Новости за 05.04.2018

In an annual progress report, European Commission says "independence of justice, law enforcement as well as national anti-corruption authorities need substantial improvement".

Russia's ban on EU pork exports is costing farmers €1.4 billion a year, but reorienting sales to China might be a better bet than banking on WTO arbitration or a political detente to get the income flowing again.

Hungarians head to the polls on Sunday but high voter turnout and tactical voting could make it difficult for Viktor Orban's nationalist Fidesz to acquire an absolute majority or get a two-thirds majority it once held in parliament.

'Overall, I think regulations like the GDPR are very positive,' said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the EU's new data protection regulation.

The EU's bid to fight 'fake news', the EUvsDisinfo website, is in its infancy and has made mistakes. But transparency and a willingness to put those errors right means it is doing vital work in the battle against Russian propaganda.

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said in Canada on Wednesday that the alliance would closely watch Russia's ongoing military drills in the Baltic Sea, but warned against worsening relations with Moscow. Russia began routine training by its Baltic fleet based in Kaliningrad on Wednesday prompting Sweden to warn civilian maritime traffic that parts of the Baltic Sea will be temporarily dangerous to navigation and Latvia shutting parts of commercial airspace.

French and German defence ministers will discuss on Thursday in Paris plans for a rapid European intervention force. The force would be deployable from June. It "would not be within the European Union and would allow countries outside it, like Britain, to be part of it," Reuters reported. A dozen countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Britain and Denmark, participated in a working group in March to detail the plans.

French prime minister, Edouard Philippe, announced on Wednesday plans to reduce the number of MPs and senators by 30 percent, and elect 15 percent of lawmakers via proportional representation, with the changes to be decided as standard legislation in parliament before the 2022 parliamentary elections. The government also plans to prevent politicians from serving more than three consecutive terms in the same elected role.