Bulent Tezcan, deputy chairman of the Republican People's Party, announced the move at the Ankara offices of the electoral board.

Ireland is in need of hate legislation as bullying and violence are the biggest concerns facing the gay community, research recommends.

Denmark’s parliament passed measures aimed at deterring refugees from seeking asylum, including confiscating valuables to pay for their stay, despite protests from international human rights organisations.

Germany to vote on military mission as Putin calls for the world to fight IS with ‘one powerful fist’

Two Italian journalists who wrote books detailing Vatican mismanagement are to face trial, along with three people accused of leaking them the information.

A prisoner exchange has taken place between government forces and pro-Russia rebel fighters in Ukraine.

US secretary of state John Kerry yesterday expressed “gave concern” to his Russian counterpart about a sharp rise in separatist attacks in eastern Ukraine and urged an immediate ceasefire, the State Department said.

Firm deadlines and resources must be given in the Government’s action plan to combat human trafficking.

We bring you a brief look at some of the other news from the European Union from the past week in our Brussels Briefing.

Nato’s chief said that Russia had built up forces on the border with Ukraine and sent more military hardware into eastern Ukraine, enabling pro-Russia separatists to launch attacks with little warning if they chose.

A fragile ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists came under renewed pressure yesterday with the Ukrainian military reporting a serviceman had been killed and seven others wounded in rebel attacks.

Ukraine’s military says a ceasefire had been fully observed in eastern separatist territories overnight, but warned that pro-Russian rebels were using the truce to regroup for new attacks on government positions.

Ukraine’s military has said it will start pulling back its heavy weapons from the front line with Russian-backed separatists as required under a ceasefire agreement.

Ukraine’s military and Russia-backed separatist rebels have accused each other of continuing to mount attacks a week after a ceasefire was called.

Rockets killed more than 10 civilians and soldiers deep in Ukrainian government-held territory yesterday and rebels pushed on with an assault on an army-held rail junction, setbacks that showed Kiev’s position worsening on the eve of peace talks.

At least seven people are reported to have been killed when a city bus was hit by an artillery shell in a separatist stronghold in east Ukraine.

Diplomats from Russia and Ukraine agreed on a dividing line from where both sides should pull back their heavy weapons.

The Irish Defence Forces have 442 soldiers serving overseas in 14 missions with the UN, EU, OSCE and Nato. 

Dr. Kevin McCarthy’s letter (Irish Examiner, November 24) makes for sad reading. 

Work to recover wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was downed over Ukraine with the loss of 298 lives has now finished.

An important aspect of the current debate on direct provision which is being overlooked is the practice of placing suspected victims of sex trafficking in centres which are not safe or secure.

Clashes have broken out outside the main rebel-held city in eastern Ukraine, throwing the freshly forged ceasefire agreement between government troops and Russian-backed separatists into further doubt.

Ukraine, Russia and the Kremlin-backed separatists signed a ceasefire deal after five months of bloodshed, and Europe prepared additional sanctions on Moscow.

Ukraine and the Russian-backed rebels have signed a ceasefire deal that starts this afternoon, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) confirmed.

Russia’s foreign minister has urged those holding a new round of talks on easing Ukraine’s crisis to push for a ceasefire between Ukrainian government troops and pro-Russian separatists.

International observers have turned back from another attempt to reach the site where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 went down in eastern Ukraine.

The Dutch safety team leading the investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has given permission for wreckage at the crash site to be moved.

Ukraine has accused Russia of helping separatist rebels destroy evidence at the crash site of a Malaysia Airlines plane shot down in rebel-held territory – a charge the rebels deny.

Four of eight observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe who were held hostage in eastern Ukraine have been released.

An insurgent leader's fighters in Ukraine are holding four observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Ukraine’s government launched talks on decentralising power as part of a European-backed peace plan but did not invite its main foes, the pro-Russia insurgents who have declared independence in the east.

Germany is pushing for a second round of diplomatic talks in Geneva in an effort to halt the violence in Ukraine.

Shots have been fired at a Ukrainian air force base in Crimea that has been blocked off by Russian forces.

I’m not a fan of Henry Kissinger, but I agree with most of his article of March 5, about Ukraine, in the Washington Post. He wrote: “if Ukraine is to survive and thrive, it must not be either side’s outpost against the other — it should function as a bridge between them … Ukraine should not join NATO”.

Russia is on a collision course with the EU and the US, with the referendum in Crimea on Sunday threatening to escalate the situation onto another level.

The Crimean parliament has voted that the Black Sea peninsula will declare itself an independent state if its residents agree to split off from Ukraine and join Russia in a referendum.

President Vladimir Putin delivered a robust defence of Russia’s actions in Crimea and said he would use force in Ukraine only as a last resort, easing market fears yesterday that East-West tension over the former Soviet republic could lead to war.

Russia's foreign minister has justified the use of Russian troops streaming into neighbouring Ukraine's Crimea region as a necessary protection for his country's citizens living there.

By Ann Cahill, Europe Correspondent

“This is a declaration of war... We are on the brink of disaster,” Ukraine prime minister Arseny Yatsenyuk warned, as Russian troops surrounded at least two military bases in Crimea and the country’s Naval commander defected to Moscow.

Something funny happened the day before Azerbaijan’s presidential election - the election commission announced the winner.

The king and queen consort of one of Africa’s poorest countries were the only heads of state to stay overnight at the State’s €52m Farmleigh House last year.

It is deeply ironic that Ireland as a neutral country should be lavishly hosting such a collection of warmongers and abusers of human rights all at the same event.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore brought a close to Ireland’s year-long presidency of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) saying he was disappointed that agreement was not reached among nations on human rights concerns.