EU postpones Russian oil-ban, as Iran energy shock aggravates rifts
Russian oil deliveries to Hungary jumped from 61 percent of its imports in 2021 to 93 percent in 2025 despite the Ukraine war.
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Kallas takes aim at Russia’s ‘unethical’ army recruiting in Africa during Ghana trip
A report by the All Eyes on Wagner investigative group listed 1,417 fighters from 35 African countries who had joined the Russian army between 2023 and mid-2025, 316 of whom have been killed. Ghana’s West African neighbour Cameroon has suffered the highest losses: 94 of its 335 recruits have been killed during Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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Listen: What happened with the Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations?
Peace talks between Ukraine and Russia are constantly being delayed. That’s what Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky stated last week. As his country begins to run out of missiles and financial support, can Zelensky still hope to get out of this war with dignity?
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Hungarian minister asked Moscow to help Slovak ally before election, leaked transcript suggests
A leaked transcript of a 2020 phone call suggests Hungary’s foreign minister sought Moscow’s help to bolster a Slovak ally ahead of a pivotal election, raising fresh questions about Budapest’s ties to the Kremlin and deepening concerns within the EU over trust, influence and the handling of sensitive information.
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[Interview] Journalist who was followed by Russian agents in Vienna: ‘If they want to find something out, they will’
Interview with Anna Thalhammer, who exposed Austrian journalists suspected of working for Moscow, why the country treats Russian espionage so casually, and how its history has shaped this attitude.
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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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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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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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‘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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Who’s actually running EU foreign policy: von der Leyen, Kallas or Costa?
Ursula von der Leyen’s flurry of diplomacy after the US-Israel strikes on Iran is very hard to ignore. In the span of one day, she had conversations with eight foreign leaders, as well as with three EU countries — greatly overdoing communications by both the president of the European Council (António Costa) and the high representative (Kaja Kallas). Here’s why this is seen as highly controversial, or even problematic, within the EU institutional system.
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No EU appetite for Trump demand on Hormuz help, as Israel pounds Lebanon
“First of all, we want to hear from Israel and the United States of America when they want to achieve their military goals in Iran,” said Germany, while also calling for Israeli restraint in Lebanon.
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‘Isolated’ Slovakia drops EU veto threat on Russia sanctions
Slovakia had pushed for the EU to delist two Russian oligarchs, but did a U-turn on Saturday.
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Interview: Zelensky’s advisor says more weapons, sanctions and pressure on financial sector could bring Russia down
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.
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31 days to election: Orbán claims Ukrainians are threatening his children and grandchildren
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.
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Russian fossil-fuel daily revenues up 14% since start of US-Israel attack on Iran
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.
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Russia-linked priests preaching Azerbaijan war, Armenia warns EU
“One of the archbishops in Armenia had started a movement to [reactivate] … the [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict”, warned Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan.
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Arms flows rise to Cold War levels amid Ukraine and EU rearmament
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.
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Slovakia’s Fico threatens existing EU sanctions on Russia, as Hungary vetoes new ones
Slovakia has said it would block the rollover of the existing visa-bans and asset-freezes on Russia due on 15 March, unless the EU first delists two Russian oligarchs.
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The Iran war is good news for the Kremlin
Calls to lift oil-related sanctions imposed on Russia to limit its war budget are now also being heard in the EU. Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán has already urged the EU “to review and lift all sanctions on Russian energy”. And he may not be the only EU leader thinking along similar lines.
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Orbán–Zelensky clash deepens after cash seizure, pipeline dispute, and Kremlin interference fears
Relations between Ukraine and Hungary have plunged into meltdown after Volodymyr Zelensky threatened Viktor Orbán last week over blocked EU funding. This was followed by a dramatic cash and gold seizure in Hungary, while intelligence claims of Kremlin election interference in Hungary add another layer to the rift.