In Spain, a small group of people who identify spiritually as animals, called Therians, has caused a big stir online. Few actually showed up to rallies, but social media made them seem much larger, turning a playful subculture into a surprising political talking point.
The Russian head of world chess, Arkady Dvorkovich, has two faces – a politically-correct one FIDE wants the EU to see, and a pro-war face that attacked Ukrainian ‘Nazism’. It’s the latter one that may now see him slapped with an EU visa-ban.
A new report suggests Europe has entered a new phase, whereby critical voices are increasingly silenced by authoritarian-leaning governments spanning Hungary to Russia and Turkey.
The EU commission must reveal how billions of euros in funds for its Global Gateway projects have been raised, say MEPs
Thierry Breton spoke to the European Parliament on Wednesday, where MEPs expressed their solidarity and reaffirmed their support for the EU’s Digital rulebook.
Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline has halted, sparking tensions between Slovakia, Hungary and Ukraine, although Brussels says supplies remain stable. In contrast, Kyiv builds cyber ties with other EU countries while Baltic states bolster border defences.
The open letter on Wednesday from NGOs Corporate Europe Observatory, Transparency International and five other organisations argues Finnish centre-right MEP Aura Salla’s ties to Meta constitute an irreconcilable conflict of interest in the digital file.
Brussels’ drive to cut digital “burdens” is spilling into labour law. A recent paper by lobby group BusinessEurope calls for a sweeping “labour market omnibus” to reduce obligations under EU social law, raising fears that competitiveness rhetoric could undermine workers’ rights and weaken Europe’s social model.
Poland isn’t just preparing for war — it’s rewriting the rulebook on how to get ready. Meanwhile, the rest of the EU is slowly catching up on defence. What can we learn from Poland’s approach?
Despite soaring trade imbalances and EU pressure, German chancellor Friedrich Merz stressed the need to fortify diplomatic and economic relations with China on his first Beijing visit.
At the start of last year, all 27 EU member states were signed up to the Ottawa Convention, banning the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel mines. Now Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finalnd have withdrawn — with silence from Brussels.
Hungary’s pro-Russian veto is being seen by diplomats as a temporary glitch, while other states passed a law anyway to loan money to Ukraine.
EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič told MEPs that he had received assurances from Donald Trump’s officials in Washington that the EU-US agreement brokered last summer remained in place
Four years since the invasion of Ukraine, a new report finds Russia’s fossil-fuel revenue is down nearly a quarter since 2022, with the EU reducing its reliance on Russian energy — but the Kremlin is still finding ways to move its fuel.
Four years after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, here is a selection of our best stories, going beyond policy and politics to reflect on what this war has meant and means for Ukraine and Europe.
EU law, which went into force last December, states that visas may be suspended when a country violates fundamental freedoms and rights. But the European Commission has no intention of stripping Israel of visa-free access to Europe despite abuses in the occupied Gaza and West Bank.
Usually, Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s Facebook posts earn him an endless stream of insults, cynical comments and worse. But this time it was different.
A new legislative package — the Defence Readiness Omnibus — threatens to overhaul how weapons are produced and sold, creating a dangerous precedent for global security. By doing so, the EU is effectively proposing to treat lethal technology no differently than bananas or chocolate.
Whether it’s sanctions against International Criminal Court judges or threats of tariffs, Donald Trump is using coercion to sway European decisions. So what is the EU doing to protect its independence from American pressure?
“The idea that you can send somebody or people to another country without individual assessment is a violation of basic refugee law,” human rights commissioner Michael O’Flaherty told EUobserver.