The European Union and Britain "sleepwalked" into the Ukraine crisis, failing to grasp its exceptional nature and lacking the ability to read political shifts in Russia, British lawmakers said in a report on Friday.

• Date: 20.02.2015  |  Published on EGF: 20.02.2015  |  Security  |  from http://www.reuters.com/

China's creation of artificial islands in the South China Sea is happening so fast that Beijing will be able to extend the range of its navy, air force, coastguard and fishing fleets before long, much to the alarm of rival claimants to the contested waters.

• Date: 19.02.2015  |  Published on EGF: 19.02.2015  |  Security  |  from http://www.reuters.com/

Greece's government said it was up to euro zone finance ministers to decide whether to accept or reject its proposal to extend a loan agreement, in a bid to play down German comments rejecting the proposal as insufficient.

• Date: 19.02.2015  |  Published on EGF: 19.02.2015  |  External Relations  |  from http://www.reuters.com/

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called for U.N. peacekeepers to be deployed to monitor a ceasefire in east Ukraine, a proposal that pro-Russia rebels swiftly said would be in breach of a peace deal.

• Date: 19.02.2015  |  Published on EGF: 19.02.2015  |  External Relations  |  from http://www.reuters.com/

Sweden and Finland plan to extend their cooperation on defense and set up a joint naval task force as the two neighbors respond to rising tensions with Russia in the Baltic region.

• Date: 18.02.2015  |  Published on EGF: 18.02.2015  |  External Relations  |  from http://www.reuters.com/

Government forces were pulling out of an encircled town in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday after a fierce assault by Russian-backed separatists which Kiev and Europe said violated a crumbling ceasefire.

• Date: 18.02.2015  |  Published on EGF: 18.02.2015  |  Security  |  from http://www.reuters.com/

Moldova's parliament is expected on Wednesday to approve as prime minister 38-year-old businessman Chiril Gaburici, who promises to forge closer ties with Europe, despite fears of a possible Russian backlash.

• Date: 18.02.2015  |  Published on EGF: 18.02.2015  |  Markets  |  from http://www.reuters.com/

A Russian court on Tuesday ended house arrest terms for Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and upheld a suspended three-and-a-half-year prison term for the protest leader in a theft case he says is politically motivated.

• Date: 17.02.2015  |  Published on EGF: 17.02.2015  |  Markets  |  from http://www.reuters.com/