The Tibetan leader, himself almost a lifetime refugee, shocked the country that during the 2015 migrant crisis took in the most refugees per capita by saying that refugees coming to Europe will have to return home someday. "Europe belongs to Europeans," the Dalai Lama said at a conference in Malmö during his trip to Sweden, provoking strong reactions in some of Europe's most migrant-friendly coun [...]

Weeks of negotiations with the Trump administration have ended with carmaker Volkswagen (VW) agreeing to cease most of its operations in Iran, said US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, as cited by Bloomberg. “Volkswagen has told us they will comply with US sanctions on Iran,” said Grenell, adding: “We are pleased with this decision because Iran diverts its economic resources away from i [...]

The Russian Upper House speaker says the country’s authorities are preparing to quit the Council of Europe as Russian politicians are “tired” of constant reprisals from the body. Russian Upper House speaker Valentina Matviyenko made the announcement at a Thursday meeting with the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Liliane Maury Pasquier, adding that she [...]

An informal meeting of the EU heads of state and government, devoted to Brexit as well as issues such as internal security and migration, is being held in the Austrian city of Salzburg, which started on Wednesday and is due to conclude later in the day. [...]

BRUSSELS - German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to sack domestic intelligence chief and security expert Hans-Georg Maassen was a punishment designed to hide the "truth" about risks of uncontrolled immigration, lawmakers and political commentators told Sputnik. [...]

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States on September 24 plans to sign in Vienna the certification that will allow Russian surveillance aircraft to operate in US territory under the Open Skies Treaty, a State Department official told Sputnik on Wednesday. "On September 18, the United States informed all states parties via formal treaty mechanisms that it will approve the certification of the Russi [...]

A Norwegian state report says the officials “had very limited knowledge” of what was going on in Libya, but promptly decided to join the US-led intervention, turning the once thriving North African nation into a terrorist hotbed. [...]

GENEVA (Sputnik) - Refusal to provide accreditation to certain diplomats to fill a vacant position in diplomatic missions is common practice, fueling a diplomatic scandal is senseless, Russian Ambassador to Switzerland Sergei Garmonin told Sputnik. [...]

Head of the German domestic intelligence agency Hans-Georg Maassen previously faced harsh criticism after he expressed doubts over the authenticity of the footage showing alleged attacks by right-wing activists on migrants in Chemnitz. [...]

Volkswagen-owned premium brand Audi has unveiled the E-Tron, a battery-powered crossover, which is just about to hit dealerships, making the market of electric vehicles rather more choiceful for eco-friendly enthusiasts. E-tron, Audi’s first electric sport-utility vehicle (SUV), debuted in San Francisco on Monday night. [...]

An Austrian court has sided with Russia’s state-backed vodka maker in the battle over the Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya brands, ordering the Dutch-based Spirits International B.V to pay compensation for using them illegally. Stolichnaya vodka has long been one of the world’s most recognizable brands associated with Russia. [...]

France has commented on Washington's threats, voiced by National Security Advisor John Bolton on Monday, to sanction the ICC if it goes ahead with plans to investigate suspected war crimes in Afghanistan carried out by members of the US armed forces and the CIA. [...]

The Netherlands will end its support for Syrian militants, since the program did not yield the “expected” results. Earlier, journalists found one of the groups had been labeled ‘terrorist’ by the Dutch justice department. “The opportunity to quickly change the situation [in Syria] is extremely small,” reads the letter the lower house of the parliament by Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blo [...]

The US Army is to further bolster the number of troops it has stationed in Europe by a further 1,500, despite repeated complaints by President Trump that NATO allies are not spending enough to defend the continent. US Army Europe said the troops will be deployed to Germany by September 2020, calling it a “display of our continued commitment to NATO and our collective resolve to support European [...]

A new party calling for Ireland to leave the EU launches in Dublin today with a conference discussing the possible benefits of ‘Irexit.’ The Irexit Freedom Party is pushing its agenda despite an apparent lack of public support. The Irexit movement was born out of a public meeting held in Dublin last February by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, which was attended by 600 people. [...]

The latest trend among European countries of bringing home their gold reserves has been raising concerns in Brussels. RT talked to Claudio Grass of Precious Metal Advisory Switzerland to understand what’s behind that trend. According to Grass, the process means disintegration, which usually comes with instability, unrest, more government intervention and control. [...]

The Iran nuclear deal, which was recently ditched by the US, humanitarian efforts in war-ravaged Syria, and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project… Putin and Merkel hold three-hour talks and are mostly on the same page. The surprise visit announced earlier this week between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin took place in Meseberg Palace, 65km north of Berlin, on Sa [...]

The Swiss resort of Chateaux-d’Oex is known for its hot air balloons. The Swiss resort of Davos is known for hot air. Or at least for one week a year, when some of the world’s biggest windbags meet to discuss ‘significant’ issues. [...]

BERLIN (Sputnik) – The German business community has urged the German government to strengthen its cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) as a means to respond to the threat of protectionism stemming from the United States, head of the German Eastern Business Association said. [...]