Author: Press Room
Negotiators from Hungary and the European Commission are making a final push to reach an agreement on the release of frozen EU funds ahead of a key deadline. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar is due to meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday at 13:00 for talks aimed at signalling a new chapter in relations between Hungary and the EU. Magyar won April’s general election, bringing an end to Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule. During his time in office, Orbán frequently blocked EU decisions, while Brussels withheld €17 billion in funding over concerns about corruption. Magyar’s…
Hello readers. Angela Skujins here ringing out the week with your Friday newsletter. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Before we dive in, news broke early this morning that a Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in eastern Romania, injuring two people. “These are not mistakes – these are provocations,” Polish Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology Michał Baranowskijust told Euronews’ Europe Today programme. “We are no longer in peace,” he added, referring to the drone incursions in his country last year, as well as the others rocking the Baltics in recent weeks. Watch. The big stories driving…
Published on 29/05/2026 – 15:00 GMT+2 Feldheim’s 130 residents draw their electricity and heating from a cluster of wind turbines on the village outskirts, a biogas plant fed by local corn silage and manure, a solar park on a former Soviet military site and a wood chip boiler as backup. Together, the installations produce way more energy than the village actually needs; the surplus current is sold to the national grid. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT A ten-megawatt battery storage facility, part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, keeps the local grid stable when conditions change. Making it all work took some creative…
Published on 29/05/2026 – 15:22 GMT+2•Updated 18:12 Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar sealed an agreement on Friday with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to unblock nearly all recovery and cohesion funds earmarked for Hungary, allowing the government to access the full €16.4bn that had been frozen under the previous administration. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Praising Magyar for forming a government “in record time” and advancing what she described as “long-overdue reforms” within just a few weeks, von der Leyen said €10bn would be released from the bloc’s post-pandemic Recovery and Resilience Facility. “I think the hard work has really paid…
Giorgia Meloni’s government is changing course on military spending and has decided to send a clear message to Brussels. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Italy had reserved 14.9 billion euros under the EU’s “SAFE” defence loan scheme, but Rome now intends to use between just four and five billion – just enough to cover projects for which contracts have already been signed. Security Action for Europe (SAFE) is an EU loan instrument designed to provide financial support to member states to speed up defence readiness and close capability gaps. The government’s new plan was set out by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign…
Updated: 29/05/2026 – 18:03 GMT+2 In an exclusive interview, Romania Foreign minister Oana Țoiu said it’s “Russia’s full responsibility” that civilians in Romania were harmed after a Russian drone hit a residential building in the country. Țoiu also said they had “final confirmation” that the drone “was carrying explosives”. … More
Published on 29/05/2026 – 18:08 GMT+2 Four European Union countries are urging the European Commission to rethink part of its planned carbon market reforms, warning that some industries could face serious competitive pressure under stricter emissions rules due to take effect between 2026 and 2030, according to a document seen by Euronews. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT At stake is the bloc’s carbon market, the Emissions Trading System (ETS), which requires heavy industry companies to pay for the carbon pollution associated with their emissions. The Commission will soon revise its major climate policy tool, which has suffered repeated attacks from several EU countries…
By Euronews Published on 29/05/2026 – 18:26 GMT+2 France is to launch an inquiry into the treatment of its nationals on board the Gaza flotilla. This decision, announced on Friday by the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, follows reports that activists were subjected humiliation, rape and acts of torture while in detention. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Based on a report I requested from our Consul General in Turkey, which detailed sexual violence, exposure to cold, beatings, and repeated humiliations of French nationals – all acts that could constitute criminal offenses”, said Barrot. “I decided yesterday (Thursday) to refer the matter to the Public…
Tensions between China and the EU have intensified in recent months, prompting the European Commission to convene most of its commissioners for a strategic rethink during an “orientation debate” on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “China is a critical partner, and engagement and dialogue will continue,” the commission said in a readout following the debate. “At the same time the current state of the trade and investment relationship is not sustainable.” Calling the relationship “not sustainable” may understate the depth of the rupture. Relations have steadily deteriorated since European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen branded Beijing a “systemic rival” in a…
Shahed-type drones have been Russia’s weapon of choice since the very beginning of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Launched in the hundreds, they are used by Moscow to strike military and residential targets, energy facilities and civilian infrastructure and also to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defences in mass attacks. Because of their distinctive, loud buzzing noise similar to that of lawn mowers, they are frequently called “mopeds” in Ukraine. Shahed-136 or Geran-2? The Geran-2 long-range one-way attack drone — often referred to as a kamikaze drone — is essentially a domestically manufactured Russian version of the…