Die Welt

Lawmakers in Hungary have backed the introduction of taxes on revenues from media advertisement which could jump to 40% for the biggest broadcasters.

A detailed view on the bill however suggests it will probably have a severe impact on just one TV channel, the RTL Klub, which is owned by the Luxembourg-based German media concern RTL, Germany's daily Die Welt reports.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande warned new sanctions might be approved against Moscow if May 25's Ukrainian presidential poll fails.

The EU needs to create an energy union if it wants to deal with energy independence from Russia, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Tuesday.

In Tusk's opinion, Ukrainian developments make "energy independence" of the whole continent "go far beyond its economic aspects."

BNP Paribas, France's largest bank by market capitalization, has announced plans to pull back from Ukraine.

Its chief financial executive Lars Machenil however added BNP does not mull leaving other countries to the east of Europe, such as Turkey and Poland, website Investor.bg reports.

European Commission President candidate Jean-Claude Juncker backed the idea of a minimum wage across the EU.

The center-right politician told Die Welt newspaper that EU rules on labor law an protection are also needed.

Germany could be the EU member state to suffer the most from sanctions imposed on Russia.

Data in an article posted on German newspaper Die Welt's website suggests that economic measures against Russia would be dangerous not only for Germany's energy security, but also for its car industry and its retail.

G-8, the group of eight leading economies has suspended Russia's participation in the club, France's Foreign Minister announced.

Die Welt's website quotes Laurent Fabius as saying on Europe-1 radio that "all the other countries, the seven leading countries, will unite without Russia". He also shared the news on his Twitter account.

EU is 'obliged' to use enlargement in its policy toward Ukraine, Commissioner Stefan Fule said on Tuesday.

Speaking for German newspaper Die Welt, Fule, who is in charge precisely of the EU's enlargement policy, said the bloc should use "its strongest instrument" if it wants to deal with "this part of Eastern Europe which last events have affected".

From economic point of view, there is no sense for Russia to annex Crimea, writes the German newspaper Die Welt. 

The newspaper quotes Russia's finance minister Anton Siluanov who said that the annual deficit in Crimea's budget is around EUR 700 M and nearly half of it has been covered by Ukraine's state budget. 

Germany is considering giving Greece more leeway to decide itself which reforms to take if it requires a third bailout package, a German daily reported on Tuesday, citing government sources.