Brussels
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades talks to Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Malta Prime Minister Robert Abela and Bulgaria's President Rumen Radev and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, from right, during an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, June 24, 2021. At their summit in Brussels, EU leaders are set to take stock of coronavirus recovery plans, study ways to improve relations with Russia and Turkey, and insist on the need to develop migration partners with the countries of northern Africa, but a heated exchange over a new LGBT bill in Hungary is also likely. (Olivier Hoslet, Pool Photo via AP)
Merkel: Europe 'on thin ice' amid delta virus variant rise

By Samuel Petrequin And Frank Jordans Jun. 24, 2021 04:02 AM EDT

FILE - In this Friday, June 4, 2021 file photo, tourists throw their coins into the Trevi fountain as a wish to come back to the eternal city, in downtown Rome. The European Union is recommending that member countries start lifting restrictions on tourists from the United States. EU members agreed Wednesday, June 16, 2021 to add the U.S. to the list of countries in whose cases restrictions on non-essential travel should be lifted. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)
EU members agree to lift travel restrictions on US tourists

Jun. 16, 2021 08:16 AM EDT

Residents wait in line for the coronavirus test in a district in Guangzhou in southern China's Guangdong province on Sunday, May 30, 2021. The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou shut down a neighborhood and ordered residents to stay home Saturday to be tested for the coronavirus following an upsurge in infections that has rattled authorities. (AP Photo)
The Latest: Germany hunts down possible fraud in virus tests

By The Associated Press May. 30, 2021 07:12 AM EDT

People, few wearing military clothes, march during a so called "European Demonstration for Freedom and Democracy" protest against COVID-19 security measures taken by European governments at Bois de la Cambre park in Brussels, Saturday, May 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
Partiers protest Belgium virus rules; medics demand support

May. 29, 2021 02:26 PM EDT

People with COVID-19 symptoms wait to be assisted outside a hospital that is at full capacity in Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, May 28, 2021. The city imposed strict shutdown measures this week to stop the spread of the virus, halting public transportation for the first time and closing supermarkets. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
The Latest: Two-thirds of NY adults have at least one shot

By The Associated Press May. 29, 2021 01:03 AM EDT

Stacks of documents are placed on a table at the start of a hearing, European Commission vs AstraZeneca, at the main courthouse in Brussels, Wednesday, May 26, 2021. The European Union took on vaccine producer AstraZeneca in a Brussels court on Wednesday with the urgent demand that the company needs to make an immediate delivery of COVID-19 shots the 27-nation bloc insists were already due. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
EU seeks big penalties in suit over AstraZeneca deliveries

By Samuel Petrequin May. 26, 2021 04:43 AM EDT

FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019 file photo, Belgium coach Roberto Martinez stands prior to a soccer match between Belgium and Cyprus at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels. Jeremy Doku and Leandro Trossard were called up Monday, May 17, 2021 for the Belgium squad alongside the usual stalwarts for the European Championship. Belgium will play in Group B, opening against Russia on June 12. The top-ranked Belgians will then face Denmark and Finland. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
Cyprus vs Belgium 11/19/2019

May. 17, 2021 07:50 AM EDT

Portugal's European Affairs Secretary Ana Paula Zacarias puts on her protective face mask as she arrives for a meeting of the General Affairs Council at the European Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, May 11, 2021. As strict lockdown measures are loosened across Europe and many EU citizens dream about holidays in the sun, the 27-nation bloc has yet to find an agreement on how to quickly implement a virus certificates scheme to boost travel and tourism during the summer season. (Olivier Hoslet, Pool via AP)
Clock is ticking for EU vaccine certificates as summer looms

By Samuel Petrequin May. 11, 2021 04:20 AM EDT

European Commission Vice Presidents Margrethe Vestager, right, and Valdis Dombrovskis participate in a media conference on the proposal for a Regulation to address distortions caused by foreign subsidies in the Single Market and on the European Industrial Strategy Update at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, May 5, 2021. (Yves Herman, Pool via AP)
EU plans tightening foreign investment, with eye on China

By Raf Casert May. 05, 2021 10:24 AM EDT

Police disperse protestors with a water cannon at the Bois de la Cambre park during a party called "La Boum 2" in Brussels, Saturday, May 1, 2021. A few thousand people gathered for an illegal party in a Brussels park Saturday to protest COVID-19 restrictions, only to be met with a big police force who used a water cannon and tear gas to disperse the crowd. It was the second such open-air gathering in a month. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
Belgian police detain 132 in virus restrictions protest

May. 02, 2021 04:39 AM EDT

Police use tear gas and a water cannon to disperse gatherers at the Bois de la Cambre park during a party called "La Boum 2" in Brussels, Saturday, May 1, 2021. Police put on extra patrols Saturday to monitor the gathering which is being held in defiance of Belgium's current COVID-19 regulations. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
Belgium police, partiers clash anew over virus restrictions

May. 01, 2021 01:14 PM EDT

FILE - In this Wednesday, April 28, 2021 file photo, spectators, wearing protective face masks and keeping a social distance, watch the theatre play "Jonathan" at the KVS theatre in Brussels. Dozens of cinemas, theatres and culture venues in Belgium are defying government orders and reopening their doors to protest the country's ongoing shutdown of cultural activities. Out of work for more than six months, owners united within the Still Standing For Culture collective said the current ban on indoor cultural events is proof of "an unacceptable inequality of treatment" amid the health crisis. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
Belgium cultural venues to defy indoor ban, reopen illegally

By Samuel Petrequin Apr. 30, 2021 05:11 AM EDT

FILE - In this Friday, April 2, 2021 file photo police detain a man in the Bois de la Cambre park in Brussels. Brussels prosecutors warned potential party-goers they should stay away from an illegal gathering planned this weekend in one of the city's biggest park as police briefly detained one of the organizers on Tuesday, April 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
Brussels bracing for illegal festival amid fears of violence

By Samuel Petrequin Apr. 27, 2021 12:52 PM EDT

President Joe Biden speaks to the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, from the East Room of the White House, Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Biden to make first overseas trip in office to UK, EU

By Zeke Miller Apr. 23, 2021 11:00 AM EDT

FILE - In this Thursday, March 26, 2021 file photo, a sign asking people to observe social distancing and keep 1.5 meters, or five feet, apart to reduce the spread of the coronavirus was put up in a field of tulips in Lisse, Netherlands. Across the world, authorities are seeking to stave off a new surge of COVID-19 infections to contain a death toll which already exceeds 3 million. Crowds are anathema to health. Yet at the same time, the soothing glories of nature are said to be an ideal balm against the psychological burdens of loneliness, disorientation and fear that the pandemic has wrought. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
Pandemic puts tulips, bluebells, cherry blossoms in hiding

By Raf Casert Apr. 20, 2021 08:26 AM EDT

Police detain a man during protests at a park in Brussels, Thursday, April 1, 2021. Belgian police have clashed with a large crowd in one of Brussels largest parks, as thousands of revelers had gathered for an unauthorized event despite coronavirus restrictions. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
Belgium police clash with partiers amid virus restrictions

By Samuel Petrequin Apr. 01, 2021 02:02 PM EDT

Court orders Belgium to reframe virus restrictions as laws

Mar. 31, 2021 10:25 AM EDT
BRUSSELS (AP) — The Belgian state should either lift all coronavirus measures within 30 days or frame them properly as law, a Brussels court ruled Wednesday. ...

People enjoy the warm weather at Ruislip Lido in London, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Temperatures in parts of the UK are expected to be significantly warmer this week as families and friends are reunited and outdoor sporting activities are allowed to resume in England. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Warm weather in northwest Europe raises fresh virus worries

By Samuel Petrequin And Pan Pylas Mar. 31, 2021 06:12 AM EDT

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a media conference prior to a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, March 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool)
NATO prepares 'virus-free' zone for summit; Biden invited

By Lorne Cook Mar. 23, 2021 06:33 AM EDT

In this image from VTM video, Belgium's King Philippe, right, stands with members of his family in the Royal Gardens of Laeken with a message 'Courage, strong together' written on the lawn on April 4, 2020. In a pandemic time rife with restrictions, demands to respect social distancing have become quasi impossible to respect in public parks. One family in town though, has a lush garden all its own and ever more voices are being raised that the Royal Family of King Philippe should loosen up and open up at least part of their Park of Laeken to the public. (VTM via AP)
Some Belgians shout: 'King! Tear down your garden walls!'

By Raf Casert Mar. 04, 2021 02:41 AM EST