Author: Press Room

The interception of a sailing boat carrying more than two tonnes of cocaine in the Atlantic has led to the dismantling of a logistics network for drug trafficking. The joint military and customs operation off the Galician coast ended with the arrest of the crew on the high seas and of the network’s leader in Girona, marking one of the biggest seizures from the drug cartels’ maritime routes. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Operation Doncella, conducted by Spain’s Customs Surveillance Service together with the French customs authorities, resulted in five arrests and the seizure of more than 2,000 kilos of cocaine some 400…

Migration remains one of Europe’s most politically contested issues, yet EU countries issued more first residence permits to non-EU citizens last year than in any year since records began in 2008. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT According to Eurostat, around 3.9 million first residence permits were issued across the EU in 2025, a 10.1% increase, or 355,350 more permits, compared with 2024. Among new permits issued in 2025, employment led the way, at 33.6% of the total, up 16.1% on the year. Family reunification followed, up 14.1% to 28.1%, and education grew 9% to reach 15.5%. Only one category shrank: permits for other…

Lithuania is “very sceptical” of removing Uzbek-Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov from the latest sanctions list, the country’s finance minister, Taurimas Valys, said. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT France requested to delist Usmanov from the blacklist last week as part of a package that could see two French nationals released from prison in Azerbaijan. The country cited national security concerns as its reason for joining Slovakia in calling for the removal, but French officials have refused to comment or provide further details. “Regarding any loosening of sanctions, we’re very sceptical,” Valys said on Euronews’ interview programme 12 Minutes With. The French position has complicated…

Published on 21/09/2026 – 17:13 GMT+2 Calin Georgescu has been detained in Romania as prosecutors said they were investigating the former Romanian presidential candidate for fraud. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Georgescu, a pro-Russian politician who first made headlines during Romania’s 2024 presidential election, was detained by police and the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) on Monday. He was taken in for questioning over alleged fraud and forming an organised criminal group. Prosecutors accused Georgescu and two others of defrauding a Romanian businessman by making him believe he could get access to up to €15 million worth of foreign bank…

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russia posed “no threat” to France or any other European country, local media reported. His comments came after the far-right National Rally party’s Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella issued a warning to Moscow on the weekend. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “We will never tolerate a foreign power, specifically Russia, attempting to dictate our country’s policies through intimidation, threats, destabilisation, or psychological pressure, either directly or indirectly,” the pair said in a joint statement. In response, Peskov told reporters that Russia was “not threatening France or any other country in Europe,” adding that “President…

The European Union is writing the sustainability rulebook for AI’s power-hungry future, but tech giants like Microsoft are already weighing in on how the bloc’s new rules should work. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT EU data centres with more than 500 kW of installed capacity that report under the bloc’s energy efficiency rules will receive an electronic sustainability label as of 21 September, according to new rules unveiled by the European Commission on Monday. “The aim of the rating scheme is to increase transparency about the energy use of data centres and to become a resource that will inform better policymaking and procurement…

The European Union and Canada last week unveiled plans for an ambitious new partnership that could eventually give Canada a form of associate EU membership. Yet their existing landmark agreement remains unfinished business. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) was signed in 2016 and has applied provisionally since 2017, removing almost all tariffs and helping drive a sharp increase in transatlantic trade. But ten EU countries – Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Slovenia – have still not ratified it. The contrast was underlined last week when European Commission President Ursula von der…

Published on 21/09/2026 – 15:18 GMT+2•Updated 15:35 Passengers travelling to and from the UK on Monday were faced with delays and cancellations to flights after air traffic control systems suffered a “technical issue” for the second time this month. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Air traffic control operator NATS announced that it had discovered a “connectivity issue with part of our systems network” at its Prestwick centre in Scotland early on Monday morning, adding that it had “nothing to do with the problem we had earlier this month.” NATS said at around 11 am local time that the issue had been “fixed” and…

The forthcoming draft of the EU’s long-term budget will include an “ambitious” proposal on new EU taxes, known as own resources, Irish Minister for European Affairs Thomas Byrne told journalists on Monday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The European Union is currently negotiating its long-term budget for 2028–2034, with the Irish government chairing the talks. EU institutions aim to reach a deal by the end of the year, with the package expected to include new taxes for the first time in the bloc’s history. The draft text is expected to be presented before mid-October, ahead of the European Council meeting in Brussels. It…

Published on 21/09/2026 – 12:33 GMT+2 Russian drones blasted Ukraine’s southern city of Zaporizhzhia a day after Kyiv’s forces fired more than 1,000 at Russia, officials said on Monday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The war’s relentless daily attacks underscore the absence of any significant progress in diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting, more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbour. There is no sign the war is abating as world leaders gather this week at the UN General Assembly. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he expects to meet with US President Donald Trump at the annual event…