European Union

Georgian ambassador: Give Russia one last chance

Paris - As the European Union prepared to hold an emergency summit on the Caucasus crisis Monday Georgia's ambassador to France called for Russia to be given a "last chance" before any possible sanctions.

"We are realistic," Mamuka Kudava told the daily Le Parisien. "One has to give the Russians a last chance, so that they are obligated to take heed of the six-point agreement decided with (EU council president Nicolas) Sarkozy on August 12."

The agreement calls for a ceasefire, Russian troop withdrawal and international talks over the security of Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

EU provides humanitarian aid to India, Nepal flood victims

UN calls for observance of truce during Beijing OlympicsBrussels - The European Commission said Friday it was providing more than 2 million euros (3 million dollars) in humanitarian aid to help the victims of floods in northern India and Nepal.

A statement from the European Union's executive body said the aid was to be channeled through UN relief agencies, European non- governmental organizations and the Red Cross/Crescent movement.

The commission said the most pressing need was to provide food, clean drinking water, shelter and medicines to the victims.

EU roaming charges to come down further

Brussels  - European Union consumers will as from Saturday find it cheaper to make or receive calls on their mobile phone while travelling to another EU country.

According to the EU's Roaming Regulation, the current price cap of 0.49 euros (0.72 dollars) per minute (excluding VAT) for making a call while abroad will fall to 0.46 euros on August 30.

The maximum price that European mobile phone operators will be able to charge their customers for receiving a call while roaming will likewise fall, from 0.24 euros to 0.22 euros per minute.

Diplomats: EU to send fact-finders to Georgian conflict zones

Brussels repeats support for Georgian territorial integrity

Brussels - The European Union's executive body stressed on Tuesday its support for Georgia's territorial integrity, just minutes before Russia recognized the independence of two breakaway Georgian regions in defiance of Western criticism.

"All previous UN security council resolutions supported the territorial integrity and full sovereignty of Georgia. This is and remains our position," a spokesman for the European Commission told journalists in Brussels.

On Monday EU heads of state and government are set to hold a crisis meeting to discuss how they should react to the recent war between Georgia and Russia over the breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

EU anti-corruption officials in Bulgaria

EU again working on implementing sanctions against IranSofia  - Officials from the European Union's anti-corruption authority OLAF began new investigations Monday in Bulgaria to take a closer look at Sofia's spending on EU-financed projects.

In the work coming shortly after a visit to Sofia by OLAF chief Franz-Hermann-Bruener, the EU experts were focusing on EU-funded projects in Bulgarian rural development efforts, according to local media reports.

Last Friday, Bruener demanded that Bulgaria implement "better controls" in the way it spends EU money.

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