HowRu68

"Almost 6,700 American nationals had applied for a visa to work, be with family or study in the Netherlands by the end of November this year, according to immigration service figures, and that is by far the highest number in the past 10 years.

The total is likely to be higher once December, traditionally a busy month, is taken into account, current affairs programme Nieuwsuur reported at the weekend. (...)

Asylum requests submitted via the IND are also rising, with over 60 since the beginning of this year, compared with around 20 in the whole of 2024. Most are from members of the LGBTQ+ community fleeing repression under Trump."

NOS NL

"Only a more federal Europe can cope with these challenges, ensuring the respect of our fundamental values and rights.(..) To this end, we support the creation of a renewed cross-partisan and inter-institutional pro-European coalition encompassing the most committed Member States in the European Council, the pro-European majority in the European and National Parliaments, the European Commission, and regional and local institutions, over and above the particular inertias of each institution, and the pro-European organized civil society. We call on them all to mobilize locally, nationally, and transnationally to support these requests for a more sovereign and democratic Union."

This text is based on the declaration adopted by the relaunched Action Committee for the United States of Europe, 18 October 2025, Jean Monnet House, Houjarray/ Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, France

Original declaration federalists.eu

The unrest was unlocked by the government’s budget for 2026 which proposed higher taxes on the private sector to fund pay rises for the public sector, a shortcut, critics said, to greater government control over the public administration, military and police.

Despite promises of revisions, the protest wave – led by the pro-EU opposition duo We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria – was not calmed, expressing deep dissatisfaction with Bulgaria’s power structures and a desire for all-around change on the political scene.

Temu's European headquarters in Dublin were raided by EU regulators last week on concerns about potential Chinese state subsidies granted to the online retailer, a subsidiary of China's ecommerce giant PDD Holdings, a person familiar with the matter has said.

Temu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The European Commission has proposed new initiatives to address long-standing issues in the planning and implementation of the EU’s energy infrastructure. They aim to ensure that affordable and clean energy flows more efficiently across the EU.

• help lower energy prices
• ensure a secure and reliable energy supply
• help achieve energy independence

Leaders of the “coalition of the willing” group of nations will hold a video call on Thursday as chaotic American efforts to push through a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine reach a crunch moment.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said his officials would hand over a revised version of a peace plan to US negotiators on Wednesday before the call with leaders and officials from about 30 countries.

"Every time Trump or members of his administration have lashed out at Europe, including Ukraine, Europeans have absorbed the blow with a forced smile and bent over backwards to flatter the White House." (...)

"While a systemic answer to Europe’s security conundrum is not in sight, Europeans do have the levers to prevent Ukraine’s capitulation and create the conditions for a just peace."

Arch

The US strategy outlines US President Trump's "America First" view, signaling a shift from Washington's global role, and sharply criticizes European allies. Berlin said it doesn't need a lecture on freedom of expression. Key points:

• New US strategy carries unusually critical tone of Europe
• US strategy questions the European rule of law and transnational bodies
• EU rejects the strategy's accusations against the bloc
• Berlin also criticises the strategy

"How to Build a New Global Order Before It’s Too Late", Alexander Stubb, December 2, 2025.

-About Geopolitical analysis, ethics, reforms of Institutions and relations for the Global West.

Arch

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Dec. 2 as part of the U.S. effort to advance negotiations aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine.

Top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, who took part in the talks, called the meeting "very useful, constructive, and highly substantive" but said no concrete deal was agreed upon — a statement suggesting that a final peace agreement remains far off.

"If Europe suddenly wants to start a war with us and starts it," Putin said, then it would end so swiftly for Europe that there would be no one to negotiate with in Europe. Putin used the Russian word for "war". He also suggested that the war in Ukraine was not a full-blown war and that Russia was acting in a "surgical" manner which would not be repeated in a direct confrontation with European powers. "If Europe suddenly wants to fight with us and starts, we are ready right now," Putin said.

NOTE: imo there is a lot of saber-rattling going on lately. Its all part of the political game. Pls let's keep our heads cool with clickbait titles and speculations. I can sympathise with the worries and that these are trying times for us.

Lithuania will cover all the costs associated with hosting U.S. troops in the country, where a new barracks is among the improvements made for American forces deployed along NATO’s eastern edge.

More than 1,000 U.S. troops are currently deployed to Lithuania, which has long been regarded as a potential flashpoint in any conflict, given the country’s proximity to the Russian military exclave of Kaliningrad and Kremlin ally Belarus.