Strasbourg

The EU's executive arm will on Tuesday recommend that member states open formal membership talks with Bosnia, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced.

The country has been an official membership candidate since 2022 but needed to implement a string of major reforms before opening accession negotiations with the 27-nation bloc.

The European Commission will recommend the commencement of membership negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, signaling a significant milestone in the country's journey toward EU integration. Speaking during a plenary session in Strasbourg, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen lauded the progress achieved by Bosnia and Herzegovina since being granted candidate status.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed harnessing windfall profits from frozen Russian assets to jointly purchase military equipment for Ukraine.

A new law in Greece allows same-sex couples to marry but excludes them from future parenthood through surrogate mothers, which could lead to it being challenged in court, according to legal experts.

Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg voted on a resolution on local and parliamentary elections in Serbia, which also calls for an international investigation into the vote.

BRUSSELS  - European Commission spokesperson Ana Pisonero said at a Brussels press briefing on Thursday the EC expected Serbia to implement "as rapidly as possible" recommendations from a report to be released by ODIHR and noted that it was ready to support Serbia to implement them.

STRASBOURG - The European Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution on the situation in Serbia following the December elections in the country.

The resolution was carried with 461 votes in favour and 53 against and 43 abstentions.

On the panel "Serbia: Democracy at the Crossroads", the opposition coalition "Serbia against violence" is represented by Marinika Tepi, Radomir Lazovi and Pavle Grbovi.
They will be hosted by Viola von Cramon, Klemen Groelj and Alessandra Moretti, who all worked together against Serbia.

"Do you think that this is an irrelevant topic for the European Parliament? I think that it is one of the most important things when we talk about the rule of law, international principles, legal norms.

EU member countries and lawmakers reached an agreement on Tuesday on the bloc's first rules to tackle violence against women, the European Parliament and officials said.

The law seeks to protect women in the 27-nation European Union from gender-based violence, forced marriages, female genital mutilation and online harassment.