Author: Press Room
Five countries pushed back against the European Commission’s plans over what they see as an increasingly centralised vision for planning Europe’s future electricity, according to a document seen by Euronews. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Bulgaria, Finland, France, Poland and Sweden argue that the European Union’s green transition risks becoming slower, more expensive and less secure if Brussels attempts to command grid development from the centre. Instead, they are proposing a Europe of coordinated regions rather than a fully centralised energy union. “An exclusive focus on a top-down approach would hinder the (Grids) Package’s objective. We alternatively suggest that the regional planning and…
Published on 15/05/2026 – 14:02 GMT+2•Updated 14:04 Ukraine and Russia exchanged 205 prisoners of war each on Friday, Kyiv and Moscow said, a week after US President Donald Trump announced a large swap would take place between the two countries. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In a post on Telegram, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that most of the Ukrainians handed over had been in Russian captivity since 2022, the year Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “This is the first phase of the 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange,” he said. Zelenskyy also posted pictures of the released Ukrainians, showing them wrapped in national…
Two young innovators from Poland and Finland have built one of the world’s best satellite systems. The radar sensors of ICEYE monitor oil spills, hurricanes and forest fires from an altitude of 600 km. The nanosatellites detect illegal loggers, collect data on flooding, and keep an eye on the movements of military equipment. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Even through cloud cover and in the middle of the night, the small satellites deliver ultra-precise detailed images. They identify aircraft types at hostile airports. The eyes of ICEYE track suspicious ship movements across vast stretches of ocean. The fourth generation of satellites currently in…
Spanish football club FC Barcelona have declined to provide comment on accusations made by the Israeli defence minister towards its star player Lamine Yamal of “inciting hatred” against the country after he waved a Palestinian flag at a victory parade. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Katz said the player’s gesture, made during Barcelona’s recent La Liga title celebrations, amounted to “inciting hatred towards Israel and the Jewish people”, adding that anyone who supports actions like Yamal’s should “ask themselves: is this humanitarian? Is this moral?” Israel’s defence minister also said that Yamal chose to do it “while Israeli soldiers were fighting the terrorist…
The Commission’s €1.8 trillion budget proposal does not say “we are cutting NGOs.” But, if cuts happen, they will come through structural design, fewer dedicated funding lines, weaker earmarks, and more money routed through national governments. Civil society coalitions warn it could be slow defunding dressed up as simplification. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT No clear defenders The MFF reorganises the EU budget from 52 programmes to 16, folding cohesion, social, and agricultural spending into 27 national partnership plans. The protected headings are defence, competitiveness, and digital and green transitions. Civil society is not one of them. “We are in a moment of…
Published on 15/05/2026 – 11:40 GMT+2 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that joint debt was not an option to finance the European economy, speaking at a ceremony awarding former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi the Charlemagne Prize. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In his speech at Aachen Cathedral, Merz echoed Draghi’s call to boost European competitiveness, but differences remain over how to finance it. “Some now believe we can evade this painful task by taking on new debt, European debt, by financing regular spending through debt. Germany cannot follow this path for constitutional reasons alone, and, ladies and gentlemen, we…
By Inês Trindade Pereira & video by Léa Becquet Published on 15/05/2026 – 10:23 GMT+2•Updated 10:40 Germany was the world’s largest exporter of plastic waste in 2025, sending 810,000 tonnes overseas, according to a new study. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT It was followed by the UK, which exported 675,000 tonnes abroad, said the report, which was carried out by journalists at Watershed Investigations and the environmental NGO Basel Action Network (BAN) for British news outlet The Guardian. It’s the country’s highest level in eight years and produced enough to fill about 127,000 shipping containers. Meanwhile, at an EU level, the bloc exported 1.5 billion kg/year…
Good morning from Brussels. This is Maïa de la Baume and Angela Skujins, writing Friday’s newsletter from the Belgian capital, where EU officials have already slipped into long-weekend mode. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Just in: Latvia’s former defence minister Andris Sprūds, who resigned on Sunday, told the Europe Today programme that he had “always said that it is difficult to deal with drones which have lost their trajectory.” Sprūds is at the center of a political firestorm that brought down Latvia’s Prime Minister Evika Siliņa on Thursday, following a coalition collapse over a drone-related security dispute near the Russian border. Reminder :…
Good morning. Angela Skujins penning this Thursday’s newsletter from the Belgian capital, where I can say with quiet confidence that everyone not enjoying the public holiday has their eyes firmly fixed to what is happening nearly 8,000 kilometres to the east. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Before US President Donald Trump departed the White House on Tuesday for an almost 14-hour flight to the Chinese capital, he outlined in plain English the importance of the visit. “We’re the two superpowers,” he said unabashedly. “We’re the strongest nation on earth in terms of military. China’s considered second,” Trump said. After landing, both presidents expressed…
The EU’s equality chief Hadja Lahbib told Euronews’ Europe Today programme that conversion therapy is “torture” that can lead to depression and suicide – “and that’s why we need really to react and to combat these practices.” ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The comments came following a presentation by the European Commission regarding a citizens initiative signed by more than one million signatures calling for a bloc-wide ban on the practice. Instead of meeting the demands, the Commission will next year will put forth the non-binding recommendation that cover actions to increase societal awareness, help victims seek legal action and strengthen medical and…