Europe Archives

POPE JOHN PAUL II: ‘Founding Father of a United Europe’

Leading European Union officials have paid tribute to Pope John Paul II, highlighting his role in helping to reunify a divided Europe after communism.

ENVIRONMENT: French Finally Confront Chernobyl Risks

By Julio Godoy

The French government concealed the enormous risks from radioactive clouds in the weeks following the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in April 1986, new evidence claims.

LABOUR: EU Trade Proposals Seen as Threat to Workers

By IPS Correspondents

The European Union must defend workers' rights when it revises its system of trade benefits for developing countries next month, the international trade union movement is urging.

HEALTH-RUSSIA: Drug Use Rises Dramatically

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

The number of drug addicts in Russia has risen 15-fold over the past ten years to about half a million - and that is only the official estimate.

KYRGHYZSTAN: New Freedom Wave Could Spread

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

The fall of the government in the former Soviet republic Kyrghyzstan could shake up authoritarian regimes in Belarus, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.

ENVIRONMENT-ITALY: Whales Can’t Hear Love Songs of Potential Mates

By IPS Correspondents

The whales inhabiting the waters off Italy's Liguria coast are in danger of remaining forever ''single'' because severe noise pollution is drowning out their mating calls.

POPULATION: Russia Running Out of Russians

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

Squeezed between emigration and growing economic problems, Russia is experiencing a serious population decline.

BALKANS: Hidden Russian Hand Suspected Again

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic

Reports have re-surfaced that Serbian war crime suspects are hiding in Russia, despite strong Russian denials..

LABOUR-EU: Unions Welcome Changes to Directive on Services

By IPS Correspondents

Trade unions and political groups have hailed a decision by European leaders to revise controversial plans over the European Union's vast services sector.

RIGHTS: Italy Offers Little Refuge

By IPS Correspondents

Refugees seeking asylum in Italy often see their rights denied, and are prevented fair access to asylum procedures, the Italian human rights organisation International Consortium of Solidarity (ICS) said in a report Tuesday.

RUSSIA: Opposition Gathers to Take On Putin

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

Liberal and left-leaning parties are moving towards a broad alliance to fight the "growing threat of dictatorship" ahead of parliamentary elections due 2007.

AGRICULTURE-EU: Subsidies Hurt Poor Nations, Short-Change Family Farms, Says Oxfam

By Tito Drago

Changes to the current agricultural policy of the European Union would benefit not only the world's poor nations - and thereby help achieve the Millennium Development Goals - but also the majority of European farmers, who are short-changed by the system now in place.

POLITICS: EU Heads Towards a Population Crisis

By IPS Correspondents

The European Commission is warning that dramatic demographic changes will have serious consequences for the European social and economic model.

UKRAINE: Not Ready for Europe Yet

By Zoltán Dujisin

Viktor Yuschenko, winner of December's heavily disputed Ukrainian presidential elections, is stepping up efforts to justify his reputation as a candidate of the West by seeking integration in the Euro-Atlantic community.

POLITICS: Ukraine En Route to EU

By IPS Correspondents

The European Union is a "critical institutional anchor" for Ukraine as the country attempts reform under President Viktor Yushchenko, says a leading United Nations official.

HEALTH-RUSSIA: AIDS Spreading at Alarming Pace

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

Health experts and non-governmental organisations are warning of a rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in Russia.

MEDIA: European Policies Put Under the Lens

By Zoltán Dujisin

A conference took a close look Thursday at what European media can do by way of reporting issues such as terrorism and globalisation, and defending human rights in the information society.

SPAIN: A Year On, Train Bombings Still Unresolved

By IPS Correspondents

A year after the Mar. 11, 2004 terrorist attacks that killed 192 people and injured around 2,000 in the Spanish capital, investigations have still not conclusively determined who planned and directed the planting of the bombs on four commuter trains at rush hour.