According to the Austrian government’s program, Vienna vows to end Turkey’s EU membership negotiations. Ankara has expressed strong protest over the program of the new Austrian government that has vowed to halt Turkey’s EU accession negotiations, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. [...]

Poland may lose its last EU ally over its unwillingness to vocally protest against the Ukrainian discriminatory education law, Polish independent commentator Janusz Niedzwiecki told Sputnik, adding that Warsaw is bowing to Washington's will. Meanwhile, Brussels is running out of patience over Kiev's failure to implement the Minsk accords. [...]

In the follow up to the results of the Catalan referendum on independence and the stern crackdown of the Spanish central government against voters, Czech Communist MEP Jaromír Kohlíček told Sputnik Czech that Madrid is likely to have more problems as it has other autonomous communities which desire more sovereignty. [...]

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the Nord Stream-2 and Turkish Stream gas pipeline projects would be implemented on time, regardless of the new US law that expands sanctions against Moscow. Political analyst Alex Zubets told Radio Sputnik that Brussels is well aware of its own interests and is likely to back the project. [...]

Berlin must not spend billions on militarization to appease Donald Trump, the German foreign minister said, adding that Chancellor Angela Merkel should not “kneel” to the US president. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel attacked Chancellor Merkel in a blunt op-ed for the Rheinische Post newspaper. [...]

Washington's relentless efforts to fence off and punish countries which protect their own national interests and maintain sovereignty will result in the isolation of the US, geopolitical analyst Gilbert Mercier predicted in his interview with Sputnik. [...]

White House officials have been sending mixed signals regarding President Trump's stance on the new Russia sanctions bill. Political scientist Sergei Sudakov says Washington's uncertainty makes sense, since the bill puts the US and Europe on the path to a major trade war.   [...]

It is time for the EU to decide whether they want to defend Europeans and European business interests and stand up against what the Americans are trying to do, says MEP Nathan Gill from the UK Independence Party. [...]

The member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs claims that Brussels needs to restore strong dialogue and cooperation with Moscow as the anti-Russia sanctions lost any economic reasoning and turned into a mere political instrument. [...]

Poland is drifting away from the EU, which demands that Warsaw accept refugees from the Middle East and North Africa, former Polish member of the European Parliament, Joannа Senyszyn, told Sputnik. “The EU has repeatedly warned Poland over its refusal to take in refugees and [the changes to the country’s constitutional court, which Brussels believes pose a serious challenge to the rul [...]

Matteo Salivini, leader of Italian opposition Lega Nord party, told Sputnik on Friday that the extension of the European Union's anti-Russian sanctions was "absurd," since the restrictive measures were damaging for the economies of both Italy and the entire 28-member-bloc. [...]

Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has lashed out against the EU, saying that the bloc's policies had brought Ukraine "to its knees," and turned it into a raw material colony. Speaking to Sputnik, Ukrainian political analyst Alexander Okhrimenko said that it was surprising that Kiev expected anything different from the Europeans. [...]

The European Parliament has passed a nonbinding resolution calling for the reintroduction of visa requirements for American citizens, raising the stakes in a long-running battle over the United States’ refusal to grant visa-free access to citizens of five European Union countries. [...]

The EU is considering taking economic measures in response to President Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement. These could include halting trade talks, forging closer ties with Russia, and imposing heavy carbon taxes on US exports. [...]

On Wednesday, EU authorities signed a document on amending the legislation of the EU to grant a visa-free regime to Ukrainians, according to a live broadcast from Strasbourg. In an interview with Radio Sputnik, Russian expert Evgeny Ben commented on the issue, saying that the move may lead to an uncontrolled influx of Ukrainian migrants to the EU. [...]

The surge in right-wing and anti-establishment sentiments as a result of failed neo-liberal policies in Europe is likely to lead to collapse of the EU in “a tragic development,” prominent American linguist, scholar and activist Noam Chomsky told RT. [...]

The number of investors predicting the eurozone will lose at least one member this year has increased, according to the Frankfurt-based Sentix research group. The risk of contagion is regarded to be even bigger than during the debt crisis in 2012/13. [...]

Marine Le Pen’s loss of EU Parliament immunity is going to help her get elected: French people and other Europeans see it as a plot by the establishment to silence her, it shows the EU Parliament is undemocratic, says David Coburn, UKIP MEP. [...]

The European Parliament has passed a non-binding resolution calling on Brussels to force Americans to apply for visas before visiting Europe unless Washington adheres to a visa reciprocity policy and stops discriminating against eastern EU citizens. [...]