We spoke with president Volodymyr Zelensky’s adviser about how he sees the dispute over the Druzhba pipeline, what motivated Russia to attack the pumping station in Brody; why Robert Fico and Viktor Orbán are so obsessed with buying Russian energy, why there should be far more attacks on Russian tankers, and the impact of the war against Iran on developments in Ukraine.
Amid concerns about waning US aid and shortages of air‑defence systems for Ukraine linked to the Iran war, there are expected to be renewed calls during Monday’s foreign affairs council meeting for increased bilateral military support for Kyiv alongside the stalled €90bn in EU funding that Hungary is currently blocking.
Ukraine managed to cut off the Russians from the US Starlink satellite system and increased drone attacks against Russia’s rear positions.
As European energy ministers meet on Monday (16 March) to discuss Europe’s new Energy Package, the continent faces a strategic choice. At a time of renewed geopolitical instability, with the illegal war in the Middle East that is shaking global energy markets, we must use the Green Deal to strengthen competitiveness, boost energy sovereignty and affordability, and lead in the industries of the future, write the Socialists & Democrats.
A court ruling has just ordered the city of Madrid to create a registry of doctors in the region who refuse to perform abortion procedures. Are there still many of these conscientious objectors in Spain and across Europe?
The EU restricts biometric surveillance at home – but its landmark AI Act does nothing to prevent European companies from exporting the same technology abroad.
Plastic products in the EU could soon be labelled “recycled” — even when they contain barely any recycled material. A new definition backed by most member states allows plastics with as little as 2.5 percent waste-derived content. Critics warn that the rule relies on accounting tricks that may mask fossil-based plastic production.
The EU’s bodies on oil and gas supply held meetings on Thursday morning following the International Energy Agency’s decision to open access to 400m barrels of reserves.
In our regular digest of the week’s news from the Hungarian campaign trail: latest opinion polls, a Hungarian delegation to Ukraine to inspect the damaged Russian oil pipeline, claims Kremlin-approved Russian disinfo is amplifying Fidesz campaign messaging, Hollywood star Mark Ruffalo calls on Hungarians to free themselves from Orban, and physical attacks on independent journalists.
Ukrainian anti-tank ditches contain barbed wire, between them rows of dragon’s teeth connected by steel cables, and between those further belts of barbed wire. Parts of the ditches were flooded by melted snow.
Russia has earned an estimated €6bn in fossil-fuel, or €510m per day, since the attacks on Iran, according to a new analysis published on Thursday.
The European Parliament’s centre-right is increasingly voting with far-right parties — first on migration, now on deregulation. As similar alliances emerge in national governments across Europe, the long-standing political “cordon sanitaire” against the far right is weakening, raising questions about whether this shift could soon become the new norm.
It is easy to treat the case as just a French affair. In reality, the appeal carries wider international stakes and has become a stress test for the rule-of-law ecosystem under pressure across the EU.
As the clock is running out on the current rules, MEP vote for substantive changes to the controversial chat-scanning measures while agreeing to extend the temporary rules for fighting child sexual abuse material online.
“One of the archbishops in Armenia had started a movement to [reactivate] … the [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict”, warned Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The EU’s defence industry needs to be fully integrated into the bloc’s single market, MEPs said in a new report approved on Wednesday.
Global arms flows are surging to Cold War levels, fuelled by European rearmament and the war in Ukraine. Ukraine, Poland, and the Czech Republic are reshaping Europe’s defence landscape, while a Czechoslovak Group’s record-breaking IPO exposes links between business and politics. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia eyes Ukrainian weapons amid drone threats, highlighting a defence boom that is both highly profitable and increasingly entangled with geopolitics.
Mojtaba Khamenei’s election as Iran’s new supreme leader signals a hardline turn, stronger Revolutionary Guards, and rising risk of civil conflict. Experts warn his ascension marks the dynastisation of the Islamic Republic, exposing contradictions at the heart of the regime. “There is an alarming abundance of negative scenarios,” says Iranist Lenka Hrabalová.
With EU foreign ministers ready to discuss possible sanctions on Rwanda at a meeting in Brussels next Monday, DR Congo communications minister Patrick Muyaya says the EU should match US sanctions over the eastern DR Congo invasion and reconsider its controversial minerals deal with Rwanda.
Some EU member states have defence agreements with Gulf countries, requiring mutual assistance in case of attack. That’s why several EU countries have announced military deployments to the region, including France and the Netherlands. But what is the scale of European forces sent to the region?