August has seen a departure from the key issues such as COVID-19 and ‘Brexit’ that have dominated the European Union discourse and policy agenda for the past six months. The EU’s attention has been focused on the situation in Afghanistan and ongoing challenges arising from Poland’s push against rule-of-law and Lukashenko’s regime.

With September set to be dominated with the upcoming German federal election, it does not look like there will be stability for the EU any time soon.

The Migration section covers the situation at the Lithuanian and Belarussian border and the placement of Afghani refugees.

The Environment section covers the challenges outlined in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report and the potential impact of the upcoming German election on the green agenda.

The Democracy and Governance section covers the clash between the EU and Poland over rule-of-law and the EU’s escalations against Poland in an attempt to manage the situation.

The Foreign Affairs and Security section covers key comments from Vice President Josep Borrell regarding Afghanistan, the attempted assassination of Alexei Navalny and the situation in Belarus.