli soldiers of Palestinians headed for humanitarian aid sites. The Israeli army has said it fired 'near a few individual suspects' who left the designated route, approached its forces and ignored warning shots. The meeting also comes after the EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas stated in late May that the bloc would examine if Israel has violated its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which defines the trading and diplomatic relations between both sides. No timeline has been fixed for the review, which will be conducted by the EU's external action service (EEAS). Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein has "completely" rejected the direction taken in Kallas' statement, saying it reflected "a total misunderstanding of the complex reality Israel is facing". The Netherlands, which tabled the move and is considered a firm ally of Israel, said that Israel's 'humanitarian blockade' on Gaza, where a limited quantity of critical supplies entered for the first time in more than eleven weeks on Monday, is in "violation of international humanitarian law" and therefore of Article 2. An EU official said that the 23 June meeting involving Israel will not be a forum to discuss the ongoing war in Gaza but a routine gathering conducted under the EU's Southern Neighbourhood partnership, which is meant to strengthen existing cooperation with 10 southern neighbours on a wide range of issues, including governance, climate change, economic development, energy and migration. In addition, the EU is Israel's biggest trade partner, with the trading relationship valued at more than €45 billion each year. The EU's Southern Neighbourhood partnership derives from the 1995 Barcelona Declaration which committed to turn the Mediterranean into 'an area of dialogue, exchange and cooperation, guaranteeing peace, stability and prosperity', according to an official Commission document. In 2020, trade between the EU and the region represented €149.4 billion and the bloc's imports were worth €58.0 billion. In 2021, the EU 27 agreed to strengthen their partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood following the COVID-19 pandemic and meet their counterparts every year. Their cooperation is based on 'good governance, human rights and fundamental freedoms promotion and protection, democratic institutions and the rule of law", according to 2021 European Council summit conclusions. One of the last EU-Southern Neighbourhood ministerial meetings took place in 2022 in Barcelona, where participants discussed regional cooperation as well as the war in Ukraine. Under pressure from the French government, TikTok has banned the hashtag #SkinnyTok, a controversial trend linked to the glorification of extreme thinness and unhealthy weight-loss advice. The move comes amid mounting concerns across Europe over the platform's influence on young users and its role in promoting body image disorders. The French Ministry for Digital Affairs celebrated the removal as a significant step toward protecting minors online. 'This is a first collective victory,' Digital Minister Clara Chappaz wrote on X on Sunday, adding that she wants to ban social media platforms for minors under 15 years of age. The now-banned hashtag had amassed more than half a million posts, many glamorising extreme thinness, sharing guilt-inducing messages like "you aren't ugly, you are just fat." The content overwhelmingly featured young women, often filtered to appear thinner, reinforcing toxic body standards for millions of viewers across the world. However, despite the removal of the hashtag, concerns persist. Typing 'SkinnyTok' into the app now redirects users to wellness advice, but similar harmful content still thrives under altered or misspelled hashtags. For Charlyne Buiges, a nurse specialising in eating disorders who started the petition that helped push the issue into public view, the ban is a moment of validation: 'It's a great victory, I was very happy,' she said. 'I immediately reinstalled the TikTok application and went to see if it was really real. Once I saw the hashtag was banned, I told myself I didn't do all this for nothing," she told Euronews. Ella Marouani, a 22-year-old nursing student who has battled an eating disorder that she says was fueled by social media told Euronews she felt frustrated by the lack of action from the platform: 'I made several reports to TikTok about videos that were problematic and each time I was told that the rules of the community had not been violated' she said. Ella's experience paints a sobering picture of how early - and how easily - such content can shape a young person's self-image. 'I came across a few #SkinnyTok videos in my algorithm and they made me deeply angry,' she said. 'A few years ago, I would have probably believed in these videos so I am deeply angry for the young people who come across this content," she said. Health professionals have also been sounding the alarm. Lea Tourain, a Paris-based nutritionist, sees firsthand how distorted body ideals impact teenagers. 'I think it's really dangerous, and it scares me because it's becoming more and more fashionable,' she said. 'In my consultations, I have young girls who come with an image of themselves, with a filter, or simply with someone they follow on social media, who advocates extreme thinness and they ask me how to achieve the same body. It's very worrying," she explained in an interview with Euronews. Despite TikTok's claims that it enforces 'strict rules against body shaming and dangerous behaviour related to weight loss,' many say enforcement is either too weak or too slow. That's one of the key concerns for French Socialist MP Arthur Delaporte, who leads a parliamentary commission investigating social media's role in spreading harmful content. Delaporte is calling for a coordinated European response and tougher penalties for platforms that fail to act. 'We need to stop the digital giants from setting up dangerous and flawed algorithms that ultimately aggravate mental disorders,' he said. 'We do need to impose sanctions at European level, sanctions at an international level, fines if need be… at some point we need to bang our fists on the table and consider even banning the platform.' The European Commission, which launched a formal investigation into TikTok under the Digital Services Act (DSA) in February 2024, remained largely on the sidelines during this latest move. The absence of the Commission in this decision raised doubts about the EU's role in enforcing its own tech rules. Meanwhile, a growing number of European countries, including Belgium and Switzerland, also took their steps against the platform, just as France had done, circumventing Brussels. Belgium's Digital Minister Vanessa Matz had filed a formal complaint against TikTok and referred the issue to the Commission. In Switzerland, lawmakers are exploring ways to regulate the platform, possibly through age restrictions.
See - Sada Elbalad
29-05-2025
- Business
- See - Sada Elbalad
OIC, EU Hold Consultative Meeting on Mediation
Mohamed Mandour The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened with the European External Action Service (EEAS) for their inaugural high-level consultative and training meeting focused on mediation strategies. Held at the EEAS headquarters in Brussels, this meeting aimed to explore the nuanced mediation efforts undertaken by both organizations. The agenda included not only the exchange of best practices but also targeted brainstorming sessions that engaged participants in analyzing specific conflict scenarios. Through these discussions, attendees identified pathways to fortify collaborative efforts and leverage mediation as a critical tool for advancing global peace and stability. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Arts & Culture Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's $4.7M LA Home Burglarized Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks
Arab News
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Saudi deputy FM receives EU official in Riyadh
RIYADH: Saudi Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed Elkhereiji received Olof Skoog, deputy secretary-general for political affairs at the European External Action Service, and his accompanying delegation, in Riyadh on Sunday. During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations between the Kingdom and the EU and other topics of common interest, the Foreign Ministry wrote in a post on X. A meeting was also held as part of the third round of political consultations between the Kingdom and the EEAS. Senior officials from both sides participated in the session, chaired by Raed bin Khalid Qarmli, director-general of the general directorate of policy planning at the Saudi Foreign Ministry, with Skoog representing the European side.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Details emerge of EU defence summit in Poland
Defence ministers will discuss an initiative by Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to boost military assistance to Ukraine at an informal EU summit in Warsaw on 2-3 April. Source: European Pravda, citing an official from the European External Action Service (EEAS) Details: The source stated that Kallas' proposal to boost military aid to Ukraine is primarily focused on addressing the Ukrainian Armed Forces' critical need for ammunition: two million rounds of large-calibre ammunition worth €5 billion by the end of 2025. "The agenda for the meeting consists of two sessions. The first is about the EU's military support for Ukraine. The second one is about the White Paper on European Defence [by European Commissioner Andrius Kubilius]," the EEAS official said, adding that "enhanced EU military support and possible security guarantees for Ukraine" will be discussed during the first session. "This includes the high representative's initiative to strengthen military support for Ukraine, opportunities for deepening cooperation between the EU and the Ukrainian defence industry, and cooperation with NATO and other partners. Time will allow us to discuss these topics in depth," the source added. "We've invited Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umierov to the first session, as well as the NATO secretary general, who, due to his attendance at the ministerial summit in Brussels, will be replaced by Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska," the EEAS official said. According to the official, the second session, which will focus on the White Paper and the ReArm Europe plan, is intended to be a "quick exchange of views between ministers on proposals for their funding" so that a concrete action plan can be drawn up for the European Council summit on 26-27 June. "It's essential to help Ukraine achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, and this can only be achieved from a position of strength. That's why the EU high representative put forward the initiative to provide enhanced military support to Ukraine, particularly in terms of ammunition," the source added. "Ukraine needs 2 million rounds of large-calibre ammunition worth approximately €5 billion from us in 2025. This request was made directly by Zelenskyy during the last European Council summit," the source said. The official emphasised that ministers do not make decisions during informal summits. However, they intend to lay the groundwork for a decision to be made at the next EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting on security issues, scheduled for 14 April. "We want to get more information about what member states are planning to send to Ukraine in terms of ammunition supplies. And to see what we can do more collectively as the EU. Member states have already provided us with quite a lot of information, but we would like to have a complete picture," the source concluded. Background: Kallas believes that if EU countries find it difficult to approve a €40 billion annual aid package for Kyiv, they should take small steps and initially agree on €5 billion for ammunition for Ukraine. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Euronews
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Brussels 'intensively' looking to start talks on EU-UK security pact
The European Commission is 'intensively' trying to get member states to give it a mandate to negotiate a security and defence partnership with the United Kingdom, a top EU official said on Monday. Negotiating such a partnership requires the unanimous approval of all 27 member states, but some countries, like France, have already signalled they want any security pact to be included in a wider reset in relations, seemingly returning to the Brexit mantra that 'nothing is agreed until everything is agreed'. For the EU's external action service (EEAS), increased cooperation on security and defence with the UK 'is a must' because the current geopolitical context is 'dramatically' different from when the two sides struck the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) that lays out the terms of their relationship, its Managing Director for Europe, Matti Maasikas, told lawmakers on Monday. 'What could we do more? This being the EU you need the legal framework, you need legal basis to do things and since the foreign policy declaration was left out of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, we need to find new ways and a new basis for our cooperation,' Maasikas told lawmakers from Brussels and London gathered at the European Parliament for an EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly. 'The Security and defence partnership could be one of those instruments, should be if you ask me, if you ask the High Representative.' 'For that, the High Representative needs the mandate from the EU Council, meaning the consent of all member states, the discussions are intensively ongoing to obtain this mandate,' he added. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who came to power last summer, has been pushing for a security and defence pact which he said last month should focus on research and development, military mobility across Europe, greater cooperation on missions and operations, and industrial collaboration. Nick Thomas-Symonds, Britain's minister for EU relations, told the same joint parliamentary assembly on Monday that the UK is 'ready to negotiate' while Catriona Mace, the foreign and development policy director at the UK Mission to the EU, said that 'the status quo should not be the extent of our ambition'. 'We already work closely on our collective security,' she said. 'We must do more together.' Donald Trump's abrupt decision to launch talks with Russia on the end of its war in Ukraine has accelerated the rapprochement between the UK and EU member states with a flurry of leaders' meetings in various formats held over the past five weeks to discuss European defence and security guarantees for Ukraine. On this topic, France and the UK are more in lockstep, having both indicated their readiness to send troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping mission following a negotiated truce between Moscow and Kyiv. High representative Kaja Kallas, who has tabled an initiative for a coalition of the willing to provide military support worth up to €40 billion in the short term to Ukraine, is scheduled to visit the UK on Wednesday where she will meet Chief of the Defence Staff Tony Radakin. 'I have high hopes on very fruitful discussions on all the issues,' Maasikas told lawmakers, 'on the pragmatic cooperation that goes on, and also on widening the basis for this cooperation.' Each ChatGPT question is estimated to use around 10 times more electricity than a traditional Google search. According to the nonprofit research firm Electric Power Research Institute, a ChatGPT request uses 2.9 watt-hours while traditional Google queries use about 0.3 watt-hours each. With an estimated 9 billion daily searches, this would mean an additional demand of nearly 10 TWh of electricity per year. The AI industry relies on data centres to train and operate its models, leading to increased energy demand and contributing to global greenhouse gas emissions. Microsoft announced its CO2 emissions had risen nearly 30% since 2020 due to data centre expansion. Google's global greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were almost 50% higher than in 2019, largely due to the energy demand tied to data centres. Energy use by artificial intelligence currently only represents a fraction of the technology sector's power consumption and is estimated to be around 2 to 3% of total global emissions. However, this percentage is likely to go up as more companies, governments and organisations use AI to drive efficiency and productivity. There are currently more than 8,000 data centres globally, with about 16% of these located in Europe. The majority of these centres are concentrated in the financial centres of Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin. It is estimated that the electricity consumption in the data centre sector in the European Union will reach almost 150 TWh by 2026, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Electricity demand from data centres in Ireland was 5.3 TWh in 2022, representing 17% of the country's total electricity consumed. That is equivalent to the amount of electricity consumed by all urban residential buildings. If AI application use continues to expand at a rapid rate, the sector could account for 32% of the country's total electricity demand by 2026. Denmark also hosts 34 data centres, half of them located in Copenhagen. As in Ireland, Denmark's total electricity demand is forecast to grow mainly due to the data centre sector's expansion, which is expected to consume 6 TWh by 2026, reaching just under 20% of the country's electricity demand. Meanwhile, data centres in Nordic countries – such as Sweden, Norway, and Finland – benefit from lower electricity costs. This is attributed to lower cooling demand due to their colder weather. The largest actor amongst Nordic countries is Sweden, with 60 data centres, and half of them in Stockholm. Given decarbonisation targets, Sweden and Norway may further increase their participation in the data centre market since almost all of their electricity is generated from low-carbon sources.
