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⊂ EUROPE ⊃ NATO allies must prepare for the worst in Ukraine: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned Tuesday that the US-led military organisation must prepare for the worst as concern mounts that Russia could be preparing to invade Ukraine. “We are very concerned about the movements we’ve seen along Ukraine’s border. We know that […]

⊂ EUROPE ⊃ Omicron variant requires urgent action, G7 health ministers say: G7 health ministers said Monday that the threat of what may be a highly transmissible COVID-19 variant requires urgent action worldwide. Ministers also recognised the strategic relevance of ensuring access to vaccines. france24.com, g7uk.org Spain confirms its first case of Omicron variant apnews.com

⊂ EUROPE ⊃ Germany won’t admit refugees from Belarus-Polish border: Germany will not take in refugees stranded on the Belarus-Polish border, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Thursday after talks with his Polish counterpart. Seehofer dismissed as “misinformation” a report by the Belta news agency that Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko had presented German Chancellor Angela

⊂ EUROPE ⊃ Merkel talks to Lukashenko again: German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke again with Belarus’s Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday, stressing the need to let the United Nations and the European Commission provide aid to migrants stranded at Belarus’s border with Poland. Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller criticised Monday’s phone call between Merkel and Lukashenko,

⊂ EUROPE ⊃ Germany suspends approval for Nord Stream 2: Natural gas prices in Europe soared on Tuesday after Germany confirmed that it has suspended the process of certifying a controversial new Russian gas pipeline called Nord Stream 2. The German energy market regulator said it could not certify Nord Stream 2 as an independent

⊂ EUROPE ⊃ NATO alarmed by Russian troop buildup on Russia-Ukraine border: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed concern on Monday about Russia’s military buildup on the border with Ukraine. Stoltenberg said a „large and unusual“ build-up of Russian forces had been spotted on the border in recent weeks. He spoke amid speculation Russia could

⊂ EUROPE ⊃ Poland accuses Belarus of preparing migrants to storm border fence: The Polish border guard has accused security forces on the Belarusian side of preparing stranded migrants there to storm the border fence. Many tents are said to have been cleared at the camp in Belarus directly opposite Poland’s border crossing of Kuznica.

⊂ EUROPE ⊃ Belarus threatens to cut gas deliveries to EU: The EU has accused Belarus of provoking the escalating migrant crisis at the country’s western border and is reportedly planning a fresh package of sanctions against Belarus. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said it was legally difficult to sanction airlines, but he mentioned measures

⊂ EUROPE ⊃ Merkel pressures Putin to act on Poland-Belarus standoff: In a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel decried the „instrumentalisation of migrants“ by Belarus as „inhumane and unacceptable.“ She also asked the Russian leader to act on the matter, according to her spokesman, Steffen Seibert. European

⊂ EUROPE ⊃ EU investigates possible Russian involvement in refugee conflict with Belarus: Brussels has Moscow „on its radar“ because of flights of refugees to Minsk, EU Commission spokesman Peter Stano said on Tuesday. Press reports had said that Russian airline Aeroflot was transporting refugees to Belarus, who were then taken to the EU’s external