Author: Press Room
Published on 19/05/2026 – 19:28 GMT+2•Updated 19:35 The European Commission kept its carbon border tax unchanged in a fertiliser plan announced on Tuesday meant to support struggling farmers, despite complaints that carbon pricing is also contributing prices amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Fertiliser producers argue that the bloc’s carbon pricing rules at the border protect the European industry from cheaper imports produced under weaker environmental rules, since the rules oblige EU exporters to pay for the pollution linked to their production. But farmers fear they are indirectly paying the bill through higher fertiliser costs. European Commissioner…
Updated: 19/05/2026 – 19:38 GMT+2 Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel was awarded the European Order of Merit on Tuesday. Merkel warned that Europe could no longer take peace and security for granted following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She also said changes in US security policy showed old certainties were fading. … More
The EU is hopeful it can reach a deal on a raft of measures aiming to slash red tape, increase transparency and supercharge domestic production to respond to growing security threats – but significant issues remain regarding autonomy, risking the continent’s security. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT On Tuesday, members of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Cypriot EU Council presidency representing member states met in Brussels to rubber-stamp the so-called “Defence Readiness Omnibus” — a set of measures proposed a year ago and aimed at streamlining processes for the defence industry. But divisions have emerged regarding the details of the…
Published on 19/05/2026 – 11:47 GMT+2 Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said Tuesday he hopes to sign a political agreement with the European Commission “next week” on the release of EU funds that had been frozen during the previous government. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Both sides will do everything they can to ensure that next week, when I travel to Brussels, we can sign the political agreement between the Hungarian government and the European Commission, which will allow us to conclude all issues by August 31, despite the hard work and work throughout the summer,” Magyar told reporters at a press conference…
Published on 19/05/2026 – 11:55 GMT+2•Updated 11:56 Malaysia is seeking more than $251 million (€216 million) in compensation from a Norwegian company over a scrapped deal to supply a missile system for new warships, the defence minister said on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the government had sent a notice to Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace demanding compensation for both “direct and indirect costs” over Norway’s decision to revoke export approvals for the missile system, sparking a diplomatic row. Oslo’s foreign ministry has confirmed “that certain licences related to the export of specific defence technology to Malaysia have been…
Published on 19/05/2026 – 12:07 GMT+2 Denmark’s former monarch, 86-year-old Queen Margrethe, has been released from hospital after undergoing an angioplasty procedure last week, the palace said on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Her Majesty Queen Margrethe was discharged from Rigshospitalet today and is returning to Fredensborg Palace,” it said in a new statement on Tuesday. “In the coming period, Her Majesty will need rest,” it said, adding that a planned theatre engagement on May 23 had been cancelled. The queen underwent “a balloon dilation of a coronary artery” at Copenhagen’s main Rigshospitalet hospital, the palace said in a statement on 15…
A German serial killer already in prison for the murders of three children went on trial in France on Tuesday over the abduction and killing of a 10-year-old boy during a school trip in 2004. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Martin Ney, dubbed “the man in black”, has been charged with murder and kidnapping over the disappearance of Jonathan Coulom at a school holiday camp in western France. The boy’s bed was empty when his roommates woke up in a dormitory at the seaside camp in Saint-Brevin-les-Pins. More than a month later Jonathan’s body was found weighed down by a concrete block in…
A viral X post claiming that Eurovision’s 2026 contest was secretly “fixed” in Finland’s favour spread widely in the days leading up to this year’s final in Vienna. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The post, which initially circulated on TikTok, amassed more than 1 million views and presented itself as testimony from a Eurovision “security guard.” “I can freely say through a secret account that the winner is picked,” the viral post said, alleging that Finland had offered organisers of the competition around €16 million to secure victory. However, this claim later unravelled during the final itself when Finland — tipped as a…
Published on 19/05/2026 – 14:10 GMT+2 “For three centuries, we were in (the) shadow of Russian Empire. And I’m here to say, Europe, we are back,” Ukrainian human rights defender Oleksandra Matviichuk declared as she received the European Order of Merit in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Visibly emotional, Matviichuk said Ukraine is “returning home to European values.” “We are paying the highest price for this.” The head of the Centre for Civil Liberties, which was awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, Matviichuk is among the first European Order of Merit laureates. She has been recognised…
Updated: 19/05/2026 – 13:12 GMT+2 European People Party MEP Željana Zovko warned that US “ideological fights” and EU “complex process procedures” could inhibit an EU-US deal from being reached at tonight’s high stakes talks in Strasbourg. Zovko also admitted she is “not so confident this morning”. … More