Israel’s European Friends Get Active

The pro-Israel lobby is seeking to increase its influence among members of Europe’s parliaments by offering them an expenses-paid trip to the Middle East.

Europe Begins to Run Short of Water

Half of the Czech Republic’s population could face water shortages because of climate change, a top climate change expert has warned.

EAST EUROPE: Midwives Struggle to Deliver Home Births

Women’s rights in Eastern Europe have been put into the spotlight as a Hungarian midwife faces five years in prison for assisting with home births.

Media Crackdown Threatens Democracy

Following the approval of a restrictive media law that led to widespread domestic and international condemnation, Hungarian society is trying to come to terms with the broader consequences of the country’s alleged descent into authoritarianism.

MIGRATION: Stateless in Calais

In September 2009 French police bulldozed the migrant encampment at Sangatte near Calais, inhabited by hundreds of mostly Afghan asylum seekers seeking to reach the United Kingdom. The destruction of the Sangatte ‘jungle’ was carried out in the full glare of publicity, and the French and UK governments hailed it as a major blow against illegal immigration.

Slovenia Goes Slow on Privatisation, and Succeeds

Twenty years ago when the Berlin wall fell, radical privatisation was promoted as a solution to the ills of Eastern European economies. The one country that ignored the West’s recipe– Slovenia – seems to be faring far better.

GREECE: As Austerity Bites, Police Get More Brutal

"The most terrifying thing is the memory loss. I can’t recall anything after I was knocked out - and for a long time afterwards," says Nasos Iliopoulos. His features are tense as he narrates his violent altercation with riot police.

SPAIN: ETA Ceasefire Met with Wide Scepticism

Spain's political parties demanded that ETA surrender its weapons and abandon violence for good, in response to a statement issued by the group Monday in which it declared a permanent ceasefire, verifiable by the international community, and called for negotiation.

Q&A: Portugal’s Development Aid Untouched by Crisis

Despite the global economic crisis that has hit Europe especially hard, Portugal's official development aid to its former colonies will not decline this year, although "unfortunately no increase is expected either."

EASTERN EUROPE: Playing Dice With Migrants

Over the past years, acceptance rates for asylum-seekers in Central and Eastern Europe have been decreasing slowly but steadily. Even for those who do receive protected status, life is a gamble.

BALKANS: Political Pieces Assemble a Teenager

Mila looks like the thousands of teenage girls who visit the newly-opened, glamorous shopping mall in downtown Sarajevo. She’s discreetly dressed in black trousers and jacket, with carefully manicured fingernails. The 19-year- old’s name means "sweet" or "kind". The name is in harmony with her enchanting smile.

BIODIVERSITY: Sealed With a Comeback

After 50 years of near absence, grey seals are coming back to Polish coast of Baltic Sea. Not everyone is happy about it.

EUROPE: More of the Last Dictatorship

Belarus is set to remain Europe’s last dictatorship after Alexander Lukashenka was returned to the presidency last weekend in an election result which his critics say was never in doubt.

EUROPE: GM Debate Gets a Polish Twist

In the summer presidential campaign, fake posters of two leading candidates showed up on the streets of Polish cities. "United we stand, divided we fall", the slogan of now president Bronislaw Komorowski, became "United we stand, modified we fall". Equally bombastic "Poland is most important" by opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski turned into "Poland without GMO is most important".

PORTUGAL: Economic Crisis Looms, But Clean Energy Shines On

While the shadow of a speculative assault looms over Portugal, similar to the economic crises that hit Greece and Ireland, this Iberian nation manages to hold up the beacon of renewable energy.

GREECE: The Centre Is Falling Apart

The experience of walking through Omonia Square in downtown Athens can send shivers down the spine of even the calmest of visitors. In recent months, increased incidents of street crime, drug trafficking, and prostitution have turned the square into a site many citizens go to lengths to avoid.

EUROPE: Legally, and Dangerously High

Eastern European youths have been getting high on "plant feed" or "bath salt" for over two years, catching up fast with Western European trends in drug abuse. Governments in the region are now scrambling to control use.

EUROPE: Talking Green, ‘Lending Unclean’

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is reneging on pledges to support low-carbon economic models in Eastern Europe, and is instead ramping up its lending for fossil-fuel energy projects, critics say.

ICELAND: Don’t Trust Those Fishy Certificates

New eco-labels on Icelandic seafood are misleading and unregulated, concealing practices that damage the environment, critics say.

EU Plans to get Smart With Energy

The electricity grid in Europe is in desperate need of an IQ boost.

German Govt ‘Crying Wolf’ on Terrorist Attacks

Government officials in Germany are being accused of manipulating threats of terrorism to induce public hysteria, even while warning against such reactions. The self-contradictory approach has prompted German citizens to call the terror warnings "farcical" and "negligent."