Ukraine Under Fire: Mass Drone Strikes Follow Putin-Trump Ceasefire Talks
On the night of March 18-19, Russia launched a large-scale drone attack targeting civilian infrastructure across multiple Ukrainian regions
French President Francois Hollande called on Monday for a united front with the United States and Russia to crack down on the Islamic State group.
“I will call on both Obama and Putin to unite our efforts to seek a solution,” Hollande told a special session of the two houses of the French parliament three days after Friday’s multiple deadly attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people and left injured more than 350.
“We need a union of all who can fight this terrorist army in a single coalition,” Hollande said.
He also said that the European Union needs to introduce “coordinated and systematic controls” both at its external and internal borders.
“If Europe does not control its borders, then it’s back to the national borders,” he said. “This would be the dismantling of the European Union.”
Hollande announced plans to propose legislation that would extend the state of emergency in France for three months.
He also called for changes to be made to the French constitution that would allow to strip dual citizens of their French citizenship if they were convicted on terrorism charges, and deny entry to dual nationals considered to constitute terrorism risk.
"Friday's acts of war were decided and planned in Syria. They were organized in Belgium and committed on our land.”
“France is at war”, Hollande said at the start of his emotional speech, in which he vowed to defeat the Islamic State group.
French airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria will intensify, with aircraft Charles de Gaulle set to leave for the eastern Mediterranean in a move that will triple France’s air force capacity in the region, the French President said.
France will create 5,000 new police jobs in the next two years and will make no job cuts among its military until 2019 to maintain security at an adequate level, said Hollande.
The members of parliament sang La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, at the end of Hollande’s speech.
Former President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, has strongly criticized the sanctions imposed on him by the Ukrainian government, calling them an "attack on freedom and democracy"
The European Commission has released preliminary data for road fatalities in 2024, revealing a slight 3% decrease in road deaths across the EU compared to the previous year
The European Union faces legal and practical challenges when it comes to using Russian assets to support Ukraine’s defense and reconstruction efforts
Serbia has expressed concerns over the growing military cooperation between Kosovo, Albania, and Croatia
Israeli Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, stated on Wednesday that Israel has no choice but to intensify military pressure in order to secure the return of hostages after repeated rejections by Hamas of proposals mediated by the US
Turkish police detained Ekrem Imamoglu, the Mayor of Istanbul and main political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Bulgaria's Perperikon: A European Counterpart to Peru's Machu Picchu
Bulgarians Among EU's Least Frequent Vacationers, Struggling with Affordability