EU leaders enraged as summit ends with Orbán vetoing €90bn Ukraine aid
EU leaders failed to convince Hungary to lift its veto on Ukraine support, as president Volodomyr Zelensky lamented the blockage.
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Macron seeks Ramadan ceasefire, as EU leaders say no to Trump on Iran
“As the [Middle East] region enters a period of religious holidays, I think everyone should calm down and the fighting should stop,” said French president Macron in Brussels.
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Spain’s Sánchez attacks other EU leaders for exploiting energy prices to gut climate policies
“Unfortunately, some governments are using this crisis and the rise in electricity prices to undermine climate policies,” Spain’s socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchéz said on arrival at an EU leaders summit in Brussels.
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24 days to election: Three Ukrainians banned from Hungary as ‘threat to Orbán’s life’
With just over three weeks to go, a literal ‘false flag’ operation at a Tisza rally, a potential JD Vance (but not Donald Trump) visit, some suspect candidates name-changing to confuse voters, and the latest opinion polling.
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Ukrainian ‘birds’ kill record 900 Russian soldiers, after fog-veiled attack (Ukraine Battlefield update, day 1,484):
“Just before zero hour [midnight], the first [Russian] assault groups … moved off in the drizzle and ran straight into the drones,” said a Ukrainian commander.
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Croatia readies oil for Hungary, as Orbán sticks to EU-Kyiv loan veto
Croatia says 13 tankers carrying non-Russian oil are ready to supply Hungary, even as Budapest presses Ukraine to deliver cheaper Russian fuel in exchange for lifting its veto on a €90bn loan for Kyiv at Thursday’s EU summit.
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MEPs greenlight US trade pact after steel promises
MEPs expect to take a final plenary vote on a hotly contested EU-US trade deal in Strasbourg next Thursday.
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Meloni wanted to tame Italy’s prosecutors. She may end up empowering them instead
On March 22 and 23, Italians will vote in a referendum intended to curb the power of the country’s prosecutors. But the reform championed by prime minister Giorgia Meloni could produce the opposite effect, giving prosecutors even greater control over Italy’s justice system.
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Listen: Will the EU keep its promise of financial assistance to Ukraine?
Ukraine faces a financial crisis as Hungary blocks the EU’s €90bn loan. Can Brussels convince Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán to lift his veto?
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Russia pulls the mobile internet plug: citizens told to ‘navigate by the stars’
Russian president Vladimir Putin’s regime is testing a “sovereign internet” following the Chinese and Iranian model and is preparing a system of total censorship for cases of public discontent.
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Cyprus looks to EU joint-defence, amid Nato split on Iran
“We … gave flesh and bones to the [EU’s] mutual assistance clause,” Cypriot president said, after France and others sent warships to protect the island, which is a member of the EU but not Nato.
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Hungary veto on Ukraine and carbon market to hijack EU summit
Hungary’s veto on Ukraine money is to hijack the spotlight at Thursday’s EU summit in Brussels, alongside disagreements over Europe’s carbon market — overshadowing what was meant to be a key debate on turning Europe into a truly economic powerhouse.
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Major emissions trading fight looms at EU summit
A blocking minority of member states is pushing to weaken the bloc’s carbon pricing mechanism — which requires industries to pay for their pollution.
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EU must stop banned chemicals being sold to Africa, judge urges MEPs
The South African tribunal on agrotoxins wants its government to overhaul national laws on chemicals and pesticides and for the EU to apply a blanket ban on the sale of banned substances.
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EU unveils ’28th regime’, creating bloc-wide business code
The so-called ’28th regime’ is intended to create a single European business code applicable across the EU.
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Tusk comes up with a Plan B, after Polish president vetoes historic defence spending law
The Polish government is reaching for a workaround to access European loans for rearmament after president Karol Nawrocki vetoed a historic law enabling the EU’s SAFE programme. Meanwhile, an information campaign is spreading narratives of a ‘Narva separatist republic’ in Estonia, and a spy scandal is unraveling Slovenia’s election campaign.
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Ukraine Battlefield update (Day 1,483): Where Russia’s spring offensive is likely to start and why it’s already not going to plan
“The ground is drying out, soon ‘zelenka’ will appear [and] we will see what conclusions the Moskali [Russian forces] have drawn from the last summer campaign,” said one Ukrainian soldier.
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‘Bigger than some armies’: Kyiv warns of 27,000 foreign fighters on Russia’s side
“This number is larger than some armed forces in some of the European countries,” says Andriy Yusov, a Ukrainian intelligence spokesperson. Many come from post-Soviet states, but around 1,800 are Africans.
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Beyond crisis mode: Why now more than ever, Europe must complete its crown-jewel single market
The strongest message that can come out of Thursday’s EU summit would be if European leaders fully commit themselves to completing the EU single market, without which Europe cannot unlock the growth potential needed to cover rising defence spending and build a truly inclusive economy, write Enrico Letta and Pascal Lamy.
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On the ground as Orbán hits streets to shore up support in key seats, as Magyar maintains lead
Crowds pack the historic square of Eger on Tuesday, as Viktor Orbán campaigns like a rock star, drawing cheers and criticism alike. Supporters praise stability; sceptics cite failing services and demand change. With rival Péter Magyar gaining ground, Hungary’s election race reveals a country split between loyalty, fear, and growing political tension.