Russia's decision to impose a food embargo in response to Western sanctions may cost the European Union €5 billion ($6.6 billion) a year, according to an internal EU document. "The overall temporary restrictions currently applied by Russia potentially jeopardize €5 billion worth of trade," the report seen by Reuters states. [...]

A US Navy destroyer and, reportedly, a French frigate have entered the Black Sea, as NATO builds up its presence in the region while tensions remain high in Ukraine. Another two warships are expected to arrive in the area by the end of the week. The US Navy 6th Fleet official command has confirmed on its official Twitter account that the destroyer USS Ross, (DDG 71), an Arleigh Burke-class guid [...]

France has suspended delivery of the first of two Mistral helicopter carrier ships to Russia, due to events in eastern Ukraine. “The situation is serious. Russia’s recent actions in the east of Ukraine contravene the fundamental principles of European security,” said a statement from the office of President Francois Hollande. [...]

Support for Scottish independence has risen eight percentage points in a month, and momentum is firmly in its favor. Have the Scots now got the desire to become a nation once again? “A bheil Gàidhlig agaibh? Alba, táim in nGrá leát.” Only about 90,000 people will understand that question, or about two percent of the Scottish population, but the considerably larger (close to 2 million) n [...]

The debate over Germany's insistence on euro-zone austerity has flared anew as an ailing France continues to demand economic stimulus. The European Central Bank may now be siding with Paris, leaving Merkel looking increasingly alone. The chancellor peered at her impassioned interviewer as if he were some kind of rare insect. [...]

Support for Scottish independence is at its highest level ever according to a new poll, with nationalists rapidly closing the gap against unionists just two weeks before Scots vote whether to split from the UK. YouGov’s poll showed the unionist lead had shrunk from 22 percent a month ago to just 6 percent. Overall, support for independence leapt to 47 percent in August. The figures, published [...]

The European Union may ban the "re-selling" of gas and limit industrial use as part of a contingency plan to create a stockpile for next winter, in case Russian gas stops flowing through Ukraine, according to a European Commission source. Foreseeing a possible halt in supplies over the political standoff between Russia and Ukraine, Europe has an emergency plan to stock up on energy supplies, th [...]

With the escalating Ukrainian crisis towards the top of the agenda at this week's NATO summit in Wales, a group of former American intelligence workers is urging the alliance to be careful before crafting a response. Sixty foreign leaders and dozens of diplomats and defense officials from around the globe will convene at the event this week and are expected to approve a plan that calls for asse [...]

After months of failed telephone diplomacy between Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin, hardliners are gaining the upper hand in discussions over the appropriate response to Russia. They may soon prevail with demands that go far beyond new economic sanctions. [...]

Alarmed at the anti-Russian hysteria sweeping Official Washington – and the specter of a new Cold War U.S. intelligence veterans took the unusual step of sending this Aug. 30 memo to German Chancellor Merkel challenging the reliability of Ukrainian and U.S. media claims about a Russian “invasion.” [...]

The first Eastern European EU president, Donald Tusk faces difficult times ahead – and few credentials to suggest he is up to the job... Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will chair EU meetings as President of the European Council, with many hoping he will prove to be a pragmatic counterweight to the divisive Jean-Claude Juncker, who by his own admission held the Eurozone together with a tiss [...]

Barack Obama and David Cameron will urge NATO members to increase military spending at the alliance's summit in Wales, amid criticism that some countries are getting a "free ride", growing geopolitical tensions and Europe-wide austerity. The NATO summit, which kicks off later this week, will see Obama and Cameron urge European state leaders to protect their continent from amplifying threats by [...]

Growth in Germany contracted 0.2 percent in the second quarter, the first fall in over a year, stoking worries Europe's biggest economy is slowing down, as the Ukraine crisis and weaker trade drag down what was once a glowing model for the rest of Europe. The seasonally-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) from April to June was confirmed Monday by Germany's Federal Statistics Office to have d [...]

Examining the rise and (possible) fall of the European Union and the Euro, John Peet and Anton La Guardia tell a damning tale. Europe specialists at the Economist, the authors are free marketers. They’re also believers in a United States of Europe. They begin by assessing the economic and socio-political rationales for the Euro. They outline the free trade and prosperity that a mutually depen [...]

Germany on Sunday presented the list of weapons it plans to send to the Kurds in northern Iraq. Some of them, though, may end up being used against former German soldiers. SPIEGEL has learned that 20 ex-Bundeswehr troops have joined jihadists in the region. The German government over the weekend reached a decision on the weapons it plans to ship to the Kurds in northern Iraq to help them combat [...]

Documents from the archive of whistleblower Edward Snowden reveal wide-scale spying against Turkey by America's NSA and Britain's GCHQ. They also show the US worked closely with Ankara to battle Kurdish separatists. On a December night in 2011, a terrible thing happened on Mount Cudi, near the Turkish-Iraqi border. One side described it as a massacre; the other called it an accident. [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Kiev to start substantial talks on deescalating the crisis in eastern Ukraine. He added that it's an illusion to expect that the rebels would calmly watch their homes being destroyed. “We have agreed on a plan, so its realization must be pursued,” Putin told Channel 1 TV, adding that the Ukrainian government “must immediately start substantia [...]

The EU parliamentary elections have seen a marked shift towards both right-wing and Euroskeptic political parties. From the National Front to UKIP, RT has drawn up a list of the need-to-know political parties coming to prominence in the EU. The National Front far-right party in France gleaned 25 percent of the votes in the latest EU elections, according to early results. It’s well ahead of th [...]

The rally in Berlin against federal surveillance gathered thousands of people under the motto "Freedom not fear," who were calling for stricter control of German intelligence agencies. The organizers said about 6,500 demonstrators, a broad coalition of pro-transparency, anti-surveillance and civil rights groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Reporters Without Borders, Digital Cou [...]