European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday there were no rigid timelines for Ukraine to join the European Union. After meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at an EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv she commented the country’s accession bid: "There are no rigid timelines, but there are goals that you have to reach."
European Council President Charles Michel said that the future of Ukraine is within the European Union, but without commenting on the timeline.
Ukrainian President Zelensky was optimistic. "There is an understanding that it is possible to start negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the European Union this year," he announced in his traditional evening address to the nation.
A new $2.2 billion US arms package for Ukraine includes a new rocket-propelled precision bomb that could nearly double Kyiv's strike range against the Russians, the Pentagon said Friday.
In the meanwhile European Union countries agreed to set price caps on Russian refined oil products to limit Moscow's funds for its invasion of Ukraine, the Swedish presidency of the EU said on Friday.
EU diplomats said the price caps are $100 per barrel on products that trade at a premium to crude, principally diesel, and $45 per barrel for products that trade at a discount, such as fuel oil and naphtha. Ambassadors for the 27 EU countries agreed on the European Commission proposal, which will apply from Sunday. The cap on fuel prices includes a grace period until April for cargoes loaded before the cap was agreed, Bloomberg reported. The measure follows a $60 per barrel cap on Russian crude that G7 countries imposed on Dec. 5, 2022.
Russian military forces continue offensive actions in the areas of Liman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Novopavlivka. Over the past twenty-four hours, missile strikes have been carried out on the civilian infrastructure of the Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions and there have been civilian casualties.
After 17 MPs from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, MRF, were expelled, among them the party’s other co-chair Dzevdet Chakarov, MRF MP Ahmed Vranchev expressed, in written form, a desire to leave the Movement’s parliamentary group. DPS..
Several European liberal parties have sent a letter to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) to demand that Delyan Peevski be monitored, pointing out that he has been sanctioned for corruption by the US under the Global Magnitsky..
Greece’s Minister of Defence Nikos Dendias announced that Greece, Bulgaria and Romania are to establish a military mobility corridor in NATO’s Eastern flank. “Today my Bulgarian and Romanian counterparts, Mr. Atanas Zaprianov and Mr. Angel..
The European Commission has approved state aid amounting to EUR 142 million (BGN 278 million) to support the energy sector, BNR’s correspondent in..
Saturday will be sunny and hot. Clouds will form in the afternoon, and there may be brief showers in isolated places in the Eastern part of the..
“No towns or villages are at risk from the fires that have broken out around the country,” Chief Commissioner Alexander Dzhartov, Director of the..
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