Author: Press Room

Critics of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are casting her reaction to the US-Israeli war in Iran as the latest example of a foreign policy “power grab” – even as the commission’s formal diplomatic powers are limited and member states themselves are still grappling with how to respond. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT When the war began with US strikes on Iran last Saturday, von der Leyen was the first leader across Europe to issue a reaction, calling the developments in Iran “greatly concerning”. Since then, she has issued 12 posts involving Iran on X and held talks with at least…

Published on 03/03/2026 – 16:56 GMT+1 Drone activity targeting British military facilities in Cyprus has raised security concerns in recent days, but the incidents have so far not prompted formal consultations within either NATO or the European Union over collective defence measures. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Two drones targeting a British base in Akrotiri were intercepted on Monday after another attack on Sunday caused limited damage. Britain is a member of NATO, but a source at the military alliance confirmed to Euronews on Tuesday that no dedicated discussion had been held among the 32 allies over the incident, which is so far…

Budapest and Kyiv have once again clashed over the status of the Druzhba pipeline, putting Brussels in an awkward position amid a dispute that has stalled a €90 billion European Loan to Ukraine and shows no sign of being resolved soon. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In a new letter, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose veto has outraged his fellow leaders, asked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to “increase political pressure” on Ukraine to restart crude deliveries through the Soviet-era pipeline. He also asked the executive to “enforce relevant provisions” of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which he argues is being…

Claims that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has escaped to Berlin amid the Iran war, which was sparked by US and Israeli airstrikes, have swamped social media platforms. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT On Saturday evening, the same day that the airstrikes took place, flight-tracking data showed that Israel’s government plane had landed at Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport. Online, users claimed that Israeli Netanyahu was on board the flight. Some posts accused him of having fled the country following the start of coordinated US and Israeli strikes on Iran. One post, with more than 1.5 million views, claimed to have tracked Netanyahu to a…

Published on 03/03/2026 – 12:57 GMT+1•Updated 13:06 Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Iranian Shah and one of the main leaders of the opposition to the Tehran regime, could soon address the members of the European Parliament. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT His name is included on a provisional list that the Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs has drawn up to organise an exchange of views on the current situation in the country. The list, obtained by Euronews, is provisional, and is set to be confirmed on Wednesday afternoon. It features seven people, among them lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi…

Published on 03/03/2026 – 10:07 GMT+1 The Russian Central Bank has filed a lawsuit against the European Union for the indefinite immobilisation of its sovereign assets, which the bloc approved last year in a bid to strengthen its leverage in ongoing talks to end the war in Ukraine and prevent Moscow from tapping into the funds for its own profit. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The assets are worth about €210 billion, with €185 billion, held at Euroclear, a Brussels-based depository already sued by Moscow. The legal action was submitted to the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg on 27 February, but it was…

German public broadcaster ZDF recalled a US correspondent in late February after an AI-generated clip appeared in a report on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The broadcaster apologised for using the clip, which depicted children clinging to their mother as she is arrested by ICE agents. The video held a Sora watermark, a clear indication that it was created by OpenAI’s video tool. The Cube, Euronews’ fact-checking team, found that the video is one of thousands of AI-generated clips of ICE agents that are flooding social media, many without clear labelling and collectively amassing millions of…

Published on 02/03/2026 – 13:24 GMT+1•Updated 13:26 Ali Khamenei is dead, killed in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on Tehran Saturday during Operation Epic Fury. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT His rule was built on a unique doctrine that gave him absolute religious and political control. It allowed him to bypass the parliament, the judiciary, and even the president, giving him the final say on absolutely everything. Then there is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or IRGC. These 150,000 elite troops answered only to him. They act as the regime’s enforcer and a vast business conglomerate, an “empire within an empire” if you will,…

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković insisted on Monday that the European Union’s position on the events unfolding in the Middle East was “very clear and unified” despite the negative reaction that greeted a statement released by Brussels on Sunday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “We shall continue consultations,” Plenković told Euronews’ flagship morning programme Europe Today. **”**I think that all the statements which were issued so far, but for maybe one or two (member states) were very, very clear and unified.” Following a virtual meeting of EU foreign ministers on Sunday afternoon, the bloc’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja…

The United States and Israel’s “unilateral action” in Iran “doesn’t have backing from the United Nations’ Charter or international law,” Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has told Euronews’ flagship morning programme Europe Today. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Speaking live on Monday morning, Albares also condemned Iran’s retaliatory strikes against several other nations in the Middle East as “unjustified”, calling on the European Union to be a “voice of reason” amid a dangerous escalation. “We have condemned every human rights violation from the Iranian regime and we are with the people of Iran. We want to protect them, we want to protect…