This week in State of the Union: another NGO boat in a Mediterranean standoff with Italy saw the EU Commission calling for migrants to be disembarked. A corruption report saw Hungary in the spotlight for refusing its publication, and we looked at how Brexit is affecting expats in Brussels.
Migration
ADVERTISEMENTThis week all eyes were on Seawatch 3, the NGO migrant rescue ship that went towards Lampedusa defying the warnings from Italy’s Matteo Salvini. While the Mediterranean drama played out on the sea, we pressed the European Commission
Corruption
When I went to the annual conference of the anti-corruption watchdog of the Council of Europe, I was wondering why my country Hungary is not included in the report.
It turned out that the Hungarian government is actually blocking the publication of this sensitive information concerning the corruption of prosecutors, judges and politicians.
After our report, the government announced they will publish the information at a later date. They also gave a excuse for blocking the publication. “We just got the document” – it was posted to them last December. Here's the report that prompted the response...
It is over three years now since the Brexit referendum took place. So we decided to leave politics aside and focus on people. I caught up with a full time anti Brexit activist.
Next week
After the late night EU summit, politicians will be heading to Strasbourg for the opening session of the new European Parliament where we will bring you all the latest on the race for EU top jobs.
Another summit, but this time about the Western Balkans. Poland is hosting top officials...
And cycling's biggest event comes to Brussels as the Tour De France kicks off in the Belgian capital.
Last Word
We leave you now with a last word, which this week comes from the EU council President Donald Tusk. He tweeted in response to Russian president Vladimir Putin who said liberalism is obsolete.